Reminder: Hunt SAFE! (Turkey Hunter shot in Maryland)

[BoWhoop]

Jeez Gobble!, give it a rest.  You misunderstood Bill's first post and its starting to snowball.

I know Bill personally, have hunted with him (not turkeys), but would feel safe doing so.

His point was that NONE of us are perfect, nor are our brains or eyes.  He was suggesting caution.  In his example he "thought" he saw a gobbler, he did NOT shoot the stump.  Big difference.

[BoWhoop]

BTW Bill, welcome to Old Gobbler!   Its not usually like this.

Allan

[daveco]

Buddy of mine shot another turkey hunter, once.  My buddy was calling in a tom; the other hunter was stalking the tom, unbeknownst to my buddy.  Buddy shot the turkey and it was between the two hunters.  The guy got hit; my buddy hadn't seen the guy.

[Gobble!]

Jeez Gobble!, give it a rest.  You misunderstood Bill's first post and its starting to snowball.

I know Bill personally, have hunted with him (not turkeys), but would feel safe doing so.

His point was that NONE of us are perfect, nor are our brains or eyes.  He was suggesting caution.  In his example he "thought" he saw a gobbler, he did NOT shoot the stump.  Big difference.

I full understand what he was trying to say and agree wiht it. Daveco gave a great example that not all of these incidents can be treated the same but the simple fact is by considering a shot in light conditions that you cannot 100% verify your target at 25 yards you are not hunting safe. 25 yards! He called to the stump to get it to break strut so he could shoot it. What if the stump would not have been strutting would he have shot? Then say that stump was not a stump but a person. All I want to make clear is in light conditions that you cannot 100% verify your target at 25 yards you have no right to click off that safety.

[Bill Cooksey]

Gobble,
I knew it all too when I was your age.

[Gobble!]

Gobble,
I knew it all too when I was your age.

I can only hope that hunt taught you a lesson that was taught to me when I was 15.

[deerbasshunter3]

I think this is getting a little, dare I say, out of hand. People do make mistakes and there is no doubt that our eyes can, and do, play tricks on us sometimes. I believe the OP was just to say that you should watch where you are going and be aware of your surroundings.

My only question is, was the guy wearing orange when he walked into the setup?

Between this and the post about the snake, I am starting to rethink my public land hunting trips this weekend...

[Bill Cooksey]

Gobble,
I knew it all too when I was your age.

I can only hope that hunt taught you a lesson that was taught to me when I was 15.

I'd love to hear the story of your learning the lesson I was hoping to provide.

[cutt down]

Bill, you need to call Doc. We were talking about you the other day & he asked how you were. Btw, I know Bill personally & can attest that he is safe hunter. Did he make a mistake, sure he did but he didn't make a mistake he couldn't change ie: pulling the trigger. At least he's man enough to admit it unlike a lot of folks. Bottom line is be alert to your surroundings. Situational awareness! I hate to hear of someone getting shot in the woods. From personal experience it's not something I wish upon anyone!

[Honolua]

There are a few unlikely and rare situations where accidents could happen. Like the one above where the guy was stalking the bird  someone was lined up on (doesn't make it ok though). I believe that most of the time it's inexperienced movement shooters.

I think that if you shoot someone while hunting that you should never be allowed to hunt again and you should go to jail 99% of the time.

[Bill Cooksey]

Look, as the OP stated in the title "hunt safe." No one is immune from being in a situation which could turn tragic. The nature of the game dictates the possibility, and the human mind sometimes fills in the blanks. I told that story hoping to illustrate that a situation I too would have scoffed at prior to experiencing it myself, is possible for anyone of any level of experience. Having related it to enough experienced hunters, I've heard enough similar experiences to know it is more common than most would believe.

If you truly believe it can't happen to you, you are one step closer to being "that guy." I understand the situation I experienced because I was there, and it led to a greater understanding of how some "accidents" happen. I immediately understood how someone less experienced or more jacked up on adrenaline could pull the trigger.

None of that means I excuse the person who pulls the trigger. I had the restraint to wait, and I hope my story helps someone who finds themselves in that position in the future remember to do the same. You can't call it back once the pin hits the primer.

[blkpowder]

Please read and  hope you all take something from this!

Just like the gentlemen sign in names,eggshell and cutt down stated. Until it happens to "YOU", the pure raw emotions that instantly kick in are mind blowing and mind scrambling! After being on the receiving end of the shot,the fear,pain,anger and the adrenalin that overwhelms you, can't even  be described. I myself have been on the receiving end of a turkey load twice!!! And I was with one of my ex-turkey hunting buddies when he got literally blasted! As for my ex-turkey hunting buddy. As we always have done in the past,we went our separate ways at daybreak and met together around nine to compare notes. We where sitting on a very large power line cut. The grass was not even ankle high. As we talked about our next move for the remainder of the morning, two gobblers cut loose to our left,then a few minutes later. One cut loose to our right and was closer than the first two birds. I told my buddy,you can have the one on the right. I said, I'm going now because these two are a couple hundred yards away. He said,ok and I'm going to wait for this bird to sound off again before I make a move. I was no more than sixty yards away in the woods line, I hear a gobble from the bird my buddy was to try, then bang! Then the most eerie and most frightening scream I ever heard came next. I ran back to my buddy to see him on the ground rolling side to side with his hands over his face and another hunter pacing back and forth over him. My buddy was shot square in the face! Luckily, a highway was less than two hundred yards away and I was able to flag down a truck driver,who radioed for help. They life flighted my buddy to the hospital. First,most important,he survived! Second, God must have been watching out for him because the very least,he could have been blinded for the rest of his life. Two bb's lodged just below his left eye and one in the socket of his right eye. It's easily understandable,he no longer turkey hunts. How it happened. My buddy was still sitting on the middle of the power line. The shooter who also heard the gobbler,was approaching from up and over from the backside of the power line. It was then when the gobbler cut loose again,that my buddy was at the time getting up from his sitting position. The shooter heard a gobble,saw movement and shot. That was his story to the state police and the game wardens. As for myself. My first hit luckily was just a stinger. I WAS fortunately out of range of the shooter who thought I was a turkey and ended up with some nasty welts from the bb's. I also got to say,this was quite some time ago when they did not have the chokes or turkey loads like they have now. The second time I got shot, I had a bird answering me on a bench above me and he wasn't budging. I had another buddy sitting along side me. I stood up, thinking of my next move,pulled down my headnet,turned to look at my buddy and bang! Thank God, when I turned to look at my buddy,that put my face behind the tree and I took the shot in the shoulder. Again,as I stated earlier. You can't even imagine the emotions that overwhelm you all at once. As I screamed for the shooter to reveal himself, I created some unheard of vocabulary with every other word beginning with a capital "F"! As I'm waiting on the shooter,my left jacket sleeve is no longer camoed. It was solid red in blood and a puddle at my foot. What happened next was the scariest thing personally,that has stuck in my mind since then. The shooter showed up and my God! The first thing I did was leveled my gun at his face. To this day,I thank my buddy for being there and knocking the gun out of my hands. All the emotions that took over all at once, I almost committed murder! The shooter showed and buckled to his knee's sobbing and pleading. Take my gun,take my license. I'll never be able to hunt again the rest of my life! I can't believe I shot another hunter! That's why when I see a hunting show or a video on YouTube,when a hunter is crawling towards a gobbler behind a turkey fan. I jump up and scream at the screen,WTF is wrong with you! So my plea to all other turkey hunters. Please take turkey hunting as if you are on driving on the highway. Be on the defensive! "Don't" assume,just because you are the only one who is "SUPPOSED" to be hunting on that piece of property,that you "ARE" THE ONLY ONE! Don't assume, what you believe is a turkey calling,hen or gobbler is actually a turkey. Always keep it in the back of your mind that it may also be a hunter. Last,this is based off my misfortune and from what I have heard and read from other turkey hunting accidents and this is 'MY OPINION". The majority of hunters who have been shot turkey hunting have been hit in the face and neck area. After you have been sitting a calling from a position for a while and you don't get a response or you fill you need to make a move on a gobbler who has answered but won't move,what is the norm from that hunter when he now decides he is going to move? Like myself and others,you pull down your headnet from your face,think about your next move a few more seconds than stand up. This is when the majority of hunters,not all,have been shot. My opinion,your face is the only thing that stands out. The rest of you is covered in camo and blends in with the back ground. That's why,since my incidents. I always have a orange bucket hat and vest tucked between my  and seat cushion. When I decide to get up from a calling position or I believe it's another hunter coming to me rather than a turkey,I place the orange bucket hat on top of my ball cap,the orange vest draped over my shoulders. I then stand up. Then and only then,I proceed to pull down my headnet. Some may think this may be over kill. Better than to be "KILLED"!  So to all Old Gobbler members. Foremost,have a safe season and I hope also an exciting and fruitful season for all!

Greg

[Spitten and drummen]

Look, as the OP stated in the title "hunt safe." No one is immune from being in a situation which could turn tragic. The nature of the game dictates the possibility, and the human mind sometimes fills in the blanks. I told that story hoping to illustrate that a situation I too would have scoffed at prior to experiencing it myself, is possible for anyone of any level of experience. Having related it to enough experienced hunters, I've heard enough similar experiences to know it is more common than most would believe.

If you truly believe it can't happen to you, you are one step closer to being "that guy." I understand the situation I experienced because I was there, and it led to a greater understanding of how some "accidents" happen. I immediately understood how someone less experienced or more jacked up on adrenaline could pull the trigger.

None of that means I excuse the person who pulls the trigger. I had the restraint to wait, and I hope my story helps someone who finds themselves in that position in the future remember to do the same. You can't call it back once the pin hits the primer. well said.

[Bill Cooksey]

BTW Bill, welcome to Old Gobbler!   Its not usually like this.

Allan

Thanks Allan. I knew the risk when I posted the story. Nature of the net. Hopefully it helps someone else down the road.

[greentag]

while ive never been involved in a accident all my years,i will say the thoughts of it scare me to death.theres a place of private land im allowed to hunt,usually im the only one that hunts it until the last three years.i actually called in 3 on opening day took the biggest and called another in sunday.but sunday the other bunch was there and I didn't know,i had a tom coming earlier and in the pouring rain I see all the cows start to run,then I see two guys walking fast across this field straight toward the gobbler that was closing the distance to me.they stopped were they last heard it and went to blowing crow calls.these two boys I ran into several years earlierwhen scouting,they informed me how they had killed 2 off the roost and season had not even started.they seem to be wreckless,and I don't like being in the woods when they are around,i feel like they would be ones who would shoot anything that moved.the worse thing is is that I had permission to hunt this place for years from the land owner,but about 5 years ago he leased the pasture land to a guy to run his cows on.this guy doesn't hunt but these 2 boys help him some on the farm,thats how  they have a key and they are there hunting all the time.i even think the oldest got his gun rights took awhile back for domestic abuse on his girlfriend.we don't have a game warden here as of 3 years now because the one we had got sent to the pen himself for taking payments that were supposed to be fines payed to the court,he had people he busted sending the check to him,and the cops,well ill not get into them.so the only thing I know to do is avoid this place when I see them boys,its a shame to cause this is a really good place to hunt when they weren't around calling way before season and shooting whatever they can.every time I read a story like the ones posted in this thread I think of these boys and how that could easily be me...