Birdsnest
Well-Known Member
Ok, lets face it. We're going to just talk about island deer hunting on this thread period.
When I am alone hunting on foot I have one in the pipe ready to go with the safety on. Any other situation and its "bullets in bullets" out. This means I only load when there is a buck to shoot or shooting potential. Remembering that these situations can be exciting and it becomes easy to forget that you loaded another round after the shot it is so important to develop habits as taught in the PAL. Prove your weapon before you enter the truck, before you enter camp, before you get on the quad, after your done shooting a crater, after you just about shot at a crater,before you bring it in your house, when you run into another hunter and your alone, when a truck pulls up to you when your walking. It dumbfumles my mind how some people are careless with this issue given that it is other people that are most at risk by this person who has an accidental misfire.
In my 8 years of hunting I have seen 4 accidental discharges. They happen. I don't believe safety should be called safeties. While the mechanism may be safe it is the user that can make mistakes. Having a gun loaded with one in the pipe with the safety on is 2 steps from firing. Safety off, one step away, pull the trigger. In a case where all the sudden the safety is off and the user is unaware then that weapon is one step away from a accidental misfire.
I have hunted with people that take casually pointing their weapon at me. I don't like it and when they do and I say something and I get a reply like "i did not" or "its not loaded" or " the safety is on" or "only for a second", I never hunt with them again. They don't get it. When handling rifles with others you exchange responsibility for each others lives. I understand that I will have a gun pointed at me occasionally but when it happens and i say something the response better be an apology and absolute understanding that it is unacceptable. I do it to and when I do and I get called out I admit my mistake to my friend and work on reducing such instances.
When hunting with a buddy on foot and there is suddenly a deer to shoot I usually carry some loose rounds in my pocket so I can quietly slip the round in an quietly close the bolt which is something I practice. I don't spend a lot of time at the range any more so often while hunting I will do practice "theres one!" aim and dry fire on my target( a stump, rock or bush) just to get a feel for the trigger.
One coffee down one to go. Thats my rant for the morning. Gun safety gets me all fired up!
