Request: Spread your lessons

[one66stang]

I will be teaching my first Hunters Education Class in the near future. I would like to hear from you about a lesson or a "could happen/saw happen" that needs to be passed on to the students.

I figure with the hunting experience on this forum we could come up with some rarely thought of tips/safety warnings to talk about in class.

[Davoh]

Tie your ladder stand to the tree before you start reaching out to cut limbs for shooting lane...

yes, this ones from experience.

[RascalArms]

My lesson...Gun Safety and The Golden Rule, "TREAT EVERY GUN LIKE IT IS LOADED!!

Mind you, I've grown up around guns all my life...having bought and sold hundreds over the years, I kinda pride myself in proper gun handling-safety, etc., etc.

One day several years ago I was at home cleaning EVERY firearm I own. I had just stored all the rifles and shotguns away and started gathering all the pistols and cleaning supplies and putting them away as well. Had an old .22 revolver I always kept in a nightstand by the bed that I KNEW WAS UNLOADED (because I had just cleaned it). That being said, in a brief moment of total stupidity...I guess just to make sure it was unloaded(idk ) decided to "dry fire" it!! And YEP, YOU GUESSED IT...blew a perfect 22cal hole through and through the bedroom wall and into the kitchen pantry!!! The bullet lodged in a can of Campbell's soup. Still can't believe how really really bad that could have been. My now ex-wife and baby son were in the living room at the time.

My point is I've preached this fundamental RULE all my life to everyone within ear shot and IF it can happen to me it can happen to anyone. I know it was stupid and so easily avoidable....but it happened.

Ironically, I ended up going to work for Campbell's Soup Company years later.

[pigstika1978]

My lesson...Gun Safety and The Golden Rule, "TREAT EVERY GUN LIKE IT IS LOADED!!



Mind you, I've grown up around guns all my life...having bought and sold hundreds over the years, I kinda pride myself in proper gun handling-safety, etc., etc.



One day several years ago I was at home cleaning EVERY firearm I own. I had just stored all the rifles and shotguns away and started gathering all the pistols and cleaning supplies and putting them away as well. Had an old .22 revolver I always kept in a nightstand by the bed that I KNEW WAS UNLOADED (because I had just cleaned it). That being said, in a brief moment of total stupidity...I guess just to make sure it was unloaded(idk ) decided to "dry fire" it!! And YEP, YOU GUESSED IT...blew a perfect 22cal hole through and through the bedroom wall and into the kitchen pantry!!! The bullet lodged in a can of Campbell's soup. Still can't believe how really really bad that could have been. My now ex-wife and baby son were in the living room at the time.



My point is I've preached this fundamental RULE all my life to everyone within ear shot and IF it can happen to me it can happen to anyone. I know it was stupid and so easily avoidable....but it happened.



Ironically, I ended up going to work for Campbell's Soup Company years later.

Thanks for sharing

[texglocker]

Binoculars are what you use to identify objects, animals, people not your rifle scope.

[1riot1ranger]

There's a thread about drinking in the blind. ought a be some good stories in there.

[one66stang]

up

[firemedic2105]

Always do a sweep of your blind with a light before you climb in. After you're inside is NOT the time you want to find that coppercobrarattlemoccassin that's coiled up in the corner, the large wasp nest, or the giant fire ant bed.

[one66stang]

Always do a sweep of your blind with a light before you climb in. After you're inside is NOT the time you want to find that coppercobrarattlemoccassin that's coiled up in the corner, the large wasp nest, or the giant fire ant bed.

I'm real cautious opening tower blind doors in the early morning hours. Twice i have almost been knocked off a ladder by owls trying to get out while I was trying to get in

[howabouttheiris]

Use relatively new free technology to know and study your location.... like Google maps.

I setup a bow blind on the right of this photo, you can see that it is hidden between 2 trees at the start of a clearing. The feeder is 25 yards away at the other end of the clearing. When you are there on top of the hill, it appears that you are miles away from everyone. A friend of mine was sure it would also make a great setup for gun season.

I had to correct him, because when at the blind you are only a few cedar branches away from seeing across the valley and into a home's window that happens to be on a similar elevation and in a direct line. 400 yards is only 19" drop with my .308.

[Hornet Hunter]

As a fellow hunter safety instructor, I do feel personal stories make the class hit home with students. I lean heavy on hunter ethics, the perception we put forth to the public. Remember, we are the minority. It is said that 5% are hunters 5% are the anti libtards and 90% are the unaligned majority. We will never sway the antis, however the perception we project those who don't care one way or the other will determine our future. I know gun safety is important, but I'm not so sure that there isn't more of a danger from the left. Just my opinion.

[Bminchew]

Never mix shotgun shells. A 20ga shell will go far enough into the chamber of a 12ga. that a 12ga shell can be loaded and fired behind it. It is not pretty.

[ltljohn]

I agree with post regarding mixing shotgun shells, but extend to all calibers, ie. 30-06 and .270, .308 and 7mm-08 etc.

Also, many years ago, my great uncle told the story of a friend that he had brought hunting the year before. He had shot a deer and saw it fall. It stopped moving, so he went down to "bleed it," (cut it's throat). When he bent over in front of the deer and stabbed it in the neck, the deer flailed its legs and struck him in the chest. They found hunter and deer side by side.
So, his point was always stand behind the deer, and away from the feet and antlers when you check to make sure deer is dead.

Make sure of your target! No brush busting. Know what you are hunting and what it looks like. Don't shoot it if you are not going to est it.

Take care of your game animal. Warm meat spoils quickly. If you don't care for the animal properly, it won't taste good.

Yes we are usually proud of our accomplishments in the fiel and want to "share" with the world. However, that 90% mentioned above that are neither pro or anti hunting are sensitive to what they see. Be respectful and considerate.

You ARE responsible for what you do in the field (or at the range) and you are liable for what happens when you pull the trigger.

[SouthTX1911]

Ill give 2 embarrassing and frightening personal stories. I am 29 and have grown up my entire life on guns. I literally used to use a gun as a teething toy (old revolver frame). I have always prided myself on never ever accidentally firing a gun.

2 years ago I got invited to go on a hunt at the King Ranch for Nilgai. My dad has a .375 H&H that I was thinking about taking. I went into his gun closet and was checking it out. There are really dim lights in there and I just pulled the bolt to check that it was unloaded with my finger and pushed it closed. I should have known as soon as that bolt gave me any resistance that there was something wrong. I was gonna dry fire it to get a feel for the trigger and just had it pointed up at the wall and pulled. I will never forget what happened as along as I live. I wouldn't have believed it myself but at the very instant that firing pin dropped I knew. It was like time stopped for a brief second. There was a very distinct sound when it hit and then BOOM! Right through the wall and into my dad's study and into the other wall. I had my kids and my wife in the house with me and it scares me to death to think what could have happened if I had not pointed it where it went.

The other is NEVER EVER hunt with a gun that is known to go off without pulling the trigger and the safety is on. My brother had a bolt action 410 that would literally just go off. It had only happened once before so we thought it was our fault. My brother and I were walking on a road with a bit of a bank on the left. He had the gun and was on my left and that thing just went off and threw dirt everywhere. The biggest issue with this whole situation was that my little sister and my little cousin were walking perfectly parallel with us right on top of the bank. That shot went about 3 ft below them. I absolutely dread the thought of what could have happened if the ground were level that day. That gun was never used another day after that.