Waterfowl Hunter Shot - Apparent Accident. Iowa.

[Sytes]

Unfortunate setting.

No real substance to understand the setting. The little shared notes he was shot in the face by a member of his hunting party.

I'm trying to visualize potential methods...
Maybe in blind, one set a shotgun down hot and a twig/other set into the trigger guard?

Ugh. Gut wrenching.

Prayers with family and friends.

Illinois man dies after being fatally shot in face by fellow hunter, authorities say

Authorities in central Iowa say an Illinois hunter has died after being shot in the face by someone in his hunting party.

apnews.com

 

[Gellar]

2nd fatal hunting incident in Iowa this fall.

 

[Nick87]

Unfortunate setting.

No real substance to understand the setting. The little shared notes he was shot in the face by a member of his hunting party.

I'm trying to visualize potential methods...
Maybe in blind, one set a shotgun down hot and a twig/other set into the trigger guard?

Ugh. Gut wrenching.

Prayers with family and friends.

Illinois man dies after being fatally shot in face by fellow hunter, authorities say

Authorities in central Iowa say an Illinois hunter has died after being shot in the face by someone in his hunting party.

apnews.com

Dang, sad to read. That's one thing about waterfowl hunting that can be dangerous. Multiple guns in a small area. I know a local kid who piles up geese every weekend. I've got an open invitation to go on any given day. I always tell him I appreciate it and respectfully decline. Great kid, hell of a caller and hunter but it's always at least a group of anywhere from 8 to 12 guys. Not for me. I just don't enjoy being in the blind with 10 guys guns loaded that I hardly know.

 

[mdcrossbow]

Duck hunting is a whole different bread of hunters. I've done more then my fair share of goose and duck.
Close range partners. Left center right. Next man up. Simple guidelines to keep your buddy safe.
I've hunted with groups but prefer to be lone hunter or one partner.
Prayers for the hunters family and the hunter who has to live with his actions.

 

[seeth07]

Shotgun shells and water are scary. Last fall I pulled the trigger on a duck and nothing happened. I lowered my gun and 2 seconds later it went off with gun flying out of my hands and into the river. Thankfully I was smart about lowering my gun and pointed it in a safe direction away from my dog and partner. Scariest thing that has ever happened to me hunting and it very well could have been a very bad accident

 

[Bullshot]

I’ve made a couple mistakes waterfowling…

Worst… Me and buddy swinging on inbound geese from a boat. Both following along as they pass by the side. Barrels started out pointing away from us, but with shifting angle and rotation, his barrel swung away while mine swung towards him. He was never in front but the muzzle distance to his ear diminished… I wonder if he’s still ringing.

Second worst… Hunting from shore tight on a creek at passing woodies. Had gun butt on the ground, muzzle up but more or less right off my face as I crouched holding the gun with gloved hands, finger straight next to trigger guard. As ducks got set to dove in, I released the safety and waited… 3-2-1 take em! The 12ga went off just as I tensed to stand and shoot. Apparently, the tip of my glove was into the trigger guard. I must gave looked for a hole in the brim of my hat 10 times… was shocked it was intact. Ears sure rang for a bit…..

its a chaotic, slippery, cold endeavor, boats tight blinds, on-ice, etc. . Every mistake had an obvious cause or a mental slip, easy to see in hindsight, less so in advance among the world of possibilities. Gotta be extra careful, that way when a mistake does happen, you have some buffer, and it becomes a lesson without real consequence.

 

[338win]

Shotgun shells and water are scary. Last fall I pulled the trigger on a duck and nothing happened. I lowered my gun and 2 seconds later it went off with gun flying out of my hands and into the river. Thankfully I was smart about lowering my gun and pointed it in a safe direction away from my dog and partner. Scariest thing that has ever happened to me hunting and it very well could have been a very bad accident

Watched that happen 20 years ago. Guy next to me pulled trigger on a pump gun and brought his gun back down. Went off as he was pulling it down. Shot tree limbs off out in front of his face

 

[marshman]

Watched that happen 20 years ago. Guy next to me pulled trigger on a pump gun and brought his gun back down. Went off as he was pulling it down. Shot tree limbs off out in front of his face

Yep, damp - wet primers are not as common an issue as they once were but it still happens. 10 commandments of gun safety are followed and everyone goes home.

 

[seeth07]

Yep, damp - wet primers are not as common an issue as they once were but it still happens. 10 commandments of gun safety are followed and everyone goes home.

Absolutely no doubt. In that exact scenario, its simply pure human reaction that only occurs from repeatedly doing the same good practice over and over. When a gun doesn't go off like you expect and birds are flying and your adrenaline is pumping, there is no way in your mind you are going "ok I need to lower my gun to check why it didn't fire and when I do so, make sure my finger that is currently in the trigger guard since I just tried to fire a round is removed and that my barrel is in a safe direction". Its just pure reaction and hopefully your training has you reacting correctly

 

[nastynate]

Absolutely no doubt. In that exact scenario, its simply pure human reaction that only occurs from repeatedly doing the same good practice over and over. When a gun doesn't go off like you expect and birds are flying and your adrenaline is pumping, there is no way in your mind you are going "ok I need to lower my gun to check why it didn't fire and when I do so, make sure my finger that is currently in the trigger guard since I just tried to fire a round is removed and that my barrel is in a safe direction". Its just pure reaction and hopefully your training has you reacting correctly

FWIW, I had a broken firing pin in a shotgun recently. Got it fixed of course, but apparently it could have been broken and functioning for a while in that state, which is a dangerous state. I believe the safety issue that could have happened in that instance is that when I pumped the gun to load another shell it would have immediately fired b/c the pin would be stuck in the firing position and hit the primer when cycled. Thankfully that didn't happen.

In any case, good to carefully inspect all your guns routinely for such issues and if you don't know how to do that, have a smith do it.

 

[Sytes]

I've only gone a few occasions for water - geese/duck and the aspects learned reading this thread has opened my eyes. Never knew of the wet primer delayed boom. AND a 12g / 20g pop off...

How do you manage the question whether it's a dud primer or wet?

This has left me, sure as snot, to not discharge a dud by breaching my over/under!

Sounds as if no fire, hold as if firing a long fissure muzzy... Keep lined on the target until it pops.

 

[seeth07]

I've only gone a few occasions for water - geese/duck and the aspects learned reading this thread has opened my eyes. Never knew of the wet primer delayed boom. AND a 12g / 20g pop off...

How do you manage the question whether it's a dud primer or wet?

This has left me, sure as snot, to not discharge a dud by breaching my over/under!

Sounds as if no fire, hold as if firing a long fissure muzzy... Keep lined on the target until it pops.

I have shot literally thousands of rounds through a shotgun. Actually probably 10s of thousands. Granted mostly just trap loads. But still lots of waterfowl loads, dozens of cases. I've only ever had 2 duds that just didn't fire altogether and rhe 1 delayed one. So it's very rare

 

[Gellar]

Unfortunate setting.

No real substance to understand the setting. The little shared notes he was shot in the face by a member of his hunting party.

I'm trying to visualize potential methods...
Maybe in blind, one set a shotgun down hot and a twig/other set into the trigger guard?

Ugh. Gut wrenching.

Prayers with family and friends.

Illinois man dies after being fatally shot in face by fellow hunter, authorities say

Authorities in central Iowa say an Illinois hunter has died after being shot in the face by someone in his hunting party.

apnews.com

Unfortunately we probably won’t see any more details on this accident investigation publicly. Usually, the DNR releases the reports to hunters Ed instructors as part of our annual training. If/when they do I will circle back and share.

 

[Lab]

I had a friend invite me to his goose blind one morning. He invited a newbie too. Should have declined but didn't know till I got there. While swinging and shooting on geese the newbie swings right onto my buddies gun and blows the barrel off and gun out of his hand. So scary. Everyone just sits down in pit and doesn't say a word. We all get up and pick up and leave without so much as a word exchanged between anyone. Never went out again with that friend.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

A good reminder. Safety always on and pointed in a safe direction. A bird is never worth risking injury to a friend or yourself

 

[howl]

I find that putting safety first results in a missed opportunity here and there.

 

[thusby]

10 year old kids can master all of the basic hunting safety principles to prevent this…. Adults on the other hand ……

 

[Gellar]

10 year old kids can master all of the basic hunting safety principles to prevent this…. Adults on the other hand ……

I talk about this in my hunters Ed classes. Just because grandpa does it, doesn’t mean it’s right and you can speak up if you something you know is wrong!

 

[Dave N]

I find that putting safety first results in a missed opportunity here and there.

You saying safety is secondary to you?

 

[Nick87]

I talk about this in my hunters Ed classes. Just because grandpa does it, doesn’t mean it’s right and you can speak up if you something you know is wrong!

I catch myself doing things all the time that 12 year old me never would have. Complacency kills.