Modern Firearm Close Calls Or Worse

[Pegasus]

The modern firearm seasons are arriving shortly. A lot of hunters are running around with weapons that will travel a mile or more. Who has experienced having a close call with a bullet during the modern seasons? I know I have on numerous occasions and it eventually caused me to abandon hunting with a rifle for many years. Now for health reasons I have returned to hunt with a rifle. Share your stories and maybe someone will think twice before pulling that trigger.

[PastorJoel]

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,217041.msg2889427.html#msg2889427

Brush picker in a 'bear costume.'  On the west side, always look out for brush pickers!!

[Scheindogg]

I was thinking of that exact post when I saw this post 

[NRA4LIFE]

First time antelope hunting, opening day in Montana in '89.  I heard this zing right over the top of me.  Then another.  I took cover.  Never knew where it came from.  Had no idea how close they might have been. 

[MrSmallington]

last year was hunting mule deer north of Ellensberg. about 25-30 yards off the road and down a hill watching the water and a clear cut.  had road hunters about once or twice an hour. So there I was back to a tree and  hearing a truck approach when he fires right above me! Hit dirt to the left of me about 10 feet away. No joke about 10 feet! I was wearing my a vest and an orange beanie. I also carry little flags to tack to trees when I set up a little posts like i did. I got up pissed and ran to the road just in time to see the old man pull over rifle hanging out the driver side window and kick the door open. I yelled and asked if he saw anything and if he saw me. Asked me if I was bleeding and told me to "sack up" then proceeded to hike up hill just firing into the trees! I was dumbfounded and beyond angry. took his plate ( wanted to slash his tires ) and waited 45 mins till he returned empty handed. Figure he was trying to push them to someone? Either way I ended up letting him know he came close to hitting me again, and that its people like him that ruin hunting, the good times in the woods and give hunters a bad name. his response was simply "good luck now". Hiked back to camp and next 3 days saw nothing.

[Wetwoodshunter]

I had a buddy in high school that showed up one day with a bullet hole in the windshield of his truck. He was driving down a logging road by west twins near Joyce and as he was going through the forest a bullet went right through his window. He called fish and wildlife and they found the hunter that had shot his truck.

The enforcement officer told my friend that the hunter said, "he thought it was the glint of the sun off the antlers of a buck"

[Fish4Fun]

We hunt the wheat country North of Moses Lake for deer, a couple of years ago while sitting in the wide open on a grass nob I spot a legal buck and some doe’s heading our way across the wheat. There was a guy on the other side of a sage hill across the county road from our spot. Didn’t see him until the deer was almost past him, he stands up shoots and misses 2 times at the buck. I figure at this point he is done shooting, since the buck is going to cross a blacktop county road. Actually the buck was going to run within 50 yards of my truck as he crossed the road. Nope, our ace shooter is now shooting towards our 2 trucks and the deer is in the middle of the road. Now the buck is right below my brother and I, so I figure since it isn’t hit I will knock it down 25 yards away as it goes past. The ace shooter is now shooting past our trucks, across the county blacktop road and almost right in line with us. Good thing we were elevated on the hill as he was blasting away. He finally hits the deer from 300 yards away, and hit hit the dirt 25 yards from the 2 of us. I wanted to go down off the hill and stomp the daylights out of Ace Shooter, but my older brother thought I shouldn’t with guns being involved.  He dressed the deer out with me telling him what a fine hunter and shot he was though. Fastest I have ver seen a mule deer gutted and loaded into a truck.

[Pegasus]

I think the worst time for me was when I was hunting in GMU 336 up above Taneum Creek. I was elk hunting with a buddy who had a cow tag. I lost contact with my buddy and towards evening decided to stake out on the edge of a huge clearing up in there in an area called Skull Springs. I didn't have long to wait before a giant cow elk came out of the woods behind me and walked by me at a range of twenty feet from me to enter the meadow. My buddy was nowhere to be seen and I had seen no other hunters. I watched the cow walk about another twenty feet when I heard a rifle crack and then a second shot. At that point I realized the cow was the target. I dove into a ditch by the logging road. The elk was confused and just froze in place. Suddenly there were shots coming from all around the perimeter of the clearing from four or five hundred yards away. The cow moved forward into the clearing and the volley of shots increased. Over a hundred rounds were fired before the cow went down. I got up out of the ditch and approached the cow after the shooting finally stopped. After all of that shooting I could see only one bullet hole in the elk. A few minutes later hunters started to arrive after a long walk from the perimeter of the clearing. In all there were about ten hunters that came down. One of the first to arrive turned to me and asked "How did you get down here so quickly?" I pointed out the ditch forty feet away and said that I had hid in the ditch while the shooting was happening. The hunter then turned without saying anything more to me and started shouting "Anyone got a cow tag? Someone better get a tag on that cow. Who's got a cow tag?". I never did see anyone tag that cow but I wasn't about to wait around to see.

[trapp01]

I was in the big bend area hunting private property. I was working up the opposing side of a ridge line trying to head off a buck when I thought my rifle went off. I checked my safety and pulled a live round out of the chamber. Then the buck I was working rolled down the hill about 20' up from me and stood up and that's when I heard "hit him again". I'll never forget the sound of a bullet smacking that buck 20' away. They shot 200yrds over a canyon and over my head.

[Fish4Fun]

We hunt the Bethel unit for elk, in 46 seasons you see some crazy stuff. I have an elk stand that I like to sit on and then we trade it around the camp as the season goes on. So one opening morning I am on the stand and my brother is up the ridge out of sight from me. I hear elk coming in the timber and then rocks rolling as they hit the opening. That is when the shooting starts from the ridge high above us. 19 shots later, and a couple of pauses to reload the shooters pause again I am guessing to reload again. Then I hear the sound of my brothers .300 Win Mag bark. He yells to me to come up, so I start up to him and we walk over to the spike bull. That is about the time we hear a bang from above and the sound of the bullet whistle past. Then I hear the words “Get the F&*K Away From Our Elk”.  I tell my brother stay at the elk I am going to call camp from the truck radio. Camp arrives at the elk, as one of the 2 shooters get to the elk, it has been at least 40 minutes now. We have the elk dressed out as they guy walks up and see’s one hole in it from the opposite side they were shooting at. We actually had to pull the elk away as others watched our backs from this guy. His last remark was “The next SOB that takes an elk I am shooting at, will be found next Spring after the snow melts”.  I truly think he would have shot one of in the back as we left had we not had elk camp helping us.

[Band]

This is a good place to implore people to never, NEVER use your rifle scope to get a closer look at other hunters.  This is obvious to established hunters but newbies sometimes don't "get" the danger in doing that.  And all of us have had that happen to us a number of times so the problem is real and ongoing.

Please don't be part of the problem, and take it from me, simply flipping off a "scoper" doesn't work, it simply makes them extend the time they scope you while trying to figure out why they are being flipped off.  A better tactic is to yell at the person to quit pointing their gun at you, even if it scares off all the game in the area.

[ctwiggs1]

This is a good place to implore people to never, NEVER use your rifle scope to get a closer look at other hunters. 

  

[MrSmallington]

I find the combination of comment and profile pic of the guy above me hilarious.   

[Stein]

I was in a very small public spot in MT, only one section with a road through the middle.  I bachelor group of bulls were pushed into our section but up toward the north end where another group of hunters was.  I was about 30 yards on the west side if the road down on the south side.

They opened up and sent the elk running south toward me at full speed.  Two rather portly guys ran out of the truck and joined the two already shooting.  By this time, they are taking Texas heart shots at elk at a full sprint about 450 yards away.  One guy had a semi auto and let go with 8, along with at least two of the others - all standing on the road shooting offhand.  By the time the semi opened up, they were a good 800 yards away and I started to see rounds hitting the dirt about 50 yards from me directly across the road.  They were ricocheting all over the place and there was absolutely nothing to hide behind so I ate dirt.  The last shot rang out just as they left state land.  Since they were 10 yards south of the northern edge, that means they shot offhand past me at a running elk that was 1 mile-10 yards away.

I packed up and let them know my thoughts, we'll leave it at that.  Never saw them again in the following three years I hunted that spot.  Super dangerous and totally stupid as we could have easily tagged all 4 bulls if he had a bit of patience and intelligence.

I talk to guys in there now and tell them where the elk will come from if they come, where they will go, what I'm going to do and what they should do.  Cooperate and we'll all be safe and get our elk.  90% thank me, 10% blow it off because they obviously know better.

When you get herds of 4-150 animals in a small space with multiple groups of road hunters things can get interesting.

[JeffRaines]

Reading some of this stuff, man. This is the kind of stuff people should lose their hunting licenses over.