Be safe out there during hunting season. Our local newspaper carried an AP story from New Hampshire saying that Robert Lapointe shot himself in the hand with his 50 caliber muzzleloader. He was trying to lift his loaded (and primed and cocked?) muzzleloader into his tree stand via a rope. The authorities suspect it got caught in some branches. BOY was it caught! Most folks tie the rope somewhere near the wrist or rear part of the trigger guard...which puts the bulk of the weight forward of the rope and the MUZZLE DOWN!

To make matters worse, this was not an in-the-dark hoist...it was 1:45 p.m. Granted, it was opening day.

Sparks

I have a friend I was hunting with, back in Minnesota in the late 70s or 80s. He had a plains rifle he'd stocked himself, .45 Douglas barrel 1 and 1/8" across the flats (heavy barrel) and a Dixie lock, if I remember. He and another guy were up in a couple of nearby trees. The other guy shot a deer, they took care of it, then climbed back up in their trees to see if something else would come along. My friend pulled his rifle up with a rope. Rather weak mainspring, obviously a cap on the tube as he hadn't shot it yet; branch caught the hammer, gun went off. Big scare, no harm done. (I don't know if he had to change drawers afterwards...) He's a good shooter and a gunsmith, so it can happen to anyone.

Dick

Some people seem to work very hard at becoming Darwin Award winners.

Yup opening day/weekend of Muzzleloader season. Not sure what happened with this gentleman. News is rare here on the weekend. Makes us all look bad though. I guess, as Sparks said, let's all be safe out there this season. Hey we would all like to fill the freezer, but use comon sense. Who knows why someone would hoist a ML loaded and primed into a tree apparently muzzle first! I guess it could have been and in-line or something, but still. Hey for other greenhorns if you don't know the answer, ask, everyone will help. Be safe and good luck this season.

Stone River

Amen! It CAN happen to anyone. Not just new guys or one week a year hunters. A good friend of mine is firearms instructor for a regional law enforcement academy. He travels all over for training with some of the most experienced guys out there. He has many stories of accidents among well trained shooters. It can be easy to let your gaurd down when you have handled weapons your entire life. We all need to keep our minds on staying safe.

I would like to see the wound..., sounds like a BS story to me. I have heard a bunch of "hunting accident" tales, and they did occur while hunting, but they often don't happen the way folks say they did. Usually they are protecting themselves from a violation or another person like a son or a buddy who actually did the deed. VERY suspicious!

Ya know I've been in the woods most of my life. Used to get paid to run in the woods with a rifle, it was called the infantry, and hardwood trees big enough to hold a tree stand don't normally have branches sticking out from their trunks to snag a trigger nor a hammer. Most of the brush at the base of a tree stand is cleared out so as to make as little noise as possible when the hunter climbs, or is so small that again wouldn't snag a trigger or a hammer..., if it was an inline there ain't no hammer, and it's tough to snag a trigger. Hmmmmm.,,,


LD

Good reminder, no mater how it hapened, to stay alert for others being unsafe and always think safety first in our own actions. It's an awesome experience only if we all come home in the same condition we left.
Happy hunting and stay safe.
Chasing Crow

Most hunting accidents involve the tree stands not the guns. That's where it pays to be really careful.

ALL "ACCIDENTS" involve the HUMAN.Stop to think,plan,them go ahead.If the HUMAN does something foolish or wrong they should exspect to suffer for that,and all to often they do as do those around them.

Yuh think maybe we no longer belong in trees? Over the eons, we've lost the prehesil tails and the long arms that made our knockles drag on the ground.

Some of us still eat bananas though so maybe some of us are slow learners.

Load fast and aim slow

I still drag my knuckles but I know better than pull a gun up a tree muzzle first