identify your target

[kyhareraiser]

 eveyone's spring turkey season is almost in full swing ,,and here's just a thought....a lot of hunting accidents happen this time of year ,so,,everyone please identify your target b4 pulling the trigger..remember,,once the trigger is pulled you can't recall the shot..evryone stay safe and good luck to everyone .hope all gets that big ole' tom turkey we are after

[Big Nasty]

I know this is kinda late, I mean really late but here it is anyway. kyhareraiser this is EXCELLENT ADVISE, and a wonderful reminder for us all. I just hope come next year everyone remembers.

[Spirithawk]

It doesn't matter what you are shooting at, nor what you are firing with, you should ALWAYS know what is beyond and to both sides of your target. Simply gun safety 101!

[charles p]

Seems that turkey hunting would be among the safest forms of hunting there is - but some idiots will shoot another hunter every year. 

[Graybeard]

Yup amazing how many folks can't tell a human from a turkey. A fellow who used to work for me got shot while turkey hunting. He was in camo head to toe and I seriously doubt he was gobbling. The guy who shot him was a preacher and he sworn he saw the red/gray of a gobbler's head and shot it. He hit Don mostly in the hand which had a camo glove on.

Folks want to see something so badly their mind plays tricks on them and they think they are really seeing something they are not.

Also NEVER gobble on public land or on private land unless you know with 100% certainty you're the only one on the land or that might come onto it.

[Ethan]

I had a friend shot in the leg turkey hunting a few years ago luckily the pellets didn't Peirce the skin and this guy was 6'3 240 pounds and you want to seem some one MAD. That guy left the woods pronto.

[huntswithdogs]

I've not ever quite understood how someone gets shot while spring turkey hunting. There again, I acn't figure anyone getting shot period!
 In the state of Va, a turkey shot during the spring season, HAS to be a bearded bird. Whether it's a hen or gobbler, it gotta have the beard!

A person pulling the trigger on another person, by "mistaken identity", should be charged with either attempted murder or murder if the victim dies, in my opinion.

HWD

[LanceR]

I've not ever quite understood how someone gets shot while spring turkey hunting.

HWD

I can't speak to the experience in other states but here in NY there are often more turkey hunting shooting incidents, and more of them are serious than any other kind of hunting.  When the number of turkey hunters vs the number of deer hunters are figured in the difference is, in some years, more than 10 times the incidents as deer hunting.

Part of the issue is that folks continue to do dumb things like stalking turkey sounds, shooting decoys, shooting at rapidly moving turkeys etc but a lot of it is the nature of public land hunting where everyone is camouflaged.  Especially in the fall season, there are more game seasons open than just turkeys and the camouflaged turkey hunter may get shot by an upland game or rabbit hunter.  Since the turkey hunter is well hidden and holding very still it's hard to blame the bunny or grouse hunter.

Many of the folks that get shot were on the other side of the turkey or decoy and were , of course, well camouflaged and staying very still. 

Other aggravating factors are denser than lead pellets and tighter chokes.  They are seen by many as a way to stretch the distance at which they can harvest a turkey but the same capabilities make them more dangerous to others and the extended ranges make clearing the backstop for your shot tougher.  Several years ago I started using stout Hevi-Shot loads and a really tight choke that patterned well right our to 55-60 yards with enough pellets to drop a tom right now.  About a year into the experience I got my head out of my butt and realized that in the mature hardwood tree stands where I  hunt I wasn't likely to get a shot at those distances and I sure could not have seen a camouflaged hunter on the other side of the bird.

I carry a wide safety orange belt and put it around the tree I'm sitting under.  The turkey don't mind it and anybody anywhere nearby can see it.

My personal feeling is that anyone who uses a decoy on public land or private land where there is more than a very remote chance that another hunter is out there is a fool and so is anyone who stalks a turkey sound.  There are good reasons for the old turkey hunter's phrase "Stalking stinks!"

Lance

[Spirithawk]

Making sure of your target, and what is beyond your target, is basic firearms safety 101. There simply is no excuse for mistaking a human for any type of game. None at all! Since coming very close to being shot myself I have long let it be known that if shot at I SHOOT BACK!

[luckydawg13]

i just saw on the news that a ten year old boy was shot in the head and face up in WI.
KNOW YOUR TARGET

[LanceR]

i just saw on the news that a ten year old boy was shot in the head and face up in WI.
KNOW YOUR TARGET

I suspect that whomever did the shooting knew what his target was but didn't know what was beyond it.  That seems to be a pretty commong thread in these shootings.

As far as "Know your target" does that make it OK to self inflict a gunshot wound?

The one NY turkey hunting fatality last year was self inflicted.  I don't know the particulars but we also had two deer hunters shoot themselves while pulling loaded firearms up into tree stands with a carabiner through the trigger guard.  One of those was fatal.  The other put a 12 gauge slug through his foot on opening morning.  He lives about two miles form me and is a member of one of the clubs I belong to.  He hasn't been into the club since.

Lance

[buck460XVR]

i just saw on the news that a ten year old boy was shot in the head and face up in WI.
KNOW YOUR TARGET

I suspect that whomever did the shooting knew what his target was but didn't know what was beyond it.  That seems to be a pretty commong thread in these shootings.

It was a five year old boy and the warden said the  hunter mistook him for a turkey.................

How in the 'ell does a 5 year old child dressed in camo look like  a Tom Turkey?

[SHOOTALL]

People do crazy things when they get a case of buck , I mean gobbler fever .

[luckydawg13]

i just saw on the news that a ten year old boy was shot in the head and face up in WI.
KNOW YOUR TARGET

I suspect that whomever did the shooting knew what his target was but didn't know what was beyond it.  That seems to be a pretty commong thread in these shootings.

As far as "Know your target" does that make it OK to self inflict a gunshot wound?
 
? WHAT DONT GET IT
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Lance

[LanceR]

i just saw on the news that a ten year old boy was shot in the head and face up in WI.
KNOW YOUR TARGET

I suspect that whomever did the shooting knew what his target was but didn't know what was beyond it.  That seems to be a pretty commong thread in these shootings.

As far as "Know your target" does that make it OK to self inflict a gunshot wound?
 
? WHAT DONT GET IT
 
luckydawg13, I was just wondering whether the folks who manage to shoot themselves knew their target.  No offense meant.  I'm always somewhat surprised at the proportion of accidental shootings that are self inflicted.

Lance
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lance

[Spirithawk]

I believe that rarely are there hunting accidents. Yes they can and do happen, such as ricochetes, dropping a loaded weapon and it fires, a malfuntion of a weapon, ect...... BUT anyone who mistakes a human being for a game animal or bird, and thus deliberately shoots them, did not do so by accident. They did so by careless stupidity! They should at the least be tried for assault with a deadly weapon, and if the victom dies, they should be charged with murder!

[deernhog]

i just saw on the news that a ten year old boy was shot in the head and face up in WI.
KNOW YOUR TARGET

I suspect that whomever did the shooting knew what his target was but didn't know what was beyond it.  That seems to be a pretty commong thread in these shootings.

It was a five year old boy and the warden said the  hunter mistook him for a turkey.................

How in the 'ell does a 5 year old child dressed in camo look like  a Tom Turkey?

Here is my 3 year old grandson that was with me this season when we got this 19 pound bird. He had on a head net and no gloves. I was concerned how white his hands looked after I saw this picture.

[Spirithawk]

A tip that just might save your life is to do as my son and I do. When hunting both turkey and deer we often will walk off several yards from one another and look back. We look for any color that stands out and shouldn't. You'd be surprised at how some seemingly inocent colors appear at a distance with the woods as a background. We try to avoid wearing any color that could be mistaken for a body part of an animal no matter how small the spot of color might be.