The above Quad City Iowa man, Mike Burson (holding his x-ray), was shot in the back of the head after another turkey hunter, John Adams, stalked up on Burson's calls for 45 minutes. Burson moved his head, Adams thought it was a turkey and unloaded a load of #5's at 22 yards! :eek:
Burson survived with over 100 copper plated #5's in his head and heck, that are slowly working back out. :shock:
Adams helped get Burson to help and later Burson invited Adams over for a beer and to talk it over.
Here's the link to the newspaper article -
http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1027124&t=Local+News&c=2,1027124I'm at a loss for words after reading this over and over. You guys have to read this article! I think Burson's either the most forgiving man I've ever heard of, or he has lead poisoning!!! Keep it safe out there!!!!
Edit: and before calling your wife to tell her you've been shot in the head call 911 first!!! Man, I'm still shaking my head on this one!
And here's the article so you don't have to link to it.
Q-C man carries souvenirs in head of hunting trip gone badBy Linda Cook
With a head full of buckshot, Mike Burson of Davenport talks turkey.
He hopes that, after folks see his X-rays and hear about the bizarre accident that left him full of lead, hunters might be more careful and someones life could be saved.
Burson, 40, has been hunting since he was 8 years old, and hunting turkey in particular for about 15 years. So it was natural for him to head out with his brother-in-law Jeff Boese, of Davenport, in quest of turkey near Postville, Iowa, in the northeastern part of the state when the hunting season began April 12.
Mike Burson, of Davenport, was shot with more than 100 buckshots in a turkey hunting accident earlier this month. Doctors couldnt do much but clean up the wounds, but he did receive a souvenir X-ray showing where the shot still is lodged in his head.
They awoke at 3 a.m. in search of birds Burson had spotted earlier. Turkey hunters, Burson said, dont stalk their prey; instead, We wait for them to come to us. He and Boese split up.
Burson found a brush pile and camouflaged himself in the brush, where he was propped up on a log. He used a hen turkey call every half hour to 45 minutes to attract the birds, he says.
About 6 p.m., he heard a shotgun blast, blanked out for maybe a second, then realized I felt it in the back of my head. I hollered out, Hey, you shot me, and rolled off the log.
Burson turned to see a man pointing a shotgun at him about 22 yards away. For a moment, the two hunters froze with their guns pointed at each other, then both put their guns down. How bad is it? Burson asked the other hunter, who identified himself as John Adams.
He started panicking, Burson remembers. Adams walked to Bursons truck, helped Burson in the truck and drove him to a friends home, where Burson had been staying for his hunting trip. I asked him, What were you possibly thinking?
I took my headnet off, and it was covered with blood, Burson remembers. He then called his wife, Lori, three hours away in Davenport, on his cell phone.
I thought he was going to be dying on me, she said. I thought the whole back of his head had been blown off. Her daughter, Trysta, 18, was at home at the time. I was glad she wasnt alone, Trysta said.
Meanwhile, in the Waukon area, several people were at the house when Adams pulled up with Burson. I kept saying, Somebody tell me how bad it is, Burson says. Someone called 911, an ambulance was dispatched, and Burson soon was on his way to a Waukon hospital. I was at the hospital for about an hour, said Burson, who refused pain medication. They told me it wasnt life threatening. There wasnt much they could except clean it up. And they gave me the X-rays.
In the X-rays, its easy to see the No. 5 shots of tiny copper-coated lead pellets. It was loaded in a full turkey choke, which results in a tight pattern of shot. Ive killed turkeys at 50 yards with the same shell, Burson said.
Later, when Bursons wife arrived, Burson called Adams and his family to have a beer and talk things over. We sat down and had a beer together, and I told him there are no hard feelings, says Burson, who says Adams is a basket case right now. He told me he wont ever hunt turkey again. Adams, who had been tracking Bursons calls for about 45 minutes, apparently saw Burson move his head while he was calling, saw the movement and shot the movement, Burson says.
I tried to make him feel better because he never wants to hunt again, Burson said. I told him not to give up hunting, just be more careful. Turkey hunting is the most dangerous hunting there is, Burson said.
Burson doesnt plan on giving up hunting, either. Turkey and deer trophies hang on the walls of his home in fact, hes waiting for a record-book turkey with five beards to be returned from a taxidermist. Some of his hunting trophies literally are part of him: Burson has a tattoo of a deer head on one arm and a long-horned sheep on the other.
Within the last few days, Burson and his wife have worked some of the pellets out. They pop out a lot easier after hes just had a shower, she said. More than 100 pellets were lodged in his back, his neck, his head and his jaw.
Burson, who works in a coal yard in Muscatine, Iowa, is using up his vacation days because he doesnt want to immediately return to work and risk infection In addition to the buck shot, he also has whiplash and a hairline fracture in his skull. He will be back hunting at the end of the month, he says.
Hes thankful that he was wearing three shirts. One of them was a new $47 Marine Corps digital-camouflage shirt, which is now liberally ventilated with pellet holes.
Burson wants to share the story of his accident, which might be the first hunting accident of the year in Iowa, with others as a warning to be cautious when hunting. If we can get one lesson out of that, Ill be a good deal, he said.
Two years ago, I shot a record turkey, he says matter-of-factly. This year, I got shot.
The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2245 or newsroom@qctimes.com.
later,
scruffy
