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Dog Steps On Gun, Kills Hunter
The scary thing is, this is the second such incident we’ve posted here this hunting season.
From the Associated Press:
A tracking dog apparently stepped on a loaded shotgun in the bed of his owner's pickup truck, firing a fatal blast into the man's thigh during a goose hunt, officials said.
Perry Alvin Price III died at a hospital Saturday from severe blood loss from his femoral artery shortly after the southeast Texas accident.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gILlPeVHHSXbYzMqbzH0T0cWVIpgD8U1KQA81
Mind boggling!
Why in the world would "anybody" lay a shotgun in the bed of a pickup, much less a loaded gun! Especially with an uncrated dog in the bed!
Once again, amazed, though not surprised!
Bubba
Posted by: Bubba | January 08, 2008 at 01:11 PM
Is it the media, or the hunter?!
A goose hunter with a "tracking" dog?
Bubba
Posted by: Bubba | January 08, 2008 at 01:14 PM
I say this everytime, but it's true. It's amazing how one moment of not thinking, stupidity, laziness, sloppiness, (whatever you wish to call it) can lead to injury or death.
Unload your gun when not in use.
Guns are one area in life where you can't assume anything.
Unload your gun when not in use.
Jim
Posted by: jstreet | January 08, 2008 at 01:16 PM
I think its pretty remarkable that we can comment on almost every hunting incident that occurs in the U.S. and Canada. Most of us have been trained since we were little that guns are dangerous. Jim's rules above are things we learned, probably before our teens. Yet, every year, someone forgets. Its sad but our safety record is pretty good.
YooperJack
Posted by: YooperJack | January 08, 2008 at 01:37 PM
Yooper,
You are correct. Hunters have a very good safety record.
It's just sad to see people die for silly reasons. It's like drunk driving. It's preventable.
Jim
Posted by: jstreet | January 08, 2008 at 01:55 PM
Like Darwin says "survival of the smartest".
Posted by: joe bob | January 08, 2008 at 03:33 PM
Well, that's a mistake he won't be making again.
Posted by: Blue Ox | January 08, 2008 at 10:17 PM
Well put, Blue Ox.
Posted by: Joel | January 09, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Sad. I have a fear of my Lab stepping on my gun while in a blind, too. If I am in a laydown blind or on the ground, I have taken to unloading the chamber on my pump for that very reason. That limits me to two shots, but if I can't hit a goose with two, I'm not likely to hit with a third shot either.
This is a prime example of why it is against the law to have a loaded hunting firearm in a vehicle in almost every state that I know of.
Posted by: WA Mtnhunter | January 09, 2008 at 12:45 PM
I think a similar thing happened to someone in a boat not long ago, as well.
Posted by: WA Mtnhunter | January 09, 2008 at 12:46 PM
WHY WASN`T THE SAFETY ON ? ALWAYS UNLOAD YOUR GUN IF IT`S NOT IN YOUR HANDS.
Posted by: RAYMOND | January 09, 2008 at 05:44 PM
I don't even trust the safety. A friend of mine blew a nice hole in the cab of his pickup when he was removing a loaded shotgun from the gun rack and the trigger caught on the hook. Fortunately for us the only thing wounded was his pride and he did become a model of safety after that incident.
Posted by: John R | January 09, 2008 at 08:29 PM
Speaking of the safety thing.
A friend of mine, who has been nicknamed ''sitfire" from this incident almost blew my head off one time.
We were still stalking in Morganton, NC, and we decided to stop near a thicket for a few minutes to listen. For some reason he went to sit down, and when he did, he used the butt of the gun to ease himself down, (he later said he did this to sit down quielty), but when he put some of his weight on the gun...you guessed it....BAAAAAMMM!
The Mossberg went off! We both immediately looked at each other in astonishment, realizing we were both ok, then we looked at the gun...
Safety was on man.
We decided to call it a day.
I have hunted alone ever since.
Posted by: Tommy S. | January 10, 2008 at 02:12 PM
Isn't North Carolina a state where you can drive around with a loaded weapon in the vehicle. I believe there are a few other states in the dirty south that allow this as well. Perhaps that's why they call it "driving dirty".
Posted by: William | January 11, 2008 at 02:27 AM
I don't know William.
I know I don't make a habit of it.
Posted by: Tommy S. | January 11, 2008 at 01:52 PM
A Remington 870 (most popular shotgun in terms of sheer numbers according to the F&S survey last year) with a trigger guard safety would be easily switched to fire by the same paw that tripped the trigger if it were lying on its left side.
Posted by: WA Mtnhunter | January 11, 2008 at 02:33 PM