Group hunt,safety issues

H

HiBC

New member
Suppose its early season pheasant hunting.I live in town,and the opportunity to join folks in farmland great pheasant hunting comes along.
I am an appreciative guest.
I use a double,and break it open as we return to the trucks.Most folks use repeaters.
This will be a collection of the good local folks.

It seems like I can usually expect a few will place there shotgun on their shoulder,shoulder arms.The muzzles will be pointed the opposite direction from their eyes.The actions are closed.As they interact,the muzzles wave around all over. Occasionally I am ducking,dodging and weaving to avoid that view down the bore.

It is a socially difficult situation.

How do YOU handle it?
 
Polite as I can be, I smile and say, "Whoa. Careful there. Is it just me or does everyone like having a gun pointed at them?" (Add a courtesy chuckle - try to keep it friendly.)

Or, be really animated for humorous effect. Duck and sway around their barrel, then hit the ground and cover your head. Use expletives but with a grin. (This one depends on familiarity with the audience.)

You're in the right to remind them about safety rather than ignore it, but other approaches might be perceived as personal attack, even though it's no such thing.

I've also found myself in groups just too thick with morons. Remove yourself and don't look back. Whether it's an accidental discharge or something else, it's just a matter of time until something happens. They're not worth it. Adios!
 
If going out with a handful of people you don't know well you have to have your guard up. The whole gun handling thing, loading, unloading etc.. A few words about shooting lanes & discipline when a bird is flushed would also be in order. Nothing wrong with limiting the active shooters in a larger group.

I would mention safety lapses if they came up. If they were to continue, I'd be gone.
 
LateNightFlight + 2

In large groups like this, you usually designate or gravitate to a hunt leader. It might be the land owner or a relative. In a positive way, point out to him, who might be reckless and have him say something. Keep in mind that to varying degrees, you are the invite outsider. If you want to be invited again, keep it positive.




Be Safe !!!!
 
When I was in high school a lot of us went on deer drives with one of our favorite teachers. My last hunt with him was one where I was at my designated spot, a couple of hundred yards from him and he shot two deer which happened to be between us. I wasn't hit but the buckshot landed all around me. A couple of weeks later he had another hunt but decided to quit going with him.
 
I take a real dim view of being hit by shot. Since it happened to me once, It will not happen again! If they are not handling their firearms correctly, let them know before hand and in no uncertain terms. Safety first. If you cant do that, then you dont belong out in the field.
 
Ask if any of them are named Cheney!
Click to expand...
I'd still rather hunt with Cheney than drive with Kennedy!

But on to your topic, +1 to the above. One thing that is hard to do when you are in the moment is to remove yourself from the situation. These may be folks you want to have a good impression with or not offend. However, is it worth your life? I'm not trying to be dramatic here, but cut to the chase. After all, death is a realistic worst case scenario, right?

If you see some questionable handling "techniques", I'd gently say something, but if it continued, I'd politely excuse myself.

Similar thing happened to me on a dove hunt and I wandered off to my own little part of the area away from the offenders. Had a good time by myself, shot some dove, and didn't get myself shot in the process.
 
I've also found myself in groups just too thick with morons. Remove yourself and don't look back. Whether it's an accidental discharge or something else, it's just a matter of time until something happens. They're not worth it. Adios!

Good advice.

We hunted deer all the time in Georgia. We always hunted from tree stands.
One day, two buddies and I decided to do a drive.
I positioned myself at one end of the woods, near the road.
My buddies were 1/4 mile away, and walked towards me through the woods, and didn't try to be quiet.
We all had rifles.
I got a spike, and my buddy got a doe!
But, it scared hell out of me thinking of all that could have gone wrong.
We never did another drive.
 
If it was me, I would start the hunt, before we went afield, by saying something like "Since we have a good size group today, let's talk about how we are going to line up and hunt this patch in the safest way possible. I don't know about you guys, but nothing ruins a hunt quicker for me than getting muzzle-swept by a 12 guage." It might make everyone a little more concious of where their weapons are pointing.
 
In our group of 10-15 we all have radios and discuss where everyone will be before, during, and after the drive. We always know what way we can and can not shoot before we start the drives. I had to let many deer go that were very close to me but on the wrong side of my safe line. It does suck watching them walk away but we follow our rules 100%. No exceptions
 
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