buck460XVR
New member
Originally posted by reynolds357:
Well Buck, I definitely do not need it the most. As a certified L.O. Sniper, I know about as much as there is to know about firearms safety and the massive liability that goes with the final resting point of each sent round.
Having said that, there was absolutely nothing taught in my class that was not just pure common sense. In addition to that, much of the information was just plain dumb. I will give you an example. Someone asked "Why do we still have to wear our orange vest once we are in the stand?". His answer was "because someone might mistake you for a turkey and shoot you." There are good reasons for wearing blaze orange in the stand, but being mistaken for a Turkey is not one of them.
As I said, you could be the exception. Maybe your previous extensive training made the Hunter Safety Class so redundant. Yes, hunter safety is just common sense. You would think it would be easy to teach and easy to learn because there are just 4 basic rules of firearm safety, that if followed, would eliminate 99.9% of all firearm related accidents. Most folks know these rules before they attend the class, only need to be reminded of them and practice them a few times so they become habit. Good hunter Safety instructors give scenarios and circumstances to their students that the students might not encounter on a regular basis. Giving them experience and the knowledge to safely handle that scenario if encountered may save someone some grief. As I said before, I have taken the class several times and now help teach them. I still learn something in every class and generally hear of a situation someone has encountered that I haven't. Maybe having an open mind helps. The close minded folks in the classes that think they already know it all, are generally the ones I would not want to hunt beside. Again, you may be the exception.
As for the getting shot because you were mistaken for a turkey....I think it happened 4 times in my state last year. About the average since turkeys have made a comeback and hunting them has become popular. Even the NWTF advises wearing a orange vest when hunting and moving between setups or hanging a piece of blaze orange close to you when in a set-up. The purpose? To avoid being mistaken for a turkey. But then, they probably don't know much about turkey hunting and hunter safety either.