I was terribly sick the morning Dad and Paul loaded up to go hunting on Malmaison Management Area and missed the trip.
The call came in from the Grenada Emergency Room a little after noon that my father had been shot. My mother panicked and we were all unbelieving that it could happen.
Paul told me the story later.
They had set up that morning and were successful in getting two gobblers to answer their calls. They worked them for about an hour trying to get them to come in. Finally after they had hung up again, Dad said he was going to move back a little and maybe Paul could get a shot as they moved in. He moved and called again. The turkeys did move in closer and finally a nice gobbler got close enough to shoot. Paul raised his shotgun. BOOM!!! The shot sounded and Paul looked to see if Dad had shot for some reason. He saw him lying on the ground covered in blood. He rushed to his side and all my Dad could say was "Paul, Why did you shoot me?" Paul tried to stop the blood flow and wipe his face, all the while telling him that it wasn't him and not quite understanding what had happened, when a man stepped out of the woods and ran over to help. He and Paul worked on making Dad comfortable while the man babbled how sorry he was, that he thought my Dad was a turkey.
He had been crawling through the woods for an hour sneaking up on them and was so excited that when he finally saw movement, he fired. They got him up, stopped as much blood flow as possible, put his arms over their shoulders and headed for the truck. Luckily they met their hunting party and with their help, quickly got him into the back of the vehicle. The unknown hunter said he would follow them into the Grenada Hospital. We never saw or heard from him again.
Dad had been on one knee and the shot had slammed him from head to toe. He was wearing shooting glasses and that is the only thing that saved his sight. The doctors picked out the lead as much as they could, put a couple of bandaids on him and sent him home. He still has shot in his skull and jaw today and occassionally a piece comes out of his skin. He is a tough old cuss. He is the most careful person I know of in the woods and has taught us from birth how to be safe in the woods. Still he was shot by one over-anxious hunter. Watch closely and be very careful. Moose has posted a very complete Turkey Hunting Code of Ethics that everyone should review before heading to the woods.
16 comments:
That's exactly why I try not to hunt public lands and very picky about who I hunt with.
very true, I am glad we have our own property now.
I've met more than a few people that have showed me a shot rash.
I wish more people would take safety seriously.
Safety has always been drilled into us and it is always safety first at our camp
Wow what a horrible thing to have happen. I’m glad he wasn’t more seriously injured. People need to be careful when hunting and always identify their target. I don’t know about other states but North Carolina we have far more hunting accidents on private land the we do on public hunting land. We shoot ourselves in the foot whenever we paint a picture that public lands are unsafe while hunting is going on. Hunting is a very safe sport and we should be careful what we say because we are just giving the antis ammo.
I had a drunk cousin shoot across me once tryin' to get a dove. Then he told me to go out there and get the dove. I told him where he could stuff it. That stuff is dangerous as hell. Glad yer dad is OK.
drinking and hunting do not mix. I do not care what the cicumstances. If I see it, I plan on staying as far away as possible.
Moose thanks for the code of ethics, am going to print it out and post at our camp.
Public or private land, safety depends on the people on the property. Choose your hunting companions and areas carefully.
Fantastic Post! Thank you for sharing and a really scary story! I will be hunting bear this year with a bow and yet I am more scared in the woods turkey hunting then I will ever be hunting bear!
No clue as to the identity of the careless hunter? Was he flanked by Secret Service agents?
Sorry. I'm glad your Dad was OK.
thanks Matt, thanks Kevin, it was a long time ago. He is just as mean and ornery as ever these days.
As I live in Africa, I can only tell stories from here.
We seldom or ever share a hunt with others. That does not exclude "idiots with guns" though.
Shooting, Hunting and handling firearms when pissed are not to be recommended.
Blogging you can do though, it does not kill peeps.
Active Army/Military duties sometimes require some form of drunkenness.
if it wasn't for drinking, I couldn't blog at all:)
Dr. Kees please come visit us at the famous Christmas Place.
kees, you can bring your wife but no monkeys
Yikes. How awful. Glad he's alright.
Hi Rex, though it was a long time ago there will always be memories of that hunt and the terrible outcome of it. I'm glad however that it was a good outcome for him and that the story showed other hunters and readers just how dangerous the woods can really be no matter how safe you think you are being while hunting in the field whether hunting on your own land or public lands. Enjoy the times and memories with your family and friends everyone cause you never know when your time will be up on this beautiful land we call earth and then the times are just memories keep alive in our hearts and our writings. Thanks for a wonderful and enlightening post.
Dang, Rex! Hate to hear about things like that!
I still hunt public land, but I try to get as far away from the crowds as I can. Still, you just never know...it's always the one you don't see that gets you.
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