Dangers during the Hunt

[kemster99]

oh yeah, and gators. unless they are in season. lol

chuck, its kinda a tough question to answer. for those of us here where i am its someone from south of tilton. about 15 mins down the hiway. but that line seems to be totally relative to where you live. really i think its a mind set as in; it would be just like a flatlander to wear italian shoes out on the ice. or say ick cow poop, or drive 60 in the passing lane of the hiway just to be passed on the right. just to add clarity to the last part, its state law to keep right except to pass.

[cgraves]

I was a very "green" hunter when this happened to me.....I had not been hunting this certain property for very long and was trying to figure out how the deer were moving, I had plans to walk to the very back part and set on the ground, I got up plenty early and was in the woods way before legal shooting time, no moon and you talk about dark, walking through the woods as stealthy as I could and would stop every few steps and listen, as I was standing there I heard something walking in the woods, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh........I could not see it but immediately pulled the hammer back on my 30/30 and held it in the direction of the noise, I bet it was no further than 5 yards away, I never saw it and it just walked right on past me......Don't know if it was a deer, coyote or what but really unnerved me. My bro-in-law has seen a big cat and says he has found bear tracks very close to where this happened to me. I very seldom hunt on the ground now and when I do I think about that one scary morning.cdg"??"

[huntr-]

Originally Posted by cgraves

I was a very "green" hunter when this happened to me.....I had not been hunting this certain property for very long and was trying to figure out how the deer were moving, I had plans to walk to the very back part and set on the ground, I got up plenty early and was in the woods way before legal shooting time, no moon and you talk about dark, walking through the woods as stealthy as I could and would stop every few steps and listen,

......Don't know if it was a deer, coyote or what but really unnerved me. My bro-in-law has seen a big cat and says he has found bear tracks very close to where this happened to me. I very seldom hunt on the ground now and when I do I think about that one scary morning.cdg"??"

This is excactly what I worry about. I don't mean to offend you but this is a scary situation. You had the gun set to fire and did not identify the target.I hope that you see things differently now that you have more experience.

[hunt NH]

i see bolth sides of that piont. if it was an animal, such as a big cat you would need to be ready to rock and roll at a seconds notice. at the same time you cant be just pionting your wepon at a niose you herd without knowing what it is. it very well could have been another hunter you were pointing your locked and loaded gun at. and with the adrenalen pumping through you you never know if you might acidently pull the trigger. hear is what i would do in that situation. i would pull the hammer back so the gun is ready to point and shoot. then i would position my self quarted towasrds the noise, and stand at the Low Ready position. (for you non military gents. the low ready position is the wepon is shouldered, but aimed at a 45 degree angle down to the ground. the trigger finger sits just out side of the trigger well, but not in it.) there for you can piont and shoot in a split second, but never aim before identifying your target.

[redman5850]

We have rattlesnakes,copperheads. But I only get the chance to deer hunt in November and have never seen them out that late in the year. ( thank God because I'm scared senseless of snakes ) But it's not an animal that had me worried this past season, I ground hunt due to a minor problem of being afraid of heights but I had a lot of falling trees and really big branches falling really close to me this year.

[rdrader2002]

"Low Ready Position" - boy does that bring back some memories and I'm very thankful/grateful/etc. that I never had to actually "fire a shot in anger" so to speak. But that's definitely some good advice.

When hunting with my #2 son, I have taught him (and me, too) not to put the finger on the trigger until target identified and ready to shoot. The fingertip remains outside the trigger guard until the very last moment. I try to put it along side the receiver above the trigger until my heart stops racing and the adrenalin slows a bit. (Sorry, I still get quite worked up when I see a good sized doe or buck downrange from my hunting spot.)

I've headed out plenty of times in the pitch black of near dawn (it's always darkest right before dawn, right?), but I'm fortunate to know exactly the terrain I'm walking over. There's little chance that I'll run across a snake, but I still walk slow so they have plenty of time to get where they're going before I get there. (Is it true that they're just as afraid of us as we are of them?)

[Hunting Man]

Flatlander, I think I might resemble that remark, living here in the ohio flatlands. This is how we use the term as opposed to mountain folk!

[Kreygh]

#3 = Rattle snakes, though I have never run up on one over 31 years hunting here in Northeast Georgia or 15 years roaming the woods in south Florida

#2 = falling trees

#1 = poachers on my hunting land...in Georgia, if you don't have written permission to hunt you are a poacher! I walk to my stands in darkness and I always wonder who is out there.

Originally Posted by Hunting Man

Flatlander, I think I might resemble that remark, living here in the ohio flatlands. This is how we use the term as opposed to mountain folk!

yup born in vt so that means i have one leg longer than the other for walking around the mts.