Hunting Accident While Chasing Pigs

[DangerRanger]

Some hometown friends of mine prefer to chase pigs with dogs, Polaris Rangers, shotguns, and lever action rifles. They do consistently kill quite a few pigs in this manner.

Well, evidently last weekend a shooter from one ranger shot at a group of pigs with a shotgun, and a buck shot pellet nailed a guy in the back of the head in the opposite Ranger......... The guy that got shot lived and evidently had a very quick recovery. In my opinion, they were EXTREMELY lucky.

Now here is where it gets interesting. They are joking about it and making Dick Cheney jokes about the shooter, and the shooter is just laughing and going along with it! They evidently are convinced that this was a freak accident that it happened in the first place, and the odds of it happening again are slim to none......I'm under the impression they will just go back to hunting like nothing happened......

If that happened in my hunting party, I would still be throwing up! Especially if I was the shooter! I'm curious what the landowners think about this??? And I've seen these guys make fun of guys hunting with expensive thermal and NV equipment (like how I normally hunt now). At least with my spotting and stalking method in the dark, no one has come close to being shot. Shoot we take extra time just to verify there are no livestock or deer in the bullet path.

Just curious what everyone's thought on this is about what happened and how they are reacting. Happy SAFE hunting to anybody that is going this weekend. I finally get to hunt by the Red River some and am anticipating some greater than normal results!

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

I've been shot more than once with shotguns bird hunting in Colorado. Pheasant hunting and quail hunting. Have yelled at guys that were firing my direction multiple times. Always wear eye protection and a good ball cap. lol. If you hunt a lot with lots of different people with moving targets there are going to be close calls. Not saying it should be that way, just is that way.
I almost got shot by my dog. Set my shotgun down on the ground with the safety ON...I was grabbing a still partially alive pheasant and needed both hands, my black lab was trying to help me out and his foot stepped on the safety and the trigger and the gun went off a foot away from my head while bent over. Scared the snot out of me, was checking limbs and dog parts to see what got shot, thankfully nothing got hit but learned a valuable lesson.

 

[Jake]

Yep, I'd still be sick too. It's stories like this that deter landowners from letting us hunt. Glad your friend is ok but they might want to revisit their methods.

 

[Brian Shaffer]

Hog doggers already tend to have a bad reputation with landowners for trespassing reasons, even though not all do it. Add to that the idiot factor of unsafe shooting. It isn't funny. Not in the least.

The ironic thing about freak accidents is that most are not freak. They may be rare or unexpected, but are often quite avoidable and in this case, would not happen with proper safety precautions. Use of the terms "freak" and "accident" by such folks is often just a way of trying to displace responsibility.

I would strongly suggest not hunting with those folks because if they have such an attitude, you can darned well bet it extends into other areas of safety and responsibility.

 

[djones]

well lets see. i've...

been hit with bird shot
hit the deck to avoid being hit with bird shot
was standing next to a guy hit in the throat with pheasant shot

my truck has been shot...
in the bug guard
in the window sun shade
in the antennae
several creases across the top
AND IN THE PASSENGER'S SEAT WHILE I WAS IN THE DRIVERS SEAT!!! 270, also took out the transfer case.

i can't believe i made it to old age.

guess you won't be hog doggin with them anytime soon?

 

[FrankT]

Safety First and nothing to laugh about, good people to avoid. Like Brian said, few if and "freak" accidents but almost all are or were avoidable.

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

I've been shot, (rifle-pistol-bird shot, stabbed) mostly by people who actually liked me (a few of those do exist) . The person who shot me with a rifle moved to Canada b4 I caught up with him, the rest were just mistakes and we laugh about it and moved on.

I wouldn't cast to many stones their way With the amount of ammo we put dow. Range, Karma has a way of finding you.

 

[ZenArchery]

I never want to compare different styles of hunting, especially when it comes to hogs.

I'm not a fan of hog dogging especially since they've pretty much destroyed one of my former hunting spots.

I have also been peppered during dove season.
But if I ended up in the ER bc of someone shooting me. I would never hunt with that party again ever!!!!

 

[OneK]

I've been shot, (rifle-pistol-bird shot, stabbed)

Well, maybe I ought to start calling you "Target" instead of lawdawg! Or maybe even "Sieve"!

 

[DangerRanger]

I've been shot, (rifle-pistol-bird shot, stabbed) mostly by people who actually liked me (a few of those do exist) . The person who shot me with a rifle moved to Canada b4 I caught up with him, the rest were just mistakes and we laugh about it and moved on.

I wouldn't cast to many stones their way With the amount of ammo we put dow. Range, Karma has a way of finding you.

Yeah just clarify, I'm not putting down hog dogging or chasing pigs with vehicles, I've done both and both are a blast. What I was mainly seeking feedback for was how they are reacting and appear to be just blowing this off.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

I wouldn't dwell on it. What is done is done.

 

[znztivguy]

I might be stupid...but I always wear armor under my clothes when shooting or hunting with a number of folks. "Hey man...you look like you gained a little since I saw you!". YEP...its the Macaroons my wife makes.... (wink wink)

 

[Chopperdrvr]

Their light hearted attitude about the situation could just be their way of coping with what could have been a horrible situation. Many people use humor as a way to cope with stress rather than face the seriousness of the situation. I wouldn't think less of them, but I wouldn't hunt with them either.

 

[chthump]

TLM, aka "Mongo", don't shoot him, you'll just make him mad.

 

[Chopperdrvr]

TLM, aka "Mongo", don't shoot him, you'll just make him mad.

Yeah and he'll chase you all the way to Canada to get back at you.

 

[Canadianhoghunter]

Yeah and he'll chase you all the way to Canada to get back at you.

lol. I can just imagine these guys sitting in the mandatory PAL/RPAL license course and failing due to "incompetency with a firearm" after the instructor heard about what they did to TLM.