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Things I don't understand??

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By JULI PROBASCO-SOWERS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
05/13/2004



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Avoiding accidents
1. Devise a hunting plan before the day of the hunt and stick with it, so a hunting partner will know where you are located.
2. Tell someone where you will be and when you plan to return.
3. Wear camouflage, but add blaze orange. Turkey hunters work hard to conceal themselves, either with a blind or by wearing camouflage from head to toe. Wearing blaze orange while walking into and out of the wooded area you are hunting increases safety.
4. Do not wear red, white or blue. When a tom turkey becomes excited and begins to gobble, his head turns colors, even red and blue. At times the head is white. Hunters look for these colors as identifiers when looking for the target.
5. Know your target. Because turkey hunters are dressed to blend in with their surroundings and because they often use turkey calls, other hunters may mistake them for a turkey. Before you shoot toward the sound of a gobble or a patch of color, make sure you have a clear view of the turkey, looking for the identifying marks.
6. Be aware of what is directly behind or beside the turkey and whether it is a clear shot.


Granger, Ia. - Dave Gray of Clive sat on the ground against his truck, holding his head in his hands early Wednesday as a wave of emotion washed over him.

Gray, 43, had just shot and wounded his hunting partner, William Crawford, 36, also of Clive. The two were hunting wild turkey in a wooded public hunting area about four miles north of Granger in Dallas County.

Crawford was struck in the chest and left side of his head with shotgun pellets, fired from about 45 yards away, said Conservation Officer Craig Lonneman.

The hunters called 911 from a cell phone, and Crawford was able to walk back out of the Saylorville Wildlife Unit to the road on his own. Crawford was taken to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. He was expected to be hospitalized overnight, said Lonneman.

"This is a situation that is not uncommon when it comes to turkey hunting accidents," said Lonneman.

The two men had planned to hunt on different sides of a narrow road that ran through the woods to the Des Moines River.

Gray thought he heard a turkey and headed back across the road to the side where Crawford was hunting, Lonneman said. He saw white through the trees and shot at the white, which was actually Crawford's shaved head. "One of the first things Gray said was, 'I should have identified my target,' " said Lonneman. "There's nothing wrong with splitting up to turkey hunt, but you have to have a plan and then stick to the plan so you know where the other hunter is located."

Rod Slings, recreation safety director for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said it was the second turkey hunting accident this year.

"The state averages about one or two turkey hunting accidents a year," he said.

More than 40,000 turkey hunters take to the woods in four seasons, the last of which ends Sunday.

"When there is a hunting accident, it's usually a member of the family or a good friend because we hunt with friends and family most of the time," said Slings.
 
For most of us this event is beyond understanding for sure and it is unthinkable that it could happen to you.

I think of my kids when I read about something like this. Each of us that has contact with a beginning hunter regardless of thier age has a responsiblity to continue to stress the importance of hunter safety.

I just plain hate to see this happen to anyone at anytime.
 
I have witnessed a few hunting accidents that thankfully have not harmed anyone, but I still can't believe how easily it seems to happen. All it takes is a brief lap of good judgment, one careless move.
 
Ghost said it all :

"Each of us that has contact with a beginning hunter regardless of their age has a responsiblity to continue to stress the importance of hunter safety."

I was lucky to have my grade school basketball/football coach teach me the ropes.

It is unbelievable how someone could not identify their target. It's a hard lesson learned, but could have been much worse.
 
I know of an accidental shooting that took place a few years ago in a state forest here in SE Iowa. I talked with a friend of the person who got shot and found out some more details. The guy was turkey hunting and things were slow, so he decided to look for arrowheads. He put on a blaze orange hat and vest so he would be visible. He ended up being shot in the face/ neck area by another hunter. The worst part was the guy that shot him started to leave the area and wasn't even going to give him any help. It just shows that even if you think you are safe and have taken measures to ensure your safety, these things can still happen.
 
Cloaca, did the guy face any charges for trying to leave the man or did the authorities even know that went on. Just curious?
 
No charges were filed from what I understand and I don't think it was in the papers. The guy who shot him basically was going to leave the scene. The person who got shot was shaken up and didn't have full vision but he could tell the guy was leaving. He basically told him, "I can still see good enough to shoot you &*%, get back here and help me". So the guy did come back and then drove to town to get help. The guy that shot him has never contacted him to see how he ended up or if he had a full recovery. Amazing.
 
I cannot even fathom shooting at something I was unsure of, it's unthinkable to me, it would be a tough enough pill to swallow if I shot a buck smaller than I was sure of let alone another human, makes me kind of grateful I usually have 1000 acres++ to myself.
 
I guess that would work. I still can not beleive that someone would consider leaving a human being wounded in the woods. Must have be nervous about the consequences but that is whay you must be sure of your target. Thanks Cloaca.
 
Scary stuff every year.....it is just unforgivable to make that mistake despite how much excitement and adrenaline you have with hunting.

Just as short example on how accidents happen, I was hunting in MO with a rifle one year and had a tresspasser decide to spot me with his rifle scope vs using the binos on his neck.....his scope does not work anymore........
 
things like this affect the entire hunting community and hits some of us hard. Safety is #1 for me when ever i'm packing a weapon. Remember it is always the "EMPTY" gun thats kills people. As far as the guy that got shoot and the other started to walk away, i afraid i wouldn't have yelled at him, more then likey i would have shot back and would be doing time.
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one of my best friends in high school was shot in the face and neck area while we were turkey hunting together before school one morning. he had a total of 27 BB's pulled out of his face and never regained his sight in either eye. the man who shot my friend was very shaken up and helped me get my friend to the hospital and basically dedicated his life at the time to helping my friend get around until my friend was killed in a 4-wheeler accident at the young age of 19. the man who shot my friend has never stepped foot in the woods since the shooting accident.
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yeah i did supertec...looks like an outfitter of some sort. i thought about calling the number
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I don't know how anyone can shoot when they don't 100% know what the target is. It's just hard for me to imagine that I would ever pull my gun up and think, "Is that a Turkey I am aiming at?" Oh it must be." Then pull the trigger. It's just hard to comprehend how anyone can ever be so careless!
 
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