Has anyone been shot at while hunting?

When I lived in North AZ a few years back it, I was always going out in Yavapai/Kaibab national forests during the week to shoot LR by myself. Had a few strange encounters with people out there.......idiots shooting at rocks with pistols....ricochet city. I also had a situation that could of ended badly. I was shooting off a bench with oldschool non electronic ear pro (lesson learned) and had a small group of shady looking people walk up on me.......totally took me by surprise. After a few "whatcha got" and "pretty cool whats it worth" questions I pulled my glock from my holster and had it pointed down (but ready) in their direction. They took the hint and decided it wasn't worth it I guess......they moved on. I packed up and left too.

It was almost spooky being out there during the week. You can literally be out there all day and never hear or see anyone.

Ern

candyx said:

I was in the hospital visiting a friend at the time when the chopper brought in a guy with a arrow in his chest during deer season.

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Dirt on the clintons?

This last year I was out doing some load development and some a-hole in the truck pulls up just next to my obvious target and backs up to this tiny hill behind his truck in the photo. This is a popular spot that day for dirt bikers with a road just on the other side of this hill that he and his friend decided to start shooting into. There were a group of 5 or 6 guys on dirtbikes who rode up behind that hill and heard him shooting right over their heads. I walked up to the guy and told him he is parked too close to my target to be safe and was also shooting towards the dirtbikers and they are hunkered down behind the hill probably afraid to move foreward for fear of getting shot in the head and this jerk started telling me off and acting like I had gone and done him dirty. Basic safety and common sense are beyond some folks. He ruined my range day as he wouldn't move and I couldn't finish shooting my loads I had been working on and he nearly head shot 5 people and couldn't care less. Some people are just plain stupid.

Elmer Fud.. took a couple from some guy named Bugs,,, shotgun I believe,,then, after he healed up, Fud shot some other dudes also, one named Daffy,, same mo shotgun.. bad dude to be in the woods with this Elmer Fud dude….️

I don't want to be anywhere around people that handle firearms 1 weekend a year...

“They're trying to kill me," Yossarian told him calmly.
No one's trying to kill you," Clevinger cried.
Then why are they shooting at me?" Yossarian asked.
They're shooting at everyone," Clevinger answered. "They're trying to kill everyone."
And what difference does that make?”

I have had a few close calls. Mostly because of idiots. As a youngster, deer hunting was wall to wall, so you have people like every 200 yards or so along a valley on both sides.

Welp chump cousin on the end decides that when a deer runs out of the woods into the valley, he'll take a shot at it. Which happens to be right at us (my uncle and myself). He got an ass chewing for that.

As an adult there was a range i frequented where the tactical bay faced the long range area. They had a huge Berm, but you could still hear those bullets go over your head when you went downrange. I never got used to it, even though i knew i was behind and below the berm. Those first *zzzziiiiiiiiiiippppp* make you shit your pants. and never really become comfortable.

Now shoot enough handgun matches with steel targets and you WILL get "shot" as in you'll eventually catch a jacket or piece of bullet from a richochet. Those tend to be VERY low speed though and more like a mark of honor.

Def jealous of you western guys with space. its CQB during gun deer season round these parts. My buddy won't even go with me: "Too many Crazies" despite accidents being waaaay down over the last 30 years.

its sad to say but most firearms enthusiasts are just not that bright or educated properly

as a whole "we" all think we know everything so we feel embarrassed to ask for help or advice...like the asking for directions joke

so you have unskilled uneducated people walking around with firearms

its bad enough at a range which is somewhat controlled and all the targets are in the same direction

now they are out there with no guidelines and 360 degree of free movement...what could go wrong??

been hits with a few pellets nothing serious and had rounds go over my head 4 times from guys shooing up hill

i was back against a rock pile on purpose towards the top of a hill taking a rest, they couldnt see me so i cant complain but they landed somewhere

brianf said:

its sad to say but most firearms enthusiasts are just not that bright or educated properly

as a whole "we" all think we know everything so we feel embarrassed to ask for help or advice...like the asking for directions joke

so you have unskilled uneducated people walking around with firearms

its bad enough at a range which is somewhat controlled and all the targets are in the same direction

now they are out there with no guidelines and 360 degree of free movement...what could go wrong??

been hits with a few pellets nothing serious and had rounds go over my head 4 times from guys shooing up hill

i was back against a rock pile on purpose towards the top of a hill taking a rest, they couldnt see me so i cant complain but they landed somewhere

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This^^^^!

Some do not even utilize capitalization, commas periods etc.

RTH1800 said:

This^^^^!

Some do not even utilize capitalization, commas periods etc.

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punctuation is a pain in the ass on a phone

Understand. Just joking.

mtwarych said:

I got patterned by a guy shooting at a pheasant that flew between us. I know it can't be true but I swear I felt the pellets hit me before I heard the shot.

The only thing I can think is that it was a high speed steel load. The guy shot holes in my brand new 5mm neoprene waders. The waders still pisses me off more than being patterned.

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Plenty of pheasant loads going supersonic.

AK35Whelen said:

Reminds me of a joke we used to tell up in Montana.
North Dakotan hunter comes up to my friend all flustered and says, "Hey buddy, that's my elk you're standing over!" Friend squints at him for a minute, then says, "Ok, but can I at least get my saddle off it."

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Thank you,
MrSmith

not hunting, but had rounds overhead when camping/riding out in the high desert.
idiots shooting over hills...

It blows my mind people will shoot at something just because it moves in the same states that have a 15” inside spread minimum legal requirement lol

Legal?

Raffy said:

View attachment 7990120
This last year I was out doing some load development and some a-hole in the truck pulls up just next to my obvious target and backs up to this tiny hill behind his truck in the photo. This is a popular spot that day for dirt bikers with a road just on the other side of this hill that he and his friend decided to start shooting into. There were a group of 5 or 6 guys on dirtbikes who rode up behind that hill and heard him shooting right over their heads. I walked up to the guy and told him he is parked too close to my target to be safe and was also shooting towards the dirtbikers and they are hunkered down behind the hill probably afraid to move foreward for fear of getting shot in the head and this jerk started telling me off and acting like I had gone and done him dirty. Basic safety and common sense are beyond some folks. He ruined my range day as he wouldn't move and I couldn't finish shooting my loads I had been working on and he nearly head shot 5 people and couldn't care less. Some people are just plain stupid.

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would have been a shame if his nice truck went home with a couple holes in it. oh well you warned him.

There is a sad reality that people are stoopid...

Either they shot when they would be skipping bullets into people
Or they shot at people thinking they were something else
Either way it's a fail

Think of it as going to a new range
This one just happened to be the one with idiots flagging each other with loaded guns and looking down the barrel to see if it was loaded

I've been shot at / towards more than once I'm afraid.
People really are dumb... it's just that simple

Was running a night time run n gun and part of the course was not laid out well. While running there were pistol rounds whizzing overhead in one part of the course. Made me pick up my pace haha. They whizzed, no crack.

When I was younger I was dove hunting with a couple people. I had gone to find a dove in the field when another one flew between us and boom! Hit me dead on. I saw it happening and couldn’t do anything about it so I just put my face down and turned sideways. Luckily I was just far enough away that none of them penetrated skin but it felt like 100 bee stings at once.

I almost returned fire but decided I better not.

Y'all are lucky you never saw the photo album we kept at the lodge (upland bird hunting).
Some were x-rays, some were seriously bruised up and a few dozen visible pellet holes oozing blood.
Quite a few to be honest.
Amazing that the boss pays to have the whole crew go on a few day hunt (seriously not cheap) and then ends up getting shot.
Or a dad takes his kids....and he shoots one of the kids.
The big bad one though is if one of the hunters shoots and kills a dog...most were european short hair pointers and can easily run $20k and some fetch $50k.
Someones paying for that dog and it's always the one trying to not be noticed.

When you have a group of 4 hunters and a covey of 50 quail bust into the air and scatter right in front of you....I give it a 50/50 unless they are very experienced.

My father was shot in the chest/neck area with a shotgun. Turkey hunting in PA in the 80s.

I have had ricochets come too close to me on two occasions, both times the bullets were off the water.

Glad you are ok. Glad you got off the x. Glad you did not shoot back. Learn how to treat a gunshot wound on yourself because bleeding out sucks.

mtwarych said:

I got patterned by a guy shooting at a pheasant that flew between us. I know it can't be true but I swear I felt the pellets hit me before I heard the shot.

The only thing I can think is that it was a high speed steel load. The guy shot holes in my brand new 5mm neoprene waders. The waders still pisses me off more than being patterned.

About the waders, I was lucky enough to be good friends with a land owner with a rice operation in Northern California. A group of us would hunt ducks and geese and the remainder of the ranch was a pheasant club. Pheasant hunters weren't allowed to hunt the duck blind area. I got shot standing in the parking lot. A guy named Gary, Gary's rear truck window, my brand new waders and the back of my head were all victims.

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WOW!!
Glad you weren't facing that way and had any shot go in your eyes.
I would have thought you would have felt the shot first, then the sound. (You may be writing sarcastically).


God Bless,
David B.

Hecouldgoalltheway said:

A couple bullets whiz over your head and you quit hunting?

Pfft

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Never hunted on the first day of gun season on the east coast on public land that’s for sure lol




You need a thermal.

My response to your situation wouldn’t be the best if I located them

tk427 said:

Never hunted Phesant in waders!!!!!!

Open to corrections

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They're called ditch chickens in Kansas (and probably other places too)

Maybe the ditches had water in them?

Raffy said:

View attachment 7990120
This last year I was out doing some load development and some a-hole in the truck pulls up just next to my obvious target and backs up to this tiny hill behind his truck in the photo. This is a popular spot that day for dirt bikers with a road just on the other side of this hill that he and his friend decided to start shooting into. There were a group of 5 or 6 guys on dirtbikes who rode up behind that hill and heard him shooting right over their heads. I walked up to the guy and told him he is parked too close to my target to be safe and was also shooting towards the dirtbikers and they are hunkered down behind the hill probably afraid to move foreward for fear of getting shot in the head and this jerk started telling me off and acting like I had gone and done him dirty. Basic safety and common sense are beyond some folks. He ruined my range day as he wouldn't move and I couldn't finish shooting my loads I had been working on and he nearly head shot 5 people and couldn't care less. Some people are just plain stupid.

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SSS

brianf said:

its sad to say but most firearms enthusiasts are just not that bright or educated properly

as a whole "we" all think we know everything so we feel embarrassed to ask for help or advice...like the asking for directions joke

so you have unskilled uneducated people walking around with firearms

its bad enough at a range which is somewhat controlled and all the targets are in the same direction

now they are out there with no guidelines and 360 degree of free movement...what could go wrong??

Click to expand...

What's even worse is that those same morons will buy a pistol, an Uncle Mike's sausage sack holster, and go carry it around in public thinking they're ready to get into it with someone.

I've seen people at the range who could not put one single hole into an USPSA target at 15 yards with their carry gun before running out of ammo.

308pirate said:

What's even worse is that those same morons will buy a pistol, an Uncle Mike's sausage sack holster, and go carry it around in public thinking they're ready to get into it with someone.

I've seen people at the range who could not put one single hole into an USPSA target at 15 yards with their carry gun before running out of ammo.

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100%

i somehow got into a pistol range algorythm on tic tok a while ago...then i lost it ??

it was dozens of videos from a CC tv at what looked like a very nice indoor pistol range

minus the pure danger i watched, the total inability of hitting a full USPSA at 3,5,7 yards was actually amazing

you had the guys who just pulled the trigger, so i expected the lease but there were also people truthfully aiming that would slow fire and get 3-4 out of a 15 round mag at 7 yards

its was insane

I honestly wish I could say "no, I have never been shot at while hunting" but that would be an incorrect statement.

There are plenty of idiots that don't know their targets, what is between and beyond said targets!

Some people are just assholes! I had to correct that attitude a couple of times (I do NOT take kindly to being shot at, full stop).

And, sometimes you pick the wrong people as hunting compadres and they try to load you full of buckshot while hunting.

Was a fella hear years ago that was shooting at what he thought was a pig. Turned out it was his teenage son.
Another bunch duck hunting down south. Man son and uncle. Son swung on some ducks and got the uncle right in the back of the head.
If i am ever on a jury and you are hunting with a scoped rifle and claim it was an accident. Nope not buying it. Guilty! Period!

It a law of
nature that accidentally killed livestock (and humans) instantly increase exponentially in value.

Think George Floyd.

stefan73 said:

I honestly wish I could say "no, I have never been shot at while hunting" but that would be an incorrect statement.

There are plenty of idiots that don't know their targets, what is between and beyond said targets!

Some people are just assholes! I had to correct that attitude a couple of times (I do NOT take kindly to being shot at, full stop).

And, sometimes you pick the wrong people as hunting compadres and they try to load you full of buckshot while hunting.

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bad enough getting shot at "at work"...but not while having fun lol

n2ishun said:

Y'all are lucky you never saw the photo album we kept at the lodge (upland bird hunting).
Some were x-rays, some were seriously bruised up and a few dozen visible pellet holes oozing blood.
Quite a few to be honest.
Amazing that the boss pays to have the whole crew go on a few day hunt (seriously not cheap) and then ends up getting shot.
Or a dad takes his kids....and he shoots one of the kids.
The big bad one though is if one of the hunters shoots and kills a dog...most were european short hair pointers and can easily run $20k and some fetch $50k.
Someones paying for that dog and it's always the one trying to not be noticed.

When you have a group of 4 hunters and a covey of 50 quail bust into the air and scatter right in front of you....I give it a 50/50 unless they are very experienced.

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How many times have I told you Dick is permanently banned from the premises??? Come on!!!

brianf said:

bad enough getting shot at "at work"...but not while having fun lol

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No kidding!

I have had errant shots go past me or impact near me while hunting and also while building fence. Not uncommon in the past but not so much now.

Several years back .I was hunting public land and setting on the side of a ravine . I knew the deer were traveling in that area . a small buck come walking down the other side and I shot it at 50 yds with a 480 raging bull revolver . I then noticed about 15 feet in the air above the deer I shot something was moving and it was a guy in a friggin guile suit in a tree stand . at first I about puked , but then I got angry because orange is required . The guy gets to the ground and say's Damn That was a good shot . Need some help dragging it out ? I couldn't believe the idiot . I mentioned he didn't have any orange on and I didn't see him up in the tree . He said thats how I had it planned . WTF is wrong with people . None the less I apologized , he helped me drag the deer out and I shared my lunch with him . I no longer hunt public ground . I Just Bought my own land to hunt on .

I've been shot at while quail hunting in SD county here in CA. Some idiot was trying to shoot the smallest buck I have ever seen and clearly his scope was way off. The rounds were impacting about 30 feet high near my location. I didn't see the deer below me on the saddle I was walking up at first. There snap and impact about 10 yards away behind me on the other side of the saddle. Second shot hit about 3' below me. I got behind the berm and yelled. 3rd shot impacted on the other side of the berm again kicking up dust. I yelled more and no more shots. I got up thinking he finally heard me and then see the deer that had no idea it was being shot at. My mistake was getting up thinking he was done. Nope he was just reloading. He took his fourth shot so I dumped the entire mag of my USP 45 in the general direction of where the rounds may have been coming from. No more shots came at me. I walked out and called the police and explained what happened. They didn't even bother to come out.

Second incident was camping in the desert at our normal spot off the 395. Another group was camping about 300-350 yards away on an elevated position behind some small rolling hills. They were shooting a little that day and our group was as well. It seemed we both had good back stops and could not see each other. Many hours later that night we were around the fire pit and we take incoming fire. Scramble behind the vehicles and hit the panic button to make the horns honk and lights flash. It didn't stop them. 3 of us grabbed the appropriate rifles and laid down a volley of fire and waited. We loaded up and drove up there ready to go and they were all gone. It took us about 5 minutes to drive around to where they were. Two ways in and clearly they slipped away before we got there. They clearly knew we were there and didn't stop. I don't think they were expecting the heavy return fire.

Lots of morons out here.

My father was shot In the upper chest/throat with a 12g. While Turkey hunting in PA.

My grandfather shot a man in the leg way back with an iron sighted 30-06 who was wearing brown Pants laying on a side hill with his knee propped up glassing during Groundhog season in PA…. Did some time for it.

I have taken part in the Interior ALaska 40 mile caribou hunt 3 years in a row…. Nobody does that and can say they haven’t been shot at

lone_soldier said:

I have taken part in the Interior ALaska 40 mile caribou hunt 3 years in a row…. Nobody does that and can say they haven’t been shot at

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Need to hear more about this.

I patrol my property at the start of hunting season and kick people off. I'm waiting for someone to take their best shot at me. So far most of them who think about it don't have the ability to do it.

Oldloser said:

Need to hear more about this.

I patrol my property at the start of hunting season and kick people off. I'm waiting for someone to take their best shot at me. So far most of them who think about it don't have the ability to do it.

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One highway. Almost Every hunter in AK.

40000 caribou crossing said road in a 40-50 mile wide zone.

It’s a great time…..But it’s a shit show.

Opens at midnight.. hear one or two shots. Gets dark for about 3.5 hours. Sunrise is 345 ish.

about 9 am everyone is tagged out.

2aBaCa said:

In border states the Muleys shoot back.

Jokes aside, honestly think I would have a hard time NOT switching up to hunting the motherfucker shooting at me. game on.

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No hunting like the hunting of man.

Never been shot at while hunting but a kid got shot while deer hunting approx 1.5 miles west of where I was hunting Sunday AM and passed enroute to the hospital. Helicopter flew over the marsh I was hunting to land in a field by me because I can hear it the whole time. Poor tragedy. Never point a muzzle at anything you're not willing to destroy.

lone_soldier said:

One highway. Almost Every hunter in AK.

40000 caribou crossing said road in a 40-50 mile wide zone.

It’s a great time…..But it’s a shit show.

Opens at midnight.. hear one or two shots. Gets dark for about 3.5 hours. Sunrise is 345 ish.

about 9 am everyone is tagged out.

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This is awesome. I miss Alaska. I have family in Fairbanks and Haines. Plan to get my kids up there for the entire summer in 2024.

lone_soldier said:

One highway. Almost Every hunter in AK.

40000 caribou crossing said road in a 40-50 mile wide zone.

It’s a great time…..But it’s a shit show.

Opens at midnight.. hear one or two shots. Gets dark for about 3.5 hours. Sunrise is 345 ish.

about 9 am everyone is tagged out.

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I did that hunt but tried to pack in. The guys on 4 wheelers pushed the herd so far in I was only able to see some non-legal bou's around me.
I really miss it up there! I would have retired there if I could have!

Buddy and I were hunting hogs together. I set him up 100 yards from the feeder. He's in the field pointed toward the bush. I take off to the right and head into the back of the brush about a half mile back or so. I get about 150 yards behind the feeder across a rode in the brusha nd hes texting me about watching a pig at the feeder. I get settled down in a little washout and tolf him hurry up and shoot it. Well it was a small boar and it saw him and went toward him to check him out. he shot it broadside with a 6.5cm. I heard the shot and I heard the bullet FFFF and then a little smack into the brush between us. Thye only time I've ever been downrange and heard fire.

A few hours after that we are standing with our backs to each other and I've got screming piglet playing from a speaker hanging off my chest rig. Pissed off hogs in the brush on both sides of us. One of the most adrenaline filled exciting hunts ever.

This is a second hand story, but reliable.

2 guys go hunting in the woods with crossbows. One guy gets shot in the eye and left for dead. The other guy just leaves him. He ends up surviving and making it back and goes to hospital, obviously looses the eye but lives. Guy who shot him and left him for dead says it was an accident and ends up pleading down some BS misdomener and does no jail time. He ends up suing the guy for a bunch of money but the deadbeat doesnt really have any assets. He would never talk about why the guy shot him. We always suspected it was over drug deal or a woman but who knows.

zeroz said:

Plenty of pheasant loads going supersonic.

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Virtually all shotguns loads are supersonic. You will see the target break before hearing the shot if you are an equal distance.

n2ishun said:

Y'all are lucky you never saw the photo album we kept at the lodge (upland bird hunting).
Some were x-rays, some were seriously bruised up and a few dozen visible pellet holes oozing blood.
Quite a few to be honest.
Amazing that the boss pays to have the whole crew go on a few day hunt (seriously not cheap) and then ends up getting shot.
Or a dad takes his kids....and he shoots one of the kids.
The big bad one though is if one of the hunters shoots and kills a dog...most were european short hair pointers and can easily run $20k and some fetch $50k.
Someones paying for that dog and it's always the one trying to not be noticed.

When you have a group of 4 hunters and a covey of 50 quail bust into the air and scatter right in front of you....I give it a 50/50 unless they are very experienced.

Click to expand...

Friends went on a quail trip to Argentina early 2000’s. Was for the hunt as much as the accompanying companions you hire.

Because they were new to quail hunts, when the action started the guide poked some extended poles in the ground real fast to give them fields of fire.

If they tried to swing too far the shotgun hit the pole.

Pretty smart idea.


edi:t apparently, iphones dont like the "I" in quail