another deer story

[chowder]

OK, this just goes to show what can happen if you hunt long enough! Last week I was experiencing a lot of frustrations w/ some of my employees and by Friday I felt like I should just go off and be by myself. My sister in law had taken off w/ our old Jeep which most of my hunting stuff was in but I managed to piece together some camo and dug out an old 870 w/ a slug barrel on it & found 2 slugs for it.At the last 2cd I realized I had no gloves and was forced to crash back into the house w/ my boots on. After rooting around in a rubbermaid tub labled "kids deer stuff' I found a brand new pair of heavy mittens w/ flip up finger & thumb covers (more on these later).

I was not in a hard core hunting mood to say the least but I put my nose into the wind and found myself down in a brushy thicket where there is what we think of as more or less a 'bow stand'. My complete lack of scent prevention led me to believe this particular stand was my best chance w/ respect to the prevaling wind. Mostly I just wanted to be out in the woods and away from anything having to do w/ the business. Time drifted by pleasantly, I observed a pair of grouse, a wood pecker occupied my attention for quite awhile. I saw 2 doe come out into a meadow about 500 yds away & I watched them for awhile too. I was just peeking at my watch to see it was 4:30 and thinking to myself 'hey in a half an hour I can go in, legitimately have a beer and make dinner for my brood' when I catch some movement w/ some decent horns in the brush over my shoulder. Auto pilot mode takes over, heart beat up & adrenaline on, I position myself for close action. I still can't get much of a look at the buck b/c it's just too thick and he is trotting his way towards me at an angle. I'm making my final preparations now b/c I have to guess which side of the tree he is going to pass me on. I make my best guess, turning slowly and raising my shotgun. I can see him clearly now at 20 yards and I see a solid, wide but somewhat uneven 7 pointer staring around in that way that you know means he doesn't see you. I'm gonna let him pass b/c I wound up killing a buck like this in bow season and I don't need another 2cd rate rack or the meat and the hassle that goes w/ it.

But here's what happens instead; He's almost under me now, I've lowered my gun & I'm easing back on the safety but some threads from these damm rag mittens have gotten snagged in the back side of the button as I was pushing it in. In close qtrs I always push the safety on an 870 from one side while cushioning the button from the other side. At any rate I'm trying to get the rag threads out and the safety back on when KABOOM the gun goes off. Stunned is not the word to use to describe what I experienced at that moment. I looked down at the gun & see 2 things 1. the finger flap of the mitten had gotten inside the trigger guard and 2. the slug has against all odds gone right down along and thru the outer edge of the bucks ribs producing a shower of hair. Needless to say he was prompt in getting the F- out of there.

I on the other hand felt like I should check my drawers and sit down BUT now I've got a badly wounded but seriously pissed buck bolting away. I whisked my hand out of the mitten leaving it stuck in the safety, jacked my other slug in and got on the fleeing deer. Thanks to shooting enough trap,skeet & birds I was able to pile him up @ 37 yds when I got a clear shot. Jeez, so much for a mellow afternoon!

P.S. Next day I threw the mittens in the dumpster and dropped the 870 off at Mayhood's for a check up w/ the gun smith just in case but in the end it's always the 'nut' behind the stock that's the real problem!

[Legacy]

WOW... Im never hunting with mittens ever again. LOL! Congrats . How about some pics too?

[FX]

Great story Andy and thanks for sharing A good reminder to ALWAYS point the barrel of a gun in a safe direction and treat every gun as if it's loaded. Glad your foot wasn't in the line of fire when it went off and everything ended well. I'm sure I would've had some soiled drawers to throw in the dumpster along with the mittens. I know a few guys that use mittens like those, including my son, and I will be sharing this story with them.

Shawn

[Steelman]

I got a brother who tells stories every time he shoots an inferior buck and as how he didnt mean to. lol Im on the wagon just because of that. Just kidding, Glad that gun was not aimed at your own flesh when she went off and if the worse outcome was you bagging a buck you lucked out on this one.

[bluewater]

Great story!!! I almost shot myself in the foot with my 50 cal muzzle loader 2 years ago. After killing a buck up north I had reloaded quickly and forgot to put the safety back on due to being over excited and as I went up to it while walking an article of clothing got caught on the trigger and boom!! It hit the ground about 12 inches from my right foot, I had to change my underware after that one. That was the first and last time that will ever happen again!!

[seasquirrel]

Holy crap Andy. Thats crazy. Yeah, I would have soiled my drawers.

[GAMBLER]

Thats a funny story. Nice job Andy.