Safety in the Field

With deer gun season only a few weeks away here in Ohio, I have been thinking about safety and seasons past. I have mentioned that I hunted one year of deer season about 15 years ago. Dad was always very cautious in the field and would have never allowed us to be put in harms way. As I thought about our experiences that season, I gained a new perspective on why we didn't continue to hunt the deer season.

Both being new to deer hunting, we weren't sure exactly how to go about it. There were a few public areas nearby and we concentrated our efforts there. We had kicked up a few deer while hunting pheasants and rabbits. Our approach was influenced by that and by some more experienced deer hunters that we knew.

We hunted one day at Delaware Wildlife Area. We slowly worked along the field and forest edges, hoping to kick up a deer like we had when hunting upland game. With so many hunters in the area, we also figured there was a good chance that someone else might kick up a deer and send it running our way.

A few hours into the hunt, we walked upon a man in his mid-twenties who was carrying a Winchester 1897. Given Dad's interest in Model 97's, we stopped and talked with the guy. The conversation was cut short as Dad noticed something out of order. The guy was carrying a loaded gun with the hammer fully cocked.

Dad sternly reminded him that he had his gun on full cock. The guy replied that the half-cock notch was broken so he always carries it on full cock. Dad gave his opinion, to which the guy responded that he had always used this gun and he was perfectly safe. We went back to the truck and promptly left the area.

So here is a guy carrying a shotgun, loaded with a rifled slug, fully cocked. If the sear is worn enough that the half cock doesn't work, then who knows how stable the hammer is in full cock. If he stumbles or a piece of brush gets in the trigger guard... boom!

That same year, we hunted the later primitive weapons season with some guys that Dad worked with. They hunted deer drives on several of their family farms. One of Dad's friends had a brittany that he would work for me on the youth pheasant hunts. Bill was a really nice guy and an avid hunter. He invited us to join his group of friends and family for a weekend of deer drives. They set me up as a blocker, standing along a fencerow in line with Dad and several other hunters.

I heard the drivers holler and I knew that they had kicked up a deer. A few moments later, I heard something moving towards me through the brush. I only had about 4 feet of visibility in front of me. Cocking the hammer on my Renegade always made a solid clank that I knew would spook a deer. I knew that there was almost no way that I could raise the gun and cock the hammer without spooking a deer that close to me. I also knew that I could cock the hammer and raise the gun before the deer got too close to me. The problem was that I didn't know it was a deer. While it wasn't the planned driving path, I still considered that it could have been a driver coming out of the woods towards me.

I made the safe decision and ultimately spooked the deer as I tried to shoulder the gun and fire once the deer popped out of the brush 4 feet in front of me. After the drive, we all gathered at the trucks and talked about the hunt. I still remember the ration of shit that I took from those guys. Every one of them, except Dad, told me that I should have cocked the gun and aimed it at the noise so I would have been ready to fire if it was a deer that popped out. I just couldn't bring my self to do that then and I couldn't do it now.

That was the last year that we hunted deer. The group continued to hunt by deer drives each year afterwards. A handful of years later, Bill was tragically killed by his son-in-law on a deer drive.

Looking back, it is no mystery to me why we didn't continue to hunt the deer gun season. I will be hunting this year, with faith in the many safe hunters that share the field. I will be mindful of my safety, but also of the behavior of others around me who may not be as safe.