Gun Safety...

[Morgan]

I've had the same poacher slip up on me twice....both times he had his gun raised and in position to shoot...the first time I confronted him pretty hard...the second time he ran when I said "What are you doing.?"....I had the Jake with me on the last one..got my blood pressure up a bit....
 
Me and another guy got sprinkled a few years back when we ventured to close to the line....bird got between us and they guy hunting the other side...I never heard his calling....
 
A good friend of mine in Mississippi that I helped get started shot a guy in his first season...they were both "rookies"....and neither knew the other was in the area...one had a shaker gobble tube...he heard the other calling and figured where there was hens there was gobblers...he came up over a terrace...hunkered down shaking that tube...my friend in his mind saw his first turkey gobbler...and pulled the trigger...he almost killed the guy...it ruined hunting for both of em....
 
In Mississippi the law is that adults shoot adult birds only... they have to have a 6 inch beard or full fan....I hope this encourages folks to indentify their target....and that folks will not shoot on a "maybe"...this IMO includes taking margianal shots at long range field birds...we have to be more aware of our surroundings...and we have to make sure of our target...we have to stay on the property that we have permission to hunt on..no matter how good the bird across the fence gobbles...once that trigger is pulled it's too late....
 

[greyghost]

The closest I got was when I took a friend out on Quantico and had the friend set up about 10 Yards in front of me and working a bird.
 
Well the bird was responding and coming in. When the bird was about 60 yards out I got this sixth sence and slowly turned my head around. It had rained the night before so the woods were quite and we were also in pines. Once I got turned around I was looking down the barrel of a shotgun about 10 yards behinde me. I just said in a soft natural voice hello. Once the situation was secure, well lets just say a few words were exchanged [:@]. I think I dehydrated myself during this time [&o].
 
Earl

[Morgan]

ORIGINAL: TurkeyComander
On the other end of the spectrum we have people getting shot by their buddies....most caused by improper gun handling.

Safe gun handling can not be preached about enough.

 
This is so true...Pop taught gun safety classes to 300 to 400 hundred school kids a year...this was back in the 60's and 70's....anyway...one day while not paying attention...he shot the doorknob with a 22 rifle...he never would replace that knob...it was still that way when I sold the house...he wanted to be reminded of what one careless moment could do...

[trkyklr]

i have a feller that works for me that got shot by his buddy while deer hunting about 12 years ago,it was a 30 06 @ about 100 yards.i dont know any details other than he got shot,he has gotten to keep all of his body parts so far but lately hes been having alot of problems ,they are talkin about cutting all of his toes off the one foot due to complications

[mark hay]

we read the same warnings every year , whether in the hunting laws or our favorite publication. speak loud , whistle,,,don't move or wave. in the ten years i've been hunting public land birds i've seen 2 different hunters start waving their arm to get my attention. one i didn't know what i was seeing at first,,,the other was less than ten yards and my mind and eyes told me it was a turkey. that IS one more reason that i will not shoot a bird that i have not called. no it ain't a fool proof way to insure that i won't shoot someone by mistake , but i think it does lessen the likelyhood  quite a bit.

[Turkeybuster]

I feel the same as you Mark I want to see the whole turkey not a tail or a head or movement.
I passed some birds up doing that but that is ok. because if I ever shot someone I would never
hunt again and I seriously don't know if I could live with it.
 
Turkeybuster

[shaman]

ORIGINAL: TurkeyComander

Spring is just around the corner. Safety should be of utmost concern.
How many of you guys have had some close calls...(almost being shot) ?

Or have almost shot someone when turkey hunting ?

What do you guys think could prevent shooting accidents in the turkey world ?

I've had close calls. I've had guys slip in on me and hunt me. I've had a poacher take a shot at us on our own property. 

I wrote on another thread on here this past week that it is important to note that the primary source of turkey hunting accidents are from experienced turkey hunters mistaking another hunter for game. Most of the guys who responded there are responding here, so I won't repeat everything I wrote.

The problem is not one that can be solved by the guy who shoots. These are experienced hunters like you and I that pull the trigger.  We have to assume the perpetrators are attempting to use due diligence. The solution is that the potential victims use greater diligence in not making themselves a target.

[ul][*]Remove all red, white, and blue from your kit.[*]Use gobbling and gobbler yelping very sparingly[*]Plan your hunts with others carefully so you do not blunder into a buddy's set-up[*]Use extreme caution with turkey decoys, especially gob dekes.[*]Whenever possible hunt with your back to a large tree so that your blind side is protected.[*]Do not stalk turkeys[*]In high-traffic areas, wear hunter orange when on the move.  Put up a hunter orange marker above your head at your setups that can be seen in all directions. An Orange Hat on a bush is usually enough.
[*]Use extreme caution in hunting in the vicinity of property lines.[*]If you find you are being hunted. Stay low. Don't move and announce your presence loudly and firmly.[/ul]

[Cut N Run]

In 1986, I found a place in Chatham County, N.C. on the game lands where the deer would regularly cross the saddle of the ridge at one favored low spot if they weren't pressured.  I shot a decent buck in there with my bow and left the (lock on) stand on the tree.  The stand was a pretty good ways off the nearest road, but because it was along the spine of the ridge, other hunters would sometimes wander past. I went in before light one morning during rifle season, and when I was done hunting, decided to take the stand out and hang it elsewhere.  On my way out of the woods, with an orange vest on & the stand on my back, I bent down to check a scrape at the edge of a thicket along the trail on the ridge.  I heard the bullet crack before I heard the rifle boom & saw a branch less than a foot in front of my head explode into splinters. I started yelling at the top of my lungs, turned toward the guy, and raised my own rifle & asked if he felt like dying today.  He was an older man shooting a lever action with iron sights about 80 yards away from me.  I could see the color drain out of his face as I cursed him loudly.  I almost sprinted out of the woods, then took down the license tag number off the only truck parked in the area (though I never saw it parked there again).
 
All I could guess is that he saw movement as I bent down and thought the grey of the stand on my back was a deer. How he didn't see orange, I have no idea. That was the last time I ever set foot on public land to hunt again.  It is worth the extra time, effort, & money that it takes to keep up a good lease. Especially when I know everybody who will be hunting there & where they are.
 
Jim