Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Ever hurt yourself hunting?

Fell off the side of a mountain once while chukar hunting. Later, at the hospital, I watched a doctor poke my feet and legs with a pin and I couldn't feel it. Scary times.

I have allways been pretty careful while out and about on the hunt and never suffered much of an injury.On the otherhand motorcycles,horses, and jobs have got way more than their fair share of trauma on my body. Way life is I guess. Magnum Man

Dislocated a kneecap while running a trap line.....had to put it back in before I could walk out.....that sucked!

Had the strap on a treestand break while I was in it.....fell about 12' landed on my right foot and tore up my ankle......that one still bothers me....luckily I didn't land on the treestand!!

I cut my left index finger while gutting out an elk several years ago. We were snowed in and getting to a doc to sew it up was out so I sewed it up myself with help from Jack Daniels. I had to use a needle I kept in the horse first aid kit that wasn't vey sharp.I now have suture kits in my first aid kit.
Twice I have broken ribs.

Broke my back three years ago when the bottom of an elevated box stand fell out with me in it.
Twelve feet straight down, landed in a sitting position with the remains of the floor on top of me.
Took a while to get out from under, crawl on my belly about 200 yards to my four weeler, drag myself up on it and ride home laying on the seat.

Had a lot of minor mis-haps, nothing too serious yet and hopefully ever.

When I was younger I was going up into an archery stand with heavy pac boots on icy steps. Feel straight back about 10 feet onto my back, thankfully a little snow to cushion the fall and nothing underneath it.

Last Friday, repositioning an archery stand I caught my bow hanger small peg about an inch from my right eye. Swelled up immediately and had a nice goose bump for a day and now still have a decent shiner.

Nothing I really want to recall. Too many to mention and usually while trying to help someone else and I should have known better.
Knives and livestock would probably rank right up there, but I've been happy to have a horse to get me out on occasion.

Tripped stepping over a log while hunting one afternoon and broke my ankle. It helped that day not to be hunting alone.

As a very young boy my Dad bought two old Savage single barrel 16ga shotguns for my brother and I to hunt with. He used an old Lee loader and would load us about 5 shells at a time. He taught us to never cock the shotgun until we saw game and were ready to fire. One day I was hunting and saw a rabbit. I cocked the gun but the rabbit ran a short ways into some thin brush. Instaed of uncocking the shotgun I kept my eyes on the rabbit and continued the stalk.I was keeping my eyes on the rabbit when I stumbled on a root and fell w/the gun being dislodged from my hands and a bit to my rear.When the shotgun hit the ground it went off and the one ounze of #6 shot burst right over my head. The concussion and the muzzle blast laid my hair back as the shot passed within a couple of inches of my head. I was very young...probably 12 or 13 and I remember being so scared I was trembling uncontrolably.It took me quite a while to gather my senses and then I went straight home.I never told my Dad...he died last year at 84. powdr

Maybe dennisinaz will be along to tell us about his sitka blacktail hunt on Kodiak. Roughest one I've heard in a while...

A friend of mine was hunting mulies in Utah with his son. His son shot a little 6pt that headed straight into some thick brush after not being hit well. He told his son to sit tight while he went in the brush to look for the deer.

While searching, the deer surprised him. He was up on all fours and quickly charged him, knocking him down. He was hit hard and dropped his rifle. The buck basically gored his upper thigh with his rack and took him down. It proceeded to tear the [bleep] out of him while he was on the ground for some agonizing amount of time until he could gain control of his rifle and kill it.

He was bleeding badly and his son made a tournaquet to get him to professional help.

He almost died.

Nope...

Except the time I broke my leg in Canyon creek while elk hunting, drug myself out of the water and suffered shock and hypothermia...

Kent

Nothing too serious, bumps and bruises, cuts here and there.
The worst would probably just making my way down a embankment with a stream at the bottom, 4-5inches deep at the time. I slipped on the way down, rolled a bit knocked my head on something and woke up in the creek, face up. Not sure how long I was out but I'm guessing it was long enough that if I'd been face down I probably wouldn't be around to post this.

Let's see other than knicking my fingers while field dressing animals, scratching my hands while messing with who knows what, having branches kick back and wallop me in the chest so hard that it knocked the breath out of me, spraining an ankle, blowing out a knee, kocking a welt onto my head from a low hanging branch, putting my hand down onto a cactus, getting blisters on my feet, burning myself while working the campfire, falling down on ice and wacking my head so hard that I saw stars, well other than that I HAVE NEVER HURT MYSELF WHILE HUNTING.

KC

I fell off my folding stool duck hunting once laughing too hard when a guy came out a few minutes after daylight wearing a full blaze orange suit and started to throw out decoys. He didn't even use a blind just sat on a stool in the water with the decoys in a full blaze orange coverall.

I actually pulled a muscle in my stomach when I fell off.

Almost. Was alone running to get ahead of a herd of elk moving along timberline just outside Leadville at ~11,000 or so without paying much attention to my breathing, heart rate and the rest. Stopped to glass, head started spinning, tunnel vision, black and wake up on ground in the snow. Thankfully there was snow. Also ended up with a pretty nice 6x6 out of that herd.

Dislocated right knee cap.

I never had any troubles other than a few knife nicks until three years ago on a deer/elk hunt in the Selway. Record warm temps that year. I suffered heat exhaustion one afternoon after hunting most of the day and then helping pack out a fellow hunters bull -- I had run out of water earlier that day. I made it within about 3/4 mile from camp before collapsing from weakness, nausea, headache and the worst muscle cramps I have ever experienced. There was a period of time on that mountain side that I thought I was going to die. They say a man has got to know his limitations. Well, I found mine that day.

My dad knew a guy who got stung bad by yellowjackets while
archery hunting, passed out and his hunting partner had to
practically carry him out of the woods. I have known a couple
of guys to fall out of tree stands, but no major injuries.

Bruised my ego really bad once...