I heard that a guy from Kenai shot and killed one of his sons while deer hunting on one of the islands in PWS. Did not make the press here is S.E. Anyone know the details. The father was apparently shooting at a deer and ended up shooting his boy. A real tragedy. I can't imagine going on with this on your conscience.

Lars,

The story I heard was that the people involved were from Cordova. I am still trying to piece the scattered info together. If I learn of something definite, I will post here. If true, this is, as you stated, "a real tragedy".

Chip

About 20 years ago, a classmate of my younger brother was shot and killed by his grandfather while they were hunting fall turkeys.

The grandfather is still living, as far as I know, and I would imagine that living with that hell for 20 years would be almost unbearable.

I don't know how many shots that I have passed up because of a small uncertianty about what is in the line of fire.

Accidents do happen, but I pray that one like this never happens to me.

cwilson

Its really not that hard to imagine. In 75% of all hunting/shooting accidents, the shooter shoots himself or someone in his group, frequently a family member.

There have been more than one such incident here in NY. My agency investigated a fatal shooting where two duck hunters were getting into a small boat. The hunter in the stern of the boat apparently had the muzzle of his shotgun pointed at the back of the other hunter as he was moving around in the boat. A discharge at point blank range was immediately fatal. The victim was the shooter's brother.

In another case, a father and two sons were walking into the woods before daybreak during the biggame season. The father's rifle discharged resulting in a bullet striking the head of one of the boys. The father immediately attended to the gunshot son while sending the other boy to get help. As the boy was running for help he heard a shot but was not aware of its origin. When he returned with the medics, both the father and son were found dead. Both shot with the fathers rifle.

An extremely distressing event.

VH

Very distressing. I get anxiety just thinking about it. I think that I too would have ended up killing myself. I don't have kids, but don't imagine that the human psyche can handle the killing of your own child. What a horrible thing.

Gun safety cannot be practiced stringently enough. I too have made stupid mistakes before, thankfully never hurting anybody or anything. I only know one person that is consistently a model of gun safety, my stepfather. He will watch somebody check the chamber of a rifle, take it from them, and put the tip of his pinky in there to make sure, every single time. I think that if it is ingrained well enough when we are young it sticks with us.

I hope the latest story in Alaska isn't true.

Red

A few years ago, a Father and son were hunting bears from a stand. The adult son had to go somewhere, then as he returned to the stand in the darkness of night, he was shot and killed by his Dad. I imagine his Dad will always suffer...One can only imagine his pain.

It happened on Hawkins Island near Cordova. Both dad and son were not wearing any orange. Father shot at a doe, missed, son was on the other side.

It is rather brushy in spots on the islands and it is totaly feasiable to believe the story. But, they should have known where each other was hunting unless someone got turned around.

Here's the news article from the Anchorage Daily News of 11-25-03:

CEDAR BAY

Cordova boy killed in hunting accident

A boy was shot and killed in a hunting accident that occurred in Cedar Bay on Hawkins Island in Prince William Sound, Alaska State Troopers said Monday.

The boy was identified as Joshua D. Nichols, 13, of Cordova.

According to troopers, the U.S. Coast Guard received an emergency call Sunday afternoon of a fatal hunting accident on the island. The Coast Guard then contacted Cordova police, who contacted troopers. Troopers sent a patrol vessel to investigate and recover the body.

An investigation revealed that the 13-year-old boy was hunting with his 16-year-old brother, Jon, and their father, Daniel A. Nichols, 48, when the accident occurred. Troopers determined that the father shot past a deer and the bullet struck his son instead.

The body was taken to Cordova Community Medical Center to await transportation to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy.

*************************************************

Dan Nichols and his wife, Martha, own the Prince William Motel Cordova. Nice people who have been hunting for years. I have spent several nights at their motel waiting out the weather while goat hunting in that area and also while fishing there. My sympathy goes out to them. This is a very tragic accident.

To all, PLEASE hunt safely!

Chip

HORRIBLE!!! I hope that God gives the man peace, and the wife compassion and understanding. I would think that many marriages would crack over something like this, I pray this one doesn't.

Red

Indeed, this is a tragedy. I will pray for the Nichols family.

I was accidentally shot while hunting. While reloading his shotgun, a friend inadvertantly loaded a round of 000 buckshot (that he carried in the event he cut wolf tracks in the snow), swung on a flying ptarmigan, and fired in my direction. A few hundred yards away, I took one pellet in the head (entering next to the eye, and travelling between the skin and skull, coming to rest next to the temporal artery and upper ear cartiledge), and one pellet was stopped above my heart by a handgun in a bandolier holster.

Although seriously hurt, I was lucky enough to be within a couple miles of a radio-phone. A helicopter from Providence Hospital rescued me (at my medical insurance company's expense, not the state or fed rescue organizations). I made a complete recovery, including my eyesight (which was touch and go for a while).

We were incredibly unlucky/lucky. A fraction of an inch difference could have meant a near miss, or instant death.

Since I made the full recovery, I'm glad I was the shootee and not the shooter. My friend was distrought then, and is still pretty shook up about it now, years later. If I had been the shooter, I would have been a complete mess.

I made sure to be compassionate with my friend. Although he should have been more careful, I'm not going to punish him. He feels bad as it is. We are still friends to this day, and occasionally still go hunting & fishing together.

Accidents do happen, safety measures notwithstanding. But safety measures and conscienceness are absolutely critical. That goes with firearms, boating, and even ladders. Tragedy can come "like a thief in the night".

The blessings of God are even more important. The Nichols have already suffered an unimaginable loss. Living with it's circumstances will be incredibly tough. Only the grace of God can pull them through this.

Each and everyone of us must be the stewards of a safe hunting environment. We must practice and profess firearms safety like our lives depend on it.
As we have seen in these posts, frequently the lives are our family and friends are relying on us being neurotic about SAFETY!
Sometimes being neurotic is a good thing.

VH

My heart goes out to everyone involved. A great sadness indeed!

In WV last year we had deaths due to heart attach (3), falling from a tree stand (1), and a self-inflicted accidental discharge. None of these are acceptable, but at least no one hurt someone else. Better than most years.

Does suggest that each of us represent some danger to ourselves, and we need to take care of ourselves too.

A couple years back during Wisconsin's (I think)deer season a son shot his father as they were climbing a hill. Anyway, the boy turned his rifle on himself. It a cruel twist of fate, it turned out that the father had only been grazed by the bullet and was unconscious, not dead. He awoke to find his dead son. Shakespeare couldn't have scripted it worse...