From the story:
Undersheriff Donnie Edwards told KHOG-TV that initially police thought the 46-year-old man, who was discovered on Saturday, may have died from natural causes. But Edwards says the state Medical Examiner's Office determined that the man had a gunshot wound below his waist, and the bullet was lodged in his neck.Here are a couple tips for heading out in the woods and yes, this may sound simple but many of us who have hunted for may years often take for granted the most fundamental of safety procedures.
1. Keep your firearm unloaded until you're safely in your stand/blind. In hunter safety class, this is a basic premise, but we tend to get lazy. For me, I don't even put the magazine in the rifle until I am in my tree stand. Rare is the opportunity to bag game on the way to the blind, but in those rare instances, your safety is more important than that backstrap. In addition, it is illegal to transport a loaded firearm in your vehicle. Don't do it.
2. Invest in a rifle holder for your stand. There are many products on the market to secure your firearm safely in the tree stand. The specific circumstances surrounding the death of the hunter in the Oklahoman story are not known, but chances are that he did not have one of THESE in his stand.
3. Sleep - get some. The excitement and anticipation of heading out early in the morning to bag that trophy buck can keep many a hunter awake all night, eager for the morning hunt. Often, we head out to the stand still groggy, still foggy from the night previous and when you're not alert, that's when you make mistakes.
4. No booze. The rule around the Gorilla deer camp is that if you have had anything to drink during the day preceding the evening hunt, you stay at camp - you're not allowed to head to the woods. Firearms and booze do not mix.
Hunting and angling are Oklahoma traditions and we are one of the safest states in the union, however, the tragic loss of life in this story need not happen again.
Be safe. Please.
