NH hunter shot while using rope to hoist rifle

AP on Yahoo ^ | 10/31/09 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

OSSIPEE, N.H. – A New Hampshire deer hunter has accidentally shot himself in the right hand while trying to lift his loaded rifle into a tree stand using a rope tied around the weapon.

A state conservation officer says a branch or stick apparently got stuck in the trigger of Robert Lapointe's .50-caliber muzzleloader, setting it off at around 1:45 p.m. Saturday.

...

..Lapointe is expected to survive, but "shouldn't have been doing what he did."

[muawiyah]

Duh?!?!?!

[NormsRevenge]

Safety first, Kids!

[Kozak]

Hold ma beer....

[Karma Police]

.50 cal? Ouch!

[nomad]

What a moron,he at least could have uncapped his smoke stick.He probably had the trigger set too.

[wastedyears]

“Hold muh beer and watch this!”

[downwdims]

Aren’t most Muzzle Loaders .50?

[elkfersupper]

Anyone who would attach a rope to a charged and capped muzzleloader is an idiot.

He deserved to die, not to just suffer a flesh wound.

[Frantzie]

Darwin Award for this clown. Too many yahoos that have no clue about gun safety.

[kbennkc]

Lots of accidents with muzzle loaders . Many fail to remove the cap , when they know they would remove the round from the chamber of a modern weapon . Take an extra minute and show a new hunter , even one with some experience , but new to black powder . Shot in the hand ? bad enough , but could have been a lot worse .

[GeronL]

No Darwin Award, he can still reproduce

[elkfersupper]

Aren’t most Muzzle Loaders .50?

Mine is a .54. Proven killer for all North American game animals at 200+ yards.

[bravotu]

Famous Last Words:

‘Hey Y’all , Watch This!’

[NormsRevenge]

He deserved to die, not to just suffer a flesh wound.

—

It t’wasn’t his time, I reckun, .. doesn’t sound like he hit anything too vital.

[kbennkc]

Many flavors , but only a few more .50s than .58s in my neck of the woods .

[shibumi]

What a maroon!

[org.whodat]

LOL, A fellow in Kingsport Tennessee went out west week before last on a hunting trip, walking in a bunch of saplings, one pulled the hammer back on his pistol and shot him in the foot. Guess the old boy didn't know the one about a live round under the hammer.

The headline should be "man ambushed and assaulted by sapling".

[StandUpChuck]

And that’s why daddy said “never point the barrel at anything you don’t wanna kill”.

[org.whodat]

He had to have the hammer cocked, smoke poles are not double action.

[GovernmentShrinker]

A nursing supervisor there says he's being evaluated.

Hopefully a psych evaluation.

He was planning to shoot deer with a .50 caliber gun . . . from a tree stand??? This was insane even before he got to the execution stage, wherein he decided it made sense to load the thing first, and then haul it up through some tree branches with a rope.

[downwdims]

Good Stuff. Everyone I know here who muzzleloads is going after deer at shorter range than rifle season

[tubebender]

Was he in the Freeper Nascar League?

[Clint Williams]

Ya heard it here first:

"Felony Discharge: Any unintended discharge of a firearm with potential to wound or kill another."

Is this a Good Thing?

[org.whodat]

One other thing kiddies, if you do pull a firearm up to you by rope, the rope goes around the butt of the stock, for you slow people, that is keep the barrel pointed down. And don't do it while your pal is standing under you.

[blackbart.223]

"He deserved to die, not to just suffer a flesh wound."

That's a little harsh don't you think? A hole in the hand is a tough enough lesson I think.

[NormsRevenge]

It’s all about location, yaknow,, ya get a nice deer stand right smack dab where a deer is gonna stand maybe 10-15 feet away from ya and blam.

He should have used a scabbard, ya got to get up pretty early to bag one, this year he is the biggest loser.. but I bet he’ll be back.

[Blood of Tyrants]

It is a common modern caliber but some of the Revolutionary War rifles were as large as .78 cal.

[Thrownatbirth]

His wife is back home yelling “Where the hell’s my clothesline?”

[calex59]

They are not talking a .50 Cal machine gun round here, this is a .50 cal muzzle loader. A round ball in a .50 only weights about 177 grains, although conicals can go much higher in weight, and muzzle velocity is quite low. .50 muzzle loaders are considered the bare minimum for hunting deer and, in most states, .50 cal and above are required.Some states allow .45 cal muzzle loaders, but not all.

The stupid thing he did was leave the cap on the nipple while hauling it up into the tree, and he evidently had the hammer(or bolt, if it was an inline)cocked.

As for the caliber though, he was using the correct one.

[downwdims]

Correct, but this isn’t some re-enactor type. Just a hunter trying to get his gun in the stand

[I am bigjohn]

I had an AD at the range once. Was bench shooting a reproduction Sharps .45-70 and did not set the hammer at half cock before using the loading lever to close the block.

The block slid up past the round, the firing pin extruded just enough to engage the primer as the block slid closed.

Boom....I was startled and shamed at the same time. The round tore into the ground about 15 yards uprange with no one but me noticing.

Lesson learned....not sure it was a felony type mistake though.

[afnamvet]

Was he in the Freeper Nascar League?

Now you have gone and done it.

[smokingfrog]

You guys are so judgmental!

I say give the man a hand for his ingenuity!

[LiberConservative]

.50 cal?!?!? Does he still have a hand?!?!

[Krankor]

Safety rules recommend strapping the rifle to your back pointed downwards. That way you only get shot in the butt.

[nomad]

Well yes.

[eartrumpet]

“LOL, A fellow in Kingsport Tennessee went out west week before last on a hunting trip, walking in a bunch of saplings, one pulled the hammer back on his pistol and shot him in the foot. Guess the old boy didn’t know the one about a live round under the hammer.”

If the chamber under the hammer was empty, he would have still been shot. Cocking the hammer rolled it to the next chamber. Keeping the first two empty gets you down to 3 or 4 shots. How about a better holster to protect the hammer?

[wardaddy]

shoulda left ignition of whatever type off

[wardaddy]

He deserved to die

for a mistake?

I love ya but you're struck from my jury next criminal trial..lol

/s

[wardaddy]

Never harsh enough for many peaceniks here..lol

[Fester Chugabrew]

Corollary to Murphy’s Law:

Proximity of natural objects to trigger is proportionate to caliber of firearm.

[ltc8k6]

It’s a muzzle loader, not a Barrett...

[taxcontrol]

What do you have against using a tree stand? Or is it the .50 black powder? Or is it the combination of the two? I’m not following you.

[blackbart.223]

"Never harsh enough for many peaceniks here..lol"

I hope there are not too many of them.

[SkyDancer]

Good thing he wasn’t using a crossbow ....

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Damned fool will take the cap off the nipple next time.

[Chode]

maybe it's his shooting hand and he'll stay out of the woods...

[RichInOC]

Darwin Honorable Mention.

[ColdWater]

Most of my revolvers have the safety bar. The hammer won’t hit the firing pin unless the trigger is also pulled.