Wounded hunters

M

muledeernut

Guest
LAST EDITED ON Jun-13-04 AT 04:55PM (MST)[p]How many of you have been hurt when you were hunting? How did you make out? I was bowhunting in Utah one year and cut my hand pretty bad with one of my broadheads. I didn't feel any pain, because the blade was so sharp, but I bled like a stuck pig. Anyways, what kind of first aid equipment do you take on a hunt with you? I know you have to draw the line somwhere on your first aid equipment, but how do you know where to call it quits? I am going on a backpack muzz hunt this year and I amwondering what is a good thing to take. Good hunting.



Muledeernut
 
I was on a elk hunt with my buddy who drew out for a CWMU tag for the Boobe Hole area down by Fish Lake. We got huge bull and we were caring it on the four-wheelers and I rolled my wheeler on the side. I was a scary moment. We were on a steep slope and the elk antlers were in little pine tree holding the 4-wheeler. I hurt my arm real bad, almost broke it. Almost got killed.


WIDOW_MAKER
 
I was up javelina hunting a few years ago and was following one of my friends up a pretty steep slope. He was jumping from boulder to boulder and I jumped on one that he had just jumped off of. Anyway, if started rolling down the hill with me on top of it. I tried treading on it to keep my balance but ended up falling off with it rolling over me and pinning my leg under it. It was big enough that it took my friend everything he could do to move it enough for me to get my leg out. I didn't break anything (don't know how) but my leg was in bad shape. I kept hunting and got my pig but I had to go in to the doctor twice after I got back and have fluid drained from by leg. Looked pretty ugly for a while.
 
I am fortunate not to have been seriously hurt while hunting as of yet (knock on wood). I have cut myself with my knife several times while field dressing game and have also sprang some ankle more time then I can count. I carry normal bandages, gauze and medical tape, and water. My father and I also sometime take along walkie talkies and have certain times we are to both get on an check up on each other.
Michael
 
I remember when I was caping out a buck in Utah a few years back. The exacto knife I was using for the area around the burrs slipped and momentum caused it to slice into the palm of my off hand. It was VERY deep, about 1" long, and of course bleeding badly. Problem was, I was about 80 miles from the nearest medical facility.

Luckily, I had a tube of Crazy Glue in my pack, along with alcohol swabs, etc. After cleaning the wound I used almost the entire tube of glue and basically glued it shut. There's a nasty scar there, and my doctor yells at me all the time for not having stiches put in, but that tube of Crazy Glue probably saved me some serious problems.

BOHNTR )))-------------->
 
WELL

ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO ME AND MY BROTHER WERE A GUTTING A BUCK AND WE LIKE TO SKIN THEM ASAP,WE DECIDED TWO KNIFES WERE BETTER THAN ONE SO WE WERE BOTH SKINNING QUICK SO WE COULD GO BACK TO HUNTING WHEN I SLIPPED TOWARD MY BROTHER AND REFLEX'S I YANKED THE KNIFE BACK TOWARDS ME BURYING IT CLEAR TO THE BONE ABOUT 6" ABOVE THE KNEE CAP,YA,WHEN THE POINT OF THAT KNIFE HIT THE BONE,HELL YA IT HURT,IT WOULD PARTIALLY HEAL DURING THE NIGHT BUT WOULD RIP BACK OPEN WHEN I GOT BACK ON MY FEET,(NO SUPER GLUE IN SIGHT)NASTY LOOKING SCAR,TOOK FOREVER TO HEAL!!!

WE DON'T GANG UP ON A SKINNING JOB ANYMORE,ONE OF THEM LIVE & LEARN DEALS!!!

FUNNY THING WAS,EVERYBODY I RAN INTO SAID:YOU'VE GOT EVIDENCE ON YOUR PANTS,BUT IT WAS MY OWN!!!

THE ONLY bobcat THINKING SOME OF THESE LESSONS HAVE LEFT SOME NICE BATTLE WOUNDS!!!
 
Fell of a cliff a few years back. I was working my way down it and my handholds let loose and I feel backwards. I hit the ledge I was working towards and rolled off it. I tumbled ass over teakettle for a long long time. The whole time I was thinking to myself, "man, I seem to be going through this pretty well." When I finally stopped, I was in the talus at the bottom of the cliff. The first thing I did was find my rifle. It had bust off my back, ripping the thick leather sling in half. After I found the rifle, I thought I should check myself out. I had a large cut above my eye and my knees and shoulders hurt pretty bad. When I got off the slope and onto flat ground, the andrenline stopped and I was hurting really good. I found my buddy after dark and headed for home. When I got home, I finally checked under my clothing. I was black and blue from my shoulders to the mid point on my back. It took me over 3 months before I could sleep on my one side. Probably broke my shoulder, but being pigheaded and knowing the doc would chew me out, I didn't go see him.
069729.gif
 
I was hunting out of a chute plane a few years back and ran out of gas, hit pretty hard and damn near shot my foot off when the shotgun loaded with buckshot went off. (joking)

Seriously, only injury I have ever sustained is a cut finger while field dressing an Elk up in Idaho about 12 years ago. My hand was so numb I harldy felt it but when it started to warm up I was in a lot of pain. I guess I have been pretty lucky but I have found that most "accidents" are preventable if you just pay attention.

Drummond
 
Was up in northern Nevada on a Deer hunt back in 1989. It was snowing so bad that morning I shot my buck and trailed it for about 1/2 mile and found him down in a ravine. Got it gutted out and when I got it up to level ground and finishing the removal of insides, I made a hastly quick slice to remove the windpipe as far as up into the neck as I could.
Then I felt the sting, I had my cold,numb left thumb in the wrong spot when I made the cut and laid the thumb open right under the nail really deep.
I had a hard time getting it to stop. I kept packing snow around it after I put a piece of hankerchief around the cut, looked like a real large RED SNOW CONE. Walked back to get the first aid kit in truck and was able to control the bleeding then.
Had a heck of a time trying to get the truck out there through that snow and load up the Buck and head to town. Still have a scar. Lesson learn, don't rush no matter how cold it is.

Brian
 
I got my hand stuck in a deers ass this last year. SERIOUSLY! We cut it in half so that we could pack it out on horseback. I picked up the rear half to take it over to tha manny, and I wasn't thinking. I grabbed the HUNK of meat, and when I picked it up, where I split the pelvis closed on my finger. I thought it cut it off. The only way to get the pressure off was to spread the back legs. Anyways almost had a story for the grandkids in twenty years. Grandpa how'd you loose your finger....got it stuck in a deers ass. : )
 
I had a pack strap break with half a mule deer buck on my back as I was going down a steep hill. After rolling ass over teakettle for a hundred yards my brother drug me to a stop...fortunately the deer, the gun, and my body survived the fall...I was 18 then...now I dont know?

ran into a guy elk hunting a few years back that carried Maxi pads in his pack! I kid you not...for pressure bandages...he was digging through for some grub and they flopped out I said what the ???? he explained immediately and I chuckled as I went back to hunting. I guess realistically it is a good idea just not something I would want my hunting buddies to see!
 
One of my buddies told me a story of one of his friends. His friend was bowhunting with another guy. The two were hiking single file with arrows nocked, and the guy in front stopped. Well, the second guy didn't and his 100gr steelforce went clen through the front guy just below the shoulder blade. Luckily it missed his lung. they had to unscrew the broadhead to pull the arrow out. Guess why I shoot Steelforce now, damn they're sharp.
 
I always carry a needle, and some 4 lb mono fishing line for quick stitches if necessary and some butterfly bandages. I had a buddy slip on a rock and run his leg down a sharp edge splitting open a 12" gash on his calf. It was bleeding pretty bad but after some quick stitches and a bandage he was doing much better. The doc even said it was a good job!

tc
 
Had a 12 ga. "misfire" (long, stupid story) while out duck hunting about 4 years ago. Blew my left heel off. It was just me, my dog, and my 4 year old son. I had to drive myself 40 miles to the nearest hospital (of course my Jeep was a standard, so I had to use what was left of my foot to work the clutch). 8 reconstructive surgeries later, it's doing a lot better. I'll never forget my bosses words that morning before I headed out hunting : "Don't shoot your foot off".
 
Nock on wood never been hurt while hunting. But how horrifying that could be. Especialy far away from civilization. I can only imagine. Being hurt bad would test your mental toughness for sure.
A few years ago I read a story in Outdoor Life about a guy who left early to go fly fishing not far from his home some where in Colorado. If I remember correctly the guy some how got his leg traped from the knee down under a boulder. As luck would have it a blizard blew in and the guy knew he would not survive. So he whiped out his knife and went to work. Cut his leg off at the knee. Crab crawled back to his car and made it to the neerest town. You never know if you coud do something like that until it happens to you.
Another story of a guy here in Texas about 10 years ago. He was on a big pasture down South in Web County about half way between Laredo and Zapata. He had left out from camp in his jeep for a long ride to his hunting spot. After parking he started to climb into the high rack on the jeep when his pistol fell out of his holster and landed on the hammer in the bed of the jeep. The bullett enterd just above the knee on his right inner thigh and traveled up through his hip and stoped in his abdomen. After falling himself and regaining consciousness he got into his jeep drove back to camp. He was all alone. Got into his truck and started the 20 miles of dirt road and 7 gates to open back to hwy 83. He was going in and out of consciousness and on his way out he called his brother from his cell phone, who he hunted with on this place, and asked him to call for ambulance. Once he hit hwy 83 he decided to turn towards Laredo. It was a good thing cause shortly after he saw the ambulance heading at him and lucky for him the driver was a Vietnam vet medic and was able to help save his life.


"We must HUNT"
 
That guy fishin was damn lucky the folks who get traped and there is a crushed body part don't relize there is some thing called crushed syndrom which is after about an hour the body part is dead so if you release it all the bio that was created is sent strait to your heart.
 
I have a story about me and then one about a buddy of mine.

I took a nasty fall a few years back in New Zealand. It was just myself and a buddy that got flown wayyyy up into the east coast of the Southern Alps. Our plan was to stay for 4 days and try for Chamois and maybe a tahr. First mistake was that in our haste to unload the chopper, we forgot the emergency radio. The pilot said he would return to the same spot and pick us up and at the same time drop my buddy's dad and sister off to use the camp that we set up. To make a long story short, the first day (after I thankfully got a trophy Chamois) on the way back down to camp late in the afternoon, I fell off a 40 ft. ledge and then went into the head over heels tumble for a long while after that. I had dislocated my hip, fractured my pelvis, fractured my ankle, and had several large cuts. Well, we then realized how bad we had screwed up. Remember that radio!! Well we didn't !! I had to lay on the side of that mountain for 3 full days before the pilot returned. He ended up flying me to the nearest small town with a clinic and landed right in the lawn. They thought I was in bad enough shape that they called in the Medivac chopper from Christchurch. Spent 9 days in the hospital and another 6 weeks in a brace and on crutches. Point of my story, buy travelers insurance!!!! Didn't have to pay for anything including the first class ticket ride home because I could'nt straightn my leg out enough to ride coach.

Now my buddy's story::
He was bowhunting out of a stand that was about 12 ft. up. While he was waiting, he was doing something that almost cost him his life. He was actually sharping his knife at the exact time the limb he had placed his stand on gave way. He ended up landing on the knife at his left wrist. When he woke up, he was in a huge pool of blood. On top of that, he was hunting that day at the lease alone and it was a 65 mile drive back to town. He somehow made it back to his truck and got out of the ranch. He was drifting in and out of concoiousness while he was trying to get back to the highway. He ended up driving himself all the way to the hospital by pouring cold beer on himself to stay awake. When it was all said and done, He had lost a life threatning amount of blood, severed ALL the tendons that control all 5 fingers and had broke his wrist in the actual fall. We never let him forget that he is the luckest SOB to still walk this earth!!!!
Scottyboy
 
Sounds like both of you guys are a couple of lucky sum biskets. That had to suck laying there on that mountain for 3 days.


"We must HUNT"
 
Two years ago I had a similar misshap to the one Bobcatbess related. I told the story on MM forums then so only the short version now. While skinning an bull elk with a custom made knife I slipped and sliced into my knee just above the kneecap. Was in a wilderness area at least 5 miles from truck. My buddy and I finished up the bull, loaded the quarters and me on horses and started for medical help. Took about 12 hours to get to hospital to get stitched up. Not much fun.

Phantom Hunter
 
And I thought that my deep cut on my finger was bad, I never thought that some of you guys had gone through the things you have. Those of you that had to stay out over night or walk miles to the truck are double tough. I appreciate all of your responses and I am sorry that you all had to go through that horror, but I bet that you all now take care while you are hunting. Good, and safe hunting!!!


Muledeernut
 
I've been dang lucky. Had two bullets whizz by me (some kids were flinging lead down a draw during deer season, guess they couldn't see blaze orange at 300 yards), probably within about 10 feet. But only got "wounded" once......standing near the edge of a berm above a wash, watching my pointer get birdy across the wash, the berm gave away and I went straight down about 10 feet. Tore the cartlidge in my left knee. Dang dog kept hunting for the next 15 minutes (she might be smarter than I give er credit for).

Do blister count as a "wound"? (lol).........
 
I had a friend who was messing around near Big Sky, MT when he was about 15. His footing gave way and he slid about 30 feet and dropped off a 40 foot cliff. Broke one leg in 3 places and the other in 7. He layed there on the rocks for 2 hours until his dad found him. It took another 2 hours to get the equipment there to get him out of the ravine he fell into. Then it took another 2 hours to get him out. All without any anesthesia. He still has nightmares about it (17 years later).
 
I have, thank goodness, never been hurt while hunting BUT I have killed someone. Not on purpose or anything. A drunk driver hit my jeep head on with me, muledeernut (my husband), and Bucksnort along with me. The drunk went over a cliff/dam and died. Our "inside joke" is that we killed him. Of course, the accident wasn't our fault and we hadn't been drinking. We are not making light of someone losing their life but we have to deal with some serious feelings about the whole situation and that is how we choose to cope with it. The guy was THREE TIMES the legal limit in blood alcohol content. We are just lucky that we didn't get hurt. Cool story, huh?
 
I've got to comment to this one. I consider myself pretty lucky when it comes to close calls when it comes to hunting. It's very important to teach kids and older hunters safety when it comes to firearms. When I was much younger my brother and I were hunting mule deer and I spotted a nice buck up on this ridge we were both looking at it through our rifle scopes. My brother was standing behind me and wasn't paying attention when he pulled the trigger and nearly blew my head off. The compression of the bullet coming out of the barrel shredded the orange hat I was wearing to pieces. To this day my ears still ring from that. In 1989, I was rifle hunting deer on opening morning and a nice buck ran in between me and another Utah hunter from Joseph Utah (I know because I chased him down and chewed him out)and he opened up on it and a bullet skipped off the rock I was sitting on. Scared me out of my mind. I haven't rifle hunted on a Utah general hunt since then. To me it's not worth my life. In 1993, my brother and I again were hunting in Colorado and lived through a head on collision with a drunk driver (he was in a 1 ton chevy pickup). Totaled my jeep and we both luckily walked away from a 70mph impact. I was going 20mph and he was going 50mph on the wrong side of the road on a blind turn. In 1995, rolled my 4-wheeler over the top of myself because it was top heavy with an elk stapped to it and lived through it. Again in 2000, loading my 4-wheeler on to my truck the ramp slipped off the tail gate and I found myself on the ground pressing the 4 wheeler off from myself. I'll never ride my 4 wheeler on to the truck again. I've also had some smaller things happen too like in 1996 hiked up in some remote area on the muzzleloader and shot a big buck. I fell in a hole packing it out of there on my back because my flashlight went dead and messed my knee up really bad. I could think of other things if I thought about it some more, but let's just say I'm lucky to be alive at this point.
 
Wow, Muleyqueen, you three are lucky to be alive to tell the tale.

Most serious injury I've had was when I gutting adeer once and got a little excited talking to my partners. I was pulling hard on the windpipe or something and it gave way and my hand came recoiling back towards my body. Unfortunately it hit my other hand which was holding my knife. I buried the blade in the base of my thumb to the bone. Hurt like hell! Didn't bleed much. We were young and stupid so rather than seeking medical attention I just toughed it out. Have a nice scar and a knot on my hand that still hurts when I think about it 25 years later.

I worry a lot about just this topic. Someone getting hurt way back in somewhere. My wife's uncle (an old cowboy, pretty rough and tough) told me a story about a fellow he guided in Nevada years ago. They were riding horses up a canyon in the snow and stopped to get off. Instead of using the stirrup this guy steps off onto a downed tree branch. Only thing was with the snow he slipped off the branch he fell onto a broken limb. Shoved it right into his groin area and severed his femoral artery. They tried everything to get it to stop but couldn't. The guy died right there and they had to pack him out. He got a little teary eyed when he told me that story. Must have been awful.

I also read about a guy that got his arm caught between rocks or something and had to cut it off. Now that's tough. I've tried to chew my arm off a time or two to try and not wake the person sleeping next to me but that's a different kind of pain. :)
 
NVBighorn, that is called coyote ugly. Do you know what it is called when you chew both off? Double coyote ugly. The one is to get away and the other is so that you never do it again.
 
I fell out of a tree Bow hunting one year. I fell asleep and when I woke a couple hrs later what a headache. I now carry a Wet Nurse to suckle on and a hot toddy to easy the pain.
Rut
 
I wasn't alive to witness this but it happened. My grandpa was walking down a slope and his hunting buddy was behind him. His buddy's gun went off and shot right through my grandpa's shoulder. The bullet was so hot that it didn't bleed or anything but my grandpa never really enjoyed hunting again after that, even though he survived the wound. The guy didn't mean to shoot. Everyone be careful this year when you are hunting or doing whatever you do.
Later JonesZy
 
Last year elk hunting here in idaho, i wrecked my bike on an afternoon scout and crushed my heal. I didn't know just how bad at the time but the pain was intense. Kept on hunting though and pushed thru the pain. After i got back into town the pain increased and didn't seem any better after a couple weeks. Went in to see the doc and he x-rayed my heal. He said it looked more like mush than a heal. That was at the end of october '03 and now it's june, 04. Still have less than half feeling in that heal and can still feels bic chips of bone floating around in there. Oh well, it was a pretty good hunt anyway. P.S. the best thing for a stab wound in the field is a tampon. Seriously guys, it stops the bleeding like nothing else.
 
man, if all you guys have had happen is a few cut fingers and fell out of some trees, you ain't tryin' hard enough. let me see, i've had 2 multiple vertabrae fracture horse wrecks, fought a bear toe to toe and won, been swatted by a lion, drove an antler tine off a coues deer several inches into my thigh while draggin' it out, severed a ligament in my left index finger while guttin' an elk in colorado. don't even recall how many times i've been bit by my own damn hounds and kicked by my own damn mule. that's just what i can remember off hand. i'm sure old head injuries have caused some lost memory. but i guess the worst was when my oldest son blew up his rifle while i was standing next to him. blew out his left ear drum, nearly blew off his thumb, gave him a concussion and he had the anvil out of the primer in his left biceps and several chunks of steel in his face. i was lucky, i just got the extractor off the bolt shot into my face about an inch in front of my left ear lobe. went through my jaw muscle and hit me in the skull. that was at 630 am. we made it to the emergency at 9 pm. cut fingers don't count.
 
RLH - I'd quit if I were you buddy! Gosh, you really need to be careful. What the hell are you doin' out there? :) Be safe this season. O.K.?
 
step outta a outhouse and blew up my left ankle at the waterfowl
refuge, same refuge two years later we out on a good north wind blow for ducks and geese after having my left knee scoped, I made it out when the zylocane(?), and pain killers wore off that was the most painful and stupid! stupid! thing I ever did!
 
Had my heart broken
3 OF MY BUDDIES WERE HUNTING ELK ON THE MANTI FOR ELK.
THEY GOT SNOWED IN. 2 OF EM GOT FROST BITE LOST A COUPLE TOES AND ONE OF THEM CANT USE HIS HAND. THE THIRD GUY FROZE TO DEATH. HYPOTHERMEA SET IN THE 2 HIKED OUT AFTER 4 DAYS. BARLEY MADE IT. SPENT 2 NITES IN SNOW CAVES. SPENT 3 NIGHTS IN THEIR TRUCK. 3 FOOT OF SNOW. THE ONE THAT DIED WAS FOUND IN A SNOW CAVE NEXT TO THE PICKUP.
 
One year on the Utah general rifle tag, my Dad, myself, my brother, my Dad's friend, and his two sons were sitting on a rockslide eating lunch when bullets started to whiz by at mear inches. We all hit the dirt/rocks and made ourselves as small of targets as possible. This went on for about 10 minutes with bullets hitting the rocks we were laying behind. At this point, it was life or death so we trying to find who was shooting at us through quick looks through the scope, so we could put them out of our misery. There were so many hunters in the area that we could see, that we never did see who was shooting at us. We got the heck out of Dodge after that.

I almost quit hunting at that point. Instead I switched to bowhunting because I figured that the SOB's that did that would have to look me in the eye to do it with a bow. I have been on exactly 3 firearms hunts for big game since then. All 3 were in remote steep or otherwise inaccessable areas and the only other people I saw were those that I was hunting with. My brother went on those same 3 hunts and maybe 1 other one, but has since stopped hunting completely. He still is bothered by that experience.

Now, many years later, I will be going on not 1, but 2 muzzleloader hunts this year. Both muzzleloader deer hunts. I am still spooked by rifle hunts for big game. Hopefully nothing even remotely like this ever happens to anyone here. If it wasn't for my deep ingrained love of muley hunting, I would probably have quit after that day in Utah many years ago.

Mountain.gif
 
Why is it that I hear of so many people getting shot at during the rifle hunts in Utah? My dad and step mother were hunting the general rifle season in Utah and she got shot at too. I also have read that a couple people here on MM have been shot at in Utah. Just something to think about!!!!!

Muledeernut
 

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