Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 53

I

Gun Gaffes

N HIS BOOK The Man-eaters of Tsavo, British engineer Col. John Henry Patterson
recounts the story of two man-eating lions that terrorized workers constructing a
sector of the Uganda Railroad in Africa in 1898.
The lions killed at least 35 workers before Patterson was able to dispatch them. And
before that happened, a rifle misfire almost cost him his life, but miraculously, the lion
veered off of its charge.
Patterson's story got me thinking about some of the less-threatening mishaps I've
had in 50 years of hunting.
On the Nov. 26 opening day of the 1990 buck season, I was posted in a hollow in
Greene County where a deer trail snaked through a thicket. At about 9 o'clock, a buck
with a small basket rack came sneaking through. When it stopped in a small opening, I
put the scope's crosshairs on its shoulder and pulled the trigger of the 7mm-08 Browning A-bolt rifle I had at the time. Nothing happened! I chambered another round, but it
was too late. The buck didn't hang around.
Turns out. The rifle had a weak firing pin spring that hadn't been an issue at the
range, but surfaced at that inopportune time on the deer-season opener. A new spring
fixed the issue, but the gaffe cost me a buck.
Jan. 21, 1994 was one of the coldest days on record with a low temperature of -22
degrees. I was in a goose blind in Cumberland County. The semiauto 12-gauge I was
carrying wouldn't cycle after the first shot that cold morning because of excess oil in the
action. Shots at geese were infrequent that day, so the missed opportunity meant going
home empty-handed.
On Nov. 23, 1998, I was part of a bear-hunting group driving clearcuts in Huntingdon
County. After one hunter harvested a bear, the group gathered around to check it out and
take photos. I laid my unloaded rifle down in the leaves to shoot photos for a magazine
article when I heard someone blurt out, "Hey, your standing on that fellow's rifle." Sure
enough, a burly young man had both of his size 12 boots planted on my rifle's scope.
It was my fault for not being more careful where I set it down, but the scope needed
resighted in before the upcoming deer season.
Then there was the time on a Halloween 2003 upland bird hunt in Schuylkill County
when I unloaded my 20-gauge double while helping a companion look for a downed
woodcock. After a 20-minute search, we found the bird, but I forgot to reload in our
haste to resume working the thicket. I heard the click, click of the internal hammers
striking the firing pins on empty chambers after a grouse flushed at my feet and gave
me a straight-away shot down a wide open logging road.
Modern firearms are very reliable, and only rarely will they let you down. More
often it's human error that causes gun gaffes.

Bob D'Angelo
SEPTEMBER 2020	

53



Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020

Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - Intro
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - Cover1
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 2
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 3
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 4
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 5
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 6
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 7
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 8
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 9
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 10
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 11
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 12
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 13
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 14
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 15
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 16
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 17
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 18
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 19
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 20
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 21
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 22
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 23
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 24
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 25
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 26
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 27
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 28
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 29
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 30
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 31
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 32
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 33
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 34
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 35
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 36
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 37
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 38
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 39
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 40
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 41
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 42
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 43
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 44
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 45
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 46
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 47
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 48
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 49
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 50
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 51
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 52
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 53
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 54
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 55
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 56
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 57
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 58
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 59
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 60
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 61
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 62
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 63
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - 64
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2020 - Cover4
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