Dogs shooting humans on hunting trips? It’s rare, but it happens.
It was described as a freak accident that made headlines across the nation: a hunter in Mississippi was shot by a dog and had to have his leg amputated. But reports show that dogs accidentally shooting humans isn’t as rare as it sounds.
It was described as a freak accident that made headlines across the nation: a hunter in Mississippi was shot by a dog and had to have his leg amputated. But reports show that dogs accidentally shooting humans isn’t as rare as it sounds.
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Matt Branch of Monroe, Louisiana, a former Louisiana State University football player, was hunting ducks with friends near Eagle Lake in Mississippi on Dec. 28
When a fellow hunters’ dog jumped in the bed of the vehicle, stepped on the gun, pushed the safety off and depressed the trigger. The gun fired and struck Branch in his left thigh. Branch was severely injured and doctors amputated his left leg.
When a fellow hunters’ dog jumped in the bed of the vehicle, stepped on the gun, pushed the safety off and depressed the trigger.
Matt Branch (from left), David Lamonte, Micah Heckford and David Joe Branch were on a duck hunt along with Connor Branch (not pictured) near Eagle Lake when Matt Branch was shot by a dog and almost lost his life. (Photo: Special to Clarion Ledger)
“All of us have hunted for 20 years or more and none of us thought about that happening,” said Micah Heckford, of Baton Rouge, who was on the hunting trip with Branch.
Branch, though, isn’t the first person to be shot in a dog-related incident. According to The Washington Post, at least 10 people were reportedly shot by dogs between 2004-2015 in the U.S., and several other cases have been reported since then.
According to the Las Cruces Sun-News in New Mexico, Sonny “Tex” Gilligan was going hunting for jackrabbits with his three dogs on Oct. 25, 2018. One of his dogs, Charlie, came into contact with a gun while in the backseat of Gilligan’s truck.
“Charlie got his foot in the trigger of the gun and I leaned forward and he slipped off the seat and caught the trigger — and it shot,” Gilligan said. “It was a freak accident but it’s true, that’s what happened.”
The shotgun fired through Gilligan’s driver’s seat. The pellets went through Gilligan’s back, breaking ribs, shattering his collar bone, and causing other severe injuries.
Another man was shot by a dog in Iowa in 2017 while hunting pheasants.
William Rancourt of New Hampshire was nearly 22 yards away when a hunting dog stepped on the trigger guard of a shotgun on the ground, causing it to discharge. Because of the distance between Rancourt and the gun, his injuries were moderate. Had he been closer, the accident would have been worse, according to the Des Moines Register.
A Wisconsin man was shot as a dog returned to his boat with a duck.
According to the Fond du Lac Reporter, Stewart Henderson said he shot some ducks and his dog went into the water to retrieve the birds. When the dog returned, he was assisting it back into the boat when the dog stepped on the shotgun and it fired, shooting Henderson in the leg. That incident occurred in Oct. 2018.
A similar situation unfolded in Corinne, Utah where a dog caused a man to be shot in the arm in November, 2018.
“The dog either tipped the shotgun over or bumped into the shotgun or something along those lines,” Box Elder County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Dale Ward told the Deseret News. “The firearm went off and the round struck the victim in the forearm.”
Ward added that this was not the first of such accidents in Box Elder County.
“I think it was about five years ago, we had another incident,” Ward said. “The gentleman had his dog in the boat, the gun was leaning out of the boat, and somehow the dog fired that weapon and shot that guy. Situations happen. People get careless.”
Source: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/outdoors/2019/01/11/dogs-shoot-hunters-its-rare-but-happens-us-miss/2546121002/
