Some what off topic. I was shooting a round of skeet last Saturday with my shooting buddy. We were at station 5, he was shooting and I was to the left and behind him pushing the buttons. He fired and hit the high house target at mid field. Simultaneously I felt a sharp stinging on my neck! There was a little abrasion under my chin and a small wound on my neck. A little blood but nothing to stop the activity. Today I was fingering the 'wound' and out came a lead pellet. Flat on one side. There was nothing but target in front of the shooter. No one else around. The pellet must have bounced off the target and came back to hit me. Anyone ever hear of such a thing?? All this as I was cradling my Ithaca NID 5E sheet gun. I am glad the pellet didn't hit the gun--I will heal a lot better then the gun would. Anybody ever question the necessity of shooting glasses??
(He was shooting a M-31 Skeet gun that he had just bought from me--maybe the gun was 'sticking its tongue out at me??)
Walt, that is very strange! Any chance a stray pellet came from another field?
If I understand this correctly Walter you're stating he actually hit the high house? I saw this happen several years ago when a shooter inadvertently did this on Station 8 and was actually hit by a ricocheting pellet of the house.
Jim
James, My mistake, he hit the high house target about mid-field. I don't recall anyone on a field near us. Plus the hit was on the right side of my neck.
I know a guy that had something similar happen. He was shooting H1 when he also felt a sting (on his nose), and wiped off a little blood. The next day, he noticed what looked kind of like a blackhead. He poked at it and "tink", a pellet dropped into the ceramic sink.
And no, I don't question the need for eye protection. And it was the only range open at the time, it didn't come from somewhere else.
Yes I have seen two people hit by stray pellets like you describe. One was standing fourth in line at high eight when a pellet came back from the target and hit his shooting glasses almost dead center on his left eye lens. No doubt it was from the target just shot by the shooter on the station. Second was a shooter who was hit pellet from the load he just shot at station four. Pellet hit him on the fore head about an inch over his right eye. It broke the skin and was in fact still on the surface after breaking the skin. Flat as a plate so it did not penetrate at all. He was not wearing shooting glasses that day and was lucky not to loose an eye or at least suffer serious damage. He does wear glasses all the time now when shooting. He has found safety religion.
Bottom line is that if you shoot long enough you see all types of weird things and almost impossible freak events. Wear ear plugs and eye wear at all times. And stand behind a fat guy when ever you can. He can shield you, protect your gun and make you look thinner at the same time.
Thank you guys! I guess my experience was not at all that unique. I am glad there were no serious injuries, gun or people.
All this as I was cradling my Ithaca NID 5E sheet gun. I am glad the pellet didn't hit the gun--I will heal a lot better then the gun would. Anybody ever question the necessity of shooting glasses??
+1
My friend, the late Henry Thomas of Federal Oak Farm, was sitting on the patio in front of the clubhouse at the old Potomac River Gun Club, a single skeet field. The shooters on the field were shooting high eight and a pellet glanced off the target and imbedded itself in Henry's forehead!!
The same thing happened to me.
I was sitting on a bench behind station four watching a squad on station one shoot, when I felt a sting in my left upper arm, I looked and there was blood running down my arm, I had to pry a pellet out with a knife blade. The pellet was flattened on one side. The shooter was shooting high one and broke the target about over the stake. that pellet had to have turned 90 degrees to hit me and must have bounced off the target.
Pete
I was shooting trap once, and shot a straight-away off #3:
A blackbird was flying by, about at station #5. He was shot and killed by what must have been a pellet bouncing off the target.
He was 15 yards to the right of the target at the time.
It was strange.
I know of more than one similar instances occurring. I'm pretty sure that what is happening is a pellet hits the target's belly and does a partial 'loop' as the target breaks sending the errant pellet in a direction that can be back toward the shooter.
Stuff happens, wear a good pair of impact rated glasses when shooting, period!
FWIW, I have a 20.ga. model 12 w/a target chunk imbedded it it's butt stock to what I think is a depth of about 1/2" or 12 mm. That happened while I was standing on the queue on station 7 waiting for my turn to shoot. The target piece came from the first shooters H-7 target. I have also received several minor cuts from target fragments over the years on skeet fields and a couple of pellet strikes as well. Wear glasses.
While speaking of safety, wear hearing protection. Expandable or custom ear plugs under muffs for shooting anywhere near ported barrels or a Cutts type equipped gun. Both make LOTS of concussive bad stuff for your hearing.
This may happen more often than before, as most all clubs go to the bio-degradable targets. Most have already around here. They are a little harder to break, by all accounts, than the old birds.
SRH
I agree w/that probability, Stan. Also regular pitch targets can become rock hard when left exposed to the elements over a long period of time. When you see orange pitch targets faded to near white, you best bet they will be VERY hard to break.
I attended a trap shoot two summers back that was using some bio targets that were not prone to breakage when hit. You could literally see them move a couple of feet when hit, but they didn't break. Many of those same targets were picked up afterwards and had as many as seven distinct pellet strikes on them. We took some of those same targets and threw them at the ground; they still did not break! That was an anomaly, long since dealt w/by the maker, but bios remain harder than pitch targets, even when fresh, and I don't think anyone will argue that point.
Glad that you bring it up! Thank you for doing so.
Dittos, most common on station 8. Buddy dug one out of his nose. And not just pellets - target fragments especially on 1, 7, 8. Eyewear.........always. Have had & seen nice buttstocks take hits, too.
Sam, I had to reread your last sentence. Thought it was "nice buttocks" the first time.
I've also seen it happen a few times, almost always on 8. Either a pellet ricochet or else a piece of the target striking either the shooter or someone else in the squad.
My grandfather is a big guy, and he once took a pellet in the forehead from a hunting "buddy." One single pellet knocked him off his feet, of course it wasn't a ricochet. When us grandkids were young he would have us feel where the pellet was still imbedded in his skull.
I have heard the old guys talking about shooting doves with reclaimed shot and they said that they had been occasionally hit by a stray pellet that they assumed due to its odd shape had taken a nearly 90 degree path.
CHAZ
I've been hit by pellet ricochets twice, once on sta. 3 and once on sta. 2. While waiting to shoot at sta. 8 my Parker Repro took a fragment hit on the rib and right barrel. No dent but had to have the bluing touched up.
I used to shoot 25 yd. steel plates with .38 wad-cutters and often came away with bloody knuckles from splattered lead fragments.
YES, it does happen and that is why EYE and ear protection are required!!
Either clay pigeon fragments or shot can happen
Pleased you are healing
Mike
It is common! I have seen it happen many times . I have shot skeet for 50 years. My son was hit 3 times in one match. I believe that harder birds contribute. Wear Glasses!
bill
I don't think it always has to be a straight ricochet. I think the shot gets distorted and doesn't travel true. You can hear them buzz by every now and then.
As a result of all of the above, I have taken to wearing a hat with a brim while skeet shooting. A felt Stetson in cooler weather, and a straw cowboy hat in warmer weather. The high peak and broad brim have stopped many chunks of clay birds.
Mergus
Also in the FWIW dept. A friend who shot skeet all over the country for many years told me of two different times at major shoots where he witnessed someone having their glasses lens cracked/broken when the shooter was on station 4. Both times it was persons waiting their turn to shoot that were hit. You learn to never say never.
In the rough, people who shoot at low birds are a liability to both dog and man. I avoid them like the plague. Dove fields in particular can be a disaster if "NO LOW BIRDS!" is not strictly enforced. There too, wear eye & ear protection, the sight & hearing you save could be your own.
Sam, I had to reread your last sentence. Thought it was "nice buttocks" the first time.
Dave, Suppose I'd have to ask my wife 'bout that.
But have been hit with #6 in the thigh....by a shooter across a dirt road. Saw it as in slow-motion: bird goes up, small muzzle signature, puff of feathers, bang, ouch. Didn't get through the Filson chaps, but left a welt. No need to ask the manager (aka, "chief caretaker") why he preferred customers use #7.5.
TW you are right about hazards in a dove field. I threw one hunter, an idiot, and his uninvited guest off my dove field about ten years ago for their repeatedly shooting at very low birds even after warnings. He had the balls to invite someone without asking or even knowing me personally. He was invited by a friend who had hunted with me for several years. Typical entitled politician. The idiot became Governor the next year. Lucky for me he was a one term Governor and I never needed a pardon or favor.
But when you hunt on my land, as my guest, I have absolute rules which must be followed by all, no exceptions. No alcohol before or during the shoot, no funny wacky weed, not shooting low repeatedly, no failing to look for every bird shot and no shooting over the limit at all. If lucky you get one warning but that is on a case by case basis. We are here to have fun not duck and cover because some jackass is out of control. And if excused from the field you can forget about the bbq. That's the best part anyways.
It amazes me when you have a field with several hundred birds using it and a 15 bird limit why people shoot at every bird which flies by them and feel the need to bring four boxes of shells. One year I had a one box limit of shells then required the hunter to ride back to the barn for more ammo. The kill per shot ratio doubled but the next year they were back with too many shells again.
Was it Havilah Babcock that wrote the story about the high class Southern dove shoot which started with breakfast and spiked eggnog, and the shoot rapidly degenerated into another War of Northern Aggression skirmish?
I have been shot, not by ricochets and not shot fall, twice in my life on a dove shoot. Once, at about age 14, I was shot by the host's son with a load of 3 1/4-1 1/8-8s at about 30 yards. Had to go have shot dug out of me that time. One pierced my earlobe ........... coulda put in an earring and been a real trendsetter in '65. Next time was as recent as 2 1/2 months ago. A guest did not see me leave my stand, to go pick up a dove I had shot down, and shot at a low bird, hitting me with several shot. None penetrated, but one hit me so hard on the upper lip that it caused bleeding inside my mouth for several minutes. When shot that time I fell face down on the ground instinctively, fearing another shot was coming. It scared the shooter so bad that he came running wide open thinking I was dead. I let him stay scared, briefly.
He and I will not be within range of each other on any more shoots.
SRH
A high school friend's father got a face full of 6's when blocking on a pheasant drive. Fortunately, nothing really deep and none hit his eyes.
This was a good thread for me. I'm just getting around to joining a local skeet club and try my hand at it. This will keep me in the right frame of mind for eye-pro for sure.
An odd thing I had happen to me many years ago, not really related, but this reminded me. I was squirrel hunting with a 12 ga. I shot one at about 25 yrds with number 6 shot through IC choke. The wad was in the squirrel. Made a big hole.
This is a good post to remind people shooting and around shooters to wear eye protection. I was at a friend's range a couple of years ago. A Chapui double rifle [big] was being sighted in at the hanging cast iron or steel swinging targets at 50 yards. I was standing behind the shooter to the left as he shot. Schrapnel from the shot came directly back at us and one piece pierced my canvas pants, drawing blood from a skin cut beneath the material. I am not sure of the physics of this, but it happened.
I think there are more erratic pellets escaping the swarm than we realize. At times they may be the only thing helping my shooting! And the number of times I have been hit by target pieces is more than enough to convince me to wear the toughest shooting glasses I can afford.
I have likewise been hit with a pellet that bounced off a target, though it did not penetrate my skin.
A lot of years ago I had a lead wadcutter bullet from a .38 Special target load in a revolver bounce off a tree and hit me in the chest. It bounced off me, no penetration, but I was left standing there shaking. No glasses (last time that happened).
Wear the safety gear.
Drew, I've read that story twice. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it was Nash Buckingham who wrote it.
terc