9 Essential Gun Safety Tips and Rules for the Hunters
When you are hunting, makes sure of others’ protection and safety along with yours. Though most of the hunting guns and air rifles are made for recreation purposes, surely it can cause harm, even kill if used carelessly. So, you must obtain some gun safety tips and rules.
Does it feel too boring, this site is so focused on safety issues? It might, but if you think it with the bigger picture, you will have to agree, that safety rules are a must to ensure safe and protected hunting. Here in the article, I am going to discuss the five-gun safety rules along with easy tips.
5 Essential Gun Safety Tips & Rules to Follow
Contents
- 1 5 Essential Gun Safety Tips & Rules to Follow
- 1.1 Consider all guns as if they are loaded – Always
- 1.2 Never grab a gun by the muzzle and drag it to you
- 1.3 Do not point your gun at anyone
- 1.4 Keep your finger off the trigger
- 1.5 Do not depend on the safety
- 1.6 Know where the other hunters are
- 1.7 Do not mix shells
- 1.8 Do not hunt if you’re taking drugs
- 1.9 Do not climb a fence with a loaded gun
Safe hunting comes down to two broad categories: watch out not only for yourself with bb guns for self-defense but for the other guy as well. Quite often these two interests coincide with some essential rules as well. You have to follow these rules and safety tips to enjoy your outdoor hunting with more certainty.
Consider all guns as if they are loaded – Always
A loaded gun always is to be considered for what it is – a lethal, deadly, dangerous weapon. Countless hunters have killed or injured themselves because they forgot. So, do not take your chance of memories, if you have unloaded the guns or not. Check it every time pick it in your hand.
Treat them carefully as if they are loaded. Use a proper hunting ankle holster or other pocket safety precautions. This will not hurt your enjoyment a bit but will ensure extra safety for you, as well as the others.
Never grab a gun by the muzzle and drag it to you
It could be the last thing you’ll ever do. Even when hunting by yourself, do not try to cross a fence while carrying a loaded gun. You might slip and fall, and the gun might go off and kill you. Don’t use the gun as a club to administer a coup de grâce to a wounded animal, and be careful not to get mud or ice in the barrel because, when you shoot, the pressure might rupture the barrel and injure you.
There are basic safety rules. Here are some of the most important Ones:
Do not point your gun at anyone
While hunting, carry your gun so the muzzle threatens no person, including yourself. If a branch somehow catches the trigger, or if you fall and the gun goes off, no one can be hurt if you are taking care not to point the powerful gun for bb or other pallets, toward another hunter.
“Never point your gun at anyone. Point it toward the ground or skyward. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission”
Keep your finger off the trigger
After you have seen the game, there is time to curl a finger around the trigger. Walking with a finger on the trigger could cost you a foot if you stumble. Or, even worse, you could fall, jerk the trigger, and kill a friend. Even if the safety was on.
Don’t climb a fence with a loaded gun. Unload your gun and hand it to a companion. Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Do not depend on the safety
Do not misunderstand. I mean you cannot rely on the safety of the guns -not completely. A hunter should be able to flip off the safety and find the trigger very quickly. But everyone slips of safety many times during the course of a day’s hunting.
They should be alert all the time and check up on all the other gun safety rules along with their safe hunting position. And you know what? Quite a few times the safety is not put back on. People are forgetful.
Know where the other hunters are
As I have said earlier in the gun safety tips, that you should not consider yourself only, you should also check out for the others. This rule is the same as the fishing safety rules. And the reason is very solid.
How can you protect others if you don’t know where they are?
Most of the time this is not a problem, but trees and brush do separate hunters. If there is the least doubt in your mind where someone is, don’t shoot.
Do not mix shells
Bird hunters are the ones who have to watch this. One of the best ways to avoid mixing shells is to never hunt with more than one shotgun at a time. Obviously, no one can use two guns at the same time, but many crack shots carry two shotguns, say a 12-gauge and a 20-gauge.
Moreover, they take the gun they think they need. Sometimes it is easy to slip a 20-gauge shell into a chamber, and it slips on through. Not only do you have an obstruction, which is bad enough, but also you have an explosive obstruction. So, you have to follow this hunting safety properly.
Do not hunt if you’re taking drugs
While talking about the gun safety tips, I must include the safe condition of the hunters as well. And taking the drug isn’t a safe thing for driving and hunting whether you are hunting with a cheap air rifle or something heavier. Being on drugs means you cannot do serious stuff. And hunting, to be honest, is somewhat serious.
Prescribed drugs often slow down reactions. Drugs and hunting, or for that matter, liquor and hunting, just don’t mix.
Do not climb a fence with a loaded gun
If you are by yourself, unload the gun and lay it on the ground. If you are with someone else, both should unload their guns. Then one person should cross and the other should hand the guns to him (with actions open) before crossing.
The list could go on, and it is not a bad idea for every hunter to think about safety in hunting and make his own personal list of doing and don’ts. But the main thing is to know your gun and accept responsibility for its safe operation.