Safety Reminder

[landscaper]

As I walked out of the woods from a quick hunt Sunday afternoon I could hear one of my neighbors shooting what sounded like a .22 pistol. I didn't think much of it till I started hearing bullets ticking off of tree limbs. One passed right over head dropping leaves and bark and the next one, lower, passed maybe 10 feet over my head. It didn't touch a single twig. All I could hear was it cutting air. The shooting had been going on off and on all day so I assume it was some backyard plinking and the ones coming my way must have been bad ricochets. I traced what I think the path was on Google Earth and it goes directly back to a pond 600 yards and on the other side of mature pines from where I was standing. Shooting over water is a bad idea to start with but if you do it don't assume that woods and distance will keep anyone on the other side of your target safe.

[cwink]

Yeah. You really need an impact berm.. I see people posting pics all the time of them shooting out into open areas or only with woods to stop the bullet..

[Natty]

I was fishing recently and all of a sudden bullets started raining down around me. I could hear the shooting but it was a long ways off. I hollered but it continued. Put the trolling motor in overdrive and hauled outta there. Drove down to where I thought it was coming from and found a guy shooting his pistol behind his house at steel targets. He was over a 1/4 mile away through pine thickets and hardwoods and multiple hollows. He was shooting down a hill and the bullet skipped that far. The pond I was in was about 100ft higher in altitude than where the guy was shooting. Make sure you know you have a berm behind your targets before shooting.

[Northbigmuddy]

Everyone should witness firsthand a clip of tracers at dusk. No more questions about ricochets after watching that.