9 Nov 00

This is from one of my instructors in the Midwest:

"We had a reserve officer accidentally shoot himself yesterday. He was in his own home getting ready for work at our department. He was holstering his SIG P220 into his Level III security holster when it unintentionally discharged. At present we don't know if the pistol was decocked or not, and we don't know if he had his finger on the trigger or not. Since there was only one witness, we may never know.

The bullet (Cor-Bon 230gr 45ACP) performed as advertised! It struck him in the right foot, breaking bones left and right and making a nauseating mess of his foot and ankle. It then exited and struck the floor. He will be off work a minimum of eight weeks and will likely lose his job.

This same officer was slated to attend a DTI Course earlier this year, but backed out at the last minute, because he said it was "too expensive." I wonder what he thinks it would have been worth now?"

Lesson: There are not enough details available yet for me to draw specific conclusions, but I can say that we see officers all the time at our courses who are inordinately clouded as to the correct operation of both their sidearm and their holster. This is doubtless one we didn't get to in time.

/John

9 Nov 00

Rule 2?

"Two Altamonte Springs, FL police officers were suspended recently after a photograph surfaced showing one of the two exposing his genitals during a music festival to which he had been assigned.

The two officers had been stationed near the stage as part of the security detail. Fans handed them cameras with which they were asked to take close-up photos of the performers from their unique perspective. A female fan got her camera back, with the ‘extra' photo.

The officer who took the photo (of the other officer's genitals) defended his action by claiming that he had been led to believe that there was no film in the camera!"

Lesson:

> There is no such thing as, "off the record!" "All guns are always loaded" applies to cameras too!

>Life is tough. But, if you're stupid, it's really tough!

/John

9 Nov 00

Hog Hunt 2000!

I just spent a day hunting hogs at a private game preserve in southern Ohio with several friends. We do it every year at this time.

We hunt in heavy woods and steep, rocky terrain. The hogs are mostly razorback/Russian mix and average 250 pounds. They move fast, and target windows are typically short, no more than a second or two. Most shots are thirty to seventy-five meters. The males have impressive tusks!

This year I used a Win M70 bolt gun in 7mm STW. It has a Leupold 3-10X scope. My partner used a Ruger 44Mg lever gun with iron sights. Both are perfectly suitable, but hogs are a good deal tougher than deer and antelope. No matter what they are hit with, they rarely collapse in a heap. Like cape buffalo, they like to run after being hit.

After hiking all day with few sightings, I finally spotted a hog at seventy-five meters distance, emerging from behind a tree. I hastily got into position and put the crosshairs in the middle of the body mass that was exposed. It was moving constantly in and out of cover, and I couldn't tell if I was shooting at the front half or the back half. I calculated that this may be my best (and only) opportunity, so I pressed off my shot.

As I was bolting in the next round, the hog disappeared. Moments later, it reappeared from behind the other side of the same tree, displaying very little discomfort! Confused, I again put the crosshairs on the center of the exposed mass and pressed off a shot. This time, I could see a puff of dust where the round hit him, exactly where I had aimed. I could also see him stumble and, again, disappear.

Hoping he did not have enough residual energy to run away, I cautiously closed the distance while frantically trying to stuff more rounds into the magazine, which only holds three.

When I arrived at the scene, I discovered that I had actually shot two hogs, a male and a female! They had been together behind the tree. I thought both shots were on the same hog, but I had been mistaken. I had shot the female first as, what turned out to be her back half, was exposed. I shot the front half of the male a few seconds later.

The 7mm STW round performed spectacularly, downing both hogs with a single hit. I was shooting 150gr WW Power Point, which I'll probably stick with when I go deer hunting in Texas next month.

Both hogs were hit in profile. The male was hit on the shoulder. The female slightly to the rear of the shoulder. The round striking the female went through and through, although the exit wound was fist sized. The round striking the male was recovered just under the skin on the opposite side of entry, having penetrated fourteen inches of tissue and bone. It was perfectly mushroomed. The Power Point is an impressive bullet.

It was a wonderful hunt, and we're all looking forwards to doing it again. The mounted head of the tusker will be gracing my office wall sometime next year!

In any event, I only planned to shoot one hog. My inexperience and failure to believe what I was seeing caused me to unintentionally shoot two.

Lesson: When using a rifle for hunting or for fighting, there is nothing more important than one's confidence in the rifle itself and in his own ability with it. You must know your limitations and your capabilities and have unshakable confidence in your knowledge of both. My unintentional shooting of the second hog was a direct result of my allowing myself to believe that I could have missed a shot, where the evidence clearly indicated that the shot was a solid hit. The evidence here was the fact that the crosshairs were on target when the shot broke. I needed to steadfastly believe what I clearly saw instead of entertaining the thought that I may not have seen what I thought I saw. If you are not confident, you will be confused, and confusion leads to hesitation. My temporary lapse in confidence led me to shoot two hogs when I thought I was shooting one. Lesson learned!

/John