MERCER, Maine — A man returning to his hunting group was sent to a Waterville hospital Saturday after accidentally discharging his shotgun, according to a news release from the Maine Warden Service.
Andrew Knight, 37, of Rome was the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the left foot. Knight said that he was hunting with his father Kenneth Knight and a female junior hunter, both from Rome, off from the Rome Road in Mercer.
Knight said he was returning from the woods from hunting to meet with his relatives near the roadside. Knight said he placed the gun barrel on the top of his left foot in a resting position, and the firearm discharged. The gun was a Remington pump-action 12-gauge shotgun loaded with buckshot.
Knight was provided with care and transported by Delta Ambulance to Inland Hospital in Waterville. Game Warden Steve Allarie and Sergeant Terry Hughes responded to incident, which remains under their investigation. The Maine State Police also assisted in this incident.
Knight was reported in stable condition.
No further information was available Sunday.
Better to shoot yourself than someone else. Less explaining to do.
Dick Cheney might argue that point.
Oh, c’mon! I had almost forgotten that guy!
Good one. :)
Photos or x-rays, please.
All hunters rest the barrel on the toe of the boot from time to time. Why the safety off and the finger pulling the trigger is confusing. Kinda dumb.
My barrel does not point at anything that i don’t want to shoot.
all hunters? really?
I am a hunter and I don’t rest the muzzle of my loaded weapon on any part of my body. I will leave it up against a tree if I need to free my hands. or sling it. or unload it and throw it in the truck.
I said hunters and you clearly are not if you have a sling.
Come out west and you will see real hunters use a sling, it is not fun to climb the Rockies without one
Never rest the barrel on the foot, no if’s and’s or buts.
Chock another one up for the deer. For being unarmed animals, they seem to do amazingly well at get a few people shot every year.
How heartless to make fun of someones misfortune.
MISFORTUNE
??? YOU MEAN STUPIDITY !!!
Doesn’t he know that “shooting yourself in the foot” is just a figure of speech, and not a recommendation?
Sounds kinda fishy to me, it takes about 8 pounds of pulling force on the trigger for it to fire. But then again, who would purposely shoot themselves in the foot? Bizarre story though.
Just wanted some time off from work? LOL
If that’s the case, better than setting a submarine on fire I guess.
somehow he left the safety off and probably rested the muzzle on his foot and the buttstock on his stomach/waist and when he went to pick up the gun he probably grabbed it by accident as he picked up the gun. the weight of a loaded 870 is more then enough for gravity to break the trigger.
this is just a case of dumbassery.
Ouch !!
ouch
Gun must be defective.
Time for a hunter safety refresher course?
No refresher course in the world gonna help a fella 37 years-old that was so busy trying to wow the ‘female junior hunter” that he shot his foot. If this happened down south, the phrase “Hey, ya’ll watch this!” might’ve been involved. Can’t fix stupid. LOL
LOL…..I guess I was being a bit optimistic….;+(
He got it on the spot, I doubt he will never forget the rule he broke
Boy…….you got THAT right!
Quick, everybody run away! Andrew just got out of his truck with a shotgun! Never mind the danged deer, run away! LOL
Another one of those safe hunters, usually i wont leave the woods until i see out of staters, might just have to leave when i see any other hunter.
If the deer could laugh….
I bet he has a “Note to Self” …………………… Do “NOT” put gun barrel on foot and pull trigger!!
In response to some of the commenters. Anyone familiar with the shotgun sports such as skeet and trap, will attest to the fact that resting the muzzle of your shotgun on your footwear is a common practice. Unloaded and broken open of course. Most of the better sporting good stores offer a accessory that snaps to your shoe to protect it from damage from the muzzle being rested there.
Having run the skeet field at a local gun club for a number of years, safety was always of paramount importance. And believe me, this practice is not a safety violation at my, or any other range I have frequented.
I’m not defending the hunter in this article, as having the firearm LOADED while resting on his foot is a major safety violation, however, under the proper conditions ( unloaded and broken open ) resting one’s muzzle on their foot is universally accepted at every gun club I have ever visited, and if my memory serves me correctly, a common practice during the skeet shooting competition at the Olympics.
Good points. Or spend 30 days in the woods from dawn to dusk with nothing but your rifle, putting on 10 miles a day hiking and tracking and from time to time the gun gets heavy and you rest it. Having the finger on the trigger and the safety off is stupid but the rest is normal for an old school hunter, not today’s wannabe.
Been hunting 35 years and have never used my foot for a muzzle rest, but that is why the call me 10 toes
(facepalm)
I can remember when one did not need hunter orange, ahhhhhhh the good ole days…………..Maine started off first requiring an orange hat, then the vest was added later on now it seems we are going to have to require orange boots. First and second most important rules of gun safety are 1: treat all guns as if they are loaded, and 2: never point a gun at anything you do not intend to shoot. LOL!
Where I live you can dress in full camouflage when hunting,but I do remember even back in the 70s when you had to dress in orange in Maine.In fact you can carry a concealed weapon with no permit,and yes it is in the United States,not even an Inspection sticker required here for your vehicle.
Here’s your sign…..
“Knight said he placed the gun barrel on the top of his left foot in a resting position, and the firearm discharged.”
Stupid.
I hope this guy will make a full recovery but, c’mon, how foolish can you be? A little common sense goes a long way, especially when it comes to the handling of firearms.
That’s gotta hurt!
Why is this guy allowed to carry a gun when he completely ignored the first rule of gun safety and purposely pointed the barrel at his body?
1. ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
http://www.nrahq.org/education/guide.asp
Darwin Lives