One simple rule. Wait until you're in your stand before loading your firearm and unload it before you leave. No excuse for returning from the woods with a loaded chamber.

Texas' first hunting accident fatality of the season

Sad, can’t imagine accidentally killing your own child.

How tragic. Rest in Peace young lady.

No excuse for not having the safety on and no excuse for not pointing it in a safe direction. Terrible for all involved.

One simple rule. Never point a firearm at anyone or anything you don't intend to kill. Apparently the OP has never been upland bird hunting. I guess he thinks a person is supposed to load up during the covey rise. My condolences to her family.

"According to investigators, she and her father were out hunting and walking back to camp when the dad's gun "went off" and shot her."

No matter the game animal or bird, when the hunt is over and you're returning from the field, there's no reason to be carrying a firearm with a shell in the chamber. Leaving the chamber empty eliminates the possibility of death or injury from an accidental discharge that might occur due to one or more of many reasons.

More details of this tragic accident are sure to appear in the 2024-25 TPWD Hunting Accident Report.

Define "returning from the field." I once killed a big bull elk right at dark less than 100 yards from my elk camp in CO after hunting hard all day. I was headed back to camp when I jumped the bull and had time for one fast shot as he blasted across a trail. Sometimes you aren't "returning from the field" until you are back to camp or a vehicle since you can get into game anywhere in some places.

1,280,000 police officers carry loaded firearms all day or night and the firearms don’t magically “go off”. Always ensuring the firearm is not pointed at anyone or anything that is not intended to be killed is gun safety. Monkeying around loading and unloading a firearm is the most common cause of a negligent discharge. Tens of millions of people carry loaded firearms much of the day and they don’t just “go off”. In this incident the firearm was being pointed at a person negligently.

Not all hunt from stands, we hunt to and from our vehicle, camp or the ranch house.
Know where the muzzle is pointing at all times.

I hope her dad may find some peace but I doubt it.

I have to believe there were other factors that led to this shooting, as it often the case. Such things as tripping and/or falling or other events that led to the firearm being accidentally discharged in an unexpected manner.

The incident brings to mind the high school coach who was shot and killed several years ago after he had laid his loaded shotgun in the bed of his truck. He had been duck hunting at the time and his dog jumped into the bed, as I'm sure he often did after every hunt. This time however, the dog stepped on the loaded shotgun and caused it to discharge.

Rule #1 of firearm safety is to always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. If only there were never any unanticipated circumstances that resulted in that not being the case. All too often, it's these types of circumstances that sometimes lead to a tragic ending.

Again, I'm sure the TPWD will provide more details on what caused this tragic event in next year's Hunting Accident Report.

🦞

Same guy that mocked parents for letting their kid shoot off tripods, said it was cheating

We travel with loaded guns all the time. Being loaded isn't the cause of the problem.

I’m sure he would smash his thumb while driving a nail and then blame the hammer.

Sad!
Last year a guy I have known since high school called me in a panic voice asking me what would cause his gun to just go off. I asked him what kind of rifle it was and if it had ever had trigger work done in it and he said it was a Model 70 with no modifications. I told him the answer to his question is “pulling the trigger”. Model 70’s are about the safest rifles ever made and about the only way to make it “just go off” was to pull the trigger. He refused to admit it was his fault and he hasn’t called me again since that day. You have to own your mistakes before you can prevent them. Sadly the mistake in the article cost someone their life.

Such a bright and beautiful future cut short.

Link

The issue isn't the loaded firearm. The issue is no safety and lack of muzzle control.

For something like this to happen there at at least a few things that would need to go wrong. I hate to hear about these things happening when they are so preventable.

That being said, walking to and from the stand with a loaded rifle isn't a deal breaker. I've taken several animals on my way to and from a deer stand. Basic firearm safety would have prevented this though.

From a very young age I was taught, "Treat every gun like it's a loaded gun!"
That means even when you are 100% sure it isn't loaded.
I get nervous when I walk into a gun shop and watch people handling firearms, and that is because it's ingrained in me.

Information given in the 2023 TPWD Hunting Accident Report for the one fatality recorded last year.

Comments - Placing Firearm in Vehicle – Shooter was placing loaded rifle in gun case in vehicle and carelessly discharged it as victim moved in front of the muzzle. Bullet fatally struck the victim in the right side of his chest, with the bullet exiting victim’s back.

Prevention - Always point the muzzle in a safe direction; always unload when no longer hunting, especially prior to placing firearms in cases and in vehicles; be aware of others approaching and communicate with them about their position relative to any firearms present to ensure they do not walk in front of a muzzle; complete hunter education, even if not required.

TPWD 2023 Hunting Accident Report

Yep

RIP young lady Prayers for the family and friends.

Such an avoidable tragedy! Cannot imagine the grief, guilt and other terrible thoughts like suicide that has to be going through her dads mind.

^^^^^ This right here, her dad will never recover from this!