OK, finally have the stomach to write this

I amputated the top half of my left thumb on December 23. It isn't pretty, hurts like hell, and will forever be deformed.

I incorrectly held a friend's crossbow and the string went right through my left thumb shattering the bone as it passed through. A rough trip to the ER to sew it back on followed by orthopedic surgeon appointments. Thank God for hydrocodone.

It is my own fault. I have shot hundreds of guns and own a bow. Just had never used a crossbow, thought I knew what I was doing, and paid the price.

Here is the interesting part. The orthopedic surgeon said that he had never treated a crossbow injury in his career but I was his fourth crossbow victim that week! Two of the others required surgery. One doctor, four crossbow injuries in a week.

Clearly the change in TX hunting regs, followed by gifts of crossbows for Christmas, has spiked injuries.

This is just a public service announcement. If you recently got a new crossbow, or are in the market, make sure you know how to safely use it. And if you hand it off to a buddy or son or daughter to shoot - make sure you provide them instruction.

I accept responsibility for my injury. It is my fault - not the equipment's fault or my buddy's fault. However, if by posting this I save even one person from going through the trauma I experienced it is worth my time to do so.

Ouch and Thanks

you nailed it, when it doubt ask. i would accept responsibly too if i were you...but i kinda blame yer buddy imo..if i were handing you a loaded gun i'd take extra care in providing you instruction not to point that thing at me or in an unsafe direction, even if you already know, my life is on the line as well as yours.
i would be a lil wary of being around a guy who didnt notice your finger was in the wrong place while you were shooting his xbow...who knows what else he isnt paying attention to?
well live and learn, and like you said..thx for passing the info along.

Yea, I'm trying not to be bitter about it but I sure wish he would have been paying attention. I stressed it was my fault to head off the haters....

Sorry to hear of your injury and hope you heal soon and as well as able.

I shoot a crossbow and your hard lesson will stay in my mind. Thanks for posting.

Hope you make a speedy recovery and sorry for your accident. Thank you for putting this out there for others to learn and be safe. My grandmothers husband lost all his fingers when a table saw blade was set slightly too high when he was building a boat. The physical therapy he went through to try to keep them was very painful and tough for him. He lost them all in the end which was sad. Hope things go well for you and you get back out there soon.

Sincerely,

Ricky V.

Ouch hopefully it recovers better than expected for you. Thanks for posting. I have a crossbow and was cautioned on purchase of it about that possibility. Have let quite a few others shoot it and cautioned every one of them on keeping the fingers out of the way of that string.

Thank you for being an adult with a backbone and morals and accepting that you are human and can make mistakes.

A lesser person wouldve blamed the crossbow (as we've seen with firearms lately).

Lesson learned here, thank you for sharing.

Thanks for sharing with us; God bless.

Bob <><

I'm sorry for your accident and I appreciate the warning, however my morbid side kind of would like to see pictures. I take to heart more when I can see the injury then just hearing about it.

So, no lawsuit huh? That's good. You caught a tough break there bubba, and handled it like a man.

I recently bought a crossbow from Cabela's. i asked to fire it first, and being a long time rifle shooter, I adopted my normal standing position, resting the weapon on the palm of my outside hand...fingers sticking up on either side...The sales guy saw that and immediately grabbed the bow from me and gave me some quick instruction. I was about 3 seconds from losing a couple of fingertips...love shooting the thing...but man, i wish I'd have been a complete new person to hunting and shooting all together...Think you know it all....then Wham!

S~

Bummer. Hope it heals good. I was fortunate to have the guys at Nocked and Loaded in Lampasas give me clear instruction before they let me handle my crossbow for the first time.

Good luck on your healing and thanks for posting.

Yikes, never shot one. Now I think I will stick to my chain saws.

Ouch...sorry

Man sorry about that.

I picked up one of my friends and shot it at my bow range and he never said anything to me about how to hold it. I wonder how close I was to having the same thing happen to me?

That was the one and only time I have ever shot one of those things.

The more I hear about those things the more dangerous they seem to me. I think I will stick to a regular old bow. It just seems spooky to think about being up in a tree all day with one of those things cocked, loaded and ready to go off any time.

Good luck and thanks for the post. I sincerely hope you feel better and can still shoot a regular bow.

WOW !!! On Dec 23 I also had an accident involving my left hand. I received an impact crush to my fingers breaking the 1st finger in 2 places, 1 was into 20 pieces and the other into 5 pieces. Middle finger 1st bone broke into 5 pieces. It cut tendon on the 3 big fingers. Therapy is a b####, man that lady is sadistic.
I know your pain so hang in there.

One of my buddies just came back from and extended hunting trip to B.C. and several of our Northern States. In doing this trip he was exposed to an owner/mfg of some Crossbows who had the Brown Bear trip booked and photo'd..Seems the guides put him on a
Bear that w/13.5 in on a Moose kill..He got within 25 yds..shot the bear squarely in the chest..and the bear just looked at him and got P.O.'d. Both guides immediately shot the bear w/their 375 H&H Mag's. and now this is on the Broadcast net..but he doesn't show the guns, or say he killed the animal...Something to
think about when playing with STICKS..Don

That is a story that is unfortunate for you and will give warning to lots of new shooters. I have never shot a crossbow and now will be cautious with my form and safety measures when I do decide to shoot one.

Thanks for the post!

I've shot crossbows for years myself without any problems but for the life of me I don't understand why crossbow manufacturers wont design them with a protective "shelf" at the top of the forearm that extends outward horizontally an inch or two. That would effectively prevent the shooter from sticking his thumb up into the path of the string.It's my understanding a few of the xbow manufacturers are starting to design theirs with that protective shelf/ledge but I'd like to see all of them start doing it.There's been too many incidents with guys losing the tip of their thumb.

Sorry for your injury and hope all heals well and soon. I plan on buying one soon and I am so grateful for your input. I will certainly be extra careful based on your experience

I have owned two of them for 3 years, both Barnetts. You do have to be cognizant and careful when handling/shooting them. As a non-compound bowhunter type, I love them. Fun hybrid weapon to get some extra hunting in with..

Thanks for sharing.....never shot one.....and now will never forget because of your post....great service to this forum. Thanks a lot!!

Thank you sir for the post. Sorry to hear of your news and best of luck with your recovery.

Last year I was in Maryland during the bow season and a buddy loaned me his crossbow so I didn't have to haul a bow and guns down for birds and deer. I'm left handed and have shot bows for over forty years, but never a crossbow. Like those before me I shot it with it resting on my palm, fingers open and promptly cut the tips off my index and middle finger, ripping the nails off in the process!!! Heck of a way to learn a lesson!!! my hand was numb for over a week but when we started shooting geese, the shotgun took care of that!I was lucky no bone injuries though....
Gotta admit though I still like shooting that crossbow, sure is fun!

never shot one, but always thought that they were a little iffy in the safety department.