Since hunting is illegal in India, the general rule was one guy took the shot, dismantled the gun, wrapped it up in a sheet, put it in a duffle bag and made a run to the house and the remaining two would take care of getting the bird/s and following the first. This always used to work well and we never had a problem till .......The following occurred in the summer of 1995, during the summer break from school.

One day, the guy who had a very strict father (and as you will notice rightly so) got a chance to sneak out his father's 12 gauge rifled shotgun which was older than anyone could imagine. I could have bet on the antiquity of the weaepon (it was easily an octagenerian that used the old cocking hammer mechanism - the kind shown in old westerns).

Anyways, the day was going great and we spotted a large Peacock nicely perched on a tree and our dear friend sneaked all the way right under the unaware bird, cocked the gun, took aim and 'click'...it was a misfire. Our friend cocks the barrel again and ...... lo and behold ...... 'click'...again a misfire.

All this time the clueless Peacock is sitting up there and wondering the f@#k is going on here......Not being easily bogged down the avid hunter again cocks the hammer for the same barrel and raises it....suddenly there is a flash of light in his head and he decides to inspect the weapon.............by looking straight down the guilty barrel......with the hammer cocked..........Needless to say Murphy's law siezed the opportunity........the hammer drops and this time the cartridge decided to oblige to the perseverence of the hunter. Our friend jerks his head back and when he brings it back to his shoulders he has almost no eyebrows left, a long black burn from top to bottom of his forehead, and a gaping inch wide hole in his baseball cap. To his luck the gun went off just before he could position himself for a great tell all peep into the barrel with his head approaching the barrel from the side.

The peacock finally learnt its lesson and flew away.....me and my other buddy almost died laughing that day and later on a new day when we asked about the gun we found that it haldn't been properly maintained. Interistingly it was our friend's job to clean and lubricate it every few months.

Anyways.....that was a day he never forgot and that was also the day that brought a unilateral peace between him and the birds forever.

Submitted on 04/16/2009

Submitted by: Manzoor
Reference: No media reference, Summer 1995,

Copyright © 2009 DarwinAwards.com

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
Despite the fact that the vast majority of gunshot wounds are way too common (including those from idiots looking down the barrel of loaded guns) I think this one is worthy of acceptance as a PA. The cartoony writeup made me laugh, and I can almost visualize the look on your friends face with a hole through his hat similar to Yosemite Sam in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. Thanks, Manzoor!

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
Anybody dumb enough to use a gun obviously THAT old is asking for it! Thanks, Manzoor!

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