HOUSTON -- A tracking dog apparently stepped on a loaded shotgun in the bed of his owner's pickup truck, firing a fatal blast into the man's thigh during a goose hunt, officials said.

Perry Alvin Price III, 46, died Saturday at a hospital from severe blood loss from his femoral artery shortly after the accident in southeast Texas.

Chambers County sheriff's investigators said Price was hunting on a lease near Stowell, about 60 miles east of Houston, when he shot down a goose.


Price then set the gun in the back of his truck and was about to open the tailgate to release his tracking dog when the shotgun fired, investigators said. The blast penetrated the truck's tailgate before hitting Price.

Paw prints from the dog, a chocolate Labrador retriever named Arthur, were found on the muddy shotgun, Sheriff Joe LaRive said. Daniel Groberg, Price's hunting partner, said he tried to stop the bleeding with clothing before driving him to seek help.

"It's the strangest case that I've seen," LaRive said. "We couldn't talk to Perry and Groberg was at the front of the truck when he heard the shotgun blast and didn't see what happened."

Price's sister, Patricia Payne, said her brother was always very careful while hunting.

"His dog was so excited," she said. "He was jumping all around, because he was about to get out and go get that goose.

"That gun had to be knocked around just right to fire. I believe the dog knocked the safety off and hit the trigger, too," she said.

Price, who taught math at Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown, was known for his love of hunting and dogs, friends and family members said.

Earlier this school year, Price developed an award for especially determined students that included a T-shirt naming them "Bird Dog of the Week," said Melanie Turner, a fellow teacher.

"His loss will be felt for quite some time," Turner said.

LaRive said hunters should be extra careful to make sure the safety is enacted on any gun that's not immediately being fired and that barrels should always be pointed away from people when guns are stored.

Yep, still man's best friend!
He was just trying to teach his master to use the trigger safety. He didn't really mean to kill him.
Sad though, you just never know how your going to go.
It drives me crazy that people still carry their dogs loose in the back of open pickups.

Sad story.

Maybe it was premeditated. Who's the beneficiary of the guy's life insurance?

Maybe the dog is in it with the victim's wife.

What is not said is that the guy's widow and his hunting partner have moved in together. They framed that dog. A perfect crime. The police have closed the case.

Lol
Yeah it is sad but still funny at the same time.How's that saying go.When your numbers up.

Nothing wrong with the dog; the man was an idiot though.

The only place for a loaded firearm is under one's direct control. This means in your hands or, in the case of a long arm, properly slung.

And, it doesn't matter whether the "safety" is on or off for the statement above to be true. (There is a reason why I have placed "safety" in quotes; see below).

Understand: "loaded" means a round in the chamber. The magazine can be fully charged, but the gun is still unloaded if no round is in the chamber. Of course, with break-open single and double shotguns, shells are loaded directly into the chamber, and hence the only way to unload the gun is to remove all the shells.

For a break-open shotgun, the shells should have been removed when not actively hunting with the gun under the hunter's direct control. In the case of a semi-auto or pump shotgun, the proper condition for the shotgun to be in while not actively hunting would be either what we call "travel mode" or what we call "storage mode." In travel mode, the magazine is charged, there is no round in the chamber, and the hammer has been dropped (i.e. the trigger pulled) on an empty chamber. In storage mode, the mag and chamber are empty, and the hammer has been dropped.

A word about shotgun "safeties": they aren't safe!

Unlike virtually all handguns and military rifles, almost all shotgun safeties are simple trigger blocks only; they do not block the firing pin. Hence, they are not drop safe. For this reason, in terms of defensive and police shotgun instruction, we advise all students to keep the safety off at all times; the marginal degree of protection from a ND (Negligent Discharge) that the safety affords is not worth it in exchange for the tactical disadvantage of constantly engaging/disengaging the safety-- we keep shotguns "safe" by (a) keeping Goofy's finger off of the trigger except when actively shooting a bad guy, and (b) reducing the firearm's condition to travel mode when it is not being carried in one's hands.

For a field shotgun, it is advisable to have the safety engaged when the gun is in your hands, loaded but not actively shooting game.

This is a fight that competent trainers are always having to engage in: idiots with guns. If you don't know proper gun handling skills, then you are just that. A corollary is the Cliff Claven type "advising" people improperly re gun handling, such as the "expert" who said the mistake was not engaging the safety. Not! Goofy should have unloaded the shotgun before he put it down, period.

Is it a hassle to unload when you're just putting the gun down for a second or two? Sure. But getting shot when the thing is jostled or dropped is one heck of a lot more inconvenient.

Don't be that idiot with a gun, folks.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: minalpharetta,

Oh, and another thing re shotguns. Since the safety isn't really safe, when you sling the gun it should be placed in travel mode first to avoid NDs. Carrying a slung shotgun usually applies to tactical shotguns. In such a case, the shooter chambers a round as he unslings and brings the gun up.

It's OK to sling loaded military rifles with the safety engaged.

The article states that the dog basically stepped on the gun, obviously the trigger, and the gun fired. If the owner had at least set the safety, it probably would not have happened.
But then, if he had the foresight to set the safety, he probably would have unloaded it as well.

Unless there were other witnesses or the victim was conscious and told the police, hospital or ambulance what happened I don't buy that story one bit. The victim didn't talk and there were no other witnesses. That leaves his "friend's" version as the only version.

His wife I mean sister said he was safety conscious but he stands in front of a loaded weapon.

His "friend" tries to stop the bleeding with clothes. No tourniquet, no pressure on the wound, just clothes to sop up the blood.

Unless there were witnesses to corroborate or a statement by the victim to doctors or emergency personnel...the victim didn't talk and there were no other witnesses.....my money is that the "friend" did it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: QM,

quote:

Originally posted by Cohiba_Diablo:
The article states that the dog basically stepped on the gun, obviously the trigger, and the gun fired. If the owner had at least set the safety, it probably would not have happened.
But then, if he had the foresight to set the safety, he probably would have unloaded it as well.

"That gun had to be knocked around just right to fire. I believe the dog knocked the safety off and hit the trigger, too," she said."

I personally like QM's conspiracy theory.It is a whole hell of a lot more interesting than the original story.What i don't get is why the cops closed the case so soon.I mean we all have lapses in judgment but this guy was a lifetime hunter and he violated all the rules.Rule #1 Never chamber a round till your ready to shoot.Rule #2 Never point at anything you don't intend to shoot.Rule#3 never put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot.Thats the rules my Dad taught me when i was a little boy.He told us violating any 2 of the 3 rules is a recipe for disaster.In this case a dog violated the third rule far fetched indeed.

quote:

"That gun had to be knocked around just right to fire. I believe the dog knocked the safety off and hit the trigger, too," she said."

Notice the "she said".
What are the odds.
Would you admit to being so careless if it happened to you.

quote:

Price's sister, Patricia Payne, said her brother was always very careful while hunting.

quote:

Originally posted by SHEEPSHEAD BAY:
Price's sister, Patricia Payne, said her brother was always very careful while hunting.

"His dog was so excited," she said. "He was jumping all around, because he was about to get out and go get that goose.

"That gun had to be knocked around just right to fire. I believe the dog knocked the safety off and hit the trigger, too," she said.

What in hell does the victim's sister have to do with this?
She wasn't even there and she is quoted as if she has something pertinent to add to the investigation.

Just some hick town reporter padding his word count.