Lightning struck a trap house at the Indiana State Shoot this year resulting in the damages shown in the picture. The trap electronics were fried and all of the switches were blown from the concrete walls. A loader had just left the house, thank GOD! This is why you are called off the line during storms.
Lightning Strike
320090T
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Lightning struck a trap house at the Indiana State Shoot this year resulting in the damages shown in the picture. The trap electronics were fried and all of the switches were blown from the concrete walls. A loader had just left the house, thank GOD! This is why you are called off the line during storms.
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It was scary, I was standing out by the tent in between traps in my golf cart. You could feel it go through you.
And just to take care of the inevitable question -- we had NO warning of this lightning strike. This occurred right before we pulled everyone off for the second time that day. We had a lighting delay early in the morning and we were all aware of the fact that we would be have thunderstorms rolling in and out throughout the day. With that, I made sure to be outside as much as possible to keep an eye on things. We had NO lightning OR thunder claps for almost 1 1/2 to 2 + hours before this strike occurred. It simply came up out of the blue with absolutely no warning. Thank goodness the trapkid was out of the house. He had just exited the trap and had made it back to the 27 yard line when the strike occurred, literally 15-20 seconds before.
That being said, I have a souvenir from the trap -- a piece of concrete was still holding on only by paint. Peeled that off and have a nice "trophy" for the case.
John
That being said, I have a souvenir from the trap -- a piece of concrete was still holding on only by paint. Peeled that off and have a nice "trophy" for the case.
John
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I remember saying that I wish that we could have stayed out there and shot our last six shots before the strike. I take that back now. Thanks John for calling it off when you did, otherwise we would have been toast, literally!
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A higher power was looking out after him. God bless.
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we had a lightning strike at our club several years ago. near as we can tell, it struck the flag pole in front of the club house, traveled through the ground got into the rebar of sidewalk and which is connected to the club house and blew a hole in the concrete just inside the door of the club house.
Fortunately it stuck at night and the club house was empty.
Seeing the pictures of the exposed rebar of the traphouse reminded me of our prior incident.
Fortunately it stuck at night and the club house was empty.
Seeing the pictures of the exposed rebar of the traphouse reminded me of our prior incident.
Lightening is to be taken very seriously. While at a retirement party several years ago a powerful storm came thru. The party was in a machine shed with a southern exposure door. The wind was blowing the rain sideways from the north so there was really no harm in leaving the door wide open to watch the storm as it went thru. The retirees son wanted to unhook the door as the electricity had gone out and there was water running in rivulets thru the shed. He told me "what if the wind changes?" I told him the storm was running thru at 70 mph there is no chance of the wind change. He insisted and continued to unhook the door mechanism. It was old-style not a new release handle garage door. The lightening was about one inch on center and it hit the top of the shed and he took a hit. He crumpled in a fetal position and fell off the chair to the ground. Another partier and I actually were standing close enough to catch him and let him down. He wasn't breathing and his whole body was hard as a statue. We started doing chest compressions to keep his heart beating and in a few seconds he says "Please don't do that." So we quit and in a couple of minutes he started to get up and his stiffness went away and it actually changed this particular young mans life. He had always been a pessimist and someone who wouldn't laugh easily and he went to being the life of the party and continued to do so with the rest of his life. This all happened about 1991 in the summer months. I remember the corn was high and tasseled out. But I also know of a couple of instances where lightening took peoples' lives and there was nothing anyone could do for them. Better be safe than sorry. Dan
One would think that a concrete traphouse that sits low to the ground would be one of the safer places to be from lightning strikes. We were lucky, nobody got zapped.
buzzgun, were you at the Indiana State Shoot during the week? I talked to a guy in front of the shell house one day about cigars. Then the conversation turned to politics. This guy was very knowledgeable about politics (much more than the average trapshooter) later, I thought - I might have been talking to ts.com's own buzzgun. Any chance that was you?
buzzgun, were you at the Indiana State Shoot during the week? I talked to a guy in front of the shell house one day about cigars. Then the conversation turned to politics. This guy was very knowledgeable about politics (much more than the average trapshooter) later, I thought - I might have been talking to ts.com's own buzzgun. Any chance that was you?
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To say the least, I am scared of lightning. I remember a few years ago at the Grand and you could see lightning off in the distance and they kept shooting. I always felt they should have stopped shooting. I am firm believer in avoiding it. My buddy and I were going to the Grand in Sparta the first year and we were driving in one of those summer monsoons in southern Indiana or So. Ill. when lighting struck next to our vehicle on I 64. I said to Bill, "did you see that, lightning hit on MY side of the vehicle". Bill said it hit his side of the SUV. Nevertheless, it scared me out of two years of life that I cannot spare. Never felt anything, wonder if it could have hit the car? It was bright white on my side of the car and nearly brown in my seat.
We should certainly leave the field when lightning storms are around, but where should we go? A low trap house should be a relatively safe place, but as seen above , it may not be safe. Some believe that the 1/2 inch of rubber on automobile tires makes a car a safe place. But, air is a better insulator than rubber and lightning can pass through a mile or so or air. The rubber on an automobile tire will not slow it down. The metal exterior of a car might carry the lightning around the outside of a car but the tires will not insulate it. Many shooters go into the clubhouse. Apart from the flagpole, that is often the tallest structure on the grounds. Where is the best place for us to go?
Pat Ireland
Pat Ireland
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This strike was unusual because of the taller objects around it. The power station sets out front with all the transformers and poles plus there were lots of power poles directly behind the trap that was hit. I guess it's a good thing the power station wasn't hit as the whole area would have been knocked out as well as shoot.
Many years ago on our farm lightning hit the shortest outbuilding on the place. The building was just a few yards from a pair of tall cottonwood trees. Peeled back the tin roof on one corner and made the rafter ends smolder, but not ignite.
Just a few years ago a summer storm blew through and dropped a large oak tree on the township road across from my fathers home. We went out to check out the damage and saw the road was blocked. Our neighbor was stuck trying to get to his second shift job on the other side of the tree, he went to get his chainsaw as did Dad and I. The storm was miles away, but still visible to the east when we returned and began to cut up the limbs blocking the road. Completely out of the blue, lightning hit a couple hundred feet away from where we were working. The storm had been past us for probably 45 minutes and that strike was a HUGE surprise.
Sometimes we are really not cautious enough when storms are coming, or going. If you can see any lightning and hear thunder it is close enough to hit you
Just a few years ago a summer storm blew through and dropped a large oak tree on the township road across from my fathers home. We went out to check out the damage and saw the road was blocked. Our neighbor was stuck trying to get to his second shift job on the other side of the tree, he went to get his chainsaw as did Dad and I. The storm was miles away, but still visible to the east when we returned and began to cut up the limbs blocking the road. Completely out of the blue, lightning hit a couple hundred feet away from where we were working. The storm had been past us for probably 45 minutes and that strike was a HUGE surprise.
Sometimes we are really not cautious enough when storms are coming, or going. If you can see any lightning and hear thunder it is close enough to hit you
I am glad to hear others with concerns for lightning. I have stayed in the vehicle before on duck hunts while my buddies would go out in the lightning storm. Same thing on upland bird hunts or turkey hunts. I do not go out in lightning. I know a lot of things can kill you but this is one you can prevent most of the time with a little common sense. You wouldn't go hunting or shooting with a torando bearing down on you but lightning kills more people every year than tornados and people will ignore the danger from it.
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