LAST UPDATED: May 1st, 2015
Deer hunting can be a dangerous hobby. With each sit hunters take chances with nearly everything they do, from climbing trees to shooting their choice of weapons. For Oklahoma hunter, Rob Ray, there’s another danger too – one that could happen to anyone at anytime.
While sitting in a ladder stand on his 160 acre property waiting for deer to show, Rob had his face attacked, nearly taking out his eye. “Something hit me right about on my left eye, and I thought I’d been stung”, exclaimed Rob while looking back on the incident that occurred in mid-November.
Further explaining, “Whatever it was, it was hanging on there and, you know, you don’t want it on your face and so I reached up and knocked it off.”
That’s when the bleeding began, and a lot of it. Thankfully he was in a ladder stand that only sat about 600 yards from his home and his wife was hunting nearby. “I will say I was glad I was in a ladder stand. If I was in a strap-on stand, I probably would have fallen out of it trying to get down.”
His wife drove him to a nearby hospital as quick as she could while Ray held a balled up facemask to slow the bleeding down as much as possible. Once in the emergency room, doctors had to use six stitches to close the wound that severed the temporal artery.
Oklahoma deer hunter, Rob Ray, nearly lost his eye when an unknown animal severed his temporal artery.
What attacked Ray is unknown but speculation is that a small bird of prey like a Cooper’s hawk or Screech Owl had mistaken Ray’s covered head for a tree perch. The deep cut was likely the result of the large talons as Ray tore off the creature as quickly as it landed, probably surprising the animal as much as Ray.
While Ray’s tale may seem slightly humorous, he nearly lost his left eye. The scar on his face will follow him around for the rest of his days, reminding him of a November hunt that could have ended much worse.
