Hunters . . . but not shooters

[Paul Fielder]

The county....

....I am in like most in South TX is 5 deer. 3 does and 2 bucks.

Many ranches are signing into a state managed permit type where they issue tags to the individual property for a certain qty of deer so you do not even use tags on your regular hunting lic. They asign a state biologist to your area and he keeps up / helps with the management.

So, if the count says shoot 40 does & 20 bucks for that ranch, one person or 60 different folks can use them up.

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[Roger T]

Practice= Confidence

We get a local Big Mart store to give the Graduates of our saftey class a brick of 22 shells or box of shot shells to encourage them to practice. The reports from past students has been VERY encouraging.The parent/child group says it gives them an "EXCUSE" to be outdoors together(wonder what that will lead to). Without question they all say it helps them be more confident in their skills........Hunting VS Shooting my .02 is, if your on the ground stalking your prey your hunting,if your in a blind ,tree stand or from a bench your just shooting.

 

[langenc]

I heard just the opposite last eve (Saturday). About 30 min before quitting time (deer hunting), I hear about 5 or 6 rounds bang, bang, bang....
Then a little break and another 5 bangs.

I hear that on Sat/Sun eve on the last two weekends every year. I assume the guy is done for the season and wants fresh ammo next year.

 

[Roger T]

Nah they most likley saw the GHOST of THE 30 POINTER charging at'em, and they were just defending themselves

 

[rhaney2]

I heard just the opposite last eve (Saturday). About 30 min before quitting time (deer hunting), I hear about 5 or 6 rounds bang, bang, bang....
Then a little break and another 5 bangs.

I hear that on Sat/Sun eve on the last two weekends every year. I assume the guy is done for the season and wants fresh ammo next year.

I hear that about 2-3 times per week,and always at almost dark,i live in the cluntry,plenty of deer,we kill about as many with cars and trucks as with rifles.
A lot of young hunters get excited and want to make some noise and then tell a story that they shot at a big buck and just missed him.

 

[goodgrouper]

In my line of work, I see this all the time unfortunately. Literally thousands and thousands of guys out there with blood lust/rack lust (of which I admit to having myself) but absolutely no forethought of how to go about the proper way of scratching the itch. Where I differ from the lot, is I actually see that PRACTICING shooting HELPS in putting racks on the wall and meat in the freezer! What a concept!

To brag about how few shots you can shoot in a year is like being Heffner and braggin about it to your buddies but then only having sex once a year to prove it. It makes no sense at all.

Somewhere along the lines, the general hunting public started putting the cart before the horse and we have only hurt ourselves by doing so.

 

[michaelb]

Pete,

I have experienced this also, many of the guys I work with consider themselves die hard archery hunters. I suggested getting involved in our local club and participation in the 3-D matches every other week beginning in May and ending in September.

You can really hone your shooting and yardage estimation skills shooting ten matches, besides cost is a mere 50 bucks total for the whole summer.

The answers go something like this: " If it aint got hair, I aint shootin it."
" You can't eat foam animals."
" I can put six in a paper plate at 40
yards, I don't need all that."

Its a bummer when people refuse to organize and persue the things they already have interest in.

 

[Montana Pete]

michaelbe writes,

The answers go something like this: " If it aint got hair, I aint shootin it."
" You can't eat foam animals."
" I can put six in a paper plate at 40
yards, I don't need all that."

Its a bummer when people refuse to organize and persue the things they already have interest in.

The part I guess I don't understand is the strutting and crowing -- like they are somehow big stuff because they made one box of ammo last them for 15 years-- or whatever.

Depending on the hunting circumstances, their "achievement" may not amount to much. Like I stated earlier, some of these farmers hunting their own land can take their deer year after year from a prime stand at a range of 30 to 50 yds, often resting the rifle.

In other words, it CAN be done and it's no tribute to great shooting. What's really involved ? Never practice, draw on shooting recollections from army days, make a minimal shot that a greenhorn could probably make . . .

The mystery is why this is "prime bragging stuff." Never understood that aspect of it.

 

[tlo]

In the early 50's my older brother bought a J.C. Higgins 12 gauge pump from Sears, it's his deer rifle here in this part of WI where shotguns and pistols are only allowed for deer hunting. He has taken I don't know how many deer with that shotgun over the years, never fired it at a target, just deer and he never misses. Saw him shoot a 6-point buck once that was way off running thru the marsh grass, you'd see the head come up outta the grass, then the butt and then nothing, two guys in our party shot at that deer and it just kept going. My brother just up and fired and down it went. Luck or what I don't know.

Tom

 

[Marc]

The part I guess I don't understand is the strutting and crowing -- like they are somehow big stuff because they made one box of ammo last them for 15 years-- or whatever.

Depending on the hunting circumstances, their "achievement" may not amount to much. Like I stated earlier, some of these farmers hunting their own land can take their deer year after year from a prime stand at a range of 30 to 50 yds, often resting the rifle.

QUOTE]

I find it quite annoying also. They are also the ones who brag they have 40 years of hunting experience and kill their animals in the first hour of the first day of hunting season in the same place and same distance every year.. and in their minds are the pinnacle of hunting knowledge. Nothing wrong with that but they discredit anyone who dosent hunt the same way they do. To me they have about a total of 40 hours hunting experience in their life and have shot 40 rounds in a lifetime of hunting. Put them somewhere else and they are lost and don't have a clue how to hunt. I know hundreds of guys who have just started out and hunt countless hours a year in various places for various game, thousands of rounds shot practicing and are very versitile hunters and shooters yet are dismissed as crackpot ammunition wasters and called poor hunters because they passed on many animals and hunted months before shooting the one they want.

There are many hunters out there who have only hunted a few short years and some beginners who have shot nothing yet who are much better hunters with much more experience than some of those "veteran" hunters.

 

[blunt shooter]

cleaning is not that neccesary either

I don't know if it's the same there as here, but I have looked over some of these wonder weapons. Personaly I would not like shoot the piece until all of the brown gunge and goo was out of the action. Then the barrel, oh that poor old spout, for years the residue of the last shot was blown out by the passage of the next, and now the chamber looks like it bleeds oily blood.
But, to clean it enough would cause a tolerance problem,which could become a safety issue. So even now with half the lock time, because the fireing pin and spring have been freed from that sucking mud, I would still be suss on shooting it because the barrel is now at least one calibre larger
Now, ah the front sight, a piece of metal, bearing large file marks and of unknown parentage, soft soldered, yes indeed, soft soldered into the damned dovetail. What it works Me, yea beauty mate
We do have a dusty climate here and grandad never cleaned her much so that was never a skill that was handed down along with the rifle.
Ahh well at least that old 94 in 32-40 still has the rifling at the muzzle, because no cleaning rod ever wore that away :
AND, and it still kills better'n anyfink I own ----- unbelievable !

 

[flor1]

The last time I went hunting met a guy in the woods with a AR deer hunting got to talking to him and finally had to ask why he needed a 30 round clip. His responce well if I'm low on the first shot I can just walk em up and hitem. Iwalked out of the woods and haven't gone deer hunting since. I don't need that kind of grief.