Ten rounds yearly....maybe?

[Muldoon]

Had two friends from five miles north of me call and ask if I'd help them sight in their rifles.....day before deer hunt they were going to make! Mind you now...these are good guys....slightly 'Redneckish' but good guys! Both show up with 7MM Mags and hunting in timber where their longest shot would be maybe 100 yards! I took each to the 200 yard line where I have a 32"x34" AR500 plate painted white set up. One rifle was with Mauser action....other was some off-brand I can't even recall. Both rifles equipped with a scopes I'd never heard of but well within the category of Otasco! Making a long story short.....I never did get one rifle zeroed as when making needed adjustments to come to center....the correct response went awry! Either too much...or not enough...or three times more/less movement came about! My point? These guys are probably indicative of 95% of the 'hunters' in this area whereby if a hit on a five gallon bucket is made from 50 yards...well...that's good enuff!! I doubt very seriously that these guys ever fire over ten rounds throughout any year!!

:shock:

 

[DrMike]

Tragically, I would dare say they are the norm rather than the exception. A challenge to get through to individuals such as these. No doubt they believe if they put enough lead in the air, something will walk into the line of fire.

 

[DrMike]

Tragically, I would dare say they are the norm rather than the exception. A challenge to get through to individuals such as these. No doubt they believe if they put enough lead in the air, something will walk into the line of fire.

 

[Thankful Otter]

This will possibly put me on the outs with most of you but, we spend far more time in the mountains than we do at the range ( not that we have an actual "range" ) but you understand my meaning. We find a load that works or in all fairness our grandfather does, we check from time to time to make sure we are still, good to go, but we do not do the extensive amount of "range" shooting that it appears a lot of you fellows do. We also will not reject a combination ( rifle/scope/bullet/ load ) just because we don't get cloverleafs at 200 yards. I respect and admire what you fellows are able to do as far as shooting, loading, testing and even your abilities to build rifle's, but between work, family, dogs, gathering food for us and others, I seem to run out of time each day--but make no mistake I respect what you fellows are able to do, it always impresses me.

 

[Kodiak]

The Win. 70 I've use is fired a couple of times, before going afield. It served me well in Wyoming on a recent antelope hunt, placing the 130 grain bullet within an inch at 400 yds. Prior to the hunt I fired the rifle one time. Same rifle, same bullet, same powder chg, nothing changed since last year.

Now my old 45-90 BPCR rifle is a little different, I like to shoot it a lot. Different world
all together, I guess.

Jim

 

[c. schutte]

I find the same thing at the ranges I frequent. That is plenty of folks come in a few days before season with "old Betsey" and two boxes of ammo. Bang.bang...bang...bang...bang...........and so on. Barrel gets hot enough to brand cattle, holes all over the paper if they are lucky and that rifle usually wears a scope not clear enough to see what they are doing.

I really like listening to the guys who have a buddy who helps by using a $20.00 spotter for help... "Your high this time,.......now you are low.............don't know where that one landed".....................

Eventually one will accidentally hit pretty close to the bullseye and then it is announced......... "good enough"

 

[DrMike]

I find the same thing at the ranges I frequent. That is plenty of folks come in a few days before season with "old Betsey" and two boxes of ammo. Bang.bang...bang...bang...bang...........and so on. Barrel gets hot enough to brand cattle, holes all over the paper if they are lucky and that rifle usually wears a scope not clear enough to see what they are doing.

I really like listening to the guys who have a buddy who helps by using a $20.00 spotter for help... "Your high this time,.......now you are low.............don't know where that one landed".....................

Eventually one will accidentally hit pretty close to the bulls eye and then it is announced......... "good enough"

Now, Charles, that's plenty good for hunting by Braille. :shock: If you feel teeth, go to the side. If you feel .... well, you know, go to the side. Works for a lot of people.

 

[c. schutte]

That reminds me of something regarding teeth but, better to let it pass..................... :>)

 

[Anonymous]

This will possibly put me on the outs with most of you but, we spend far more time in the mountains than we do at the range ( not that we have an actual "range" ) but you understand my meaning. .

I'm with you. The nearest shooting bench for me is about 100 miles. I do confirm zero several times per year from prone or perhaps sitting. I usually zero from a bench if I replace a scope or something, but once they're in alignment I generally only shoot from field positions.

I think the guys who shoot a half box and proclaim "good to go" are not doing the animals justice, but equally poor form are the guys who shoot benchrest groups without practicing from field positions.

I have seen the exact scenario played out many times- some guys drag the old smokepole from the closet the day before the opener and heads out to "sight in"...and couldn't hit a barn from the inside.

I have also been surprised... an older acquaintance of mine hauled his out with me to check it out before caribou season. Rifle hadn't been shot in a decade.

He put three in a quarter sized group at 100 yds from sitting! 1.5" high and right on the centerline!!!

He said- "Well, that'll work" and put it right back in the case.

 

[DrMike]

This will possibly put me on the outs with most of you but, we spend far more time in the mountains than we do at the range ( not that we have an actual "range" ) but you understand my meaning. .

I think the guys who shoot a half box and proclaim "good to go" are not doing the animals justice, but equally poor form are the guys who shoot benchrest groups without practicing from field positions.

I have seen the exact scenario played out many times- some guys drag the old smokepole from the closet the day before the opener and heads out to "sight in"...and couldn't hit a barn from the inside.

I have also been surprised... an older acquaintance of mine hauled his out with me to check it out before caribou season. Rifle hadn't been shot in a decade.

He put three in a quarter sized group at 100 yds from sitting! 1.5" high and right on the centerline!!!

He said- "Well, that'll work" and put it right back in the case.

Excellent point, Hodgeman. What you are really saying is that those who shoot must know their limitations. I've discovered that as I age, my reach is somewhat diminished. I am responsible to know my limitations. I owe it to the animals I hunt to make a clean kill. Harry Callahan had it right, "A man's got to know his limitations."

 

[Europe]

I think the guys who shoot a half box and proclaim "good to go" are not doing the animals justice, but equally poor form are the guys who shoot benchrest groups without practicing from field positions.

I agree 100% with both points.

Cheyenne and Hodgeman , you guys who live in Alaska and the upper regions of Canada might be surprised how often you shoot compared to people who wait 11 months to hunt one month or maybe two weeks. I would bet since Cheyenne hunts for substance for herself and her tribe, that she shoots as much or more than many, just not at a range. Hodgeman may not be able to hunt all the time because of his work or because he doesn't hunt for substance, but from memory, if you wanted to do so, you could hunt almost year round in Alaska, if you had the time and money to travel a bit or owned your owned plane like Charlee does. I remember units where you could take three or four bears a year or ten caribou --that type of hunting. I think Wolves were a year round hunt, but I might be wrong about that.--------- IF, I was younger, had more money, lived in alaska----as long as I am wishing.

Dr Mike, Charles, LOL, I would say something about both your teeth posts, but being a lady and all that LOL

Dr Mike, I was typing when you made your last post---very well stated

 

[Anonymous]

Hodgeman , you guys who live in Alaska and the upper regions of Canada might be surprised how often you shoot compared to people who wait 11 months to hunt one month or maybe two weeks... Hodgeman may not be able to hunt all the time because of his work or because he doesn't hunt for substance, but from memory, if you wanted to do so, you could hunt almost year round in Alaska,

I can hunt something year round here and I hunt subsistence tags quite a lot. My primary season is August and September but I hunt caribou and predators clear through until March and start again with bears in May and June.

To quote Jack O'Connor-"I knew as a younger man that to be truly happy...I had to live somewhere I could hunt and fish a lot."

 

[alaska100]

that is still true April. more than one Bear, Deer, Caribou, Wolf can be taken each year. And there are still some no closed season's in some area's and for some game. some area's allow 20 Caribou a year ( 5 per day ) Some areas allow 10/20 Wolf's a day, if you can find them. But time, money and distance do limit the number of days a year that one can stay in the mountains

Charlee has not yet returned to Alaska, from Africa but she is going to do so. It is my understanding that her grandparents have both passed away and that a lot of their belongings have been sold, but that her parents bought out their sisters and brothers shares of the plane and they will give it to her when she returns. Charles and Tom probably know more about this than I Brooke

Hodgeman already answer you April while I was typing my post but I will go ahead and leave my post anyway, but Hodgeman will have more knowledge than I about these things.

 

[c. schutte]

Brooke,

Sorry to hear that news.

chs

 

[wisconsinteacher]

Our local range is open to the public the weekend before the opener. Me I'm going the other direction from that circus.

My best ever was a guy shooting before the opener and he couldn't hit a paper box at 100 yards so his buddy went and stood off the side of it to see where the bullet hit the dirt pile. I packed up and left instantly. Talk about wingnuts!!!

 

[Guy Miner]

I think a lot of the people on this forum shoot a lot... Because we like to shoot! :grin: I know I do!

I really should take advantage of the opportunity to hunt coyotes all year 'round. It would help me become a better shot on game during bear, deer & elk seasons. But mostly I just go to the range, as it's close, and I usually run into friends of mine, and we all have a blast shooting, literally, shotguns, rifles & handguns on a regular basis.

Re the guys who only take a few shots through their rifles every year, some of them are surprisingly good... Maybe they shot a lot when they were young? Or they are gifted with excellent hand-eye coordination? Whatever the reason, some hunters who do very little practice seem to fill their tags every year.

Me? I like to shoot. I shoot a lot. Used to put a couple of thousand .308 Win rounds and a few thousand more .22's downrange every year with my rifles. Anymore I still shoot a lot of handgun rounds, but have curtailed my rifle shooting to maybe 500 rounds of centerfire a year, and a thousand or two of .22's from my rifles.

You'd think I'd be a better shot with all that practice! Dang! :grin:

BTW - a bragging sized group from the bench is NO indicator of how well the shooter can perform in the field...

All we can do to help the uninformed, is to help 'em out. Make recommendations. Not bruise egos. That's counter-productive in my experience.

Regards, Guy

 

[cloverleaf]

I know a guy who shoots three shots a year. Two at a target 50 yards away before deer season opens, and one at his deer. He shoots an OLD octagon barreled model 94 ( I think...). I have watched him do this for several years now and I know its the same box of shells. This confidence obviously comes from long years of familiarity with that rifle, lots of practice when he was young and being able to live , and shoot within his limits. If his deer shows up at 100 yards it will live to see another day.

However, we see it happen at least once every year at the public sight in....some poor uneducated fellow shows up with, old, worn out or just plain cheap equiptment, and is also totally oblivious as to why it wont or he dosent know how to make it work. That's fine if we can offer some help..... but if the guy knows it all, or is a jerk I just walk away.....

Now ...some of us just like to shoot dosent mean Im a good shot. CL

 

[Muldoon]

This will possibly put me on the outs with most of you but, we spend far more time in the mountains than we do at the range ( not that we have an actual "range" ) but you understand my meaning. We find a load that works or in all fairness our grandfather does, we check from time to time to make sure we are still, good to go, but we do not do the extensive amount of "range" shooting that it appears a lot of you fellows do. We also will not reject a combination ( rifle/scope/bullet/ load ) just because we don't get cloverleafs at 200 yards. I respect and admire what you fellows are able to do as far as shooting, loading, testing and even your abilities to build rifle's, but between work, family, dogs, gathering food for us and others, I seem to run out of time each day--but make no mistake I respect what you fellows are able to do, it always impresses me.

With seven grandkids that play football, basketball, and baseball I spend as much time at ballgames as you do in the mountains! But I'm lucky in that 500 yards from where I'm typing this I have a 1000 yard range which I use almost every day! I've lived in the Rockies....so I know about mountains!

Kill a big 'en!! :grin: :mrgreen:

 

[Thankful Otter]

That is fantastic, good for you. Nothing is more important than family and I am glad your able to attend so many ball games and watch your grandchildren play. Does any of them hunt with you or shoot with you ?

So many members here hunt and shoot with their children and grandchildren, good for them, good for their children and grand children and good for the sport.

At this stage in my life my "children" are my dogs and my husband.

 

[Europe]

This will possibly put me on the outs with most of you but, we spend far more time in the mountains than we do at the range ( not that we have an actual "range" ) but you understand my meaning. We find a load that works or in all fairness our grandfather does, we check from time to time to make sure we are still, good to go, but we do not do the extensive amount of "range" shooting that it appears a lot of you fellows do. We also will not reject a combination ( rifle/scope/bullet/ load ) just because we don't get cloverleafs at 200 yards. I respect and admire what you fellows are able to do as far as shooting, loading, testing and even your abilities to build rifle's, but between work, family, dogs, gathering food for us and others, I seem to run out of time each day--but make no mistake I respect what you fellows are able to do, it always impresses me.

With seven grandkids that play football, basketball, and baseball I spend as much time at ballgames as you do in the mountains! But I'm lucky in that 500 yards from where I'm typing this I have a 1000 yard range which I use almost every day! I've lived in the Rockies....so I know about mountains!

Kill a big 'en!! :grin: :mrgreen:

muldoon, I agree with Cheyenne, kudo's to you for being such a great grandfather.

And as stated we have a lot of great grandfathers and fathers on this forum. I always look forward to hearing about Dr Mike;s grandson and very soon his granddaughter will also start hunting, what a kick that will be.

Hodgeman, and Brooke and every other Alaska member. I was asked to check out the Alaska hunting Reg;s for the express purpose of seeing the pictures of the young people in Alaska who have taken a wide variety of game, and I am glad you ask to do so so. My goodness, the young men and women have hunted everything from Muskox to Goats, very impressive. How old do you have to be to hunt alone in Alaska, 12 ? How old do you have to be to hunt with a parent ? Some of those young people looked very young.