Giving Hunting a Bad Name ... way ta go!

[JimR]

Being an idiot though, whether hunting or driving or working, is perfectly OK.... It is tolerated more than anything else on the planet. Just look at all the laws and welfare to take care of those people.

I think a lot of it has to do with the dumming down of America.

 

[N80]

I'm an avid and lifelong hunter. I think a hunting 'accident' is when someone shoots at legitimate game and something or someone else gets hit. When somone shoots a 300 pound man wearing an orange jumpsuit and orange hat out of a treestand 20 feet in the air and then claims he thought he was shooting at a deer, the shooter ought to face criminal charges or at least face being banned from hunting for life. These types of cases, no matter how stupid, are never charged or prosecuted. I don't know why.

Stupidity is one element. The other is the related element of lack of respect. I know it sounds corny but even as a hunter I have respect for the game that I pursue. And that means that I don't just fling lead at anything that is brown and moving in the woods. When I see a deer, I make sure it is, in fact, a deer. Then I make sure it is the type and size deer that I want to kill. Then I carefully select where I want the bullet to hit and I only take the shot if I'm sure I can make it. I do not attempt head or neck shots. I do not attempt to shoot an animal down by shooting it in the hindquarters, etc, etc, and then making a kill shot. I do not take shots outside of a range in which I am profficient. I try to make a clean kill with one shot. If I can't, then I don't shoot. If you care about what you are shooting at and how you shoot it, the chances of shooting another hunter are much lower.

Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do about 'the other guy' except stay away from him.

 

[JimR]

I'm an avid and lifelong hunter. I think a hunting 'accident' is when someone shoots at legitimate game and something or someone else gets hit. When somone shoots a 300 pound man wearing an orange jumpsuit and orange hat out of a treestand 20 feet in the air and then claims he thought he was shooting at a deer, the shooter ought to face criminal charges or at least face being banned from hunting for life. These types of cases, no matter how stupid, are never charged or prosecuted. I don't know why.

Stupidity is one element. The other is the related element of lack of respect. I know it sounds corny but even as a hunter I have respect for the game that I pursue. And that means that I don't just fling lead at anything that is brown and moving in the woods. When I see a deer, I make sure it is, in fact, a deer. Then I make sure it is the type and size deer that I want to kill. Then I carefully select where I want the bullet to hit and I only take the shot if I'm sure I can make it. I do not attempt head or neck shots. I do not attempt to shoot an animal down by shooting it in the hindquarters, etc, etc, and then making a kill shot. I do not take shots outside of a range in which I am profficient. I try to make a clean kill with one shot. If I can't, then I don't shoot. If you care about what you are shooting at and how you shoot it, the chances of shooting another hunter are much lower.

Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do about 'the other guy' except stay away from him.

Well said.

There is nothing wrong with a head shot at close range. My last doe was taken with a single shot to the snoot straight on. This doe came running over the top of the hill across from my house. I was standing right there as she came through the trees. She poked her head out and looked right at me. I saw her coming and already had my gun trained on her. I was hoping she would walk out into the open. She had spotted me and was flipping her ears around like crazy. It was the only shot available. I figured I couldn't miss her head at 50 feet away. She dropped in that spot from a 12Ga slug.

 

[TrippleT]

When I first saw that someone was shot, I thought they had gotten off one of those SOUND shots. I knew a guy who used to joke about that, and about two weeks later he shot one of my neighbors with just about as silly excuse as that.
One of the reasons that people don't know firearm safety is that not many are being taught by competent people.
It should be taught in school, as far as I am concerned, and even that won't keep everyone safe. There are always those waiting for these things to happen to push and antigun agenda. We don't need to give them any excuses. The NRA has good sources for young people to learn about firearms.

 

[thingy]

I don't take head shots either,[unless its the only shot I got at a nice buck],,thought I was getting good about 20 years ago and shot a little doe in the head,,yeah,it was the head area,,blowed its lower jaw off to where it was just hanging,that deer was running around in a circle like,,making the damnest noise you ever heard,,looked and looked for that deer,never did find it,,,something you don't forget,,,,but if you are within about 20-30 yards,,and you want to be quite,,a 22 bullit in the head will drop them quick,,[its been awhile since I've done that],,,,,also learned [by accident],that an arrow into the ham of a buck,,will kill them pretty fast,lotta blood veins in the thickest part of ham,,,first time was bad shot,he went about 100 yards,,,,but did it one other time on purpose,,about an 8 point,thats the only shot he gave me,,shot him in the ham,,he didn't go 60 yards before he kiled over,when you shoot them with a bow,,there is no loud explosion,thats one thing,and the three bladed broad head is just like sticking three knives in all the way to bone,[sometimes through bone] bleed out quick,,,,,shot a nice 7 point this year with a head shot,,only shot he was going to give me,,he dropped in his tracks.
I shot twice with my bow this year and once with my rifle,killed three bucks.
I respect them to,now,,and ain't maimed one in probably 12 years or more,[thats not easy if you bow hunt],,but when I'm hunting bucks,,thats my goal,,and every now and than,it don't work out,,,but probably half the bucks I've killed,I wouldn't have got if I was waiting for that perfect shot,,,and I've killed over 50 bucks,[in season],,,thingy

 

[3RRL]

N80,
I like what you said and you are obviously a good hunter with good hunting ethics and skills.

I only have one hunting partner and he is very much like you (and like me). However, I have taken several head shots and made them. Like you said ... take the shot you know you can make ... and I knew I could make them. In my heyday ( I don't hunt much anymore) I could print keyholes at 100yds with my Weatherby in 30:06 using Hornady 165gr BTSP Light Magnum ammo topped with a Burris 3x9 Signature Posi-Lock and custom (3 ring) scope mounts. That gun loves that ammo.

I would take a head shot in a heart beat and have done so also on Elk with a .378 Weatherby mag using hand loads with 260gr Nosler Partitions and RL19. That thing gets out there at 3360fps and can reach out and touch someone. I had a direct head shot at an Elk in the Absorokas (Montana) at 65 yards. Hit him dead between the eyes. I found the bullet went through his skull, down his neck and ended up on the left side of his rib cage! He dropped like a ton of bricks and never moved.

Sorry, my point was I like what you said and to always take only safe shots, and only those shots you know you can make. There have been 2 Elk hunts that cost big $$ and I never fired a round too.

 

[N80]

Rob, I'd say I'm an average shot and an average hunter. But I think knowing one's skill level can be more important than being highly skilled and not knowing one's limits. I've also grown more patient over the years and I'm not driven by numbers (I don't even know how many deer I've killed, probably not more than a 100). If I kill a nice buck or two then I've had a good season. Subsequently I usually don't get flustered and am less inclined to force a shot even on a trophy.

The idea of crippling an animal with a misplaced head or neck shot bothers me too much to make it worth while. A shot to the jaw or through the trachea or esophagus is only a hair away from an instantly fatal shot and can lead to a lingering death. Stuff happens but I try to stick with my percentage shots.

But, as mentioned, that's not the point. The point is that taking care in your target selection and shot placement goes a long way to prevent you from shooting Billy Bob while he's answering nature's call behind a bush.

 

[TrippleT]

N80, I like your ethics and caution, as well. One of the things that gets me is when driving down a road here I saw some white tails crossing the road. One was a three legged deer and it was missing one rear leg. I though how that poor animal must have suffered, because someone could not get a good clean shot.
They were jumping a fence and it had to take two tries because of the one rear leg. Sometimes I guess things like that happen but should or could be held to a minimum if hunters took more responsibility.
I used to hunt here to but was walking to my stand one morning way before daybreak and it sounded like war people shooting and could not see fifty feet. Besides, is illegal here.

 

[thingy]

George,you must be at least in your 60's to have killed a hundred bucks.
A hundred bucks would be about 3 bucks a year for past 33 years.

I've probably killed over 100,[counting does],but ain't shot at a doe for past 10 years now. thingy

 

[AB4D]

I wouldn't go into the woods around my area anytime during hunting season. The idiots around here shoot at anything that moves. A family that lives across the road had the back of her house shot up last month by a group of hunters. They said they were sorry, but they almost shot her two kids who were playing in their backyard. The idiots around here don't respect property lines, they will chase a deer on an ATV across your land without permission, and when you say something to them they give you attitude about it or will run when they see you. Shenandoah National park used to be open 24 hours a day, but because of illegal hunting, the park now closes at 6pm during hunting season.