shooting guns

Tbone1187 · 11-08-2006, 09:26 PM

would you sight in your gun the weekend before deer hunting on the land you will be hunting the next weekend with a gun.

Thanks
T-Bone

cpsniper05 · 11-08-2006, 09:38 PM

I dont exactly like shooting my gun where im gunna be hunting the following weekend, but if thats all that you can do then i guess you have to, I would just try to make sure you are as far away from your hunting spot while still remaining safe, but i dont think it will necessarily mess up your spot if thats what your wanting to know,

desertloper · 11-08-2006, 09:40 PM

I have/do they are or should be in rut by now-they have other "things" on their mind than the occasional shot or 10.

IF I COULD AVIOD IT I WOULD-it was just easier for me to go when I am going to hunt.

NZer · 11-08-2006, 10:28 PM

It wouldn't make any differance to the deer that will be there the next week as the same things that make them favour that spot to start with will bring them back within days.I have seen deer within 100yards of where my wife shot one the previous day.

Steve F.in MD · 11-09-2006, 04:55 AM

It will not make any difference. By all means sight in your gun. That is far more important than worrying about disturbing the deer. Unless a round lands very close to the animal deer just ignore the sound of gun fire. I have seen this time and again. The sound of gun fire around here is so common that all of the deer would have nervous breakdowns if they got freaked out by it.

Paul L Mohr · 11-09-2006, 04:41 PM

I wouldn't worry that much about it. Once gun season starts all hell will break loose anyway. I wouldn't suggest it if you are bow hunting the same area though, or if others are.

Like the others said, I would take the risk to make sure you know where your gun is shooting. That is much more important. No sense worrying about spooking the deer if your not sure you can hit one anyway right.

Heck when we where sighting in our guns at the end of summer we saw deer at six in the evening in the same field we were shooting in all day, not even an hour after we were done goofing around.

And I have killed a deer one day, and had a buddy hunt my blind the next day and kill another, with the gut pile still there!

Paul

krub6b · 11-09-2006, 08:11 PM

In my experience of hunting a farm with a few to a lot of hunters(depending on your standards) a few rifle rounds shouldn't really be an issue. I wouldn't sight in out of my treestand oropen up with an mp5but if you're just checking your scope after it sat all year, go for it.

Grasshopper13 · 11-10-2006, 01:25 AM

I really think it doesn't matter to deer. Why?

#1 I've watched deer many times near my stand during gun season, when one of my neighbors shot fairly close. The only reaction I've ever seen is for them to stop what they are doing and look around.

#2 There's a conservation department shooting range, near an area that I usually hunt a couple of times a season. It gets nearly constant use right up and through the rifle season here in MO. It is surrounded by small pine trees at the edges all the way around the shooting area. You can go there any time from about the 2nd week of october and find rubs all over those pine trees. In fact, this year I took an early trip to beat the crowds that will eventually build up there and what did I see picking in the mowed down clover patches? A nice 8 point buck.

The fact is, if whitetail weren't the marvel of adaptation that they are, we would have hunted them extinct long before now.

I'd say check your gun. I'd rather have the peace of mind knowing my gun shoots true than to have that nagging doubt in the back of my mind.

GH

cowboy4513 · 11-10-2006, 07:45 AM

Good points but i still wouldnt recommend it I have shot in previous years then i only see deer after dark then if i dont ill see deer right before dark so maybe its just me but personally i think it does make a diffrnece. So i dont do it

IndyHunter83 · 11-10-2006, 07:59 AM

I don't think it would make too much of a difference. I have a shooting range on the same peice of property that I hunt. Get it sighted in and be ready. If ur really paranoid about scarying the deer then go to a local DNR office or your states DNR webpage and check out what public shooting ranges there are. Either way good luck.