hunt or shoot.??
 

Ive been in our new house for 7 mths or so. Ive got 5 acres out back. I hunted it this year. Its awesome walking out my back door & be in a treestand in 5 mins. Now the question is Should I put a range out there. Ive got room for a 100 yard range with a big pile of sand for a backstop. Ive got deer & turkey moving thru , so I dont wanna screw that up. But it seems like I cant hardly make it to the range anymore. What ya think

RE: hunt or shoot.??
 

With a little common sense you won't screw it up...:D

I have often shot in the middle of the day on our farms and gone hunting that afternoon and killed deer...I also have a buddy that has 7 acres behind his house...Him and I put in a range and we shoot there, we just stop a month or so before the season comes in...He has killed both deer and turkeys within 100 yards of his house...

RE: hunt or shoot.??
 

I would, without a doubt, establish a range. The range on our hunting club is300 yards long.I have a 1/2 acre food plot that would cross the farend of the range like the top of a "T" , except that it's100 yards through the treesbeyond the end of the range.We shoot on that range a lot, and year round, and still that is one of my most productive hunting areas. I've often sat on the stand over that plot and watched deer feeding while other guys were shooting on the range. The deer don't even lift their heads when the shooting is going on.

RE: hunt or shoot.??
 

When I was growing up on the farm, we would shoot on our own land year round. Always tagged a deer during the season just a couple of hundred yards from the house. My buddy filled his tag and his "grandmas tag" from the same stand, 10 min. apart from eachother. I say make your range. I would if I had the land.

RE: hunt or shoot.??
 

My range is as many know right outside my door. More then once I have been setting up to shoot and watched deer feeding in the open grass area the range created. And turkey walk right across the thing when your outside, so if you use common sense and don't shoot too soon before season, I don't see it making a difference.

RE: hunt or shoot.??
 

The deer on our farm have gotten use to me shooting throughout the year. Last Saturday night, I was shooting for about an hour and about five minutes after I stopped, a deer came out and gave the look my wife does. It's the "Are you finally done making noise/playing?" look.

Several years ago there was a parade of about 20 turkeys following in single file up to a neighbor's house. They walked within about 80 yards parallel to the shooting range while I was testing some rifle hand loads. Each time I fired, a bunch of the turkeys would jump a couple feet in the air, but they kept marching on. I found out later that the neighbor was feeding them.

RE: hunt or shoot.??
 

I have 5.5 acres out my back door and it does not bother them at all.I don't shoot a whole lot during season
but to double check my and and my two sons guns.I leave the hunting out there for them and they see deer about every day.

RE: hunt or shoot.??
 

They get used to it, I go to the club range for long range shooting and have had to wait for deer to get out of the way. When I shoot on my hunting place I bought I keep it more or less in the middle of the day and stop in Aug. [I bow hunt and don't want any disturbance then. It really don't seem to make a difference I have had them feeding among the buildings 2 hours after we were shooting. Lee

RE: hunt or shoot.??
 

Well Ive decided to build a shooting bench out back. Today I shot a few out there, I was nice to not have to use up the whole day to shoot a few rounds. I ll just get all my shooting out of the way way before the season starts. Oh yeah an hour or so after I shot a couple jakes walked thru. So it dont seem to bother them

RE: hunt or shoot.??
 

burntmuch

This picture might help your decision... I was shooting at un-official range near a town back in the woods. I had been shoot for an hour or so when I looked down range and saw this. They walked right across the range to the creek... guess i was not bothering them much... It was not hunting season...