[X(] I took my son Joe, shot gunning yesterday. We hunted my brother' s 150 acre farm. We saw 3 does and 1 big swamp buck but no ethical shots were possible. The sad thing is we were hearing volleys of shots all around us on surrounding properties. I kept thinking that I could' nt wait to get home to hunt my area today. It is bow only and you don' t have to hear all the marksmen unloading their tubes. It is a bit unnerving to think that so many gun hunters are on the loose. Let us all make it a point to speak with these hunters and try our best to educate them as to ethical shooting vice indescriminate volleying. Mind you, please don' t try preaching to them. Simply, try to enlighten them whenever the chance presents itself. I hope I' m not preaching myself, this is merely a plea to all who love hunting and want to preserve it for future generations. Please help!!

may fall on deaf ears to most I' m afraid, but I' m with ya on the logic!! It' s like someone flicked a switch around my land. It' s so peaceful and awesome to be hunting during bow because it' s mainly our hunting club in the whole area (5 of us). When shotgun opens, look out. Shots everywhere!!! Pickup truck loads of guys, hunters walking around still hunting everywhere. Unfortunately I' ve seen more this year than ever because we' re resorted to hunting the borderlines of our property this season due to the farmer working the majority of the area. He has 80% of it winter plowed and the deer want nothing to do being there. Oh well, I' ll just sit and hope one of them pushes mossyhorns my way.

i hang out at a tackle/gunshop suring my break and lunch hour, we really hear some strange tales about 2 hundred shots, running shots, wounded deer, you name it we hear it.

i don' t think the ethical shot placement is taught as much as it should with our hunter education courses.
it was repeated numerous times in the 2 day bow hunting course.

Dec 1st reverts back to bow and will scilence the shotguns in my area.

Don' t you just cringe when you hear 4 or 5 shots in rapid fire. I figure that deer is probably still alive and well at least. Most of those type of hunters are just kicking up a deer and blasting wildly at the flag as it zooms off.

I know what you mean. On one particular day my grandfather and I went hunting with some other folks with dogs in Florida. Not relly my cup of tea but what the heck. Him and I were sitting along a tractor trail leading to a cattle field and others were positioned below him in the field. Some does came running across the field and low and behold the idiot sitting below him began shooting at the does running across the field and directly in my grand fathers direction. The buck shot pelted the oak tree he was sitting behind and a few dinged the steel gate next to him. Had it not been for the tree he would have most likley been shot by this idiot. Needless to say that' s the last time I or this guy hunted there.

However don' t group all gun hunters with the idiots that are out there. I hunt with bow, rifle, shot gun, and muzzleloader and wouldn' t dream of just emptying a magazine without knowing what animal I was shooting at or knowing that I had a good shot so that I wouldn' t have the need to unload a magazine in the first place.

5 shots are better than 1 in my mind cause most likely that deer is still alive for me to shoot at.

ever heard of " sounding?" I had a friend who was on public land once and all the sudden hears these shots ring out real close to him, then again and again... each time getting closer. Finally he sees these 2 guys about 100 yds from him and see them let off a few rounds into a bush. He yells at them, gets off his stand and goes to find out what the heck they' re doing.

" Oh we' re just sounding."

" What is sounding!?!!"

" Well instead of sittin' and waiting all day for a deer, we walk around. When we think we hear something in a thicket or a bush or down in a ravine we shoot into it and see if we can' t scare the deer out."


Seriously happened. Can you imagine what kind of an idiot you have to be!?!!!!

I also know a lot of gun hunters who flail away at anything that is brown. I had a fella tell me last week " I shoot at every opportunity--if you don' t shoot you ain' t gonna kill em." When I asked him what he meant, he explained that he will shoot at the rear end of any fleeing deer...no matter how far away it is. I asked him if he had any concern about wounding an animal and having it get away. He responded, " oh well, there are plenty more out there" .

It is sad that there are so many hunters who just shoot at a deer....with little thought of making an ethical, killing shot at it' s vital organs. As one who is increasingly doing more and more hunting with a bow, it saddens me even more when I talk to a bowhunter with that same attitude. I know one fella who wounds many deer and finds it quite humorous.

I think hunter ethics need to be stressed even more in hunter educatiuon classes.
Thankfully, I beleive most hunters today are more responsible than some of those mentioned on this thread. The non-hunting public listens and often is aware of our activities and attitudes as hunters.

Clint

I know what you' re talking about.... Monday starts our gun season here in PA. I' ve learned during the last three years that it' s best not to hunt the top of the hill on our property. There are blasts from all directions and I know that each hunter does not know where all the other hunters are. So for the first two days and on Saturdays I hunt below the crest of the hill and stay away from the property lines. Now at the farm where one brother hunts - I wouldn' t hunt there the first couple of days - no way! There are usually so many hunters there and the shots are from every direction. And they honestly believe in the " if it' s brown it' s down' theory. They shoot at the deer as they are running and at long distances. Last year one young hunter shot a deer in the direction of the owners house - less than 100 yards! Talk about wearing out your welcome! I won' t go there to use my other doe tag until later in the season when there are less hunters.
I sure do like the archery season better. It' s so quiet and you don' t even know if there' s anyone else hunting out there.

If they shoot more than once... they probably missed. If they shoot more than 3 times the definitely missed. The first shot of the day is always before you can see. Some idiot shooting his toe off or trying to shoot what he can' t see. The next shot is someone killing a deer.... and maybe the next. When it gets to be 9 o' clock there is a volley from all the yahoos that have been hearing shots but seeing nothing. They finally give into the urge and shoot a stump or a squirrel or a fox. Then there is a follow on volley from all the other nervous yahoos. This continues until 10 or 11 when all the nervous nellies leave for lunch and to see what' s dragged out. They drive around and see maybe one or two deer. Some yahoo always has to try a shot out the window. All said and done... a grand total of about 2 deer have been killed with 25 shots. It' s the way of the universe.