BuckAlley

This drives me absoultely crazy, and this wknd's hunt was no different. I hunt 75 private acres, surrounded by state land on 3 sides. I absolutley love bowhunting this land and state around it. But once the slug throwers come out I about hate it. I all so often hear so many shots, and several crazy repeaters at that. I heard 1 guy shoot 14times today. Single lone shots seem very rare. I got so frustrated hearing all the guns going off I quit today at 1pm, and packed to head home. I took a drive around the state seasonal roads that run through the area. And guess what in the 3" of snow on the ground I saw exactly 1 deer dragged out. Everyplace I saw where hunters had parked, and walked in I slowly drove by looking. 1 single drag mark in a 6 mile radius around those woods. I also know of a hunter out of another camp below us that wounded a buck, and tracked him through our land,butwas never recovered. This just seems almost unreal compared to the shooting that I hear. You'd think with all the shots there would hardly be a deer left. Anyone ever hear of 1 shot, 1 kill or maybe a finishing shot if need be. I never shoot at anything I don't have complete confidence I can't kill with 1 shot. I just don't understand people, flying lead is very dangerous, and certainly doesn't do our deer any good to take crap shots. I just had to vent, it just really pisses me off, people hunt this way.

huntforlife

I know what you mean i know alot of guys like that they have no respect for the sport most of them are only out there to impress their friends or family members they don't like to hunt most of them are ready to go home at 9:00 they just want to kill anything so that they have pictures to show and story's to tell so that everyone beleives that they are a good hunter the good thing about these people is that they rarely go out past the first three or four days of opening week after that the rest of us can get back to hunting

BuckAlley

Check this out also. I was walking along the seasonal road Friday on the way to a night watch. I see this deer carcass off the side of the road someone dumped. So I check it out, good size cavity. But what shocked me was whoever cut this deer up had no clue what they were doing. Both the tenderlions, and backstraps were left on the carcass! Only some meat had been cut off the front shoulders, and neck. No hind quarters there, so musta least cut those up. The 2 best parts of the deer were left to rot. Idiots!

model722

I feel your pain. Sometimes its just nice to sit in the woods and watch the squirels and other wild life play. He*# I've even taken a nap before. Then there are those days that you go out and you would swear that the united states was being attacked. Then when everything is quite again you expect to see atleast one vehicle with a deer but there never is. Makes a person wonder what the h#$* was going on.

mauser06

try being on a PA state game lands this coming monday! slugs dont go 1/4 as far as a 300 mag will..me and my dad were talking to a guy on our way to our setup and he had a pump gun...he was standing there deciding where to go and still was when we left...we go about 50 yds..just out of sight around a bend to hear him dump his magazine and hear the bullets ripping through the sappling thicket...i love listening to them guys on the first morning...i just know more deer live than die and i setup so they make the deer run to me...last year i quit counting at like 65 shots and that was when my dad got a doe at like 8....this year i will try to remember and count..last year we didnt see anyone else dragging out(we have like a mile and half drag) and seen no drag marks or anything...camoe back the end of the week nobody there but us and not much drag marks still! i love the PA war!

Crowpecker

I know exactly what you mean first hand. That is the reason I will no longer hunt on private or state land in NY with a gun again. Because of those idiots spraying slugs all over the place, I got shot in the back with a 12 gauge slug on opening day in Steuben county (Bath) last year in NY state. The idiot that was arrested for it shot 11 times, killing two deer (one looked like swiss cheese according to the game warden and state police) and one of his many "misses" ended up hitting me in the back over a small hill 180 yds away. No one can tell me those new sabot slugs don't travel far. My Rem 11-87 with Hastings barrel can consistently group 3 shots in a 4 inch circle at 200 yds so I know how far they go. All I can tell you guys is to be careful. I did everything right (blaze orange, wasn't wandering around, etc) and it still happened. My friends were telling me it sounded the same this year too. Hunters (if you want to call them that) emptying their 5 shot guns at deer in the hopes of hitting one. These are hunters? I've hunted for over 30 yrs without any incidents and this had to happen to ruin the thing I loved to do most. It gets worse every year. I sure don't know what the answer is and they don't think they're doing anything wrong so I just gave up. Good luck and have a safe, enjoyable season this year everyone!

IAMBOB

This is probably way over simplistic, but, could the answer be as simple as taking the open slug seasons / open rifle seasons and changing them into MUZZLELOADER seasons? Smokepoles have become so advanced! Good ballistics, good delivered energy, but still take several minutes to reload. Maybe this delay alone could encourage greater care?
Then for the die-hard modern firearm enthusiasts maybe some type of regulated permit style or lottery style hunts to control their numbers if we can't control their behavior?
I apologize in advance for trying to play "social engineer" on this topic but here in NJ we have the probem too. I compensate by planning out the days I spend afield to be those days and /or locations that don't have modern firearm deer hunts or stocked bird hunts in progress. This has worked out fairly well so far.
For the record, I've fired five shotgun shells so far this year and came home with four squirrels. I'm OK with that as a newbie.
-BB-

Muddyemms

Two years ago, I sat in a tree stand, in a swamp, on some private land, in Columbia County in NY. When the shot count hit 60, before 8 AM, I stopped counting. I got my two antlerless permits filled about an hour later--both were one-shot kills.

About 20 years ago, on some State land in Columbia County, I heard the same thing, opening morning. Then, some nimrod actually was stalking me, as I sat at the base of a tree. It wasn't until I moved, and some of the blaze orange I was wearing registered in this guy's mind as not a deer, that he went away.

farm hunter

I know what you are saying, it used to be like that where I hunt - Madison County. But the last few years, you hear only a few shots around, and very few Gun Emptying anymore, especially this year with the sonow/ice. I'll bet I didn't hear 20 shots all day, and only a couple within a few miles this year.

I've never hunted the state land though, so I cannot compare.

TreestandEd

We have same problems here in Ohio(I also gun hunt NY).In Ohio we now have 3 slug rule and have to have plug.Its automatic ticket if you dont. All to curb the rapid fire wild shooting. I think it is our #1 ticket issued durring gun season.
<font color=orange>I wear plenty of hunters orange</font id=orange>


TrestandEd

&quot;Hard work ... conviction ... pride ... responsibility ... class ... character ... success...BOWHUNTING