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Hunters that don't shoot.

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Spec ops Grunt

Spec ops Grunt

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Oct 14, 2005
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Oklahoma
So the other day at work I sold 3 boxes of ammo to three hunters, the main guy said something to the effect of, "Hopefully this lasts the next five years".



WHAT?

Beforehand he complained about having to zero in his scope. :what:


Some people..... :rolleyes:
 
From your title, I thought you meant hunters that decide not to take the shot. But of course, he meant that he would only need a round or two, each season. I guess he's the type that won't shoot that rifle much at all, after he gets the scope sighted in.

I went antelope hunting for the first time this year. I worked up a compressed load that was good at driving tacks, and I practiced shooting bowling pins from a quarter mile away. I must have burned up close to fifty rounds through all that. But I took one shot on opening day and I was done. :D

When you have a known load and a good rifle, you really only need to take it out to keep everything familiar, that way when hunting season comes around you know quite well what your load, your rifle, and you can do. Maybe less than a box of ammo a year at that point.
 
I hope you don't get in trouble at work!! :eek: I got a three-day supension when doing that!
 
I routinely sight-in with cheap ammo, make sure the rifle shoots hunting ammo in the same place, and then pratice/re-sight in with just the cheap stuff. After those initial 3 rounds, the rest of the box is 1-2 rounds per year, meaning the box of actual hunting ammo will last well longer than five years...
 
I have to admit that for the most part my "deer rifle" in an average year will only send about 5-6 rounds down range. Three rounds near opening weekend to verify she's still on and then I'll usually take 2 or sometimes 3 deer in a season. However, some years I'll get out there and use the bolt gun for some long distance hog hunting/practice and then I'll burn up a box or two in a year.
 
I hunt with guys like that.

I'm not a natural shot. When I was in in boot camp, I qualified 'marksman' which is the lowest you can qualify in the Marines...otherwise you are an 'unq', unqualified, which means you get to stay back while your platoon moves on - and you are give 'extra incentive' while you do get to qualify. Anyways, 'marksman' badge is also referred to as a 'toilet seat'.

Still, I worked VERY hard at it, qualified 'expert' every time after, and ended up being selected to go to sniper school. I finished in the bottom 1/3 of my class, because there were so many guys there who were just so darn good - naturals, if you will.

Don't be mislead, I am a very good shot, but these guys I hunt with were all raised hunting, in the woods, and I just wasn't. When it's been a while, my skills erode. I can tell.

I gave a couple of the older guys some ammo that I reloaded. 50 rounds of 7mm mag, 160gr Accubonds, which they said should last them 10 or 12 YEARS. It's two brothers, and they never practice during the year. They sight in one or two rounds at the most, maybe every couple of years, and rarely miss. So, yeah, maybe 10 years. This year, one killed an elk and bear, the other a deer. Three shots, three kills - and a typical year for them - they never wound anything. They were both very poor growing up, and they think practicing is wasting ammo. They didn't go to sniper school: one was in the Air Force (hardly a bastion of a marksmanship program - no offense) and the other wasn't ever in the military at all, but I'd bet they can both out shoot me 99 days out of a 100.

Tom
 
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I started this thread on TFL after an event with my BIL and asked about the commonality of the problem. I was very shocked and a bit scared by the results.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=401369

Apparently there are a fair number of people who show up to hunt who really don't have a clear idea where their rounds are going. A bunch have either had somebody else zero their rifles for them or take guns only boresighted out to hunt and never refine the zero. Scary.
 
Scary indeed.

I read a David E. Petzal article one time about this; only practicing the weekend before the season opener. Just as you described, many, if not most, don't really "know" their rifle whatsoever. I'm related to several guys like that.
 
Shooting hundreds of rounds through your hunting rifle is a waste of ammo. Once sighted in most rifles(all things being equal) will be good to go through-out the hunting season and only require an occasional test group to make certain that nothing has changed. Many guys that I know who hunt with iron sights wont even check them before a hunt,no need to. I shoot fairly often because I LIKE it,not to stay sharp. I switch stocks and scopes around on my rifles so I need to correct for the changes but any rifle that hasn't been "messed" with is usually just fine for the deer woods.
 
To each their own. I shoot between x00-x,000 rounds a year through my 'hunting rifles' as all of my guns get the opportunity to go hunting.

I'm a tinker-er like jimmyray and swap components around and agree that once set, a well put together rig will usually stay set if it is not mishandled.

There is a big difference between those that 'enjoy hunting' and those that 'enjoy shooting' and the intersect of the two camps. Thats where I am...in the overlap.
~z
 
There is a big difference between those that 'enjoy hunting' and those that 'enjoy shooting' and the intersect of the two camps. Thats where I am...in the overlap.
Click to expand...
It's quite comfortable here in the middle ain't it?
 
One of my former bosses had a Marlin in 35 Remington... he killed 17 deer over a 10 year period ... with one 20 round box of Remington Corelokt. Needless to say he didn't shoot alot either.

Jimmy K
 
I Know a fella we hunt with, I asked was he going to check POI, He said I've not dropped my gun so it should be fine
Click to expand...
It probably is okay but I want to know so I'll check it at least once before opening day.
 
Spec ops Grunt said:
So the other day at work I sold 3 boxes of ammo to three hunters, the main guy said something to the effect of, "Hopefully this lasts the next five years".

WHAT?

Beforehand he complained about having to zero in his scope. :what:

Some people..... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I work the club range every year when we open it for hunters to come and zero their guns. We get all kinds, some learn to shoot that day, others shoot a box or two of ammo never nailing things down, and some are happy if they toss two or three rounds down range at the target closest to what they consider their ability and it is minute of whitetail.

Those guys that pop off 3 rounds near center can go 5 years on a 20 round box.

Clutch
 
When a hunt club I joined required hunter education I had to take the class after having spent several years hunting. The instructor of the class told us that before we could ethically take a gun into the field and harvest game, we must have shot it hundreds of times. I completely disagree there. A quality firearm and well put together combination of optics and rings will hold its zero through a good bit of abuse. My cheap Bushnell Dawn to Dusk scope and Savage 10-MLII have been hoisted in and out of a tree almost every day for the last 3 weeks, has not always landed as softly as I would like on the ground (that nylon paracord haul line is GONE next year...) and has still double lunged every deer I've shot with it this year. Unless I get a hair up my butt over the summer to develop a new load for it, I'll fire one shot the Sunday before muzzleloader next year, and I'll bet money that it's still on. Now that doesn't mean that I won't shoot all year. I'll probably fire off well over 1,000 rounds of .22 between now and then in a similarly set up scoped rifle. That's actually been a plan of mine for a while. All my hunting rifles are Marlins or Savages, and all are stocked more or less the same way with similar optics. I have the .22 set up to mimic them. That way I can shoot for cheap year round, and still be fresh without really having fired a shot from the hunting rifles. A big side bonus is that it will be the latter part of hunting season before I re-develop a flinch! ;-)

b
 
"...WHAT?..." Daft, but there are more of 'em than you'd think. Hunters who never practice or sight in their rifles. They're also the guys that firearms regulations affect the most. Our stupid registery, for example.
"...complained about having to zero in his scope..." That too.
Has to do with there being no competency requirement to buy a hunting licence or pass a hunter's safety course in North America. Up here, there are no public ranges either. If you want to shoot, you must join a club.
"...when we open it for hunters..." Thanks to you and your's. Happens, up here, too, but you and I both know it's not enough.
 
Has to do with there being no competency requirement to buy a hunting licence or pass a hunter's safety course in North America.
Click to expand...
You have to pass a hunter safety course in Alabama if you were born after 1977 before you can obtain a hunting license.
 
There are 2 types of hunters who can make a box of shells last several years. Some are idiots. But some of the best hunters I know are that way. They have some of the worst rifles and other hunting equipment.

Some of them know very little about guns and shooting, but they know how to hunt. They are interested in hunting, not shooting. And they are good enough at it that they will kill their deer with most anything.

Sometimes it is hard to tell if you are talking to an idiot, or someone just more interested in hunting than shooting.

Personally I just plain enjoy shooting. I spend lots of time at the range because I enjoy that part of it as much as the hunting.
 
I shot my 300 Win Mag 100+ times this year, all but one round was at targets. The last round fired took a big doe.

My 7mm Rem Mag has been on the same box of shells for 3 years or so. I usually shoot it once at a target each year (cold-bore shot). Any other shots take game. The same usually goes with my .270, except this year I'm keeping it in the gun cabinet.

I have had the 7mm and .270 zeroed in for 4 or 5 years, no need to touch it. I usually take them out 1 day out of the season and take a deer that hunt.

I had a scope fail on my muzzle-loader this year. Just so happens it's the same scope as the .270 has, so I'm not risking another missed shot or wounded deer. Next year I'll have some hand-loads worked up and a new scope for the .270. :D
 
My granddad loaded 2 rounds into his model 71 each year (he said the ammo made an already heavy rifle even heavier, and he didn't need its full capacity anyway), and used 1 for the deer. He never needed the second. I asked him if he did much shooting during the off season, and he said the only time that rifle got fired was at a deer. When he bought that rifle in 1942, I think, he bought six boxes of 250 grain Silvertips. At the time I saw them, he still had 4 1/2 boxes left, and had a partial box of 200 grainers he'd switched to because he said they kicked less, and he was getting old...

I only remember one year he didn't bring a deer home. He didn't see any bucks that year.
 
I have a rifle in my pickup every day, I dont shoot every day, but every hog or coyote that I see goes down. rifle is the one that looks good to me when I open the safe.,
 
It works for some, doesn't for others. It was that way for me for a long time, I'd shoot 2-3 rounds from my .243 before the season to make sure it was still on (always was), then one shot on a buck during the season. My shots were always 200 yards or closer back then though, now the terrain I hunt I'm lucky to get that close, and I shoot that rifle all year long. Much more practice and I'm a MUCH better shot for it.

My dad is still the same, a couple shots before the season kind of thing. He's a hunting fool and historically he bags one ever year, but the last two years he's had trouble hitting things. I'm working on him, practice absolutely is a good thing.
 
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