Am I the world's worst hunter?

S

stagpanther

New member
I've long told people that my reputation in the animal kingdom as a hunter is so bad that they often come out to watch me when I target practice. Today was no exception, and lately I can honestly say more than half the time I shoot-- deer and turkeys come out to watch. Today was no exception, and I was shooting my 300 Weatherby magnum with accubrake--not exactly what I would call a diminutive report when firing. So first to check out the ruckus were the hens--who naturally were followed by horny/indignant Toms. They typically taunt me by walking in clusters right between me and my target. To add insult to injury, a group of over half a dozen deer were standing on the edge of the pit I was shooting in looking down on me watching all the shenanigans.

I get no respect.:(
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I'm right there with you. I really do spend a LOT of time in the woods hunting just about anything in season. But I don't kill a lot of stuff. Anymore it doesn't bother me too much. Hunting is a good excuse to get outside. At this point HOW and WHERE I hunt are more important than killing stuff.

And I've had the same thing happen at the private club where I shoot. I've had deer and turkey walk out onto the range before and had to stop shooting long enough to run them off.
 
That gobbler above is HUGE and dragging a long beard--him and two others walked right up within maybe 10 feet of me as if I wasn't there.:rolleyes: Makes me wonder why bother with all the Camo clothing scent cover etc. :D
 
They get used to the gunshots at a firing range and it no longer concerns them. Deer and most game animals are accustomed to living very near humans. They can tell the difference between a hunter, and someone just out for a walk by reading our body language.
 
We have a fat groundhog at about 95 yards on out 100 yard range. He has a hole in the berm just off the lane. The fat bastard likes to come out when we're shooting and taunt us. I once put one in the snow about 2 feet off his nose. He just gave me a dirty look and sauntered off.
 
Funny how they know when season is and then just disappear. Funny how they also know the out of bounds zones.

A head shot with that 300 Wea. and no pictures would have netted you and your family a nice dinner. But that is what seperates a sportsman from a poacher.
 
Several different times when I've been walking through prairie dog towns shooting a 22-250 or 204 Ruger antelope have meandered around a few hundred yards from me. They sometimes have moved closer to check out whats happening. Hunting season opens and if antelope even see a pickup they haul a$$ with their tails on fire.
 
The coronavirus caused a change in the state's hunting rules--I didn't even know this until I checked yesterday. While deer hunting is still banned where I live (and yes, they've been known to mysteriously disappear anyway, though the penalty for getting caught is quite stiff if one of your neighbors doesn't like you) turkey season actually opened for juniors this weekend. I saw nobody out (except for the turkeys).
 
One year at the Whittington Center in NM, we were shooting Barretts at 800 or 1000 yards when a herd of antelope walked out down range at about the 400 yard position and grazed. I sometimes have deer bedded down close to my rifle range in north Texas that we scare up when we change targets.

Animals can get used to noise just fine. If the sound is normal for the location, then they come to not fear it.

How many people fear thunder despite knowing it is just Zeus doing some lightning bolt plinking?
 
I don't know about turkeys but I know some deer can "read".

Once saw a deer walk down the side of a road, until it got to the Deer Xing sign, at which point it turned and crossed the road!!

I feel pretty sure there is a "secret" somebody in the Game Dept that goes out into the wood shortly before the season and "reads" the game regs to the animals...:rolleyes:

They learn pretty quick to ignore you when they think you aren't after them...
 
You, sir, will have to wait for me to die before you are the worst hunter in the world!!!

Last autumn, I was setting up elk camp with my friend and a mule deer doe walked right between us. She looked at us both as though we were trees, and wandered right out of camp. I swear Muley's have a nose so sharp that they can smell "human with tag" and "human with no deer tag."

I'm scuttled before I even start b/c I can't even pick my tags right!! That's how bad of a hunter I am. Then it's just hiking with a purpose and blister farming for a week on top of that.
:)
Good luck out there this year! If you reach out and touch anything with that 300 Weatherby, you'll be good to go!
 
Turkeys are strange birds. I once shot one that was in a small group and all the rest scurried away about 10 feet and just sat there and watched me as I picked up their fallen companion. I felt like I was shooting a domesticated animal, so much for "hunting".
 
Not happened to me but . . .

While it's never happened to me, I have buddies who shoot a lot at outdoor ranges, in the woods. They say it's not unusual for wild life to come watch.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
DNS---post #13. Thank you.

I occasionally shot trap at a range out in the country. This was a big establishment with many trap houses. There was a big clearing in front of the trap houses and woods beyond the clearing. It was not at all uncommon in the evening to see deer come out of the woods and graze on the far side of the clearing while trap shooting was going on.
 
somebody in the Game Dept that goes out into the wood shortly before the season and "reads" the game regs to the animals...
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I think you're right. A couple years back I went deer hunting in an area on the other side of the mountains. Two weeks before elk season, elk were everywhere but no deer. A customer of mine who hunts that area every year was there two weeks later for elk season. Same exact area. No elk, but deer everywhere!. I think they have the hunting seasons posted somewhere in the woods.
 
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