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Well my 16th Birthday afternoon hunt was ruined!

Robinson446

By Robinson446,
in Bow Hunting

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Robinson446 Newbie

Robinson446

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Went and got my permit for driving, went out around 230 and was going to stay out till dark. Well 330 came around and some guy that didnt attend The Gilbertsville Rod n Gun Club meeting (we made a rule 3 years ago, stating no shooting during bow season, and re-inforced this every meeting) decided to go out and sight in his gun on the range which was about 50 yards from my stand... Upon walking out, Captain Obvious asked if he ruined my hunting... I told him no worries, deer love gun shots, they come right in to them.. People amaze me...

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Robinson446 Newbie

Robinson446

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Yeah I was going to stay but my blood was boiling pretty good at that point. He goes, what i bet u wernt gonna see anything anyways. To me thats not the point. Its common respect, he had to drive right past my truck to get through the gate... The sign said closed, and i didnt hear him yell, "range is hot" or "is any one out there?" My brother wasnt able to go out with us that day, and if he was there, My dad would have been sitting down the range probably 10 yards into the apple trees to the left of the end of the range. but my brother wasnt with us so my father sat in his stand and i sat in my dads climber 50 yards to the left of the range...

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jr.deerslayer Newbie

jr.deerslayer

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I've only been to a few clubs with friends, but we have never announced we were going to shoot, or looked for people in the trees that were not directly in our line of fire...I would hope people would place stands out of the way, and at most ranges they have a good backstop...no shooting during bowseason i guess you have to sight in a month before gun season..I prefere to shoot the week before the season because it adds to my confidence that nothing has moved from getting thrown around in the overfilled gunsafe. But to each his own i suppose

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Doc Experienced

Doc

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Yes, I too have seen some freak reactions (or non-reactions) of deer to gunfire. That doesn't mean that someone blasting away is exactly putting the deer at ease. Whether the deer will ignore the gunshots or not most likely depends on the individual deer. I certainly wouldn't expect a seasoned old buck who has gone through a few gun seasons to ignore anything like that.

My thought is that if a club has rules and makes them known to all members, then the thing to do is to abide by those rules or get out. That guy was definitely out of line.

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Doc Experienced

Doc

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I agree. The guy is out of line and should be following the rules. That said, I have a police gun range about 1000 yards from my stand and regularly hear automatic gun fire. It never seems to bother the deer.

It's possible that it might depend on the gun range and how frequently it is used. With enough de-sensitization through frequent use, I can see where the deer have to learn to adapt or starve ..... lol. Not being familiar with the frequency of use for the range that J.R. was talking about it's hard to say whether that is a similar situation. My guess would be that since the club is willing to shut down the range for all of bow season, it probably is not a range that gets that much use. So perhaps the situation that you are describing and what was the case at this club are not really an apples to apples comparison. It's like my range out behind the house. I'll guarantee you that when I am out there occasionally shooting, the deer head for parts unknown. But then I am not out there in a relatively constant fashion. At any rate, I really doubt that gunfire does a whole lot for trying to hunt patterned deer. I think the regular firearms season gives a clue about that....lol. I think I would be a bit upset too if I was trying to bowhuntg and somebody started ripping up the place with gunfire. In fact I had that kind of happen last year. I was on stand and some squirrel hunter (quite innocently) parked himself a couple hundred yards away and about every 10 or 15 minutes fired off a round or two at squirrels. Not a happy situation, but when hunting state land it can be unavoidable. As you might expect, the buck that had been hanging around in that area didn't show up in daylight hours that day. Not much of a surprise....eh?

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First-light Grand Master

First-light

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The Range is not used very often, the clay pigeon range is used more then the actual range itself. But I have always yelled range is hot or Range is open before shooting. Am i the only one? :blink:

Sorry Robinson but if you have to do that to shoot I don't think it's very safe there. Just looking out for you. Now move your stand!

Oh yea-Happy Birthday!

Edited by Burt
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jonathon88 Newbie

jonathon88

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Robinson i belong to the same club. my place in just minutes from the club in gilbertsville. I was never told i could not shoot my gun during bow season. Only that the range closes after a certain date.We all pay the same amount to use all of what the club has to offer. and this is prime time to sight in the guns for the up comming season. the club has over 130 acres to use as you see fit. why on earth would your stand be 50 yards from the active shooting range? i dont understand. you can never trust anyone else with your safety but you.Be smarter and find a different spot.

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wdswtr Newbie

wdswtr

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Im thinking the same thing. Move your stands. Being that close to the firing range isnt a good plan regardless if there is a sign out front saying the range is closed or a meeting states no shooting during bow season. You already stated the obvious and said he didnt attend the meetings. How many others havent either? Do not trust anyone trust yourself and move out of gunfire.

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nyantler Apprentice

nyantler

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Moving your stands sounds like a good idea...does seem strange that you'd pick a spot that close to the range. I think its crazy even allowing hunting anywhere near the gun range... I would think that would be a huge liability issue for the club and a good way to get the club shut down permanently

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Robinson446 Newbie

Robinson446

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Robinson i belong to the same club. my place in just minutes from the club in gilbertsville. I was never told i could not shoot my gun during bow season. Only that the range closes after a certain date.We all pay the same amount to use all of what the club has to offer. and this is prime time to sight in the guns for the up comming season. the club has over 130 acres to use as you see fit. why on earth would your stand be 50 yards from the active shooting range? i dont understand. you can never trust anyone else with your safety but you.Be smarter and find a different spot.

Jonathan you said you are a member, out past the range about 30 yards off its the old Porter John, About 20 yards off that is a culvert ditch, with bamboo in it. about 5 yards off that is the apple trees, my father set his stand in the apple trees. And Guys, there is a sign, On the way in, you have to open the main gate, and on the main gate pole, the sign says CLOSED. Either way i was always tought to yell range is hot or is anybody out there. (We were tought to do that in our hunter safety course.) Also, he had to drive right by my truck to get into the gates, i just figured he would be a bit more cautious if he knew someone was out there. Jonathan you might know my father, David Robinson, Cheif of the fire Department? Just wondering.

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wdswtr Newbie

wdswtr

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Well again you are trusting your own personal learnings in others hands that might not have the same views or common sense. So in my opinion you are putting yourself at risk. You alreay proved the lack of ability of others to read, care, be considerate or whatever you want to call it. SO that leaves it up to you to be smart about this and not get shot. If you want to trust others and keep your stand their than thats is your business I guess. Not trying to be hard on you but sure would like you to make it to 17 and beyond. Please move the stand to a safer spot.

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accman Newbie

accman

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We don't allow bowhunting on our property, landlords wishes, (c'est la vie), so we can sight in up to one week before opening day. If you drop your weapon and need to sight in anytime after that, you have to get permission from an officer of the club to make them aware of the problem. We've got a bell by the shooting bench, just ring it when you start and when you leave. Our guys hunt turkey during the mornings up there, and you can hear the bell a good distance away.

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wdswtr Newbie

wdswtr

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Good choice. Heres a thought for you guys anyways. Lets do an experiment shall we. Go climb up your tree in ready to hunt mode. I will drive up to the range, ring a bell yell range is hot and lets see if you can lower your bow to the ground, unhook your safety strap, climb down, pick up your bow and safely exit the woods before I have one bullet launched from my gun. Who's going to win?

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