Sighter shots while hunting.

[4ked Horn]

Just another quick question. How far would a deer normally have to be to keep them from spooking and running at the sound of a gun being fired. In other words, if I wanted to fire a sighter shot on a rock to confirm drops for the conditions and the deer was 300 or 400 or 800 yards away would you expect it to stay put.

I know that no answer is carved in stone but I was curious at to what to expect if I went on a solo hunt and fired a sighter for a 400 to 500 yard shot.

 

[Quarter Round]

The deer would have to at least as far away as the nimcompoop at the gun shop. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

I wouldn't do that on my stand.

 

[gonehuntingagain]

A couple of years ago I was on my hunting hill working my way over to some deer that I spotted. Some a-hole a mile or two away emptied his gun, reloaded and emptied it again. The deer stuck around for the first shot or two, then bolted to the next county. If I would have fired a shot, I'm sure they would not have stuck around. You never know though - I have seen deer that have just been shot at run and stop 50 yards from where they were and look at you. I think it depends on how much pressure they have been seeing.

Don't you trust your drop chart? I know you can hit first shot at 400 or 500 yards. Plus I know the temperature now is pretty close to the temp we shoot at in the spring.
Why the need for a sighter round?

 

[4ked Horn]

[ QUOTE ]
I wouldn't do that on my stand.

[/ QUOTE ]

It is actually a pretty common practice for the extreme range crowd taking big game. What could be better for doping the wind when shooting cross canyon?

 

[4ked Horn]

If the wind is squirrely at all I was thinking I would give it a try if the guys here have tried it with good results at my ranges. If the wind is steady and low then I'm not going to be as worried about it.

I am thinking hard about heading out to a spot curt suggested on friday (near the chuckar spot) in hopes that the low numbers of hunters durring the week will give the deer a chance to calm down a bit. I'm with ya on the pressure thing. Between that and the less than extreme distance I figured I would throw it up for discussion.

 

[gonehuntingagain]

That may be a good plan for Friday. You might want to talk to Troy - his buddy Jeff was out last weekend somewhere up there and his son shot his first deer. They saw about 30 deer and missed a couple of bucks. He said they were about 1.5 miles off the road and were by themselves (everyone else was road hunting).

If you don't go up there, head up to my spot with the 4 wheeler and look around. Let me know if you want to go this weekend.

 

[jb1000br]

4ky

I nailed a whitetail at 760 last year, and the herd around her stood still after the shot -- just watched her hump up and fall over 1 min later, then meandered off. They had no idea what was going on. I didnt need a sighter at this distance, but could have it seems.

HTH,
JB

 

[4ked Horn]

I heard the same from Troy yesterday. That is what has me excited to go on friday. It also depends on if shawn is using the trailer on friday.

I do still have the waypoints for your spot in my laptop.

 

[4ked Horn]

JB thanks. Thats the stuff I'm looking for.

The opposite happened to me a few years back. I shot at a 100 yard forked horn (Hmmmm?) and missed clean. Every deer in the herd, 20 or so, Ran like hell but God put his thumb on my deer and said "Just a minute little guy, Joe's going to need another shot." So I fired again and somehow the bullet went right where it was pointed. The SGK did its part and the rest was meat in the freezer.

Isn't that weird?

Anyone else have info on med range sighter shots?

 

[Kenster-Boy]

Well I can't say that I have shot many sighter rounds but I can tell you from our hunting groups expierence that most deer will stick around after the shot if they are over 500 as long as you don't hit close to them.

I shot 10 times at 2 bucks on opening day here in california. They were about 800+ some change. They wandered up the hill and then down the hill and then they just bedded down in some brush and all I could see was their horns so I stopped shooting. They didn't seem very nervous cuz they didn't move the entire day!

Later, I found a buck at 610 and misjudged the knock off of yardage due to the angle. I hit 2 inches over his back and after the bullet smacked the rock behind him he took off like a rocket!

The next day I found another buck at 823 yards. I missed him by about 1 foot and he too took off like a rocket.

So I would say that as long as you keep the impact a ways from the deer and make sure that the deer can't see the dirt spray or anything. I would say that you can be pretty certain that the deer will stick around for another few shots.

My dad has a rack in our garage that he tells the story of shooting at 17 times before he killed it. It was bedded down and the buck just layed there until the 15th shot when he hit close to him and then he killed him on the 17th while the buck stood there and looked around.

 

[budlight]

It's all in their upbringing. As with any animal if they have never seen a man or heard a gun. They don't have a fear. I've been out in the real wilderness and walked along with a Bob Cat mother and her twin 2/3 sized kittens while they played hide and seek in the snow around me.

This is in the middle of the day and I walk with them a couple of miles home to their den.

All animals have a comfort safety zone. If they they they are far enough away they won't expend energy, especially if it's very cold.

years ago a friend wanted to shoot at a bedded down buck way out there on a cayon side. Who knows 1200+ yrds with a 7 mag 175 SBT's and 6X24 scope while I spotted for him with a 40X.

He hit all around that deer. The deer never got up and it would just look for awhile at where the dirt kicked up. After 20 shots and the deer still laying down I convinced him that he would probably just wound it anyway.

Another deer story. two bucks flashed by me on their way up from the bottom hay fields. Not even light, but where my 56mm scope could gather enough light to see good enough with the upcoming sun rise. So I whistled and they stopped to see where it came from. The brush was so deep that all I could see was the top of backs up and I went for a tree rested neck shot at sub 200 yards. It was down and dead and his buddy just stood around wondering what to do. It wasn't until I was within 20 or so yards that it took off without it's friend.

You never know! But on long shots try it some time /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[zingdingo]

I agree that it is mostly based on the animals history, the individual situation, and a good amount of chance.

Last weekend I went after two deer which I saw in our farms fence, to take for crop damage purposes. I caught up with them in a relatively open area. I shot the first one at around 100 yards. The second just stood there and looked at me, giving me the opportunity to reload and take a shot at it standing still as well. 168 gr coated ballistic tips worked perfectly I might add.

On the other hand, on our farm I have had groundhogs stand up, look at me, and run into their holes just from setting up my rifle 525 yards away.

My take is that you really never can tell. There are an awful lot of factors at work here.

 

[winmagman]

4ked
Last year I shot over a dozen whitetails, some 2 or 3 at a time. I shot one big doe at 245 yds and both yearlings stayed right where they stood until I took them as well (CWD culls).

Also took 2 does at 325 yds shot the first and the second flinched at the shot or bullet impact but never ran, just went back to feeding, so I took her as well.

Had a buck and a doe in the middle of a picked cornfeild at 525 yds, took the buck and before he hit the ground (DRT) the doe was off like a shot. Go figure.

Chris

 

[Shawn Carlock]

4ked,

Hope all is well. I have seen like the others both ends of the spectrum. However intential sighter shots are different altogther. In canyon country it is difficult for animals or people to tell direction sometimes. Intintial sighter shots are usually not taken close to the animal for fear of impact spook. If you have a shot in a canyon at say 841 yards and the wind is rough find a similar range, uphill/downhill angle and wind direction take a sighter shot. For me the key has been to be ready to adjust and fire the game shot before conditions change. When I practice on my 10 inch disk at 1148 yards in swirling wind this usually gives the most hits. Fire one good shot at the plate be ready to load correct and fire in the same condition before it changes. It has been my experience especially with elk that if you don't hit near them they will stick around for a while ( not forever ).