Wait till the last minute.

[ghunter]

Why does everyone wait till the last hour of the last day to sight a slug gun in? I'm sitting on public ground down in bolivar and all I hear are shotguns going off. At least I hope they are not out getting a head start on youth season.

[hortontoter]

It is just the way it is. Same thing year after year. Dust off the gun, shoot a couple slugs ant they are ready to go.

How is the layout there at Bolivar?

[ghunter]

This was my first time down there. My wife got off early from work so I figured why not. It is basically a big valley with a road though the middle and swamp on the side of the road. Most of the woods are on a hill with a big field of High grass in the middle. It borders a landfill with a high fence so it's a pretty good funnel. There was plenty of sign but just not my night I guess.

[hoopie]

I am pretty sure it is unlawfull to target shoot on public land in Ohio.

[hortontoter]

The shots were probably on the surrounding lands. You are correct about target shooting though. Only on target ranges on public lands.

[ghunter]

It was on surrounding lands. However they do shoot on the public every once in awhile.

[buckeye96]

I am guilty of this as well. My slug gun has just been siting in my safe since last gun season, aside from pulling it out to put a lite coat of oil on it. It is sited in, and I just pull it out to put a few rounds through it right before gun season to make sure it is zeroed in. Sabots are expensive.

[blackbeard]

My favorite are the 'hunters' who buy shotguns on the Sunday before opening day then plan to sight them in that day or the 'hunters' who stand in line Sunday night at Walmart to buy their license and tags and are ticked off the entire time because they have to wait in line or the 'hunters' who buy a new pair of hiking boots on Sunday, try them on in Walmart, then wear them the next day or the 'hunters' you see wearing their rubber boots they bowhunt in while shopping at Walmart for supplies! Just goes on and on. We live in a NOW society. People want to walk into the woods and shoot a huge buck Monday morning so they can sit on the couch and drink beer the rest of the week....not in a very good mood tonight if you all can tell! Its totally different if you do like buckeye96 (and me), my slug gun comes out one week per year, its been sighted in for years, two federals tell me its still where it was last year..and the year before...and the year before. Nothing wrong with that and I'll probably do it the Sunday afternoon before the opener.

[BowGuy2]

Hate them week warriors call them selfs hunters bc they walk around the woods for 2 hrs a a few tines a week during gun season ughhhhhhhhhh hate gun season

[teej89]

Hate them week warriors call them selfs hunters bc they walk around the woods for 2 hrs a a few tines a week during gun season ughhhhhhhhhh hate gun season

agreed, I despise the orange army, archery is true hunting; scouting from the end of the season in february until opening day, not just walking in the woods and sitting wherever hoping someone doesn't flash there flashlight on ya before you get in. Sorry I'm not a huge fan of gun hunting so I could go on for a while but I'm gonna stop myself, there are just a lot of people that annoy me with gun hunting, specifically the "if it's brown it's down" people. They're not hunters they're just hopeful shooters.

[mrbb]

well I live in PA, and well here its rifles, and traditions here seem to be to shoot your rfle the day or two before opening day
I belong to a hunting camp, that is surrounded by a few hundred other hunting camps, some a 100+ yrs old,
and they all do this!
NO one seems to shoot/check zero till the 1-3 days before the season, then its like a war here, , all the deer get a heads up and go into panic mode I think LOL
never understood why , but my thinking here any ways is so many don't live where they can shoot other times of yr, and most only hunt opening day and then go back to where ever they come from.
but all the deer here know whats up if you ask me! at my farm, deer will go nocturnal on the sounds alone, or they used to, now with so heavy poachingm there nocturnal about the time velvet comes off !

and I agree, since I ran a gun store, I cannot tell you how many times I sold every rifle slug gun I had in the store the NIGHT before opening day, with I am possitive no one even test fired to see where it hit
I used to sell aabout 50-100 rifles in the 2-3 days before opening day, and then by the following weeked after it opened end up buying about half of them back, never even fired!
I have installed scopes, just a bore sighted deal and had guy go right out and just hunt never shooting to check zero to!

Its crazy what some folks will do, to par take in opening day
on an even scarier note
I had a LOT of customers tell me they used to shoot at sound in the bushes too!
always scared me to hear that, and I always pointed out that that is SO Dangerous, but it never seemed to even faze them
SO I Always asked them where they hunted so to avoid them places!
having run a gun store and shooting range and giving shooting lessons
I can tell you all some insane things I seen over the yrs, that would maybe make a few guys really think about quiting hunting LOL

[blackbeard]

I wasn't meaning for this to turn into a thread slamming gun hunters, I like to gun hunt, I just like to bowhunt more. Like everything else there are good gun hunters and bad gun hunters.

[mrbb]

I wasn't bashing them either really, I agree 100% there are good and bad of all types out there
and most do try there best to be on the good side

[ghunter]

That wasn't my intent either. I will be out one or two days with a gun and some friends also. But I sighted mine in two weeks ago but that's just me and it is open sights. So I really don't have to worry about a scope being knocked off.