[birdbustr]

Other than a slug shooter. Why is everyone putting scopes on shotguns? Can you not see 50 yards. :what:

A SCOPE IS NOT REQUIRED FOR EVERYTHING, EVEN IF YOU ARE ON TV AND HAVE THE MONEY TO THROW AWAY!!!:scrutiny:

THAT GOES FOR CAMO SHOTGUNS TOO. We are giving animals too much credit on their eyesight. Don't be jerky, and they'll never see you until it's too late. :banghead:

[davinci]

"Other than a slug shooter. Why is everyone putting scopes on shotguns"

anyone here shoot clays with a scope chime in.

I think your observations are a bit uncharacteristic of anything I've ever seen. As far as camo goes, do you hunt turkey?

[CNYCacher]

Ever hunt turkeys? :neener:

[trueblue1776]

Of course I hunt, and don't call me a turkey. :D

[davinci]

I can't believe I answered that post. It looks like a rant now that I'm looking it over again.

I would like to know if there's any real research or meaningful observation behind the topic starter's statements.

[Justin]

The only shotguns I've seen with scopes on them are slug guns for hunting, and Open Class shotguns for MultiGun.

[birdbustr]

Give me a break! Turkeys were almost wiped out in parts of the US long before Mossy Oak was ever invented.

If you are saying that Camoflage looks cooler on some guns, then I agree. If you are saying that a turkey will see your shotgun because it's not camo, then you are reaching for any excuse you can find for you not being able to kill a turkey.

[sacp81170a]

Hey, if ya don't like camo on shotguns, don't buy one with camo. What the heck do cosmetic features have to do with their utility? Do you have problems with me having a green, purple or blue-with-yellow-polka-dots stock on a shotgun? Then don't look... :neener:

[JWarren]

The better question is why this bothers you so?

Regarding turkey hunting, it is a FACT that turkeys have great eyesight. I can see advantages to blending in more. Is camo the recipe for always getting a turkey? Of course not. My grandfather killed MANY turkeys through his life without having ANY camo on.

I know a lot of people decked out in camo that have never killed one.


I frankly rarely wear camo deer hunting either.


But that's not the point. If someone wants to get the latest Mossy Oak, Scent Barrier whatever, good for them. It won't affect me in any way



Regarding scopes on shotguns, I can understand to a degree. The last "Turkey Shoot" I went to had a lot of guys with lower-magnification scopes or red-dot scopes. One old-timer explained to me that his eyesight wasn't that good anymore and it helped him. I doubt he was the quinnessential "Tactical Grampa" so I take him at his word.


But again... it really doesn't matter.


-- John

[ArmedBear]

Camo is good for a few things. Chief among them is rust prevention. I'd buy a camo gun for that reason alone; it's a cheap way to buy it coated. Rough guns like my 870 Express may not glint and glare in the sun, but they're rust magnets.

OTOH, people occasionally find camo guns in the woods. Apparently the camo works at least as well on the hunter as the hunted.:D

I won't try to figure out turkey hunters, anyway. I saw a guy drooling over a $1700 Benelli semiauto turkey gun. I can see a reason for a scope of some sort if you're trying to make headshots in near-darkness. But there's just no reason not to use a pump gun and save a grand. If I got an auto for that, it'd be a gas gun to soak up the recoil.

[birdbustr]

Different patterns for duck hunting or turkey. I think many people are over-reliant on technology. Hunters have to do their part too.
I don't want any younger hunters to get the idea that they aren't getting ducks or turkeys because their daddy's shotgun isn't camo or they need a scope.

[ArmedBear]

If someone is not getting ducks when they're in range, it's probably because he can't shoot worth a hill of duckpoop. The clay target range, while it may not be cheap, is your friend.:) Before blasting away with expensive duck loads in the cold and damp, shoot some cheap stuff at clay pigeons in the warm sun first.

And turkeys see the muzzle. You can't camouflage a 3/4" hole very well.

Like I said, though, it's not worth trying to figure out turkey hunters.:)

[davinci]

"Different patterns for duck hunting or turkey. I think many people are over-reliant on technology. Hunters have to do their part too.
I don't want any younger hunters to get the idea that they aren't getting ducks or turkeys because their daddy's shotgun isn't camo or they need a scope."

birdbustr: no no no... you started this as a rant about why folks are putting camo and scopes on their shotguns. If this was about hunting or had some sort of purpose, you should have said so in your original post.

As a man who's hunted for decades, I can tell you that I have both a Mossberg pump gun with a scope and rifled barrel and a real-tree camo Benelli Nova. Your comments are enough to make a fella with a little experience in the field fighting mad. You know, I used to catfish with some folks who said "tie a cigarette butt to your line about a foot from the bait, it works" and it seemed to sometimes, other times not so much. There's no reason why it should work, and it's more work so I didn't do it for more than one night, but they did it all the time and caught some whopper flatheads. I'm not here to tell them that they're wrong to tie up a piece of tobacco-scented cotton to their line ESPECIALLY if they've got a stringer full. If it gives them piece of mind, who the heck am I to tell them how to do their job. I can see it at a catfish fry... "You know, this is good fish... but, hey, you caught them all wrong"

I think you've bitten off more than you can chew by starting up this discussion so now you're trying to justify your comments on "I don't want any younger hunters to get the idea that they aren't getting ducks or turkeys because their daddy's shotgun isn't camo or they need a scope."

I really don't see how a scope on a turkey gun would do anything for a fella but I don't see how it could hurt anything especially if he can't see out through 100 yards clearly, and I don't see how having a camo shotgun is going to do anything negative for your hunting experience. If you had a pink shotgun, I wouldn't say anything but you seem hell bent on telling me my Camo Benelli is unnecessary.

The real irony in this is that you just backreeled into saying "kids blame technology for a bad hunt" when you're blaming bad hunting on your comment above. At least I'm not trying to justify my rant, I'm only doing it because I take offense when someone puts there nose in and says I'm hunting incorrectly.

[ReadyontheRight]

Cool new stuff drives our economy and keeps Marxism at bay.

[Nathanael_Greene]

My first-and-only turkey kill was last April; distance measured 38 yards. I didn't have a scope on my gun (a camo Mossberg 835), but I had installed Tru-Glo fiber optic sights (and they're great).

Anyway, if someone needs or wants a scope, it's no business of mine. My eyes sure ain't what they used to be, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[Frog48]

People can spend their money on whatever they like, what difference does it make to you?

[Dave McCracken]

Every last deer I've gunkilled, maybe 40,certainly 30, was with an uncamoe'd firearm. Most of them fell while I wore green lumberjack wool pants.

Every deer I've bowkilled, a much shorter list,was while in full camo with a camo job of some sort on the bow.

Never had a shotgun wear a scope for long. There's a Simmons saddle mount and 2.5X scope here. The scope's on the kids' 10-22.

If someone wants their camo'd shotgun scoped, and they are ethical, safe and experienced hunters, more power to them.

[MCgunner]

I happen to like camo, it's chic, it's hip, it's all the rage, and it does better at thwarting the rust monster in the salt marshes than any bluing I've ever ruined. But, then, in Colorado, I doubt you ever saw a duck or a salt marsh. You know what they say about opinions being just like....well, you're entitled to yours. Ignorance is bliss, they say. If you hunt salt marsh much, you're going to wind up painting the gun sooner or later anyway, so why not get started with camo????

I'm convinced that the more camo the better when hunting waterfowl, especially geese, except when I'm in white laid out in the rags. But, for turkey, it's a no brainer.

Near 20 years in the marsh with this one. It's scratched here and there, but in good shape otherwise, and oh so cool in the duck marsh.:neener:

http://thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=35119&d=1139190167

[obxned]

I have a camo Mossy 500. I bought it because it was a great deal. The camo finish on it is tougher than bull hide (or blueing) and does not scratch or rust . I do not have a scope on it, but if my eyes get any older, I will put one on for deer and turkey.

[ArmedBear]

The camo finish on it is tougher than bull hide (or blueing) and does not scratch or rust .

Exactly.

And if it's going to be coated, what are you going to have it coated in, lime green and pink checkerboard? Coating makes sense for a lot of hunting applications, and camo makes sense for the coating.:)

Back to the original post, other than slug guns, I've never seen a scope on a shotgun. Maybe a red dot on a defensive gun or a low-light turkey setup, but not a scope.

And as far as unskilled shooters missing birds or whatever, they need to learn to say the following to themselves:

If you miss the bird, it's your own fault. A better shot could have hit it. Some good shotgunners don't even have beads, to say nothing of fancy sighting systems. You need to practice during the off-season. But first, you have to admit to yourself that you need practice. And not admitting reality to yourself makes you a pussy. Missing the bird is not a big deal; everyone does. But being a pussy living in denial is a big deal and you need to fix it right now.:D

[Okiecruffler]

Well, you certainly got folks up off their duffs if nothing else.
Me, almost every turkey I ever kilt was with an uncamoed, and just a bit shiny SXS (there was that one with the 444 marlin, but it's best not to speak of such things, even asmoung friends). Same goes for waterfowl. All of my shotgun deer fell to a 20ga bolt action with a notch in the rear and a bead in the front that really bore no effect of where the slug hit. If I had to do it over again, would I change? Not a chance, I like nice warm wood and blued steel. But then again I don't understand why someone would want to hunt with an ugly slide gun either. I don't understand steel shot, or inline BP rifles, plastic pistols, laser light shows bolted onto guns, etc, etc. Would type more, but I gotta drag this stag back to the cave and my knuckles are getting sore from dragging on the ground all the time.

[sm]

Okie,
When you grow up and quite being so newfangled, and learn to shoot, you too can use a single shot shotgun with no beads on it, and just wear jeans like some of us do.

:neener:

Don't look at me folks, at the rate I keep going backwards, it won't be long to where I am back to using homemade sling shots with wooden forks and rocks from the yard...

[JohnBT]

First I bought a Columbia parka for duck hunting in the rain. Not much cover when you're sitting in a boat. I've used a surplus field jacket or two, rain gear, etc. My parka is so much better. Shadowgrass camo to match the marsh reeds.

The next year my chest waders starting falling apart and Cabela's was having a sale. Shadowgrass was available in my size.

Few years later I found a nice used SX-2. Shadowgrass.

Two years ago I bought my first real blind bag - a Drake. No more trying to keep whatever I was using on the seat and out of the sloshing brine in the bottom of the boat. Max4 camo or somesuch. GOOD THING IT WASN'T SHADOWGRASS, I would have felt like I was carrying a color coordinated handbag. :D

I had a lifelong waterman and duck hunter drive a skiff by me at an idle while I was standing about a foot back in the tall reeds. He wasn't 6 feet away and he missed me. I had to yell at him to come back to where we'd set up on a little 4-foot-wide spit between channels. That did it, he finally quit chuckling at my accidentally coordinated camo outfit. Or maybe it was giving him the first goose since he was having family over for the holidays and I was going out of town.

John

[MCgunner]

, would I change? Not a chance, I like nice warm wood and blued steel.

Do you start your cookin' fires with that new fangled flint and steel or do ya still use a bow drill???? :neener:

[Okiecruffler]

Do you start your cookin' fires with that new fangled flint and steel or do ya still use a bow drill????

Cooking fires??????:confused:



:D

[TX1911fan]

I'm planning on getting a camo Franchi or Benelli for the very reason Armed Bear stated. It fights rust. I can dunk it and not be so worried. I have blue and wood, but not for wallowing around in the water with. And who cares who puts what on their firearm. If someone wants a scope, cool, get it. If you don't, guess what, you don't have to buy it.

[davinci]

I think my last post scared him off.
sorry for losing my temper gents.

[trueblue1776]

sorry for losing my temper gents.

Don't worry about it, unless you start a thread about how you hate blue cars, or tan shoes, or white dogs. :D

[redneck2]

I think my last post scared him off.
sorry for losing my temper gents.
Jeez...if that's all it takes, you need to post more. Get that count up there boy!

Last spring I got a 24# gobbler, 11" beard and 1 1/16th spurs. 10 gauge SP-10 with that newfangled Hevi-Shot and a newfangled extra full choke. About 50 yards. That would be the top gun in the picture.

About 10 minutes before I shot, I had a hen feeding right around my feet, within 5 feet of my gun. Maybe I didn't have to use a camo'd shotgun, but I'm sure glad I did. There's no way in hell she'd have stayed if I wouldn't have been in camo.

It's all about odds. Do you have to use camo when you deer hunt? No, but it increases your odds. Do you have to use scent blocker? No, but it increases your odds.

I have a limited amount of time in the woods. I'll use every advantage that's legal. If camo and scopes bother you, use a spear and wear buckskins. Why would you use a gun and wear modern clothing? After all, it is cheating, and you're an idiot for spend the extra money when you can carve out your own spear points for free. Sporting and all that, too.

And....Once you get to the far side of 50 years, you'll figure out why you use scopes.

Just thought I'd add this picture to make your day. May want to grab your nitro pills before you look.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e283/Indianaoutdoorsman/DSC00515.jpg

[Obiwan]

I painted my Mossy with ALumahydeII....not because I wanted it to be invisible....but black guns get awful hot here in this thin air