Ultimately unprepared.

[WestKentucky]

Opening day of gun season is quickly approaching... as in it’s tomorrow.

I will be hunting a farm I have been to once, and I went a total of about 300 yards from where I’ll be parking through heavy woods on steep slopes. I will be hunting a different part of the farm that I have never been to. I’m not well prepared as in knowing the terrain, but I will wear a GPS in case I get lost so I can get back to the car.

I will be carrying a shotgun with slugs that I have shot 2 slugs through... before I put the red dot on it. It functions. I bore sighted it tonight, in the dark with 3 kids running around wild. I have hopes that the gun shoots true. I will keep my shots close if I pull the trigger.

The terrain I’m used to hunting is flat, and open. I have hunted woods, but generally I hunt over crop fields or hay fields. This is steep, mountainous, and not at all open. I will just have to adapt.

The wife planned some stuff midday tomorrow so I only have a couple hours in the morning.

So I’m hunting a farm I know little about, in terrain I know little about, with a gun that’s not actually sighted in, with a very small time window. Recipe for success... because that would make for a hectic day. I’m hoping more for a coyote or fat raccoon than I am for a deer, unless it’s some kind of antlered swamp beast. I normally make fun of people that are in this position. Yay. It will still be fun. It’s opening morning.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

Better than a day at work! Also, good on ya for being honest about the situation.

 

[J-Bar]

Be quiet, be still, keep the wind in your face, don’t smoke, don’t fart, become one with the mountain. Good things happen to positive thinkers who only take shots at short range. I’m eagerly awaiting a hunting story!!

edit: find a saddle, the low spot between two peaks, wait for the deer parade.

 

[Barbaroja]

Sounds like a recipe for a gut shot deer and a Terrible day. I’d take that sight off and just go with a bead until you have a chance to sight it in properly, anything less is irresponsible.

 

[BreechFace]

Sounds like a recipe for a gut shot deer and a Terrible day. I’d take that sight off and just go with a bead until you have a chance to sight it in properly, anything less is irresponsible.

agreed, I wouldn’t be able to do it.

It’s opening day, why not go scouting and figure out the area. I know how life is with kids, I’m there; they’ll be other days to put deer in the freezer under better circumstances. Good to see your honesty though.

 

[BreechFace]

Maybe it’s me being a western hunter but more often than not I’m hiking with a rifle, beings how I never get a good shot and I’m ok with that. There’s just a lot of ground and animals are much more spread out back here, so maybe I’m just used to putting in a good amount of effort for a hunt.

 

[WestKentucky]

Sounds like a recipe for a gut shot deer and a Terrible day. I’d take that sight off and just go with a bead until you have a chance to sight it in properly, anything less is irresponsible.

The gun has no bead. Just a smooth barrel. None of my rifles are properly sighted in either. Kids eat up a lot of time. The only way I will pull the trigger on a deer is if it’s big and it’s close.

 

[WestKentucky]

they’ll be other days to put deer in the freezer under better circumstances.

Actually probably not. Between Covid restrictions and people being scared I don’t have any good spots to shoot to sight in a gun. So, that part of the equation isn’t changing. What I learn about the farm will be great, though, but realistically it is what it is this year. If I get to go home for thanksgiving I might get to put a few rounds through a rifle to get it good enough for hunting. My main rifle that I should be using still has me scratching my head though, for 5 years my .270 just will not shoot straight. I’m frustrated enough that I may just retire it and buy a different rifle, but I’m back to the predicament about having time to sight in...

 

[WestKentucky]

Maybe it’s me being a western hunter but more often than not I’m hiking with a rifle, beings how I never get a good shot and I’m ok with that. There’s just a lot of ground and animals are much more spread out back here, so maybe I’m just used to putting in a good amount of effort for a hunt.

Normally yes, I would agree. I got on this lease late, and haven’t had time to do anything with it. Sickness, work, and snakes held me off for a while. I have good hunting instincts so I think I will be able to at least see deer. If I know I’m alone on the property I may take a shot or two just to confirm sighting. I’m good at finding critters. I’m generally good at bringing them home, but it’s been a few years and I wasn’t expecting this lease so I wasn’t really prepared to jump into it, and opportunities to get prepared vanished very quickly.

 

[Highland Lofts]

I,d take a good size piece of card board & staple a paper plate on it. Right at day light shoot at it and see where the point of impact is.
You paid for a lease so you should be able to shoot a few shots to see exactly where you stand with your shotgun.

Some times bore sighted guns are way off, i wouldn't feel right shooting a deer not knowing where you will be hitting it.
Gut shot deer don't benifit anyone but the coyotes, crows, foxes and other predators and they have a slow painful death.

I flew from Washington State to Upsatate New York this past Tuesday for tomorrows opener of deer season.
I mailed two rifles back to use, a Remington 788 in 223 with a Leupold 3x9 and a Ruger 77 in 25/06 with a ziess scope on it. I reload so I worked up some accurate loads for both guns a few weeks ago.
I shot them back in Washington a week & a half ago.
I got here Tuesday night at 8;45.
Wednesday at 10am I went to the Greene Sportsmans club and shot them to make sure nothing changed in shipping them.
Plus I have several rifles at my sons house that i shipped back here over the years. I grabed the H&R Handi-Rifle with the 243 barrel and shot that. It is still accurate. If I decide to switch out the barrel and use the 308 barrel I will take a trip to the range.

Personally I need to know where my gun will.hit it's target wheather it be paper, coke cans full of water or an animal.

 

[horsey300]

Opening day of gun season is quickly approaching... as in it’s tomorrow.

I will be hunting a farm I have been to once, and I went a total of about 300 yards from where I’ll be parking through heavy woods on steep slopes. I will be hunting a different part of the farm that I have never been to. I’m not well prepared as in knowing the terrain, but I will wear a GPS in case I get lost so I can get back to the car.

I will be carrying a shotgun with slugs that I have shot 2 slugs through... before I put the red dot on it. It functions. I bore sighted it tonight, in the dark with 3 kids running around wild. I have hopes that the gun shoots true. I will keep my shots close if I pull the trigger.

The terrain I’m used to hunting is flat, and open. I have hunted woods, but generally I hunt over crop fields or hay fields. This is steep, mountainous, and not at all open. I will just have to adapt.

The wife planned some stuff midday tomorrow so I only have a couple hours in the morning.

So I’m hunting a farm I know little about, in terrain I know little about, with a gun that’s not actually sighted in, with a very small time window. Recipe for success... because that would make for a hectic day. I’m hoping more for a coyote or fat raccoon than I am for a deer, unless it’s some kind of antlered swamp beast. I normally make fun of people that are in this position. Yay. It will still be fun. It’s opening morning.

I have a similar scenario tomorrow, but I'll warn you, in over 20 yrs, I know 1 thing to be true, give up on the deer and there they are, I've killed/witnessed more kills, while varmint/pronghorn hunting than during actual deer hunting (over lapping seasons), maybe take a sidearm you have a LOT of faith in?

 

[LoonWulf]

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[troy fairweather]

Story of my life lol, another night before opening with out sleep.
Trying some state forest I've only ever squirrel hunted a few times, I did see a nice buck two weeks ago where I was sitting. The spot looks promising I wish I could see farther out but it's at the upper end of a domed hill, a old wood road and a rock wall with the point of a lake about 400 yards off.

Good luck.

 

[Armored farmer]

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Kids are the important part. They grow up so fast. The next thing you know, your son will be driving your old jeep to your hunting blind with his gf instead of you.....like just happened to me 5min ago.

You will know if you get a suitable shot. Go enjoy deer season, even if it isn't ideal. Something good will come of it, even if it isn't a big buck.
People that have to make the donuts don't always get the time to have everything in order. Guess what? I didn't shoot my gun this year either!

 

[CarJunkieLS1]

I'm over a large fresh cut bean field on opening morning. I shot my rifle yesterday lol. It's ready, I'm ready, rangefinder is ready and 2 does so far have been really jumpy. I don't need jumpy deer and 200+ yard shots.

 

[whughett]

“Quote” and paraphrased. The best laid plans rarely survive first contact with the enemy. Regardless the average hunter relies as much on Lady Luck as any thing else.
I’d say your chances are 50/50. Good luck.

 

[WestKentucky]

I’m hiking back to the car now. Totally exhausted. It’s been an adventure. Once I get home with WiFi I will tell the story and share some photos. So far I saw 1, and ran her out of my parking spot so I could park there. The other guy on the lease busted his knee so he is out, I have the farm to myself for the year. That works, his spot is a lot easier to get to and he told me to use his blind a couple times so that he doesn’t feel bad asking me to pack it up at the end of the season.

Edit... gun hits an inch low at 30 yards. I will raise it up about 3 inches and call it good to about 75

 

[Armored farmer]

I’m hiking back to the car now. Totally exhausted. It’s been an adventure. Once I get home with WiFi I will tell the story and share some photos. So far I saw 1, and ran her out of my parking spot so I could park there. The other guy on the lease busted his knee so he is out, I have the farm to myself for the year. That works, his spot is a lot easier to get to and he told me to use his blind a couple times so that he doesn’t feel bad asking me to pack it up at the end of the season.

Edit... gun hits an inch low at 30 yards. I will raise it up about 3 inches and call it good to about 75

Sometimes you just don't know whats good for you. Something that sounds not so good, turns out great.
Sorry for your friend though.

 

[WestKentucky]

I’m pretty happy with this mornings hunt. I didn’t see much in the line of critters, but that’s likely my fault. Not knowing the place well I had a plan to avoid my hunting partner and explore the rest of the property. Like a lot of properties in rough terrain the farm is an oddly shaped blob of land on a map, but the property lines essentially follow terrain features. From the spot we park I walked the edge of the road down to a kudzu patch and dropped off in the woods 30 or 40 yards with a flashlight and waited until I could see well enough to walk. Turns out I liked my spot once it was light enough to see so I stayed there for a little while. No deer, wanted to explore so I moved on. I was high on the slope just off of the ridge and it was steep going down. I tried to follow a small game trail that must have been made by rabbits because it disappeared at the edge of the kudzu patch in a different spot than I came in at, but I was halfway down the slope. About 4 steps into the kudzu towards a different trail I found mud and went down fairly hard. Slid probably 30 feet on the fresh leaves feet first. It was a somewhat controlled slide and I kept the gun across my lap. The slide got me close to where I wanted to be, and from there I got up and basically pingponged from tree to tree To the bottom of the valley and an old logging road. Looking back up where I had slid, there is a seep coming out of the bluff so I found a water source. Gotta stay positive.

 

[WestKentucky]

From the logging road at the base of the kudzu patch I just followed the logging road. I figured I have had enough unexpected adventure... and I quickly found a nice stand that had been left by previous lease holders. I was told to take it down and keep it if I want, use it, move it, whatever. I like the spot. I think I will leave it. It’s fairly flat and open there so it’s probably the best spot I have found there.

 

[WestKentucky]

This is where the fun really began. I knew that there was a couple old buildings on the property and I found the barn. I think I know where the old house is based upon the terrain and the areas I didn’t explore today. Not a big deal for hunting, but it was a neat place. Hand hewn logs mixed with a few logs that had obviously been cut more recently to replace damaged pieces. Right next to a small flowing creek, and curiously there were a couple scraps of very old copper mixed in with the old horseshoes.... maybe not so curiously... looked like an old still site. Really really cool place.

 

[Armored farmer]

A great adventure.

 

[WestKentucky]

Since the wife had plans for pictures and the kids had to get haircuts and whatnot that pretty well ended the morning. I grabbed one of the old buckets and sat it against a tree stump and at 30 yards I shot, and adjusted the red dot after each shot basically walking it in. I got it close enough and I know what I want to do as my last adjustment, I just wanted to look at ballistics charts before I did my last adjustment on this slug shooter. Rather than climb the bluff I walked out the way I came in to get a better feel for the logging road. It’s washed out pretty bad in a couple spots, but I think it is very doable on a small atv or even a doodlebug motorcycle. I want a doodlebug so I might just find an excuse there. Hiking out was hard. It was telling of both how tough the terrain is and how out of shape I am. It took 45 minutes to go 3/4 mile (rather than climb the bluff and only travel 1/8 mile) since it was my first real hunt in 5 years I had to get a selfie, and I purposefully waited til I was almost done.

 

[whughett]

The seasons young, I marked this thread. The saga continues I hope.

 

[STI]

Thinking of poorly hit game I would not hunt just explore the buildings around there, just me but no way here would I shoot at a live animal with that set up.