Posted: 8/21/2026 8:16:52 AM EDT
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Here is my dilemma. Got a farm where I have some buddies come out and hunt. Over the years the children of friends have come out. Last year "we" missed or wounded several deer. At least two I found a week later when the buzzards were having lunch. I'm not certain they sighted in there bows, muzzleloader, rifles well enough. Absolutely certainly they don't do enough shooting practice. I hate to lose a wounded deer, I'll look for hours for a blood trail. So, should we institute a rule for sighting in and practice? We already have a no doe hunting rule. Want to hunt, show me that you can shoot. Does that make sense? |
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Yes absolutely. I tell my friends and family, anyone hunting my property- there are only ethical hunts here. We respect the animals and the property. Everyone sights in on the property, I don't care if you just sighted in yesterday at your paw paws. If you can't shoot you don't belong here. I'm not trying to be a hard ass but it's my place my rules. |
Thank you Iraq, for giving me this emptiness inside.
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Your land, your rules. Not unreasonable. |
Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present Generation, to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make a good Use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it.---John Adams
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Absolutely you should but shooting a target is much easier than a live animal. You can't account for the adrenaline rush. A real solution: Attached File |
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First step is just completely ban archery hunting for everyone that you aren't certain can shoot. I.e.- you know has an established record of successfully taking deer with a bow. Even then, you'll end up with wounded and lost deer. Slinging sticks just isn't a reliable way to kill deer. |
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As an avid archery hunter I disagree. I do understand your point. I think it might be better to train and teach younger archers. Make sure they can shoot. Make good decisions on what to shoot at and what to let pass It's all about range, I generally tell them nothing over 30 yards. It's tough to let a monster walk at 50 yards...but discipline and respect must come first. |
We are on a hunting lease. Bowhunting was banned about 12 years ago. Too many wounded deer and in several cases, livestock. How the hell you get close enough to an animal to hit it with a bow and NOT realize it's a goat is beyond me.  There is a shooting test and a minimum caliber put in by the guys on the lease, the landowner does not interfere. It helps that guests are limited to one per paying member per year. it must work out okay; no one is looking for a different lease. |
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Originally Posted By LineOfDeparture: Yes you should. Its wild how many people dont know that a rifle must be sighted in. Or worse, they know but choose to skip it because they’re cheap, it’s inconvenient, uncle joe said he sighted it in in 1977 when he bought it at KMart. Lazy and lack of respect. |
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Originally Posted By BIgDAM: Why the no doe rule? A few years back we got a bit crazy on does... There was a noticeable lack of deer the following year. So my property and a few hunt clubs local to me shunned does for a few years. Population is back up so we will take a few this year. |
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Originally Posted By intheburbs: Your land, your rules. Not unreasonable. Most hunters don’t realize that if a deer runs off, it doesn’t mean it was a miss. So many neophytes think he’s supposed to drop stone dead like in the movies. |
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
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People with no real tie to property don't care... most will take a bad shot vs. taking no shot. Especially true with "visitors" or "guests". I strictly hunt private property and adjoining lease lands, the only one that hunts with me is my brother and son. Been that way for years and have no plans on changing it. Some years past a friend of my brothers lost two deer in one season, I told my brother he's not welcome to hunt the property any longer despite him being a long time family friend. If I had others in a "club" and I was in charge, yes, there would be a basic marksmanship demonstration if I've never seen you shoot. I'd also have a standing rule, you lose one deer you're on probation for the rest of the season... lose a second and you're done for the year and start off the next year on probation where if you lose another deer you're done for the year,.. period. I don't care if it happens on opening day. There has to be a meaningful penalty for poor performance. It's hard enough to keep and maintain a good hunting environment and population for many hunters and locations, having someone fuck it up shouldn't be tolerated. |
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Originally Posted By vatopa: A few years back we got a bit crazy on does... There was a noticeable lack of deer the following year. So my property and a few hunt clubs local to me shunned does for a few years. Population is back up so we will take a few this year. Originally Posted By vatopa: A few years back we got a bit crazy on does... There was a noticeable lack of deer the following year. So my property and a few hunt clubs local to me shunned does for a few years. Population is back up so we will take a few this year. What part of VA? Up north deer are like rats. We shoot at least a hundred a year, almost all does. And they just keep coming back the following year. And to your original question. I don't think it's unreasonable to have an unknown person demonstrate their marksmanship. In Fairfax county there is a archery in the parks program Hunters have to qualify every year. Just looked up the standards. 20 yards 3 out of 3 shots in a 6 1/4" circle AND 30 yards 2 out of 3 shots in a 6 1/4" circle. They also have to have completed a hunter safety course and an international bow hunters course. Originally Posted By vatopa: Fair test? 4 inch circle target. Hit 3 in row or 4 of 5 Archery at 30 yards Muzzleloader at 50 Rifleat 100 I'd say Archery use the same as I posted above. For muzzle loader and rifle, I think 4" circle if you are shooting off a bench, if they are shooting off hand I'd say 3 in a row or 4 out o 5 on a paper plate at 50 and 100. |
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Originally Posted By TheVanillaGuerilla: Yes absolutely. I tell my friends and family, anyone hunting my property- there are only ethical hunts here. We respect the animals and the property. Everyone sights in on the property, I don't care if you just sighted in yesterday at your paw paws. If you can't shoot you don't belong here. I'm not trying to be a hard ass but it's my place my rules. This, plus emphasis on hunter safety as well. |
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| Any more it’s hard as hell to even find property to hunt on they should feel lucky no matter what rules you feel need imposed |
Originally Posted By nickforney
This subforum has filled up with a bunch of worthless fudds and I feel less and less that this is any kind of community I want to be a part of.
This subforum has filled up with a bunch of worthless fudds and I feel less and less that this is any kind of community I want to be a part of.
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During turkey season we shoot clays in the afternoon and anything else someone wants to shoot. NYS turkey hunts only until noon. Then during the summer we get together and mow, trim trails and such. Shooting clays again and sighting rifles. Plinking of course. September we have early bear. Don’t want to shoot guns so we do bows and crossbows. Years ago there was no effort to shoot, sight in or practice. Chasing deer was the norm. It was an upstate vs downstate thing. Unfortunately the upstate guys thought shooting was a waste. The Long Island guys shot all the time. Results were predictable. Now everyone shoots and has fun. We rarely have to chase a deer far. So have shooting days and get everyone together and enjoy. |