Does your camp have a policy, written or not, on practice shooting? Our unwritten policy only allows a minimal number shots to verify zero. But I'm sure many of you know of nearby leases that seem to be places where guys go to shoot a lot of lead, based on the number of shots you can hear being fired.

I have a no shooting policy...if it isn't at a deer/hog/yote, no need in pulling the trigger.

Shoot whenever...i didnt buy bullets for nothing

Designated area to check zero if they have not done it. Other than that if they want to shoot a lot they need to go some where that allows it.

We have a pit by camp. Shoot as much as you want.

Zero rifles before your come, but we mainly bow hunt so we do that around camp a lot.

Shoot em if you got em

We have a place to zero in, but I like having it donn before I show up at the lease. Now if I shoot and miss at something, I might go out and fire 2/3 rounds to make sure it was my mistake and not the scope being off.

Have a gunrange between the lease and town. We go to the range if we want to shoot just to be shooting.

I do guided hunts, so having a range to check a hunters zero (and find out if he can shoot) is a must. But other than checking zero.. we don't allow practice shooting.

I personally never try to use the camp as a gun range. However I have had to do it once.......BUT it was while no other members were in camp that weekend. I still kept my shooting to an absolute minimum. I dont want a lot of shooting when my family is there, so I kinda would expect the other members to feel the same way.

^^^this, only exception is ratlers

I have a 1000yrd range w/ paper and steel targets every 100yrds. I shoot constantly, weekly, daily yearly....... I allow my lease hunter to use the range and each camp has a designated shooting area (each camp sets thier own policy, I just provided the area. There is so much shooting all year it really makes no difference. On many occations have had deer at the 300yrd line stand there while bullets fly over on the way to the 7,8,..... targets.

Shooting is less disruptive, IMHO, than the multitude of leaser's driving around on ATV's all day......

KT

I check my zero at the range, but I'm the only one that hunts at my lease, so if my kids want to run through a box of shells for fun I don't stop em.

No written policy but it's generally understood that you minimize the shooting during the season. We're a pretty small lease.

I was on a lease for a while that had a pretty nice covered range out to 200 yards complete with benches, etc. There was no policy one way or the other about using it. Like anything else, there were some that abused it and others that didn't. The lease manager was of the view that the lease was big enough (around 9,000 acres) that it wouldn't affect the hunting. As far as I could tell, it didn't.

Now there's a good question to throw around the fire. Do deer pay any attention to the sound of distant shots? IMO, they sure seem to know once the weekend rolls around. My deer sightings always go up when I hunt in the middle of the week.

I think they care, some just don't care as much.

Is it the shots that get them paying attention or the scent and noise that has all of a sudden increased? Sightings should go up with less traffic and hunters.

No shooting allowed at my place unless it's killing something. From opening of rifle season through Thanksgiving that means deer.

We are all bowhunting in October so not an issue then.

I think some deer really pay attention to it. I have even strongly considered a walking only policy except to recover game as I think the big bucks peg ATV traffic too. Probably won't go that far but I always walk everywhere when I'm hunting alone at the place.

I our blinds and feeder setups ranche from about 75 to 110 yards. If you make a body shot and the deer runs 20 or so yards and dies most of the time the other deer will never run off. If the deer you shot dies where it stands they run like hell. So I dont know how much it really bothers them. We just try to keep things as quiet as possible when we are hunting.

I can understand keeping the shooting to a minimum but even if you sighted your gun in before gettin there how you know if somehow it didnt get bumped off

Shoot leupold...

IMO I do not think the shooting of a deer at a blind bothers deer. It is the hunter getting out of the blind ASAP and the deer associating noise with dead deer with hunter over time that gets them spooky. I like to drop off hunters in stands and tell them if they shoot to wait quietly in the blind and not get out or allow deer to see them. One vehicle driving up to run them off is better than a hunter spooking them by walking around. If that vehicle is the same one doing daily work on the ranch then it is normal traffic at that point. To many deer are shot from vehicles which make deer spooky as heck to vehicles.

I make those guys shoot for sure