Last day of season shooting of guns

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
As I was sitting in my stand on the afternoon of January 1 on game land, the woods suddenly erupted with gun fire during the last 20 minutes of legal shooting time. It sounded worse than the first day of rifle season. Now I highly doubt everybody that was shooting was fortunate enough to have a deer step out in the last few minutes of the season. It left me wondering if there are a bunch of hunters that have not had the opportunity to shoot their gun during the season decided the easiest way to unload their gun was to shoot all the bullets in their gun.

Anyone else notice the large uptick in number of shots?
 

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
In my old and only hunting club very few still hunted so after the last run of the day we would gather at a clearing behind the clubhouse where a couple of old refrigerators that had been picked up off the side of the road had been deposited. We formed a firing line about 40 yds. from the refrigerators and on command, everyone would empty their shotguns into the targets. That was always a commotion. Then the refrigerators were taken to the dump where they should have been anyway.
 

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
Some of our guys empty their gun on the last day of hunting season.
Could also be all the new guns people got for Christmas.
 

Ol Copper

Twelve Pointer
I remember this happening from way back in my youth on the Uwharrie game lands. That last 30 minutes of closing day sounded like armageddon coming. I never could figure out why they did it, they just did.
Stop...Drop....Roll...
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
I think they were killing deer. nothing else makes much sense.

unless they are celebrating the end of a bad season.
 

turkeyfoot

Old Mossy Horns
Hadn't heard this but I'd go with theory of them picking a spot shooting just to be curious if gun still sighted in
 

LanceR

Six Pointer
Contributor
Maybe they were whacking the pests that had been frustrating them all season? :D

I used to hunt pretty exclusively with a Savage 10ML II muzzleloader.. Every now and then and especially on the last night of the season I'd stop at the topsoil pile next to our farm shop and fire the load in the Savage.

But there was one year in which a really PITA gray squirrel had decided to be the self appointed monitor of my every move and of every moment in two of my stands. The little bastard set up camp on a nearby branch and mouthed off at me every few minutes.

On the last night of the big game season as it was getting dark he was on a branch about 10-12 feet out the window of the blind scolding me every few minutes. Right at the end of legal shooting time he got a 300 grain Hornady XTP right down his throat for his troubles. He was so close that I wouldn't be surprised if the sabot was embedded in what scraps were left of him.


Lance
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
Yep ... OR .. folks were settling for smaller deer than they ordinarily would.

Based on the number of shots I heard, I highly doubt it was small deer. This was Jordan game lands, not some eastern NC farmland where deer is all over the place. I hunted from December 27 to January 1. There was a day or two where I heard no shots. I don't think hunters were being very selective for several days just to shoot a small deer in the last 20 minutes.
 
Top