An open bolt is a stupid idea? No thanks, I'll keep doing it. I hunt in the country. So I don't worry about people. Never have I pointed a rifle at a person. I have pointed a pistol at one though, and it wasn't to use glass, it was to put two in his chest if he escalated the situation.

Too many hunters shot off of horses in the rocky mountains over the years. On my own place I will do it but up there a lot of guys should be at the house playing checkers.

Your poll is not agreeing with your thought process so far

The responses are hard to follow. Hard to tell who does what.

But just looking at the poll, kinda hard to imagine half the folks on a hunting forum use their riflescopes to scan for game. This makes no sense for several reasons. This is apparently much more of a shooters' (as opposed to hunters') forum than I had imagined.

I'll write slowly for you.......scanning with a loaded rifle towards who knows what is a stupid idea. At least when you have your head in your [censored] while doing that you have enough sense to open the bolt, I'll give you credit for that. You reckon any of your country hunting neighbors have stared at you, even accidentally, through a scope on a loaded weapon?

That's what I was saying, stunned I am at the amount of idiots actually doing this. I don't care whether you're a shooter or a hunter, it is unsafe and idiotic to point a loaded weapon at anything you don't intend to destroy.

Not hardly.

Guess I will let you and NG get back to measuring your cranks and being macho. IDGAS what you think honestly.

So now there's a bunch of idiots around? So I pointed an open bolt rifle at cedar tree limbs I thought was a mule deer 800 yards away. What's the punishment for pointing a rifle scope at a cedar tree limb?

I look down my rifle range at something out of place. Damnit, neighbors cows broke in again. So I get up and go drive a cow back to its own pasture. Big freakin deal.

I like popcorn, women, and beer

Likewise.

I point loaded guns at inantimate objects all the time, sometimes at live moving objects, but I never use a scope

Ever see any of the professionals check out anything with a rifle pointed at it? Not on any of the programs I watch. If they don't do it, neither am I.

That's inaccurate. I watched an elk hunt today where the "professional" hunter glasses with binos, then wothbrifelscope to get a better look. I never saw him eject a round prior to doing so. He decided against taking that animal

Everyone does that. That's not the topic on the table.

I actually have. Granted they are not using standard duplex style scopes, but that is a different argument.

MOA

We are just degenerates doing everything wrong in the eyes of a few. Carry on lol.

On that note, it's amazing I'm still alive and not imprisoned

I still question how we both manage not being imprisoned

No! Bad judgement is where most shooting accidents start. I had a personal experience that illustrates what could happen this past November. My son and I were duck hunting a cattail slough and a pickup stopped on the ridge. A deer hunter got out with his rifle and scanned the slough with his scope. He apparently caught motion in the cattails and held his rifle trained at us. We hit the deck. I belly crawled out of there and went boiling up the ridge. Apparently the guy figured it out and got the heck out of there in a hurry. I do know if I had made it to him before he left, one of us would have been toting an a$$ whipping when we parted. I would imagine the guy wouldn't purposely point his rifle at us but his Irresponsible, reckless behavior caused him to do just that. Still gives me cold chills.

If glassing for animals is the same as seeing a sounder pulling up my rifle and picking out which one is the alpha female with my rifle scope then yes I am OK with aiming my rifle at the other pigs in the sounder that I dont intend to shoot first or at all. No Problem!!!

I have a lot of experience at the range and all of my guns are of the highest quality and in tiptop shape. That safety doesnt come off till I am ready to fire and I also maintain good trigger finger control habits so I am 100% sure I will not have an accidental fire of any kind. I am also in the habit of as soon as I fire that safety clicks back on. Its habit!

I hunt public land and i only aim my gun at game animals and I am not stupid enough to aim in the brush. Unless it is sasquatch then I am unloading!!

But hell yes I had 3 deer in front of me at 80 yards while I was sitting under a tree last fall. I wasnt sure which one to shoot and pulling up my binocs would have had me busted. The rifle was already on the bipod so I had to scan each deer to pick out the biggest doe before I shot.

Let the critiquing begin. LOL

My pops was shot at by an idiot with a 22 pistol. For the record he shot the match with me last time a JG's place and had some concerns up front but we both really enjoyed that experience after seeing how he runs chit. He hasn't stepped foot in a field since that incident though.

I just wrote a response on this thread but it died in transit, thank you Rockport WIFI..again. Maybe it's better this way. In summary...

1) Public land - no scan with rifle. Just don't do it.

2) Private land - it's OK to scan & hunt on the ready with rifle especially at dawn or dusk during the rut, especially when hunting senderos in the brush country when every second counts and if you glass first you will often never have time to shoulder your rifle. This ain't TV. You already know your surroundings and your neighbors before you pick up your rifle. Safety is #1. You are not an idiot, it's gonna be OK. What your Dad or Grand Dad taught you actually means something. You actually know where your safety and trigger finger are. You are not going to shoot your neighbors house, cow, or anything else because you are not a F'n idiot.

I still don't understand the differentiation in night time optics vs day time optics?

This poll "pertains to daytime only" so Mr. High Horse Safety Ranger can talk smack about scanning with a rifle during the day. Night time practices don't fit the message and dilute the smack talk. So, let's not talk about it...

Funny stuff.