Sighting In Rifle.

We have around 200 acres where we hunt. That land happens to also be the only land close to me where I can sight in my rifle... I have recently purchased a new scope and was going to see what the popular opinion was on here about using that land to sight in. What if any reaction the deer on the property will have and if it will hurt my hunting this season.

Usually there is no problem if you do it now.....

I doubt it will hurt the hunting...especially this far from season. In addition, I have seen deer stand perfectly still hearing a rifle shot (of course most of the "still" is falling over dead). Many times they are just totally indifferent to it. That said, I would not recommend running out and doing target practice next to your blind before hunting...but I think you are safe.

Two years ago, we were visiting some family in south Mississippi. Shooting of the back porch all after...that evening, my son pops his first deer less than 100 yards from where we were shooting.

Go for it, wont hurt a thing.

Heck most of the time i shoot a deer, the other deer at the feeder run about 20yds and eventually come back.

At least try to do it in a more populated open area, not near your stands. When we were hunting a smaller property any and all shooting besides at animals was done right in the camp area to minimize any issues.

The property is running off of a road. I figured I would stay close to the road and shoot back toward the property. The noise from the cars should be no different.

and i would do it mid day not when they are out feeding

you will be fine!

I have a 42 acre tank on the Scotland farm, which I usually lease for day hunting in a normal year (Dry since May this year). Those duck hunters are no more than 300 yards away from where we hunt the bottom by the creek and they bang away like hell. Sometimes the deer will scarcely even pick up their heads when they shoot, and I've had a dozen of them in front of me when the banging is going on. Normally one or two will alert, and the others just keep on eating. Having said that, there's a tank dam and a lot of brush between where they are and where the shots are being fired.

In close proximity with little cover, they're all obviously gonna run like hell. I'd simply pick the area of the lease with the least amount of cover and bang away. Don't do it any longer than you have to, but sighting your gun in should pose no problem at all.

JJ

Saturday we started shooting my 7mm and my daughters AR at noon, 10 yards from a feeder (it's where our range happens to be). Shot for about an hour and a half . Went back there that evening to watch for hogs and four deer walked up to the feeder. It was 4 1/2 hours later from shooting. Sometimes I think we overestimate our ability to intimidate the animals. Just my observation

u should be fine... this weekend, I put out corn for the first time since last december, went a couple hundred yards down and started shooting gar with an AR... shot hundreds of rounds.... looked over where I put the corn out, and the deer were all acting normal, shooting affects these deer a lot less than people think.

Go for it you will be okay.

We shot several guns yesterday evening near a feeder and when the feeder went off 7 deer came to it like they normally would. They stayed the entire time we shot our guns in. We were about 500 yards from them shooting in their direction and they would not even look up when we shot the target.

Anyone think that you can make shooting a part of the environment so that deer then are so accustomed they are not bothered at all by it? This is a serious question.

I hope so because we have declared war on the hogs this Summer. Last count I had was around 50 killed in the last 2 months. Bad thing is I think there are more pigs there now than when we started...

It'll be fine... Wouldn't want to make it a habit.

You'll be fine

I wouldn't do it close to your hunting areas, but that's just a personal opinion. I have shot several deer out of my blind with a rifle and had deer come back minutes later, and some not even run off until i'm getting out of my stand

In one of my dove fields I have a corn feeder 200 yards from it. I have guys hunting in the field no more than 200 to 250 yards away. I have deer come up to that feeder almost every time their shooting. They can even hear them yelling and it don't bother them. As long as the deer don't see the hunters they will stick around. Been like this for several years.

since i say it will be fine then it will. sight away!

Last year one of our guys shot 2 hogs from the stand and we drove down and loaded them up and tracked one a bit. No one wanted to hunt the stand the next morning due to all the traffic. Of course the biggest deer we ever saw was on his game cam at 7 am the next morning...

Deer pay no attention to gun shots unless the bullet strikes close to them. Many a hunter has emptied his rifle at a deer while the deer stood there and ignored the sound but let the bullet stike the ground or a object near them and they are gone. If a gunshot bothered a deer just think what they would do in a severe thunderstorm.

From a more general perspective and during the open season, I have to disagree.

There's no question that once gun season opens, the deer catch on quickly that hunters are after them. In fact, it's been found that over 90% of the harvest will occur during the first two weeks of the season. The increased pressure from hunters makes deer change their travel patterns and times, short of the rut when anything can happen at any time of day.

Granted, the increase sight and smell of hunters is probably what impacts deer the most. Still, I have watched deer on numerous times react to the sound of a distant shot. Did it make them run off? Not at all. However, the fact they heard and reacted to it by raising their head and going to a more alert stance cannot be overlooked.

I've also found that later in the season, I see A LOT more deer when I hunt in the middle of the week when the area is much more quiet. As I've told others many times, the deer always seem to know once the weekend rolls around.

Since most of us are not in the woods before or after the hunting season how do we know they act any different at a sound?

In response to making the environment one where deer don't react to gunshots. I have a friend that has 15 acres, less than a mile from an outdoor range. I've been to the range and shot and shot on his property. I've seen deer the same night we were shooting that day. That whole day we heard random gunfire (pauses for 20 minutes every now and then).

I hope this answers your question.

I have a stand a quarter mile from a great duck spot on Caddo Lake. The deer don't even flinch from rapid fire 12 gauge. It scares the *&^# out of me though after a quite spell.