Shotgun people

[mrclark303]

Hi all,

So, I went over to my local range today, nobody else about apart from some idiot taking pot shots at wood pigeons at about 75 to 100 yards in the wheat fields surrounding the range.

Having rung the necks of three injured birds hiding in the firing points I decided to have it out with this idiot as he was making my **** absolutely boil by this point!

Long story short, he packed up and went home in a huff after a frank discussion about his cruel behaviour and total lack of understanding regarding the effective range of a 12 bore shotgun!

What is it with 'certain' members of our shooting community, who think their 12 bore is capable of humanly shooting birds at 100 yards!

They don't seem to understand they are using a crude firearm that hemorrhages energy before it even leaves the muzzle.

40 yards absolutely tops...

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[Flying10uk]

The other options were to report him to the land owner/authorities which probably would have been a lot of time consuming, hassle and aggravation for you and probably wouldn't have done much good or do nothing which is probably what most people would have done.

It may have made your blood pressure go through the roof but I would have thought that you did the right thing, judging from what you have said.

[CINDERS]

Good call Clarkie your spot on, I'm a hunter and one has a duty to the game to dispatch it with utmost speed and with minimal suffering he should have had dogs and walking in fact by your account I would not have felt very safe with a nutter like that firing off rounds.

I shoot rabbits with a 22/250 up to @200m with 55grn blitz kings which devastates them if I am trying for say 400m I'll use the 6.5/284, for foxes spotlighting I use the 168 grn Hornady A Max in my APRS .308

[mrclark303]

Cheers guys, as we all have to do as responsible, licenced firearm owners, take a measured and considered approach before 'having a word' so it doesn't get out of hand.

This guy (like some occasional shotgun shooters in the UK) is a first class window licking idiot, who has absolutely zero idea of the actual capabilities of the firearm he's using.

Shotguns are 'far' too easily obtained here, I wouldn't let most of these knuckle dragging idiots have a water pistol to be honest!

Nailed it Ron, rifle shooters and hunters know the effective accurate range of all their setups and only take shots 'strictly' within that envelope.

It's a sad thing to say, but the only responsible shotgun shooters I know, also use firearms.

[Aragorn243]

I havn't used one of my shotguns in well over a decade. Looks like that will change this year. My kids expressed an interest in hunting turkeys for the first time. I haven't hunted them seriously since my college days and used a rifle then but they changed the law this year, not sure why. One faction complaining too much about the other I suppose stating safety concernes. But get this, nearly all the turkey hunting accidents that occur, occur in the spring when it's always been shotgun only so I'm not buying this argument.

I used to hunt pheasants and rabbits when I was younger, but with my dad and uncles getting older, they stopped and I didn't want to go alone. Never took the girls. So my hunting has been squirrels and deer nearly exclusively for the last 30 years.

They don't have shotguns so I either have to come up with three or they have to buy their own. I have my turkey gun and a youth model pump 20 gauge and a youth model single shot 20 gauge, both which would work but not idea for adult turkey hunting.

I don't know that I even go out to 40 yards with my 12 gauge and it has full choke and is designed for long range turkey and goose shooting. Squirrels are tough to kill at that range and I'm using 4 and 5 shot.

[mrclark303]

I havn't used one of my shotguns in well over a decade. Looks like that will change this year. My kids expressed an interest in hunting turkeys for the first time. I haven't hunted them seriously since my college days and used a rifle then but they changed the law this year, not sure why. One faction complaining too much about the other I suppose stating safety concernes. But get this, nearly all the turkey hunting accidents that occur, occur in the spring when it's always been shotgun only so I'm not buying this argument.

I used to hunt pheasants and rabbits when I was younger, but with my dad and uncles getting older, they stopped and I didn't want to go alone. Never took the girls. So my hunting has been squirrels and deer nearly exclusively for the last 30 years.

They don't have shotguns so I either have to come up with three or they have to buy their own. I have my turkey gun and a youth model pump 20 gauge and a youth model single shot 20 gauge, both which would work but not idea for adult turkey hunting.

I don't know that I even go out to 40 yards with my 12 gauge and it has full choke and is designed for long range turkey and goose shooting. Squirrels are tough to kill at that range and I'm using 4 and 5 shot.

I have to agree, shotguns have their uses, but they are extremely range limited.

I can never understand why people spend so much money on them, it's a pipe you throw shot down, Uber expensive handmade or a cheap Russian gun, there's really no difference in their respective capabilities.

I'm currently using my restored BSA Challenger air rifle for rats and wood pigeons in my garden. It's powerful enough for an absolutely clean kill out to 30 yards with heavy hollow point pellets.


I ended up rapidly bringing it back into commission after decades of no use during a rat infestation in the first lockdown in 2020.

It's a curious thing when you have a sizeable number of Firearms at your disposal and absolutely nothing you can shoot rats and problem pigeons with right under your nose!!

Not anymore....

[baltimoreed]

Groucho as Rufus T. Firefly used an insult in Duck Soup, “Don’t leave in a huff, leave in a minute and a huff.”

[Aragorn243]

I can appreciate a well made shotgun but I seek function. I currently have an 835 Mossberg pump. Prior to that I had a Mossberg 500 pump. I think I paid around $200 for the 835 new. Today they are $360 or so. I've always wanted an over under but just not willing to spend $1000 plus on a shotgun. Only shotguns I'd pay that much for are Surplus US pumps and I'd need to spend more than that these days.

[RASelkirk]

I grew up in central NY state (many years ago!) and even back then, rifles were outlawed in Schoharie county. The preferred method to hunt deer was slugs.

Russ

[Aragorn243]

I have a slug barrel for the 835 but never used it. There are a few areas in PA that are slugs only but fortunately not where I hunt.