Targets of opportunity while at the range

[altheating]

What target's of opportunity have you shot while at the range? We have all been there, shooting targets when something appears out of nowhere. What was it? I'll go first.

Frog while shooting gongs on my pond bank. 70 yards with Winchester Pre 64, 22 Hornet. BRP 226-47 Boolit.
74547

[possom813]

"Bambi"

She showed up every time we showed up at the range, became the 'pet'...and yep, proper safety equipment for her too :-D

As far as I know, she's still alive and well, but I've not been at that range since April '12.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k96/possom75110/026.jpg

[Blammer]

bugs that land on the target. :)

[possom813]

I had a video of her eating peppermints, but I couldn't find it on the computer anywhere.

[altheating]

That would be the first deer to smell good when field dressing.

[Finster101]

What target's of opportunity have you shot while at the range? We have all been there, shooting targets when something appears out of nowhere. What was it? I'll go first.

Frog while shooting gongs on my pond bank. 70 yards with Winchester Pre 64, 22 Hornet. BRP 226-47 Boolit.
74547

Hey, you only eat the legs. Right?

[uncle joe]

Bambi needs a drink of water

[Sgtonory]

Shot a mouse at 25yrd with a 45acp. Only took 13 rounds to hit it :)

[outdoorfan]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?100080-Grouse-casualty&highlight=grouse

Grouse. One of the few times I've made a good off-hand shot with the revolver.

[altheating]

Yup, just the hind legs!:grin:

[Jupiter7]

No pics, 210yds on yote' with buddies 6.5x284 while shooting steel at 300&400yds. 120ish grain vmax at 3000fps turned him around a few times, DRT.

[number7tn]

first thing was bumble bees , i had pulled some bb's out of12ga shells i had loaded and just playin around , with a old cut dwn (still 18 or so inch barrell) single shot ''pistol'' shooting the wads. bumble bees at close range .

not too long ago i was setting the scope i put on a win 94' 30-30, from my back porch. had shot 6 out of the gun and had one more to shoot . lyman 311-41x bullet and 40gr wc872. squirrell just appeared on top of a building not far from my target, i had just adjusted the scope too. squirrell was about 75 to 80 yrds (my target was 100yrds), i shot him and figured i would miss but i didnt. head shot. left some good lookin meat everywhere else (i dont eat squirrell brains anyway).
i was gonna pull the scope back off and use the iron sights , but scope is still on the gun.
didnt get a pic though.
have a great day
GOD BLESS
Darrell

[onesonek]

Slightly off topic, but. My first handgun PD. 312 yds. .243 AI 55 BT @ 3700 fps. Not quite the "target of oppritunity" locally, the flickertails suffice for that. Just no pic's of them. I do like blasting flies off the target however. If nothing else, egg shoots are fun between buddies.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/onesonek/100_1757.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/onesonek/media/100_1757.jpg.html)

[NVScouter]

My sister's first job was a clay loader at the trap range. Everytime a jackrabbit would wander on the range its was WW3. 60-80 year old gentleman with $2-5K shot guns and expensive shells lighting up the berm like kids.

Pretty darn funny since many of them wouldnt speek to you on a good day but when that happened the shoulder slapping was on....

I've had to run off curious pronghorns, cows, and mustangs that wander up to targets I'm shooting at.

[TenTea]

Witnessed a friend vaporize a robin at about 75 yards with a .270, once upon a time on a rifle range...damn kids!

[jhalcott]

A couple of the ranges I frequent do NOT allow shooting of any animals ON THE RANGE. I did get permission to rid the range of a couple deer that had become pests. I sprayed them with dayglow paint as they walked the shooting line. That evening I got them in the woods beyond the target berm. NO pics, just good eatin'!

[6.5 mike]

Crow off the cross bar on the 100 yd range. Hi-wall 30-40 krag & 200 gr pp'ed boolit. Took bout 15 minutes for the feathers to quit falling, lol.

[Doc_Stihl]

I once called a shot on a big spider crawling down my target at 80 yards in the sand pit. 22-250 punched directly though the body and the legs stuck into the hold. No camera on hand but that would have been a kodak moment.

There is a steel ram at 500 yards at my local range. The ram is mounted on a car spring. Spotting for a friend and he touched off a 338 Lapua round just as I watched a chipmunk jump up onto the ram. I saw the round impact but never saw what happened to the chipmunk. I can't imagine the spray didn't get him.

[dragon813gt]

Ground hog after ground hog after ground hog. Damn things are all over. I was amazed that a DAG 147 grain FMJ out of my 308 did not kill one at fifty yards. It was split from end to end and still fighting when I finished it off at close range. Only day I can't shoot them in PA is on Sunday.

[mj2evans]

Butterfly on 100yd target with 243AI. Did *not* require a follow up shot.

[Baja_Traveler]

A gopher that stuck his head up in the middle of the silhouette range during a match. It was worth the missed target on my score card...

[TXGunNut]

Grasshoppers. Bumper crop last year, they were eating the paper targets! 15 yds w/ a Ruger MKI. Got two in a row once walking across the top of the target frame.

[lars1367]

I once called a shot on a big spider crawling down my target at 80 yards in the sand pit. 22-250 punched directly though the body and the legs stuck into the hold. No camera on hand but that would have been a kodak moment.


Doc, you get bonus points. Spiders are creepy.... I think it's the excessive amount of legs.
-Lars

[clintsfolly]

A sparrow off the 100yd target board with my 458AccRel a 485gr cast at 2100. just 2 feet left!! Clint

[2wheelDuke]

I was at a police range training with the AR when a huge iguana walked down the berm. I got yelled at for even thinking about it.

At the county run range, they shut the fire line when an iguana appears, and the range sends their lowest seniority employee to scare it off with strict orders not to hurt it. This is run by a very liberal county government, we're not even allowed to shoot paper targets that resemble people or animals there.

I did shoot a possum with a 158gr swc .38 target load at the private club. It was obviously sick, so I had to put it down and dispose of it.

[onesonek]

I was at a police range training with the AR when a huge iguana walked down the berm. I got yelled at for even thinking about it.

At the county run range, they shut the fire line when an iguana appears, and the range sends their lowest seniority employee to scare it off with strict orders not to hurt it. This is run by a very liberal county government, we're not even allowed to shoot paper targets that resemble people or animals there.

I did shoot a possum with a 158gr swc .38 target load at the private club. It was obviously sick, so I had to put it down and dispose of it.

Liberal rationale,,,geez. You would think extermination of non-native species is automatic. I'm suprised you even have a gun range, in such a liberal atmosphere!

[Whiterabbit]

we have more open space to shoot 50 cal and more 50 cal matches in california than any other state. And we are liberal enough to ban 50 BMG. Now where's the supreme court ruling on that one as unconstitutional?!

[2wheelDuke]

Liberal rationale,,,geez. You would think extermination of non-native species is automatic. I'm suprised you even have a gun range, in such a liberal atmosphere!

The range is only open at Markham park because they haven't found a way to close it yet. Seems there's some provisions to grandfather it in, and that range was a stipulation in the county getting that land for the park in the first place.

[canyon-ghost]

Since our range is posted "No Hunting" that is where the does are safe. We've had to stop a 22lr match because one decided to eat the yucca flowers in the center of the range. We promptly removed the yucca plant. I usually shoot the rattlesnakes (oh yes, texas has 'em) and any skunks that show up. I don't hunt them but, varmint control is pretty necessary.

When opening up one of the buildings, that Contender with the .410 barrel isn't far away from me! Those rattlesnakes gotta go.

[NSP64]

I was working up some quad-plex loads for my Ruger Redhawk in 44, 20 years ago.
Out walks a turkey.
15 yrds
DRT

Found out later it was the neighbors tame turkey.
Looked like a yote had gotten it, feathers eveywhere.

[Matt85]

I was working up some quad-plex loads for my Ruger Redhawk in 44, 20 years ago.
Out walks a turkey.
15 yrds
DRT

Found out later it was the neighbors tame turkey.
Looked like a yote had gotten it, feathers eveywhere.

that's some funny stuff! on that note, why would you keep dinner as a pet?

I live in a state full of hippies and liberals, shooting critters at most of the ranges I go to is off limits.

-matt

[greenwart]

My son and I where shooting at my friends house and a flock of turkeys walked by. I stopped counting at 26. We are not allowed to hunt on his property, I think there is some past history which I have never gotten into with him. But it is sure hard not to take a shot when a big tom waltzes past at 20 yds and you have a .357 mag in your hand.

Bob

[725]

Just woodchucks. While working an accuracy load for my buddy's NEF .223, I just finished a 200 yard zero when at 210 yards, out walks a chuck. Darn thing digs holes all over the range, or should I say dug holes all over the range. Fantastic what a 70 gr Speer round nose will do when properly placed.

[altheating]

Here's one I forgot about. A couple years ago while shooting with Screwbolts at his range a caterpillar was observed on the cardboard target backer. I took two shots at him with my Ruger 77/357 with cast boolits. Got that little bugger at 103 yards! Hit him right behind the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th leg... Not bad for a 357.

[MT Gianni]

I have never shot anything living on a public range. I do remember the many times I had to chase the Bighorn Sheep up the mountain at the Hellgate Range in Missoula if I was the first one in that morning. I was tempted a few times by those "domesticated Bighorns" but never shot at one. I am aware of the large Fed spankings passed out for picking up skulls, let alone shooting one.

[PB234]

Flys at 50 years with a Winchester 52D & 20X scope just go splat.

[PB234]

Oops yards : ) .

[Dorado]

I didn't shoot it but the local range here has a range cat. Damn thing loves to lay on top of the 100 yd target. I got tired of waiting for it to move on so I fired a round just under it. I knew cats could jump, but did you know that they can fly?! I swear that cat flew 20 ft in the air and 30 ft over before hitting the warp drives and vanishing into thin air. I couldn't go back there for a couple of days. lol

[Chihuahua Floyd]

Dorado,
Yea, cats can fly. A 110g RN over 55g of AA 2520 in a 30-06 under one really moves them out.
Then there is the fox that walked out right in front of the backstop while a friend and I where about to zero a 22 lever action. Cept that one got away, Eddie would not shoot it and my rifle was unloaded as I had scope cranked up to max to spot hits. Mag was 10 feet away.
CF

[truckjohn]

Couldn't bring myself to shoot at the bears I saw at the range a few years ago... 2 sows and a cub....

Not only would there have been huge fines and the like... but it just didn't seem right at the time...

I would not have had to think twice had it been a feral cat...

Thanks

[Ben Dover]

About 40 years ago at a small private range a friend / co-worker and I were shooting and he had a Ruger .22 pistol. A flying squirrel came out of a tree to our 6 oclock and drifted toward 2 oclock. For some reason he grabbed the Ruger and took a snap at it-----and hit it--in the air. It was probably the last flying squirrel I have seen. I would not have believed if I had not witnessed it. Ben.

[Norske]

The first living thing my Marlin 1895 killed was a 13-lined ground squirrel that stood up 25 yards from my pickup. I didn't see what happened, but my shooting buddy said the top 1/2 of the ground squirrel flew about 20 yards downrange.

[TXGunNut]

Whittington Center in Raton is famous for it's wildlife and the mulies are not afraid to call their own ceasefire, whether it's informal shooting or an international match. Most years I shot PPC matches there was a mulie doe bedded down behind the berm to entertain the tower guy.

[chutesnreloads]

Grasshoppers at 100 yards.Doesn't count if there's not a BIG hole in the paper or splatter marks.Also spent most of an afternoon close to a hollow tree with a huge red wasp nest in it.Picking em off with a Beeman pelletgun.

[silvertip47]

I did that when I was a kid living in central Texas with a BB gun. Got stung also, last time I did that. haha

[lj1941]

Ground hog after ground hog after ground hog. Damn things are all over. I was amazed that a DAG 147 grain FMJ out of my 308 did not kill one at fifty yards. It was split from end to end and still fighting when I finished it off at close range. Only day I can't shoot them in PA is on Sunday.I used to hunt foxes on Sundays many moons ago.I guess it is still legal in PA. Coyotes are I think legal to hunt on Sundays.Not sure though.

[Big Boomer]

My private range is either out the basement door or off the back deck of our house but what I'm about to describe did not occur while I was shooting. It happened while my wife and I were eating lunch. My wife said "There's a big groundhog coming around my flower garden!" I looked and sure enough a groundhog was, I guess, "just lookin' for a home" and came around our house. I hurried into the bedroom and got my Ruger P90, sneaked out onto the deck in the shade and the groundhog stood up. I let him have it with a Speer Gold Dot at about 30 feet or less. Threw it over into the cow pasture a hundred yards or so where the coyotes got it. 'Tuck

[soli]

My son when he was in the U.S.M.C. shot a buck with the 50cal.It was deer season,he said it dropped fast .

[lksmith]

Rabbit, Snakes, but had to really fight myself not to shoot the little forked horn that walked out while a few buddies and I was reloading after about 300 rds. With 4 guys, an AR, an AK, 1911, and 9mm with the deer at 25yds he wouldn't have gotten far. esp since all had "evil hi cap mags" Luckily for the buck it wasn't deer season and we were in a law abiding mood that day

[429421Cowboy]

A big @#$%&^* packrat that scared the living tar outta me when I lifted up my pistol targets a few months ago. They are welded on old 2 ton truck rims and he had built himself a nest under one of them. If you have spent anytime around the buggers you know three things, 1. they STINK. Not like a little mouse odor, they smell like refried death. 2. They are mean as a snake and big enough to do some damage, this one was certainly bigger than a gopher. And 3. They are tough as nails, and will shake off a .22 hit, however the SBH loaded with two .430 roundballs seemed to skin him out pretty darn good!

[dverna]

At the ranges I have shot at, if you pop a critter you are kicked out. But flies, bees and wasps are fair game unless they land on target frames. Shooting at target frames gets you booted too.

Don Verna

[midnight]

I've had a red fox playing with two kits at about 75yds. She didn't have a clue I was there in the covered firing point. Also had deer, & turkeys by the 50yd target. Then there are always the flies.

Bob

[lead chucker]

I was shooting my 9mm at the range and saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was a black bear walking across the range. I had to stop shooting to let him walk by. I was suprised he would come around with all the noise I was making. The wiered thing was about a half hour later another one walked by out about 200 yards. One time at the range early in the morning I walked out to check my target at 100 yards looked up and a cow and calf moose walked out about 50 yards from me. That was spooky the cow just stared at me with that I could stomp you in the ground look. I slowly backed up. Had a friend have a brown bear walk out on him at the range once. So now when I walk down to check my target I bring my red hawk 44 mag with me. I'm thinking about hunting at the range. I can sit at a nice comfortable bench with a nice over hang and watch and wait. (I'm just kidding).

[GeezerinNH]

why would you keep dinner as a pet?


-matt Easy answer; Till it grows big enough for a feast!