12 gauge slug through a window!

BillyP · Nov 27, 2005

I guess I must have misread something here. I thought you were refering to cp1969's post that said "He had taken a shot at a crow sitting in a plowed field and the bullet ricocheted(?) and veered about 30 degrees left and then traveled nearly 3/4 mile before hitting the window. "

My mistake

Birdhunter1 · Nov 28, 2005

( I don't hunt with a sluggun but ain't they only good for a clean kill up too @100yds.
I agree he would have to have known what his backdrop was when he pulled the trigger or he was more concerned with the target itself.
Gun hunters education course is basically a joke, it is still up to the parent or whoever the youngster learns from for decent training and he or she is still going to have to learn on their own.
)
With the fully rifled barrels and the development of the sabot slugs for them you could go 200 yards with some but 125-150 is the max for most. I have a fully rifled barrel on mine and I planned to shoot no further than 100 yards. Frther than that and I figured the slug would start to tumble and while I could have been accurate further distances I questioned knock down power past that.
BUT I am confident my set up was capable of a 150 yard well placed lethal shot, but.... sitting in a tree or on a groudn blind set up and taking wind or guestimates of range into account and the fact I woudl most likely be using the side of a tree or my modified shooting stick versus the sawhorse bench I had when I sighted in I woudl be a bit wobbly past 100 yards. Plus I have a 2.5X scope on my gun, with a 3-9x scope I may have tried it.

As far as if he knew the house was there, I am sure he knew it but probably couldn't see it from where he was. I have hunted that area before (it was on public ground he was on) and it is easy to get a bearing or direction a little twisted aroudn in your mind. Plus thsi house would have been an over the hill shot. so to answer every question--- yes the kid went through a hunter's safety course but there is not enough smart's in his father the college professor family to teach them you don't take an over the hill shot when there is a road on the other side of it a few hundred yards. The dad of this family is a piece of work, a few years ago I helped him track a deer down, he walked ahead of the blood trail where I was and foudn the deer and shot it in the front shoudler while standing over it (first shot was in the rear leg). In essence he ruined the front shoulders and had one ruined rear quarter, I asked him why he didn't just shoot it in the head. He had a 12 gauge and I am not kidding when I say his reply was "would that kill it?"

That's the kind of people here. They are from Chicago originally and they have family that comes down to deer hunt every year. My dad, uncle and I refer to them as the Mickey Mouse Club!

MossRoad · Nov 28, 2005

Deliberate? No. Careless? Yep, but from where the shot was taken, that house cannot be seen. 

That's why they don't allow hunting with rifles in Indiana. Too many houses. There is at least one house in almost every square mile of the state with the exception of park lands and reserves. They do, however, allow hunting with black powder rifles and pistols chambered for rifle cartridges, which really makes no sense, since it is essentially a rifle with a short barrel.

MossRoad · Nov 28, 2005

I am not kidding when I say his reply was "would that kill it?" 

YIKES! My condolences. My thoughts are with you an your other neighbors. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Highbeam · Nov 28, 2005

There is nothing wrong with shooting birds with a rifle provided, of course, that there is a good backstop as is the case with any target. This almost always means the bird is sitting on the ground. Baggilions of crows and grouse have been taken with a 22 cal rifle. What about the squirrels up in the trees? Know your backstop. Even a little 22 bullet is supposed to have a range of 1.5 miles according to the ammo box. The 30-06 was upwards of seven miles. Without a backstop you can really be taking a risk with a rifle.

RedRocker · Nov 28, 2005

No, I missed the sitting in a plowed field part, duh! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

MossRoad · Nov 28, 2005

We have a family friend that was shot in the chest in his backyard when he was about 10 years old. Typical 50s neighborhood with houses 12 feet apart for blocks in all directions. Turns out someone was shooting a 22 in a gravel pit a little over a mile and a quarter away. They were down in the pit shooting at a bird up on the rim of the pit. They missed the bird. Kid remembers nothing but waking up in the hospital. He is fine now and a grown man with kids. Could have been much worse.

Point is, with a high powered rifle in a populated area like most of Indiana, it really doesn't matter what your backstop is if you are hunting. Too many unknown objects to ricochet off of, like a rock just under the soil, etc...

erich · Nov 28, 2005

I have been taking my 15 yr. old son to a Civilian Markmanship Youth program at a local gun club since he was 10. The instructors are all volunteers most of them in their forties some in their sixties and at least one in his seventies. They hold the program on Tuesday nights during the late winter and early spring. They teach all aspects of handling the weapon. One of the things they continually stress is to know your target and what lies beyond. Neither my son or I are hunters although we are not opposed. To him it is his sport. We homeschooled all the kids and this gives him a chance to "compete" against others. The skill and confidence that the instructors have passed on to him is truly amazing. The best part of the deal is it is free! The government picks up part of the tab and the gun club covers the rest. My son is looking forward to this year already.

Eric

LBrown59 · Dec 21, 2005

( I wonder if any of the anti gun groups monitor this site? It would be a shame to give them free ammo 
***********
Why do they need ammo- they're anti gun. lol

timb · Dec 21, 2005

Hmm. "Over the hill shot."

Couple of weeks ago (first Saturday of our firearms deer season) I was in the kitchen of our farm house when I hear an almighty thump. We're remodeling and I've got junk piled everywhere. I figured something fell over and took a walk around the disarray but couldn't really put my finger on what must have toppled.

A week later I'm upstairs on the phone when I walk over to the side window - and see first the screen torn, then realize the screen window frame is bent in. At first I thought someone had tried to break in - it really looked like someone had pried up the bottom of the frame with a screwdriver and this window sits over the side porch roof.

A little closer exam and I realized a rifle round had hit the window frame in a grazing sideswiping motion - actually flexed the frame in several inches and 'extruded' and tore the aluminum frame then ricocheted out again burying itself in the side frame of the window (aluminum over wood). I never did find the bullet but the hole in the side frame is over 4 inches deep (the nearest screwdriver wouldn't bottom out).

The house sits at the bottom of a long gentle slope - over the top there's a more abrupt drop down on the other side - which is right where the woods start. Someone took a shot uphill from that angle at a deer on the ridge and missed. (from a point in the upper left in my signature pic - aiming at the camera so to speak). I figure they were around 1/2 mile from the house.

All the neighbors (mostly relatives) from our area know well what direction the houses lie from that wooded area - their homes are all in the same direction and they've hunted those woodlots all their lives. All those woods are posted hunting by permission only but someone (maybe an uninvited / no permission needed type) definitely blew it on backdrop judgement.

Scarey part was that shot hit about six feet over my head and about 10 feet to one side and obviously had plenty of residual energy. (9 out of 10 folks around here seem to use 30-06's).

I hate to see it when a township or county goes slug only but boy some folks just don't get it when it comes to gun handling safety.