Has your gun gotten you busted?

[SRH78]

Years ago I had planned to hunt with a sidelock muzzleloader but when I got to the lease, I couldn't find my percusion caps. Since I had my 22-250 with me, I went ahead and used it. I set up on the ground for what I expected to be about a 30 yard shot just as I had planned for with the muzzleloader. After a while, a good sized doe showed up right where I expected her to. She just poked her head out past the treeline and immediately looked directly at me. I was stunned. The wind was perfect, I was covered head to toe, and I had a covey of quail that had been within arms reach for quite some time that didn't know I was there. At first, I didn't know what had happened. Then, as she moved my direction behind the treeline, I realized what happened. She saw the rifle. She actually walked up, put her nose to the barrel right at the front of the scope and sniffed the gun. Then she trotted off.

Having a deer get that close without knowing I was there made the hunt a success in my book. I sure didn't expect it to turn out that way though. Btw, this wasn't a stainless rifle, just a blued barrel and black synthetic stock but it was enough to stick out from that distance. This why I don't have a stainless rifle. I have had times since then when I was sure they spotted the gun but I have never had another deer walk over and check it out.

So, my question is how many of you have been busted, not because you were spotted but because the gun was spotted and do you consider how conspicuous the gun is when choosing a hunting rifle?

 

[hogdogs]

at the front of the scope

i bet a dollar against a doughnut it was "scope glint" that got you busted...
Although you could have got her...

And I would think that experience would be cool as well.
Brent

 

[Kreyzhorse]

Btw, this wasn't a stainless rifle, just a blued barrel and black synthetic stock but it was enough to stick out from that distance. This why I don't have a stainless rifle. I have had times since then when I was sure they spotted the gun but I have never had another deer walk over and check it out.

That deer wasn't spooked by the sight of your rifle. They aren't dumb animals, but the sight of a gun isn't going to tip them off. Think about it, if a deer is smart enough to know what a "gun" is, the deer would be smart enough to know that it takes a human to shoot the gun.

I too have had a couple of does walk with 3 feet of me. When they got that close, they spooked too. They likely caught enough of your smell to know that something wasn't right and got out of there.

 

[shortwave]

If the deer was that close to you more than likely it scented something that it didn't care or was un-natural. Maybe gun oil, your scent, something. If it trotted off rather than bolting, it wasn't real alarmed,just new something wasn't right.

 

[fatwhiteboy]

I thought you were talking about game warden busted...

 

[SRH78]

That deer wasn't spooked by the sight of your rifle.

I agree she was curious instead of spooked or she would have just left. She did see it though and it did prevent her from providing me with a good shot.

if a deer is smart enough to know what a "gun" is, the deer would be smart enough to know that it takes a human to shoot the gun

Of course she didn't know it was a gun but she recognized it as something out of the ordinary.

If the deer was that close to you more than likely it scented something that it didn't care or was un-natural. Maybe gun oil, your scent, something. If it trotted off rather than bolting, it wasn't real alarmed,just new something wasn't right.

Without question. Once she sniffed the gun, she definitely got a whiff of some new scents. I also agree that she wasn't alarmed, just uneasy. She stood around for a few moments calling to her fawns who were still with her. She called several times before they came and one of them actually jumped over me on the way back to her.

i bet a dollar against a doughnut it was "scope glint" that got you busted...

I honeslty couldn't say as it has been too long ago. I would hope that is something I would have noticed at the time and remembered but it would make sense considering how quickly she spotted it.

Although you could have got her...

Actually, I never did have what I would consider a responsible shot. I was prone with a heavy barrelled varmint rifle and she was far enough to my right that I would have had to sit up and then swing around to get a shot. At that point, I would have found myself shootiong at the wrong end of the deer with a 22 caliber rifle. If I were sitting, it would have been a different story.

 

[Art Eatman]

There's a deal the wildlife biologists call "pattern recognition" or "pattern identification". Wild turkeys are supposedly the best.

Simplest put, if that "stump" wasn't there yesterday, it shouldn't be there today. So the critter says to itself, "It's different! Different is bad! I'm leaving!"

 

[doofus47]

I thought you were talking about game warden busted...

Feeling guilty?....

LOL

I thought that too.

 

[fatwhiteboy]

Not that I feel guilty, it's just you never know when something you did last week, will be against the law this week....

 

[JRP2]

Deer can be very smart animals, I have had does spot me from acrossed a valley when I was lieing flat on the ground. I also once watched a 2point muley walk within 10 feet of my hunting partner and stop and watch him for 20 minutes till my partner shooed him off. Does are not as skittish as bucks are, so it doesnt surprize me that one walked up on you. However if she had previous experience with a rifle then she would not have stuck around long enough to check it out.

 

[doofus47]

Not that I feel guilty, it's just you never know when something you did last week, will be against the law this week....

So true; hunting has given all-new meaning to the term "required reading."

 

[FrontSight]

I fumbled with the sling once, and that got me busted by a 6 pointer.

I now always remove the sling once I get to my spot.

 

[Gunplummer]

I was sitting on a very steep side of a mountain bowhunting one sunny day. I had a couple of doe crossing along the side and wasn't really worried about hand movement that far above them. I had been smoking off and on all morning and it did not affect the doe that had been crossing earlier. I picked up a cigarette pack and the sun reflected off the plastic wrapping. One deer saw that and they all took off. As the man said earlier reflection is picked up right away.

 

[FrankenMauser]

I've been busted by accidentally letting a safety "click" off, before (rather than easing it down).

...But one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen, is the flashing created by a high-polish octagon barrel. As my little brother was stalking a herd of antelope, I watched from about 3/4 of a mile away. As that Browning 1885 moved around in his arms, the barrel (all 28 inches of it) caught the sun, and caused the most ridiculous strobe effect I have ever seen from a hunter. It looked like he was using a signal mirror.

Until I took his rifle, later that day, walked several hundred yards away, and intentionally "signaled" him with it; he didn't understand why he couldn't get close to the antelope.

 

[TXGunNut]

One morning, first day of an extended hunt, I let a button buck sniff my boot while I was in a low tree stand. Another cold morning I had a bird land on my rifle barrel, he didn't like the cold blue steel much. Not the best at camo and sitting still but I have my moments.

 

[Mayor Al]

I guess I miss understood the direction of the topic on this thread. When I used to carry my 357 on trips I was asked by a police officer who saw my holster and box of ammo on the back seat of my truck, if I was armed. I replied ,Yes. and then we we had a very slow and safe discussion about my Concealed Carry permit before all was considered "safe".

More recently I was doing some targets in my back yard (open rural envirionment) with my Saiga 12 ga. when a DNR officer happened by and stopped to talk a bit. He asked if I hunted with the gun and I said yes...with it's 10 round mag hanging out of it at the time. He reminded me of the waterfowl 3 shot limit, to which I replied that I seldom used the Saiga loaded with 10 slugs for shooting birds, but I would keep the rule in mind when I did go after a bird. I did dump 5 rounds of birdshot into a crow that really ****** me off eating Pears from one of my trees, a short time after his warning.

 

[hooligan1]

Yep I've been busted with a "shiny-stock" on our 700....

 

[BIG P]

Yep,one time I gave a doe nine warning shots just to run her off because she was watching my scope lens reflect.Wound up shootin her anyway.I hate fresh backstraps & eggs for beakfast don't you.

 

[WildBill45]

She saw the rifle and sniffed it because she probably smelled your foul smelling human sweat, and thought the rifle was the source, not you!
Scent is the major reason for getting busted out there.

I am concerned that so many thought about the "Busted" as a criminal thing. It makes me wonder... MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[Outlaw81]

I second the smell. Even with fancy cover scent and all the camo in the world, the fact is that you got excited and started sweating! Not as much as working out, but you released some and they got a whiff as soon as the wind whirled around ya. Deer are instinctive! Not smart! Someone earlier said that if deer were smart enough to know what a gun was, then they'd also know that it takes a human to fire one! Amen to that!

To answer ur question.... Yes I've been busted. You could've heard me talking to myself all the way back to the truck wondering how the hell that spike every made me.