oldelkhunter

Thank you Hunter_59 I agree with you completely


Like the man said nothing behind the buck but air pure uphill shot

James B

Howler. You like to make excuses for what every hunter knows is a absolute no no. Remote areas don't excuse lousy habits. Thank God you are in the big minority on this issue. When next I hunt those remote areas, I hope you are not there. I can't say anymore. This is an understood rule of hunting. No skyline blasting.

SpyroAndes

Maybe the problem is the word "skyline"...

How about the phrase "non-visible backstop"?

Have you ever taken a shot at an animal that had a non-visible backstop?

Like a animal in the woods?

If you are shooting level or even slightly uphill, because of a sitting position, at a deer in the woods... woods behind him or not... you don't have 100% visibility of the eventual backstop.

Like when I shot that caribou, while the bank/ridge he was on wasn't very high, like 15' above me and 30' above the tundra on the other side of the river, it did conceal alot of land. Granted, that I had glassed the enitre area for miles and was 99.99999999999999999999% positive that there wasn't anouther human with 3 miles of me, even if I had missed, my bullet probably wouldn't make it 1000 yards past the caribou, you wouldn't have taken that shot?

This isn't about lousy habits... this is about dealing with reality... If people waited for a 100% solid non-ricochett backround, I don't think many would be taking shots.

Don't take offense because this comment isn't directed at you specifically... however... I think that alot of people on this site talk a good game but, in the field, it really becomes a case of... do as I say... not as I do...

Since we are playing hypotheticals here...

If you were in a bush plane crash and needed food, I doubt that you'd be starving to death due to passing on a shot because the backstop wasn't 100% solid and non-ricochetable...

SA

James B

I quess that when you get into hypotheticals, A person may be able to justify almost anything. I would hate to take a humane life but hypothetically I can see where it could happen. However the question asked here was not hypothetical. It was asking for opinions on skyline shots. I think that skyline shots are not acceptable. Now could I dream up a reason where I might make an exception? The answer is that I would have to be there to know. To save my life? Never been there but ones desire to survive is pretty strong and its hard to imagine that one would not do what it takes to survive. That doesn't change my opinion that skyline shots are not acceptable under almost any other circumstance.

Do I practice what I preach? The answer is I sure try to. I am not infalable but I was taught firearms safty my my father and tried to pass it on to my kids. Be sure of whats behind the shot you are going to take. Thats the most basic of firearm safty rules. Its impossible to be sure whats behind a skyline shot. Where I do most of my hunting is prairie when the animals are out feeding and high steep canyon walls when they are in cover. The place you don't shoot is when they are going over the ridge to the next canyon.

SpyroAndes

James,

I'll take your hesitation is not answering "no skyline shots" to my hypothetical as a "yes" to the question. That when push came to shove, you would risk the safety of another.

Anyway, am I correct in assuming that you denounce all hound hunting for bears, lions, coons and other treeing animals as being unsafe?

SA

huntnmuleys

spryo, id have taken that shot at the caribou. without a doubt.

i about got shot a couple years back, me and a buddy were sneaking up on a nice whitetail buck. anyway, we were close, and he was about to jump a fence and be on the property we could hunt. these out of staters who were hunting with a local "guide" (and i use that term loosly) drove up, got out of their vehicle, got off the road to be legal and started shooting. their first bullet went directly over my left shoulder, nearly killing me. my buddy thought i was hit. nearly a tragic day.

now, what did the out of stater do wrong?

in this case nothing.

my buddy and i were sneaking through an irrigation ditch in the middle of this field to get at this buck. when we walked in it, it was about chest deep, and it was not plowed and planted like everything around it. there were weeds 3 feet high all along it. we had to sorta part the bushes to look out and see where we were at in coorelation to the buck. we were both wearing our blaze orange, but honestly there was no way in hell that guy could have seen us. i got lucky, plain and simple. after the first shot, we both hit the deck, where we were totally safe in the ditch. after the fact we even caught up with the other hunter and gave him a ride, and told him where we were when he shot. he was devastated, even though we both told him over and over it wasnt his fault. i have been to the spot where he shot from, and there was NO way he could have seen us there. this wasnt a skyline shot, or even a cant see my backstop shot, just nearly tragically bad luck.

i of course would never take a sky line shot here. i alway check my background before i shoot. but like spyro was saying, are we always DEAD sure of what is behind what were shooting at. i have shot deer in the trees. i could see what looked like my background, but what was really there? looking back, maybe that isnt always right either. i have heard my bullets ricochet. i believe we all need to do what we can to be safe,
and maybe that means holding off on some no brainer shots once in a while.

practice what i preach? i try, but again, im not infalable.

James B

If push comes to shove I can't say that I would risk anothers life. I don't know where you got that Idea. I did say that most including maybe me would do many things to survive but thats a damn far cry form the subject of this discussion. I have never hunted anything with dogs. can't answer that question at all. No hound hunters up my way. When I was a kid we used to have some hound hunters from down south come up to our area in the summer to hunt coons in the cornfields but I never went with them and have no idea how its done. We have cougars but I have never seen them hunted with dogs. We don't have bears here. I have often hunted them in Sask but never with dogs.

kshunter

There is always going to be hypothetical situations where a certain type of situation could work... Everybody has their opinion on that, and that's fine. But never under any circumstance would I call "Skyline shots, responsible shooting". And yes I do follow responsible shooting and would pass up any shot that wasn't one. Risking your own life for a trophy is one thing, but risking a life of someone else is another. There are a lot of risks that can't be controlled when hunting(ex. ricochet accidents, etc.) but skyline shots is a hunters choice to take. Any skyline shot that kills a person should be and usually is considered not an accident, but manslaughter, in the name of the law. It's your choice; you tell me if it's worth the risks...

Elk2901

I agree completely with not taking sky-line shots. It violates the basic 10 rules of safe shooting.

I am familiar with the shooting accident that kshunter reported. We must be from the same county in Kansas - Washington/Clay counties.

Hunter_59

Also, to reiterate the point that has gotten lost in this worthwile discussion. This skyline shot was taken on a popular tv hunting show that I am sure a lot of young hunters watch. If we are going to condone this type of shooting behavior on tv then what is to stop these young hunters from doing the same thing or maybe even more reckless behavior. Careless behavior breeds more careless behavior! If we relax the 10 commandments of shooting safety then the outdoors gets more dangerous for all of us.