Animals on the shooting range

Rob

Rob

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How about your strangest animal at the shooting range?

This summer I was shooting at a local 100 yard range, when a big fat woodchuck/groundhog (for Westerners, thats a gigantic gopher) started wandering around the target stands...I could have, but I decided not to...

It reminded me of one spring in Alberta when I was shooting at a target and the sound woke up two moose in the bush to one side of my range. They wandered out into the field right behind the target and layed down in the muddy field. They wouldn't move and I had to move my target stand. After awhile they got tired of the racket and wandered off.

When I lived in Vancouver and shot at the old Barnett Rifle Club range on the northside of Burnaby mountain, a fellow went out (and up) to the 300 yard target. But when he stepped into the woods to relieve himself, the range officer declared the range was clear, and firing commenced. The fellow had to hide in the woods until the next ceasefire. Deer also used to wander out onto that range.
 
We have WT,mule deer,rabbits, gophers and many birds. I think that in Alberta, all approve ranges are game preserves so no shooting of any thing. The strangest was a pair of biathlon shooters that took a short cut and crossed the range about 50 yards down range. I was shooting at 100, I did not see them till I had fired my 25-06, we were all terrified. The range has changed so no more problems. In Arizona, the guys were setting up steel animals on the full bore range. When all was complete and range was about to open, there were too many pigs out. A herd of javilena had walked onto the range.
 
We had groundhogs living full time at my previous range, and I have seen moose, black bear, deer, lynx, grouse and rabbits regularly at the range. The groundhog actually keeps on eating as we shoot skeet, until we are within a few yards of him. Last summer while shooting trap at my new range, a muskrat wandered across the field. But the craziest thing that I have seen, is a group of wild turkeys run across the skeet field as we were shooting. These were released bird, that I never saw after that summer. All of the ranges that I belong to are wildlife sanctuaries, so shooting an animal on the range will result in your membership being revoked immediately.
 
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Had a young stone sheep ram on the range in Whitehorse, as well as a very upset cow moose with calf and several black bears. Same rules no shooting critters on the range.......I think gophers are open season though.
 
I was out shooting in a cut block. Sighting in my hunting rifles. Been shooting for about a hour. Out walk 2 black bear at about 50yrds. They just looked at me and kept walking.
Stopping to eat a few times before disappearing into the tree line.

I swear they know when opening day is.
 
c-fbmi said:
Had a young stone sheep ram on the range in Whitehorse, as well as a very upset cow moose with calf and several black bears. Same rules no shooting critters on the range.......I think gophers are open season though.
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Me too. Many times I've had to wait for turkeys to get out of the way when I was shooting, but the ground hogs are always in the free fire zone.
 

Drove to the range one day last fall and I thought that someone was shooting at and forgot a goose decoy on the 60yd berm. Another time I was shooting at the 500 yd lane and noticed a lynx over in the left shooting lane, didn't seem to be phased by my shooting then casually walked in to the bush.
 
At the range I go to if wildlife appears on the range all shooting stops and everything goes safe. Out it cut blocks I've been shooting all day and using tannerite and have had deer hang out just behind me all day. They know when the hunting season is
 
A pheasant that landed and took up a position stood half-way between me and the 25 yard target on the handgun range while I was shooting (Yes, I thought about it and no I didn't.)
 
At the Hinton range deer were always present, gunfire did not bother them, the odd bear, both Black and Grizz and on an occasion or two, a Cougar would show up. Grande Cache was probably the best, one afternoon I was alone sighting in some of Roy's big boys (340, 378 & 460) when I had a sow Grizz and her two cubs climb down the west berm and slowly walk across in front of the 100m backstop. They knew I was there as they kept sniffing the air and watching me, no signs of aggression, just passing through, when changing targets I always had a 29 in a shoulder holster, drew it once when a Cougar appeared on the berm about 20 feet away, it hissed a bit then very slowly moved on, when it had disappeared I de-cocked, re-holstered and back to the bench. On one other occasion just as I ceased fire, a Wolverine appeared at the 50m line walked towards me sniffing all the time, at the 25m line I stood up and it stopped. What happened next was a classic Mexican standoff, we starred at each other for about a full minute, it let out a low growl, took a leak and excited stage right. At the Williams Lake range we had a group of Mulies that would feed on the lengthwise berms as we were firing, did not bother them in the least, once we had a father and son confronted by an aggressive Black bear that had to be put down, sightings of other bears and Cougars were common. The west has been a far cry from eastern Ontario, when range users would report a deer sighting on the road into the range and the odd Groundhog would show up and hang around for a bit. After the Wolverine incident in Grande Cache I started carrying a camera, but nothing like what I had witnessed ever happened again, we also had a fair collection of RM Goats that would watch us from their resting spots high above the Smokey river to the east, the gunfire seemed to attract them, they would show up after we started firing and they were about 750m-800m in direct line with the range.
 
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Had a WT doe block the 50 yard target while I was shooting my .54 Renegade.I let her pass........fired smoke and all 100gr FFG.........she began to feed so I shot for an hour or so and she was still grazing when I left.......Harold
 
Dezol said:

Drove to the range one day last fall and I thought that someone was shooting at and forgot a goose decoy on the 60yd berm. Another time I was shooting at the 500 yd lane and noticed a lynx over in the left shooting lane, didn't seem to be phased by my shooting then casually walked in to the bush.
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Candle Lake sure has a nice range..........

I've saw a doe there one day , feeding just to the left of the 100 yd marker in your picture.

Always wanted to see a crow or magpie down range. LOL

357
 
I watched a red fox make a beeline from the berm to the bench a few months ago, he veered off eventually but I couldn't believe anything would hang out at a place with so much lead flying around
 
Rob said:
How about your strangest animal at the shooting range?

This summer I was shooting at a local 100 yard range, when a big fat woodchuck/groundhog (for Westerners, thats a gigantic gopher) started wandering around the target stands...I could have, but I decided not to...

It reminded me of one spring in Alberta when I was shooting at a target and the sound woke up two moose in the bush to one side of my range. They wandered out into the field right behind the target and layed down in the muddy field. They wouldn't move and I had to move my target stand. After awhile they got tired of the racket and wandered off.

When I lived in Vancouver and shot at the old Barnett Rifle Club range on the northside of Burnaby mountain, a fellow went out (and up) to the 300 yard target. But when he stepped into the woods to relieve himself, the range officer declared the range was clear, and firing commenced. The fellow had to hide in the woods until the next ceasefire. Deer also used to wander out onto that range.
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Did you ever run into the Sasquatch that worked there?
That whole place has changed now too.
Loads and loads of remediation done on the old site.
Rob
 
I remember a cow wandering onto the range......of course.....when you are at the O.P.....fire mission battery. ..has been called.....and 105 rounds are coming downrange .....you don't go out and shoo the bovine away
 
I have a permanent range set up on my land just north of town, and although it is open grassland, there is enough small bits of bush to hold a few deer. So deer are not unusual when out shooting. But I did have interference from a mature bull moose a couple years ago. We are not in traditional moose country, so that was the most unusual sighting so far.
 
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