Duck Hunters

[alemorkam]

Behind the Okahumpka Recreation Center at sunrise.

[karostay]

Behind the Okahumpka Recreation Center at sunrise.

Reaping natures bounty How refreshing !

[Velvet]

Great photo!

[Two Bills]

I've nothing against hunting at all, and I am probably in a minority of one, but I never saw much skill in blowing birds out of the sky with shotguns.
Single shots from a rifle, or a bow and arrow, yes.
Same thing here in UK with pheasants, just a mass slaughter.
JMO.

[Taltarzac725]

I hope you had some earplugs in!

[photo1902]

I've nothing against hunting at all, and I am probably in a minority of one, but I never saw much skill in blowing birds out of the sky with shotguns.
Single shots from a rifle, or a bow and arrow, yes.
Same thing here in UK with pheasants, just a mass slaughter.
JMO.

Clearly you've never been duck (or dove) hunting if you think it's "just a mass slaughter".

[ThirdOfFive]

I've nothing against hunting at all, and I am probably in a minority of one, but I never saw much skill in blowing birds out of the sky with shotguns.
Single shots from a rifle, or a bow and arrow, yes.
Same thing here in UK with pheasants, just a mass slaughter.
JMO.
Well, "mass" might be overstating it a bit, considering that the legal limit of ducks in any one day in Florida is six. if your bag over your limit of ducks (or other game) in a day you could quite well receive some pretty hefty legal penalties.

Other than that, trying to shoot ducks on the wing with a single projectile is A) nearly impossible, B) is most likely illegal in Florida, and C) probably poses more of a danger to people and property in adjacent areas than it does to the duck. This is a pretty populated area, and a single projectile from the smallest rifle around (.22) with a weight of about 40 grains, can be lethal up to a mile away. In contrast, one pellet from #4 birdshot (a common duck round) weighs in at a whole 2.58 grains and exits the muzzle at a MUCH slower velocity than does a .22 bullet. At anything over 100 yards, you might not even notice if it hits you.

[Taltarzac725]

Well, "mass" might be overstating it a bit, considering that the legal limit of ducks in any one day in Florida is six. if your bag over your limit of ducks (or other game) in a day you could quite well receive some pretty hefty legal penalties.

Other than that, trying to shoot ducks on the wing with a single projectile is A) nearly impossible, B) is most likely illegal in Florida, and C) probably poses more of a danger to people and property in adjacent areas than it does to the duck. This is a pretty populated area, and a single projectile from the smallest rifle around (.22) with a weight of about 40 grains, can be lethal up to a mile away. In contrast, one pellet from #4 birdshot (a common duck round) weighs in at a whole 2.58 grains and exits the muzzle at a MUCH slower velocity than does a .22 bullet. At anything over 100 yards, you might not even notice if it hits you.

Larger caliber rounds probably also result in less duck to eat.

There was a story a few weeks ago about a woman sitting in her back yard with friends who felt like she got hit by a soft ball sized metal object. Turned out a bullet had come down and hit her in the head where it stopped in her jaw or below it. ‘There was no warning:’ Woman struck in head by stray bullet on New Year’s Eve in Lake Mary (https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/01/05/woman-struck-by-bullet-on-new-years-eve-lake-mary-police-say/)

[karostay]

I've nothing against hunting at all, and I am probably in a minority of one, but I never saw much skill in blowing birds out of the sky with shotguns.
Single shots from a rifle, or a bow and arrow, yes.
Same thing here in UK with pheasants, just a mass slaughter.
JMO.

Shooting rife in the air for Ducks !
How reckless

[Michael G.]

Behind the Okahumpka Recreation Center at sunrise.

All is good and many here hunted ducks, but my concern would how far away is the duckblind from the TV buildings from falling bee bees or ricochet bullets from a glancing shot.

[Taltarzac725]

All is good and many here hunted ducks, but my concern would how far away is the duckblind from the TV buildings from falling bee bees or ricochet bullets from a glancing shot.

Maximum Projectile Range: Shotgun (https://www.hunter-ed.com/national/studyGuide/Maximum-Projectile-Range-Shotgun/201099_92859/)

I would hope they keep safety in mind.

[JMintzer]

I've nothing against hunting at all, and I am probably in a minority of one, but I never saw much skill in blowing birds out of the sky with shotguns.
Single shots from a rifle, or a bow and arrow, yes.
Same thing here in UK with pheasants, just a mass slaughter.
JMO.

Ever tried it? It's a lot harder than it looks...

[JMintzer]

Larger caliber rounds probably also result in less duck to eat.

There was a story a few weeks ago about a woman sitting in her back yard with friends who felt like she got hit by a soft ball sized metal object. Turned out a bullet had come down and hit her in the head where it stopped in her jaw or below it. ‘There was no warning:’ Woman struck in head by stray bullet on New Year’s Eve in Lake Mary (https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/01/05/woman-struck-by-bullet-on-new-years-eve-lake-mary-police-say/)

Good thing they don't use "bullets" for duck hunting...

[JMintzer]

All is good and many here hunted ducks, but my concern would how far away is the duckblind from the TV buildings from falling bee bees or ricochet bullets from a glancing shot.

I'f you're more than 500 feet away (and most likely less), you're safe...

[JMintzer]

Maximum Projectile Range: Shotgun (https://www.hunter-ed.com/national/studyGuide/Maximum-Projectile-Range-Shotgun/201099_92859/)

I would hope they keep safety in mind.

I'm sure they do...

[ElDiabloJoe]

All is good and many here hunted ducks, but my concern would how far away is the duckblind from the TV buildings from falling bee bees or ricochet bullets from a glancing shot.
BBs? The steel (lead is no longer used) inside a shotgun shell is called 'shot.' As in bird shot. If it were double-ought buck, it would contain 9 32-caliber pellets. Roughly. Bird shot is MUCH smaller.

[Nucky]

Duck Season, Wabbit Season!

Is that the Robertsons? It’s a skill, it’s a sport and it’s Biblically okey dokey!

Shooting Donald Duck is a whole lot of fun and a whole lot of work. Earplugs are a must.

[Raywatkins]

I tried clay pigeon shooting once.
Perfect score.
25 shots.
25 misses.
Ducks and clays safe but humans watch out.
Decided golf was slightly less frustrating.
It’s a great picture from OP.
At least the wild ducks have a chance which is more than the farmed ones we eat have.
And that is whole different debate.

[Worldseries27]

i tried clay pigeon shooting once.
Perfect score.
25 shots.
25 misses.
Ducks and clays safe but humans watch out.
Decided golf was slightly less frustrating.
It’s a great picture from op.
At least the wild ducks have a chance which is more than the farmed ones we eat have.
And that is whole different debate.
last chances?

[72eagleman]

What goes up must come down. If you were to shoot a rifle into the air, the bullet would come back to earth at a velocity that would be capable of killing someone, that is why shotguns are used. What they are doing is perfectly legal as long as the hunter has the proper license.

[Causey]

Its funny reading a debate between people who have no idea what they are talking about.

[Bay Kid]

Great shot...photo....

[Andyb]

Law requires steel shot, so distance is reduced more. 50 yards is about as far as the shot goes for any knock down efficiency.

[Chamo]

When does it end? It can’t be safe for too much longer as the villages are growing and putting houses all around that lake.

[Regorp]

Behind the Okahumpka Recreation Center at sunrise.

Thinking it should be illegal for any kind of hunting near ALL rec centers.

[Nucky]

Were they shooting toward the Turnpike noise? Let them have fun. They were shooting at ducks before the houses were built.

[JMintzer]

Duck Season, Wabbit Season!



https://media2.giphy.com/media/TKCkxjqomEDKw/giphy.gif

[JMintzer]

Thinking it should be illegal for any kind of hunting near ALL rec centers.

The hunters were there first...

If they're off property, and not aiming at the rec center, it's nunya... (as in nunya bidness...)

[Kenswing]

Its funny reading a debate between people who have no idea what they are talking about.

It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so sad. This whole site has pretty much turned into an uninformed, agenda driven mosh pit.

[Marathon Man]

All is good and many here hunted ducks, but my concern would how far away is the duckblind from the TV buildings from falling bee bees or ricochet bullets from a glancing shot.

That information is available.

[Chi-Town]

It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so sad. This whole site has pretty much turned into an uninformed, agenda driven mosh pit.

Mosh pit reference was an excellent closer.

[Veiragirl]

Behind the Okahumpka Recreation Center at sunrise.

I'm from the NorthEast and was not raised with guns or hunters ( we had our Sicilian friends for that.) For the life of me I cannot understand why ANYONE would get pleasure out of killing something. It seems to be a regional thing. Do they eat these ducks or just mame them and keep hunting for more undefensible ducks with their guns.

Sick people

[Veiragirl]

Reaping natures bounty How refreshing !

What's more refreshing is when they shoot each other by mistake.

[Veiragirl]

Maximum Projectile Range: Shotgun (https://www.hunter-ed.com/national/studyGuide/Maximum-Projectile-Range-Shotgun/201099_92859/)

I would hope they keep safety in mind.

I'm sure that safety is thier first priority

[Taltarzac725]

I'm from the NorthEast and was not raised with guns or hunters ( we had our Sicilian friends for that.) For the life of me I cannot understand why ANYONE would get pleasure out of killing something. It seems to be a regional thing. Do they eat these ducks or just mame them and keep hunting for more undefensible ducks with their guns.

Sick people

They probably eat them.

[Bill14564]

I'm from the NorthEast and was not raised with guns or hunters ( we had our Sicilian friends for that.) For the life of me I cannot understand why ANYONE would get pleasure out of killing something. It seems to be a regional thing. Do they eat these ducks or just mame them and keep hunting for more undefensible ducks with their guns.

Sick people

You admit you have no idea what you are talking about yet feel entitled to judge it anyway.

[retiredguy123]

They probably eat them.
Or make some duck tape.

[Kenswing]

I'm from the NorthEast and was not raised with guns or hunters ( we had our Sicilian friends for that.) For the life of me I cannot understand why ANYONE would get pleasure out of killing something. It seems to be a regional thing. Do they eat these ducks or just mame them and keep hunting for more undefensible ducks with their guns.

Sick people
There are plenty of hunters in the northeast. Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t make it wrong.

Unless you’re a veg/vegan something was killed to feed you.

[photo1902]

I'm from the NorthEast and was not raised with guns or hunters ( we had our Sicilian friends for that.) For the life of me I cannot understand why ANYONE would get pleasure out of killing something. It seems to be a regional thing. Do they eat these ducks or just mame them and keep hunting for more undefensible ducks with their guns.

Sick people

Hands down funniest post of the day. Correction, ludicrous, not funny.

[fishon]

City people sure are funny!

[Number 10 GI]

What's more refreshing is when they shoot each other by mistake.

WOW, that's disturbing!!!

[JMintzer]

I tried clay pigeon shooting once.
Perfect score.
25 shots.
25 misses.
Ducks and clays safe but humans watch out.
Decided golf was slightly less frustrating.
It’s a great picture from OP.
At least the wild ducks have a chance which is more than the farmed ones we eat have.
And that is whole different debate.

We have a saying about people like you... "He couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat..." :clap2::clap2::clap2:

[JMintzer]

What's more refreshing is when they shoot each other by mistake.

Speaking of "sick people"...

[JMintzer]

Or make some duck tape.

https://images.discerningassets.com/image/upload/c_fit,h_1000,w_1000/c_fit,fl_relative,h_1.0,l_deco_watermark,o_40,w_1. 0/v1596160779/Duck_Tape_32x40_print_file_v5uwz7.jpg

[JMintzer]

I'm from the NorthEast and was not raised with guns or hunters ( we had our Sicilian friends for that.) For the life of me I cannot understand why ANYONE would get pleasure out of killing something. It seems to be a regional thing. Do they eat these ducks or just mame them and keep hunting for more undefensible ducks with their guns.

Sick people

Yes, they eat them...

Unlike the meat you get from the grocery store that died of "natural causes"...

[Number 10 GI]

I worked nights and Saturday mornings in a slaughterhouse in my midwestern hometown during my Senior year of high school. It was really miraculous how the cattle would walk into the building, lay down on the floor and turn into steaks, hamburger, roasts, and ribs. All we had to do was wrap the meat and load it onto railcars.

I could tell you the "rest of the story", but my post would probably be deleted and I would get a vacation from the forum.

[jimjamuser]

I've nothing against hunting at all, and I am probably in a minority of one, but I never saw much skill in blowing birds out of the sky with shotguns.
Single shots from a rifle, or a bow and arrow, yes.
Same thing here in UK with pheasants, just a mass slaughter.
JMO.
A shotgun shoots out a pattern that is MAYBE a 1-yard in diameter circle at about 50 yards. So a duck passing overhead MUST be led by a precise amount in order to score a hit. It is NOT all that easy. And a flushing pheasant in a QUIET FIELD makes you jump because it sounds like a Boing 727 aircraft lifting off. Plus the lead MUST BE BOTH above the riding bird and to the left or right angle that it is going. It is NOT some piece of cake to take game birds !

[Worldseries27]

Humans are born predators yet some of us wish it weren't so.
Ask the suffering ukranians whose cities and citizens, men, women and helpless children are being slaughtered daily by a madman on live tv

[Two Bills]

A shotgun shoots out a pattern that is MAYBE a 1-yard in diameter circle at about 50 yards. So a duck passing overhead MUST be led by a precise amount in order to score a hit. It is NOT all that easy. And a flushing pheasant in a QUIET FIELD makes you jump because it sounds like a Boing 727 aircraft lifting off. Plus the lead MUST BE BOTH above the riding bird and to the left or right angle that it is going. It is NOT some piece of cake to take game birds !

As I said in my earlier in what has become a rather contentious statement, I am not against hunting, and before the UK government banned guns I used them regularly.
I had a .410 I used for vermin (rats) control around the farm.
I had a .22 to pop off the occasional rabbit for the pot, and did quite a bit of clay and skeet shooting on the range.
I used to course my old greyhounds over the winter stubble.
They were not the dogs they were in their prime, and most times the hare got away, but they enjoyed the chase, and I just loved to see them stretch out.
Then the government banned that as well.
My old dogs were livid!

PS. Didn't realize you were a ballistics expert as well! :icon_wink:

[Worldseries27]

i worked nights and saturday mornings in a slaughterhouse in my midwestern hometown during my senior year of high school. It was really miraculous how the cattle would walk into the building, lay down on the floor and turn into steaks, hamburger, roasts, and ribs. All we had to do was wrap the meat and load it onto railcars.

I could tell you the "rest of the story", but my post would probably be deleted and i would get a vacation from the forum.
i've seen this movie before

[ThirdOfFive]

As I said in my earlier in what has become a rather contentious statement, I am not against hunting, and before the UK government banned guns I used them regularly.
I had a .410 I used for vermin (rats) control around the farm.
I had a .22 to pop off the occasional rabbit for the pot, and did quite a bit of clay and skeet shooting on the range.
I used to course my old greyhounds over the winter stubble.
They were not the dogs they were in their prime, and most times the hare got away, but they enjoyed the chase, and I just loved to see them stretch out.
Then the government banned that as well.
My old dogs were livid!

PS. Didn't realize you were a ballistics expert as well! :icon_wink:
How well did the people in the UK take to having guns banned? I understand the reason(s) of course, but not in my wildest imaginings could I see the rationale for taking guns from people who used a .410 for vermin control and a .22 to hunt small game.

Americans are largely born and raised according to a different ethic. People of my generation (which of course includes most of the folks who post in this site) were often born and raised with guns, and saw them as no different than any other tool. Using myself as an example: my dad was a collector and at the time of his death had over 50 guns, some quite rare and valuable. He was also an amateur gunsmith and could turn a dilapidated old farm gun into something nearly new in appearance. In fact he built my first deer rifle, a .38-55, from an old Marlin lever-action receiver to which he attached a brand new barrel, as well as carving and fitting the stock and forearm himself, out of walnut. I got it when I was fourteen and shot my first deer with it, a 10-point whitetail, the year after. I gave it to my son on his 18th birthday. I have no doubt my grandson will inherit it one day as well.

Yes. Most of us understand ballistics. Are we experts? Maybe some of us are. I'm not, but I understand enough to know the capabilities of any gun I shoot on a regular basis: things like muzzle velocity, bullet weight and construction, measured drop over a certain range (my rifles are sighted in at 100 yards which means I can hit the bulls-eye at that range, but also know how much the bullet will be over or under that point of aim at varying distances). For example, my 30-30 is sighted in at precisely 100 yards, but not all game (or targets) are precisely 100 yards away. As an example, the rifle might therefore hit four inches high at 50 yards, and four inches low at 150 yards, depending on bullet weight, powder load, etc. We also understand things like what gun and caliber is best for hunting in thick woods growth vs. open-field hunting, types of bullets and their uses (JHP, - jacketed hollow point, FMJ - full metal jacket, some others), expansion of the bullet at various ranges, effect of wind on bullet flight, how much to lead a running (or flying) target, etc. etc.

It all goes back to the gun being a tool. No one of us would attempt to buy, say, a table saw or electric arc welder and try to use it without completely familiarizing ourselves with it, and that includes not only reading the manual but also practicing with it over and over so that we're proficient in its use. To do otherwise is not only totally stupid but also dangerous both to the user and other people who may be present at the time.

There is nothing wrong with knowing and understanding guns.

[Joeint]

There are plenty of hunters in the northeast. Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t make it wrong.

Unless you’re a veg/vegan something was killed to feed you.

If you're a vegan the ground where your sustenance comes from had to be worked killing anything in the ground, worms, moles, groundhogs, and much more.

[RickyLee]

I'm from the NorthEast and was not raised with guns or hunters ( whad our Sicilian friends for that.) For the life of me I cannot understand why ANYONE would get pleasure out of killing something. It seems to be a regional thing. Do they eat these ducks or just mame them and keep hunting for more undefensible ducks with their guns.

Sick people

I would say they just laugh & jet off in their speed boat & let the ducks flop around in the water... LOL... Your Rediculas

[ThirdOfFive]

I would say they just laugh & jet off in their speed boat & let the ducks flop around in the water... LOL... Your Rediculas
Quick! Run! Hide!

Thought police gonna get ya.

[Two Bills]

How well did the people in the UK take to having guns banned? I understand the reason(s) of course, but not in my wildest imaginings could I see the rationale for taking guns from people who used a .410 for vermin control and a .22 to hunt small game.

UK was never a gun society in the sense that the US is.
Most owned weapons were sporting and low caliber rifles.
You can still own, but the BS and red tape, around ownership is a PITA.
Now only the bad guys have/use handguns and sawn-offs which they mainly use to kill each other, which is a bonus!
We have a knife problem though, and no amount of bans or legislation seems to be able to control that.

[KeithRiz]

What's more refreshing is when they shoot each other by mistake.
Wow, such tolarance.