Using Rifle Scopes To Glass With!

[Elk4me]

Saturday morning over by Twisp off SR20 Loop Loop Pass I saw a guy doing just that, he should have gotten a better scope cuz he didn't see that extra fork on that 3 point that I shot. His rifle scoping the buck made me look that direction and my Steiner binoculars and Leupold scope picked out the 3rd point and I waited for it to get closer. Shot it a 100 ft. above the road and backed my truck up to the side and slid it in the back. Not bad for an old man with a rifle in one hand and a cane in the other.

[The Weazle]

Nice buck, and glad you got it done, but do you think he may have been passing on that one?  I have bino'ed some deer and found them legal, looked down the scope and decided for one reason or another not to shoot. 

Regardless of that situation, I have never just thrown up the rifle and scoped out a situation without putting up the bino's or spotter first.

[huntnphool]

Interesting thread guys.  I can't imagine that people do this....

 Believe it, it happens quite often actually.

[huntingbaldguy]

Am i way off here? 

Guy on FB just posts a pic of an elk, in modern deer season.  He took the picture through his scope.  I asked if he was glassing with his scope, he said no his binos are just 10x25 so they suck and he wanted a picture of the elk.  He justified it by saying his safety was on and the rifle was pointed in a safe direction.  I don't see the rifle being pointed at an animal not legal to take, being a safe direction and see it as a violation of firearms safety protocol, and think it's just as bad as glassing with a scope.  What say you?

[The Weazle]

I'd say if there wasn't a person in the picture, his rifle was unloaded and he was legal to have a rifle, then ok.  Besides, if you read it on Facebook, or Huntwa, it's true!

[The Weazle]

Am i way off here? 

Guy on FB just posts a pic of an elk, in modern deer season.  He took the picture through his scope.  I asked if he was glassing with his scope, he said no his binos are just 10x25 so they suck and he wanted a picture of the elk.  He justified it by saying his safety was on and the rifle was pointed in a safe direction.  I don't see the rifle being pointed at an animal not legal to take, being a safe direction and see it as a violation of firearms safety protocol, and think it's just as bad as glassing with a scope.  What say you?

Also, what is a safe direction to you?  Have you ever sped in a vehicle?  Was it safe?  Pretty subjective huh?

[huntingbaldguy]

Am i way off here? 

Guy on FB just posts a pic of an elk, in modern deer season.  He took the picture through his scope.  I asked if he was glassing with his scope, he said no his binos are just 10x25 so they suck and he wanted a picture of the elk.  He justified it by saying his safety was on and the rifle was pointed in a safe direction.  I don't see the rifle being pointed at an animal not legal to take, being a safe direction and see it as a violation of firearms safety protocol, and think it's just as bad as glassing with a scope.  What say you?

Also, what is a safe direction to you?  Have you ever sped in a vehicle?  Was it safe?  Pretty subjective huh?

In my world, no, not subjective at all.  You don't point a gun at something you don't want to kill.  Simple as that.

[MIKEXRAY]

I've been scoped a couple of times and always during bear season when I am archery hunting. It is a very crappy feeling to look through your binos & look right at a rifle pointed at you. I confronted the last guy but he denied, denied , denied.   The guy taking a picture of a bull / elk he passed up doesn't bother me as much, lots of people have put their rifle on animals and decide to pass. A quick picture pointed at an animal is a lot better then using your scope to glass a whole canyon. Not condoning , just better situation.

[X-Force]

Am i way off here? 

Guy on FB just posts a pic of an elk, in modern deer season.  He took the picture through his scope.  I asked if he was glassing with his scope, he said no his binos are just 10x25 so they suck and he wanted a picture of the elk.  He justified it by saying his safety was on and the rifle was pointed in a safe direction.  I don't see the rifle being pointed at an animal not legal to take, being a safe direction and see it as a violation of firearms safety protocol, and think it's just as bad as glassing with a scope.  What say you?

Also, what is a safe direction to you?  Have you ever sped in a vehicle?  Was it safe?  Pretty subjective huh?

In my world, no, not subjective at all.  You don't point a gun at something you don't want to kill.  Simple as that.

We have a picture on hunt-wa of a guy target practicing on a private range when 12-15 big horns walked through. He snapped a picture with his rifle down range and commented how his range had a traffic jam. Where's your outrage there? Basically the same situation. No finger on the trigger, safety on, no intent to shoot, the only difference is the viewpoint of the camera man.

[huntingbaldguy]

We have a picture on hunt-wa of a guy target practicing on a private range when 12-15 big horns walked through. He snapped a picture with his rifle down range and commented how his range had a traffic jam. Where's your outrage there? Basically the same situation. No finger on the trigger, safety on, no intent to shoot, the only difference is the viewpoint of the camera man.

How can you be outraged at something you didn't see? 

Basically, i was taught that if you relax on gun safety, you're eventually going to have an accident.  I've seen that happen.  Luckily no one was injured or killed, but i've seen someone think, hey i cleared this gun last week, it's empty, but turns out he's been transporting a loaded gun "somehow" and fired off a round when he had no idea there was one in there.  I just don't relax on stuff like that.  If i saw that, i would unload the gun, put the gun up and wait for the range to clear like anyone else.  At the range, on a cold range/paper check, i lean rifles against he bench so the muzzle isn't pointing down range, even though there's RO's walking the concrete to make sure no one goes near guns.  I'm a safety nut, everyone should be.  I just don't make exceptions.  If you have binos, you can take a pic through them. 

Seriously, what happened to this?  I try to follow this to a T, every time I'm in the presence of a gun.

[swanny]

On the small piece of private land I am allowed to hunt, saw at least 4 guys with no binoculars, just rifles and scopes. It really is amazing to me that you will spend $1,000s on a very high power scope, a custom rifle, deer tag, fuel, etc, and then not get a damn pair of binoculars. Fortunately, none of them ever pointed at me.

What I want to know, is it really more comfortable for you to point your gun at something all day to see what it is?

[lokidog]

I think the argument falls apart when you gripe about scoping an animal you don't intend to shoot... I think we have ALL put a scope on a small buck or a doe to see if there was a shooter in the group.  As someone said, this is a far cry from scoping off a landing looking for random animals.   

[Natas5150]

I think the argument falls apart when you gripe about scoping an animal you don't intend to shoot... I think we have ALL put a scope on a small buck or a doe to see if there was a shooter in the group.  As someone said, this is a far cry from scoping off a landing looking for random animals.   

 

[Yondering]

Am i way off here? 

Guy on FB just posts a pic of an elk, in modern deer season.  He took the picture through his scope.  I asked if he was glassing with his scope, he said no his binos are just 10x25 so they suck and he wanted a picture of the elk.  He justified it by saying his safety was on and the rifle was pointed in a safe direction.  I don't see the rifle being pointed at an animal not legal to take, being a safe direction and see it as a violation of firearms safety protocol, and think it's just as bad as glassing with a scope.  What say you?

Also, what is a safe direction to you?  Have you ever sped in a vehicle?  Was it safe?  Pretty subjective huh?

In my world, no, not subjective at all.  You don't point a gun at something you don't want to kill.  Simple as that.

Your rifle is always pointed at something. People seem to forget that when talking about the gun safety rules. You intentionally pointing it in a certain direction doesn't make it somehow "point" differently, or be more likely to go off, if you've excercised the other safety rules.

I have no problem with the guy taking a picture through his scope. I do have a big problem with someone glassing me with their rifle while hunting. Big difference in carelessness and intent, IMO.

[Elk4me]

Nice buck, and glad you got it done, but do you think he may have been passing on that one?  I have bino'ed some deer and found them legal, looked down the scope and decided for one reason or another not to shoot. 

Regardless of that situation, I have never just thrown up the rifle and scoped out a situation without putting up the bino's or spotter first.

I watched him get out of his truck without Binos unless they were in his pack. He was parked next to me. I was disabled enough I could only go about fifty yards from the truck and sit down. I watched him do it more than once. And yes, I have pulled my gun up many times to look at animals when they appeared when they are moving and I might have to make a quick shot, but I prefer the binos whenever I can.