Range Deer - 1 by kpkina, on Flickr

I've seen that a bunch of times at the range/club I belong to. You just watch to make sure they don't get too close to your target. Squirrel, Raccoon, even Turkeys. If it ain't season ,they are safe.

Pretty standard for ranges to call for a cease fire when anything breathing is down range.

Reminds me of a range I went to a few times. The guy that ran it told everyone that if they saw a coyote anywhere near the lanes it was open season. Apparently he lost a couple of dogs to the critters and was holding a grudge.

In Florida, it's a season/permit/location issue if that's a deer. If it's a coyote, it's (within reason) shoot on sight.

A zoo where I shoot. Deer and Turkeys mainly. All game laws apply.

Los Altos Rod and Gun ?????

That's definitely a cease-fire at the outdoor range I've frequented the most over the last decade.

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
Los Altos Rod and Gun ?????

Bingo! How'd you know?

When I was stationed in Germany we ran into this situation a few times when the Reh deer would stroll into the impact area. Reh is the small deer they have there, not the "hirsh" or elk.

The very busy public range I worked at, the deer would feed on the grass that only grew directly in front of the benches on the rifle range. The fact that people were shooting 30 yards away didn't seem to phase them.

My greatest ironic hunting moment was two days before I was going north to bow hunt, using the bow range for some last minute practice. Repeatedly having to stop shooting because there were deer in the way of the targets. (of course only to go away and see nothing)

We go cold when the deer show up on our range. We have, on occasion, had the RO close only certain lanes on the 600yd night shoots as they crossed over certain lanes.

Never seen anything other than deer on the range.

Tony.

My club is adjacent to a state gameland. We see deer, pheasant, groundhog and game birds on the ranges and fields. I wouldn't necessarily call a cease fire but I would make sure that no one shoots at the animals. We are a sportsman's club that maintains a good relationship with the game commission, we don't want to jeopardize that relationship by indiscriminate shooting. If a deer crossed the range in season and a shooter held a valid permit I can see making an exception. To the best of my knowledge the next time that confluence of events occurs will be the first.

Our Conservation committee raises quail, woe be to the shooter that takes a quail.

At the trap and skeet fields it's not unusual to see a groundhog munching on the grass in the shot fall area. We don't stop shooting that I have yet to see a groundhog skedaddle from shot falling around them.

We had a turkey walk on the firing line in Miami one day. The RO simply said "don't even think about it".

In field matches there is great potential for animals down range. Cattle, deer, antelope, coyotes, and turkeys are common. These are matches for precision shooters, with target distances from a few hundred yards to maybe a mile. If animals are within a few hundred yards of the target zones, then maybe there won't be a course hold. If it's cattle down range and the land/cattle owner are a bit nervous about guns and their prize animals, there will be a course hold. And maybe a motorcycle or ATV down range to shoo away the herd.

The attached picture is of a square public range, probably with targets at 100 yards. Animals are right next to the targets. Shooters will almost certain include those with limited skills. Rifles will almost certainly include those that aren't sighted in properly, or have sights that don't promote high accuracy. Guns will almost certainly include those with mediocre accurate -- AK47, Mini 14, guns with shot out barrels. This is absolutely a cease fire situation.

At our club yes.
We will get all kinds of wildlife down range.
The animals seam to be used to the gun fire on our range and the sheriffs range next door. They will just walk out on the range when people are shooting.
We were in the middle of an IDPA stage when a rabbit hopped onto the bay down range. The shooter stopped,made safe, the range was clear and we went down range to get him to move. As soon as we approached him he ran off.
We pasted the targets and the shooter re shot the stage.

Absolutely, yes. Our club is in an area designated as a wildlife preserve so shooting an animal will get you expelled and maybe prosecuted as well. Even shooting when there's one out on the range will get you hauled up before the disciplinary committee. We get deer wandering around there regularly. One time we saw a coyote.

The deer seem to understand that, too. I used to have a cell phone picture of three of them grazing down by the main entrance to the property, unfortunately I lost that phone and the picture with it.

As an aside, isn’t it amazing how they’ll literally walk into a hot range, even with all that gunfire, and yet, after black powder season opens, they’re nowhere to be seen?

I submitted this pic more as a joke, obviously it's a cease-fire situation. Especially here in Cali, think how fast the range would be shut down if even one wildlife was shot.

I actually had just set up and hadn't started shooting yet. I had the entire 100-yard rifle range to myself (COVID), so there wasn't even a need to call cease-fire.

This does happen quite a lot with deer, sometimes wild turkeys on the range. I was just waiting for the next live fire session and nothing better to do, so snapped this pic and just happened to catch it at just the right moment.

Abso-fukkin-lutely cease fire