It never ceases to amaze me how many morons out there still use their riflescopes as binoculars.By doing so they are aiming a loaded gun at many things they shouldn't be aiming at including other people.I have yet to catch anyone with their scope on me but I have had to break a few people of this dangerous and illegal habit(when aiming at people you are breaking the law).I have told the people I hunt with that if I ever catch them scoping anyone else they will never hunt with me again and if they scope me we will go toe to toe until only one of us is still standing.It has taken a little time but my partners have now accepted the rule that you never point a gun at anything you don't intend to shoot.Have you ever been scoped and what are your feelings on the subject.

Are you a Far Side fan?

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've been scoped. It's happened enough that I seldom even get excited. Frankly, I'd rather some idiot scope me than just start shooting. In fact, I usually just wave sweetly at the idiots to let them know I know...and they usually blush and lower their rifle.

The best solution I've found to wanting to look at something without using your scope to do it is a pair of the little cheapy binoculars Midway sells for about 8 or 9 bucks. These little things are a heck of a buy in my opinion. Small enough to fit in a shirt pocket and weigh next to nothing but with 8 or 10 power optics of reasonable quality. I've given a pair to everyone I know just as xmas gifts.

If you lose or break them hunting, big deal. Beats the hell out of lugging a heavy pair of expensive binocs around and having to worry about busting them in a fall or such.

when I notice same(I used to have to hunt "state land"I always tried to hold up one of my 45-70 rds.sometimes they get wide-eyed other times pretend they were not looking at me.When I was real young I pointed back,but as I do not plan on shooting them I no longer do so.I`m one of those that does not believe in an "accidental discharge"and accidents are caused not some magical thing that "just happen"jmho again.

Only once,last year from across a canyon.I caught up with the guy and told him I get real twitchy seeing a rifle pointed in my direction and probably a good thing I did'nt hear a shot in the immediate vicinity,as I may have pointed back.I think he headed back to town to buy binoculars.
Jeff

Had to correct a fellow at the range yesterday. Cleared range, another fellow went downrange to set up his target and this fellow was looking at his target through his rifle scope... AND the rifle was loaded!

I will scope a hunter sometimes but I alway open my bolt on my gun first and make sure he is not looking.

Nothing bothers me more. Like you say, Don't point at anything you would regret shooting.
I never go anywhere without my binocs. Even if you do not know the obvious benefits of good glass, at least pick up one of those cheapy monoculars to see things better.

Most people around here use binos. I'll use the scope sometimes to look if I've got a shot at an animal as we approach. I don't think that's a bad idea...

tnbrian, That is the main reason I quit deer hunting on public land in Tennessee. If you can see them well enough to know they are not looking at you then you don't need to look at them through a scope. I don't care if the bolt is open or not, intentionally aiming a rifle at a person you do not want to kill is a very bad idea. Yes, I have been scoped several times. It gets real touchy when a person a short distance away continues to aim his scoped rifle at you after yelling and waving your arms. You begin to wonder at what point do you assume he is actually going to shoot you.

Getting scoped pisses me off quicker than people who would vote for a Hilliary/Rosie presidential ticket! Last time I got scoped was in the Lincoln Natl Forest in SE NM. Some nimrod was across the canyon from me using his scope for binoculars. In my binocs I saw him scoping me so I waved at him. He waved back and kept scoping me. I waved at him again. He waved back and kept on scoping me. So I scoped him and he jerked his rifle down and left. A very small part of me wanted to put a 130 grainer between his feet to show him how I REALLY felt--but common sense prevailed and I became sorry I had retaliated in such an unsafe manner. Damn--get some binoculars! On that same trip an older "expert" hunter asked me, "Sonny, do them binoculars kill deer?" He went on to tell me what a waste of time and $ it was to be carrying my Ziess'es around was. Oh well--I won't scope anyone again but I sure might manage to find out where they are camping and cause a mysterious midnight raid to occur at their camp....hmmmm...nothing serious, just tie their tent closed from the outside or sugar in their gas tank.

I submit that more people are "scoped" each and every year that never know about it than have or will ever be "scoped" and know about it.

Sadly, many hunters are nearly completely unaware of their surroundings. They seem to screen out most activity. I've had hunters walk so close by me that I could have picked their pockets. Don't dare say anything as that weapon WILL be pointed at you.

I get scoped almost every year, usually on public land, but the guys who lease the property adjacent to ours have done it also. I have taken to "flipping the bird", "mooning" and even "dropping trou" while I smile at the offending ass. Having been shot at I really don't like being scoped.

Bob

I have not knowingly been scoped but If I was to catch someone scoping me I will not scope him but will instead make every effort possible to get face to face with him and inform him that he is a total moron and a poor excuse for a human being.(as soon as the gun is no longer in his hands)If he tries to get physical I will be happy to oblige him.

Stubblejumper,

You are a better man than I... To my knowledge I have never been scoped, but if I caught someone scoping me, I'd be inclined to beat the bloddy hell out of them! And of course I'd do it with the expensive pair of binocs that I carry around my own neck, and then leave them as a souvenier... Seriously though, I don't think it is something I could simply dismiss. It just makes my blood boil to imagine the utter stupidity and blatant disregard of that moronic act.

[ 11-13-2002, 08:54: Message edited by: waldog ]

I've never been scoped (or so I think) and never scoped someone, or seen someone scope somebody else. But, that's Alaska hunting. More land, more game, and for me, less hunters.

I've been scoped and I didn't like it a bit. Watched one total moron in the Guadelupes of NM scoping me and waved at him to let him know I wasn't a deer.
This damned fool fired a round in my direction. I dove for cover and heard the bullet smack into the hillside some 50 yds below me.
I laid my rifle over the log I was hiding behind and started to lay in some return fire when I thought better of it. Instead, I started shouting at him to stop shooting.
He looked up and saw me waving my orange vest in the air (anyone EVER seen an orange-vested deer?)
He took off.
I tried to catch him but he was too fast for me. Hope I ruined his hunt. I know he nearly ruined mine!

It may seem shocking to some but it was at one time common practice for BR competitors to sit at the bench, looking through the scope, at their target, between relays. The target crew didn't seem much bothered by it and went about their business. I think it was in the early 80s that this became less common and, soon, illegal. It was about this same time that it became illegal to leave the bolt in the rifle.
I don't think it ever occurred to anyone prior to this that there was anything strange about looking through a scope while someone changed a target! Strange but true! Regards, Bill.

Got scoped by a trespasser last weekend. I was going to let it slide, till he scoped me.

Since he was such a numbskull, he got criminal trespass charges, which means FELONY. He cut my lock on a cattle gate. Seems the idiot had my lock and chain on his 4 wheeler, along with his bolt cutters.

Terry, how did you manage to detain him and prevent him from tossing the evidence before the law showed up?

Bravo for you - I hope they nail him good.

Rick.

Unfortunately, trespass laws vary state-to-state. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but as I understand it (due to a personal experience), in VA he might get a misdemeanor "vandalization" charge and a misdemeanor trespassing charge with a small fine as the final result.

Trespassers are a good reason to carry a sidearm or a shotgun when inspecting one's property.

One nice thing about it is,after seeing a lot of these "hunters" shoot,being in their crosshairs is probably the safest place to be.

Scoped twice.
Shot at once.
Shot back once.
I really do not look like and elk

Stubblejumper,
I'll never know how many Fools have held me in their scope,without my knowledge.I've hunted State Land for over 40 years,there just had to be more then the one that I did spot,about 20 years ago.
I felt very uneasy,and still remember it very well.Hunters wore red,in those days.I'm looking at him with my binos,and he's scoping me with his rifle.
Frank

Yup. Very uncomfortable feeling, as you can never be certain if you have been id'd as game or people. I've often wondered what I'd do if somebody started shooting. Probably shoot straight up in the air so that there can be no doubt: 1.) that you're a person, and 2.) that you're not shooting at the moron. Then hope like hell that the shooting stops.

The bottom legal line is that if you kill somebody, you're in for years of hardship. I do not wanna go there. The only thing worse would be to have somebody in your party, or you, hit because you didn't. Hobson's choice.

I've been scoped twice. Once when I had a doe over my shoulder. Dropped her quick.

I think few people anymore have the opportunity to be brought along slowly, and introduced to hunter safety before diving into hunting on their own. We have an MTV mentality. Buy the gun, read the manual, and we're experts.

A hunter safety course doesn't make a hunter safe any more than reading a book about brain surgery makes you a surgeon.

My father had me jackrabbit hunting a long time before he let me go with him on a deer hunt, and he had me on a handful of deer hunts before he ever let me buy a license and actually hold a rifle.

I don't hunt public land anymore, but stupidity isn't reserved just for public land. I've seen more stupid mistakes on private hunts frankly. People think because they have money and can afford the best of everything, they are automatically a hunter. Not so.

Anyone who puts his scope on another human being is a dumb-ass, at best.

A friend of mine was recently told by another hunter "Don't wear that pullover on the hunt, you look too much like a moose in the scope".

Don't want to sound like Ghengis, er 'scuse me, Atilla the Hun. There was an ad running a few years back in Aviation Week by an ECM manufacturer that said, "First one that lites up gets smoked..." A reference to air combat rules of engagement in the electronic world that the folks in Iraq are quite familiar with at the moment. Anyway, it pretty much sums up my attitude about such foolish behavior. In the city, in the country, scopin' someone is an act of war in my book, and I will by God ruin your day if you threaten me in that manner. It is not innocent, accidental, or acceptable. It may be incredibly stupid, but it sure as hell is a threat to personnal safety. And I will say, "Yes, I was in fear for my life."

I'm not especially sensitive about this as I've been shot at more than I can count.(Army helicopters SEA '69-72 AIR CAV!) I'm not terribly angered by the thought of being on "Candid Nikon". Guess I have well conditioned reflex that will deal with it when it happens.

Scoped once. Fellow was only 150 yards away. Don't know how he could have mistaken me for anything but human since in Saskatchewan we have to wear a complete outfit of blaze orage, yellow, red or white. He took off running when I looked at him, picked up my rifle and ran the bolt. Never pointed it at him. Only point at things I want to shoot. Never did catch up to him.

Was in a gunshop in NJ and happened to overhear the owner telling a customer that with this super riflescope he was trying to sell, that the customer didn't even need binoculars. I interrupted him and said a rifle scope should never be used as binoculars since you might end up scoping another hunter. He started to argue with me to the point my wife had to drag me out of the store!
Greg