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Plinking Natural Targets

MVPMVP Member Posts: 23,453 ✭✭✭
edited February 2004 in General Discussion
Back in the days when everyone dumped their used motor oil on the fence post and didn't think another thing about it, as irresponsible as it was, when I was a kid we would shoot glass bottles in the gravel pits and just leave the broken glass everywhere. Although I wouldn't shoot bottles now I find myself using SKS,AK,AR type rifles to reduce mellon size rocks into little piles of crushed rock which is a little more environmentaly friendly. I have friends who shoot potatoes off sticks with handguns for practice which again is nothing thats going to leave a mess for someone to clean up in the future. Just wondering if anyone else has a favorite organic target for this earth friendly days we live in.
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Comments

  • jsergovicjsergovic Member Posts: 5,526
    edited November -1
    Pinecones are never out of season. Sticks become "snakes". A rock is just another target to hit (dislodge). It's mostly the only way I shoot, unless i feel like stakling up paper targets (rarely).

    Try hitting someone's 12 gauge shell (expended and littered) at 25 feet pointshooting.. It might take a few mags to get the "feel" back.
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  • woodsrunnerwoodsrunner Member Posts: 5,378 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    pick up a bag of cheap charcoal briquets. all the little pieces are gone after a couple rain storms.

    Woods

    Hamlin.gif

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  • 358 WINCHESTER358 WINCHESTER Member Posts: 1,799 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    woodsrunner thanks for this one been looking for something different to add to our Tuesday shoot now I know Briquets at 50 yards with 22 pistols should be fun
    Thanks

    Son if you didn't learn something today, you wasted the whole day. (Jasper N. Lee, my granddaddy)
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  • ClairClair Member Posts: 679 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I spent many a Sunday afternnon sitting on the neighbors front porch with a 22 taking the walnuts out of the trees.
    OH, for the good old days!!!!

    To each his own
    Craig Brosius
    Gin1comp.jpg
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  • shooter4shooter4 Member Posts: 4,457
    edited November -1
    Use the charcoal brickets, and hit em with a can of bright orange spray paint so you can see them better.
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  • WarbirdsWarbirds Member Posts: 16,904 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    do clay pigeons count?

    R/

    Dave


    How different the world would be if we could consult the veteran instead of the politician. - Henry Miller
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  • woodshermitwoodshermit Member Posts: 2,589
    edited November -1
    Just a reminder: don't nail targets into what may be a landowner's valuable trees; nails and bullets can degrade the value of the wood and be dangerous if hit with a chainsaw. And, of course, bullets have to finally stop somewhere.
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  • BOBBYWINSBOBBYWINS Member Posts: 7,810
    edited November -1
    Dried horse turds.They kinda go "POOF".[:D]

    BW

    IT'S WHAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THEMSELVES THAT MAKES THEM AFRAID.
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  • royc38royc38 Member Posts: 2,235 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Go to a cheap store(Family Dollar or Big Lots) and buy those lollipops that are sold in a string of about 25 or more. They are cheap and I have never heard of a cow or horse or deer die from licking candy.
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  • chuckchuck Member Posts: 4,911
    edited November -1
    A poster told me to use CRACKERS, their great use soda not hi ho, white crackers are easier fer my old eyes to see. and when you are done the birds clean up fer you.[:D]
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  • bigtirebigtire Member Posts: 24,800
    edited November -1
    Years ago when I lived in the country we had a huge pear tree out back. We would pick some of them but there were way too many for us to use. I would plink at them with a 22. They made great targets and would explode when hit.

    From85-01.jpgTosoftair-eagle.jpg
    And everything in between.
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  • PATBUZZARDPATBUZZARD Member Posts: 3,556 ✭
    edited November -1
    As gross as it can be. I like to plink at rotten apples. The neihbor had a couple of trees and he would not mind if we picked up some of the apples that were already on the ground.

    May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.
    - General George Patton Jr
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  • searcher5searcher5 Member Posts: 13,511
    edited November -1
    Hedge Apples!

    Proud member of the NRA

    When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.
    Abraham Lincoln

    If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith.
    Albert Einstein
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  • Cyberdyne systemsCyberdyne systems Member Posts: 427 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    sometimes I like to shoot melon sized boulders or rocks painted white to make it easier to see at long range, because when you hit them they make a nice impacting sound and sometimes you can bust them
    up after several hits, also wood logs can be used instead of bowling pins and they can sustain a lot of hits from bullets or shotgun blasts, slugs and try to knock them down.
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  • interstatepawnllcinterstatepawnllc Member Posts: 9,390
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by BOBBYWINS
    Dried horse turds.They kinda go "POOF".[:D]

    BW

    IT'S WHAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THEMSELVES THAT MAKES THEM AFRAID.
    Ever call em' "road apples"?


    JC

    Ted Kennedy's breath has killed more people than my car.
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  • pickenuppickenup Member Posts: 22,844 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    When using the charcoal briquettes, make sure they are the plain kind and not the kind that are "presoaked" with starter fluid.

    I know it is seasonal but, if you do not use pesticides in the garden (I never did) I always had some that were half eaten by bugs and what-not. Love to see them explode when hit.


    The gene pool needs chlorine.
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  • 0311marine0311marine Member Posts: 3,233
    edited November -1
    ive used a watermelon a couple of times it didnt last long.i make my own stand up targets w/ cardboard and stick them in the ground.my old buddy bought a maniquin to shoot it is pretty good target practice,i always pick up after my self when shooting ie targets brass

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    SEMPER FI
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  • bluegoose11bluegoose11 Member Posts: 1,011 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    In our bp club we use charcoal briquettes tied on a string about 1 1/2 ft long make sure you have a good backstop hang a half dozen up walk down the line and swing them step back 50 ft and try your luck
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  • gunpaqgunpaq Member Posts: 4,607 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    What's wrong with motor oil on fence posts? Makes them last longer and reduces the amount of natural resorces needed to produce more to replace the old untreated ones and reduces the amount of air pollution cause by machinery to produce and install the new posts.

    Salt blocks in the meadow make a good but expensive target.

    Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.
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  • MVPMVP Member Posts: 23,453 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote: What's wrong with motor oil on fence posts? Makes them last longer and reduces the amount of natural resorces needed to produce more to replace the old untreated ones and reduces the amount of air pollution cause by machinery to produce and install the new posts.

    True. We even used it all over our dusty dirt road to keep the dust down in summer. But I am still using water from a hand dug well that is only 24' deep and don't want used motor oil leaching into my drinking water. I also remember when everyone on the block stradled the ditch with their cars in front of their house and just drained the oil. The ditch was great for crawling under the car.
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  • fishermanbenfishermanben Member Posts: 15,370
    edited November -1
    I like using "Election Signs" seems like you can get 'em by the truckload after an election.
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  • PinheadPinhead Member Posts: 1,485 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Back in the early 50's we had a town garbage dump that was located on a creek that ran through town. The creek had a real high bank(about 50 ft. high) on the other side of it and we would go down there just a little before dark and shoot rats, shooting toward the high bank so ricochets would not be a problem. We used .22 rifles shooting .22 shorts(they cost about half what long rifles cost in those days). There was a lady who lived about a half mile away in the opposite direction from the direction we shot to. She would call the police, they would send two city police officers to check out the reported gun fire. Soon you had 2 teenage boys and 2 town policemen(with short barreled revolvers) shooting at rats. Those were the good old days before common sense died. Sorry if this doesn't fit the subject but reading some of the answers brought back some good memories that I wanted to share.
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  • MVPMVP Member Posts: 23,453 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:2 teenage boys and 2 town policemen(with short barreled revolvers) shooting at rats.

    That sounds like WAY to much FUN[8D]

    Better outlaw it before someone enjoys themselves[:D][:D]
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  • brier-49brier-49 Member Posts: 7,078 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    been shooting potatoes and frozen apples and oranges,you can see them in the snow. briquets sound like a great idea, the range still has a lot of snow
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  • 2 gun2 gun Member Posts: 377 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    1. rotted apples they make grate 223 targets

    2.mostly empty or stopped up paint cans,just make sure your not close or you may get a gold paint job on you and your gun.Ps.if anyone has ever seen a gold painted m44 naugat it was mine .

    3.old cars at the local junk yard .When I worked there we would sometimes start them up if possable and open up with all manner of guns before they where crushed.

    4.exgirl friends ceramic cat collection . Cheaters never win!


    These may not be Eco friendly but they are fun.

    IT "S better to die by fire then serve by force

    It's not gun control. It's personal defense elimination. They only want to control ours.
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  • deerhntrdeerhntr Member Posts: 1,853 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Shoot a Bag of flour with a .223.......BIG TIME POOF[:D]

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  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Like Pinhead, I used to really love dump shooting when I was younger. We could pop bottles all day long if we wanted and it did no harm - the attendant was just going to run the dozer over them anyway. And the rats - little buggers sure could scurry with .22s blazing. I wish I had a video of one incident when I was a young adult. Two older buddies and I hit one of our favorite dumps right after someone had dumped a whole bunch of brush across some especially fragrant refuse. He climbs up on top with two 1911s and starts tramping and jumping. Pretty soon a rodent breaks cover and he pops it. Then another. He kept it up until he'd emptied both magazines and the rats were still coming out from under that brush - like cockroaches when the light comes on. Totally out of character for him, too, which made it doubly funny to watch.

    "There is nothing lower than the human race - except the French." (Mark Twain) ". . . And DemoCraps" (me)
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  • Rafter-SRafter-S Member Posts: 2,173 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Grasshoppers with a pellet rifle. It's great offhand practice.
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  • anderskandersk Member Posts: 3,627 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I had a great idea, but i forgot it when I was reading all the other great ideas. I do have a good memory, it just doesn't last very long! [:D]

    Oh, yes, I've enjoyed taking along various pieces of fire wood to the range. Then bring them back home after the shooting and see how far a .22 will go into a piece of wood. It is kind of surprising.[:)]
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  • kingjoeykingjoey Member Posts: 8,636
    edited November -1
    Do cats, groundhogs, and prairie dogs count as "natural targets"?[}:)]

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    SUPPORT THE I.N.S. , THE COUNTRY THEY SAVE COULD BE YOUR OWN
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  • jsergovicjsergovic Member Posts: 5,526
    edited November -1
    The best offhand practice:

    55 gallon steel frum @ 100 yards, sand cliff/dune behind it.

    You hear the "bang", and then the "clang". And if you midd, you can walk the bullets to the target. I was up to 8 or 9 for 10 out of the Buckmark.

    That's at Bass Lake Sheriff's range (free).
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  • Rebel_JamesRebel_James Member Posts: 4,746
    edited November -1
    I learned a lot about 'natural targets' on this post.

    Will use some of them the next time shooting!!



    "If they won't give us good terms, come back and we'll fight it out."
    -- Gen. James Longstreet
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