What are the Woods Walk rules?
- Thread starter Ozz
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
Woods walk rules are what a club makes them. Only rule common to all is safety. Rule #2: make it fun.
I doubt I ever shot more then fifty yards on one, most closer. Generally there set up tricky, poor angles, hard to see, and tricks, indian half hidden and deer in the open, you miss seeing the Indian and shoot the deer he shots you, things like that.
Our woods walks have various targets at ranges from 15 yards to 125 yards depending on the size of the target and the customary ranges that they are usually shot. (many of our targets are 3/8" steel plates cut in the shape of various animals like squirrels, rabbits, fox/coyote, deer & buffalo) Our rules are that no gun is loaded until at the firing point, and your foot must touch the station marker. All of our shots are standing off hand shots.
Ozz
32 Cal
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2019
- Messages
- 37
- Reaction score
- 9
That's what I'm looking for. We do similar type shoots with airguns and smaller targets. Ranges are normally 10-55 yards. Animal silhouettes that fall when hit in the kill zone. I was going to set up a Woods Walk with airguns to mimic the ML matches.
Question, all the distances are unknown, correct?
For clarity, "loaded" often means powder, ball, and primed/capped. Putting the powder and ball down the barrell can be done at any time, but the final priming is done at the firing point.
Not sure if this is for a large group shoot or only a few people, but using targets that have to be reset tends to really slow things down for a large group as the range has to be shutdown to do the reset. Hanging steel targets work without resetting. For "one shot" targets like potatoes we make sure to put out a whole bunch so the range doesn't have to shutdown. Your fallers would work if you have enough set out at each station so that resetting is avoided or at least minimized.
We also like to do "old timey" targets, like string cut, splitting a ball, cutting a card or driving tacks. Again, setting up a large number of these targets at once so as not to shut down the range.
Ozz
32 Cal
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2019
- Messages
- 37
- Reaction score
- 9
They are reset with a string that leads back to the shooting position.
This is not for a ML woods walk but for practice with airguns.
Both clubs I shoot at have steel knock down targets.
As mentioned, they have a string attached and simply pull the string too reset the target..
nylon baling twine works well and holds up good in the weather..
Most targets range from 25- 125 yards and are cut into animal shapes or a simple gong in various sizes.
The Novelty range is set up using mostly biodegradable food items, skewers, poker chips & cards etc….
The only issue with this is the neighborhood raccoon population tends too feast on the targets overnight occasionally…..
They seem too prefer marshmallows in my area..
On a one day shoot this isn’t a problem..
Novelty targets are usually small and at distances of 15- 35 yards..
As mentioned, they have a string attached and simply pull the string too reset the target..
nylon baling twine works well and holds up good in the weather..
Most targets range from 25- 125 yards and are cut into animal shapes or a simple gong in various sizes.
The Novelty range is set up using mostly biodegradable food items, skewers, poker chips & cards etc….
The only issue with this is the neighborhood raccoon population tends too feast on the targets overnight occasionally…..
They seem too prefer marshmallows in my area..
On a one day shoot this isn’t a problem..
Novelty targets are usually small and at distances of 15- 35 yards..
Hmmmmm, with all them sweets them critters must surely taste good
They taste like chicken …..
Rock Home Isle
58 Cal.
Steel gongs should not be closer than about 20 yards, due to lead splatter. If the gongs start to deform and concave from use, the targets need to taken down and reshaped. If the steel targets have a slight downward angle, while hanging, that is a bonus, as it directs the projectiles into the ground, (it doesn't need to be a drastic angle). Pay particular attention to layout of the woods walk so that people can be at any station at any time and not have fear of being inline with shooting from another station...I hope that makes sense.
Usually loading is not done until arriving at a shooting station, and priming isn't done until you are on the line ready to shoot. No walking from station to station with a loaded gun.
Mostly just common sense rules/considerations, so that people are safe.
Last edited:
⬆CORRECT⬆
So I have steel targets made for modern cartridges. They are round and AR500 armor plate. They will never wear out shooting lead, muzzle loading projectiles at them. (I figured buy-once-cry-once) BUT they "give" even less than just 3/8" boiler plate. SO..., I can hang them on chains or cables, and they will swing and that helps to counteract splatter if they are close, but..., some of the "novelty targets" out there use combinations of plates for a woods walk or other "novelty" shoot. Those sometimes have hard mounted plates in addition to the swinging target plate, AND if some of the shooters are using modern bullet alloy instead of pure lead... you get a better chance of splatter-back.
Here's an example of one such target that's a combo of hard and swinging plates. You shoot the orange, swinging plate and if you hit you get a ringing sound, but if you hit one of the hard mounted plates on either side, you get a "THUNK" sound:
The advantage of swinging, steel targets is that you get a very audible T'WANG! when the ball hits, no reset needed when they are hanging..., the sound is rewarding AND folks awaiting their turn can hear that too...
Other possible rules...,
It's a "woods walk" but sometimes they are timed. When the score and the time both count for figuring the winner, that's called a Seneca shoot. The number one rule for this would be "You fall, you're disqualified". Most clubs won't hold a Seneca type shoot because there is just too much of a problem with moccasins (or even modern shoes) moving fast, and a slip-n-fall. The DQ rule tends to slow the lads down a bit..., but there is always one guy who "pushes the envelope" and you have a second or two during the fall where the rifle or gun is not very well controlled...
Some walks require you to move unloaded, and have the location where you may load marked upon the ground at the next firing point. Spray paint, a painted wooden frame only an inch high, football field chalk, once I saw the shooter had to enter the "outhouse" and shoot by closing the door (only then could they load) and extending the gun barrel through the
shaped opening in that door.., lots of options.
All other "safe gun handling rules" would apply as well.
LD
So I have steel targets made for modern cartridges. They are round and AR500 armor plate. They will never wear out shooting lead, muzzle loading projectiles at them. (I figured buy-once-cry-once) BUT they "give" even less than just 3/8" boiler plate. SO..., I can hang them on chains or cables, and they will swing and that helps to counteract splatter if they are close, but..., some of the "novelty targets" out there use combinations of plates for a woods walk or other "novelty" shoot. Those sometimes have hard mounted plates in addition to the swinging target plate, AND if some of the shooters are using modern bullet alloy instead of pure lead... you get a better chance of splatter-back.
Here's an example of one such target that's a combo of hard and swinging plates. You shoot the orange, swinging plate and if you hit you get a ringing sound, but if you hit one of the hard mounted plates on either side, you get a "THUNK" sound:
The advantage of swinging, steel targets is that you get a very audible T'WANG! when the ball hits, no reset needed when they are hanging..., the sound is rewarding AND folks awaiting their turn can hear that too...
Other possible rules...,
It's a "woods walk" but sometimes they are timed. When the score and the time both count for figuring the winner, that's called a Seneca shoot. The number one rule for this would be "You fall, you're disqualified". Most clubs won't hold a Seneca type shoot because there is just too much of a problem with moccasins (or even modern shoes) moving fast, and a slip-n-fall. The DQ rule tends to slow the lads down a bit..., but there is always one guy who "pushes the envelope" and you have a second or two during the fall where the rifle or gun is not very well controlled...
Some walks require you to move unloaded, and have the location where you may load marked upon the ground at the next firing point. Spray paint, a painted wooden frame only an inch high, football field chalk, once I saw the shooter had to enter the "outhouse" and shoot by closing the door (only then could they load) and extending the gun barrel through the
shaped opening in that door.., lots of options.All other "safe gun handling rules" would apply as well.
LD
