Should Indiana deer hunters be allowed to use high-powered rifles.

[greg]

@RyanSabalow: Should Indiana deer hunters be allowed to use high-powered rifles.

Should Indiana deer hunters be allowed to use high-powered rifles?

 

[vwarren]

I vote NO...

 

[Hogwylde]

Why not? You can use them on all other game. Granted, hunting rabbits with a 30-06 is overkill. But, it's still legal. You can shoot a coyote with a high power rifle.....what happens to the bullet if you miss??? Same thing if you miss shooting a deer.

 

[rphutchi]

I suspect the problem comparing hunting coyote and deer w a high powered rifles comes down to sheer numbers and sq acres. Don't know what those are but I imagine the volume of hunters w high powered rifles in the woods for 2 weeks in November would dwarf those out after ol Wylie. Would like to see the hard data on that stuff to see if we are really geographically all that different from neighboring states that allow them.

 

[oldpink]

I say an unqualified yes.
All the alarmism about high-powered rifles for deer is just so much hyperventilation.
After all, our neighbor to the immediate south allows it, and I have yet to hear about hunters accidentally killing each other or poor unsuspecting people while shooting at deer with their centerfire rifles.
Pennsylvania, with very similar geography to ours, but with a much larger human population, has allowed high-powered rifles for over a century.
Oh, did I mention that Indiana already allows even the most hairy-chested centerfire calibers you could imagine, as long as they are fired out of handguns?
Given that last, I would ask one simple question: If a Thompson/Center Encore handgun firing .300 Weatherby is perfectly okay with you, why is it suddenly unthinkable to allow a Savage 110 firing .30-06 Springfield?
As if that weren't enough, Indiana has for decades allowed varmint and predator hunting with any centerfire caliber rifle you like.
Where is all the death and mayhem that surely would have already happened by now?
I say it's time to start thinking rationally and dump our archaic laws.
I, for one, would like the option to finally use my Ruger M77 .30-06 for deer come next year.
It's totally ridiculous that conventional centerfire calibers have been outlawed for deer as long as they have been.

 

[yote hunter]

It won't change the way I hunt if they do, I hunt the edge of thickets with a shotgun and field edges with a muzzleloader... There is nowhere I hunt that I will be shooting 300 or 400yds anyway, so I won't change a thing..... The only thing I worry about is the road hunters it will sure help them out !!!!

 

[Tobryan]

Same idiots missing with shotguns will miss with rifles. Bullet travel is not a lot different fired five feet above ground, parallel. If you want to preserve our deer, shorten gun season. 6 weekends and four weeks.

 

[churchmouse]

It won't change the way I hunt if they do, I hunt the edge of thickets with a shotgun and field edges with a muzzleloader... There is nowhere I hunt that I will be shooting 300 or 400yds anyway, so I won't change a thing..... The only thing I worry about is the road hunters it will sure help them out !!!!

Exactly.

 

[ScouT6a]

I say "yes". If truck loads of hunters are mowed down with high powered rifles, as they surely will be, then maybe the deer population will have a better chance of recovering.

 

[vwarren]

There's just not really a need for it... If someone wants to put just a little bit of effort into hunting as it is they will be fine. This is just a scheme for money... Gander and wall mart will sell out of 30-06 next year lol. There will surely be another liscene and I'm sure there will just be more rules and stipulations people won't bother to read so still NO...

And yes yotehunter that is my main reason!

 

[Hookeye]

I suspect the problem comparing hunting coyote and deer w a high powered rifles comes down to sheer numbers and sq acres. Don't know what those are but I imagine the volume of hunters w high powered rifles in the woods for 2 weeks in November would dwarf those out after ol Wylie. Would like to see the hard data on that stuff to see if we are really geographically all that different from neighboring states that allow them.

Why must it be explained over and over, that varmint hunters (any worth a damn) shoot varmint bullets (and how deer and varmint bullets differ).

This is exactly why I vote "no".

 

[oldpink]

I suppose the varmint bullet/big game bullets fallacy would still stand intact, even when someone points out that soft lead slugs moving relatively slowely, as in .22 LR and rifled shotgun slugs, are far more prone to ricochet than any standard centerfire bullet.
Contrary to another fallacy, the "brush buster" bullet myth, center rifle bullets that typically move considerably quicker than the other two types of bullets tend to disintegrate when they strike rocks, the ground, or tree limbs.
This isn't just speculation, too.
Some years ago, I read an article in one of the major gun magazines about an extensive test of centerfire rifle bullets shot through a set of pine dowels.
Multiple calibers were tested, and multiple types of bullets within each caliber were also tested.
One of the interesting findings was that roundnose or flat point bullets turned out to be actually a bit WORSE about deflecting than spitzers when shot through the dowels.
So much for myth #1 about "brush busters": Roundnose and flat point bullets work better through twigs and branches
Even the likes of such supposedly great "brush busters" as the .45-70 veered off course badly when hitting the dowels and broke up rather quickly.
So much for myth #2 about "brush busters": Large caliber, relatively slow moving calibers can better plow through branches and twigs and stay on course to hit your quarry
Yes, the centerfires can carry much more energy, but that energy also tends to blow them apart if they hit wood, rock, or soil.
But then, myths -- based in emotion and lore -- tend to survive despite rational analysis.
It's also worth commenting that the likes of Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Kentucky all allow centerfire rifles, yet I have yet to hear about all the "collateral damage" in those states each deer season.
What makes Hoosier deer hunters uniquely unqualified to use the same rifles?
I remember all the alarmism when Indiana made the following incremental changes to deer hunting laws:
1) Allowing crossbows
2) Allowing handgun calibers fired out of rifles
3) Allowing high-powered rifle calibers fired out of handguns
Where was the bloodbath of accidental shootings of humans after each of those changes?
Sakes, I even remember all the anti-hunters having a collective cow over twenty years ago when the DNR legalized dove hunting, and the naysayers on this latest change sound much the same, even if for different reasons.
Sorry, but Bravo Sierra on this one.

 

[M4Madness]

Why must it be explained over and over, that varmint hunters (any worth a damn) shoot varmint bullets (and how deer and varmint bullets differ).

This is exactly why I vote "no".

I hunt both coyotes and deer, and my bullet choice would be the same for each -- Barnes TTSX.

 

[clfergus]

I disagree with all of those on here who say it is not needed. That might be true for your particular situation or hunting spot, not for all. When I first started hunting I had a great spot with a large tract of woods that sat between a bedding area and a pasture. The woods had oak trees so if I didn't catch the deer heading back to their bed from the pasture I was able to see good movement during the day as they grazed on acorns in the woods.

I lost that land due to a death in the family and ever since then I have been forced to hunt really sparse wood lines over pretty giant bean and corn fields. Even though I have worked with the land owner and my dad to hang cameras and scout to see where the deer are moving, the area is so large that it can be pretty unpredictable to guess where the deer might come out on any given day. Factor in the coyotes running them as well as bucks running them during the rut over these 50 acre fields and it has been tough on me.

I work 10 hour days and then have the kids to deal with at night so I mostly only get to hunt Saturdays and Sunday evenings after church if we don't have a school or sporting event taking place. With the limited time I have, I can't tell you how many times over the past 5 years I have had deer come out in my general area to feed but be just outside of my .44 mag and TC omega. I know my omega might be capable of reaching out at 250 yards but I have ultimate confidence in my Savage 111 .270 can easily make that shot very cleanly.

Because I am unwilling to take a free willy shot at those distances with my current rifles I have eaten my tag the last two years before getting lucky to get a 100 yard shot this year.

It would be nice for me for a change to tag out when gun season starts vs. hunting into late December trying to get meat.

 

[Small's]

Yes please. How many people have a 30/30 or a 7.62x39 etc that they have always wanted to hunt with but cant because of a law that doesn't make sense? Why can you hunt with a 7mm mag out of a 14" pistol but cant use a rifle even in a smaller caliber than the pistol. I dont see anyone complaining about modern shotgun sabots or smokes powder muzzleloaders being dangerous. The recure hunters didnt like compound bows at in the beginning. It wasnt fare with there extended range. Now the compound guys dont like crossbows because they are like using a gun and now the shotgun guys dont want rifles because they can shoot farther. Nobody is dying from hunting with rifles anywhere else in the corn belt but if indiana goes to rifles children, minorities and women will be the victims. This is coming from a guy who is a bow hunting nut. Remember we have to save the children.

 

[kolob10]

I voted yes on the public comment section on the proposed rule on the DNR webpage.

 

[Willie]

I voted yes on the public comment section on the proposed rule on the DNR webpage.

Right now it is running about 2 to 1 in favor..

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...preliminary-numbers-nrc-rifle-input-file.html

If anyone here has not given their input please do so today..

 

[Willie]

Compare this article with this one...

Rifle proposal latest assault on deer hunting by DNR, NRC - KPCNews: Outdoors

 

[Bradsknives]

I personally don't care one way or the other whether high power rifle calibers are legalized. I don't believe it will change anything from a safety or herd population aspect. It doesn't matter what firearm a hunter is using, if he/she is unsafe, that is the problem, not the firearm that is in the hunters hands at the time. As far as affecting the herd population, there's currently firearms that are legal to hunt with that can reach out to 200 yards or slightly more. How many times does a hunter have a situation/opportunity in Indiana where you have a good shot at more than this yardage? I'm sure there are a few times this would present itself, but not at a high enough percentage where the herd population would be affected.


I will continue to hunt with my single shot 20ga., as it has been an effective weapon for the last 10 years or so for me. The kill is not as important to me as the knowing I did things (skill & woodsmanship) right to put myself in a situation to take an animal ethically.

 

[augdog]

I say A big NO! I will be going from a shotgun or pistol with a range of 150yds to A 243 with A range of 400yds. To shoot 400yds you need to know your rifle and lots of practice.That will not happen with most results wounded deer left to die.Which are you more likely to miss or wound A deer at 100yds+-or deer at 300yds+-