Hunting laws that don't seem to be grounded in logic

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Jason_W

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In Maine, the two that irk me the most are:

No hunting on Sunday

Crossbows (which I seriously want to get into) are prohibited during the muzzleloader season even though modern, scoped muzzleloaders firing ballistic tip bullets are legal.

Who comes up with this stuff?
 
Magazine restrictions (6 round in my state).

Its nice they exempt 22 rimfires, but none of the 17's would be. It would be nice to use regular old magazines, or the fixed magazine with the SKS, even if we are just tossing in 5 or 6 rounds.

My state used to ban sidearms during bow season, but that was just lifted this year.
 
Its nice they exempt 22 rimfires, but none of the 17's would be. It would be nice to use regular old magazines, or the fixed magazine with the SKS, even if we are just tossing in 5 or 6 rounds.

AZ just recently got rid of this restriction. And we are now able to use supressors.
 
There are some laws here in Wisconsin that are dumb like putting a ground hog on the protection list and crossbows for handicap only! or you can keep a gun in you car but no bullet in the chamber or mag. then what good is it?.
 
I get the state wildlife officers out here pretty regularly for depredation permits on the farm. One time they told me they had been petitioning the state to ease some of our restrictions because their biological data that the laws are based on, was from the 1970's! They stated that the lawmakers had no clue about how overpopulated the deer were around here due to this outdated data.

At least around here the wildlife officers know what's going on, but that doesn't mean they don't enforce the laws they're hired to. It is comforting to know that they are actually fighting to ease the restrictions on our local hunters though.
 
Who comes up with this stuff?
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Your state lawmakers, most who don't have a clue about hunting. Then they force game wardens to enforce some pretty stupid laws they don't want to enforce. I have several friends who work for the GA Game & Fish dept. They hate some of these laws as much as you and I, and in as many cases as possible look the other way.

At one time the regs simply said a shotgun had to be limited to 3 rounds. That made no sense for deer hunters when there was no mag limit on rifles. The law was changed to read 5 rounds. Still stupid when I can legally hunt with a 30 round AR and Mossberg shotguns hold 5+1 and technically are illegal to remove the plug on.

Things are getting better here in GA. Many of the stupid laws have changed in recent years because the game and fish dept has taken their complaints straight to lawmakers. BUt we still have a few.
 
Oklahoma had one of the craziest game laws ever. It allowed livestock owners to trespass on the private property of others while "looking for their cows". When accosted for trespassing during deer season; they were always armed with a rifle "because of the wild hogs".

Finally, the OK legislature changed that stupid law. Now the livestock owner must get permission before searching for livestock on the property of others.
 
MT forbids electronic devices on bows; no luminocks, lighted sights or rangefinders. All these things seem like they would result in less wounded/lost game.
 
I don`t think Missouri has any of them stupid regs., except maybe being able to hunt deer with a .25 cal. pistol.................
 
You can bow hunt on Sunday, but you can't hunt with a gun on Sundays. That one irks me the most. But here, state laws are actually pretty great. It's local (county) regulations that drive me up the wall!
 
Id like to be able to use rifles 22/17hmrs to hunt residence/nusance geese. Hunters need an advantage during those seasons. Out here theres too many private properties/land not safe for hunting that residence the geese hide in during resident season and it effectively negates any advantage hunters have at actually doing the population control.
 
Hillsdale County here in Michigan prohibits hunting on Sundays.

Geno
 
I've never understood why, during dove season, I can shoot number 7.5 lead shot over a corn or sorghum field, then when goose season comes around, I have to use non-toxic shot. STUPID. We dare not complain, we know what will happen, they'll mandate non-toxic shot for doves. :rolleyes:
 
"Splain to me" why you can shoot snipe over water with lead shot but not ducks or coots. Also, getting 'written up' for having a slug in your possession while duck hunting. Just WHO tries to shoot ducks with slugs????????????

Florida's muzzleloading season on some WMAs doesn't allow bows or crossbows .. ONLY muzzleloaders.
 
I think it's dumb that we can hunt with handguns chambered in strait walled cartridges 357 caliber or larger with a minimum of at least a 5" barrel but not a rifle that's chambered in the same pistol legal calber:banghead:
 
The reason you can't have slugs with you when duck hunting is the possibility of accidentally putting one in your gun. Same reason you can't hunt turkeys with rifles anymore on public land.
 
In PA we can't hunt with a semi auto rifle and semi auto shotguns are only allowed to be used on waterfowl. Also we can't hunt on Sundays because I assume most of our wildlife attends church.
 
In Missouri you can hunt deer with a cap and ball revolver over 40 cal during the alternative season yet you can't use buckshot during any season. Buckshot seems a lot more effective than a cap and ball... Go figure
 
Sunday "blue laws" are not all gone away. It was not until the 1960s in Texas that stores could be open on Sunday. In some states, as noted above, hunting regulations still suffer.

Other laws and regulations can come from the politics of "I think..." or "I heard..." and "My grand-daddy..." and other such non-fact.

Overall, things have improved, but there is still a long way to go in some states.

I've not checked for some years, but in Georgia you need a Philadelphia lawyer to figure out how to be legal when hunting coyotes. In Texas? However and whenever and with whatever you want.
 
There are some laws here in Wisconsin that are dumb like putting a ground hog on the protection list and crossbows for handicap only! or you can keep a gun in you car but no bullet in the chamber or mag. then what good is it?.

Actually, the bill passed one house last month making crossbows legal for everyone, but was not passed in time to be instituted this year. You can have a loaded gun in the car, but it has to be a handgun and if you do not have a CWC license, it cannot be concealed in anyway. The deal with not allowing long guns to be loaded in a vehicle is for obvious reasons.
 
In Missouri you can hunt deer with a cap and ball revolver over 40 cal during the alternative season yet you can't use buckshot during any season. Buckshot seems a lot more effective than a cap and ball... Go figure
You can (NOT) use buckshot in the state of Missouri, Because it fires more than a single projectile per discharge !............
 
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Same reason you can't hunt turkeys with rifles anymore on public land.

Thats actually a state law, and is far from universally true. There is no law against using a rifle to hunt turkeys on ANY land in South Dakota
 
Here in CA you cannot have a centerfire sidearm on you while bowhunting. Of course, the law specifies centerfire so any rimfire round is OK.....??!!

Most law enforcement will still hassle you for carrying a rimfire.....can't blame them.....the law being so vague and all.
 
Here in CA you cannot have a centerfire sidearm on you while bowhunting. Of course, the law specifies centerfire so any rimfire round is OK.....??!!

Most law enforcement will still hassle you for carrying a rimfire.....can't blame them.....the law being so vague and all.
What? And I thought that Califawnia was the voice of reason when it came to gun laws. ;)
 
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