Airguns now legal for deer in Arknsas

[Hasaf]

I just noticed this bit of news and didn't see it here yet:

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission passed new hunting regulations for the 2018-2019 hunting seasons, voted to obtain new public fishing access areas on the White and Little Red rivers, and approved a funding mechanism for restoring bobwhite quail habitat Thursday at its monthly meeting in Little Rock.

The regulations package contains 57 items, many of which clarify or simplify existing regulations. One item will make it legal to take deer with big bore air rifles. Legal air rifles for taking deer must be at least .40-caliber that produce a minimum of 400-foot pounds of muzzle energy and that are charged from an external tank and propels a single expandable slug. Air rifles meeting these criteria also would be allowed for taking deer in Deer Management Zones 4, 4B, 5 and 5B.

Steven Fowler, assistant chief of the commission's wildlife management division, said public comments supporting the regulation outnumbered comments opposing it. He also said many opponents misunderstood the proposal.

"A lot of them didn't understand what was meant by big bore air rifle," Fowler said. "They thought it meant BB guns."

While it isn't something I would do (I am just not into hunting). It is an interesting recognition that there are some reasonably powerful air-guns in use.

 

[George P]

I have never seen a .40 air rifle...................interesting

 

[Hasaf]

I have never seen a .40 air rifle...................interesting

Not to push any particular product; but here are some specs on a Umarex air-gun:

Umarex Hammer™ Energy Generation
Grain Material FPS Energy (ft. lbs.)
180 Umarex® ARX® 1100 484
180 Umarex® ARX® Speedbelt 1200 484
200 Lead 1055 495
250 Lead 1000 555
275 Lead 945 545
300 Lead 930 576
330 Lead (Lyman) 935 641
350 Lead (Lyman) 875 595
550 Lead 760 705

from here

I can assure you that this is no no way the most powerful on the market. I did find it interesting that they set the lower limit at .40 when 9mm is so common for high power air rifles.

 

[Gadsden2A]

They could have gone with 40 caliber because of a lack of input from airgun enthusiasts and the industry, before the regulation was passed.. .40cal is the minimum caliber for black powder hunting in a lot of states. It could have been a starting point for fish and wildlife when considering airguns. Florida did the same thing, but FWC received a lot of input from airgun hunters and people in the industry when it was under consideration, and the final regulation allows for minimum .30cal for deer and .20cal for turkey. PCP only. Hogs and furbearers can be hunted with airguns with no restrictions on caliber.

 

[22250Rem]

Wow.... Thanks for posting. I knew they had Pre-Charged stuff capable of taking deer sized game but wasn't aware of where they could be used. In NY state air guns are only allowed on small game stuff. Biggest small game I ever did with an air gun was squirrel hunting with a .22 cal. Benjamin Trail. Have read accounts of bigger PCP guns being used on hogs and such but forgot what state they were in. Airguns sure have changed since I was a kid but they are still a heckuva lotta fun.

 

[Bushpilot]

Umarex Hammer™ Energy Generation
Grain Material FPS Energy (ft. lbs.)
180 Umarex® ARX® 1100 484
180 Umarex® ARX® Speedbelt 1200 484
200 Lead 1055 495
250 Lead 1000 555
275 Lead 945 545
300 Lead 930 576
330 Lead (Lyman) 935 641
350 Lead (Lyman) 875 595
550 Lead 760 705

So the lighter weight loads are roughly the power of a .40 SW pistol... Seems a little odd how the velocity doesn't seem to change all that dramatically from large changes in pellet weight...

 

[Deltaboy1984]

The Tech been around a long time!