steveracer
Member
My only problem with it is practice. Saboted shotgun ammo costs a LOT more than my normal rifle loads. A LOT MORE.
Shotgun states - Why?
- Thread starter Fredericianer
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Lower third of Michigan has been shotgun onlymfor firearms season for many years. Rest of the state any centerfire is legal. This year straight walled pistol cartridges became legal in rifles for the lower third of the state. There is archery and muzzleloader throughout the state.
Loyalist Dave
Member
The vast majority of Maryland is shotgun/muzzleloader only. This is more reactionary law than actual safety. It's very true that the majority of "hunting accidents" are actually folks falling when using a tree stand. Then you have the folks who shoot themselves or a hunter very close by.
What has cause the reaction against the rifles has been the very rare occasions when somebody has fired a rifle, either hunting or target shooting or poaching, and it has hit a house or a car or livestock. Add to that the very very rare instance where a bullet struck a person several hundred yards away.
Added to that is the suburban soccer mom reaction that anything that can kill a deer that can be seen by them is an imminent threat to their children. So for a while there were areas where firearms of any type were not allowed for hunting in the state, but bows still were permitted. THEN some SSM saw a hunter on the hunter's land, sitting in a treestand with his back to the SSM and her property, and holding a bow. Since she was on her land, but could see the hunter, she went on a tirade about how he might shoot and kill her kids, and the local county council prohibited bows (and airguns) in the previous "no shoot" zones.
NOW because the population of deer has exploded in these areas, you can go back to bowhunting, if you have the minimum sized land, and you are in a tree stand, and you inform the Office of the Chief of Police when you are going hunting. (RELAX folks, this is so that when the SSM's freak out and call the police about the "psychopath hunting deer" the police don't have to hassle the hunter 'cause they already know about the guy.)
So it's not based much on the reality of the situation, as some of these inline muzzleloaders with 150 grains of powder and a sabot slug can shoot "out of safe" from a farm or public hunting area, and reach the housing developement several hundred yards away.
LD
What has cause the reaction against the rifles has been the very rare occasions when somebody has fired a rifle, either hunting or target shooting or poaching, and it has hit a house or a car or livestock. Add to that the very very rare instance where a bullet struck a person several hundred yards away.
Added to that is the suburban soccer mom reaction that anything that can kill a deer that can be seen by them is an imminent threat to their children. So for a while there were areas where firearms of any type were not allowed for hunting in the state, but bows still were permitted. THEN some SSM saw a hunter on the hunter's land, sitting in a treestand with his back to the SSM and her property, and holding a bow. Since she was on her land, but could see the hunter, she went on a tirade about how he might shoot and kill her kids, and the local county council prohibited bows (and airguns) in the previous "no shoot" zones.
NOW because the population of deer has exploded in these areas, you can go back to bowhunting, if you have the minimum sized land, and you are in a tree stand, and you inform the Office of the Chief of Police when you are going hunting. (RELAX folks, this is so that when the SSM's freak out and call the police about the "psychopath hunting deer" the police don't have to hassle the hunter 'cause they already know about the guy.)
So it's not based much on the reality of the situation, as some of these inline muzzleloaders with 150 grains of powder and a sabot slug can shoot "out of safe" from a farm or public hunting area, and reach the housing developement several hundred yards away.
LD
guyfromohio
Member
I'm all about freedom, and do think it's a bit silly. That being said, I've never felt handicapped with a slug gun or muzzleloader in Ohio. It adds to the sport. For me personally though, I don't have access to land where a scoped rifle makes sense. All of my kills have been <50 yards or so (guessing here.... I have never felt the urge to measure distance as I came up on my downed game).
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