Waiting on IL DNR

[PapaG]

We are going to be able to use straight wall cased cartridges for deer starting next year in Illinois. Yippee!
Only down side is that it has to be in a single shot. I have a Henry .357 and an old H&R 44 but would like to use a lever gun of my late brother's or my father's.
I can gunsmith one easily enough by making a wooden plug to keep the magazine from accepting any cartridges and have written the DNR for approval. Not going to risk a fine and gun confiscation without a letter from them.
Has anyone else tried this or heard, reliably, that it would be legal?

 

[Armored farmer]

I'm wondering about that too @PapaG ....I want to use my 1894c .357.
I know you can use a mag block in an AR style PISTOL for use as a HANDGUN during firearms season. I would think a wooden dowel would suffice as it does in a shotgun tube.
But hey.......common sense isn't common anymore.

I bought an H&R handi-rifle in .45-70 for deer season but haven't fired it yet. This work thing sure cuts into my play time.

Ps
I didn't think that straight wall hunting was in effect until 2023?
Maybe I misread that.
If you ever hear from DNR, let us know.

 

[PapaG]

My post stated "next year". Easy to interpret as next season as many of us equate our real year by the beginning and ending of hunting seasons.
I've heard many " interpretations" of how the law works or will work but none of the gun shop lawyers have facts to back them up.
"Oh, yeah! My AR 350 Legend is ok to use if I take the magazine out and only put it in to load the next round" is the best so far.
How is your cousin's campaign going? My family gave him all seven of our eligible votes.

 

[Armored farmer]

Oh yeah, I see that now. I was thinking next season. I stand corrected.
Bailey/Trussle is very strong in the southern three quarters of the state. Lots of Bailey signs in our area.
Its hard to beat the Chicago Machine, but he's gonna make them work at it. My friend said that his dad has been dead for years, and he hoped he doesnt vote for pritsker again like all the other dead in the cemetery.

 

[illinoisburt]

State DNR has info here:. https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/hunting/Pages/Law-change-that-affects-hunting-season.aspx

 

[PapaG]

State DNR has info here:. https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/hunting/Pages/Law-change-that-affects-hunting-season.aspx

Thank you so much for that information. It wasn’t there the last time I tried to wade through the DNR website. Now, which to modify. 94-44, 336-444, Rio Grande 45-70.

 

[PapaG]

Can't wait to let the guys at the club know there are options other than searching for a new single shot. Have had numerous inquiries.

 

[Paul7]

State DNR has info here:. https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/hunting/Pages/Law-change-that-affects-hunting-season.aspx

Why single shot? Typical IL stupidity, glad I moved.

 

[illinoisburt]

Why single shot? Typical IL stupidity, glad I moved.

Why single shot? That's simple enough. The state does not want hi-power rifle seasons. They have begrudgingly adopted changes step by step. Handguns we're allowed a couple decades ago, limited to big bore revolvers and straight wall single shots. Lobbying has finally convinced the state to essentially allow those previously approved handgun rounds in a longer package -- still a single shot except now with a stock. It was a nice concession that they expanded choices of cartridges to include a few bottleneck rounds with limited case length so people can use their 300 BLK AR with a sled mag. (The DNR put out a list of approved rounds. I suspect game wardens will reference it in the field so probably a good idea to stick with these.)

 

[Steve51]

Well, crud. I was hoping this new law was in effect for the fall 2022 deer firearm season. According to the DNR rules posted by Illinoisburt, it will not take effect until the 2023 season.
Don't they understand that I am too old to wait another year.

 

[illinoisburt]

Well, crud. I was hoping this new law was in effect for the fall 2022 deer firearm season. According to the DNR rules posted by Illinoisburt, it will not take effect until the 2023 season.
Don't they understand that I am too old to wait another year.

I'm not sure on that. It states the rule goes into effect on January 1, 2023 which may mean rifles can be used in the late firearms season in January. So even though it's antlerless (and blizzards) in the late hunts, rifles might be viable this hunting season.

 

[mope540]

Why single shot? Typical IL stupidity, glad I moved.

Congrats on your escape! I retired last year and happily moved away as well.
The Lake Springfield area is so overrun with deer that the DNR and the city of Springfield have partnered up to permit deer hunting on city owned property surrounding the lake. But of course so many rules and restrictions apply (such as bow hunting only) that reducing deer population would take years to do, if it can be done at all.
Typical restrictive red tape nonsense in ILL-inois, and the idiots in charge can't figure out why they have a deer overpopulation problem.

https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/conservation/IRAP/Pages/Lake-Springfield-Archery-Deer.aspx

IDNR said a healthy density of 15 to 20 deer is good in order for native plants to thrive. An aerial survey in 2021 found an average of 77 deer per square mile in the area surrounding Lake Springfield.

https://www.wcia.com/news/idnr-looking-for-hunters-to-help-lake-springfields-deer-overpopulation/

 

[illinoisburt]

Congrats on your escape! I retired last year and happily moved away as well.
The Lake Springfield area is so overrun with deer that the DNR and the city of Springfield have partnered up to permit deer hunting on city owned property surrounding the lake. But of course so many rules and restrictions apply (such as bow hunting only) that reducing deer population would take years to do, if it can be done at all.

Be happy the city is going the hunting route. Before I moved away we fought for years to try to allow bow hunting in the forest preserves around Cook and Will counties. Never happened. They got $ for prairie restoration projects and hired the police to cull animals. There were wooded places which used to hold 100s of trophy class animals that are now fields of ragweed with less than 10 animals per square mile (https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/conservation/land-management/deer-management-faq/). They killed thousands of deer during the past decade using nighttime feeders in January through March when winter conditions drew deer not only from the parks but also surrounding private land. You really don't see many animals there anymore.

 

[FL-NC]

We are going to be able to use straight wall cased cartridges for deer starting next year in Illinois. Yippee!
Only down side is that it has to be in a single shot. I have a Henry .357 and an old H&R 44 but would like to use a lever gun of my late brother's or my father's.
I can gunsmith one easily enough by making a wooden plug to keep the magazine from accepting any cartridges and have written the DNR for approval. Not going to risk a fine and gun confiscation without a letter from them.
Has anyone else tried this or heard, reliably, that it would be legal?

You could do it cheap by dropping a skinny wood dowel down the tube and through the spring on a lever gun, preventing loading additional rounds. I don't think tinker toy sticks would be long enough. I do know a guy that plugged AR mags to 5 shot by putting his kid's legos inside of it though.

 

[PapaG]

Got it. Now, which? 444,_45-70, 44, 357. I'm leaning toward my late brother's 336-444. Ugly as sin, straight stock with Monte carlo, half mag, 24" barrel. I've got 100 new Star line brass, 100 Sierra 265 soft points and a dozen appropriate powders.