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Wisconsin to allow statewide rifle use for deer hunting

5K views 46 replies 18 participants last post by  USSRangerSm3 
#1 ·
#4 ·
I'm all for it... we use rifles all the time in shotgun areas anyways, for coyotes and other things.. but just not during gun deer season. I do think they should revise the rule( same as North Carolina when I hunted there) as long as you are in a stand you can use a rifle, but while hunting from the ground you should have to use the shotgun in heavily populated areas. jmho
 
#5 ·
I heard this morning on the radio that WI has surpassed 200,000 concealed carry permits. I'd say a holster on the hip and a long gun on each shoulder. 100% covered.
I am not so sure rifles should be allowed everywhere.
 
#6 ·
I've never hunted where it was shotgun only... even when I lived in a shotgun only place... I've always traveled to places I can use a rifle. When deer grow wings and fly I'll use a shotgun on them then... So congrats to the southern WI people who can now rifle hunt.
 
#7 ·
Please explain to me how hunting with a shotgun only is safer in populated areas? My 20ga is just as accurate as my 6.8 to about 150 yards. If I shoot at someone with my shotgun will they not die? Populated or less populated shouldnt make a difference in the type of gun you can use because a shotgun slug can travel just as far as some of the hunting calibers used around here. If someone shoots someone during hunting season its because that person didnt identify the target or what was beyond.
 
#8 ·
Here in Missouri we've always hunted deer with rifles. We are just as populated if not more so than Iowa or Wisconsin or pretty much any other state. There's almost no accidents involved here that a shotgun would have prevented. Most are climbing out of a stand, or in close timbers etc where there's a lot of cover and a shotgun would have actually done more damage. Stupid law.
 
#9 ·
Shotgun only has always seemed like a nonsense law to me. Properly trained hunters who understand what they're doing when the trigger is pulled seems like a more noble task to push for.
 
#10 · (Edited)
That's what we have here in Illinois... lots of nonsense!!! Illinois is a shotgun only state as well. Mostly because the Cook County morons that have the majority of the population dictate what the farm land of Illinois can do. Bassackwards. "But, but, but... a shotgun doesn't shoot as far" they say, and that's why. Really? Ok. Go stand over yonder and let me put a slug through this here 10 gauge in your direction. Whacha think now?

Just look up the ballistics on a 12 gauge, 3 1/2" magnum shell using a sabot slug and let's just say they shoot very far...
 
#11 ·
We have shotgun only in Southern MN, as well as in the Iowa zone I hunt. I do not think it would be a wise idea to allow rifle in either of those zones. Unfortunately, "properly trained hunters who understand what they're doing when the trigger is pulled" is generally the minority when it comes to the firearms deer season around here. Additionally, the 30-30 is no longer the token rifle it once was in the deer woods and has since been replaced with the like of .270's, 7RM's, and 300WM's that retain much greater energy at much greater ranges than your average blaze orange army has neither the knowledge or respect of. I believe that allowing rifles into these zones will only increase the likelihood of accidental death or injury, unintentional damage to property, and wounded or otherwise unrecovered deer. It's not the rifle that's the problem, it's the cowboy behind the trigger.
 
#12 ·
I don't see the point of not using a rifle to take deer, thankfully I have never lived somewhere that is that way. Welcome to the 19th century.
 
#13 ·
Have you ever hunted the bluff country of SE Minnesota on the opening weekend of MN firearms season? Have you seen the terminal effects of a 12g sabot/slug on a whitetail deer inside of 100yds?

Then again, I still get called a ************* for my preference for archery hunting. I guess I enjoy the hunt moreso than the harvest.
 
#14 ·
I think I'd be opting for stick/string too (if shotgun were my only option for a modern firearm on deer). I've always been a meat hunter and cringe when I find a bunch of red jello. Ack !
 
#18 ·
I've heard slugs will ricochet off the ground, bouncing along, and actually remain deadly further out than most rifle shots. If it's too populated for a rifle, better limit it to buckshot.

The reason MI put in a rifle free zone was to limit kills, not for public safety. everyone just assumed it wasa safety thing so now they are sort of stuck with it.
 
#19 ·
When I first started hunting, it was shotgun only. I didn't like it very much with my smoothbore, a bead, and rifled slugs. That changed a few years later. I've been using my 6.8 for the last 3 years and won't go back!

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#20 ·
I've hunted deer for many years with a 12g slug gun, variety of rifle calibers, muzzleloader, and arrow...your mileage may vary, but in the shotgun only zones I hunt, I believe it should remain that way. I've personally had slugs whistle past my head and slam into nearby trees without ever seeing the source of the shot. Granted, I like the extended range of my 6.8 or 300 WM when I have the space to stretch the legs in the northern half of the state, and my slug gun is a 23" fully rifled heavy barrel with a 3-9 optic that pushes the limits of the 12g sabot at $4 a pop, so it's not that I don't appreciate a capable platform. It's the lunatics in blaze orange, half in the bag from deer camp the night before, running around with a firearm they may or may not have gotten to the range with a few days before to shoot a couple rounds to make sure their sights are still on, that weigh the heaviest on my opinion. Not to mention some of the deer drives you see take place, with anything even resembling a deer getting bombarded with a barrage of 12g slugs from every member of the hunting party from every different direction.
 
#21 ·
I live in north Missouri, about 50 miles from the Iowa line. The geography isnt much different, and its actually more populated than most of iowa. There are virtually no accidents that would have been prevented by going to shotgun only. Theres no more danger with a 30-378 weatherby than a 12 guage and slug. Wisconsin isnt going to experience any increase in accidents, and neither would any of the other surrounding states if they were to change.
 
#24 ·
I've hunted with a 12g for most of my hunting life. It was my first hunting gun. Got my first deer with it. I agree that a shotgun is just as dangerous as a rifle. I can understand why they are used in more populated areas. If a shotgun slug hits a rock or for some reason a pond there's a pretty good chance its just dead, a rifle has a better chance to ricochet. But thats where knowing your target and beyond plays in. Just my two penny's. But I do like the idea of the whole state going to rifles. Going to miss hunting up there.
 
#25 ·
From the roof of my house. Last deer season, my son shot an 8 point buck in the back of this field at 265 yards, and I shot an 11 point at 340 yards. Both of us were using a 300 Winchester magnum. My house is 3/4 of a mile from a 4 lane highway, and there at least 4 houses that could be seen in this picture at the far edges if you were there, looking through a pair of binoculars, plus others that are on the other sides.

And yes, I mow a strip through that field every year for target shooting. :D

 
#27 ·
2 miles from there, its bluffs, rivers, timbers etc. Here in missouri we have Large cities, and urban areas, South missouri has the ozark mountains. We have just about everything except desert here, and its all rifle hunt, and our accident rate isnt any higher due to rifles. Wisconsins accidents wont change, and neither would your state. Most hunting accidents happen climbing in and out of stands, or accidental shooting at close range due to stupid mistaken identity. Shotguns vs rifles wont have any affect on that. Shooting at a target 400 yards away, thats two feet off the ground, the bullet grounds out about 50 yards behind the target. Doesnt matter if its a rifle or a shotgun. We harvest around 320,000 deer per year in missouri, and average around 15-20 shooting accidents each year. Theres generally around 100 hunting deaths nationwide per year. Hunt with what you want, I use bow, rifle and pistol, but theres no evidence whatsoever that shotgun vs rifle save lives. In fact I think more people are injured or shot turkey hunting than deer hunting. I think most shotgun laws were enacted to help promote deer numbers like mentioned earlier in michigan. Most of us in rifle hunting states feel sorry for you guys. ;)
 
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