NC is getting pretty lax on what types of guns you can use for hunting.

[T-90]

Now you can use hi-cap semi-auto pistols. This means you can hunt deer with a Glock 19 and a 17 round mag.

“There used to be a restriction on the caliber of the gun, but they have done away with that to allow hunters the opportunity to harvest (deer) with different calibers,” said Sgt. Sam Craft, a wildlife-enforcement officer from Wilson County.

“There was some interest from hunters to take game with different calibers and shorter length barrels,” Craft said. “After some discussion, they decided that there really was no more likelihood of an animal being wounded and then the failure to be able retrieve that animal.”

http://www.northcarolinasportsman.co...ls.php?id=4660


Also from a few inquiries to the Wildlife Resources in Raleigh and a conversation with a game warden. You can legally hunt with AR's, AK's FAL's HK-91's and such with 20-30 round magazines. From what I hear the SKS and the AR-15 tends to be very popular in the NC woods, with some guys using AK's and some semi-auto 7.62x51mm battle rifles.

From what I understand Georgia has no mag limit on rifles. The thing about NC is that is seems you can go hunting like Rambo. LOL I am trying to figure out why these changes were made. I am not complaining at all about them, they seem cool but I am wondering why they are so lax.

[TimSr]

They are assuming that most people will use good judgement. If a state finds it necessary to regulate every aspect of a hunt, what caliber to use, what weapon, it is usually to combat a history of enough people using poor judgemnt, that they feel it is necessary. People who hunt with the attitude that "if its legal it must be suitable and ethical" drive desire for increased regulation.

Having said that, a 30 round magazine offers no advantage in real world hunting. The desire to use one is that you don't have to go find and buy some aftermarket small capacity magazine, or by some kooky device to put on to replace a fixed magazine. SKS has been a popular shorter range deer cartridge for a long time because the rifles were so cheap for so long.

[jmr40]

At one time GA used to have a complex, impossible to understand and enforce set of rules on what you could, and could not hunt with. How is anyone supposed to actually know if your load had 500 ftlbs of energy at 100 yards? And it was up to the state to prove the load you were using did not. It made no sense that a 357 mag with a 6" barrel was legal and a 44 mag with a 5.5" barrel was not. Things got simplified several years ago and it hasn't caused any problems. I'd imagine NC is doing similar.

[jimbob86]

How is anyone supposed to actually know if your load had 500 ftlbs of energy at 100 yards?

It's not difficult to know what does not: if it does not have considerably more than 500 at the muzzle, then you can be pretty sure it does not @100 ..... I'll aggree that it's pretty Byzantine, and complicated if you want to prove something really marginal is in fact legal. OTH, it's pretty simple to avoid running afoul of the law: use something that you KNOW is not margingal, and that is commonly used, as opposed to just whatever you have laying around ..... or worse, using whatever is barely legal, so you can prove that it should be......

On the one hand, you have people wanting a law discouraging other people from using inadequate firearms to hunt deer- they want to conserve the resource. In most places, the resource has been "conserved" to the point the whitail deer herd is a hazard to itself, it's environment, and motorists.

On the other you have people wanting to ....... I'm not sure what they want to be able to do legally, exactly. Spray a herd of deer with a Glock 18 and a 33 round magazine? See if a deer can be killed with a .32 S&W or a .357 snubby? Use their M4gery or H&K or LCP or whatever to make "the most amazing kill shot EVAR"? Or maybe just take their kit gun along when deer hunting .... for squirrels and such?

.....

"That which neither picks my pocket not breaks my leg ......"

..... hmmmm.....

The law is un-necessary, and probably less effective than public derision of the LCP deer hunting idjits.

[Husqvarna]

How is anyone supposed to actually know if your load had 500 ftlbs of energy at 100 yards?

because it says so on the box?

or if you handload you chrono your loads?

[Panfisher]

Actually sounds like NC has moved to the same position more and more states are in. I don't consider itlax just a lot easier to understand and enforce. Missouri has pretty well been there for years, and while I know of more folks who take a 9mm pistol with them as a side arm to their rifle there doesn't seem to be any great rush by hunter to shoot deer with a .32 acp or anything remotely like that. Reducing the number of arbitrary rules makes sense to me.

[jimbob86]

because it says so on the box?

That's meaningless if you don't use the same test barrel as the factory.

Hypothetical Real World Example: Kid with an M-4gery (generic 16" barreled AR) buys a box of Hornady American Whitetail hunting ammo:

http://www.hornady.com/store/223-REM-60-GR-SP-AW/


According to numbers on the box, it'd be legal to use for deer hunting here in my state (900 f/lbs energy minimum @ 100 yards for rifles) ....just barely. The kid's using a 16 inch barrel, though and the numbers on the box were developed with a 24" test barrel. In all likelyhood, that load out of of that gun would not make the minimum to be legal.

Would it kill a deer? Maybe. There are better tools for the job, to be sure.

[Snyper]

Now you can use hi-cap semi-auto pistols. This means you can hunt deer with a Glock 19 and a 17 round mag.

You always could as long as it was "as powerful as a 357" and had a 357 or larger bullet diameter

LOL I am trying to figure out why these changes were made.

There have never been restrictions on magazine capacities for rifles nor pistols, nor even shotguns for non-migratory game

You can also hunt with supressors, and at night with lights for certain animals

It's not "lax" to let people hunt with commonly used legal products

[Husqvarna]

that load out of of that gun would not make the minimum to be legal.

and that would be up to the hunter to check, I don't see the problem...

[Snyper]

It made no sense that a 357 mag with a 6" barrel was legal and a 44 mag with a 5.5" barrel was not.

That's how our law was originally written, but was later changed to include the 5.5 Rugers

That came from folks with no real gun knowledge writing the laws

[Husqvarna]

you want to hear a stupid gun hunting law

here in Sweden you are only allowed to have 2 rounds in the magazine if you are hunting bear with a semi-auto not fun fumbling to reload your mag when the bear is still squirming lemme tell ya

bolt actions, levers and so on no magazine limit

[jimbob86]

you want to hear a stupid gun hunting law

Oh, we have those, too: Here in Nebraska, where the number of days where there is enough snow on the ground to even run a snowmobile in the average year can be counted on one's fingers, it is illegal to have a loaded firearm on a snowmobile.

[jmr40]

How is anyone supposed to actually know if your load had 500 ftlbs of energy at 100 yards?
because it says so on the box?

or if you handload you chrono your loads?

I was referring to a game warden checking my gun. Unless they chronograph the load and do the math they have no case. That never happened. The law as written was unenforceable and every game warden knew it. No one was more happy to see that law changed than those who were supposed to try to enforce it.

[979Texas]

It's just good to see other states lessening their restrictions on gun hunting laws for law abiding responsible people. In this day and age that is important as guns and restrictions become more and more so under fire by people in the government who didn't know that magazines could be reloaded.

[FrankenMauser]

It's just good to see other states lessening their restrictions on gun hunting laws for law abiding responsible people.

Yep.
When I first started hunting Elk and Deer with centerfire rifles, I often reached for my SKS. But, at that time, you were limited to 5 rounds. So, I had to stuff a stupid wooden block in the magazine (loading only 5 was not enough - it HAD to be blocked, by law).

Over the last 5 years, however, some people in my hunting circle (myself included) have taken full advantage of the fact that many of the restrictive, but pointless, laws have been revoked.
The unblocked SKS returned for a season, or two. There have been 3 to 5 AR-style rifles in deer or elk camp, and even one AR pistol. And, other than the .458 SOCOM, they were mostly outfitted with 30-round magazines. (The SOCOM had "30s" too, but they only hold up to 9 rounds of that fat cartridge ... and a "10 rounder" with 3-4 rounds of .458 SOCOM is much easier to pack around.)

There are even multiple AR-style rifle builds in progress in my family, built solely or primarily for big game hunting (6x45mm, 6.8 SPC, 6.5 Grendel, .475 Tremor, and more...).


Idiots will always be idiots. It doesn't matter what the regulations are.
But, allowing law abiding hunters a little more choice isn't a problem, in my eyes.

[bamaranger]

Does PA still prohibit hunting with SA rifles?

[Brotherbadger]

they seem cool but I am wondering why they are so lax.

Honestly, it doesn't seem very lax to me. Seems completely normal. Some folks like to hunt with their handguns. It's not for me, but I don't see a problem with it.

[Snyper]

Does PA still prohibit hunting with SA rifles?

It seems they do

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=558105

[T-90]

Wow! I can believe Georgia had a Feet-LBS energy law. Glad they over turned that.

Didn't know that other states were becoming lax on these laws, I think its cool I can carry my sidearm now. How many of you carry hi-cap semi-auto's in the woods?

Also I like to hear other folks using the SKS for hunting. Got a lot of love for that little carbine myself. Its tough, accurate once zeroed in and can be very dependable in the woods.

[Panfisher]

Frankenmauser, the 6x45 is a round that has been on my mind. I even made a round by neck in up a .223 to 6mm and putting a bullet in it just so I can look at it. Have you shot it or still building it.

[Snyper]

Frankenmauser, the 6x45 is a round that has been on my mind. I even made a round by neck in up a .223 to 6mm and putting a bullet in it just so I can look at it. Have you shot it or still building it.

The 6mm/223 has been around a long time, and there's even factory ammuniton made

Bob Milek liked it in his Contenders:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6%C3%9745mm

[22-rimfire]

My state went to "any center fire caliber" handgun was legal for deer hunting mostly as I understand it to allow people with carry permits to be able to carry their regular carries in the woods. It used to be 357 mag or larger.

[FrankenMauser]

Frankenmauser, the 6x45 is a round that has been on my mind. I even made a round by neck in up a .223 to 6mm and putting a bullet in it just so I can look at it. Have you shot it or still building it.

I have one finished 6x45mm AR upper that is intended for varmints and Antelope. I like it quite a bit. It is, however, quite heavy, due to the parts that I chose to use. It weighs in at over 13 lbs.

There's another one in the works, more along the lines of a "light weight" build for more comfort while hiking. The end goal is to be as far below 6 lbs as possible. I just need to order the barrel (pencil thin, 16"), gas block, and sights (or optic). Everything else is ready and waiting to be assembled.

Both 6x45s are currently slated to get fed just three (handloaded) bullets that I've been stockpiling:
62 gr Barnes Varmint Grenade
85 gr Nosler Partition
87 gr Hornady SP (varmint version)

Anything heavier is really only doable in a bolt action or single-shot, due to COAL restrictions. (Even some 70-80 gr bullets are too long.)

[T-90]

Well its neat to hear other states are changing their laws also. Didn't realize it was a nation wide type of thing. Honestly I doubt anyone in their right mind would go hunting deer with a .25 ACP, but its nice to have a everyday 9mm or ,45 ACP if you had to dispatch an animal.

[tedthorn]

Missouri.......any centerfire round

Mag capacity.......10