I am confused about this Iowa DNR language!

[Elliottsdad]

Okay, I've been mulling which straight wall rifle to buy for Iowa deer for many months now (i.e. over-thinking). I looked over the IA DNR 2018-19 Regs tonight, and something jumped out at me on pg. 31 (legal method of take).
Just one line: "Centerfire Rifle: .24 caliber or larger."
It then proceeds to explain all the allowable straight wall cartridges .357 or larger just like the previous year. What??? Am I missing something? Where/how does the .24 come in to play then?
Please go easy on me if I'm totally misunderstanding something here, but do these not contradict each other? Or did they legalize additional cartridges this year?

[FrankenMauser]

Can you provide a full quote of the regulation?
It would help.

[Elliottsdad]

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/Hunting-Licenses-Laws
There's a link to the Iowa page with the PDF. Its on pg 31, bottom of the left column. For the life of me I can't figure out how to copy and paste text from the PDF. I apologize!

[Elliottsdad]

Here we go:

Handguns/Rifles: Center-fire handguns .357
caliber or larger, and rifles shooting straight wall
ammunition with an expanding-type bullet (non
full metal jacket).
Deer hunters age 16 and under may not use
any handguns. Deer hunters ages 17 through
20 must be accompanied by a parent, guardian
or spouse who is at least 21 years old to use a
handgun.

Center-fire Rifles: Rifles .24 caliber or larger.

Allowable Straight-walled Cartridge Criteria:
■ Center-fired straight-walled rimless cartridges
chambered for handgun use with bullets from
0.357” to 0.500” diameter and a case length
from 0.850” to 1.800.”
■ Center-fired straight-walled rimmed cartridges
chambered for handgun use with bullets from
0.357” to 0.500” diameter with a case length
from 1.285” to 1.800.”
■ The following cartridges do not meet the
above criteria, but are allowed: 375 Winchester, 444 Marlin, 45-70 govt.

[Elliottsdad]

Well, did some more searching online, looks like its only for four specific counties. Drat.

[Mobuck]

"Where/how does the .24 come in to play then? "
Not actually being an IA resident, I'm mostly guessing. Some of the southern tier of counties have a centerfire antlerless season and possibly the .24 is related to that??
IMHO, the 357 is the smallest straight wall cartridge suitable for deer hunting anyway.

[Rembrandt]

My guess is they don't want to deal with AR's (.223-5.56), this is their way to eliminate those from the discussion. Many states do permit deer hunting with a .223, probably more to inform non resident hunters that they can't use them here.

[jmr40]

I have some friends here in GA who work for the DNR. We get some nonsensical hunting laws that make it into the regulations from time to time. Just remember, it is the state legislature that makes up the laws, not the DNR. Often they have an intent in mind, but lack the knowledge about hunting/shooting to word the laws in a way that makes sense.

I've seen that happen a few times over the years and some are so poorly written that they are unenforceable. The DNR will simply ignore them until they can be changed, but it does put hunters in a bind and it is usually better to be cautious. Sometimes the error is brought to the attention of the legislature and clarifications are made the next year. Other times I've seen silly laws stay on the books for years.

[T. O'Heir]

"...this Iowa DNR language..." It's 'Unelected Civil Servantese'. It's supposed to be confusing. Justifies their existence. And you're dealing with people who don't know what they're talking about. snicker.
Logic doesn't apply to hunting regs anywhere. Up here, there are jurisdictions where a .270 Win is ok, but a .276 Petersen(assuming you could find that) is not. Some of 'em, say nothing bigger than .275 calibre. But even there the .270 Win is ok and so is the .275 Weatherby Magnum. Calibre restrictions, here, go by the cartridge name, not the bullet diameter.
"...Center-fire Rifles: Rifles .24 caliber or larger...." Means no centre fire .22's. Not just .223 Rem.

[Brian Pfleuger]

It seems very clear to me.

They’re clearing sub-categorizing straight wall cartridges. No more confusing than if they said “archery equipment must be minimum of 50lb draw” and then later said “crossbows minimum 150lb draw”.

Centerfire rifle minimum .24 caliber unless it’s the subcategory of “straight-wall cartridge”, in which case it has its own separate rule.

[Scorch]

Common enough for states to disallow anything smaller than 24 caliber. Goes back to the earliest days of hunting regulations, the failures on deer of .22 centerfires like the 22 Savage High-Power, the 22 Newton, 22R Lovell were notorious, so they banned them in a lot of places. They had to draw a line somewhere, so they chose .24". Simple enough.

and so is the .275 Weatherby Magnum.

Not familiar with that one . . .

[Bwillsonhunter4]

look on the next page it has i diagram centerfire straight wall are for shotgun 1 and 2 but just centerfire is only for january antlerless ion 4 counties.