Minnesota state wide rifle use

[Skeeter]

Statistical evidence would be obvious. A rifle shoots 100-300 yards farther than a slug gun. In farm country that means you can cover way more ground.

Everyone and their brother has a box blind now that sits on a strategic area.

They just added considerable more range. I’ve seen it first hand very few 2.5/3.5 bucks survive the 9 day gun season (Rut) in my area . Farm country with mixed cover.

This will make it worse. It you simply like venison, probably not a big deal. If you want a buck to survive beyond 2.5 years. It will make a bad situation even worse.

Again, those are anecdotal examples. The states that have removed their restrictions don't report the widespread, negative effects that people put forth as concerns.

 

[Mtyhunter]

Oklahoma is rifle, and yes, there are inherent risks with rifle rounds. It makes it even more important to get to know your hunting neighbors, so someone doesn't shoot towards a known stand site. Like one of the posters said earlier, "its a trigger management issue", and that's proven every year when I hear of people "mistakenly" shoot another hunter with a shotgun while turkey hunting. It could certainly happen with rifles...
Concerning the impact on deer population and age, once again, "it's a trigger management issue". For those that can afford it, a nice rifle with a rangefinding bad boy scope is a tremendous advantage. When that 2 year old basket rack steps out of cover at 300 yds, you know it's going to likely get shot, and one doesn't have to have great hunting skills to pull this off. I believe it will impact your buck age structure unless your neighbors are serious managers.

 

[bwoods11]

Again, those are anecdotal examples. The states that have removed their restrictions don't report the widespread, negative effects that people put forth as concerns.

What states have went from shotgun to rifle and also keep documentation on harvest of 1.5/2.5/3.5/4.5 year old bucks?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

What states have went from shotgun to rifle and also keep documentation on harvest of 1.5/2.5/3.5/4.5 year old bucks?

What states that are shotgun only do this now?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

They just added considerable more range. I’ve seen it first hand very few 2.5/3.5 bucks survive the 9 day gun season (Rut) in my area . Farm country with mixed cover.

This will make it worse. It you simply like venison, probably not a big deal. If you want a buck to survive beyond 2.5 years. It will make a bad situation even worse.

I think every state that has a whitetail season has a problem with this no matter what weapon is being used.

 

[bwoods11]

The 2 legislators proposing the bill are Chris Swedzinski from Ghent, and Jeff Howe of Rockville. Send them an email if you are against this. "Making MN deer hunting from Bad to Worse"

Contact your local representative as well.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Anything that makes it easier to kill bucks will make the buck age structure worse. The timing of our gun season stacks the deck against the bucks, but adding rifles will expedite the decline. Throw in unlimited buck tags in SE MN and things will look pretty bleak in a few years.

 

[bbgun]

I can see both sides on this one. Used to be that politics would play out something like: "You want rifles statewide, great! We propose to back the firearms season off two weeks and you have a deal." But sadly that won't happen.

 

[PatinPA]

Do you really think allowing rifles would make that big of a difference? I've never shot a slug gun but have been thinking about getting one the thicker my property gets. My shots are rarely more than 100 yds. I can only think of a handful of times where I've shot further than that. What is a slug gun range now? 150 yds?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

On our valley property a rifle would be a game changer. That doesn't mean a buck I would actually take a shot at is going to show so......

 

[Mortenson]

Yeah, 150 vs 400 yards. I'd say game changer.

 

[bwoods11]

Do you really think allowing rifles would make that big of a difference? I've never shot a slug gun but have been thinking about getting one the thicker my property gets. My shots are rarely more than 100 yds. I can only think of a handful of times where I've shot further than that. What is a slug gun range now? 150 yds?

In farm country yes, it doubles the range . I know some guys that shoot out to 500 yards as well.

A few guys can Chris Kyle a deer at longer than that.

 

[Tree Spud]

In Wisconsin, we have been rifle for a long time in many of the parts of of the states. You will learn to enjoy opening weekend when multiple shots of 4-8 rounds from the same rifle becomes common.

I always felt that one of the reasons Iowa & Illinois had better mature populations of trophy bucks was due to weapons being limited to # of rounds and distance they could effectively shoot.

 

[spaniel]

Indiana was a slug only state for a LONG time. Then they opened it up to "pistol cartridge rifles" and now most common centerfire rifle bigger than .243.... I have not seen much of a change in the way I hunt as most shots are still 100 yards or less. I will say that a slug puts one hell of a hole in a deer vs a 30 cal round. A slug also isn't as friendly to shoot or to introduce young hunters into the sport. I honestly think it has more to do with economics...retailers selling more rifles and ammo. We saw the same thing when the state opened up X-bows as well. Our DNR came right out and said they found no evidence from a management perspective to NEED rifles. But some other folks pushed it thru the legislature...which I wasn't a fan of....government types again passing laws they no nothing about!

The Indiana process was especially egregious. I don't know what happened behind closed doors but the DNR didn't want the change, but somebody had pull in the legislature and they passed a completely nonsensical bill that over-ruled the DNR. The bill literally made no sense from a firearms perspective. IIRC you could use a .243 and a .30cal but .270 and 7mm were illegal. So the DNR threw up their hands and said "fine, .243 and bigger".

I'll admit I was not a fan, at the time I was hunting an open property surrounded by irresponsible types and was worried. I'd already almost lost access because I was blamed for shooting over a guy in a blind when it was someone from a neighboring property. But the change corresponded with a drop in deer and hunter numbers in the area and so it never created a problem.

Now I bought my own wooded land, I hunt with lever actions in 35Rem and 45-70, in that way the new law is good because these were the types of rifle rounds that should have been reasonable all along...

 

[Skeeter]

In farm country yes, it doubles the range . I know some guys that shoot out to 500 yards as well.

A few guys can Chris Kyle a deer at longer than that.

From my experience hunting across the state, the people capable of accurately shooting a rifle 400 yards use muzzle loaders or rifle caliber handguns in the shotgun areas so that they can still shoot 250 to 300 yards. Again, most of the worries about lifting the restrictions are based on personal fears not reality.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

From my experience hunting across the state, the people capable of accurately shooting a rifle 400 yards use muzzle loaders or rifle caliber handguns in the shotgun areas so that they can still shoot 250 to 300 yards. Again, most of the worries about lifting the restrictions are based on personal fears not reality.

Not saying it cant be done by some but for me I would be uncomfortable shooting over 150 with MY muzzleloader and over 2oo with a centerfire pistol (which i wish i had) Maybe if i spent more time on the range i'd be ok with it but not currently. I am hoping to upgrade the scope on my muzzleloader this year though so maybe in the near future.