MN bill to end shotgun zone

[Wind Gypsy]

Any fellow ‘sotas have thoughts on this? I personally like the idea of some limits on weapon efficiency being as we hunt them for nearly 4 months with firearm season in the heart of the rut. That said, I am not strongly opposed.

One of my property lines at home is the city limits and there are 4 or 5 houses that share that property line with me. Kind of odd to think I could shoot a deer with a rifle with a city neighborhood less than 100 yards away.

 

[Mortenson]

Yep IL has the same thing being debated now. If passed, single shot rifles can be used. Not in favor of it. Of course if good shotgun slugs will never again become available, then I guess I'm in favor of it.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Didn't really think about the application in ag country deer drives.. Bad enough slingin shotgun lead at running deer. I can already picture the 500+ yard shots at deer driven out of cover into big open fields.

I don't like the thought of it, but I haven't firearm hunted in a shotgun zone for over 20 years either..

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I live in Wisconsin now, in the rifle zone. I use to live in southern MN. There was a couple spots that I hunted where a rifle would have been awesome. But the majority of my spots there is no way I would hunt with a rifle. I cant imagine what inexperienced hunters would do.

I hunt with a rifle now, not because my 12 ga with a scope inst accurate enough, or couldnt shoot far enough, I just do, because I hunt in a forest, and my bullet would be lucky to travel 100 yards without hitting a tree anywhere, and my buildings, roads, are the only ones within a half mile of where I hunt.

 

[bueller]

My vote would be for rifles. Studies have debunked the fears that rifles are more dangerous than shotguns under typical deer hunting conditions. Additionally, in my experiences I've seen way more deer wounded and not recovered with shotguns vs rifles.

 

[wooduck]

A great majority of deer shot today are shot from elevated stands , if its brown its down ended years ago for the most part very few neighborhood drives like there was 40 years ago , there will be problems though , DnR may want a bigger kill in the shotgun zones although guys that want distance and acracy are mostly using black powder now as that part of the sport has changed so much recently

 

[PatinPA]

Any fellow ‘sotas have thoughts on this? I personally like the idea of some limits on weapon efficiency being as we hunt them for nearly 4 months with firearm season in the heart of the rut. That said, I am not strongly opposed.

One of my property lines at home is the city limits and there are 4 or 5 houses that share a that property line with me. Kind of odd to think I could shoot a deer with a rifle with a city neighborhood less than 100 yards away.

Do you not have safety zones? PA you're not allowed to hunt for or shoot at an animal within 150 yards of any building that could be occupied with out permission from the owners. You're not even allowed to trap within 150 yards without permission.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Do you not have safety zones? PA you're not allowed to hunt for or shoot at an animal within 150 yards of any building that could be occupied with out permission from the owners. You're not even allowed to trap within 150 yards without permission.

MN DNR regulations that apply to this:
"On another person's private land or a public right-of-way, a person may not discharge a firearm within 500 feet of a building occupied by humans or livestock without written permission of the owner, occupant or lessee of the building. This does not apply to people hunting on their own property."

 

[PatinPA]

MN DNR regulations that apply to this:
"On another person's private land or a public right-of-way, a person may not discharge a firearm within 500 feet of a building occupied by humans or livestock without written permission of the owner, occupant or lessee of the building. This does not apply to people hunting on their own property."

I had to double check ours but it's 150 yards away regardless of whether it's your property or not. Archery is only 50 yards. They did that for suburban areas a little while ago.

 

[bwoods11]

Did this bill get brought up again ?? Where do you see this ? There are areas of Minnesota (ag country) where this would devastate the already horrendous buck survival.

There won’t be a half dozen bucks older than 3 yrs old in some counties.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Did this bill get brought up again ?? Where do you see this ? There are areas of Minnesota (ag country) where this would devastate the already horrendous buck survival.

There won’t be a half dozen bucks older than 3 yrs old in some counties.

Todays issue of outdoor news.

 

[bwoods11]

It’s just another messed up move by the Minnesota DNR and the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association.

My area in Minnesota is already a clown show during the gun season , this will make it worse. Pound those deer even more.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

It’s just another messed up move by the Minnesota DNR and the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association.

My area in Minnesota is already a clown show during the gun season , this will make it worse. Pound those deer even more.

My understanding is the DNR can’t do anything about it when the state legislature mandates it.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I find it funny how one of the quotes throw states like ND out there though.. where residents wait years for a firearm buck tag.

 

[bwoods11]

I find it funny how one of the quotes throw states like ND out there though.. where residents wait years for a firearm buck tag.

Exactly … great point.

I kind of hope the “knobs” pushing it, reap what they sow .. “hmmm I thought we’d have more nice bucks around this year” strange ? Can hear it now.

 

[Angus 1895]

I think a compromise of slower straight wall cased center fires ie 38/55 375 44 mag 444 45/70 450 marlin etc

 

[Angus 1895]

I think the political clout of vista outdoor might come into play

 

[Skeeter]

I'm near the rifle/shotgun boundary. I hunt a fair bit of public around home and it's a pain to remember what I can use where. Sure would be nice to just take whatever works best for the situation. I don't worry about the opinion that there could be more accidental shootings. Evidence from other states has not proven a significant increase.

 

[Bill Loser]

Some of you guys sound like anti hunters...
Rifles wont change anything in any area. Most shot guns these days have ranges of 150 to 200 plus yards which is the range 99% of hunters would usually stick to. Add to that the fact that a good number of shotgun hunters use semi automatic guns for faster follow up shots, i would guess the majority of rifles nowadays are bolt action, or even single shot, so to assume that it would become a war zone is bit much.
Southern wisconsin a fww years ago went from shotgun to either and the deer kill numbers i believe have been for the most part unchanged, though i dont have the nbers in front of me right this moment.
You wont see anychanges other than the sound of the shots on opening day.

 

[Brian662]

I really don't care about shotgun vs rifle where I live. I do find it mildly pathetic that people feel the need to hunt whitetail with a rifle in the heart of the rut.
My preference would be to move the gun season closer to WI season dates and allow rifles during that time. Let the bow hunters have the rut, the gun season completely changes deer patterns during the best time of year. Unless you own several hundred acres, trying to advance a deer to the next age class is nearly impossible as it is, now give everyone rifles to boot?