Semi-Auto rifles for deer in Pa. ???

[Someday isle]

I live in Missouri where we don't have any restrictions on rifles being used as long as it's a .22 centerfire or larger. While I personally consider a .22 caliber centerfire to be too small for my comfort zone I have no problem with someone else's choice if they believe in it. The truth is we can't control what other people think or say or do. We can only control how we respond to it. I don't think we should legislate what others choose to hunt with so long as it is legal. I prefer a bolt action rifle. While I own a number of rifles from a .223 to .458 win mag I most often grab a 7mm magnum. I've often heard "What do you need such a cannon for? They're just deer!" But it's what I choose and I practice with it a lot. I can't work a bolt as fast a semi auto but I'm close to lever action speed. I've only fired two shots at an animal on three occasions and all of those weren't needed. The first one would have been fatal. I just didn't know that when I fired the second shot. An unprepared hunter with a lever action or pump is likely just as dangerous as an unprepared hunter with a semi-auto. Unfortunately there will always be spray and pray hunters - but I think they are just as dangerous no matter what weapon they choose. I'm in favor of more opportunities for legitimate hunters, not less. Taking the safety question out of the equation it's not unlike the crossbow vs vertical bow question we've had in Missouri. I prefer my compound but I say let them hunt if it grows our sport and its opportunities. If I lived in Pennsylvania I'd welcome the new opportunity. If there have been hunter accidents in my state caused by the use of a semi auto I've never heard them publicized. You'd think the anti hunting and anti gun crowds would be all over that. Just my two cents.

 

[kabic]

One last comment on old lever actions. My BIL has been hunting with one since he was 12 and loves it. So they work for some people just fine.

 

[sandbur]

Semi-autos have been legal in most of WI since before I was born. WI usually has over 600K deer hunters in the woods on opening weekend, and the vast majority of the time very, very few shooting accidents occur. I don't know how many of the shooting deaths/injuries in WI are done with a semi-auto but I'd be willing to bet that they are not "over represented" in comparison to bolts, levers, or pumps.

Change is difficult. I'm not pleased with many of the changes in the hunting world that have taken place since I started hunting in the late '70s....but that's life.

We are just getting old, Stu.

 

[Red Picqua]

Why would you need a sling on your gun inside a deer blind? You are sitting down and generally not carrying a gun. One extra thing to get in the way.. get hung up on something. I guess I am from the camp that if you are carrying a gun than a sling is in order, but if are sitting you don't need it. I peel it off immediately in my blind. Zero use for it.

 

[chummer]

Why would you need a sling on your gun inside a deer blind? You are sitting down and generally not carrying a gun. One extra thing to get in the way.. get hung up on something. I guess I am from the camp that if you are carrying a gun than a sling is in order, but if are sitting you don't need it. I peel it off immediately in my blind. Zero use for it.

I have never considered taking off my sling. I have never even thought about it once on stand. I guess I find it very strange that someone would take it off once on stand. Taking the quiver off a bow I get but sling off a gun seems silly.

 

[bueller]

I don't even have a sling on my gun. I'm still hunting to my stand from the moment I step out the door.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Why would you need a sling on your gun inside a deer blind? You are sitting down and generally not carrying a gun. One extra thing to get in the way.. get hung up on something. I guess I am from the camp that if you are carrying a gun than a sling is in order, but if are sitting you don't need it. I peel it off immediately in my blind. Zero use for it.

Well, I guess everybody does things a little differently. There's another camp of hunters who have been trained on how to use a sling as a tool for accuracy while shooting and see a sling as a benefit. I'm in that camp. I don't hunt out of blinds or have those fancy bionic gun cradles in my tree stands...so for me a sling helps me stabilize my firearm for the shot.

 

[Jeff23]

I think there will be a lot more AR style rifles than any other semi-auto's used.

Do the states that allow semi-autos, levers or pumps have shell restrictions at all?
Ohio is three shells and with rifles straight walled cartridges only for now.

The proposal in PA will limit them to 5 rounds from what I've read.

 

[Red Picqua]

Well, I guess everybody does things a little differently. There's another camp of hunters who have been trained on how to use a sling as a tool for accuracy while shooting and see a sling as a benefit. I'm in that camp. I don't hunt out of blinds or have those fancy bionic gun cradles in my tree stands...so for me a sling helps me stabilize my firearm for the shot.

totally agree if you are hunting as you described.. In a box blind from an elevated position? One more thing to clink the rail or get tied up in something.. To each his own..

 

[Bill]

Well, I guess everybody does things a little differently. There's another camp of hunters who have been trained on how to use a sling as a tool for accuracy while shooting and see a sling as a benefit. I'm in that camp. I don't hunt out of blinds or have those fancy bionic gun cradles in my tree stands...so for me a sling helps me stabilize my firearm for the shot.

Funny as kid shooting .22 completion matches we were always taught to use the sling sitting, kneeling and prone.
Yet I've never done it deer hunting. I like to get rid of it like picqua says. One less clink or clunk.

 

[JFK52]

I hunt from both elevated and ground blinds. I always have my sling on going up the stairs or entering the blind. Removing the sling and putting it into my back pack is part of my settling into the blind procedure. It would be in the way for me when I would have to take a shot.
Different strokes for different folks!

 

[Red Picqua]

totally agree.. still love that set up on that AR platform. Very cool looking gun. I have no issues with any weapon used. I don't even care that someone uses a turret system. Not for me.. but to each his own. It all happens so fast that I would not know what to do with a turret. I like Auto's.. I like bolts. Not a fan of pumps or levers. I like rolling blocks or single shots too. I LIKE GUNS!!! I like going up to a gun cabinet and choosing my weapon for the hunt. I don't like going out with the same gun all the time. boring... I think Mr. Turret used a pre 64 Win bolt in .270?? I don't see the love of that platform. Its a manual extraction for the casing in the bolt. Simple blade in the back of the receiver makes some people ooh and aww. I find their actions to be a little sloppy and their barrels to be just ok. But, to each his own.. some people don't think Sako make good guns and they think Remington or Savage or the best. Perfect. My vote is for belted magnum cartiridges like the .300 weatherby. If you want a car to go fast the first thing you do is BORE it out. Pour the coals to it....

 

[wklman]

Why would you need a sling on your gun inside a deer blind? You are sitting down and generally not carrying a gun. One extra thing to get in the way.. get hung up on something. I guess I am from the camp that if you are carrying a gun than a sling is in order, but if are sitting you don't need it. I peel it off immediately in my blind. Zero use for it.

Funny as kid shooting .22 completion matches we were always taught to use the sling sitting, kneeling and prone.
Yet I've never done it deer hunting. I like to get rid of it like picqua says. One less clink or clunk.

A little duct tape around the swivel and no more clink or clunk. Too much of a pain in the butt taking it off and on since I use it walking to and from the stand.

 

[sandbur]

A tight sling can change impact. I you consider shooting with a tight sling around your arm, practice with it at the range. I have given up on the tight sling as nearly all of my guns have a shift in impact.

 

[Red Picqua]

my buddy and I were talking last night... He also said on the sling. one more thing to add movement in the blind. He is in the camp of peeling it off when he hits the stand. He said the same thing I did before. every deer he has shot has been different. bent knee.. leaning on a wall.. out the back door. free hand. nothing is ever the same with a rifle.

I am also in the camp.. I just leave my gun in my deer blind! What is the sense of hauling it back and forth to and from camp. I hunt on my own land and no one is back there but me and my friends and family. No worries. I always unload it and just leave it in the holder. I usually have multiple guns in my blinds. I sometimes carry a ranch rifle with a pistol scope on it or small carbine with iron sights back and forth. I like to have options available just in case something of interest comes into range... Someone said you can't carry a 12 gauge anymore with buckshot in it. Man.. I love buckshot. Very effective for many types of animals. but.. i guess the law is the law. Simple Benelli M1 with an extended mag to the end with Buckshot.. I love that gun. :)

 

[wklman]

my buddy and I were talking last night... He also said on the sling. one more thing to add movement in the blind. He is in the camp of peeling it off when he hits the stand. He said the same thing I did before. every deer he has shot has been different. bent knee.. leaning on a wall.. out the back door. free hand. nothing is ever the same with a rifle.

I am also in the camp.. I just leave my gun in my deer blind! What is the sense of hauling it back and forth to and from camp. I hunt on my own land and no one is back there but me and my friends and family. No worries. I always unload it and just leave it in the holder. I usually have multiple guns in my blinds. I sometimes carry a ranch rifle with a pistol scope on it or small carbine with iron sights back and forth. I like to have options available just in case something of interest comes into range... Someone said you can't carry a 12 gauge anymore with buckshot in it. Man.. I love buckshot. Very effective for many types of animals. but.. i guess the law is the law. Simple Benelli M1 with an extended mag to the end with Buckshot.. I love that gun. :)

Different strokes for different folks. If I were to leave my gun in my stand over night up in mn it would get sweated up bad and rust the barrel as well as the scope would fog up first thing in the morning when needed most. I hunt from both box blinds and ladder stands and have used the sling a couple times and never had it in the way. If anything I've needed handy for a shot.

 

[Apple Junkie]

Semi autos are legal in NY, but not many guys hunt with them. If you listen to the shot sequences during opening day, I don't think you'll hear much difference. Between the recoil, and taking even a rough aim on the target, you can't really fire a semi much faster than a pump - and they jam! half of the guys that I hunt with come up from PA and they all hunt with bolt action rifles, as to most of us. No semi-autos even though they are legal. I'm sure the gun shops in PA are licking their chops.