-
Be sure to read this post! Beware of scammers. https://www.indianagunowners.com/threads/classifieds-new-online-payment-guidelines-rules-paypal-venmo-zelle-etc.511734/
Last Year's Rifle Bill Amended...
- Thread starter Willie
- Start date
The #1 community for Gun Owners in Indiana
Member Benefits:
Fewer Ads! Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership Discuss anti-gun legislation Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses Discover free outdoor shooting areas View up to date on firearm-related events Share photos & video with other members ...and so much more!
Member Benefits:
If one is unclear, it`s best that they ask...
avboiler11
Master
If one cannot read the *very* plain language of the bill as stated above by DNR and make the determination themselves...maybe modern highpower rifles aren't for them.
It ain't rocket surgery.
Neither is it your place to decide "what`s for them", based on how well they grasp the technical aspects of the cartridges.
Finally! i can use my dads 375 h&h on deer again. The first time was about 10 yrs ago in arkansas, on a doe, at 75 yrds, with 235g speer hot cors at 3000fps. I remember that the butcher who processed it for me said both front shoulders we Destroyed, heh. But Maybe i will instead use MY 9.3X62mm . Wait a second, I hunt deer with a 243win!!(since about oh, 9 years ago 
). And i will get to again use it in indiana. Its nice that the hoosier state finally let peeps use their favorite rifles. Oh my dad actually uses a 7mm rem mag for deer. My bro uses a 30-06, my almost bro uses a 308win. They know a decent amount of stuff about their specific fav cartridge, but aside from those, they are by no means experts in ALL the ROUNDS that their are in ALL the caibers AVAILABLE. So i think this year we can be nice and say, yes yer so and so ought 6.5 mm mag a whatchamacallit it good fer hunting.
). And i will get to again use it in indiana. Its nice that the hoosier state finally let peeps use their favorite rifles. Oh my dad actually uses a 7mm rem mag for deer. My bro uses a 30-06, my almost bro uses a 308win. They know a decent amount of stuff about their specific fav cartridge, but aside from those, they are by no means experts in ALL the ROUNDS that their are in ALL the caibers AVAILABLE. So i think this year we can be nice and say, yes yer so and so ought 6.5 mm mag a whatchamacallit it good fer hunting.I'll finally be able to use my 270 Winchester (or just about any of the centerfire rifles in the safe) on deer in Indiana. Well, at least on private land!
I always hoped this day would come, but it's almost hard to believe they got it sorted out in one year. Ironically, the deer harvest was down last year, despite all the worry about increased range.
I always hoped this day would come, but it's almost hard to believe they got it sorted out in one year. Ironically, the deer harvest was down last year, despite all the worry about increased range.
Ironically, the deer harvest was down last year, despite all the worry about increased range.
The range increase provided by the newly legalized rifles was made moot by the bumper crop of acorns that kept deer in the woods and greatly reduced the movement required to feed. I wouldn't have expected much of an increase in harvest if any in any case.
Acorns or not, deer don't "live" 300 yards out into any empty field. The most successful hunters know where deer live, and that you don't need more than 100 yards worth of range to kill them. Where this regulation will be an advantage is with the recruitment of young hunters (recoil sensitive) and the retention of older hunters who don't want the recoil of a slug gun or the mess of a muzzie.
I`ve seen plenty of deer, good bucks included, 200, 300 yards out into, or across a field. White-tails don`t follow a script, and can show up anywhere.
I don't know too many young hunters who are recoil sensitive for deer hunting since they only get one shot and many young hunters have been using .357 & .44 mag with great success too. It's nice to have more options for the youth with the new HPR but the recoil argument is not something I would consider valid. We have 6 year olds in my area that take deer with .50 cal muzzleloaders. The best part about being allowed to use high powered rifles is that we can use some of our father's & granddaddy's guns now.
Agreed.
While many of the "why we should be allowed to use rifles" arguments didn't hold much water, the "why you shouldn't be allowed to use rifles" arguments definitely didn't hold up. If there is not solid reasoning to make something illegal, it ought not be illegal. While my .308 is not necessarily a better deer gun than anyone's .44 or muzzleloader, if there's no good reason to ban it, leave the options open. This is supposed to be the land of the free, after all.
I've introduced several youths and women to hunting over the last decade or so...recoil may not matter in the field, but it dang sure does when they are practicing and getting used to shooting their gun. Heck, I have seen grown men in Indiana who are afraid of their slug gun, and shoot it accordingly. Having grown up hunting in CA, WI and MI, in areas where most rifle cartridges are allowed, I can assure you that a wise mentor makes sure a young hunter doesn't have to deal with the punishing recoil of a shotgun or muzzle-loader. It is only in states where there was no choice that "logic" such as yours is accepted in any way. Why do you think Indiana is changing their regulations? It is because recruitment is down and empirical evidence (crop damage, car collisions) suggest deer numbers are up.
If you don't know too many young hunters who are recoil sensitive, then you don't know many hunters. To go on and say that many young hunters are using 357 and 44 magnum rifles is to validate my point. Why are they choosing those two cartridges? If you think it's NOT because of recoil, or that argument isn't valid, then try this little experiment: Have a 12 year-old girl shoot one round from a slug gun and then one round from a 243 Winchester...then tell her they both kill deer just as well and ask which one she wants to use.
Umm, some of the smart ones do indeed seek refuge far out into wide open fields where experience has taught them that they are safer from slug guns and muzzleloaders. Also there are plenty of other places where the extended range can be helpful such as large CRP fields, fence lines/ditches between small woodlots up north, open ridges, power line right of ways, etc. Apparently you have never been north of Indy or hunted anywhere but in the woods. There are a lot of valid reasons for hunters to have the opportunity to use rifles and no valid ones why they shouldn't have that opportunity. There is no need to fixate on any one particular reason over others.
bobjones223
Master
HUGE +1 on this.
We have all seen bucks tending does out in the middle of fields. This occurs all over the Midwest, even in places where normal rifle cartridges have been in use for decades, and it has nothing to do with deer that have learned the effective range of slug guns and muzzleloaders. You are observing a behavior and reaching a conclusion without understanding the biology behind it. Deer are not good at judging distance, due to a very limited scope of binocular vision, and their threat avoidance mechanisms have not advanced to include yardage estimation. Correlation is not causation.
With all due respect, I have hunted the open fields and tree lines of northern Indiana, the woods and ridges of southern Indiana, and the wide open expanses out West...deer live close to cover, and smart hunters leverage this fact. I'm sure you do, without even realizing it. Think about every one of the stands you've ever hunted out of; how many of them are in or immediately adjacent to some kind of cover?
I am not at ALL opposed to opening up the rifle cartridges regulations! I fully support it, for several of the reasons you mentioned. I also agree there will be plenty of situations where the extended range "can be helpful", but changing regulations will not change basic deer biology or behavior. Maybe you've spent too much time hunting in places where there aren't a lot of woodlots left, but the simple fact remains that whitetail deer, particularly northern whitetails, ARE woodland creatures. The vast majority of deer killed in Indiana, and even big game out West, is killed at 150 yards, or less. As you said, these regulations make sense because there is no good reason for us NOT to be free to use most cartridges. However, one of the very best reasons to expand the regulations is lower recoil options for women and children to shoot, as we work to recruit them into a sport that might otherwise fade away. Research the demographics of hunting today and you'll understand what I mean.
Kirk Freeman
Grandmaster
With all due respect, I have hunted the open fields and tree lines of northern Indiana, the woods and ridges of southern Indiana, and the wide open expanses out West...deer live close to cover, and smart hunters leverage this fact. I'm sure you do, without even realizing it. Think about every one of the stands you've ever hunted out of; how many of them are in or immediately adjacent to some kind of cover?
All of them, but I have not shot a lot of deer.
However, I still like the idea of shooting them with my 6.5x.284 rather than limiting my range with a slug gun. I look at it this way, I have more range with a centerfire rifle, but that does not mean I have to use it.
