Back up guns

[Puffer]

In WA. it is leagal to carry a handgun while hunting during the Muzzleloading season ___ BUT --- there ARE RESTRICTIONS !!!!!

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO "INTERP. the REG :sorry: :sorry:

Talk to your local WDF LEO. :imo: :imo:

The Reg. "Muzzelloader hunters can carry a handgun designed to be charged with black powder only.It is NOT legal for hunting or dispatching big game."

Puffer

Puffer,.... Jest to give you an idea of how those regs. could possibly be "interpreted",.... it appears as tho only real "blackpowder" can be loaded in yore ML pistols. (.... and thus, NO SUBSITUTE POWDERS such as pyrodex, 777, and etc. are legal) :hmm:

YMHS
rollingb

That is a GOOD ?? to ask the LEO.Here are a couple of others: :imo:
1) What BP handguns are leagal ???? ---single shot MLs. multi-shot MLs ( like dbl. barrel or "duck foot etc.)-- Cap & Ball Revolvers, BP Cartrige etc.
2) What Cal.??

NOTE: in WA Handgun hunting is LEGAL ( except during ML season.)"Handguns must have a minimum barrel lenth of 4 inches per manufacturers specification, and fire a minimum 24 caliber centerfire cartridge." :huh:

3) Having a "modern" handgun in your possesion. --- You have COMPLETED hunting (ML ), you climb in your rig. In you rig there is a "modern" handgun.( you DO have a WA CCP )You are stopped @ a "check station. The LEO finds out that the "modern" gun is present ( DO NOT forget, in WA.WDFW LEOs can search W/O a warrent.) Are you in vilation of the Reg. ???? :huh:

Puffer

 

[Mad Irish Jack]

In PA, the regs read as follows:
"LATE FLINTLOCK SEASON- Flintlock ignition, single-barrel long guns manufactured prior to 1800, or simular reproductions of an original muzzleloading single-barrel long gun 44 caliber or larger, using a single projectile. Iron open "V" or notch sights only. fiber optic inserts permitted."
We also have a grey area. You can carry a concelled weapon during your hunting if you posess a CC permit. :: But as the hunting regs also say you cannot carry anything in the flintlock season :nono: but as previously stated.

 

[3 stinky dogs]

Pleas correct me if I am wrong, but I thaught that ballistics of a modern hunting caliber hand gun was about the same or not much more then then an avradge ML.At least that is the impression I get reading stuff by Sam Fedela.What would the chances be of getting a BP hand gun leagle for hunting ?

 

[MikeChapin]

In Wyoming we do not have a muzzleloader season. We go out with the smokeless. I do carry an old Virginia Dragoon .44 mag as a backup gun in case I botch a shot. Never had to use it but it's around so an animal won't suffer due to my screw up.

A .41 or .44 mag and .454 Casull are legal for hunting big game here.

 

[jim gray]

Sad examples of how we the majority suffer the consequences of a few bad apples, eh

I agree, it's also sad that the WCO's assume that everyone intends to kill a deer no matter what they have to do to get one.

I think that a canoe gun, or something similar would be legal as a backup here.

 

[tg]

Oregon recently had to change their gun laws about carrying handguns while hunting in ML or rifle, archery seasons, at one time the Dept of Fish & game would not allow one to carry a hand gun during these hunts then the law was challenbed in court and the court decided that the game commision could dictate what a person hunted with but could not dictate what a person carried, that they had exceeded their authority and infinged upon peiple constitutional rights so you can carry a handgun but are not in violation of any law unless you use it in a seasson that it is not leagal.

 

[Shooey]

Here in VA you are only allowed to carry muzzle-loading firearms during ML season. There is an exception for those with a concealed carry permit. It is unlawful to shoot wild animals with the carry gun.

-Shooey

 

[Vostok]

KevinM: I wrote in to the DOW with the same question. Here it is straight from the Colorado DOW:

Question or Message: Is it legal to carry a handgun during muzzleloader or cartridge rifle season if it is not your primary hunting weapon?

Answer:
HI,
Yes it is legal as long as it is not concealed and you don't use your handgun on the animal for any reason.
If you have any questions please let me know.
Thank you for Writing

Jeanette Scherbarth

Colorado Division of Wildlife

303-297-1192

[email protected]

Hope this helps.

 

[jmckenney]

In Michigan, you can hunt with as many single shot muzzleloaders as you can carry.

Doesn't necessarily have to be a single shot, can be a double barrel or 6 barreled ML firearm, stipulation is: they must load from the muzzle thus C&B revolvers and revolving rifles/ferguson's do not qualify.

 

[oomcurt]

Just adding this at the end, not replying to anyone's post in particular. I can see carrying a "back up" if one is hunting dangerous game or is in a area where grizzlies are. Other than that, I personally don't see the need. Years ago when I first started hunting I carried a .22 pistol with the idea that if a shot a deer, got up to it and had to administer a final shot it would be less messy. Well, I never found it necessary so I quit doing it. My feelings today are that if I did shoot a deer..and he was not dead when I got to him...he would be shortly. sorry if this sounds brutal, but that is just my feelings. As one poster said the reply from the authorities stated that yes, one could carry a side arm but could not use it in anyway on the animal...why carry one then?

 

[ktw]

In Michigan, you can hunt with as many single shot muzzleloaders as you can carry.

Doesn't necessarily have to be a single shot, can be a double barrel or 6 barreled ML firearm, stipulation is: they must load from the muzzle thus C&B revolvers and revolving rifles/ferguson's do not qualify.

Michigan does not require that a handgun be loaded from the muzzle to be legal for use during the muzzleloading season. It only requires that the handgun be loaded with blackpowder or blackpowder substitute.

Muzzleloading handguns, cap & ball handguns and blackpowder cartridge handguns are all legal to use during Michigan's muzzeloading season, and have been since the season began.

Call your local CO and ask them.

ktw

 

[jim gray]

As one poster said the reply from the authorities stated that yes, one could carry a side arm but could not use it in anyway on the animal...why carry one then?

I think there are two different discussions going on here; one is concerning the legality of carrying a ML or BP handgun as a backup for hunting and the other regarding the legality of carrying one's self-defense handgun during ML season.

I don't like to allow a deer to suffer for a moment longer than necessary, but I have found it's just as quick to cut the wounded animal's throat to finish it off.

On my very first deer hunt I killed an 8 point buck. I was 11 and so nervous and excited about the animal that after it was down I shot it again to make sure it stayed down and whenever it moved I shot again. By the time my dad got to me from his spot about 75 yards away I had shot the deer 6 times in the head and neck from 15 feet away. It was extra dead. :haha:

The next year my dad let me load 2 shells in the gun.

 

[jmckenney]

If you will note, Michigan's December Muzzleloading Season stipulates Muzzleloading; not black powder/substitutes season.
From the Mi. DNR website
Link

Muzzleloading Deer Seasons
During the December muzzleloading seasons, muzzleloading deer hunters can use only a muzzleloading rifle or muzzleloading shotgun or black power handgun loaded with black powder or a commercially manufactured black powder substitute.

I did ask back in August about the use of a cap and ball revolver the following answer is directly from the DNR Headquarters:
[email protected]
Response (Jaqueline Waber) - 08/11/2005 09:57 AM

2) The revolver is not considered a muzzleloader because it is not loaded from the muzzle.

Thus by extension, a Ferguson rifle is not a muzzle loader, nor would a smith carbine or sharps percussion 1854 using loose powder loaded from the breech. They may be percussion or flintlock shooting black powder or substitutes but they are still not Muzzleloaders by Michigan Law.

I don't advise anyone to ask a CO in the field to address a legal question. You may well get the answer your looking for from one officer, but the next one may not agree, resulting in a go directly to jail citation. If you do ask and get the answer you are seeking have them put it in writing and sign and date it, you'll need it to present to the judge.

 

[ktw]

...have them put it in writing and sign and date it, you'll need it to present to the judge.

Lt. Ray Boehringer
District Supervisor for DNR Law Division.
Plainwell District Office
269-685-6851.
[url] http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116006&page=1&pp=15[/url]
[url] http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27344[/url]
[url] http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95805[/url]

 

[JeffD]

Not in the Carolinas. Only during the regular firearms season can you carry a handgun. I carry a .44 mag revolver. Sometimes I carry it as my primary weapon, but most of the time it's used as a backup during the allowed dates.

 

[Bill41]

I'm going to have to check the Oregon regs again, and then contact them to help me decipher them
It was my understanding though that during archery season you could carry a back up (pistol). The reason was due to the number of archers that had cougar sneecking up behind them while they were calling. The pistol is not to put an animal out of its misery, but to protect yourself from predators.
In ML or regular rifle season this may not be as much of a concern. However I'd still like to carry something extra when I'm ML hunting.

 

[Lonegun1894]

According to the game regs i have, a muzzleoading handgun IS legal here in Texas for hunting, with the only restriction being that it be at least .45 caliber if hunting deer with it. It also says that a C&B revolver is NOT a muzzleloader. ALL handguns are legal if on private property, but must be centerfire for deerhunting, except the muzzleloaders, of course. Where the regs get screwy is public hunting lands. The individual areas have differing local regs and, as an example, the closest to me allows me to have any handgun i want since i have a CHL, but i cant hunt with it unless it's a ML, no matter the season.

Got stopped on my way home after a bowhunt, and the officer asked to see the bow, the orange vest, etc, then asked if i had any firearms. told him i had a .357 and he asked to see it. Checked it and was about to leave when he spotted a 30 rd AR magazine on the floorboard ( i took the rifle to the range the day before, but dint have it with me) and insisted that he check the truck to make sure i didnt have the rifle. Turns out that that area you arent allowed to have any centerfire or rimfire rifles in at ANY time, no matter the season. Glad i didnt have it, for the sake of avoiding problems if nothing else. Said he'd have thrown me across the hood of my truck if he'd found a rifle. May be just me, but i was very respectful to him up to that time, and didnt see that threat as being called for. First time i have ever had a warden get pushy. Seems like all the others i have ever talked to tell you flat out that being nice and respectful gets you much further when your job forces you to deal with armed individuals on a daily basis. One bad apple, i guess, but hopefully none of you will cross paths with that guy.