What's it like where you live?

[Keith]

I have been wanting to ask this for quite awhile. What is it like where you live? I don't mean the weather, but the gun laws and the hunting. Please keep this nonpolitical as much as you can, forum rules. We have members from all over the world so this would be a great time for us all to learn about what our sport is like in other lands.

I'll start. I am a New Yorker, no not the city. For those of you who haven't been to NY it is a big state. I live a good 6 or 7 hours drive from The City. If you live in New York there is only one city and everyone knows which one you are talking about.

The big game here is whitetail deer, someplaces have black bear, but not everywhere by a long shot. Small game includes rabbits, squirrels pheasants, grouse, geese and ducks. This being a northern state the deer can get quite big. We also have a lot more agriculture than people realize to feed them.

Gun laws. Contrary to what some non-Americans think not all Americans own a gun. Gun control is a pretty hot political issue here in fact. New York state requires a pistol permit to own a handgun. Long guns don't require any kind of permit to own. Except in the city. They are a lot stricter there. Fortunately I never actually lived in the city so I am not real familiar with the extra rules there.

So what's like where you live?

 

[Walker357]

Illinois is not really a gun friendly state. We have a hidden tax with our "Firearm Owners Identification" card. It is required to purchase any kind of firearm or ammunition. It's not required for muzzleloaders or round ball, but I've had several dealers ask to see it. I don't argue. Stay away from Chicago and Little Richie, he would like to see all guns outlawed and confiscated.

In the east central part of the state there is not much game. Flat open farmland with out even any fence rows. I have to travel south about 100 mile to hunt with my brother-in-law.

I'm just very lucky and have a place to shoot only 1/2 mile from home. Except when it snows.

 

[Rebel]

I live in western Oregon. We have blacktail, whitetail and mule deer in Ore. Also Elk, bear, sheep, cougars, rabbits, both cottontail and jackrabbits, doves ducks, geese, grouse, phesants,and an abundance of non-game animals. Rabbit season is year round. We have no permits reqired to own any gun other than a fully auto machine gun. We have a very easy to obtain concealed carry permit. If you aren't a criminal or insane, you can get a permit. We also have some great fishing out here. All ans all, not a bad state to live in.

 

[Ohio Joe]

To my knowledge, here in Nebraska you need a permit, issued by the local police department where you live to purchase a modern hand gun, but not a long gun. All firearms require the federal background check. No permits or background checks are required to purchase muzzleloading handguns or longarms...

It would be rare indeed to find someone in western Nebraska who didn't own a firearm...

As for the land, I have access to 90,000+ acres of Federal and State land to use, and good friend's vast ranches they allow me to hunt. I can't complain! :thumbsup:

 

I live in northern Alberta Canada. game here (that I can hunt within 20 miles of home) includes mule deer, whitetail deer, elk, moose, black bear. A freind shot a 246B&C net non-typical muley this fall about 6 miles from my house. A guy I work with shot a 50" moose but that was 50 miles from here. Travel 5-6-hours from home and we have big horn sheep. We are a major flyway for canada geese and of course we have ducks. Grouse, roughed and sharptail a few pheasents. We have rabbits and a zillion squirrels but nobody hunts either. Our deer are big, our elk are small, our moose are average. We have the same mickey mouse gun laws that the rest of canada has, however the Alberta provincial govt refuses to enforce it.

 

Good topic.

Walker357 said it all about living in Illinois where I hail from. Now that I am retired, I live in rural Winona County, MN. The gun laws here seem to make sense but it still cost a couple bucks to get a card to buy a handgun. Unlike the FOID card in Illinois that is good for 5 years and cost $8 (the last time I bought one) our card must be renewed every year if you want to buy a handgun and it cost $15 if I remember right.

The Sheriff's office has 14 days to run a background check on you and a card is issued if there is no reason not to. It takes the decision out of the Sheriff's hands. Our Sheriff is against it but the deputy that issues the permits is in favor of it. A card is supposed to be issued within 14 days of application but they are usually backed up and it takes longer than that. Once a card is issued, there is no waiting period and as far as I know, no restrictions on what you can buy.

For about $25 we can apply for a concealed handgun carry permit. The same type of background check is made and you must qualify with a handgun, you must also understand what concealed carry means, when deadly force can be used etc. If a business does not want you to bring a concealed weapon onto their property, they must post a notice in the front window/door stating that guns are banned on the premise.

You need no permit or waiting period to buy a long arm.

I am not sure what big game is up north besides elk, moose, deer, bear etc. I think they also have some big cats. Around here, in SE MN, we have bear, deer, turkey, pheasant, grouse and other small game. The ridge I live on has all of them.

I am also on the Mississippi River Flyway which is a migratory route for many species of waterfowl. Tundra swans by the thousands come through here but they are not legal to hunt in MN. I beleive we are still on a point system for ducks and the canvasback was the 100 pointer the last time I had a duck stamp.

A lottery is used for some of the hunting seasons. There is also an extra tag available for landowners who own more than 80 acres I beleive. I only have 12 acres and do not qualify.

 

Ohio Joe, is it just me, or does that avatar picture look alot like Frank Zappa???

 

[Ohio Joe]

I thought it was Mark Twain? Who's Frank Zappa??? The name sounds familiar, but I'm at a loss??? :hmm:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Montana, not Nebraska. Frank Z. moved to Montana to raise dental floss.


Well Keith. Here in southern NY it's like northern NY except we ignore the game laws and hunt as we please, whenever we please. The greebles and malaroons run pretty freely, but clubbing them takes some skill. Usually, we just run a heard over a cliff and then it's all the roasted malaroon you can eat.

 

[Barney]

Moose, sheep, goats, antelope, mule deer, whitetail, elk, black bear and hopefully soon, wolves and griz.

I think if someone around here doesn't own a gun, they're new, and their neighbor can loan them a couple if needed.

Awesome fly fishing too.

And I get to visit the grave of the great Jeremiah Johnson as often as I want.

 

[pepperbelly]

Here in Texas we have no restrictions on buying any weapons, except for the Federal laws for full-auto, etc. We have a shall issue concealed carry permit system, again subject to laws prohibiting carry into bars, schools, etc.
We have deer, turkey, hogs, rabbits, quail, dove, ducks- basically if you can shoot and eat it we have it. I have heard about black bear in east Texas but have no personal knowledge.
We have a lot of gun stores and are basically a gun friendly state. We have some areas that are liberal, but no extra restrictions.
We have lots of room too. Ya'll can all come visit together. Someone will be along to open the gate for ya soon.
Jim

 

[leadball]

I live in Northwest wisc. Plenty of deer, bear, tons of ruffed grouse, rabbits and plenty of state and county land to hunt on, although i hunt my own land for deer. Gun laws are pretty lax for the most part and you cannot find a house around here that is gun free. Our local politicians are gun friendly except a particular one that is real wacko but he gets voted in because of some weird districting thing

 

[Gametracker]

FOID cards were a hot topic in the last Illinois governor's race. One candidate, who eventually won, was forced by campaign pressure to retract from his sponsorship (at least cosmetically, and probably only in the south) of a bill that would have raised the FOID card fee from $5 to $500, as well as increasing 3-day waiting periods to 5-days. True to his word so far (or just waiting re-election perhaps?)
Here in the south end, both elephant and donkey state representatives must run pro-gun to have any political life. The result has been the addition of "handgun deer seasons" in local counties that fall short of the harvest quota (good excuse for a plains pistol :thumbsup

Shawnee National Forest is the only NF in Illinois, and it draws a crowd during 1st shotgun deer season, both from in-state northerners and out of state southerners who hold to the popular philosophy that antlers are far more superior on the other side of the Ohio River. I prefer the far less chaotic 2nd season and ML-only season.

Wild turkey is in abundance, as well as rabbits, dove, ducks, quail, geese.

 

[MichaelPetersen]

I got my rifle just before christmas, had to wait 8 weeks so that the police could check me out (normally it only takes 3 weeks, but with the holidays, vacation, and sickness, they just couldn't do better) :shake:.
I also had to be a member of a gunclub before i could apply for the permit (not that i mind that, they're nice people), so now i can go out and start buying/changing guns??, nope!, if i want another gun, i have to apply for another permit (though, it should go faster as I'm now 'preaproved').

handguns?, not for another year and a half, I need to be a member in a gunclub for 2 years, before i can aply.

hunting?, well if I start now, I can get the education this winter (though i have to be a member of a huntingclub) and maybe be ready next fall. but not with the rifle i have now (armisport kentucky replica), you need to be able to fire a second shot fast if the first one wounds the animal, and that kinda rules out muzzleloaders.

Ah well... i got my rifle..

 

Fast to my grandmother is next week.
All depends on how and who is defineing fast. :imo:

Woody

 

[robinghewitt]

You can do what you like over here so long as you've got the land. You don't need self loading rifles and handguns for hunting but there are calibre restrictions on deer and you need to show the police that you're not likely to shoot innocent bystanders by accident ::

I had a nice policeman around here to see me about renewing my gun permit, he said "Remind me, why do we let you have all these guns without requiring a burglar alarm?". I replied, "Because they are antiques, if you make life awkward for me I will simply take them off the certificate and out of the gun safes".

 

[tucoblue]

What are gun restrictions in Kentucky?

 

[2172]

here in western North Carolina, we have a gun friendly population as the donut surrounding the "Liberal/Progressive" city of Asheville. When the local paper asked our Sheriff for his reaction to the many of us who have concealed carry permits, something paper viewed with horror, the Sheriff said, "as I see it, I've now issued 1,500 permits...to citizens who've been trained in the laws dealing with gun use, demonstrated adequate skill in safe handling and use, and have passed criminal and mental background checks. Seems to me I have now got 1,500 unpaid deputies on the streets...I like it"
I'd say we're a pretty gun friendly state. We have black bear, Russian boar/feral pig crosses, white tail deer, squirrel, grouse, coyotes. There are reports of sightings of panther, and once in a while a red wolf, a survivor of a failed planting attempt, shows up. I am occasionally running into posted land controlled by clubs, but not enough to bother yet...Hank

 

[Keith]

Interesting, if you get a handgun permit can you keep the gun at home or at a club only? How about carrying it? I ask because I understand many countries if you own a pistol it has to be kept at a club only.

 

[Keith]

Tell us more about the gunpermits, Robin. Do you get one for a set period of time or for individual guns? I guess pistol are strictly verboten there any more, right?