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CptMoonlight

Member
Jun 10, 2015
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Oklahoma, United States
I have been considering, over the last few months, the limitations put on hunting with air guns. I firmly believe the laws are outdated. I believe the laws are there to protect game from unnecessary injury, deformity, or disability due to use of hunting implements that are not powerful enough to take a game animal.

In the case of waterfowl/migratory birds, perhaps safety and fairness to the hunted animal are considered. With most air rifles, you have to be within 75 yards to insure a clean kill on an animal the size of a duck/goose. There are inherent dangers when shooting firearms near bodies of water. Generally there are livestock and homes present near water, so a ricochet is a real danger. However, I have shot my 22 disco at turtles, and in the cases that I've missed, the pellet has skipped across the pond like a rock. No one is going to seriously consider taking a game bird in the air with a pellet rifle, so the danger of a distant injury/damage to property is very unlikely. There is also the case of shotguns doing damage to migratory birds due to multiple pellets striking multiple birds. Again, pellets limit this possibility, unless, of course, it's a through and through strike, which would possibly happen with a shotgun as well.

In the case of larger game, I understand there should be limitations, but there are obviously air guns capable of taking game as large as deer and with big bore air rifles, there are very few limitations.

There is surely something I'm missing. Anyone?

MOD EDIT: DISCUSSION MOVED TO HUNTING FORUM
 
This is my first post here but I am not new to airguns or hunting. You bring up an interesting point but I believe its a double edged sword in our case. If we push for less hunting regulations on the grounds that our airguns are powerful enough to harvest game up to and including large game effectively, we may indeed get our wish since technological advancement in our guns has grown by leaps and bounds.I believe some states already have a fps limit in place to ensure nobody is shooting at game with a Red Ryder.
However, in this case if we successfully prove that our airguns should be treated as any other firearm in terms of hunting, we may very well face airguns becoming classified as firearms all together. Of course that could translate into a tax stamp for NFA items such as shrouds and ldc devices. In my case, NY law is horrible in terms of firearm restrictions which would really put a damper on any airgun activity in my neck of the woods. There are already some town ordinances on the books here that treat paintball markers as firearms in terms of discharging one any where other than a sanctioned range or paintball facility. They even go as far as lead ammunition restrictions when hunting migratory birds with shotguns to prevent lead pollution of local wetlands.
While I would love to see more freedom in airgunning and hunting, NY state has really soured me with never budging on outdated issues and only instituting more unnecessary laws. Maybe your neck of the woods would provide a better outlook. 
 
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Gotta agree with ekim, when something comes to light and their is a possibility of funding or agencies created they will be on it. NY is a vast state, your able to take small game, pests, and nuisance birds. The east end of the island is nice, It gets OCCUPIED in May, then the tourists leave in Sept. There are many undeveloped areas through out the whole upstate region. It's unfortunate the city dominates the whole state.
 
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One thing I do fear is that uniformed people that make the laws find out how powerful our air guns really are.
I believe in most cases that once a village officials find out...... air rifles will be banned from back yards.
I make sure I use quality backstops and take many precautions.... all it will take is one pellet to hit something off my property ...

I only show a certain few how powerful and accurate these modern air guns can be....

But I still get picked on a lot from uninformed people..... they think of pellet guns as little kids toys...
And remark how stupid I am to pay so much for a gun and accessories....
calling me BB Billy and the like... I just smile and let them think it....
 
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Brother, I apologize for uniforms acting like morons. I wear a uniform and, believe me, I know there are many of us who, at one time or another, robbed a village of their idiot.

I go through the same thing with folks around here when I talk to them about air guns. But when they see what they can do and I show them a tin of 500 JSB's and explain that I spent 15 bucks on some of the best ammo you can buy, they're eye brows raise a bit. Let them know that for the price of ten boxes of ammunition, they can have a quality air gun and be able to shoot all they want and in their own backyard, depending on where you live. You'll change a mind or two, I promise. I pay $36/box for mid-range ammo for my service side arm. For that price, I have a disco with a pump.
 
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I'm torn on this...in Washington airguns are only permitted to be used for small game. The WDFW (WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife) decides what guns can be used for hunting, but their rules have to be approved by the legislature I believe. If they changed the wording on a restriction about airguns, which has been on the books for decades, and suddenly allow them for big game hunting it might raise some eyebrows in the otherwise routine annual approval process. There might be an astute legislator who decides that airguns now need to be included in the Washington's moronic and dysfunctional I-594 gun transfer restrictions rules.
 
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i have a family friend on the wildlife board in Idaho the way there proclamations read theirs nothing that says you cant use it on certain species ie all predators except wolves mt lions and black bears also no law stating you cant use em on forest grouse rabbits and even turkey but big game and migratory birds are restricted via big game has to be center fire muzzlloader and vertical bows and migratory is shot guns and archery i emailed him about turkeys and for the most part it seemed he beet around the bush but also said there not nessesairly excluded because they arnt considered a firearm in Idaho after a few back and forth emails he has an idea that most states don't support air rifles due to them not being part of the Pittman Robertson tax im considering attempting to get groups in both Utah and Idaho together to try and push legislators to become airgun friendly what do you guys think
 
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I lumped in some of the bigger game because I know there are guys out there hunting deer, etc with airguns. I would like to see migratory birds included in air gun hunting. The federal laws say no rifle. I would just like it to say no firearm besides shotgun. I believe I could be more successful with an air gun hunting dove/duck/geese than with a shotgun and wing far fewer.
 
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"CptMoonlight"I lumped in some of the bigger game because I know there are guys out there hunting deer, etc with airguns. I would like to see migratory birds included in air gun hunting. The federal laws say no rifle. I would just like it to say no firearm besides shotgun. I believe I could be more successful with an air gun hunting dove/duck/geese than with a shotgun and wing far fewer.

The only problem with this thinking, Captain, is that 95% of the time it is illegal to use any lead projectile along with meeting size restrictions, for the taking of waterfowl, as it pertains to shotguns. I am quite sure this aspect would also be applied to air rifle pellets even though in reality, the effects on the environment & safety would be negligible. In many areas of my state, non-lead regs even apply to upland game due to the proximity to waterfowling areas. I am unaware of any alternate ammo that would be available for airguns (bismuth, tungsten, etc.)....just sayin


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Yeah, they tend to frown on lead being dumped into a water supply, but they don't monitor fishing? Still, since there are lead free pellets, that should not be taken into account. I'm speaking specifically about the law stating "rifles" cannot be used in the hunting of migratory birds, to all firearms except shotguns. Nevertheless, my idea isn't especially popular, so I'm willing to drop it.
 
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