What are our reasons for wanting handgun hunting?

Rugdoc, I suggest you attend a big bore silhouette match. Or a Biachi Cup Challenge.
One of the more interesting discussions I have had was with J D Jones with regard opening up HG hunting in the NWT. J D was having the same discussion with his state wildlife authorities, and their reservation was that the boys from the hood would all be out in the woods shooting Bambi with their Charter Arms snubbies or Raven .25's. As J D so succinctly put it, they wouldn't do any more harm than the boys from the local Rod and Gun blasting away at sounds in the bush, and if they did by some unlikely chance hit a deer in the butt with a .25 ACP, it would be far less crippling to Bambi than getting her ham blown to crap by a .300 whizssuperultramag for Mr. Nimrod.

Been to sighting-in day at your local club?? And those are the guys concientious enough to sight in for X's sake. I don't believe anyone would do any worse with a nice Blackhawk in .45 Colt, (or a Python in .357 for Bambi.)
 
joe-nwt said:
^^^^^The question would be, which one are you shooting deer with? It would be the same line of reasoning that says you cannot even have lead shotgun shells in your possession while hunting migratory game birds. I don't know of any big game regs that allow you to carry a rimfire while big game hunting.
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In ON, we can't carry a firearm if bow hunting during the bows only season. Other than that, good to go.
 
deadownwind said:
When deer hunting I often come across grouse. My deer rifle is a little excessive to take them tasty chickens. Sure would be nice to have the option of a .22 pistol. Packing a deer rifle and a grouse rifle just isn't practical.
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In alberta you can't use a 'single projectile weapon' for gamebird. That said, isn't the Judge 45LC/.410? That would be great for grouse.

I'd like to use my Ruger .22 for rabbits when big game hunting. At least I get something for supper.

I'd buy a .44 Blackhawk or S&W 629 today for handgun hunting if it was allowed. The bush is extremely thick up here and i have sold rifles because they are too long.

As with any new firearm, I wouldn't use it for hunting untill my skill level was personally acceptable. I sure wish it was possible. [sigh]
 
joe-nwt said:
Page 19 of your regs says you can't hunt big game with a rimfire. If you were carrying one while deer hunting how do you prove you are not hunting with it?

For discussion's sake.
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crazy_davey said:
And how do they prove you were hunting big game with it?
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If I have a rimfire pistol in my holster and a centerfire rifle/Shotgun/bow in my hand, no officer that understands mens rea is going to charge you. So if I have my rifle in the front seat with me in the truck driving down the road, and the .22 rifle in the back when I get pulled over for a license check cause of the four legs sticking in the air from the box......

Your argument has too many holes in it.

colin455 said:
In alberta you can't use a 'single projectile weapon' for gamebird.
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Wrong buddy. You aren't allow to use single projectile on migratory gamebirds. The huns and grouse I have shot rarely fly south for the winter.
 
joe-nwt said:
This thread got me thinking. We need to have all our ducks in a row in case we are ever asked the question: Why do you want handgun hunting?
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Why do you want to hunt with a rifle?
Why do you want to hunt with a shotgun?
Why do you want to hunt with a rimfire?
Why do you want to hunt with a bow?
Why, well why the hell not?
 
joe-nwt said:
^^^^^The question would be, which one are you shooting deer with? It would be the same line of reasoning that says you cannot even have lead shotgun shells in your possession while hunting migratory game birds. I don't know of any big game regs that allow you to carry a rimfire while big game hunting.
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You can carry whatever you want while big game hunting in AB, just don't shoot the deer with the rimfire!
 
Why SHOULDN'T we be able to carry a handgun in the woods with us?

Really. We are upstanding citizens, and are trusted to follow the rules and regulations as they are now, so why the fuss? We carry knives in our pockets, and big surprise, folks don't get all stabby at the supermaket. We carry rifles around in our cars and trucks, during hunting seasons, as well as when we are headed out to the range or the boonies for some shooting. And who do you hear about in the news every day? Not the law abiding. You get to hear about the deviants and the miscreant troublemakers, yet they come up with new ways to punish the law abiding every time.

Why should we be allowed to carry a handgun? Because we are folks that have already passed a screening by the Law, and we are trusted to abide by the rules without going stupid. If we would like to have a handgun with us when we are in a place where it will not cause a breakdown of societal morals :), we should be able to. A firearm is a firearm is a firearm. Somehow the same folks that get completely freaked out at the thought of discriminating against a person because of the color of their skin, their shape or size, have no problem turning around and spitting out rhetoric against firearms for the same reasons. Hypocrites.

Yeah. I'd really like to be able to legally carry a sidearm, while I am at large in the woods.
The key argument seems to be the "public safety" angle, and I figure that every conversation with a lawmaker should have them backed into a proverbial corner over how exactly, it makes anyone any safer, shooting a currently restricted firearm, only at a range. It doesn't. The asshat thugs that shoot at folks on the streets and in shopping malls, never bothered to follow any of the laws in place, and I would like to convince the politicians and judges, that it is they, not us with permits and paperwork and fees to pay for keeping same up to date, are the folks that they should be looking at punishing, every time there is another news story making the wire.

I would like it to be my choice whether I wish to carry a handgun with me when I am out hunting. Would I hunt large game with a handgun, Heck yeah! Under similar rules of engagement as Archery, it would be a challenging and interesting means to harvest a deer. Would I like to try gophers with a handgun? Yup. Grouse? Yup. Rabbits. Ditto. And so on.

We have a catch 22 sort of situation. The Fed rules say you can't because they want them only used on a range, while the Provincial rules say you can't because the Fed rules say you can't, so they won't allow it. Dunno which side needs the work first. If we could get the Feds to lighten up, it would be pretty strong leverage for use against the Provincial Regs. Ideally would be to have the firearms folks at teh same table as the Hunting Regs folks, and have an open discussion of how and under what circumstances that they could work the whole thing out.

The hand wringing and whingeing from the anti's would sound like an air raid siren, though.

It's unfortunate that we in Canada do not have any means to have laws reviewed for efficacy and held in force or allowed to slide off the books. The NZ Gov't, IIRC, has such, and a lot of PITA, but mostly unenforced laws, have been sliding off the books. Easier to allow some bad rules to simply fade away, than to stir the anti's up by having to introduce bills to change or delete laws, as was the long drawn affair with the long gun registry (which, big surprise:rolleyes:, has not resulted in mayhem in the streets and byroads).


Cheers
Trev
 
colin455 said:
In alberta you can't use a 'single projectile weapon' for gamebird. That said, isn't the Judge 45LC/.410? That would be great for grouse.

I'd like to use my Ruger .22 for rabbits when big game hunting. At least I get something for supper.

I'd buy a .44 Blackhawk or S&W 629 today for handgun hunting if it was allowed. The bush is extremely thick up here and i have sold rifles because they are too long.

As with any new firearm, I wouldn't use it for hunting untill my skill level was personally acceptable. I sure wish it was possible. [sigh]
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Wrong. In AB we can't use a single projectile firearm for migratory (waterfowl). For upland birds its all good.

From the regs:

It is unlawful to

hunt a migratory game bird using

a firearm loaded with a single bullet
shot, other than non-toxic shot,
a cross-bow
 
bearkilr said:
This would be the #1 reason that should be given to get people used to handguns and the fact they can have a usefulness for hunting,if it ever comes to the discussion. Keep in mind there are many hunters in Canada that see handguns as evil. Sad but true.
Don't think for a minute that any department would pass a regulation allowing a full blown handgun hunt on big game for the inaugural season.
In some European countries it's legal to carry a rimfire handgun for dispatching wounded animals and their general handgun laws are more restrictive than ours. Two that come to mind are Sweden and Germany.
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Someone on this site a few years contacted Ontario MNR about handgun hunting and IIRC they stated they would have no issues with a big game hunt via handgun except you would not be issued an ATT by the federal gov't for it.
 
lister said:
-small game while big game hunting
-easier in thick brush
-lighter gun makes long walks easier, and makes longer walks possible.
-allows a backpack to be worn without pushing a rifle off your shoulder.
-makes climbing trees to a stand easier.
-more challenge

-and the biggest reason----because there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to hunt with handguns.
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this....but I would also add that if we could hand gun hunt, we could, by default, be able to carry a hand gun in the bush, therefore one would be in my survival kit...where it belongs.
 
canadaman30 said:
Why do you want to hunt with a rifle?
Why do you want to hunt with a shotgun?
Why do you want to hunt with a rimfire?
Why do you want to hunt with a bow?
Why, well why the hell not?
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Just to be clear, I am looking for realistic answers for the question "Why do we want handgun hunting?" should we be asked. It,s just my opinion, but I don't,then think "Why the he'll not?" will get us many points.
 
I want it for bow hunting in bear country.
I want it for trapping.
I want it because I can then hunt while pursuing other activities in the bush.
I want it because I want it.
 
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