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John S · Member

I was going to squirrel hunt with the Gamo .177 but I just found out that Where I live ( SE TX ) you can't hunt with a air rifle. Oh what is this GOV. coming to???

jonathan · Member

Dont refer to it as hunting............call it pest control.

fritz · Silver Status Member

If you happen to do any "pest controlling" make sure not to post it here. Noone wants to be a party pooper, but that's better than taking vacation with Uncle Sam at the Grey Bar Hotel.

firemandivi · Member

Call your state fish & game department and ask them if squirrels are considered pests and can be taken with an airgun. When I asked NYSDEC they said you can't hunt with an airgun but killing woodchucks with one is okay because it is classified as a pest.

donwalk · Veteran Member

one needs to research the laws pertaining to the activity(ies) one plans to undertake in any given area...literally verbatum and VERY CAREFULLY.

i've been stopped at various times by game wardens and asked: "see any deer?" or "deer hunting?". it was NOT deer season!

listen to what they ask, VERY CAREFULLY. it's not beyond LE to try to 'trip you up'... my reply? "nope" to both questions..."i am hunting the coyote and jack rabbit"...here in california both are 'open season' year around WHERE HUNTING IS PERMITTED BY LAW and you have a current hunting license.

in each case, i was carrying my bow and was actually just "stump shooting" with NO GAME IN MY POSSESSION. however...in some instances "stump shooting" may be construed as TARGET PRACTICE and in many areas, target practice is prohibited.

SO...know the laws and know how to respond accordingly if you are stopped by LE. be polite, and know your rights.

it's difficult to defend against having a game animal/bird in your possesion if you know it's not in season, you used an illegal method of take and have no valid hunting license. you get stopped under those conditions, you're gonna need a lawyer.

in another incident, i found a mountain lion skull...in california, it's illegal to take, or possess any part of, a mountain lion. i was told, via the person on the other end of the fone at the DFG, "better not get caught with it. call us to come get it."

kanyon · Silver Status Member

donwalk · Veteran Member

it is astounding at complicated "they" have made things.

in order to hunt in an area...you must know the area (we have "zones" for deer as an example.)...the maps and descriptions for areas and species is staggering to try to read and decipher...then to detrmine what may, or may not, be used to take the game is sometimes an ordeal as well...

legislators, i believe, do their level best to deter and discourage hunters (and would be hunters) by the "legal" process.

one thing i will never understand is the insistance that soft-point or expanding bullets must be used to take "big" game animals in most states here; solids normally offer superior penetration on big animals.

one suggestion was the "over penetration" of solids; worry about what's behind the target...one does not normally shoot at an animal/target in the city where pass thrus's are of concern do they?

Rolling Eyes