Change the 24 caliber min in washington(added poll please vote)

[Jonathan_S]

Shoot, we have .17 and 20 calibers now.  Why not legalize those.  Also I read a while ago where someone was playing with a .14 caliber wildcat, legalize those too.

Why do we want to give a ribbon to every dog in the parade?   Dogs don't have feelings and don't care if they get ribbons.   .243 caliber should be the minimum for responsible deer hunting.  Key word "responsible".

Back when the 17's came out a guy shot a polar bear with a .17.  He had to hit the bear in the ear hole to kill it.   Based on that shouldn't 17's be legalized for bears?

Quit making stupid arguments and then assigning them to your opposition.

[Magnum_Willys]

The .223 has approximately half the energy at 100 yards as the .243.   Even comparing heavy .223 (60 gr) vs light (70 gr) .243.

[WAcoyotehunter]

If they did legalize the .224 cal centerfire rifles for deer, I wouldn't be able to shoot coyotes with my.22-250 or my AR until deer season closed again. that rule is stupid....

Exactly

[BULLBLASTER]

If they did legalize the .224 cal centerfire rifles for deer, I wouldn't be able to shoot coyotes with my.22-250 or my AR until deer season closed again. that rule is stupid....

Exactly

This may be the most valid argument for leaving it alone that's been posted.

[Bill W]

Shoot, we have .17 and 20 calibers now.  Why not legalize those.  Also I read a while ago where someone was playing with a .14 caliber wildcat, legalize those too.

Why do we want to give a ribbon to every dog in the parade?   Dogs don't have feelings and don't care if they get ribbons.   .243 caliber should be the minimum for responsible deer hunting.  Key word "responsible".

Back when the 17's came out a guy shot a polar bear with a .17.  He had to hit the bear in the ear hole to kill it.   Based on that shouldn't 17's be legalized for bears?

Quit making stupid arguments and then assigning them to your opposition.


Maybe you missed the point I was trying to make that some things are just plain stupid. 

[Bob33]

More nanny state bs from one of the biggest nanny states in the union. People should be able to choose what will work for them. Take a look at that list of requirements in other states....why is WA so special that hunters here can't figure out an appropriate rifle for deer hunting?

How many of those states have minimum hunting ages (that Washington doesn't)?

[Bango skank]

Shoot, we have .17 and 20 calibers now.  Why not legalize those.  Also I read a while ago where someone was playing with a .14 caliber wildcat, legalize those too.

Why do we want to give a ribbon to every dog in the parade?   Dogs don't have feelings and don't care if they get ribbons.   .243 caliber should be the minimum for responsible deer hunting.  Key word "responsible".

Back when the 17's came out a guy shot a polar bear with a .17.  He had to hit the bear in the ear hole to kill it.   Based on that shouldn't 17's be legalized for bears?

Quit making stupid arguments and then assigning them to your opposition.

How stupid is this one?  I met a guy in western alaska who told me about killing a grizz with his .223, had to empty his magazine and reload, shot it something like 20 times.  He was laughing like it was funny as hell.  I asked him about the caliber legality and his response was basically, hey its legal so nothing wrong with what i did.  Thats what you get when you let people use their own judgement.

[andersonjk4]

Back before they had the .24 cal minimum rule, my Dad hunted with a .222 Remington and killed many deer with it.  There is no arguing the lethality of a good .224 bullet at decent velocities. I'd be fine with .224 caliber being legal, but I'm also good with the way it is.  This state has enough complicated laws/rules. 

[bobcat]

No comments on the suitability of the Glock 9mm that I posted earlier for deer, elk, and bear? I wonder how many people are choosing to hunt with their Glock just because it's legal?

[Curly]

More nanny state bs from one of the biggest nanny states in the union. People should be able to choose what will work for them. Take a look at that list of requirements in other states....why is WA so special that hunters here can't figure out an appropriate rifle for deer hunting?

How many of those states have minimum hunting ages (that Washington doesn't)?

That is a good point. I can't understand the minimum age requirement either. A large amount of those states do have minimum age requirements......I may have been too quick to throw out that nanny state comment.

[JimmyHoffa]

More nanny state bs from one of the biggest nanny states in the union. People should be able to choose what will work for them. Take a look at that list of requirements in other states....why is WA so special that hunters here can't figure out an appropriate rifle for deer hunting?

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is many of the other states also have generous bag limits (or no limit) and long seasons for deer.  Would more deer/elk/bear be lost if shot with smaller projectiles?  I think it is a safe assumption that a deer hit in the same place with a .223 can hold out longer than from the .30-06 and even longer from the .338, etc.  Does Washington even have the herd size (maybe E WA whitetails do) to not be noticeably impacted if more deer were lost?     And force WDFW to change something season related.  If the herds were overflowing, I think it would be harder to argue against since there's still a lot of deer out there for everyone else.  Hope this example isn't too irrelevant...I know a few guys that gave up westside rifle elk for the greener pasture of eastside archery elk.  There were four guys in the camp and they each wounded, lost or couldn't salvage three spikes/cows each (as the story was told to me).   Given the harvest percentages for elk in this state, it would seem like something like their experience affects all the other hunters a lot more than if it were say Colorado or Montana.
Maybe just allow the small calibers for Youth Tags, Antlerless or Second deer?

[JDHasty]

More nanny state bs from one of the biggest nanny states in the union. People should be able to choose what will work for them. Take a look at that list of requirements in other states....why is WA so special that hunters here can't figure out an appropriate rifle for deer hunting?

How many of those states have minimum hunting ages (that Washington doesn't)?

That is a good point. I can't understand the minimum age requirement either. A large amount of those states do have minimum age requirements......I may have been too quick to throw out that nanny state comment.

In Montana it is 12

[Karl Blanchard]

One more thing to chew on for the small bullet crowd.  I've shot about 40 deer in my hunting career and noted that not every one falls over dead in their tracks.  A fair number require tracking.  One needs a good blood trail or a lot of familiarity with tracks and being able to recognize precisely which track they should be following.

A .22 isn't going to give a blood trail worth a tinkers' damn and isn't fit for deer hunting.  Not everyone is an exceptional shot for placing bullets, nor are they a good, or above average shooter.   Let's not waste deer.   Some people can't or won't learn how to trail animals.

  I've taken north of 70 and been right next to shooters on over 200+ big game kills.  I've taken youth hunter for deer and turkey for going on 10 years as well and the tracking is not up to the kid, that's my responsibility not the kid.  With that said, my youth hunters were always put in a position where shots were inside their effective range, and in a solid shooting position.  Oh and out of 9 deer, 6 were taken with a reduced recoil load out of a .243 using a 58gr vmax which is identical in performance to a .223.  One shot kills.  Completely legal load but same thing in a .223 isnt 

[Bob33]

I would say that with a majority of hunters on here who oppose the change, it's not very likely to get the Commission behind it.

[Karl Blanchard]

More nanny state bs from one of the biggest nanny states in the union. People should be able to choose what will work for them. Take a look at that list of requirements in other states....why is WA so special that hunters here can't figure out an appropriate rifle for deer hunting?

How many of those states have minimum hunting ages (that Washington doesn't)?

That is a good point. I can't understand the minimum age requirement either. A large amount of those states do have minimum age requirements......I may have been too quick to throw out that nanny state comment.

In Montana it is 12

  side note on this, they changed it last year and added a mentored youth program.  They can now hunt at 10.  Not sure the process, but my hunting partner did it last year.