[canebrake]

Rifle........but it depends on your state's regs.

[tonydewar]

Originally Posted by gmaster456

Nope, Michigan and Ohio also have such laws as well as a couple of others I believe.

illinois is shotgun or bow only at least when i lived there. some areas of fl are shotgun only also depending on the season

[kfox75]

Originally Posted by tonydewar

some hunters use shotgun because of the state thay live in

Originally Posted by Blueguns

Isn't that only NY though?

With NY, it depends on the county you hunt in. In the area I live in (for now. Wife and I are planning a move in the next 10 months.) the county to the east does not allow rifles, the county to the south-east allows them throughout the cpounty, and the one I live in we can use rifles south of US RT 20. All of my spots are in the county I live in and south of rt 20, so forme, it depends on where I'll be that day. Open fields, rifle. Deep in the woods, pistol and\or shotgun. As a bonus, if you have a rifle caliber pistol and a pistol permit, you can use it in the non-rifle areas.

[ninjatoth]

Originally Posted by gmaster456

Nope, Michigan and Ohio also have such laws as well as a couple of others I believe.

Here in michigan the state is cut in half right in the middle of the mitten,south half has to use only shotuns or straight walled pistols (44mag etc)and I think recently they began allowing straight walled rifles as well such as 45-70.Northern michigan is all rifle zone,you can use any kind of gun,rifles,pistols,shotguns,muzzleloaders,crossbow s,bows all in the firearms season.

[gmaster456]

Originally Posted by ninjatoth

Here in michigan the state is cut in half right in the middle of the mitten,south half has to use only shotuns or straight walled pistols (44mag etc)and I think recently they began allowing straight walled rifles as well such as 45-70.Northern michigan is all rifle zone,you can use any kind of gun,rifles,pistols,shotguns,muzzleloaders,crossbow s,bows all in the firearms season.

Yup. I live in this beautiful state. As a matter of fact, I'm only about 30 miles from the zone line that separates shotgun from rifle. Guess which side I'm on ?

[Old_Crow]

Lots of people are quick to say shotguns are inaccurate. Just like any gun you have to have the proper equipment. If you have a rifled barrel and good sabots, your shotgun is a low speed 50 cal. It's not target shooting accurate but hitting a paper plate isn't difficult at 100 yards, the same distance that all but gifted shooters are accurate with a rifle using open sights.

[Tiny_MN]

Originally Posted by Old_Crow

Most shotgunners are just as good with a rifle as a shotgun. Plus they practice shooting things besides static targets.

Exactly. To me, I don't see a need to hunt with a rifle where I'm at. I have plenty of WMA's to go to and they are heavily forested and shots of 100+ yards are difficult at best (also, many of them are shotgun or archery only). I hunt more than just deer, so having multiple barrels fits the bill and is less expensive than multiple rifles.

Though, should I decide to go hunt elk, etc on the open range, a rifle would work better. Then again, I'd just stalk them and shoot with my bow. I enjoy the hunt more than I do actually killing an animal.

[Old_Crow]

I enjoy eating tasty critters more than hunting them. Pass the gravy please...

[dragunovsks]

Originally Posted by gmaster456

Depends where you are and what your setup is.

Yep, here in Indiana its shotgun, muzzleloaders or rifles that fire straight walled cases, like .45 long colt. We cannot use high powered rifles with bottleneck cases. I use a 12 gauge shotgun, either my NEF single shot with scope firing Remington Copper Solid sabot slugs or my NEF pump using cheap "pumpkin ball" slugs.

[locutus]

My preference is a rifle if it's legal in the area I'm hunting.

I've never hunted anything but birds and men swith a shotgun.

If I had to use a straight walled pistol carridge, I'd use my 16 inch barrel Winchester lever gun in .44 magnum. Another good option would be an AR-15 with a .50 Beowulf upper. But I don't have one of those! (Yet!)