Should hunters be allowed to hunt with silencers?

[Novus Collectus]

And the requried classes are how much?? how about he hunting licenses, and permits?? If I remember correctly in Germany it could cost well over a $1000 to go hunting.. permits, licenses.. the JagerMeister fees (not the drink)

There is no class needed to own a shotgun in the UK and I am pretty sure there is none needed for a firearms certificate either, so the answer would be zero for the class.
For the hunting license the basic deer stalking certificate class is between 125 and 275 pounds sterling and I think that comes with the permit.

 

[Larry Gude]

Why...

NOW, if we were talking about some animals that are overpopulating an area to an extreme effect, maybe i would consider silencers simply for the extermination purposes, but other than that... i cannot support silencers for hunting.

...not? Should we remove mufflers from our cars? Lawn mowers?

 

[Novus Collectus]

...not? Should we remove mufflers from our cars? Lawn mowers?

According to some people it would make things "safer".

A couple months ago, I casually wrote a post wondering aloud if quiet hybrids and electric cars would be a hazard to pedestrians who are visually disabled. After all, it’s quite easy to hear a combustion engine from a distance. Many commenters bashed the post saying that it was stupid to suggest adding some type of small noise to the vehicles. Apparently, these people were not blind.

Today, the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind will present written testimony asking for a minimum sound standard for hybrids to be included in the state’s emissions regulations. As the President of the group, Marc Maurer, mentioned, he’s not interested in returning to gas-guzzling vehicles, they just want fuel-efficient hybrids to have some type of warning noise. From the article,

Blind People Appeal To Automakers For Noisier Hybrids, Electric Vehicles | GroovyGreen.com - Start Today :: Save Tomorrow


We must not use silencers on guns so that it will be safer for the blind hunters!

 

[theArtistFormerlyKnownAs]

...not? Should we remove mufflers from our cars? Lawn mowers?

because i don't see it as something helping the situation much. If you are hunting a reasonable distance from other people's houses (legal distance+) then the sound should be of little or no problem to them. If it is a problem, take it up with them, or find another place to hunt. What exactly would be the problem in having shooting ear protection around your neck, putting it on simply when the deer is in range, then taking it off after you shoot to listen to where the deer runs? That would solve the personal-ear-protection problem...

I just don't see what the benefits would be to using a silencer in hunting besides making it even less fair for the prey.

The only cases where i can see it as reasonable is if you are hunting something like nutria where it is a foreign species that was brought here and needs to be removed from the location. Other than that, why do you need a silencer?

 

[Larry Gude]

Have you ever...

because i don't see it as something helping the situation much. If you are hunting a reasonable distance from other people's houses (legal distance+) then the sound should be of little or no problem to them. If it is a problem, find another place to hunt. What exactly would be the problem in having shooting ear protection around your neck, putting it on simply when the deer is in range, then taking it off after you shoot to listen to where the deer runs? That would solve the personal-ear-protection problem...

I just don't see what the benefits would be to using a silencer in hunting besides making it even less fair for the prey.

The only cases where i can see it as reasonable is if you are hunting something like nutria where it is a foreign species that was brought here and needs to be removed from the location. Other than that, why do you need a silencer?

...fired a rifle, a huntin' rifle? If so, have you ever been hunting? The goal of hunting is not to make it fair, at all, for the animal. The goal is to find something and kill it, not to make it 'fair'.

If a hunter said she'd like to use a silencer/suppressor, would you allow him that choice and leave it up to him/her as to whether they wanted to use one or not?

 

[Novus Collectus]

because i don't see it as something helping the situation much. If you are hunting a reasonable distance from other people's houses (legal distance+) then the sound should be of little or no problem to them. If it is a problem, take it up with them, or find another place to hunt. What exactly would be the problem in having shooting ear protection around your neck, putting it on simply when the deer is in range, then taking it off after you shoot to listen to where the deer runs? That would solve the personal-ear-protection problem...

I just don't see what the benefits would be to using a silencer in hunting besides making it even less fair for the prey.

For some game that would not work as I understand it. For instance you are hunting where there is black bear. Would you take the time to put on ear plugs prior to shooting one that you just saw or heard within the danger distance?
If you hunting in brush and a doe appeared within your sights and you identify it, but if you hesitate too long the deer will skirt back into the brush, will putting in earplugs be an option if one does not have a silencer?

The only cases where i can see it as reasonable is if you are hunting something like nutria where it is a foreign species that was brought here and needs to be removed from the location. Other than that, why do you need a silencer?

The question really is why do you feel the need to restrict silencers or disallow their use?

 

[theArtistFormerlyKnownAs]

For some game that would not work as I understand it. For instance you are hunting where there is black bear. Would you take the time to put on ear plugs prior to shooting one that you just saw or heard within the danger distance?
If you hunting in brush and a doe appeared within your sights and you identify it, but if you hesitate too long the deer will skirt back into the brush, will putting in earplugs be an option if one does not have a silencer?

The question really is why do you feel the need to restrict silencers or disallow their use?

Hm, i suppose it is just more of an ethics thing for me. It is easy enough to kill an animal with a gun that makes a drastic sound when fired, just seems supurbly unfair to give yourself yet another advantage over them.

I suppose if we take ethics out of the picture, i'd be more concerned about having those stupid-azz hunters out in the woods that can be shooting and me not even hear it (or barely hear it at all) and then i end up getting shot by some dumbazz because i didn't even know that there was a moron 100 yards away and he decided to shoot his silent gun multiple times at something in the distance that he couldn't really make out which just happened to be me...and, well, i didn't hear a thing except for something wizzing past me and smacking the trees....

i do see your point with the situational hunting and putting your earplugs in or whatever, but have you ever bow hunted? It isn't like it takes any more time to put these plugs in than it does to draw back a bow. It would just alter your hunting style a bit possibly.

 

[itsbob]

Use active and not passive hearing protection.. It can actually amplify noises like rustling leaves, or a person's whisper, but will muffle gunshots or other loud noises.. No need to me messing with ear plugs or muff's prior to aiming..

 

[theArtistFormerlyKnownAs]

Use active and not passive hearing protection.. It can actually amplify noises like rustling leaves, or a person's whisper, but will muffle gunshots or other loud noises.. No need to me messing with ear plugs or muff's prior to aiming..

Well there ya go. i didn't know this type of protection existed or i'd have suggested it in the first place lol

 

[Larry Gude]

Shut...

Use active and not passive hearing protection.. It can actually amplify noises like rustling leaves, or a person's whisper, but will muffle gunshots or other loud noises.. No need to me messing with ear plugs or muff's prior to aiming..

...up, Bob!

 

[Larry Gude]

Which is...

Well there ya go. i didn't know this type of protection existed or i'd have suggested it in the first place lol

...another way of avoiding the question and stating you don't hunt nor ever fired a gun?

Come on, what is your objection to suppressors?

I mean, can you imagine the cost of ear protection of all of society?

 

[itsbob]

SHUT...up, Bob!

I'm sorry, did you say something??

Let me take my earplugs out..


Ok.. what?

 

[Larry Gude]

Lol...

I'm sorry, did you say something??

Let me take my earplugs out..


Ok.. what?

...

 

[theArtistFormerlyKnownAs]

...another way of avoiding the question and stating you don't hunt nor ever fired a gun?

Come on, what is your objection to suppressors?

I mean, can you imagine the cost of ear protection of all of society?

I do hunt..and have fired multiple firearms...

i told you my objection..?

i said to me, it is personal ethics thing. Seems to take the fun out of the sport. I don't see a purpose for them to be legalized...people have been hunting with out them for hundreds of years, why start now?

 

[Larry Gude]

They didn't...

I do hunt..and have fired multiple firearms...

i told you my objection..?

i said to me, it is personal ethics thing. Seems to take the fun out of the sport. I don't see a purpose for them to be legalized...people have been hunting with out them for hundreds of years, why start now?

...have AC, indoor plumping or cable TV 100's of years ago. I, personally, would love to use a suppressor to shoot Bambi with and have one on my pistols in the house.

I also shoot about 5,000 rounds a year at non biological targets and I bet my neighbors would be OK with less noise.

I need your consent, my fellow citizen, to get my second amendment rights back. Will you allow me that choice?

 

[itsbob]

Ok, so i say OK to being allowed to hunt with silencers...








But how close and how hard do you have to throw one for it to be effective??

 

[theArtistFormerlyKnownAs]

...have AC, indoor plumping or cable TV 100's of years ago. I, personally, would love to use a suppressor to shoot Bambi with and have one on my pistols in the house.

I also shoot about 5,000 rounds a year at non biological targets and I bet my neighbors would be OK with less noise.

I need your consent, my fellow citizen, to get my second amendment rights back. Will you allow me that choice?

i believe the second amendment allows you to bear arms...not accessorize said arms.

now that i think about it, forget scopes too, use good ol' fashioned iron sights



seriously though, i have no problem with silencers being used for this target shooting you speak of, but i do see it as unfair in hunting. Why don't you shoot your non-biological (i assume you aren't hitting any trees or grass if you make this claim...) targets with a silencer then re-sight your firearm for use w/o the silencer when hunting season rolls around.

give me a better reason for legalizing silencers for use in the extermination of animals and i shall reconsider my opinion, but for now i don't support their use.

 

[Toxick]

seriously though, i have no problem with silencers being used for this target shooting you speak of, but i do see it as unfair in hunting.

I haven't been following this thread especially closely, except to make a few wisecracks, but I have seen this argument - unfair hunting practice - a couple of times now.

Is hunting *supposed* to be fair?

Sounds to me that you do whatever you need to do to get food. Take whatever advantage you can get, and fairness be damned. It's not a game where if you 'cheat', you lose points when a referee tells you "thit's not crickit!"

I know some people hunt for sport, but if you're hunting for food - for survival - then screw fair.

 

[Novus Collectus]

I do hunt..and have fired multiple firearms...

i told you my objection..?

i said to me, it is personal ethics thing. Seems to take the fun out of the sport. I don't see a purpose for them to be legalized...people have been hunting with out them for hundreds of years, why start now?

People have been hunting with them for one hundred years. Why stop now?

 

[Novus Collectus]

Use active and not passive hearing protection.. It can actually amplify noises like rustling leaves, or a person's whisper, but will muffle gunshots or other loud noises.. No need to me messing with ear plugs or muff's prior to aiming..

But what about the deer and the other wildlife? When people fire rifles in the woods they are making animals deaf and less able to protect themselves as a result. Silencers are more humane.