Should hunters be allowed to hunt with silencers?

[theArtistFormerlyKnownAs]

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.

if you are simply hunting for food because you NEED it, then chances are you aren't even going to worry about the legalities of things because you obtaining that food at any cost is a necessity. I on the other hand (like most people in the modern world) do not NEED to hunt for food. I can obtain it in other ways. Sure, i'll eat what i kill or donate it to hunt for the hungry, but i don't NEED to kill those animals for food in order to survive.

 

[Tinkerbell]

Sure, I misue the term too, but you asked what hunting rifles can be silenced...

You can't hunt with rifles in Maryland.

...Try removing a groundhog, rabbit, prairy dog (out west) or nutria infestation with just a bow and arrow. Varmint hunting is the best reason for using a suppressor.

We have plenty of luck on our farm using traps. Then we just shoot them with a .22 from a couple of yards away. Easy peasy! Throw the bodies in the woods, and let the carrion eaters have them! Circle of life.

Target shooting without disturbing the neighbors is another reason to own a suppressor.
Shooting so one does not damage their own ears while hunting is a damn good reason to use a suppressor...

... in my neighborhood - just yesterday alone, EVERYONE was shooting. My hubby's been shooting guns his whole life. His hearing is just fine. It's not like hunter's go out and shoot 200 rounds. They're lucky to fire once!

...How is it fair to use a rifle capable of 150+ yards and be totally silent (or even greatly suppressed)?

Once again, rifle hunting can't be done around here. :sheesh:


Oh, and people in the area while you're target practicing, or hunting, or whatever, are too far away for it to hurt their hearing and once again, most hunter's aren't out shooting round after round. We're talking 1-3 shots a hunting trip, then they either have thier deer, or they scared them all away and they are going home....grumpy.

 

[Larry Gude]

Less...

i
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.

...noise. That's what they're designed for. Guns are incredibly loud. Dangerous loud. It seems like a natural to me.

 

[Larry Gude]

Throw...

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??

...em? Throw 'em hell. We put them in farm cannons, add gunpowder and shoot 'em at the deer. Loud as hell.

Now, if only we had a suppressor silencer...

 

[Pete]

pshew pshew

 

[Novus Collectus]

You can't hunt with rifles in Maryland.

Yes you can. You can hunt deer with rifles in something like 14 counties and you can hunt most other forest game or upland game with rifles in any county.

 

[Larry Gude]

Pete...

Yes you can. You can hunt deer with rifles in something like 14 counties and you can hunt most other forest game or upland game with rifles in any county.

...reminded me; we're adding a Tazer season up here. Hunt and cook at the same time. It's pretty quiet.

 

[Novus Collectus]

...reminded me; we're adding a Tazer season up here. Hunt and cook at the same time. It's pretty quiet.

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

"Snort, snort, snort".....bucksnort for don't taze me bro!

 

[MMDad]

I don't see a reason not to allow silenced/supressed hunting other than paranoia about people having them to use on other people or the PETA types that think that hearing the shot that took it down will help the animal.

I just don't understand why anyone would want to do anything that would reduce the accuracy of the weapon like that.

 

[Novus Collectus]

I don't see a reason not to allow silenced/supressed hunting other than paranoia about people having them to use on other people or the PETA types that think that hearing the shot that took it down will help the animal.

I just don't understand why anyone would want to do anything that would reduce the accuracy of the weapon like that.

WIth the proper suppressor and proper round there is no loss of accuracy.

 

[Tinkerbell]

Yes you can. You can hunt deer with rifles in something like 14 counties and you can hunt most other forest game or upland game with rifles in any county.

You cannot hunt ANYTHING with a rifle in St. Mary's County - ever.

You MIGHT be able to rifle hunt in western MD and possibly the eastern Shore. But I KNOW you can't rifle hunt in any county in this area. Deer or not.

Correction: Hubby says in SOME instances you can use a .22 rifle for varments. He said, however, by law, you can only hunt deer with a bow, shotgun or black powder, which is also called a rifle and may be where the confusion lies. A standard rifle - a REAL one - can't be used for hunting. This area is considered too populous and its range is too far.

 

[MMDad]

WIth the proper suppressor and proper round there is no loss of accuracy.

None? You aren't reducing muzzle velocity at all? You aren't inducing any error?


I would believe that the loss of accuracy may be acceptable to you, but I doubt it is zero.

 

[Tinkerbell]

...reminded me; we're adding a Tazer season up here. Hunt and cook at the same time. It's pretty quiet.

Brilliant!!!!

 

[Novus Collectus]

None? You aren't reducing muzzle velocity at all? You aren't inducing any error?


I would believe that the loss of accuracy may be acceptable to you, but I doubt it is zero.

There are rounds designed to be sub sonic and therefore do not need the types of sound suppressors which use vented barrels and "wipes" to reduce the speed of the bullet to subsonic. Using rounds that are only loaded to be sub sonic is the common method used nowadays.
When a bullet transcends the transonic zone it becomes buffeted by turbulence and loses accuracy, but a bullet that stays supersonic the entire flight, or sub sonic the entire flight will be more accurate.
A slower bullet will be more affected by wind, but if a heavier bullet is used this is countered.

Subsonic rounds fired out of a rifle using a supprressor can be just as accurate as a match grade rifle round fired sans suppressor. There are ways to properly do it and there is an entire industry dedicated to this. Whisper Family of Firearm Cartridges - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Novus Collectus]

You cannot hunt ANYTHING with a rifle in St. Mary's County - ever.

You MIGHT be able to rifle hunt in western MD and possibly the eastern Shore. But I KNOW you can't rifle hunt in any county in this area. Deer or not.

Note: The woodchuck and nutria are classified as “unprotected mammals.” As such, a hunting license is not required to hunt woodchucks and nutria except in Baltimore and Frederick Counties. Woodchucks and nutria may be hunted throughout the year, including on Sundays. Hunters must wear fluorescent orange while hunting woodchucks. All legal hunting devices may be used to hunt woodchucks and nutria.

General Hunting Regulations: Guide to Hunting & Trapping in Maryland 2007-2008

Rifle Regulations

It is unlawful to hunt with an automatic firearm capable of firing a series of shots with one continuous pull of the trigger.

Rifles used for deer hunting must use ammunition developing a muzzle energy of at least 1,200 foot pounds.

Firearms used for deer hunting may not have an ammunition clip loaded with more than 8 cartridges or bullets. If a clip has the capacity to hold more than 8 rounds, the clip does not have to be physically blocked, but no more than 8 cartridges or bullets may be loaded.

Rifles may be used to hunt forest game (except turkey during the spring season), upland game (except dove and woodcock), crow, nutria, and woodchuck and certain furbearing species.

It is only lawful to hunt with ammunition of soft point (expanding) construction. All military, full metal jacketed, incendiary or tracer bullets are prohibited.

Breech-loading rifles may not be used to hunt deer in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Frederick (in that portion of Frederick County lying south of a line beginning at the Washington/Frederick County line at US Rt. 40 and continuing on Rt. 40 east to Harmony Road, proceeding south on Harmony Road to I-70, following I-70 east through Frederick County), Harford, Howard, Kent, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s and Talbot Counties or in Worcester County as follows: (1) within one mile of any school, (2) within that portion of South Point lying south of a line beginning at the west end of the Sinepuxent Bay Bridge on State Rt. 611, then by and with the south side of Rt. 611 to the junction of the South Point Road going south for a distance of .6 miles to a point opposite the southern boundary of the Ocean City Golf and Yacht Club property on the west side of the road, then by the southern boundary of the Ocean City Golf and Yacht Club to Trappe Creek and (3) within that portion of the land lying south of a line beginning at the mouth of the St. Martin River northwest to the junction with Shingle Landing Road, then by and with the south side of Shingle Landing Road to the junction with State Rt. 113, then by and with the east side of Rt. 113 to the junction with Rt. 589, then by and with the east side of Rt. 589 to the junction with US Rt. 50, then by and with the north side of Rt. 50 to the junction with Assawoman Bay, then by and with the west boundary of Assawoman Bay to the junction with the St. Martin River.

Firearms, Bow, and Falconry Regulations: Guide to Hunting & Trapping in Maryland 2007-2008

People often confuse the restrictions on hunting deer with rifles with hunting period.

Think of it this way, it is legal to fire a rifle in St. Mary's co on ranges and on one's private property, so why would they not allow rifle hunting of other game?

 

[krazd_kat]

Living in the country surrounded by hunters, I don't want them using silencers I want to know when they are out and about.

 

[Novus Collectus]

Living in the country surrounded by hunters, I don't want them using silencers I want to know when they are out and about.

What about when they are hunting at night? Do you want to be woken up by gunshots in the not too far distance?

 

[AK-74me]

I didn't read through all of this but to be more accurate they are suppressors rather than silincers. And unless the ammo is subsonic there is still going to be some report. "Silincers" are legal to own BTW, again requires approriate paperwork from the BATFE. I have shot different guns with suppressors on them so I have some first hand experience.

 

[MMDad]

There are rounds designed to be sub sonic and therefore do not need the types of sound suppressors which use vented barrels and "wipes" to reduce the speed of the bullet to subsonic. Using rounds that are only loaded to be sub sonic is the common method used nowadays.
When a bullet transcends the transonic zone it becomes buffeted by turbulence and loses accuracy, but a bullet that stays supersonic the entire flight, or sub sonic the entire flight will be more accurate.
A slower bullet will be more affected by wind, but if a heavier bullet is used this is countered.

Subsonic rounds fired out of a rifle using a supprressor can be just as accurate as a match grade rifle round fired sans suppressor. There are ways to properly do it and there is an entire industry dedicated to this. Whisper Family of Firearm Cartridges - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I didn't realize you were talking about using a sub sonic round. I really don't see why you would want to. It might be a neat gimmick thing, but I really don't see any reason to do it.

Is there a reason to do it that I am not aware of? As others posted, active hearing protection is great. I really don't believe that bothering the neighbors is enough of an issue to bother with. Why do it?

 

[Novus Collectus]

I didn't realize you were talking about using a sub sonic round. I really don't see why you would want to. It might be a neat gimmick thing, but I really don't see any reason to do it.

Is there a reason to do it that I am not aware of? As others posted, active hearing protection is great. I really don't believe that bothering the neighbors is enough of an issue to bother with. Why do it?

And I will ask you the same question I asked others. Is there good enough reason not to allow it if someone wants to hunt with a silencer? Why not do it?
In other countries it is considered neighborly to use suppressors when hunting. If someone was hunting at night I assume you would want them not to wake you with the loud sound, so a suppressor there is at the least one good reason.