seven twenty
PMA Member
- Deleted by seven twenty
- Reason: Duplicate
Maybe we just need to clarify the current rules. Laser sights are not legal for hunting. Wouldn’t that make every thermal with a LRF illegal? Maybe something to look in to.
I agree that there are probably some bad apples in the bunch but a good solution is probably gone. The best solution would have been to ban them from the start. Any proposals will be pitting one group of hunters vs another. Is that really the best scenario? I just don’t think taking away from some others season is the answer. The number of guys using them for coon is enormous also. I know around here that coyote hunting is pretty much a no go during deer seasons already. The legit coyote hunters just don’t go so there isn’t any question. Any night hunting would invite more scrutiny as it should.
Unpopular idea #1: Let’s just shut the months of October & November down for all deer hunting. Multiple issues get resolved. Anybody that is out would have no excuse to be and a pile of mature deer would get saved during the rut. Let the bird hunters have their own month. Move deer season to December only. Gun guys could get 10 days and the archery get 20. No thermals between Sep & Jan 1st. This would mean that only the archery guys are giving anything up tho.
In the end, nobody is hunting between April & September. Making thermals illegal isn’t going to change the fact that people are abusing them. Not all thermals are scopes so believing that it would make enforcement easy is a stretch. Think clip-ons and monoculars. Both can be tossed in the console before anyone gets to the window. Or for the cost of a really good scope, you can get a system that mounts on your roof with a 7” screen for “checking livestock”.
I agree that there are probably some bad apples in the bunch but a good solution is probably gone. The best solution would have been to ban them from the start. Any proposals will be pitting one group of hunters vs another. Is that really the best scenario? I just don’t think taking away from some others season is the answer. The number of guys using them for coon is enormous also. I know around here that coyote hunting is pretty much a no go during deer seasons already. The legit coyote hunters just don’t go so there isn’t any question. Any night hunting would invite more scrutiny as it should.
Unpopular idea #1: Let’s just shut the months of October & November down for all deer hunting. Multiple issues get resolved. Anybody that is out would have no excuse to be and a pile of mature deer would get saved during the rut. Let the bird hunters have their own month. Move deer season to December only. Gun guys could get 10 days and the archery get 20. No thermals between Sep & Jan 1st. This would mean that only the archery guys are giving anything up tho.
In the end, nobody is hunting between April & September. Making thermals illegal isn’t going to change the fact that people are abusing them. Not all thermals are scopes so believing that it would make enforcement easy is a stretch. Think clip-ons and monoculars. Both can be tossed in the console before anyone gets to the window. Or for the cost of a really good scope, you can get a system that mounts on your roof with a 7” screen for “checking livestock”.