Will rifles be an advantage?

[dbltree]

I've been hunting almost every day since the last shotgun season closed, trying for another doe if possible. I got started watching and wondering if I would have any deer that I couldn't shoot with my scoped muzzleloader (or a good slug gun) that I could have with a rifle. So far I haven't had a shootable deer more then 80 yards. The deer are spooky and mostly nocturnal now, so if I'm lucky I catch a quick glimpse as they come back to cover in the very early morning light. Not a single deer has been out in a field in daylight hours and there is no way that I could even see a deer more then a 100 yards in most of the cover I hunt.
Of course some guys are going to drive them out, but shooting at deer smoking across an open field with a scoped rifle (besides being dangerous and unethical) will not prove easy for most.
I suppose the novelty will be an attraction more then anything, but if it will really mean any difference in the ability of hunters to take more deer...remains to be seen.
What say you?

 

[Rae]

Since you have been seeing deer, but on the edge of timbers, then is it possible for you to move where you've been seeing them? 80 yards is possible with a slug gun, or are you after a buck. I would set my stand up about 100 yards off the field edge to take advantage of the shy deer(b/c of gun season).

I do NOT see rifles as an advantage. They may be for some but it is very hard to tell at a distance if you are shooting a large doe or a buck that has dropped his antlers. And small deer could be does or button bucks.
There was a reason in the beginning that rifles were banned in Iowa, to close population, among others. Now they say they need them to control the population.

A bigger, longer shooting gun controls the population about as well as the insurance companies and legislation folks that don't hunt but make the rules. I say we need some sort of check stations or something to give numbers so we can control the population better.

 

[JNRBRONC]

My initial attraction to the late antlerless rifle season was sheer novelty: To be able to say that I had legally hunted deer in Iowa with a high power rifle. I think that is what the DNR was looking for, to attract those who might not participate in other hunts or who were intrigued by the thought of using rifles. The novelty has worn off and I doubt that I will make the trip to participate. Length of shots wasn't really part of my thinking.

 

[Ghost]

Where I hunt there would be no advantage at all to having a rifle in my hands.

I had a scoped 20 ga. with a rifled barrel and good sabot slugs and had a very hard time finding a hole to shoot through in the timber at a 120 yards. But, when I did find a hole, the 5/8 oz. copper slug found it's mark perfectly.

I'm not even worried about most people that participate in this forum. It will be the large groups that form drives and have standers in the fields all the way around the timber. The lead is going to fly.....

Have you ever shot a milk jug full of water with a .300 Win. Mag. at 300 yards?

Man, hope that's not a hunter's head!

Lots of shed bucks will be killed! That's a fact!

 

[bjkpharmd]

I think the rifle is an extreme advantage. Most places I hunt and pattern of deer it doesn't matter but I will be able to hit the far end of the green field if needed. I can't do that with normal legal weapons in Iowa. Would I be able to fill 4 tags with the muzzleloader, pistol, or shotgun? Sure but I know we will save a couple tags for the last week as the novelty they intended it to be. I hope they never do it (rifle season) again.

 

[dbltree]

GirlsHuntToo - I'm thinking you missed my point. No matter where or how I set up, a rifle is not going to help me kill any more deer (then a modern muzzleloader or slug gun). As Ghost mentions most of us posting here are not likely to need one and it's the guys that will be chasing deer and flinging lead cross country that scare me.
This time of year it's doubtful that rifles will actually help take more deer, but as mentioned...only used as a ploy to get hunters back in the field.
I don't like the idea...not even a little bit, but I expect it's here to stay unless the deer herd drops dramatically. Based on all the other factors like access and traditions, I don't see that happening.
Having said all that...I'd say we basically agree!

 

[dbltree]

pharmer - if you have deer coming into food plots in daylight hours, then no question...a rifle will do the trick. In those situations you can hunt safe and make a clean kill, but foodplots and unalarmed deer in Jan. are not the norm.
How far is it across that rye field?

 

[boacephus]

The extended range and accuracy will always be an advantage. You can't deny that. I could set-up differently in atleast 75% of my spots and be advantaged by using a hipo. I enjoyed hunting in WV with a hipo. I enjoy bowhunting with the up close and personal more though.

Think back through out your hunting season's. How many times have you been bow hunting and had a nice one in gun range. Extend that, how many deer have you seen while shotgun hunting that were just standing there but out of range? I would imagine more than you would like to admit. I hunted in the mountains of WV with a hipo, even on the mountains there were still deer out of shotgun range, not to mention some cow pastuers that I hunted.

Do I like it in Iowa, NO. You start with a different mentality when you start off hunting with a Hipo. One shot, one kill, always safety in mind, when you are taught correctly of course. I don't like hipos in Iowa for that reason, hunters may not think that they are shooting a hipo and not their 12 ga. I couldn't believe the first year I ever shotgun hunted here, hunting parties, drives, and pushes, fill others tags, huh. What you shot 5 times and didn't hit anything, oh it was running full speed.... umm okay,

you can shot at a running deer?. I feel it is a big advantage for the hunter, I like the "bigger" bucks of Iowa and feel hipos could decline those numbers. But it's doe season, like others have stated, long range shots at possible bucks that have dropped their headgear. Again like has been stated, once something is in place it is harder to get rid of and it grows and expands.

 

[hillrunner]

If I had been hunting with a good high power during muzzleloader this year, I would have easily been able to kill a buck larger than any other Ive taken, two nights in a row. Right now I see many does bedding out in middle of fields. They do this because they have an excellent field of vision and nothing can get close without being seen.300 yds on the other hand can be done. All that said, Id like to see rifles left for the yotes, modern muzzleloaders and shotguns give us great plenty of an advantage the way it is.

 

[strutnrut]

There is no need for a rifle season here in Iowa. If you can not harvest a doe with a shotgun you have a major problem. You might want to stay on the porch... I hope you dont get you feathers ruffled over that statement. There is just no need for rifles....Like Ghost stated there will be far to many shed bucks taken.

 

[boacephus]

I guess we are merging this post into rather or not we need or should have the season. I was trying to answer the ? if it is an advantage.

Don't get my post the wrong way. I agree there is no need for it. I just keep an open minded point of view, not wanting bucks shot and me being greedy is the only point that I really see against it. It is entirely the wrong time of year for it, I am glad to see Willie trying to get the word out. On the other hand, I like "if it isn't broke don't fix it".

 

[bowmaker]

In answer to is it a real advantage I say not here in SE Iowa where it will be legal. There may be a few spots where a high power might be an advantage, but darn few. I have not seen a deer in the open before dark since the end of shotgun season and that is the only place a 2 or 300 yard shot advantage might occur. Most good shots in the brush arround here will be well inside the range and capabilities of a good muzzle loader or shotgun. One of many concerns tha I have about the rifle season is how many deer will be hit and lost because of long range shots. If a person shoots at a deer at 100 yards and it runs off that hunter will probably walk over and check the spot of the shot for any signs of a hit like hair or blood. If a person shoots at a doe 300 yards away and it doesn't drop from the rifle shot many will not walk that far to check it out even if they can find the spot the deer was at the shot. A deer won't always drop when hit with a 120 or 150 grain bullet like a coyote will, and there will be lots of deer lost especially without any snow cover to help tracking.

 

[dbltree]

You'll have to forgive me, but this post was meant to "stir the pot" so to speak on the subject of using rifles in Iowa. I've been hunting out west with rifles since I was 14 and now I'm...well....older then dirt!

Add a rangefinder and one can certainly have an advantage, however this isn't West Virginia or Wyoming or even Iowa in October. It's mid Jan. and the deer around me have been hunted relentlessly for nearly 5 months! If I see a deer in the open during daylight hours...it's smoking across a field to get away from someone, otherwise they are in heavy cover...mostly within bow range.
I live on a back road out in the "boonies" and I can tell you this, these deer have been shot at with rifles for years! Farmers from the tractor cab, night time renegades shooting them for fun and recreation not to mention the headhunters that leave headless deer behind. Deer in my area have learned to survive an adapt, so after the first day of shotgun the idea that one will have 300 yard shots is very unlikely.
Most of us don't like the idea, but lots of folks are gonna give it a try anyway...so hunt safe, take Willie's advice to avoid killing a buck and when you squeeze the trigger...remember this...somewhere the CEO of an Insurance company will be smiling smugly...cause you just played right into thier hand

 

[boacephus]

ad-van-tage n. :benefit or gain.

Rather it be a useless one or not

it would depend on time of year and location. Earlier in the year, probably still not needed, but the extended range that 5% of the time would be nice. Course if you can't reach them with a shotgun or ML in the fall chances are I never seen them anyhow.