TN small game/large game caliber regs

[WadePatton]

please see my second post or _nevermind_

(small game, any caliber.  big game (elk, whitetail, bear, boar) 36 and up.)



Just for the record, as I'd never even thought about "max" caliber rules wrt BP and small game.  IOW I always figgered if you wanted to burn the powder and sling the lead-that a 45 would be legal for little critters.  

and then the small game cal rules came up WRT Mark's new 36.

Guess what? 36 is deer legal in TN now as the Big Game minimum.

AND 32 is the ONLY (popular) small game caliber.  "Less than 36" is the rule.  

Methinks bullamalarky especial.  I'm going to shoot a note to the Wildlife Federation folks what push most of the game rules through state legislature.  Last time i did that 2 of the 3 things changed that were in our discussion.

I think the line should be _through_ 40-where 40 and less is legal for small game,  40 and larger for big critters.

I also think that rifles should be legal for turkey.  but they ain't yet.

so back to my topic, i'm flabbergasted that a 36 Tennessee squirrel rifle isn't legal for squirrels in Tennessee.  (but is for whitetail, bear, and elk*)

*they started a herd here a few years back, already sold tags for 'em.  I think they're over there on the pointy end near the bears.

[Don Steele]

It's been a while, but last I heard they put the Elk in the Land Between The Lakes WMA.
Curious to know....NOT trying to start or engage in an argument....why there are maximum caliber limits on small game...
Why the game managers don't want me to hunt squirrels with my .50..

[Steve-In]

Good luck on rifles for turkeys.  Most turkey hunters will oppose that big time.   
I think the .36 for big game is so that smaller & longer bullets can be used by the in-line shooters.
Come to Indiana where you can use any hi-power/caliber on squirrel but are not allowed to use but certain hi-power/caliber (greater than .44 bore) on deer.
Logic and game laws do not allways go together.

[Standing Bear]

A guess as to why a maximum caliber for small game - - If you are in the woods with a bigger bore during squirrel season, it is evidence that you are actually hunting deer.

Remember most regulatory agencies are not staffed by people that know anythig about what they are regulating and therefore common sense or logic does not register.

[SCLoyalist]

Look at the legal hunting means table on page 14 of the hunter's guide Tennessee publishes.   The way I read the lines addressing ml guns below and above .36, you can use big bore muzzleloaders for "all other small game."   If using a .36 or larger caliber during a big game deer, elk, etc) season, you need to have the appropriate big game endorsement/stamp on your license.    However, the way I read the guidebook may not be the way the Game Warden does, so please check with them and pass the results along.

I'm interested because a friend suggested we try a wild hog hunt in February during small game season, but said we'd have to use either .22 rimfire or .36 or smaller muzzleloaders, neither of which choice sounds like sufficient pig medicine.

SCL

[490roundball]

most game law are not muzzleloader specific, except for "primative weapons" seasons reg

when they say muzzleloader - is TN talking "primative"  or do they include inlines - in which case the  minumum caliber for big game makes more sense.  most inlines now use the sabot collars and shoot a modern type bullet in the 30 to 45 range.

as for a maximum for small game - it is easier to assume that everyone is going to viotate the law, so that is the only reason you would have a large caliber.  I can also see safety concerns-  heavy rounds carry farther.   

I know i bird hunt in areas that have coyotes and and an area that has wolves, i am not allowed to carry buckshot or any heavy loads to protect my bird dogs, because it would prove I was deer hunting

[WadePatton]

Yes that is part of it.  

the estupid anti-cheatery way they usually make loopholes by trying to eliminate loopholes.  the laws should be written without the loopholery logic that makes so many of them silly.  And the game warden usually knows the difference.

No TN doesn't distinguish between modern ML and traditional ML's.  And i'm sure they never will as Knight (an inline mfg-maybe the first one-IDK) is a TN company.

Also, TN has made it clear that Carry Permit holders are allowed to carry a sidearm without repercussions for legal arms violations wrt whatever species is being pursued...but that wasn't the rule back when TN started handing out carry permits (which are not and never have been concealed carry permits-btw).

It's like sitting on the bank with your licensed buddy who is fishing...if you touch any of his tackle or assist him landing a fish...you _are_ fishing too.  

I hunt under the landowner exception 98% of the time now and I'm supposed to carry proof that i own or rent or am of particular relation to the owners of the land upon which i am hunting-to qualify for "landowner" status.  I don't and i don't expect that any of my hunting neighbors do either.

HOLD THE DANG PHONE

$#@*.

I missed a line of the regs.  This makes sense--but is written poorly.  APPARENTLY late at night when someone is full of turkey and beer...he should read the full page!!!

AS I NOW READ IT (maybe they changed this overnight)

ANY CAL is legal for small game. 36 and larger is legal small game, smaller than 36 is legal for small game.  is what i see with CAFFEINATED eyeballs.

Now that makes TN ML regs sorta sensible again...boy what a diff.  I think i'll build a 28.

also check this nugget:  (i'd done it, but w/o checking the books)

A legal muzzleloader and/or gun deer hunter may be in possession and use rimfire rifles and pistols and/or air guns to hunt small game during their deer hunt.

Here's the full legal arms section: http://www.tn.gov/twra/huntweapons.html

Recap my ramblings above wrt ML cals in TN hunting regs:

36 and larger: elk, bear, whitetail

any cal small game* (simplified, but now i believe accurate version)

*the only remaining caveat is that you must be licensed for big game to use a 36 or larger for small game _during_ large game seasons. logical enough.


IOW-use your head and your rifle as makes sense. I like good laws.

And yes i don't want the guy next door barking bushytails out of hickory tops with his 58.  but if that's all he's got and he chooses too...

[WadePatton]

Or as Gilda Radner, sometimes as Roseanne Roseannadanna would say:

nevermind


for those who don't remember the 70's:
()

[Militant_Hillbilly]

We've talked about the .36 being legal for "big game" at a couple of other muzzleloading sites.

Buckshot is no longer legal anywhere in TN for whitetails, but a .36 is. A 12 gauge 00 shell has either 12 or 15 pellets of .330 diameter buckshot in it, but that's not legal. I
wonder if someone showed up at their meetings and showed them a single .36 ball and then the load of buckshot and asked why one was legal and the other wasn't, what their explanation would be.

[WadePatton]

We've talked about the .36 being legal for "big game" at a couple of other muzzleloading sites.

Buckshot is no longer legal anywhere in TN for whitetails, but a .36 is. A 12 gauge 00 shell has either 12 or 15 pellets of .330 diameter buckshot in it, but that's not legal. I
wonder if someone showed up at their meetings and showed them a single .36 ball and then the load of buckshot and asked why one was legal and the other wasn't, what their explanation would be.

I wasn't concerned with the Big Game rule at all, recall that it was 40 as a kid-but never had any other than a 50 in those days.

but was miffed as my partial reading of the rules appeared to exclude anything but SUB 36 for small game.  that was my mistake.  

As i ramble and bounce with my thoughts, i can see how one would miss my point/drift/concern.  

don't read other muzzleloading sites, am still digging through the previous years of posts here since the restructuring.

I was never aware that "multiple ball" loading was ever legal for large game anywhere in this state since i was a pup.