USA Hunting Rules

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ndjfb01

Well-Known Member
I like hearing about how different countries have certain rules for hunting ( eg trail cams and two way radios), been listening to a few these rulings on the USA Meateater podcasts, on top of the examples below, the podcasts claims certain states say you cannot bait before hunting and as for using NV for hunting (certain species) in the US, that appears fairly complex.


General Information

The official website of the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks
ksoutdoors.com ksoutdoors.com

www.agmglobalvision.com

Night Hunting With Night Vision: Is It Legal? | AGM Blog

Discover the legal aspects of hunting with night vision devices. Learn about regulations, restrictions, and what you need to know.
www.agmglobalvision.com
 
Never seen or heard thermal being used/discussed on Meateater but I seen quite a few hog shooting videos using it from the US. What is is US position on thermal in relation to deer hunting please?
 
Yes, each state as differing rules, it can be a bit of a nightmare for a visiting hunter.

I used a 2 way radio to advise my hunting partner in the next valley I had shot an Elk and needed help to get it out, a very p!ssed off local shouted 'radios are banned in Montana', well he was wrong, for the use I had they were fine, but to advise a 3rd party where the game is then that is a no-no.
I just ignored him.

Cheers

Richard
 
Every state has its own hunting laws, restrictions and regulations so you need to read up on the relevant laws for the state you intend to visit. Fortunately most states DNR (Department of Natural Resources) have really good websites with all the laws spelt out in straight forward language.

Here are the ones for Georgia, the state I’m most familiar with.

Hunting in Georgia | Department Of Natural Resources Division

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georgiawildlife.com georgiawildlife.com
 
So, overall our game is managed by each state, but that doesn’t apply to migratory birds (where a framework is set federally in accordance with Mexico and Canada).

However, it’s not quite as daunting as it may sound. Many of our 50 states are as large as the entire UK, and the majority larger than all of Scotland, so it is not as if we have units as small as shires or anything.

The older states (many originally British Colonies) often have the hardest to decipher game laws because they tend to have a great deal of tradition ensconced in the law (running deer with dogs for example ). However, states with feral hogs often have some extremely lenient laws for that sort of hunting. As a general rule, much like the UK, the more esteemed the game the more protection and or rules afforded it. The more pestiferous the more likely to have very lenient rules (when I was doin beaver control I could use any method short of explosives, and I could get a USFWS officer to come in and actually use explosives if I wanted to foot the bill).
 
Cootmeurer said:
So, overall our game is managed by each state, but that doesn’t apply to migratory birds (where a framework is set federally in accordance with Mexico and Canada).

However, it’s not quite as daunting as it may sound. Many of our 50 states are as large as the entire UK, and the majority larger than all of Scotland, so it is not as if we have units as small as shires or anything.

The older states (many originally British Colonies) often have the hardest to decipher game laws because they tend to have a great deal of tradition ensconced in the law (running deer with dogs for example ). However, states with feral hogs often have some extremely lenient laws for that sort of hunting. As a general rule, much like the UK, the more esteemed the game the more protection and or rules afforded it. The more pestiferous the more likely to have very lenient rules (when I was doin beaver control I could use any method short of explosives, and I could get a USFWS officer to come in and actually use explosives if I wanted to foot the bill).
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Interesting account so thanks to you and others for taking the time to respond. I think we can probably agree on one thing and that's concerning gun ownership and the application process....the US and UK are miles apart?😁
 
ndjfb01 said:
Interesting account so thanks to you and others for taking the time to respond. I think we can probably agree on one thing and that's concerning gun ownership and the application process....the US and UK are miles apart?😁
Click to expand...
Depends on where you live.
When I try to explain the scope of US hunting to my UK friends I tell them that Montana is the 4th largest State in the union. You can drop all of Great Britain, north to south, between the western and eastern borders of Montana and have room left over. ~Muir
 
I was once loading for an American guy who had bought himself a week on the grouse. I think he came from Detroit and he said he'd shot all over the world but his favourite thing to go after was duck.
He wanted to know how many ducks we were allowed to shoot in a season and couldn't believe it when I said as many as you like or could afford.
I imagine it's a similar situation with deer;
I wonder how many deer the average us sports man will account for in comparison to a uk stalker?
 
Reloader708 said:
I was once loading for an American guy who had bought himself a week on the grouse. I think he came from Detroit and he said he'd shot all over the world but his favourite thing to go after was duck.
He wanted to know how many ducks we were allowed to shoot in a season and couldn't believe it when I said as many as you like or could afford.
I imagine it's a similar situation with deer;
I wonder how many deer the average us sports man will account for in comparison to a uk stalker?
Click to expand...
They have tag limits South Carolina is a high count, many states are far fewer. Michigan has 1 million deer the DNR cull requires 250K, the number of hunters out in the two weeks of firearms season 750K (as I remember).
 
Reloader708 said:
I imagine it's a similar situation with deer;
I wonder how many deer the average us sports man will account for in comparison to a uk stalker?
Click to expand...
I think of Randy Newberg, and how many deer he has shot making his TV programs, I expect a lot of us have shot more deer in a year than he has shot in a lifetime.
Of course if you resident in a state you can buy cheap over the counter tags, but cross that border into another state and you need deep pockets
Cheers
Richard
 
Reloader708 said:
I was once loading for an American guy who had bought himself a week on the grouse. I think he came from Detroit and he said he'd shot all over the world but his favourite thing to go after was duck.
He wanted to know how many ducks we were allowed to shoot in a season and couldn't believe it when I said as many as you like or could afford.
I imagine it's a similar situation with deer;
I wonder how many deer the average us sports man will account for in comparison to a uk stalker?
Click to expand...
Sort of apples and oranges. But in my stalking and talking with folks in the UK, most will shoot more deer in 5 years than an average American will shoot in a lifetime. But there are some other factors that make this the apples vs oranges

1- Many deer seasons are only a week or two long with modern firearms. Very hard to put up big numbers in 10 days.
2 - States that do have long seasons (3-4 months) often allocate 1/2 or more of that season to archery only, again, hard to put up numbers when you must be within 40 yards or less.
3 - Many states, individual states, have more hunters than there are FAC holders in all the UK. The pressure on the deer is much higher.
4 - We may not legally sell venison, so what is the point of shooting more than you can eat or give away.
5 - Our hunter/stalker population is often like the membership in my North Carolina Club (syndicate). Perhaps 10% buy the license to hunt and never find the time, another 30-40% only hunt opening weekend, or a holiday weekend and then are not seen again. The remaining 50% are hunters but are not equal, maybe 10-20% of ou membership were the types to tag multiple deer per year, and in any given year there were usually only 5 of us that would fill all of our tags. Some guys were “one and done” types.
6 - Due to trophy mania much of our best land is leased and then not managed for the cull, but rather for big antlers. Back when I was at University I lived on a 800 acre farm, that was leased by some deep pocketed Doctors and Dentists. In 3 years the only does killed on the place were by me. They allowed me to shoot all the spikes and does I wanted but all bucks were reserved for them.
 
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