Hunting with a 12GA/.223 O/U

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Originally Posted by Fox

2 1/2" 410 shells fit well in a 444 Marlin, the shot sprays but I have heard of enough people who use them on grouse that they must work well enough at close range.

I was told that the rule follows the chamber of the gun, I always loved the idea of a combination gun but I think outside of an area that you would have a big game license anyway it would be almost impossible to use.

The rules are a little nuts, I went north to visit family and wanted to hunt grouse and woodcock. I always like to have some slugs and or buckshot in my bag when going well off the beaten path alone, just in case I break a leg or something like that. Anyway, the moose season was open and so was the bear season, well a couple years back they decided to add a deer season that overlapped that same time as well. I had a deer hunting license already so no need to buy anything else to be legal, although, if I was stopped by a CO and searched I would have had to explain to him all of the stuff I just wrote here, even though I was sporting a SxS 16ga, not a moose gun.

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Not much explaining needed fox.. show him a deer license and tag. No more questions.

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Originally Posted by Fox

2 1/2" 410 shells fit well in a 444 Marlin, the shot sprays but I have heard of enough people who use them on grouse that they must work well enough at close range.

I was told that the rule follows the chamber of the gun, I always loved the idea of a combination gun but I think outside of an area that you would have a big game license anyway it would be almost impossible to use.

The rules are a little nuts, I went north to visit family and wanted to hunt grouse and woodcock. I always like to have some slugs and or buckshot in my bag when going well off the beaten path alone, just in case I break a leg or something like that. Anyway, the moose season was open and so was the bear season, well a couple years back they decided to add a deer season that overlapped that same time as well. I had a deer hunting license already so no need to buy anything else to be legal, although, if I was stopped by a CO and searched I would have had to explain to him all of the stuff I just wrote here, even though I was sporting a SxS 16ga, not a moose gun.

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Why would a CO search you , or better question would be, why would you let them search you, unless of course you were under arrest ????

I wanted to use my combination gun to hunt turkeys and have the option of using the rifle barrel to dispatch the occasional coyote that shows up. The local CO said "No".

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Originally Posted by rick_iles

Why would a CO search you , or better question would be, why would you let them search you, unless of course you were under arrest ????

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They would have no right to search my bag outside of thinking I was hiding something, some of them think everyone is evil.

When you are walking around during moose season with slugs on your person they may ask more questions, but an open season now for deer gives me that legal option.

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Originally Posted by ninepointer

I wanted to use my combination gun to hunt turkeys and have the option of using the rifle barrel to dispatch the occasional coyote that shows up. The local CO said "No".

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Local CO is incorrect. Nothing in regs speaks to this for turkey. Some murky restrictions exsist for big game, but turkey season and coyote seasons are open in many areas in Ontario simultaneously. Can’t use the rifle on the birds. If you do and get caught red handed or through evidence in the bird, you are in trouble. If you were out with a valid turkey tag and also taking care of coyotes under your small game license, I can’t find anything that says you can’t. A CO,s hunch isn’t enough. I would ask for specific regulations in this situation.

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Originally Posted by dilly

Local CO is incorrect. Nothing in regs speaks to this for turkey. Some murky restrictions exsist for big game, but turkey season and coyote seasons are open in many areas in Ontario simultaneously. Can’t use the rifle on the birds. If you do and get caught red handed or through evidence in the bird, you are in trouble. If you were out with a valid turkey tag and also taking care of coyotes under your small game license, I can’t find anything that says you can’t. A CO,s hunch isn’t enough. I would ask for specific regulations in this situation.

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Right......the Act says “use” when mentioning firearms permitted for turkeys. If the wording was “carry” or “possess” then you would not be able to use your combo gun. But that’s not to say you won’t be charged. I’ve seen some very strange interpretations of the law by COs in the past...

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Originally Posted by dilly

Local CO is incorrect.

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The issue though is that is who this guy will be dealing with.

A hunch may not be enough for a charge to stick but it may be enough for a charge to be laid and then you have the fun of taking time off work to go to court.

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Originally Posted by rick_iles

Right......the Act says “use” when mentioning firearms permitted for turkeys. If the wording was “carry” or “possess” then you would not be able to use your combo gun. But that’s not to say you won’t be charged. I’ve seen some very strange interpretations of the law by COs in the past...

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Agreed. Some civil and respectful discussion would be in order if an issue were to arise.

I asked the MNR via their wesite a few years ago, about using my Savage 24 during turkey season to take coyotes that come in to the decoys. Here is the answer I received:

"Thank you for your question. Yes, you may use a Savage 24 for hunting wild turkey provided that you are not using the rifle component. This means that the .222 component must be unloaded while hunting wild turkey. If you were to see a coyote and switched to hunting coyote, you could load the rifle and use it to shoot the coyote."

Apparently you can't be hunting for turkey AND coyotes simultaneously (I'd better speak to my decoys.....). This approach could work in a blind, but I wouldn't want to risk the movement if sitting out in the open.

In my area, I saw more coyotes than deer in deer season, and more coyotes than turkeys on my cams this turkey season.

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Originally Posted by Lenny

I asked the MNR via their wesite a few years ago, about using my Savage 24 during turkey season to take coyotes that come in to the decoys. Here is the answer I received:

"Thank you for your question. Yes, you may use a Savage 24 for hunting wild turkey provided that you are not using the rifle component. This means that the .222 component must be unloaded while hunting wild turkey. If you were to see a coyote and switched to hunting coyote, you could load the rifle and use it to shoot the coyote."

Apparently you can't be hunting for turkey AND coyotes simultaneously (I'd better speak to my decoys.....). This approach could work in a blind, but I wouldn't want to risk the movement if sitting out in the open.

In my area, I saw more coyotes than deer in deer season, and more coyotes than turkeys on my cams this turkey season.

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I still think it would be a judgement call on the COs part, if you are coming out of the bush with a pack with turkey decoys in it and rifle ammunition along with your shotgun ammunition they may start to ask you questions.