Hunting with a 12GA/.223 O/U

[mweid]

I'm looking for some clarification on the regs for this one. Can I go out hunting small game with a 12GA over .223 at anytime or do I have to possess a license for any big game that is in season at the time? My assumption is that if bear season was on from Sept. 1 - Nov. 30 I would only be able to hunt small game after Nov. 30 with this gun unless I had a bear license...

[greatwhite]

Yes you can assuming local bylaws say it's OK. However this is basic information and you should look it up in the regs.

[trimmer21]

I'm looking for some clarification on the regs for this one. Can I go out hunting small game with a 12GA over .223 at anytime or do I have to possess a license for any big game that is in season at the time? My assumption is that if bear season was on from Sept. 1 - Nov. 30 I would only be able to hunt small game after Nov. 30 with this gun unless I had a bear license...

You may use the 12ga barrel,only,for small game with shot shells smaller than #2 lead and you must not be in possession of rifle shells during an open gun season for Deer,Black Bear or Moose unless you carry a license to hunt the big game species which has the open season (ie:spring and fall Black Bear hunt). Don't forget your blaze orange vest and hat.

[Fox]

You may use the 12ga barrel,only,for small game with shot shells smaller than #2 lead and you must not be in possession of rifle shells during an open gun season for Deer,Black Bear or Moose unless you carry a license to hunt the big game species which has the open season (ie:spring and fall Black Bear hunt). Don't forget your blaze orange vest and hat.

Be careful, you cannot have a rifle while hunting that is over 400 ft-lbs, it does not say anything about the ammo. Werner ran into a CO when walking around with his 444 Marlin and a pocket full of 410 2 1/2" bird shot going after grouse before the deer season and was lucky that he also had a bear license.

Feel free to use the .223/12ga combo gun for small game when there is no open gun season for big game or if you have that big game license. The chamber is what matters, not what you have in your pocket.

[trimmer21]

Be careful, you cannot have a rifle while hunting that is over 400 ft-lbs, it does not say anything about the ammo. Werner ran into a CO when walking around with his 444 Marlin and a pocket full of 410 2 1/2" bird shot going after grouse before the deer season and was lucky that he also had a bear license.

Feel free to use the .223/12ga combo gun for small game when there is no open gun season for big game or if you have that big game license. The chamber is what matters, not what you have in your pocket.

Yep,Werner got lucky that day. He could have been pinched just for "carrying". The situation the OP mentioned is a "gray area" that's open to interpretation by Police and CO's when encountering hunters with O/U combos. As long as the hunter has no C/F ammo in his/her possession and the shot shells are proper size,it's difficult,if not impossible for law enforcement to lay a charge when using a O/U shotgun/rifle combo. Be found using anything else and get your wallet out.

[Fox]

Yep,Werner got lucky that day. He could have been pinched just for "carrying". The situation the OP mentioned is a "gray area" that's open to interpretation by Police and CO's when encountering hunters with O/U combos. As long as the hunter has no C/F ammo in his/her possession and the shot shells are proper size,it's difficult,if not impossible for law enforcement to lay a charge when using a O/U shotgun/rifle combo. Be found using anything else and get your wallet out.

So how is that different than using a 410 shell in a 444 Marlin? No CF rifle rounds on his person but he is still potentially going to be charged.

It should be possible to have a chamber adapter, there are some in 32 that fit in a 30-06 or 303 Brit, they should be legal but you are still in possession of a rifle chambered in a caliber with more than 400 ft-lbs of energy, therefore you are hunting with one, the same way as Werner's 444.

[dilly]

Couldn’t you have the 223 in the gun for a coyote?

[trimmer21]

So how is that different than using a 410 shell in a 444 Marlin? No CF rifle rounds on his person but he is still potentially going to be charged.

It should be possible to have a chamber adapter, there are some in 32 that fit in a 30-06 or 303 Brit, they should be legal but you are still in possession of a rifle chambered in a caliber with more than 400 ft-lbs of energy, therefore you are hunting with one, the same way as Werner's 444.

Do .410's fit in a .444? I guess there's always a wrinkle. The regs tell us what we can use. Waver from it even a little bit and someone will have some 'splainin' to do.

[dutchhunter]

Couldn’t you have the 223 in the gun for a coyote?

Not when there is a big game season open

[Fox]

Do .410's fit in a .444? I guess there's always a wrinkle. The regs tell us what we can use. Waver from it even a little bit and someone will have some 'splainin' to do.

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.