State Law Legal Shot Size

[Laloom83]

Do you all see states changing the law on legal shot size now that TSS is becoming popular?  In Connecticut you can't shoot anything smaller than 7.5's for turkey. 


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[neal]

Has anyone ever been checked for shot size turkey hunting? Just curious.



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[Laloom83]

Has anyone ever been checked for shot size turkey hunting? Just curious.



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Deep officers are spread so thin in Connecticut that I've never seen one while hunting but I'm willing to bet when I do see one on state land while turkey hunting they will most likely check everything. 


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[Rapscallion Vermilion]

I talked to a Federal rep about this last year, specifically with respect to Massachusetts and Maine.  They do have a program in place to petition states to amend their laws, but they can only work a few states at a time and those states with the highest numbers of turkey hunters naturally get priority. 

[Turkz39]

The only time I have seen a warden check a shell was during a duck hunt , and he was checking for lead shot , which could not be used,  the office used a magnet to do so and he check about 200 shells.... Iam not real sure how they would check shot size if it wast stated In the shell.

[SteelerFan]

Shot size regulations in some, if not most states, has evolved from what was ethically lethal to kill a bird to now what is considered to be less lethal in a hunting related shooting incident involving another hunter.

In Maryland, they adopted the "no larger than #4 shot"  based on the lethality of accidental shootings. DNR doesn't necessarily care if a turkey is killed with #2's or 000 buck, but they recognized the inherent dangers of people being accidently shot with those larger pellets (although, a face full of TSS surely wouldn't be good).

It's a balance of safety measures and ethically lethal means of harvesting game (think deer regulations).

I would imagine a lot of states will start to allow the smaller actual shot "size" to incorporate the modern technology, eventually.

And yes, checking shot size stamped on the shell is a standard procedure - just like checking for a plugged shotgun (which is a whole other topic of wildlife conservation vs. an industry standard).

[Big Jeremy]

What about unmarked handloads? Would they make you empty it?


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[appalachianassassin]

What about unmarked handloads? Would they make you empty it? Mark them as 5s or 4s. They'll never know.


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[Bowguy]

What about unmarked handloads? Would they make you empty it? Mark them as 5s or 4s. They'll never know.


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Might just be easier to stay w legal loads. Some people try so hard to "get over" when it's easier to conform. Unmarked loads would be problematic for em though.
If states did change sizes it'd be dizzying I bet the laws. I mean what would it say, w TSS you could use one size, lead or hevi another, than maybe w steel something else? Let's say some other stuff came out, would they need to amend that too?
Imagine some single mom trying to help her young boy buy his first loads n trying to decipher that. Might be tough

[SteelerFan]

Unmarked handloads would obviously be an obstacle for enforcement in the field, but not a foolproof way to avoid detection. Keep in mind, in most instances, the "issue" was with LARGER shot, and the possibility of an accidental shooting of another hunter. There were enough hunting "accidents" in the spring season to prompt the shot size restrictions to begin with.

Maryland used to be "4, 5, or 6" shot in the spring. They eventually adapted the regulations to "no larger than #4" when heavy shot #7, and now TSS became popular. By stating just the lower end "#4..." in the regs, they don't have to legislate a change for every modern advancement of ammunition that would include 8's, 9's, etc. Ten years ago, the idea of trying to kill a turkey with #9 shot was not much of a consideration. I would imagine other states will follow suit, especially once the manufacturers start to lobby to sell their high priced ammo.

Quite frankly, I've investigated several incidents or "accidents" where a hunter took a face full of #5 or #6 shot of "standard" turkey loads and lived, whereas I'm not so sure if that would be the case if it were TSS 9's? The real fix to the issue would be to have hunters STOP SHOOTING other hunters - but they haven't found a way to fix stupid!

[dejake]

I hope so.  In Delaware; nothing smaller than #6.  7s are allowed if it's part of a duplex/triplex load containing larger shot. 

[zelmo1]

Maine has not evolved but NH has. Maine is nothing smaller than #6 shot unless it is in a multishot shell. Up here the wardens will dismantle handloads. Only happened to me duck hunting, I have never used hand loads for turkey's. I pester the Maine wardens when I see them about it. Hasn't helped yet, Lol

[dirt road ninja]

I've found most places will move at a snails pace on issues like this, the folks that know aren't the ones making the decisions.

[captpete]

Iowa just changed their regs this year. It reads...10-, 12-, 16- and 20-gauge shotguns or muzzleloading shotguns shooting number 4 through 8 lead or nontoxic shot.

[Sir-diealot]

2-8 here in NY, next year I would like to try some TSS 7's I have never seen it in 8's I normally use #6's or #5's if I can't find #6's I do not suspect NY will change their laws to allow #9's this states dictator is very anti-gun.