Joe gets tipped by a reader about a proposed change to Washington State hunting regs
WAC 232-12-054 Archery requirements–Archery special use permits. (1) Rules pertaining to all archery:(a) It is unlawful for any person to carry or have in his possession any firearm while in the field archery hunting, during an archery season specified for that area, except for modern handguns carried for personal protection. Modern handguns cannot be used to hunt big game or dispatch wounded big game during an archery, big game hunting season.
I have italicized the new proposed addition.
I don’t hunt. I have a severe allergic reaction to waking up at oh-dark thirty in the freezing cold to go for a hike in the dark.
But there is no reason that someone who has more willpower and patience than I should have to be disadvantaged against the forest’s predators, not to mention the meth-cookers and poachers, just because they want to give the animal a sporting chance.
Before you get really teed off by this, it is an extension of a policy which has been in effect since the Steam Age, a policy which hunters have accepted up to now.
Many rifle hunters carry a concealed pistol, but it has always been illegal to dispatch wounded game with it. You have to fire another rifle shot to dispatch your animal. I’ve never seen an explanation of this, but it probably came about because most concealable handguns of the Steam Age were rather weak, and most hunters didn’t know the EXACT spot to fire at to insure a kill with, say, a .38 S&W, it was always much more humane to use the rifle, which gave a greater chance of a one-shot dispatch.
Bow-hunting seasons, AND heavy-bore handguns are relatively new to the hunting scene, so most regulations for hunting were written for rifles, hence this carryover.
If the minions are worried about a few jerks carrying a bow, but hunting with a heavy-bore, then they need to have agents in the field to detect and arrest for this misdemeanor. My guess is that only a percent or two of the total bow hunters in the field would be tempted to hunt with pistols anyway.
Hell, most bow hunters are probably better shots with their bow than a handgun anyway!
Putting a suffering animal down doesn’t bother me, though I suspect they want it written that way to keep an unethical hunter from shooting a game animal with a firearm during bow season and then firing an arrow into it to cover his tracks.