Apr 1, 2017 3 min read

Last week, I made a big mistake.

I wrote that the Pennsylvania Game Commission was going to legalize the semi-automatic rifle for hunting here in Pennsylvania. My information had come from a commission employee so I don’t think I was just grabbing at rumors.

I was appalled the commission would legalize the ever-popular and hot-selling rifles utilizing the AR platform and not add caliber restrictions. There is, in my opinion, no good reason to allow the semi-automatic’s diminutive .223 ammunition for deer or bear hunting. It is just too ineffective ballistically to be used by a large number of hunters. Thankfully, my information was wrong.

While I am happy that the semi-automatic bill was shot down because of the common chambering, I also can see where the commission might be held hostage by the political powers that want youngsters to be able to take their new semi-automatic rifle out to hunt deer.

This might be a good time to support the commission’s request to raise the cost of a hunting license. After all, it has been 19 years since it has had one.

I know the price of a license is not a popular subject and I will hear about it but I do think the hunting license is a bargain.

Actually, for the 2017-18 season there will be no change in what is allowed while deer or bear hunting.

In this instance, the commission listened to the protests of its many hunters. Surveys show a high number of hunters didn’t want semis in the woods during deer season.

However, there has been a change and a good one that will allow semi-automatic rifles while hunting small game and fur bearers. I think the most popular rim-fire rifle has been the Ruger 10/22. Look for a boost in this popular rifle’s sales as it is now legal to hunt squirrels with the Ruger.

Along that line, the new pheasant stamp that was added could be a good thing and allow for the stocking of more birds. Before you complain too much, price a hunt on a hunting preserve and the pleasure of going afield with the dog and being able to re-live the days of long ago when pheasants were everywhere.

If I were to write a letter to Robert Schlemmer of the commission I would ask him to look carefully at the future use of the semi-automatic rifle for deer hunting.

There is no doubt in this old hunter’s mind that we will someday be living with AK-47s and AR-16s in the woods. It’s coming. But let’s look long and hard at the cartridge they utilize and ask is it big enough for the average deer hunter and ethical.

The best deer hunter I personally know is a friend named Mike Weber of Scenery Hill.

When I told him that the AR semi rifle was going to be legalized next year with the most common chambering the 5.56 or .223, his answer was short and to the point. There are going to be a lot of crippled deer in the woods.

It is not the semi rifle that creates the problem but the cartridge it is chambered for. The .223 is a great varmint round but is lacking when used on an animal 105 times the size of the groundhog.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.