New rules for hunting rifles raise concerns in Indiana

Next deer season, hunters can use an expanded, high-powered variety of weaponry, including rifles and cartridges with effective ranges well in excess of 3,000 yards.

The extended range of the weapons, coupled with Indiana’s relatively flat terrain, spells trouble, according to Brian Walker, a firearms instructor and deputy with the Noble County Sheriff’s Department.

“This is dangerous,” Walker said of the new law. “It really makes me nervous. Indiana is awfully flat.”

Walker recalled investigating a past incident when a woman scrubbing her tub had the top of her shower curtain hit by a deer slug that penetrated an outer wall and entered her home.

Whitley County Sheriff Marc Gatton said in his county last year, a slug went through a deer and then continued on, going through a glass sliding door.

Now, hunters will be firing weapons that can travel much farther, with much greater muzzle velocity.

“I do have fears in this part of the state, because of being populated, that the distances that will be carried with these new rounds might increase property or persons being hit,” Gatton said.

Conservation Officer Bob Duff said some of the approved rifle/cartridges combos realistically could be lethal up to three miles away, roughly 10 times farther than a traditional shotgun slug.

House Enrolled Act 1231, passed earlier this year by the Indiana General Assembly, allows additional rifle cartridges to be used only on private land during the firearms season.

The legislation was passed despite a study finished less than a year ago by the Natural Resources Commission that found there was no public demand for adding high-powered rifle rounds to hunting options.

According to Indiana Department of Natural Resources spokesman Phil Bloom, in the summer of 2014, consideration was given to the idea of adding high-powered rifles to deer hunting in Indiana. The Natural Resources Commission held three public hearings between September 2014 and March 2015. Comments and suggestions also were taken via email and traditional mailings.

“There was not sufficient support,” Bloom said. “We asked that that portion (of rule changes) be removed.”

The Natural Resources Commission agreed, and no changes were made to that set of hunting rules.

There are two ways to change hunting rules in Indiana. They can be changed through the Natural Resources Commission, or they can be legislated through the Indiana General Assembly.

State legislators chose the latter and did not ask the DNR to speak to the issue.

“We were not asked to testify,” Bloom said. “We would respond to any request to testify.”

Bloom declined to comment on whether the DNR favors allowing the rifles, saying only it is the state legislature’s prerogative to make laws, including those involving hunting.

Walker said someone willing to shoot at a target at a greater distance should have more practice. Will some people not take the extra time it takes to be proficient?

“They’re going to try some further-distance shots,” Walker said. “The longer distance of the shot you’re going to take, it’s going to take that much more practice with that weapon.”

Duff also declined to comment on the legislation, but said conservation officers are more concerned with the second, third and fourth shots following an initial miss — regardless of the weapon being used.

Duff said taking the initial shot is one thing, but trying to hit an animal that is running away drastically changes the trajectory of the shot.

“We encourage people to take carefully aimed shots,” Duff said.

Duff recommended that rifle hunters be in tree stands so they are shooting at a downward trajectory, with a visible backstop so they are sure where the shot will end up if the target is missed.

“We just want them to do it safely,” Duff said.

The state has allowed traditional rifle rounds in handguns for several years.

The Department of Natural Resources has received numerous questions regarding the recent legislation. Most questions have to do with calibers and cartridges allowed under the new law.

Rifles with pistol cartridges that have been allowed in previous years still may be used to hunt deer on both private and public land.

Hunters already had been able to use rifle-type cartridges in handguns, but these rounds have a lower muzzle velocity and hunters are aiming at a target at a lesser distance, Walker said.

HEA 1231 is scheduled to expire after the 2020 deer season, at which time the DNR will submit an impact report to the governor and the General Assembly.

“Time will tell,” Gatton said of the new legislation. “As with any weapon, most responsible firearms owners we won’t have a problem with. It’s the one who doesn’t know the distance or what’s beyond what they are shooting at, or they get so excited they stop thinking.

“I support the Constitution and Second Amendment, and don’t want to infringe on that.”