Ranch/farm carry.

I've mentioned my SKS many times- it became my tractor gun mainly because it was cheap, ugly, cheap, rugged, fired cheap ammo, ...and did I mention it was cheap?

I recently bought a gun specifically for the farm. It's a Diamondback AR pistol (10" barrel) chambered in 7.62x39 with a blade brace and Vortex 1-8x illuminated scope. But last time I needed a knockabout rifle, I still grabbed my SKS. I didn't want to beat up my new $850 rig.
 
i own and live on my farm. i keep a 1973 ruger 10/22 in my farm truck and a single shot 20ga in my utv. when cutting the crop, i keep a savage bolt action .223 in the cab.
 
I live in the woods and it’s not unusual to see critters passing through the front yard, usually a doe and fawn but occasionally a yote or raccoon.

The only thing I had to eliminate in the last 20 years was a coon that wouldn’t leave my barrel of black sunflower seeds alone.

I sit back and watch nature do its thing, I do believe suburbanites have no clue what the natural world is really like.


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Grandparents always had a double barrel 12 ga shotgun standing in the corner just inside the back door. Two shotgun shells on the window sill next to it.
 
Most farmers in SW WI. pack a .22LR rifle of some persuasion in the cab of their pickups and tractors. I have purchased several Remington Nylon 66 rifles from farm auctions over the years and they still show up with some frequency at auctions these days.
 
Maine Hunting Firearms Laws:
"It is Unlawful to Hunt with, or Possess for Hunting,
Any:Automatic firearm (a firearm that continues to fire as long as the trigger is held back.)
Auto-loading firearm (a firearm that reloads itself after each shot and requires a separate trigger pull for each shot) with a magazine capacity of more than 5 cartridges (plus 1 in the chamber for a total of 6), unless the magazine has been permanently altered to contain not more than 5 cartridges."
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Do some states allow greater magazine capacity???
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Some states have no mag restrictions, or may have a specified capacity restriction depending on the type of game you're hunting, but not for others. A couple of 'rifle-friendly' states, like Texas and Ohio, don't restrict mag capacity when hunting coyotes or hogs. For deer, it might be different.

That said, the passage quoted above from Maine's 'Hunting Firearms Law' applies only if you're actually hunting.

If you're keeping an AR in your ranch truck with a 20-rd mag inserted for reasons or uses other than hunting, it doesn't apply. Two such reasons might be (1) self-defense or property defense from human trespassers, or (2) if you're out traveling your property line engaging in 'predator control' to protect crops or livestock (e.g., coyotes, wolves, feral dogs, hogs).
 
Interesting thread with all the comments but if you don't live day-to-fay in the country for years on end it's very challenging to say what is appropriate. I went from 150 acres to 32 acres to 6.5 acres changing living locations. Gun selection changed based on the environment. Still, two guns that are consistent to everything are a 223 and a shotgun.
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Entirely true.

Case in point: A cousin who eventually inherited that side of his family's farm because no one else wanted it (they were all committed to life in the 'urban zones' - a couple of them in Chicago :rolleyes: - so he bought them out), keeps three 'truck guns' either in the cab or in a locked long box (security vault) in the trunk while tooling around the farm.

They are: a scoped .22 rifle; an M1 Garand which he's had for decades; and an old 'humpback' Browning 12ga shotgun that was his father's.
 
In the truck it's mostly an AR, but on the belt it mostly a 357 or a 44 revolver. Although the 22 Ruger Mk3 or the K22 also get their share of "carry time".

During hunting season, if I have licenses on the land or near-by, I carry what every hunting rifle I will use that season.

But for the other 9 months of the years it's mostly a 5.56/223, and I am just one of many. I would guess that the ARs are by far the most common Ranch/Farm rifles around here. If I made a guess I'd say about 1/2 of all the land owners, farmers and cowboys I know use ARs with the other 1/2 using a conglomeration of many many other rifles.
You see a lot more "elk rifles" as truck guns as you get into the mountain, because of the bears. I live in the Wind River Valley, so in the valleys I see more ARs. They are fine for about everything we need a rifle for on a day to day basis in the lower elevations. Prairie dogs to wolves, they cover the bases fine for shooting most things that need to be shot.
 
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That said, the passage quoted above from Maine's 'Hunting Firearms Law' applies only if you're actually hunting.
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Kinda true--but in Maine it's also hunting is assumed unless you can prove otherwise. That can be hard to do. I'm not aware of any farm/predator control exemptions for high capacity magazines (with the possible exception of a permitted cull hunt).
 
That said, the passage quoted above from Maine's 'Hunting Firearms Law' applies only if you're actually hunting.
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Kinda true--but in Maine it's also hunting is assumed unless you can prove otherwise.
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Stag, dude, that's not what the law says. There's no legal 'presumption' that you're 'hunting' simply because you have a firearm on your person or within reach in your vehicle.
 
Stag, dude, that's not what the law says. There's no legal 'presumption' that you're 'hunting' simply because you have a firearm on your person or within reach in your vehicle.
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You're changing the narrative a bit to place the weapon in the process of transportation or personal possession on your property. What I'm saying is that the Maine IFW can--and have--make the assumption that if you're out in the woods, fields etc. with a large capacity magazine semi-auto, they can stop you right on the spot and ask you to prove that you were not actually hunting. Wander about with ANY KIND OF WEAPON on Sundays (no hunting in Maine) and they can make the same "prove you're not hunting" demand. What's more, they are empowered in Maine to make a warrantless search of your property if they have reasonable suspicion you're breaking hunting laws (i.e. tresspass/poaching).

From the 2019 2020 hunting law publication:

"Possession of Hunting Equipment on
Sunday: Possession of hunting equipment
in the fields and forests or on the waters
or ice of this state on Sunday is prima facie
evidence of a violation of Sunday hunting
law, unless the equipment is securely
wrapped in a complete cover, fastened in
a case, or carried in at least two separate
pieces in such a way that it cannot be fired
without the pieces being joined together
(for the purpose of this paragraph, a
firearm clip, magazine, or cylinder is not
considered a “piece”)."

Except for a concealed carry weapon--which must conform to laws--generally speaking (with special disability, military or LE exceptions or boats hunting for waterfowl) you are not allowed to have a loaded firearm within any kind of motorized vehicle either.
 
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I can't quote the chapter and verse, but have always been told Illinois is the same way. That is, game wardens have tremendous latitude to decide if you're really out plinking or poaching. I've always thought the game laws were un-American, because you're presumed guilty in so many instances.

Side note, I pulled one of my other farm guns today on 2 snakes in mom's back yard. Got one in the head, and grazed the other's neck as it slid away through the grass. I just had my pocket .380 today since we're chopping silage, which means I spent the whole day jumping off and on 4 tractors.
 
I grew up on a 1200 acre farm and ranch, we had row crops and a couple hundred head of cattle. When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, Dad pretty much always kept a .22 rifle in the trucks and a .357 revolver in the glove box. Sometimes had a shotgun with him too. These weren't for hunting but for shooting snakes and varmints. These days I often keep an AR15 with me even on a tractor for shooting coyotes and other critters. I'd say now days the AR15 is the most popular centerfire rifle on a farm or ranch. Of course a 22 rifle is still popular as well.
 
I can't quote the chapter and verse, but have always been told Illinois is the same way. That is, game wardens have tremendous latitude to decide if you're really out plinking or poaching. I've always thought the game laws were un-American, because you're presumed guilty in so many instances.
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Illinois = not a Free State. :(

I grew up on a 1200 acre farm and ranch, we had row crops and a couple hundred head of cattle. When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, Dad pretty much always kept a .22 rifle in the trucks and a .357 revolver in the glove box. Sometimes had a shotgun with him too. These weren't for hunting but for shooting snakes and varmints. These days I often keep an AR15 with me even on a tractor for shooting coyotes and other critters. I'd say now days the AR15 is the most popular centerfire rifle on a farm or ranch. Of course a 22 rifle is still popular as well.
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La. = a Free State. :)

Easy-peasy ... :cool:
 
When I lived back in NY, we didn't usually ride around with a firearm. There was a .22lr at the house in case something happened, a la a rabid racoon walking across the lawn.

In later years, we got some nuisance permits for deer and I know my brother would drive with a rifle in the cab. Used to be a mini-14, then he switched to a savage axis in .223 when he got it. Lots of deer meat in the family and friends' freezers year round because of that.
 
Yeah, Illinois sucks. Believe me, I already knew that.

My uncle had a coyote within 20 yards of the tractor the other day, so I've been keeping my 7.62x39 pistol handy.
 
I have about 10 rifles that I can use on my son's blueberry fields and wooded areas. In recent past, I've carried while walking or in the cab of my pickup one or more of the following rifles:

1. Most recent favorite: .17 HMR CZ455 fluted with 3-9X Bushnell Elite.

2. Previous favorite: .223 Rem, 700 SS Fluted Light Varmint with 3-9X Leupold.

3. If a combo situation coyote/deer season walkabout, a Tikka T3 Lite, .243 Win with a 3-9X Leupold.

The .17 HMR has been a really fun rifle/cartridge combo this summer/fall, getting critters out to about 200 yards, including eastern coyotes. Plus it's fun to shoot at a few targets of opportunity without hearing protection. It's just more capable than I thought it would be, given the light bullet, but trajectory is great out to 150 yards and it kills eastern coyotes well, even beyond 100 yards. I can carry a couple of 5-shot magazines and a box of 50 rounds and hardly tell they're they're.

It's also great for woodchucks around the house, seemingly putting critters down more effectively than the .22 Mag, IMHO.

It's also fun to pot some targets of opportunity on my field walks, like old metal signs I find on the property, cans and plastic bottles left by the field workers, and other things, including dark lichen patches on boulders, where safe to shoot them.

I don't feel like I'm wasting ammo when plinking, compared with the .223 and .243, since it costs less to shoot the rimfire and don't have to reload. I also find that the rifle is easy to carry and with the fluted barrel, holds very nicely for offhand shooting, sitting, or standing-leaning.
JP
 
Picher said: I have about 10 rifles that I can use on my son's blueberry fields and wooded areas. In recent past, I've carried while walking or in the cab of my pickup one or more of the following rifles:

1. Most recent favorite: .17 HMR CZ455 fluted with 3-9X Bushnell Elite.

2. Previous favorite: .223 Rem, 700 SS Fluted Light Varmint with 3-9X Leupold.

3. If a combo situation coyote/deer season walkabout, a Tikka T3 Lite, .243 Win with a 3-9X Leupold.
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You sure? :confused:

Because - according to Stagpanther - you should be going to jail for the crime of 'presumptive hunting,' rather than predator-control or an enjoyable afternoon of simply plinking on your son's property. :rolleyes:

I mean, it is Maine after all. :rolleyes:
 
I don't carry any rifles or shotguns in the vehicle on Sundays, but if I'm walking in the woods, will carry a loaded handgun, since we've seen several rabid animals and need to kill/bury them to prevent further infections. I don't shoot healthy animals with handguns very often and never on Sunday.
 
Ayuh, Stag is correct, the Warden's here in Maine are pretty "By the book", zero tolerance for BS excuses. If you are out on your back 40 on Sunday, with a gun, you best have a target, earmuffs, and be in the right... actually target practicing. If you are truly target practicing, no worries! But if you took a pot shot at game and are trying to come up with an excuse, you WILL be in serious trouble. These Wardens up here have been known to hide in a tick infested patch of tall grass for 24 hours straight, at 20 degrees in the rain, just to catch someone in a lie. Tell the truth, do the right thing / obey the laws and you have nothing to fear. Poach Maine game out of season, after dark or on a Sunday, and you can lose your truck, gun, hunting privileges for years and end up incarcerated. No joke. ;)
 
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