Semi automatics for hunting

Colorado is a great destination if you're wanting to hunt Elk and Mule deer on a DIY or guided hunt, but not so great for bear and moose. Several states offer better black bear opportunities and I'd look to AK or Canada for moose hunting.
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Elk and Mule Deer might be fun to hunt. Im assuming that the hunting would be west of Denver. Now that you mention it Alaska would be a better state to hunt for bear but for the bears in Alaska I would want to bring at least my .375 H&H which is a bolt action. Now in Canada do they allow semi autos for hunting? I do know that bringing a gun into Canada can be a hassle.
 
Photon Guy said:
Elk and Mule Deer might be fun to hunt. Im assuming that the hunting would be west of Denver. Now that you mention it Alaska would be a better state to hunt for bear but for the bears in Alaska I would want to bring at least my .375 H&H which is a bolt action. Now in Canada do they allow semi autos for hunting? I do know that bringing a gun into Canada can be a hassle.
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Most public land hunting will take place West of I25 in Colorado, and there are elk and mule deer in every unit. The largest herd of elk is West of Denver and North of I70 around Craig and Meeker. However that herd is heavily hunted and not known for monster bulls. However, you can get a good representative bull out of there.

I hunted black bear in Alaska a couple of times as it doesn't require a guide like grizzly and brown bear do. It isn't a terribly expensive hunt, it can be done for less than $5000 in Southeast AK. I did my last trip for less than $3000, but didn't get the opportunity to shoot a bear or I'd have been at the $5000 mark pretty quickly. No need for your .375 H&H on a black bear or moose hunt, but I did take a .375 JDJ Encore rifle on my last bear hunt. My first hunt I used a .30-06 and took a nice bear with a 19.25" skull.

If hunting coastal bears I'd recommend a stainless or cerakoted rifle with a good quality synthetic stock. With all the rain, saltwater, and being beaten around in small boats, it can really play hell on your blued and walnut stocked rifles. Even with stainless rifles expect to clean up surface rust after you come home, I know my rifles rusted and I wiped them everyday with gun oil after we got to the cabin.

I know next to nothing of hunting in Canada, except you are required to us a guide as a nonresident. You do have to do some paperwork to declare you are entering the country with firearms to hunt. If I were to go to Canada, I think I'd archery hunt.
 
Now that you mention it Alaska would be a better state to hunt for bear but for the bears in Alaska I would want to bring at least my .375 H&H which is a bolt action.
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Alaska is great for a do-it-yourself, non-resident black bear hunt. tags are available over the counter, and your chances of success are very high. I went twice. The local air taxis dropped us in good black bear spots, and we did the rest ourselves. We renting some camping gear from them as opposed to hauling ours via commercial airline. Black bears, and grizzly/browns don't coexist well, and are not usually found in the same places, so you can leave your .375HH at home unless you really want to hunt with it. My brother used 30-06 bolt gun, and I used .454 Casull revolver. None of the shots were beyond 100 yards. Had I wanted to go semi-auto, my Garand or M1A would have been plenty, (and also plenty heavy). The average black bears we saw were 200lb or less. The one I got was a little over 300. We saw one really big one that may have gone above 400lbs.

As was mentioned, for brown and grizzly, non-residents are required to use a guide/outfitter, and is much more expensive.
 
Some places don't allow all kinds of stuff that makes no sense. At least one State, that starts with an 'I', doesn't allow cf rifles except those in pistol calibres. Whole thing is about rules made by civil servants. Most of whom have no idea what they're talking about.
Only issue with a semi-auto is the weight. They tend to be heavy.
"...in Canada do they allow semi autos for hunting?..." Yep. Five rounds only except for M1 Rifles.
Bringing a hunting firearm here isn't really a big deal. Cost you $25, in advance, for the daft permit, but the real issue is the cost of a non-resident's hunting licence.
Bullwinkle is on a draw basis, the closing date is past. Non-resident licence is $483.48Cdn. Plus the cost of exporting the meat etc.($35Cdn.) and the cost of the permit to buy a licence(Called an Outdoors Card. Tax only anglers and hunters are required to pay. Costs $9.68Cdn and requires proof of passing a hunter's safety course that can be a State hunting licence.). No flowers or dinner. No sweet nothing's whispered in your ear.
 
"Bullwinkle is on a draw basis, the closing date is past. Non-resident licence is $483.48Cdn. Plus the cost of exporting the meat etc.($35Cdn.) and the cost of the permit to buy a licence(Called an Outdoors Card. Tax only anglers and hunters are required to pay. Costs $9.68Cdn and requires proof of passing a hunter's safety course that can be a State hunting licence.). No flowers or dinner. No sweet nothing's whispered in your ear."

BC is probably the best place to hunt black bear and moose in Canada. You will need a guide, but if he has an opening, he has a license for you. Not all guides are booked up, I booked yesterday. No hunter safety requirement or meat exporting fee. $25Cdn to bring in up to three long guns. The form is available on the Canadian Customs website or at any border crossing, though you want to fill it out in advance. The license fee mentioned above is about right. Shots tend to be long in southern BC.
 
I deer hunt with 3-6 other guys here in Wisconsin and most guys seem to use bolt actions. 2 actually use a 30-06 Remington 7400 semi. The one I have never seen shoot and the other likes sleeping in the blind.

1 uses a Ruger American 308, or in a bind Savage 99 in 300 savage.
Another uses a 03A3 in 30-06,
Myself a Type 38 Arisaka in 6.5 jap.
and the last uses a Mossberg 500 pump 12 gauge.

From what I hear Minneapolis and Milwaukee Metro zones are Shotgun/Pistol only and for that I see lots of pumps being used. Probably because they can also double as a bird gun with extra barrel.

Personally I like bolts or lever guns but I guess if I had to I have hunting ammo for my SKS.

On a side note Wisconsin allows unlimited ammunition as long as you are using a semi automatic. No machine guns allowed but if you have a 30 round magazine in your Ar15 you're good to go.
 
Some places don't allow all kinds of stuff that makes no sense. At least one State, that starts with an 'I', doesn't allow cf rifles except those in pistol calibres. Whole thing is about rules made by civil servants. Most of whom have no idea what they're talking about.
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You must mean Illinois.
 
No. It's indiana
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Indiana? Im surprised. I was under the impression that Indiana was quite gun friendly. Illinois is not all that gun friendly, they're better than New Jersey but still not the best place to live if you like guns.
 
Meant it starts with an "I" and I didn't remember which one. snicker. Point is that there are daft hunting laws everywhere.
Isn't about friendly or not either. It's about silly deer hunting laws.
And if you opted to bring an M1 Rifle(why, I don't know. Heavy things to lug around. He said having done it a time or two.), you'd best have proof you bought the thing, Stateside, to get it home again too. Not for our side. For your side. Don't know if our declaration would be good enough for the ATF/Homeland Security types or not.
 
I have a Remington 742 in 30-06 circa 1971, that I inherited 20 years ago when my Dad died. I killed a lot of deer with it but it spends it's time in the safe now. I like lever actions for timber and bolt actions for the open areas.
 
I like lever actions for timber and bolt actions for the open areas.
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The only use for lever actions that I see are for reenactments and for sporting use. I am all for reenactments and I do love lever actions for that purpose and I've got a Henry Big Boy myself which is a lever action but I couldn't imagine ever taking it hunting. Bolt actions are easier to operate in the trenches particularly from the prone position and from what I know that's why the bolt action replaced the lever action as a soldier's weapon (this of course was before semi automatics and portable full automatics entered the picture) but aside from that I also heard that bolt actions are more accurate than lever actions. So to me, using a lever action when you can use something more modern is a bit outdated.
 
I would say that follow up shots 7 times out of 10 just end up being wild shots in the general direction of the game you missed the first time; Essentially you are just wasting ammo unless you are VERY disciplined with a semi auto.
 
I think I have used about every action made at some point hunting. Wouldn't make a differenice to me what action you handed me, if it was a suitable caliber/cartridge I would make it work. Obviously though some are better suited for somethings, bolt actions are well balanced, not too heavy and accurate. My AR for comparison is plenty accurate, heavier, and not as well balanced but has been there for the demise of a few critters, whatever you have or like, shoot it, well and often.
 
Yep, that's right, no semi-autos in PA. You can use SA shotguns for birds and small game, but the gun has to plugged to three just like everywhere else. Rim fire and center fire rifles and pistols are totally banned for hunting anything.

I have hunted with a semi-autos though. There's a place we hunt in SC that is over run with hogs and once or twice a year I take my .300 Blackout AR down there. We can take as many hogs as we can shoot and having more ammo and faster follow ups makes that easier. The friends I go down there with hunt with 6.8 SPC ARs. I took a nice hog down there in April this year with my Glock 20.

Here at home I mostly hunt with Marlin lever actions for deer and bears and with bolt actions for smaller stuff.
 
So based on some of the replies, it sounds to me that semi autos are mostly suited for home defense although with home defense you would be best off with a shotgun either pump or semi doesn't matter and a handgun for backup and for situations where a handgun would be better than a long gun. With rifles, there is the problem of over penetration so the rifle is mainly a hunting weapon.

Also Im under the impression that the bolt action is more rugged, more durable, and is simpler in its function than a semi auto.
 
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