AR-15s for hunting?

[MtnMike2]

Just saw on the Outdoor Life web page (http://www.outdoorlife.com/outdoor/) that Jim Zumbo has been dropped as one of their contributors due to him speaking out against using AR-15s for hunting predators. He has since apologized, but folks are being kinda hard on him. My question is how many out there actually use AR-15s (legally, of course) for hunting? I own one and have thought about it, but have never used one for hunting.

Mike

[Skinny Shooter]

Hi Mike, here in Pa semi-rifles are not legal for hunting.
But, if they were, I'd have several outfitted in different calibers for varmint and predators.
Sort of like golf clubs...

[skeet]

I have a Bushmaster Varminter and it is very accurate. I also have a Colt Sporter.. Haven't used it for hunting(other than to shoot a fox) but It is accurate enough to use


Hey Skinny, Could I use my 11-87 Remington to hunt pheasants or rabbits? I know ya can't use a semi auto for deer etc.

[M.T. Pockets]

These "Assault" & "Terrorist" rifles that make Zumbo puke are very popular amongst my hunting friends. In fact, I'm about the only guy in my group of friends that does not own one.

They gained popularity when some of my buddies learned they could shoot them nearly as accurate as stock factory bolt rifles in field conditions hunting fox & coyotes. Now they take them prairie dog hunting and say they wouldn't go back to a bolt. They do some trigger work on them, and invest in high end optics and they really love those rifles.

I'm not much of a fox & coyote hunter myself, but if I were, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one and use it.

If I were a rancher in the Dakotas, Montana or Wyoming I'd have one for sure, and I wouldn't care if Zumbo thought less of me or not.

At a small village air strip in Alaska a few years ago I ran into a young native man who carried one in a scabbord on his ATV. He said it was popular among the natives since ammunition was cheap and available, they were handy all around rifles, kind of like a .22 in the lower 48. He said they used it for everything up to caribou.

I'm just a nobody in the middle of nowhere that likes to hunt, and I've run into all kinds of people that hunt with them. Zumbo is supposed to be a world traveling expert and didn't know they were used at all. He's lost credibility with me for his lack of knowlege as much as for his opinion.

[fabsroman]

All that big wig would have needed to do is follow a board like this to figure out what is going on in the world of hunting and shooting. I didn't do much of either this past year, but I have kept up with everything by visiting this board. Thanks to everybody that posts on here. I guess Mr. Zumbo was just too busy blogging about assault rifles and putting his head where the sun don't shine, that he didn't have time to read about this great sport that he was making a living off of.

I don't hunt with these rifles, but that is because I do not own them yet. I want to get an AR-10 in .300 RSAUM and/or the standard .308 for whitetails and other big game, and I want a AR-15 in .223 and/or .260 for small game/varmints. I wouldn't hesitate to hunt with this type of rifle, and would actually have a fun time doing it. I couldn't imagine a prairie dog hunt with one of them. That would have to be a ton of fun.

Sad thing is they are trying to pass a bill in Maryland to outlaw them. Supposedly, they are cop killers, and that really pisses me off because I don't think any LEO's have been killed with them in this state that I can ever recall. What even makes me sicker about it is that I just got a new client that is seeking a protective order from the Court because her LEO ex-husband, among other things, put a gun to her and her child's head at one point and is now under investigation on several different fronts (e.g., criminal and Internal Affairs). Who is going to protect us from the bad police officers if we don't have firearms. Heck, who is going to protect me from the 300 lb linebacker looking dude that breaks into my house, armed or unarmed, he would kick me all over the place if I don't have a weapon.

It starts with the assualt rifles and handguns and works its way down to everything. I would have said except the pellet gun, but that thing does in excess of 1,000 fps and could kill somebody if used correctly. I read the article about how .50 BMG's are weapons of mass destruction, and I just had to laugh at the use of that phrase. Just because they have some serious firepower doesn't put them in the same category as nukes, dirty bombs, and chemical agents, but I guess anything other than a pen is considered a weapon of mass destruction. When you stop and think about it, I am willing to bet that pens, now computers, have caused more problems than 50 BMG rifles. I would love to know the statistics of crimes committed in this entire nation with a 50 BMG just last year, or better yet, over the last decade. Same goes for the AR's. As you can tell, this subject has me pretty fired up and I don't even own one of these rifles yet. I am so fired up that I am contemplating a move to Virginia if this law gets passed, and I used to be completely anti virginia for a place to live.

[Skinny Shooter]

Originally posted by skeet
Hey Skinny, Could I use my 11-87 Remington to hunt pheasants or rabbits? I know ya can't use a semi auto for deer etc.

Yep. I've had my eye on an 11-87 Supermag thumbhole turkey gun this winter.

[MtnMike2]

Thanks for all the good replies! I think I'll look into shooting some coyotes w/ my Bushmaster in the near future.

[Andy L]

I have every intention of owning a AR of some sort, an FN 5.7x28 and a Barrett 50BMG by the end of the year.

I want em. I better get em before Pelosi disallows it. And Im going to hunt with two of the three. The FN,maybe, but probably just targets.

Better get em now.

[skeet]

Think twice about the Supermag. Have a lot of trouble with that one. If they make it in 3" get that one.(I think they do)

[Catfish]

I have never carried an AR hunting yet. But in abt. an hour I will for the first time. We are going to be running coyotes with dogs and I just can`t through enough lead with a bolts gun. I`ll be useing 50 gr. Serria Blitz bullets so that there is no chance of a ricochet. I know there alittle lite for coyote, but I figure if I can get one or 2 in the coyote the dogs can do the rest.

[Skinny Shooter]

Originally posted by skeet
Think twice about the Supermag. Have a lot of trouble with that one. If they make it in 3" get that one.(I think they do)

Copy!
May put that cash into a Mk 4 leupold instead.

[skeet]

Them Mark 4's are really expensive...even wholesale

[Craig 522]

Zumbo is so full of himself thinking he is an expert. All he ever does is go on freebie hunts that others provide for the exposure and advertising he brings. He thinks if you don't hunt with a TC single shot, you are not an ethical hunter.

I am glad all of his sponsors tossed him out. Remington, Gerber, Outdoor Channel, Hi Country Seasonings, NRA, and Cabelas to name a few. Not sure about Thompson Center though. Hopefully they won't puss out and keep him. No reason to keep him if he isn't a viable salesman of their products.

Last October, 4 of us went to western OK on a prairie dog hunt. We all took AR15s, 10/22 Rugers, and .17 M2 rifles. I never fired a shot out of my 10/22 but did shoot a couple of dogs with my 22/45 pistol. I also shot several with my Marlin .17M2. But the majority went down with the AR15. Because it was the most fun is why...........

I used a 1/8 twist OLympic Ultra Match 20" barrel flattop upper with a 6x24x50 Simmons on it. My lower is a Colt with JP internals and I used my 55gr SP handload. In two days, I shot around 450 rounds just out of the AR. It is extremely accurate.

I have also shot Coyotes with my AR15, and deer with my M1A and L1A1 308s.

I use a Remington 700 in 300 WM for deer and elk but I am seriously looking at a DPMS 308 to use for deer when in my blind.

There is nothing wrong with using semi autos for hunting. They can be extremely accurate and reliable.

Zumbo just showed his true colors and got castrated as a result.

[Riposte1]

I have not ever been a huge AR fan (speaking of personal preference here, I am willing to go to war to prevent someone from taking yours!).

Even so, I spent a summer back in the early 80s hunting woodchucks with a cobbled up "CAR" (11" barrel, fake moderator welded on) using a handle mounted 4X scope. Naturally, the stalk became a bit more important than with my normal Woodchuck guns but I dont recall missing any woodchucks.

I actually thought about cutting off the handle and having someone weld on a Weaver scope base (this was before "flat tops" but some folks were doing it. I think Brownells even had a base to fit).

Naturally, prophet that I am, I traded that gun off while it was still only worth about $250...soon therafter you could not beg borrow or steal and AR.

Later, when I started training military folks, I got back into them and I have used them for varmint and deer hunting (mostly to test bullets) in 5.56 and 6.8 SPC.

ARs can be made accurate in the extreme. They can have a good trigger. I see no reason they would not make good hunting rifles...but they will never have the class of a Pre-64 Wincester M-70

BTW, I understand them a bit more now - I will be out zeroing one (a Bushmaster fluted H-Bar 16") as soon as the fog lifts around here. Its main mission will be coyotes on our training site.

Riposte

[Don Fischer]

Originally posted by Catfish
I have never carried an AR hunting yet. But in abt. an hour I will for the first time. We are going to be running coyotes with dogs and I just can`t through enough lead with a bolts gun. I`ll be useing 50 gr. Serria Blitz bullets so that there is no chance of a ricochet. I know there alittle lite for coyote, but I figure if I can get one or 2 in the coyote the dogs can do the rest.

Sorry to tell you this Catfish,,,no I'm not! But your post is exactly what turns guy's off on auto loading rifle's, that's what the AR-15 is.

"Can't through (throw) enough lead with my bolts (bolt) gun".

".....but I figure if I can get one or 2 in the coyote........."

Your are talking spray and pray here. That's a turn off for some of us.