Firearm Ordinance

FishnHunt9

New member
I joined a new club this year and am about to start predator hunting at night which is legal but I have a question about the use of rifles. The law reads

It shall be unlawful and a Class 3 misdemeanor for any person to hunt with a rifle of a caliber larger than .22 in the county, except
(1)In the hunting of groundhogs (woodchucks) between March 1 and August 31; and
(2)In the hunting of coyotes for the entire calendar year

I like to shoot an ar-15 its a 223 so being a 22 caliber rifle am I legal?

I know I would be legal for coyotes but bobcat and fox season is currently in I'm not planning on carrying two guns would it be legal to use on them also?
 
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You must live in a fairly populated country. When they say .22 they mean .22 rimfire. To answer your question sounds like in your county you can not hunt fox or bobcat with a centerfire. What county do you live in? Have you looked it up in the DGIF book on game laws ?
 
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Why not call your local conservation officer and ask for some clarity on the question?
 
I hunt in dinwiddie it makes no sense dinwiddie is very rural, I don't see logic in the law I'll be calling same spot and if a coyote comes I can shoot it with whatever but if it's a fox or bobcat nothing bigger than a rimfire.
 
I wouldn't normally care as in most cases I use a shotgun but this is my first year in club and we could make multiple full night hunts calling in decent sized fields and big power lines and never call same area twice so if I can't use a rifle that's a bummer. I'm going to call game department Monday and hopefully talk to a game warden.
 
I just looked it up. Coyotes anytime of the year using a centerfire, says nothing about other predators. according to the regs I'm sure the possum cop is going to tell you no go on centerfire fox and bobcat. These laws are made by the county board of supervisors not the game dept. How they come up with stuff this stupid is beyond me. The county I live in has no restrictions other than what the state says. Centerfire for coyote year round and no other predator has to be dumbest one I have come across. Curious to see what the possum cop has to say. Let us know.
 
I spoke with the department today the office told me that the county's written laws are more up to date than the game book and said they would go by the county website and asked if I would like possum cop to give me a call I told her I would. When the game warden called he didn't sound like he really wanted to chat so he said he interprets it that you can hunt coyotes with whatever you like and for fox bobcat or whatever else it's 22 rimfire or smaller. I wish I would have questioned him more and asked why the county's website say 22 caliber but I didn't and well since I almost always hunt with a partner will have him carry a shotgun and I'll take an ar-15. This kind of stinks I joined a club with a lot of land where I'm pretty sure no one else predator hunts and most places I would hunt would be fields or power line where I could shoot a good ways.
 
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