Hey, I hunt with a 'clunky' old K98. Not only is it probably more accurate than most of the scoped sporting rifles that others are carrying, but its a very personal weapon to me. I reload my own ammo for it, shoot it alot to become proficient with it, and find it alot more useful than my Rem 700 in the brushy areas where I hunt. I also hunt with a 'Clunky' old flintlock also on occasion.
Nothing wrong with trading a little accuracy for more firepower- people have always made the same justification for using a lever action 30-30 over a bolt action 30-06 for hunting in the woods. If the SKS looks too militarylike just take a look at the Ruger Deerfield carbine which shoots an even less powerful cartridge and basicly looks like a cross between an M1 carbine and an M14. And what abouit the Browning BAR? The Browning BAR (browning automatic rifle) was a machinegun used extensively in WWII. The Browning BAR (Browning Autoloading Rifle) is a sporting rifle that not only has a similar name but operates much the same as the military BAR except that its not fully automatic. What do the M14, AK-47, BAR, Rem 742, SKS, AR-15 have in common? They all function on the same concept- a gas operated autoloading action. With the exception between aemi-auto and fully-auto versions, the differences are pretty much cosmetic.
Just because your state doesn't allow semi-auto rifles for hunting it doesn't mean that semi-autos are wrong for hunting, it simply means that the people of your state have elected too many uneducated dolts to office.
One more advantage of a semi-auto that is often times overlooked: The sound of the report of the rifle covers up the sound of the action cycling. If you somehow miss a shot and the animal becomes alert but not spooked, you don't have an action to cycle that will definately spook them as you would with a bolt, lever, pump, etc.
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>And as far as "just dont get it" Where I come from hunting is a tradition and if someone came along who thought an sks was acceptable as a deer rifle ,, We would try to teach him the differance <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>
I read a short story once by Shirley Jackson once called "The Lottery"
which was about tradition. Please enlighten me about your grand tradition.
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms... who's bringing the chips?