They have infinately better iron sights than your typical sporting semiauto such as a Rem 742 or Browning BAR. They are more accurate than than sporting semiautos. Because you can.

Iwouldn' t feel awkward using a military style rifle. The There is almost no difference whatsoever in the looks between an M1A and a Ruger Derfield carbine except size. The deer aren' t going to know the difference. The M1A is chambered in what alot of people consider a perfect deer cartridge. An M1A is not a military ' weapon' (I prefer the term rifle) The military dos not use M1A' s and never has- they Use M14' s.

Why they aren' t used more often for hunting? They cost about $1000 more than the typical sporting semiauto so less people are going to buy them. Most people buy them for special purposes such as target and match shooting. I would bet that most people who own an M1A and hunt, probably own a better rifle for hunting such as a scoped bolt action rifle.

BTW: I hunt with actual military rifles. I' ve used a K98, a Yugo M48, and a M96 mauser in the past for deer hunting. [:-]