buckmine

Here in Minnesota the state is divided by farmland and thick woods. Basically where decidious trees meet coniferous trees. This is where the line sits to where shotguns are used in farm country and rifles in the thick woods. It may also be based on the distance between houses residing on adjacent lands but not really sure.

This question came to me to hear that MO permits rifles.

doughboysigep

The way they divide it in NY is basically by topography, which coincides with population. Rifle country is limited to the Adirondack and Catskill mountain regions which are mountainous (obviously) and generally have low population. Of course, there are areas that aren't some mountainous and more populated, but in general that's the way it is.

badshotbob

In MI, it's much the same - half the state is shotgun and the other rifle. The rifle part of the state is in northern MI where the population is less and things are more spread out.

Stump_MN_Hunter

Buckmine....I personally think that it soley has to do with the population of people in regards to the area and also the amount of hunters out in the field in a given area. In essence, they go hand in hand. The more populated an area is, the less huntable area there is going to be....thus the closer hunters will be to houses, businesses, roads and other hunters. Just what I think. I'd love to hunt deer in my area with a rifle, but it's never going to happen. Heck, now that I think about it....I don't know if I'd want to step out in the woods with people around me shooting a rifle. Too many people with the "If it's brown...it's down" attitude, shooting at running deer across an open corn field for my likeing.

adams

In Maine the whole state is rifle with a few exceptions. The state has pretty much left it up to the towns to decide for themselves what is rifle and what is shotgun. A few of the shotgun only areas also have an extended archery season to help control the population. I can also thing of a few places where it is illegal to discharge a firearm period.

All of the shotgun only areas I know of are high density population.(if you can call it that in Maine)

j3k2c1

In utah, if your 1/2 mile away from a building then you can use a rifle, 500 yds a shotgun.
some farmland zones require a muzzleloader, shotgun, or bow though.

Solitary Man

In Mississippi there are no restricted areas that I'm aware of. I can't imagine being limited to using a shotgun.

Idaho hunter 58

Any weapon here.... except there are special seasons for bow and muzzleloader. I guess we are so small in hunting #'s that running into someone on the same hill is a once in a life time experience. So they let us shoot whatever we want.

beaglefreak

New Jersey is all buckshot or slugs.We have a permit season for muzzleloader.For groundhog and other varmint hunting,you can shoot a rifle if the bullet is 100 grains or less.To shoot a muzzy or varmint rifle,you have to pass a test to obtain a rifle permit that has to be renewed every few years.Thank god for Pa. and N.Y. hunting,where I can use my rifles. Its just a matter of time that they consider a slug gun a rifle.That has had me scratching my head for years.

jepcho

Here in Iowa we can only hunt with shotguns. I'm not 100% sure this is the reason but I think it is because there is alot of areas where it is open and flat and a bullet can travel much farther than a slug and maybe get to that farm house a mile away. We cant shoot buckshot either.