What is sure to set off a firestorm of disagreements, a recent Pennsylvania state-sponsored study shows that today, with the advancement of technology, deer hunting with shotguns is no safer than with rifles.
In 2004 Casey Burns was hit by a rifle bullet that came from a deer hunter’s rifle. She was approximately 1/2 mile away. She has since recovered from the injuries. As a result, a campaign was waged to eliminate deer hunting with rifles in that area of Pennsylvania – the Lehigh Valley area. Following what many other states have done and what Pennsylvania does in several of its counties, officials believed shotguns were safer and banned their use.
This prompted the state to find out if that claim was backed by science. They began contacting other states that prohibit the use of rifles, also claiming shotguns to be safer but nobody had any evidence to prove the claim. The state mounted a study to find out. They hired Mountaintop Technologies of Johnstown.
The study’s conclusions are based on ballistics analysis of shots fired by deer rifles, shotguns and muzzleloaders. Ballistics data were calculated for Mountaintop by the Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey.
Here’s how the study went.
”Technology has changed for the shotgun and muzzleloader, and the difference between them and a [deer] rifle is decreasing from what it was years ago,” Mountaintop consultant Todd Bacastow said.
The study examined ballistics data on three popular deer-hunting guns: a .30-06 rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a .50-caliber muzzleloader. The rifle had the greatest maximum range at 2.64 miles, followed by the shotgun at 1.97 miles and the muzzleloader, which generally uses heavier and slower bullets, at 1.74 miles.
However, Bacastow noted that to achieve maximum range, shots must be fired at a 35-degree angle, which is highly unlikely in a hunting situation. He noted that a bullet fired at a 35-degree angle toward a deer 100 yards away would fly 210 feet above the animal’s back.
Most shots fired by hunters are relatively flat, and even a slight aiming error usually results in a shot less than 5 degrees above the horizon. When shots are fired at an elevation of 5 degrees, the total distances traveled, including ricochets, are 1.66 miles for a rifle bullet and 1.3 miles for a shotgun slug.
When shots are fired holding the guns level 3 feet off the ground, the shotgun slug will travel 0.99 of a mile, 16 percent farther than the rifle bullet will travel under the same circumstances.
The reason, Bacastow said, is that slugs tend to hold together better and lose less energy during ricochets than rifle bullets. Therefore, slugs often can travel farther than rifle bullets in common hunting scenarios.
For those now thinking that states will change their minds and begin allowing deer hunting with rifles, don’t get too excited. Being that some people always see a glass of water as either half full or half empty, some are already saying that if this study is true, then all guns should be banned in places where officials thought shotguns were safer. Others are simply saying the study isn’t accurate.
The real issue here of course is public safety. It should be noted that it would appear that many of the states presumed knowledge that shotguns were safer, has actually not been the case at all. States believing they were making people safer, now have to begin looking at this issue differently.
But before everyone begins yelling and screaming to ban all guns, this entire issue should tell us all something. It should remind us that passing so-called public safety laws for the sake of passing a law that makes us all think we are safer, is irresponsible. Officials need to gather data, facts and scientific evidence in order to make sound decisions involving public safety.
We should look at the rate of accidents from the so-called “stray” bullets. Together with information about what public safety factors are at risk by outlawing guns to hunt deer, it needs to be determined which scenario is best for the publics’ safety. We might find that more people are injured and killed from deer-auto accidents and Lyme disease than from “stray” bullets.
One thing is for sure. The results of this study will sure set off a reaction from not only those anti-gun and anti-hunting people but also from ballistics experts, including those at the local coffee shop.
Tom Remington
