Can I use a 10 round mag for hunting?

[Jaywmustang]

like the title says, can I use a 10 round mag in a bolt action for big game hunting? I always thought it was limited to 5 rounds but I can’t find it on the dec website?

 

[Darth]

It is illegal to take or hunt wildlife:

...


with any semi-automatic firearm with a capacity to hold more than 6 rounds, EXCEPT the following semi-automatic firearms:

1. firearms using .22 or .17 caliber rimfire ammunition, or
2. firearms altered to reduce their capacity to no more than 6 shells at one time in the magazine and chamber combined, or
3. autoloading pistols with a barrel length of less than eight inches.

Hunting Regulations - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation


Bolt seems to be GTG.

 

[JohnD13]

There is a magazine limit on semi auto guns as Darth points out, but bolt guns, I'm not sure, need to check the regs. After coffee.

 

[Doc8404]

So am MVP can have a ten round for hunting?
Damn.

 

[BerettaGuy]

So, you're the guy that neeeds 10 boolits to kiw a deeeeeah. Cuomo was wrong again!

 

[Exonautic]

When i did the DEC course a couple of months ago i asked this specific question to the instructor but in relation to semi autos, his answer was,"you can have a 10 round mag but you can only load it to five." . he also thought the only legal configuration for ars was a fixed magazine so take that as you will i guess.

 

[JamieZ]

Without taking the time to look at the DEC website I go like this. Centerfire rifles = nothing but 5 rnd mags + 1 in the chamber. Rimfire = 10 rnds. Shotgun = 5 rnds + 1 in chamber unless I'm hunting migratory birds, then 3,,,when sometimes its 5,,I just always do 3 for migratory.

 

[Jaywmustang]

My question relates to bolt action. I found the part about semi. I thought I have read In the hunting regulation in the past that we could only have 5 rounds for a bolt action. Maybe they changed the regs.

 

[Airborneguy]

I was always under the impression that it is 5+1 max capacity, which is why even levers and pumps are blocked when used for hunting. I just bought a 5 round AR-10 mag for hunting, and @Bullet Guy hooked me up with a 5rd AK mag for another rifle.

 

[Jaywmustang]

I was always under the impression that it is 5+1 max capacity, which is why even levers and pumps are blocked when used for hunting. I just bought a 5 round AR-10 mag for hunting, and @Bullet Guy hooked me up with a 5rd AK mag for another rifle.

That was my impression but I can’t find the regulation now. Maybe they changed it

 

[BerettaGuy]

I think we are confusing the DEC Rules with the NY FE ACT (errantly referred to as the Safe Act). As for the op question. You can only have a 5 round mag. Thats why they become hard to find when the leaves start turning. Period.

 

[STS556]

I always thought it was 5 in the mag and 1 in the chamber for any big or small game hunting no matter what type of gun you are using. I use a 5 round floor plate limiter when I use 10 round Magpul mags in the AR. Tango Down also makes 5 round AR mags that look like 30 round mags but are glued together and can not be taken apart without it breaking up into pieces. My bolt guns have mags that only hold 5 rounds.

 

[stokes]

I was always under the assumption it was 5+1 in any center fire,semi or bolt.I'm talking big game hunting.If they changed it,I'm not aware,probably havent looked at the regs since sometime in the '70's.

 

[Bushmaster]

like the title says, can I use a 10 round mag in a bolt action for big game hunting? I always thought it was limited to 5 rounds but I can’t find it on the dec website?

NYS is 5................ Deer....There has (always been a 5 round magazine capacity) (+1 in the chamber) limit in NY for hunting deer and other big game..

 

[GOYABEAN]

allows hunting in his kingdom

 

[Jaywmustang]

NYS is 5................ Deer....There has (always been a 5 round magazine capacity) (+1 in the chamber) limit in NY for hunting deer and other big game..

I hear you but I can’t find the reg. Semi are addressed in the law and regs book but not bolt.

 

[Bushmaster]

allows hunting in his kingdom

It was 5 before FUAC.... That's plenty for big game deer. But when I was in to it big time like 8 years ago friends would drive, push woods at end of season, Can't count how many times I emptied rounds dropping 4 sometimes even 5 Doe. Then everyone would tag them. Trick is ALWAYS to stand just few feet inside woods in clearest area at funnel to drop them at trot.. Once they break cover from inside woods edge they go full tilt LOL..

 

[Bushmaster]

I hear you but I can’t find the reg. Semi are addressed in the law and regs book but not bolt.

TRUST ME IT"S 5 Deer...... Call DEC if ya want...

 

[Jaywmustang]

TRUST ME IT"S 5 Deer...... Call DEC if ya want...

I did lol. Didn’t sound like the dude cared. Hope new hunters don’t get busted cause the info isn’t in the regulation book.

 

[Bushmaster]

I hear you but I can’t find the reg. Semi are addressed in the law and regs book but not bolt.

Why the concern when you say bolt LOL.... Is this what your thinking LOL

 

[Bushmaster]

I did lol. Didn’t sound like the dude cared. Hope new hunters don’t get busted cause the info isn’t in the regulation book.

LOL, it's a gray area like I use to do way back Fox/Coyote hunting at NIGHT with center fires, USED NO LIGHT on full moon, Now it's legal with center and lights. LOL

 

[Doc8404]

Soooo I just learned you can’t use buckshot either.

I also only see for auto loaders.
Always thought pump was 5+1 and waterfowl 3.

 

[Bushmaster]

I did lol. Didn’t sound like the dude cared. Hope new hunters don’t get busted cause the info isn’t in the regulation book.

Not posted in what WE read..... Posted in THEIR book....

 

[Bushmaster]

Soooo I just learned you can’t use buckshot either.

I also only see for auto loaders.
Always thought pump was 5+1 and waterfowl 3.

That IS correct unless in 2016-17 it was changed,,,

 

[Bushmaster]

Buckshot was always swamp southern states

 

[Bushmaster]

I have this bolt, fits more than 5, Is this what ya wanna Deer hunt with LOL...

 

[Jaywmustang]

Just don’t want to spend $115 on a spare mag.

 

[JamieZ]

Not sure what you are talking about when you speak of not using buckshot but you can hunt yotes with buckshot

 

[stokes]

Cant use buckshot to shoot a buck...or a doe.

 

[Cleck]

Taken right from the DEC NY page Deer and Bear Hunting Regulations - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation :

It is unlawful to:

• Take big game while the deer or bear is in water.
• Possess a firearm of any description when bowhunting or when accompanying a person bowhunting during special archery seasons.
• Make, set, or use a salt lick on land inhabited by deer or bear.

It is unlawful to hunt big game with:

• A firearm or bow aided by any artificial light or a laser that projects a beam toward the target.
• An autoloading firearm with a capacity of more than 6 shells (one which requires that the trigger be pulled separately for each shot), except an autoloading pistol with a barrel length of less than 8 inches.
• A firearm using rimfire ammunition.
• A shotgun of less than 20 gauge or any shotgun loaded with shells other than those carrying a single projectile.
• A bow with a draw weight of 35 lbs or less.
• Arrows with barbed broadheads; arrowheads less than 7/8 inches at the widest point or with less than 2 sharp cutting edges.
• Dogs.
• Aircraft of any kind.
• Bait.
• An air gun or air bow.

Read that as you will, but it looks to me that your 10rd mag (and mine) are both perfectly fine in our bolt guns.

I also had this discussion with @NirvanaFan recently, so it's fresh in my mind.