Remember what Pogo said. Red 53, I heard the same arguments (blood in the woods from all the dead hunters) (all the deer shot off)and rhetoric in Wisconsin during our conservation congress sessions and absolutely none of it came to be. Since passage of rifles for the whole state I have never heard one of the naysayers even remotely discuss that they were WRONG.
*The result has been the safest seasons (13 and 14) along with 4 others in the last 100 years.
*Young hunters have become good marksman and don't have to deal with the excessive recoil from a shotgun so they are now practicing more.
*Far less shooting in the areas that were once just shotgun.
*Way less confusion for hunters that hunted in the shotgun/rifle border areas. And easier more uniform enforcement for the conservation officers.
This was a big win for Wisconsin hunters!!!!
