New hunter, did my general Mass research, questions

dukefan70

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These questions are AFTER reading through every hunting regs page from an eregulations link put up in a very helpful post by Cerfur from 8/30/13 called Beginners Guide to Hunting in Massachusetts.

First, I read in another post from last year on here about a 5 round capacity for .22, but saw nothing about this on eregs, just a 3 shell limit for waterfowl? Can anybody confirm or deny that with a reference/link to the regs?

Second...am I reading it right that there are no rifles (or handguns) of ANY caliber including .22 allowed for gray squirrels in zones 10-14?

What about a pellet gun for gray squirrel?

Thanks for your help/knowledge in advance.
 
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I've read of no language in any regulation restricting a .22 to 5-rounds in MA. Some other states' hunting regs do restrict semi-autos to having a maximum of 5 rounds, and some specify that the magazine itself be resticted to a maximum capacity of 5 rounds.
 
I haven't found anything anywhere to answer my .22 capacity question. However, as others have said, I did email Mass Wildlife and get an answer that "Air guns are not defined as firearms in this state as of yet, so they are allowed to be used for squirrel hunting." I'll be carrying a copy of that when I go.
 
Not sure about the 5 round cap for .22...but there is a 3 shell limit for waterfowl...http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dfg/dfw/regulations/2013-14-waterfowl-abs-final.pdf ...read section that says SHOTGUN in the right column on second page. As far as no rifles and handguns of ANY caliber for squirrel in zones 10-14...thats how I'm reading it...which I find odd...


My understanding regarding restricting zones 10-14 to shotgun only is due to house density/proximity to roads etc. Which is strange IMO. I hunt in some areas in zone 9 (rifle allowed for rabbit and squirrell) and the WMA properties are closer to houses than in some of the areas I hunt in zone 10 where rifles are not allowed. But anyway...........a 20G is a much better tool for the job anyway as far as I'm concerned.
 
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