This news caught my attention:
MURFREESBORO [Tennessee] – The big news in our area will happen Monday. That’s when dove season opens.
It’s time to check that shotgun and be sure it’s in working order. Let’s hope you didn’t wait too long either. Be sure that you have your hunting and fishing license, along with your migratory bird license, before you go dove hunting too.
And don’t forget, you’re only allowed to have three shells in your shotgun. If you happen to get caught with four in your gun, you’ll have to pay a ticket so be careful.
There is a 15-bird limit during the dove season. But if you have not completed your limit and are shooting collared doves, there is no limit. So, when you reach your limit of doves, that’s when you have to stop shooting the collared doves too
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Source: http://www.dnj.com/story/sports/2014/08/27/lorance-dove-season-opens-monday/14720817/
Hunting isn’t my area of expertise, but if they already have a bird limit, why do they care if my shotgun has 3 shells, 8 shells or 28 shells (XRAIL SYSTEMS)?
Many hunting laws are based on concept of fair chase, something Teddy Roosevelt was one of the first people to start promoting. They were used as means of winning over the minds of the general population to make them not oppose hunting, and in turn get gains in pro-hunting legislation. One of the concepts within it was limiting shots for the purpose of promoting marksmanship and cleaner kills and giving game more of a chance. Whether that actually applies here or not is not the point, because I don’t think they actually cared if it actually promoted that marksmanship, they just needed that concept portrayed for the sake of the image of hunting.
The same concepts are applied today in many hunting laws (note that these laws apply specifically to hunting, not to the general concept of owning/carrying, etc, only those that wish to hunt are subject to such laws and only while hunting).
A right to hunting is not enumerated in our Constitution, and the English common law right to arms that our rights to arms was based on has an extremely clear history of not involving any right to use those arms to hunt, so it’d be a stretch as being covered by the 9th as well. Basically, legally hunting is a privilege, not a right. Therefore we have to be conscious of the politics and image of hunting in order to keep it, and make stupid concessions such as agreeing to only put 3 shells in a shotgun at once.
Or you can hunt in your own private land and hope the EPA doesn’t catch you shooting an endangered species. Either way, you raise great points. You write really well.
It ties back to when commercial hunting was banned. The shell limitation came about in the early 20th century, tied in with the Migratory Bird regulations the Feds promulgated at the time. Most states adopted the regs, and they also applied to birds covered under the act.