Here in Illinois we may not have the best gun laws, but we do know a thing or two about deer hunting. The largest bucks around come from West Central Illinois and deer hunting is quite an interesting time for many reasons.
For the non-hunters (I do not pretend to be an expert hunter, but I am fairly familiar with the rules). . . Many states require shotguns for harvesting deer. A slug is more than capable of humanely dispatching a white-tail and the idea behind restricting the use of rifles is more of a range issue and an issue with the way deer are hunted. There is concern that rifle bullets carry too far and could cause injury to people and property away from the field. This is especially true on hunting property that is not very far from small towns and/or subdivisions.
The other problem we have in Illinois is . . . Chicago. I know there are many well-informed, capable, crack-shot sportsman who live in Chi-Town, however, there are a lot of idiots who think they are going on Safari and load up their ultra expensive equipment, find some land "down state" and try their hands at hunting. I can't count the number of stories (most of them documented) I have heard about non-deer animals being checked in at the local check stations. Along with a few deer, these city-folk have managed to check in cows (jerseys AND holsteins), donkeys, mules, and a horse. The funny thing about making it to the check-in station is that it means they thought they had a white-tailed deer. For those of you you aren't familiar with cows, holsteins are black and white and can be 6-7 times heavier than a big buck, jerseys are smaller than holsteins and brown, but still not forgivable. (To be honest the holstein was only killed and not taken to the check in station, but the story was confirmed by a respectable, young student of veterinary medicine who convinced the deranged "hunter" that the cow was worth $3500 even though she hadn't produced milk in the last year due to mastitis.) My point is that there is a definite safety concern about high powered rifles in the hands of these people in the many areas that allow deer hunting. I grew up hunting deer with slugs and know that they are every bit as humane when used by a responsible hunter. They just won't travel a mile and pick off the farmer's wife while she is out in the garden.
Sorry for the rambling,
Steve
