# Light on hunting rifle in the field



## Downriver Tackle (Dec 24, 2004)

Setting up an AR platform .308 for deer hunting this year. Are there any regulations as to having a flashlight mounted on it while hunting during legal hours? Or using the mounted light for possible blood trail tracking at or after sunset?


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

I think you're asking for trouble... you can only use a light while carring an unloaded weapon 1 hour before or after hunting hours only traveling to or from you're hunting spot. Tracking a animal after hunting hours you can't have a firearm. Having a light mounted to a rifle seems like a bad idea


----------



## GuppyII (Sep 14, 2008)

I believe it states a handheld light is all that's allowed while tracking a deer, makes headlamps illegal too.. time to look it up, I know it states it plainly in the book.


----------



## Downriver Tackle (Dec 24, 2004)

jjlrrw said:


> I think you're asking for trouble... you can only use a light while carring an unloaded weapon 1 hour before or after hunting hours only traveling to or from you're hunting spot. * Tracking a animal after hunting hours you can't have a firearm.* Having a light mounted to a rifle seems like a bad idea


 

Well, that's an asinine reg! What if you're tracking it through bear territory where I'll be? Found these just the other day in the spot I'll be at. Sure wouldn't mind being armed! 

Thanks for the reply. First year deer hunting, so I'm sure there's plenty more asinine regs I'm going to discover and questions I'm going to ask before the season. :lol:


----------



## john warren (Jan 25, 2005)

Downriver Tackle said:


> Well, that's an asinine reg! What if you're tracking it through bear territory where I'll be? Found these just the other day in the spot I'll be at. Sure wouldn't mind being armed!
> 
> Thanks for the reply. First year deer hunting, so I'm sure there's plenty more asinine regs I'm going to discover and questions I'm going to ask before the season. :lol:


 just out of curiousity,,, how many bear attacks have there been in michigan?


----------



## U D (Aug 1, 2012)

No kidding!!! I little paranoid maybe? Bring some Bear spray for those pesky bear we all run into in the woods at night.


----------



## Downriver Tackle (Dec 24, 2004)

john warren said:


> just out of curiousity,,, how many bear attacks have there been in michigan?


 3 from what I read. Wouldn't want to be #4. Plenty of wolves also. Paranoia is another person's common sense. How many times have you or UD been carjacked or robbed at gunpoint? Do you have a CPL and carry anyways? Always better safe than sorry if possible.


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

Downriver Tackle said:


> 3 from what I read. Wouldn't want to be #4. Plenty of wolves also. Paranoia is another person's common sense. How many times have you or UD been carjacked or robbed at gunpoint? Do you have a CPL and carry anyways? Always better safe than sorry if possible.


If you have a CPL then you can carry while hunting or tracking (verify first) a light mounted to a rifle and being used to see your way sounds very dangerous IMO


----------



## Downriver Tackle (Dec 24, 2004)

jjlrrw said:


> If you have a CPL then you can carry while hunting or tracking (verify first) a light mounted to a rifle and being used to see your way sounds very dangerous IMO


 I thought you said???.....


> Tracking a animal after hunting hours you can't have a firearm.


 Or did you just mean the rifle? 

And I didn't mean using the light on the gun to actually track. I meant in the event the gun would have to be used in low light. Nothing like trying to shoot a rifle with a flashlight in one hand. 

I was just thinking. It was 2 years ago that my buddy tracked a deer into a corn field at night to find a huge pack of coyote were there tracking it also.


----------



## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

Downriver Tackle said:


> I thought you said???.....
> 
> Or did you just mean the rifle?
> 
> ...


I was assuming non CPL, I read if tracking with a licensed tracker using a dog you can then carry a firearm to make the kill, didn't find anything about tracking without dogs most of these rules can be confusing.

A headlamp should be okay to use the wording is "held in hand or on the person"


----------



## Downriver Tackle (Dec 24, 2004)

jjlrrw said:


> I was assuming non CPL, I read if tracking with a licensed tracker using a dog you can then carry a firearm to make the kill, didn't find anything about tracking without dogs *most of these rules can be confusing*.
> 
> A headlamp should be okay to use the wording is "held in hand or on the person"


 Exactly! And why I like to toss some things out for discussion in places like this instead of making an incorrect ASSumption and misinterpretation from trying to decipher it myself and then having a CO and ticket letting you know you were wrong. :lol:

I have a 500 lumen handheld light, so good there. Was wondering about the gun. Have an extra mount and tac light and better safe than sorry, but if I can't even carry the gun after dark, I guess it a moot question.

Thankfully it's only May. Still a ton of things to learn before the season! :lol:


----------



## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

I guess that this would fall under the category of self defense. We usually go into the woods as it is barely breaking daylight (we use a flashlight and carry a loaded weapon). It is not a spotlight, just enough to get you in and out of the woods. You could not shine and shoot a deer in there even if you had wanted to because it is so thick. I hunt in an area that has a number of wolves and bears.


----------



## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

john warren said:


> just out of curiousity,,, how many bear attacks have there been in michigan?


This 12 year old girls was attacked near Cadillac in August, 2013.


----------



## Hookineyezz (Sep 11, 2008)

If you are worried about bear and your tracking a deer. Just go through the process and get your cpl. With all the **** going on in the world these days. I pretty much gave up drinking off my property and carry 99%of the time.


----------



## bucko12pt (Dec 9, 2004)

petronius said:


> This 12 year old girls was attacked near Cadillac in August, 2013.
> 
> Michigan Girl, 12, Survived Bear Attack: 'I Was Terrified' - YouTube


There was also a guy charged by a bear in Cadillac just this week. His dog interfered and the bear attacked the dog and injured it. 

http://www.record-eagle.com/news/lo...eb2-6db8-5eaa-8a1b-13d5cd803e04.html?mode=jqm


----------



## fanrwing (Jul 31, 2010)

Having a light attached to a rifle is a bad idea, will not serve a real purpose and potentially will get you in a lot of trouble. Realistically, bears should be no problem during firearms deer season as most will be in their dens beginning hibernation. You were probably in more danger when you took those pictures since this is the time of the year when Sows are leading their new cubs around and it's easy to get between them. Coyotes can be a problem but a light on your rifle won't be the answer. I re-read your posts and see you are a new deer hunter, you will find that unless the deer is spraying blood all over or in the snow a lot of your tracking will be on your hands and knees through some thick nasty stuff (that's where deer go when hit). A hand held light is the way to go and when you find the deer a hand held light is needed for gutting.

If you are worried about your safety as mentioned by others a CPL is the best way to go, if you don't have a CPL you can "open carry" a sidearm, just be sure you know what open carry means. As for it being asinine, the reason you can't carry a gun to "finish off" a deer your tracking is to keep would be poachers from putting a couple of rounds in a deer and if caught claiming they were just finishing a wounded deer. It is also a safety issue there have been many incidents of people shooting others because they heard what "sounded" like a deer, just think of the possibilities of armed newbies walking around at night looking for wounded deer.


----------

