(Des Moines, IA) — A bill for a new January deer hunting season that would let deer hunters use semi-automatic rifles in some areas is on the way to the governor. Senator Ken Rozenboom of Oskaloosa, says the hunt is designed to manage the size of the herd, and that’s why semi-automatics would be allowed. Representative Todd Prichard, a Democrat from Charles City, is a major in the U-S Army Reserve, says an experienced person using an A-R-15 can hit a target that’s about six football fields away, but the bullets can fly a lot farther. He says he had some 200 hours of basic rifle marksmanship training to learn how to handle a similar weapon — something he doubts deer hunters will have. Senator Rozenboom’s bill also calls for a study of the state’s deer herd by the fall of 2023.
