Will Ammo Shortage Affect MI Deer Hunting? What About Your State?

First off, sorry I couldn't find just the specific clip I was looking for, but if you start watching at about 4.19 until 5.50, that is the part that goes with this thread.
Ammo

First, I was absolutely shocked when the reporter gave the price of the ammo. $15.00???????? My husbands jaw literally dropped. It's been a while since we have had to buy any, as we had quite a bit stored up.

Second, did you notice the store owners face, and hesitancy when asked if she was given a reason why her supplier couldn't deliver, even though they are working 24/7?
Seem to me she was lying. I think she knows the real reason, but didn't want to say for some reason? When I showed the clip to a coworker this morning, she said the same thing, before I could even ask her!

So, I was wondering if this will have an affect on the season this year. Maybe hunters have a stash, and it won't affect them? Is it a concern where you are?

At least there isn't an arrow shortage!

reply to post by chiefsmom


15 bucks for that small box...yeah, that's a lot! No shortage here anymore, now that the hoarders stopped lining up each morning to buy ammo. I bought a box of 555 Remington .22LR for 20 bucks the other day.

By the way, I was standing in line in a store about a month ago and overheard a conversation with two hoarders. One guy mentioned he bought 3 boxes of 555 rounds of .22LR. And he planned on getting more. Why? I don't know..he even mentioned he had so many .22 rounds already that he would never be able to fire them all off in his lifetime.

There's plenty of ammo on the shelves now for deer hunting if you're using 30.06 or .270. And there's plenty of deer being hunted and killed. I see pickup trucks daily down the road at the gas station with deer in the back and hunters registering their kills.

reply to post by chiefsmom


I think I paid 20 bucks for each one of my arrows so I am not going to sympathize with the price of bullets .If its too costly then maybe handloading is the answer . I used to have guns and loaded my own amo ...I just buy arrows now ...peace

Thanks for responding. It dawned on me that most people that may respond to this thread, are probably in the woods right now.

I do think arrows are the way to go. Here in our neighborhood, most are hunting for meat on the table first, and did get some really nice deer with their bows. I know that arrows are expensive, but isn't that because your "suppose" to be able to re use them, if your a good shot?

How much ammunition does the average person thinks a hunter shoots at a deer. One shot is a good estimate.

Out here, deer are known as white tails, not Taliban or Al Qaeda.

reply to post by roadgravel


I'm just wondering about the people that don't have a lot of money right now? Even if you only need one box, plus the cost of the license, some people are going to get a bit of sticker shock trying to put food on the table.
But I would think, that there will be some sharing going on, with the guys that go in groups.

reply to post by chiefsmom


I was, at first, concerned about shortages of ammo but have since found that while handgun shells have increased in price, the rifle rounds I use are coming down.

Of course, it should be noted that domestic brands do cost more and are in less supply due to the government buying so much of it. I tend to shop smaller shops than the big stores like Gander Mtn or Academy or Cabelas because imported ammo is far less expensive.

reply to post by chiefsmom


I'd be willing to bet big money that any serious hunter has plenty of ammo to sight in his gun and some bullets left over to put a shot or two into the game animal he wants for supper.

I'll go further and say that most hunters also have some "extra" shells for any extended emergency situation that may come their way, you know, like an invasion from China, Mexico or internal domestic issues.

reply to post by Aliensun

I'd be willing to bet big money that any serious hunter has plenty of ammo to sight in his gun and some bullets left over to put a shot or two into the game animal he wants for supper.

Agreed here. Serious hunters aren't buying boxes of Ammo just as the season is approaching like some last minute task they forgot to do. Heck, people really serious about hunting where it means dinner in their house aren't buying garbage factory ammo anyway, but reloading their own for their own performance specifications.

Of the hunters I know, all but a couple load their own in what can only be described as a labor of love for the time and care put into learning and practicing that art.

The ones who are clearing shelves in the final days to Season open? Those are usually the people your serious hunters would be happy to learn could find no ammo to buy, anyway. Rambo in a tree stand is a threat to everyone, with the deer being the least endangered out there.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

The ones who are clearing shelves in the final days to Season open? Those are usually the people your serious hunters would be happy to learn could find no ammo to buy, anyway. Rambo in a tree stand is a threat to everyone, with the deer being the least endangered out there.

The last trip to the range, I saw all 10 lanes with hunters with bolt action, scoped rifles getting in shape for their trips to the woods. They shot a lot of ammo, re-zeroing their scopes and getting shot groups.

Oh... by the way, garbage ammo is quite often what the novice reloader turns out.

(Rambo in a tree stand... that's cute, lol.)

reply to post by redoubt


Yup... Living near Bass Pro and being a regular on their range, I see the same thing once a year. Although it's normally the conservation range that get the serious and moronic alike. The serious ones are easily distinguished and I don't mind waiting behind them if the stalls are full. 5-10 rounds and they're done. They don't come to play, but to confirm dinner won't be lost by a stupid mistake, easily corrected at the range.

The morons are the ones who break out their equipment in what takes longer to get set up than the shooting itself, with a small stack of 20rd boxes of the right factory ammo to play with half the day, trying to get it within the 8 or 9 ring at 100 yards. The range is certainly full of them, every year.

What's really funny to me ..and outright pathetic, really ..Is Bass Pro offers a paid service to sight rifles with their 100yrd underground shooting tube, made for that purpose. It's open year around for average people and it very useful, I might add. Around hunting season, it's usually closed because they are too busy with Bubba's who can't sight their own rifle ...but can't wait to go out shooting it in the woods...with others around.

Thn, the gunsmith department, as another sign of bad tidings this time of year. That would be where they are too busy for any serious work because Bubba can't CLEAN his own rifle, either ...and they are stacked and booked to the max on time just cleaning the guns people can't or won't do themselves.

'Rambo in a tree stand" is exactly how I view a good % of the flaming idiots that pack the woods with live firearms this time of year. A fair % are good people ...A fair % are a menace to society and couldn't be trusted with a potato gun.

* Reloaders who put out garbage ammo are self cleaning ovens, in terms of problems they pose. Just don't be in the stall next to them when the oven goes into self-cleaning cycle from a short round they missed noticing before pulling the trigger a second time ...or a hot round that blows the gun apart in their hands.

reply to post by chiefsmom


I guess for target shooting the arrow can be reused many times but if you are hunting you have to be quite lucky to end up with a straight arrow after your kill .Well at least that has been my experience .I guess its all about making the one shot count .Great killing machine though .

reply to post by chiefsmom


I guess it depends on what your buying.

I'm used to paying 30 bucks for a box of 300 win mag.
almost 50 for a box of 7mm-06
and I never seem to have trouble finding them... but this year even cheaper than dirt is out of my fav 444 marlin..

maybe I'll have to go back to reloading...

Edit to add... I'm in CO BTW deer elk turkey even bear... our little mule deer are tiny compared to your whitetails but I usually go for elk either here or up in Wyoming.

The serious ones are easily distinguished and I don't mind waiting behind them if the stalls are full. 5-10 rounds and they're done. They don't come to play, but to confirm dinner won't be lost by a stupid mistake, easily corrected at the range.

The morons are the ones who break out their equipment in what takes longer to get set up than the shooting itself, with a small stack of 20rd boxes of the right factory ammo to play with half the day, trying to get it within the 8 or 9 ring at 100 yards.

Does that mean the people here who mention they are accurate and good at handling a firearm because they shoot a lot of rounds often are also morons? Are you saying that the morons shoot a lot but only on one day?

reply to post by roadgravel


You know what I'm saying, as we've been on the same threads where I've said the same things with more explanation offered before. However, since some may honestly not know what I'm talking about, I'll be happy to explain a bit more.

The people who sit for part of a day or an entire day shooting, tinkering, fussing over their scope and ammo and every other little thing at their shooting station ....to see nothing better than a 5+ inch group come back on their best try ..are morons. They are people I'd be thrilled to hear sold every firearm they have and never bought another.

These are people I see far too often and they litter the ranges some days. I've packed up my stuff and outright cut my day short before, after seeing Bubba and Co. pull up to unload what looks like everything necessary to fight an urban battle.....to go shoot a paper target on a controlled conservation range. (rolls eyes)


By contrast, plenty of people shoot for pure pleasure or sport and spend hours in a day, many days a month or even per week, depending on their interests, and are anything BUT morons. The easiest way to tell for sure, in my personal experience (If both examples don't show it by basic safe handling habits, alone) is to just pay attention to targets and how they react.

The moron will never get better than what a whole hand might cover at 50-100 yards.....or worse.

The professional or serious hobbyist will be frustrated when it requires more than a silver dollar to cover a 5+ shot grouping at 100 yards.

One shoots for dear life and hope to hit more than thin air.....while the other shoots as much or more ammo, to pick which part of the vital organ they wish their bullet to pass through, never questioning a fatal shot delivered on the first attempt. The difference is night and day, and shows by casual watching quickly, in most cases I've seen.

OK, so you are indicating it is more about how they go about their time on the range.

I probably would be shocked watching what people are doing now with all the changes due to fear mongering and dooms day for which people are preparing. I just hang out here in the sticks and hope they leave me alone.

reply to post by chiefsmom


Our hunting season was over about 2 months ago, but I never heard of anyone who had ammo issues. We didn't get to go this year, but friends of ours had luck and hooked me up with soup bones. Work seemed to be the only thing holding people back here.
The shelves were bare early this summer but have started to finally fill back up lately. I can't speak for the price though, I would have to ask my husband.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Why are you so angry?

EDIT/Addendum:

Man, there are millions of gun owners and hunters and just because you don't approve of the way they cock a bolt or rod a barrel...

The UP has so many deer, you could drop out of a tree and take one down UFC style. Seriously.

reply to post by HardCorps


I have seen some really big Mule Deer in Colorado. Bigger than any Whitetail Deer I have ever seen.