Jun. 21--Don Talbot thinks it should be a crime to shoot an animal with a bullet too small to kill it quickly.

Talbot tried to get state legislators to pass a law to ensure that hunters use appropriately sized bullets when hunting big game. On Thursday, the Senate shot it down, 30-15.

"I don't understand," Talbot said after the vote. He speculated that "a lot of legislators just don't understand, and don't study the issues."

The bill, sponsored for Talbot by Rep. Marvin Lucas of Spring Lake, passed the state House, 110-2, on May 14. It would have given the state Wildlife Resources Commission the authority to regulate the size of bullets that hunters use in rifles.

Talbot said he got involved with the issue about five years ago when he belonged to a Bladen County hunting club. Some people in the club used .22-caliber bullets to shoot deer, he said.

"It may be legal, but it's stupid," Talbot said.

The bullets were too small and had too little power to do the job.

"They just wound them, they don't drop them," he said. "They run off and bleed to death or get infections."

Talbot said it upset him. He quit the club and complained to the Wildlife Resources Commission, but there was nothing it could do.

The commission can't regulate an issue such as bullet size and power unless the legislature authorizes it.

Wildlife rules and state laws impose other restrictions on the type of firearms used in hunting.

For example, the rules ban a hunter from using a .22-caliber handgun to shoot a deer, although it's legal to use a .22-caliber rifle.

A handgun must be .24-caliber or larger for deer hunting.

During the Senate debate on Thursday, several senators expressed reservations about the proposal.

Sen. Harry Brown of Jacksonville, who opposed the change, said that the Wildlife Commission had not indicated whether it likes or dislikes the legislation.

Selection of an appropriate bullet can be complex decision, said Sen. A.B. Swindell of Nashville, a waterfowl hunter who argued against the bill. He would have felt more comfortable with a recommendation from the Wildlife Resources Commission, he said.

In an interview Friday, Swindell said it's wrong for a hunter to use .22-caliber bullets on deer. But he also has qualms about asking the Wildlife Resources Commission to start evaluating bullets for size and speed when the commission hasn't sought the authority.

"I thought it creates a whole lot, maybe, of unnecessary looking and testing," he said. "I didn't know where they (the bill supporters) were headed with this."

Defeated in the Senate, the bill can't be considered again unless the Senate votes to revive it.

Staff writer Paul Woolverton can be reached at woolvertonp@fayobserver.com, (919) 828-7641 or 486-3512.

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