Carrying a spear legal in the US?

S

Surviva

Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
3
Can i carry a spear openly in the USA? I would like to go boar hunting in the USA next summer.
After i watched the cold steel DVD i thought it would be great to learn how to hunt with a spear.
After all in a EOTWAWKI situation ammunition for firearms could run out, and you would have to resort to spears to hunt your game.
Other hunting gear can always fail like guns and crossbows and stuff
is it legal to walk around with a spear? Can i take one on a plane as luggage?
Is it considered a weapon in the USA?

What spear would you recommend?

Thx Surviva
 
Surviva said:
Can i carry a spear openly in the USA? I would like to go boar hunting in the USA next summer.
After i watched the cold steel DVD i thought it would be great to learn how to hunt with a spear.
After all in a EOTWAWKI situation ammunition for firearms could run out, and you would have to resort to spears to hunt your game.
Other hunting gear can always fail like guns and crossbows and stuff
is it legal to walk around with a spear? Can i take one on a plane as luggage?
Is it considered a weapon in the USA?

What spear would you recommend?

Thx Surviva
Click to expand...

That varies wildly depending upon what state you are in, whether you are involved in hunting activities, etc.

For example, in Arizona I can wear a sword, a bowie knife, a loaded pistol in a holster, and carry a spear while walking down the sidewalk in town with no permits so long as I wasn't waving weapons around, threatening, etc. The police might want to ask a question or two, but it's legal.

In Texas, that would get you arrested and charged unless the pistol was concealed with a permit and you were involved in outdoor activity (not in town) with the blades or you were on private property.

In California your arrest by a SWAT team would probably make the evening news.

BTW, I've killed a javelina with a spear (technically a 'peccary', not a real pig or a boar), and it's not as easy as it sounds. IMHO, if I was going to intentionally carry a spear, I'd get a Cold Steel 'boar spear' with the sheath that goes on it. Put the sheathed spear head in your luggage and just buy a new shaft at a hardware store when you get to where you are going.

********************
 
I think you would definitely get stopped and questioned at the very minimum by any leo gamewarden or conservation officer for walking around with a spear...I don't know if it's legal or not but I'd bet money that it is illegal...don't know about huntig with a spear in other stated but in NYS it is illegal....a fire hardened sharpened hiking stick could serve well as a thrusting spear and would probably attract much less attention
 
Well, first off

Welcome to to the 'Blade! :thumbup:

second, check your state regulations in regard to spears, then check LOCAL bylaws.
 
As mrostov said, it depends on the state that you will be in, so look up the state and local laws. Also, look at the states fish and game regulations, because, it may not be illegal to carry a spear, but it may be illegal to hunt with a spear, or it may only be legal for certain species of game.

If you haven't chosen a state yet, find out what states have the game you want to go after, then find out which of those allow spear hunting.

You've got a lot of research to do, but not on this site. Don't take people word for something like that, even if they live in that state. Look up the weapons laws and hunting laws for yourself.
 
stingray4540 said:
You've got a lot of research to do, but not on this site. Don't take people word for something like that, even if they live in that state. Look up the weapons laws and hunting laws for yourself.
Click to expand...

+2 on that because state laws in the USA are always changing, so even if a resident of that state knew the law last year, that may not necessarily be the law this year
 
It is my understanding that it is legal to hunt deer with a spear in Pennsylvania. I don't know any of the details.

-- FLIX
 
Go to the makers forum and ask Dan Koster. I think he does some hog hunting. Scott Gossman might know also.
 
PA spear hunting is something new though I don't know the details either. All the idiots who claim that all the mastodons etc that disappeared are do to man should be forced to hunt with spears. We'll see how many starve before getting an animal...."stopped and questioned " I had a hilarious example of that , too long a story to tell. But the CO was nice enough to search through his big book and finally found the law .It had been changed which he hadn't even been aware of .So always ask for the law in print rather than the CO's assumption. And of course know the law yourself !
 
Well, you can always use a big wood screw for the spear head (if it's the Boar Spear head); just remove the head and throw it in the backpack and once you hit the trails or head out on the hunt, you can use your multitool and wood screw to re-afix it. If you're dressed like a hiker, I don't think a walking stick (aka spear shaft) is going to draw too much attention unless your downtown.

ROCK6
 
If you own a knife with a 'socket' handle, then you could improvise a handle to jam into that socket when you are in the woods. One such knife is the Cold Steel Bushman. I've killed a pig using one of these fixed to the end of a stick.

Even if it were legal, I would not be inclined to walk around with a spear. It can upset people, especially the anti-hunters and frankly I don't think they need to be stirred up too much.

Snares and traps are likely to produce more meat than straight-out hunting with a spear. But a spear can be a very handy way to despatch a large animal caught in a trap.
 
Talk to the guide you are going to hunt with! They will know the rules.

Here's a heads up.... none of the guides I know will guide you with a spear! Too much of a chance of you hurting one of their dogs! Most want you to use a knife in the 7-9" range. Too big and it can go through a smaller hog and stick a dog!


The dogs are what makes this possible, not a HUGE knife or a spear!


Tom
 
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