JONOV
Old Mossy Horns
By the book....still .22 rimfire. .22 mag would be in there i assume. A ton of folks carry a concealed handgun all the time. If you get a ticket for dispatching a dying deer the wrong way...someone is really grasping at straws to write a ticket.
I don't disagree, however, look at it from another viewpoint: Your neighbor, that you're pretty sure is a lowlife spotlighting poacher, walks out carrying his bow and dragging a deer with a .44 caliber hole in it.
I think most of us will simply do what must be done to recover a deer, no matter what.
I don't have a CCW, don't carry. But, I don't think I'm unique in that I'm not sure its a convenient "oops I forgot I had it and couldn't shoot he deer with it" when we go hunting. I'm an ill prepared hunter. I stuff an overly large coat and/or backpack full of stuff, pull my boots on, and sit in a tree, and even I have a checklist of stuff that must go before I leave. And, my .22 pistol is on the list, even if it stays in the car unless I have to trail one late.
Everyone claims that these laws are poorly written. I've had "less-than-positive" interactions with GW's before, but never an argument about what the law means. The closest I had was about the gender of 4 Mallard ducks. A second Officer agreed with my determination based on the beak rather than head color.
Its pretty clear to me...Don't shoot the deer from your ATV, and don't be driving through the woods at night looking for it. And, although some may disagree, I imagine its awfully difficult to blood trail from a quad. After the tag is punched, you aren't looking for the deer anymore.