Rifles chambered for straight-wall ammunition may be used to hunt deer in Delaware, during specific hunting seasons and only south of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

For more information on deer hunting, please contact the DNREC Wildlife Section at 302-739-9912.

Restrictions and Guidelines

Rifles chambered for straight-wall ammunition may be used to hunt deer as follows.

Location

These rifles cannot be used for deer hunting north of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

Hunters should check specific rules when hunting on any public lands. Some areas have restrictions on the use of straight-walled pistol-caliber rifles. 

Species

Currently, rifles chambered for straight-wall ammunition are only a legal method of take for deer and groundhogs. They are not a legal method of take for any other species, including red fox and coyotes.

Seasons

These rifles may only be used for deer hunting during the November and January General Firearm (Shotgun) deer seasons and during the January Handgun and Straight-walled Postol-Caliber Rifle deer season.

They can also be used with an appropriate deer damage permit on private land to harvest antlerless deer.

Cartridges

Only straight-wall cartridges that are .30 to .50 caliber, with a cartridge case length of no less than 1.25 inches and a maximum case length of 1.82 inches, may be used.

Cartridges that are .38 caliber must have a minimum cartridge case length of 1.29 inches.

Case length excludes the bullet portion of the cartridge.

These rifles cannot be loaded with more than three cartridges in the chamber and magazine combined when hunting deer.

Cartridges That Can Be Used

Examples of some of the most common cartridges that can be used include the following:

Cartridges That Cannot Be Used

Examples of some cartridges that cannot be used include the following, with the reason why not included in parentheses:

Sights

Open, metallic/mechanical, optical and telescopic sights may be used.