Is it legal to hunt with a .50 caliber rifle?

not very practical. doesn’t leave much meat left for harvest.

in black powder that isn’t too unusual. it is big for modern rifles except for dangerous animals such as grizzly. maybe use it for moose.

slugs are bigger but much shorter range.

Since you didn’t specify what KIND of .50 caliber, I will give the only logical reply that comes FIRST to mind. “Yes! It is legal to hunt in ALL states with a .50 caliber rifle since one of the most popular guns of its kind for hunting deer nation-wide is the .50 caliber blackpowder rifle.” Want more specific answers? Ask more specific questions! Right? ;o) To be a .50 caliber, it only has to shoot a bullet that measures a half an inch across the lead projectile. There are more than a few rifles and even some handguns loaded with a bullet of that dimension. However, when some people think of the .50 caliber, they assume we refer to the .50 caliber machine gun coughing out hot lead in full automatic bursts from the deck of a military tank or from the wing guns on an older model fighter jet. Check the statistics to see how many more civilian versions there are that include a .50 caliber round in their offerings. Then you will know for sure how right the answer “Yes” actually is. Good luck.

In my state of Ohio it is. I don’t know about yours

It depends on what you are hunting. If you are hunting grizzlies you might just want one.

I live in Alaska.

To my knowledge – no states a maximum caliber size – although many have a minimum for centerfire and black powder.

Nothing stops you from setting up a vantage point and using the surrounding 2,000 yards as a kill zone – providing you do not shoot across any road or maintained surface.

Two issues with using a 50bmg. One, it is way to heavy to be carrying around – you would need to leave it in place and head out on foot with a second gun toward the downed animal. Second, if you engage a target at 1,000+ yards and nicked or wounded it – you will be hard pressed to get a clean second shot off from the distance on an animal running and dodging. This is unethical, and, if you don’t catch up with the animal and finally finish and salvage it – it would also be illegal. Fish and game will confiscate your new gun, car or truck, and all equipment you had on the hunt, hefty fine and even some jail time if the judge feels you acted badly.

Is it legal – yes. Is it smart? Probably not.

Hope this helps

50 caliber muzzleloaders are the most commonly used ones in just about every state. It’s being picky, but note that you shouldn’t put the decimal point in front of the caliber, both for general principles and because many 50 caliber rounds shoot .510″ bullets.