I live in Illinois but have hunted in Wisconsin and Minnesota also for many years. During both of these state's seasons, you will see a lot of vehicles on the interstates heading south with deer strapped on cars, on ATV trailers, and what not. You also see a fair amount of game displayed on I-80 returning east from out west. Of course many other vehicles have people in them that are not hunters. I'm not sure that I know how you can gauge just how much anti-hunting sentiment that might be stirred up by that. I don't see it brought up too often in newspaper blogs, etc., but I don't really look too hard for it either. I am sure that there are people who don't like seeing dead animals. I kinda like seeing somebody returning from a hunt in the north woods with a buck and a fresh-cut Christmas tree on the back, (its a tradition I cherish) but obviously that is offensive to some who just don't understand where meat comes from anymore.
I do know that in Wisconsin it used to be a regulation that the carcass must be transported in a way that was clearly visible to law enforcement - as in, the tailgate must be down if in a truck.
I looked at the WI DNR site recently and didn't find that in the regs anymore. I don't know if that has been officially changed now or not. The point is, that a lot of people "displaying their kill" have been obeying the law, and I don't think that most hunters are trying to be obnoxious in how they transport their game.
Like Mirage, I haven't seen enough people in the woods between my truck and treestand to really worry about what people would think if they saw what kind of firearm I was carrying. I did have a BAR once, but like bolt guns, and even single shots more now. The BAR was too heavy, but a fine shooter. In the 1980's, (Pre-Zumbo) Terry Weiland wrote an article in SPORTING CLASSICS magazine demeaning semi-autos in the hunting field and stated that one's gun tells more about them then anything else. I wrote a rebuttal explaining that my BAR was a fine rifle and if that was the primary way he judged me, I believe he would be wrong. This perception thing isn't new, is it? It has been around a long time.
Since this thread started, my interest in an AR has grown. My interest has also been whetted by a friend who loves his for predator hunting and gets phenomenal accuracy from them. He has two Rock River Arms - one Coyote model, and a Varmint model. He's looking for a Ruger #1 International in 30.06 and is considering trading the RRA Varmint. I just so happen to have a #1 Int'l in '06 like new that I have hardly ever shot. So we'll see what happens. I use firearms legally and responsibly. I'm not sure why I should worry about what someone thinks about an AR. I'm not even sure anybody that would be afraid or offended by an AR would even see mine if I got one. They are relatively common at the ranges I belong to - a non-issue, and when I am hunting, I rarely see anyone anyway.
