Great. What I need most in this life is someone firing a hunting rifle near me, and I don't know it. Or, vice-versa, for that matter.
In the last few months here in Tejas, I have had two incidents of individuals shooting in such a way that they were inadvertently firing onto my property, potentially placing myself, my family, my pets, and my neighbor's stock at risk of injury. I was able to interrupt that activity in both instances because I could hear the discharge of the firearms and locate the shooters -- Plus, I have a really loud voice when I'm pissed.
Suppressors (which must be legally obtained with a federal permit): are a god-send
-- to poachers
-- to those firing where it is prohibited
-- to those who inadvertently injure someone or destroy property by discharging a firearm.
BUT, according to the NRA, they
save shooters from hearing loss (wear plugs or headphones if you don't want to hurt your hearing, I do)
reduce noise pollution (as in reduce warnings that you are shooting near me)
increase accuracy (if you need a suppressor to be accurate you need to take a course on marksmanship, and you obviously aren't a Texan)
Okay, bows are silent. BUT even compound bows have a much shorter effective kill range than almost all hunting rifles. Hunting rifles, even target rifles, have a much greater range in which they can cause injury -- much more kinetic energy and momentum than arrows. They are also in the hands of individuals who often have much less training in the proper use of their weapon. (NOTE: The shooters in my two cases were two high school aged kids and two college students.)
See the NRA-ILA's note below about this important need for Texans who hunt (Hint: It gives you an email to contact TPWC.).
http://www.nraila.org/...=
And, yes, guns and Texans are a sometimes crazy mixture. Okay, often a crazy mixture.