Right... they're a little touchier about rifles, because they're usually combatting poachers hunting out of season, or hunting from their vehicle.
It may sound funny to people who don't know any better, but the favored weapon for poachers here in Florida is a .22LR rifle. The animals here are small, and the poachers don't care about trophies, so they go for the head shot after freezing the animal with a spotlight. And a .22 is very quiet.