Maine: Sunday Hunting Bills to be Heard in Committee Next Week

Next Thursday, April 6, the Legislative Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is scheduled to hold a public hearing on several bills that would create Sunday hunting opportunities for Maine sportsmen.  Please contact members of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee and ask them to support Sunday hunting opportunities!

Maine is one of a handful of states that doesn’t allow hunting on Sundays due to an old blue law left on the books.  This prohibition denies hunters access one day per week despite the fact that each year, hunters provide millions of dollars to habitat restoration and conservation for healthy ecosystems throughout Maine.  Many sportsmen are prohibited from introducing their children or friends to hunting because they are competing with organized sports and other activities on Saturday, which is often their only opportunity to hunt outside of the work week.  Countless hunters stop hunting because of the lack of opportunity, time restrictions and accessible land.  An extra day in the field, especially on the weekend, would increase opportunities for those individuals to experience hunting. 

Any of the following bills would undoubtedly invigorate essential hunter recruitment and retention efforts -- key factors in preserving Maine’s hunting heritage for future generations to come.

Legislative Document 61, sponsored by Representative David McCrea (D-148), would allow licensed hunters to hunt wild birds on Sundays with a shotgun.

Legislative Document 109, sponsored by Representative Scott Strom (R-106), would allow Sunday hunting on private property with the landowner’s permission.

Legislative Document 189, sponsored by Representative David Haggan (R-101), would allow the hunting of wild birds on Sundays in Aroostook County and in unorganized townships in the counties of Piscataquis, Somerset, Franklin, Oxford, Kennebec, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Androscoggin, Cumberland and York.

Legislative Document 485, sponsored by Representative Jeffrey Pierce (R-53), would allow Sunday hunting of migratory game birds.

Legislative Document 694, sponsored by Representative Kent Ackley (I-82), would create a local option to allow hunting deer on Sundays with rifles. The bill will allow a municipality, plantation or county, with regard to its unorganized territory, to petition the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to allow hunting on Sunday in its territory.

Please stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org for further updates on these bills.