Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Our govenor wants to bring Sunday hunting to Maine. The guides, hunters, general population and most important the landowners don't want it.

We are one of a few states that has open hunting on all private and public land as long as it's not posted. You don't need permission or a lease to hunt, if it's not posted it is free to anyone to hunt on it.
If they pass a Sunday hunting law the landowners have promised to post their land. They want and deserve 1 day a week to use their own land without fear of someone shooting them.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

I hear what you're saying. In NH it the same way as far as open to hunt as long as it's not posted and we have Sunday hunting. You don't see or hear a long of hunting going on like I'm sure they (ME landowners) think would happen. To bad they couldn't swap a day like make it closed on Monday or Wenseday and open hunting on Sunday;) Then the landowner would have that feel safe day. I'm not sure if it's still that way or not but in WV they opened Sunday hunting on private land only. ME should maybe open it on just state owned land and see how it goes. You did say in your post, how do you feel about opening hunting on Sunday?

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

I live on the border of Maine and New Hampshire and as a result I have hunted Sundays in NH for quite a while to virtually double the amount of time I get to spend in the woods. I know a lot of hunters that buy NH tags because they work a M-F 9-5 and can squeeze two days of hunting in where as in Maine there is only one day a weekend to hunt. Although it may result in some lands being posted there is enough public land or "mulituse" lands such as papercompany land that people can hunt without incrouching on property owners. To say:
Is a pretty general statement. From what I see I think it's about a 50/50 split. the tree hugger definately don't want it but I don't see any hunters fighting the change.

I for one would openly welcome the change. When I drive to my camp in Hancock co or up to visit family in Washington Co I could get a couple of full days in as opposed to just a single day on the weekend. Not to mention that it would make for much better 3 day weekends to not have a "wasted" in the middle.

That's just my take though.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

i for one am against it. i have to rely on other's for a place to hunt. the farmer on a farm i hunt has already said that his land will be posted if this bill passes. this also happen's to be my favorite hunting ground's.
if it does pass why couldn't the land owners who are against sunday hunting just post there land "NO SUNDAY HUNTING".

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

I am totally against it, I don't want Maine to be a southern state where you need written permission to hunt or worse, buy into a lease. These guys have to stay on one plot of land and can't even go after a wounded deer if it crosses a fence.

Most hunters in Maine are against it, at the public meeting in Augusta many hunters and The Small Woodlot Owners Assoc. of Me., the Professional Maine Guides Assoc., the Maine Trappers Assoc, and the Maine Bowhunters Assoc all spoke against it.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

RAVKX 250,
If the landowner is going to the trouble and expense to post his land, he'll just post it "NO HUNTING" wouldn't you?

These landowners are our best friends, why mess with a good thing.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

As a guide in Maine, I also would not be in favor of Sunday hunting. Sunday is a good day to relax, re-organize, say good bye to the previous weeks hunters, and welcome the new hunters.
As far as the landowner issues go, they could make it by written permission only I suppose, that would keep everyone happy.
In summation, I just think we should leave well enough alone. We have done just fine without it, and the non hunting public deserves a day on the weekend to enjoy the great northwoods without the fear of getting gunned down.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

well landowners go through the hassles of putting up ACCESS BY PERMISSION ONLY SIGNS. which in my opinion work just like no trespassing signs. why don't they just put up no trespassing sign's. all i know is if this bill passes i already know of one spot i'm going to lose. if i have to look for a new place to hunt, how many other's will have to look also. so maine will start bringing in more money from out of stater's, but will lose alot of the money it bring's in from it's own resident hunter's because they can't hunt. i hope balducci gets his head out his you know what and realize's this.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Vt has Sunday hunting, is an open hunting state and always has been but there is more and more land being posted which severly limits access to the best spots for the common guy. If Sunday hunting will result in more land posted then I would vote to leave things alone. Once those yellow signs start to appear it is like a disease and spreads from farm to farm. The end result could be like Texas where if you don't pay someone there isn't any decent place to hunt.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Living in southern Maine my whole life I've watched the influx of out of staters and at the same time I've watched the influx of posted signs. IMO I truly believe more land is being bought up by out of staters and posted because it's "theirs". People who have grown up in rural settings and been able to roam the woods freely their entire lives are less likely to pst their land then is a person who moves from an urban area, buys 200 acres and post it because they want the privacy they've never had. I see it every day.

I have no doubt that you're accurately conveying what you're seeing as far as opposition but I'm just not seeing it. I see it as an extra day a week to hunt and possiably a slightly shorter season to keep harvest numbers about the same. I'd gladly cut my season short a week to gain 3-4 days I can hunt over the season. For a person who has a financial reason not to want it I can also understand their perspective.

If it goes through it just means I'll have more choices of where to hunt on Sunday. If not I'll just keep hunting in NH as I have in the past.

My biggest concern for hunting in maine would be the changes in qualifications to be commissioner of the dept of inland fisheries and wildlife. I think sunday huting will have less of an effect in the long run then the change in qualification to run the DIF&W.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Adam,
You can rest easy, that has been thrown out.:D

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

I'm glad to hear. I hadn't heard an update on that in a while. I was begining to worry about the implications of having an anti as the commissioner of the DIF&W.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

i have only recently, in the past few years, been able to hunt in Maine. i like it enough that i plan on going every year now. however, in my opinion, it is quite ridiculous to not be able to hunt on sundays in that state. i don't buy that same old cock and bull story about the landowner is kind enough, and they are, to allow us to hunt their property, the least we can do is let them have a day or rest. well, i tell you what, i work five days a week, doing concrete work, and during the busy parts of the year, i work on saturdays. many times i work late, sometimes as late as one in the morning, after starting at six in the morning. now, working on a schedule like that, just when exactly would you like to let me hunt? i have a job where i actually NEED to be able to hunt on a sunday if i want to have a decent chance at bagging my game. and you know i am not alone. most guys i know do not get to hunt after work in the middle of the week, so to me that is the landowners down time, and if guys do hunt after work, most of the time they are bowhunting, not rifle hunt. and i don't know about you, but i have yet to see see any organized type of drive involving bowhunters yet, which of course is illegal in Maine, nor have i heard the shot from any bow other than my own. so exactly what kind of disturbance is being created during the work week? wake up Maine, it is about more than the money from tags, it is about giving the ordinary hunter a fair shake at participating in the sports that they enjoy, by granting them a few extra days. and if these crybabies want to post their land, fine, let them. that indicates to me that they probably were only looking for an excuse to close their borders in the first place.
Pat

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

I'd have to see a little more evidence that landowners, guides and whoever else was listed are against this. Just because you, MaineGuide, are against this, doesn't mean all guides are against it. I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm just asking for some back-up of a pretty sweeping statement.

As a Mainer living in exile, I would welcome this law. As it is, I get a maximum of three to five days of hunting in Maine each year - those three Saturdays would come with an additional three Sundays for me if this went through.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

It was a PUBLIC hearing at the state house in Augusta. The 4 organizations I named stood up and spoke against it.

Now we have one from Mass. and one from Vermont telling the Maine landowners what to do with their land. And what do you mean they were looking for an excuse to post their land. They don't NEED an excuse, it's theirs!
Does that crappy job of yours give you a vacation? That's when you hunt!

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

i don't think that i was telling the landowners what to do with their land, it is their's, and because of their generosity in allowing people to hunt their land i am able to hunt freely here and in maine. however, let's have a little common sense come into play here: most hunting occurs on the weekends, in general. this is when most of us have time off. now, as far as having one day of peace and quiet, let's face it, just how much could people actually be getting disturbed in the midle of the week by hunters? VERY little. they are working too, for christ's sake! from an economic standpoint, as a guide, you should be supporting, not fighting the change. i know that i would want to have any guide i might hire fighting for me increased opportunity to hunt, not fighting against me. i would be sceptical about hiring them, that is for certain, because i would question just how much they want to work for the hunter. i guide people for turkey down here. it is pretty simple: the more days afield that hunters get, the more money that i can get. if land is posted, there is always more that is open down the road. you adjust, there is always a new, perhaps better spot to be found. if you get stuck in a rut hunting the same spots without exploring you are cheating yourelf, and your hunters. as someone else mentioned, if an increase in hunter days may somehow adversely affect the population, shorten the season by an eqivolent number of days, that should help. there is not a single person in the world that could give me a rational reason to not hunt on a sunday. as far as work goes, yeah, the hours can suck. they consider our vacation period to be from roughly the middle of december to the middle of april, and god forbid if you try to take of time other than that period, standard thing in this industry.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

If they did legalize hunting on Sunday you could still keep your buisness just the way it is. The guy that works all week that wants to hunt on Sunday would be able to. What's wrong with that?

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

That does make a handy excuse MaineGuide and certainly does instill fear in those dependent on others for a place to hunt, but if you look around, there appears to be a complete lack of any evidence that Sunday hunting actually causes more posting or that maintenance of a Blue law that targets only hunters as a class of citizens will prevent posting.

As I understand it, folks from the NY F&G testified at hearings in PA that they had heard the same fear mongering when they discussed the issue, but after it was all said and done, saw essentially nothing.

We've heard the same excuse here in PA and while our anti-hunting Blue Law remains in effect, we've watched as over 70% of our open space has become posted anyway. Posting seems to have a lot of causes but treating hunters fairly seven days a week hardly seems to play any significant part.

I see from your first post that you also feel a "fear of being shot" somehow justifies banning hunters one day a week, so let me leave you with a little quote. This one comes from testimony by the PAFB about their Freedom to farm at a hearing where they also voiced fears similar to yours about our Freedom to hunt. Perhaps, you'll grasp the hypocrisy:

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"Fear – not fact – seems to drive this opposition. Opponents do not know and do not care about trying to know the true risks involved. They only know that they don’t want any change, and they try to create any and every potential catastrophe that could happen without any assessment of how realistic that potential is."

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RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

I don't know how I can make you guys understand.

The MAJORITY of guides, trappers, HUNTERS and, of course, landowners DON'T want it!
The reason we vote for anything is to find what the majority wants and what the majority of those that will be affected want is NO SUNDAY HUNTING.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

First, the leadership of any organinzation, whether it be Maine Guides or the International Association of Firefighters (my affiliation), stands up and backs something, that is a far cry from being able to state that the majority of its members feel the same way. In the last election, the IAFF leadership threw their support to Kerry and my own, non-scientific polling of my fellow firefighters showed support for Bush at 90% or better - this in Kerry's own state.

You can say the few representatives of these organizations are against this, but don't presume to speak for them all.

1. I'm not from Massachusetts, I just live here now - something I mentioned in my last post.

2. I'm not telling anyone what to do with their land because for one thing, I hunt my own family's land in Maine. Beyond that, I fail to see how anyone but you is suggesting that landowners will need to do something different if Sunday hunting is allowed.

3. You're right - they don't need an excuse to post their land, which is why so many have already. I'm not buying that this is something that will motivate people to go out and post their land if they haven't already. Maybe a handful of people will do so, but it will be a statistically insignificant number.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Thought you guys up in Maine would have learned a hard lesson about the principles of freedom and the threat to our Freedoms from the tyranny of the majority after your recent costly referendum on bear hunting.

As an aside, I do find it quite interesting that as conservative as most hunters are, they mostly accept the Supreme Court's recent ruling about how tyranny of the majority, a lack of popularity, does not constitute a legitimate reason for restricting the Freedoms of gays in Texas, but to get back on topic....

I agree, I don't think you will ever make me understand how you can possibly feel that those same principles of Freedom that our Supreme Court says will apply to gays and every other minority group, seven days a week, should not also apply to our Freedoms as hunters on Sundays.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

I live in NH now, have lived in Mass and hunt in all 3 states each year. Not allowing Sunday hunting is just plain bad, and here's why.

One of my very good friends owns exactly 342 acres of Maine land, and lives just north of portland on 40 more. Now he owns that land, pays taxes on it, and spends a lot of effort making it better for wildlife ... but according to the politicians, and some ancient law passed when you stoned people you thought were a witch, a person can't hunt on Sundays. "Most" hunters get 2 days a week to do what it is everyone here loves to do .. but not in Maine. Nope, you have to go all the way to NH, or even VT to hunt on Sundays. Even if you live and own property in Maine .. you have to leave the state on 1 of your only 2 days off if you want to hunt. That's garbage. It's as anti-hunting as any legislation EVER written. So Sundays is left for what??? Hikers? Bird watchers??? Giving everyone a "break from the hunters"??? If that is the way people feel, that is saying that hunters are bad, and that Maine needs to control their actions .. because hunters and landowners and farmers and other outdoor loving people can't co-exist in the woods together each fall. It's crap.... if you want a break .. schedule your hunter change-over any day you want. As a hunter how can you think so low of yourself that you would allow some Puritan dead 200+ years dictate to you that the Maine woods are better off driving hunters out of them each Sunday???

I personally feel that hunters have as much right as any other person to do what it is we love to do in the woods and fields. Managing our wildlife based on some religious notion of a "day off" and not sound biological data is insane to me. Even if it meant that every farmer in the state posted their lands, how could you allow someone to take away your right to hunt. Because that's the way it always has been in your lifetime??? It wasn't that long ago they said the same about shooting does... So I guess bear hunting over bait should be banned because some people don't like it? What happens when there are enough people to vote an end to any and all hunting because they have a majority? Will that make it right? Exactly, it won't ... just like because some farmers say they will post their land and some religous people think Sundays are sacred shouldn't make Sunday hunting illegal.

There is no sound reason to stop hunting on Sundays. Most states allow it because there is no biological benefit to doing it, and it allows greater participation in the sport.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

The proposal that came out of the Fish and Wildlife Committee does not include deer during the November rifle season and only includes unorganized townships in northern Maine. So, you still can't hunt your property just outside of Portland on Sunday and may still have to drive further than going south to NH to be able to hunt on Sunday.

It also included a licence increase from $88 to $100 for NR big game.

added in edit.

I know for a fact, that if deer were included in this proposal, we would have lost one week of deer season. That week would have been Thanksgiving as it traditionally has the lowest number of non-resident hunters. However, it also has the highest number of resident hunters due to the short work week associated with the holiday.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

I have no doubt that it would be shortened to keep harvest in line with past years but how do you know it would be Thanksgiving week? Was this included in the proposal? If that were the case then the muzzeloader season would follow for Thanksgiving week and the state would likely end up with more muzzeloader hunters in the woods and more tags being sold.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

No, it was not part of the proposal as deer hunting during rifle season wasn't ever considered.

How I know, I really can't elaborate on other than IF&W is concerned over the possibility of increasing the deer harvest beyond management objectives. The greatest number of non-resident deer hunters coming to the state is during the first 3 weeks of the season. IF&W biologists felt that trend would continue even with Sunday hunting. Therefore, the week being cut would be Thanksgiving week when it is mostly residents hunters. Made a lot of sense to me when you hear the Commissioner and Govenor talking about attracting additional NRs to the state.

Bothers me to no end because I know a ton of people that have traditionally taken Thanksgiving week off (myself included) and don't hunt with muzzleloader. I don't really have a desire to hunt with one either. IF&W and our wondeful gov wants to cut residents ability to hunt by a week to attract additional hunters in a shorter time frame. I don't know but THAT doesn't pass the straight face test with me.

Its all moot anyway. Have a nice weekend.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Maineguide....I'm with ya.....some of them will never get it.
Vtbuck........Priorities brother. If you want to hunt bad enough, you will find the time. And that goes for the rest of you too. I chose a career that allows me as much time as I want in the field. You all could do the same if it were that important to you.
Over and Out

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

I would hope that if the people in charge decided to shorten the season they wouldn't do the Thanksgiving week. In my opinion and experiance that is the week when it all happens in all 3 northern states. If you want a really big buck that is the time when they show themselves and there is a better likelyhood of snow for tracking. All breeding and not much caution. I am in favor of leaving everything the way it is but it is all about the money so who knows what will happen. Most non resident hunters use Sunday as a travel day anyways.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

To say someone should find a career that basically allows a person time to hunt through the week is ridiculous. I love to hunt, but I have to put food on my table and pay the bills too. I guess I could work in a convenience store at night for $8 an hour so I could hunt every day, but how fair is that to my family when I can be making $30 an hour working a "normal" job during a "normal" shift. My schedule does allow me every other friday off which I spend afield every time it coincides with an open season....BUT....there is no way Sunday hunting should be banned anywhere. There is no valid reason for it....period. It's nothing but antiquated blue laws that should be overturned.

I grew up in VA....which is one of the few remaining backwards a$$ states that still doesn't allow hunting on Sundays (or limits Sunday hunting). After spending three years in Maine not hunting on Sundays, I almost felt like a criminal living in Montana where I could actually get in two days of hunting each weekend if I chose to do so. Although, out there, sometimes you need a day of rest after hauling all the game out of them hills! :D

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Moosedrool....maybe you should consider moving back there then.
And your excuse about putting food on the table is just that, an excuse. I own a 500k house and am raising three kids. My love of the outdoors dictated the direction i went in as far as career went. If you want something bad enough, you will make it happen. Period. And no...I'm no genius. I just made it happen instead of making excuses. I suggest you do the same.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Moosehorn.....do we have issues here? Maybe I should move back there, eh? You know...if hunting were more important to me than my career, I probably would. It's not a matter of making excuses...I never said hunting was my number one priority and my job was keeping me from doing it. Regardless of my career (or yours) there is no valid reason for not allowing sunday hunting ANYWHERE. How many states currently ban it? Very few. Explain that? Does it wreck their seasons or cause undue strain on wildlife or land owner/hunter relationships? Evidently not. Congrats on your $500 house by the way....quite impressive.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Same old story, do what every other state does. If we did that we would be hunting on leases,hunting out of a friggin' tree like an owl because our lease is 4 acres. Or we could go kiss some farmers arse and help him haul his hay in for the privilege of hunting.
There is no reason that landowners, hikers, or birdwatchers can't have one day out of seven and feel safe.

Most of these people have never hunted or even own a gun, but they can all read. They read the stories of a hunter in Wisconsin shooting 7-8 people or a young man that shot his best friend here in Maine because he thought it was a deer. This scares the crap out of these people and you can't blame them especially with an influx of "out of staters" who already have a bad reputation in Maine.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Yea, Yea, Yea.... heard all the anti-hunting fear mongering before. Even heard all the rhetorical fallacies and all the anecdotal horror stories before, with all the emotional appeals about how unsafe hunting is and why the same rules for safety that work everywhere else seven days a week won't work in PA, VA, or ME on Sundays. Get your facts right, not from PETA and the HSUS, hunting is among the safest forms of outdoor recreation.

Not much you can toss out that hasn't been said by some rabid anti-hunting on Sunday, one day a week PETA member in the past Maineguide, and the facts remain: that inclusion works seven days a week for hunters just like it does for every other legal activity, that with 40 some states treating hunting on Sunday just like every other form of recreation, no evidence exists to support your concerns. That every issue you bring up has been heard in other states that finally removed their Blue Laws, and in every single instance those issues quickly became non issues, they didn't exist in real life.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

God forbid you should ever have to do something like that.
Hunters should pursue Sunday hunting rights adamantly. why wouldn't you guys want to increase opportunities for all hunters? Crazy

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Yeah....what ruffed grouse said!

If it takes a day with no hunting to feel safe in the woods....maybe I should reconsider hunting in your great state again there Maineguide. I always felt safe in the woods up there seeing that most don't get out of their vehicles...even to grouse hunt.

You may not be kissing your landowner's "arse" hauling hay, etc, but I'm pretty sure some are worried that they'll lose their hunting privileges on non-posted land if sunday hunting became a reality. Isn't arguing against it for that same reason the ultimate in arse kissing there maineguide???

Just my two cents.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Now, that would be a gift to us all.

Try to get it through your thick skull....................we don't want to hunt Sundays!!

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Maineguide....I lived in northern maine for 3 years and realize the sentiment towards "flatlanders", which I never quite understood the term seeing that the topography of the majority of your fine state isn't exactly vertically challenging. I'm sure the out-of-staters there to do some real hunting would only interfere with all the road hunters with maine tags on their vehicles....or "guides" that place their hunters in shooting boxes on roads in the NMW (which I was told is no longer allowed). I guess it's tough being a real guide these days. Good luck to ya.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

i think when it comes down to it, you will find it is the vocal minority trying to push their views upon the quiet majority. just like we have down here over the issue of whether or not we will be shooting spikehorns or not this fall. but you know, here is a thought, i hope to never meet you, or your supporters, hunting in vt on a sunday. if you don't think maine is good enough to hunt on sunday, i don't want to see you doing it here, either. or for that matter any other state that offers sunday hunting. tell me something, maineguide, were you to go on a trip, say for elk or grizzly, in a state that allows sunday hunting. you arrive there on saturday, sunday is the first day of your hunt, what would you do? the same thing that the rest of us would, i am certain. hunt! but, what makes it acceptable for you to do that, if you don't find it acceptable to do in maine, why wouldn't you stay in camp while hunting elsewhere?
Pat

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Commissioner Martin (IF&W) was in Fort Kent yesterday and was interviewed by the local radio (WCXU) station. He stated that IF&W was "surprised" by the huge opposition to Sunday hunting in Maine. He went on to say that they never "in a million years" would have realized the backlash of land posting from the agricultural, small woodlot owners, and forestry community. What bothers me about these comments is this is exactly what the residents of this state have been telling our legislature and IF&W for 40 years. Why the surprise.

Commissioner Martin then went on to say that VT and NH are Maine's competitors in hunting and that 1 extra day would attract up to 40,000 new nonresidents to the state. The interviewer asked the BOLD question but what about residents. He said that we would be able to hunt also but this was designed to increase revenues to the state. Hence the problem.

Maine is one of the most heavily taxed states in the nation and there is a huge outcry from landowners (and I'm one) for property tax relief. When you increase one department's revenues on the back of private landowners without any relief to those private landowners its doomed to fail.

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

From a deer hunters perspective, the issue is this. Maine's annual deer kill runs about 30 to 35,000 per year, give or take. The Saturday kill in Maine is a very strong spike on the deer kill chart every week, along with the two holidays in November. Maine closely controls their deer kill and only want a certain number shot, and generally can manipulate the kill to within a couple thousand with doe permits IF the weather cooperates. There are five Saturdays in the deer season. Now throw in Sunday hunting. Now throw in the added pressure of hunters coming up from out of state because a quick weekend hunt is more doable. You've doubled the weekend days, and at least doubled the weekend deer kill. Maine isn't one of these states that doesn't care if the kill fluctuates by a huge margin like some states. They want to keep the kill within a very tight window. If they give us Sundays, they need to take away elsewhere to keep the kill right where they want it. That'll make for a short, short deer season.
If I remember correctly, the Saturday spike is 4x the weekday kill. Sunday would give the same 4x kill most likely...probably more, as weekend hunts would be more popular. That means that for every Sunday they give Maine hunters, they will have to take away four regular days of hunting to keep the kill at the current level. I can't do the math, but my guess is that the Maine season would be two weeks long if Sundays were allowed, instead of the current four week season.

Don't forget folks, Maine only kills 35,000 deer out of a population of around 250,000, give or take. We're not talking about a state that kills 250,000. They have specific numbers in mind for a kill.

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www.huntingchat.net

RE: Sunday hunting in Maine
 

Now wouldn't that be just dandy?:eek: