Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 11:08:50 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Steve Huy Subject: Sunday caution - was Sunday Hunting bill MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit All I can say about this is eat more meat. Ask your grocer for some lean venison. Its good for your heart and bird habitat. Something we birders should take up in addition to shade-grown coffee. Venison jerky and good coffee! ;-) I earlier mentioned an experience with a groundhog hunter. For those of you worried about Sunday hunting, you need to be aware that guns still work on Sundays unless you get your powder wet on Saturday. The only limit this state has on their use is by closing certain times to the hunted species. People are alway off limits unless you are in PG county and giving the police a hard time. Can't hunt any game animals on Sundays in MD with a gun or bow. But you CAN hunt groundhogs! You can shoot trees and bottles and hay bales and stray cats and rats. And you don't have to wear orange so other people can see you. Just a reminder you have to always be aware of your surroundings. Assuming Sundays are gun free may cause you more grief than knowing there are hunters around. You let down your guard and you make yourself vulnerable. If you are birding private property be sure to get permission - if you don't you may be shot at intentionally (and shouldn't be calling yourself a birder!). Ask if hunting is allowed on the property. Farmers tell me what areas I should avoid during what seasons. They also tell me what the hunters' vehicles look like. Or tell me to come back another day - and they will tell the hunters that is my day. If I see the white pickup parked in the bend of the road I know the groundhog hunter is out. He works only one side of the road in a given day so I go the other way when I locate him and still wear an orange hat during my birding. The birds don't really mind orange. Try being quiet and moving slowly - don't kid yourself into thinking bright colors scared a bird off - they would have seen you if you had been in full camo. You're just too loud and moving too fast. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================