Kipp - Here is the relevant text from our Guide to Hunting and Trapping in Maryland:

"Sunday Hunting
A person may hunt deer on Sunday, November 5, 2006 and Sunday, November 26, 2006 on private land in Allegany, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Cecil, Charles, Garrett, Kent, Montgomery, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington counties.

A person may hunt deer on Sundays October 15, October 22, October 29, November 5, November 12, and November 26, 2006 in Dorchester County on private land only."

There are also provision related to hunting released birds on Regulated Shooting Areas on Sunday and hunting with the aid of raptors on Sunday, but they would not be relevant to the what you describe in your email.

Montgomery and Anne Arundel Counties were added this year due to legislative changes in the 2006 session of the Maryland General Assembly.

Hence, the bow hunter at Blue Mash would be legal (assuming it is private property, I don't know about that, and he has written permission of the landowner--but as Tom now says it was on Saturday), as the deer firearms season was open this past Sunday and one can hunt with a bow during the firearms season.  "Hughes Hollow" (which is really McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, which I may add is managed 100% with hunting license and related federal aid dollars, but that's a different issue..), is public land so it would not have been open for hunting this past Sunday.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  I may add that I bird in areas open to hunting all the time and peacefully coexist with my fellow nimrods.  But let's not start that thread again ...

Mark L. Hoffman
Associate Director, Administration
Wildlife and Heritage Service
580 Taylor Ave., E-1
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone: 410-260-8449
Mobile: 443-223-4587
Fax: 410-260-8596
Email: 


-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Kipp Lunt
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 10:34 AM
To: 
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Hunting on Sundays?


Hello,

Tom Marko's post about seeing a hunter at Blue Mash on Sunday and my own 
experience of seeing several hunters with rifles at Hughes Hollow this Sunday 
(11/26) , have made me wonder if I'm correctly informed. I was under the 
impression, from a number of different resources that hunting is not allowed in 
Maryland on Sundays, with a couple of exceptions for private lands only.

According to the regulations on the Maryland DNR website, deer hunting is only 
allowed on Sundays on private land on Nov 5 for bow hunters and Nov 26 for 
firearm hunters. Does anyone know if there are other game that are allowed to 
be hunted on Sundays?

It would seem to me, with the knowledge that I have, that the bow hunter at 
Blue Mash on Sunday (even if he was on private land), and the gun hunters I 
saw at Hughes Hollow on Sunday (public land) were all breaking the law. Is 
this correct? Or are there exceptions to the Sunday restriction that I'm not 
aware of?

This is the first year I've really birded at this time of year, so I've never run 
accross hunters before. One of the reasons I picked Sunday for Hughes Hollow 
was because I thought there would be no danger of hunters. Am I misinformed?

Thanks,
Kipp Lunt