No Hunting on Sunday's????

J

John Sojka

Member
I live in CT and hunt in MA,VT. CT and MA have no hunting on Sunday's!
I think this is a joke and want to know if anyone has tried to change this old Blue law I guess.
We the hunters pay for the privilege to hunt and we should not be restricted as to when we can do it.
Weekends are few during the short seasons and not having Sundays to go out SUCK!!!!
Please give me some advise as to who can help.
Thanks.
 
This was recently discussed (or maybe not) in the Mass legislature. I am not sure what the current state of the bill is. You can check the GOAL site for current information: www.goal.org. Whereabouts in MA do you hunt?

Nate
 
Last edited:
The length of the seasons is controlled by the feds. You get the same number of days with or without Sunday hunting. Without Sunday hunting the season is just spread out over a longer amount of time. Based on a 90 day season, that's almost two weeks more hunting time.
 
Billy, A longer season can also mean less hunting time. If you could hunt sunday and give up the extra time on the end of season you could hunt up to 14 more days. This is of course for guys who can only hunt the weekend.

Just my $.02

2yellowdogs
 
Just last month there was a hearing at the Massachusetts State House regarding a sunday hunting bill (H2315) filed by Rep. Anne Gobi. As of the moment I know of no further info on this bill. The sad reality is that it will probably sit in committee now until the end of the year effectively killing this bill without a vote.

Here is the text of the bill:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/185/ht02pdf/ht02315.pdf

A list of the the legislators to email if you want to express your views on the issue.

http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/j22.htm


An article in the Boston Globe about the hearing:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/11/07/lawmakers_to_consider_ending_longtime_sunday_hunting_ban/?page=full

Just copy and paste the links to your web browser. I don't know how to add links here. Hopefully, at some point in my lifetime (I'm 25) there will be sunday hunting in MA.
 
Last edited:
Since you asked who can help:

COALITION OF CONNECTICUT SPORTSMEN
P.O. Box 2506, Hartford, CT 06146, (203) 245-8076
www.ctsportsmen.com ccsct@erols.com

Sunday hunting of some type gets proposed every year in CT. (Did you just move here?) Mostly the Sunday Hunting legislation goal is to get private land archery allowed. That would then become the proverbial nose of the camel to start loosening up the rest of the types of hunting. There is strong opposition to the Sunday Hunting as well as lots of apathy. Personally the "no hunting on Sunday" may be the key to my remaining married for 26 years. It's one day that gets devoted to home, family, and getting the gear ready to go again ;^) Then again I have lots of vacation to hunt during the week so I like the longer season, since we never know when the first freeze or snow storm will hit.

You did hit the nail on the head when you called hunting a privilege. We do not have anything in either our national or state constitution that guarantees our right to hunt. You are presently paying for the privilege to hunt 6 of 7 days of the week year round. Just to depress you further, I believe only 3 percent of our state population hunts and that is shrinking. How much political power do you think we have? Additionally if we do start to get Sunday hunting on private land only, how much of your duck hunting is done on private land? I generally duck hunt state and public lands like rivers and the coast. We may well loose the additional duck hunting days we got for Sundays being closed and yet not get to hunt Sundays because public lands are closed.

If you really need to hunt on Sundays, NY or RI can't be that far from you and as I understand it they even have ducks in those states.

Scott
 
I love no hunting on Sundays, I wouldn't have it any other way. State imposed day of rest.

T
 
Hi John,
No hunting on Sunday in New Jersey either. It stinks, and forces me to go fishing!
I can't think of one other thing that is illegal ONLY on Sundays.... crazy really.
If anyone in NJ has any insight as to how to change this or if it has ever been considered, let me know. I still go to church and all, but not because of the law..
 
Quane,

I'm not from NJ, but I know a good deal about Sunday Hunting Laws in each of the eleven states in which they exist. The only way that law will change is if enough people organize and convince your legislators that the law should be repealed. So, write your legislator. Or better yet, get all of your friends and those in your local hunting clubs and organizations to write. Hunters are terrible at speaking up to protect our rights and as far as this issue is concerned, the birdwatchers and hikers who don't want to share the woods on sundays are much louder than we are. In most states, these laws are pretty old and it is not our fault that they were passed. However, it is our fault that they still exist in contrast to nearly every other sunday prohibition that has been repealed over the years. Most legislators do not genuinely care whether or not you can hunt on sunday. They care about keeping their jobs (i.e. keeping voters happy) and, as everyone knows, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
 
I don't mind no Sunday hunting since it gives the birds a rest. I don't see anything wrong with hunting on Sundays where it is allowed either. Here is my question for those of you who want to bring Sunday hunting to their state. What would you give up to hunt on Sunday? Would you give up two days mid week for example?
 
Our local county's refuge does not allow hunting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
This allows younger people who have less vacation time and are not retired
to have both week end days to hunt. It also allows time for the marsh to rest.

I think Sunday bans are anti working and young people.

Bob
 
I think Sunday bans are anti working and young people.
Click to expand...


That says it all right there. With as many school activities that take place on Saturdays now this looks like a good way to make sure the younger generations are left out. Sad IMHO....

Tim
 
John,
Scott is right. If you are not a member of the CT Coalitions web mail chain you are out of the loop regarding what the legislators are up to in CT.
I would like the Sunday hunting for deer, but for ducks the day off puts the CT season in better shape for a longer late season opening in the Federal frame work for duck hunting. I would not give up the late season for a few more days that I did not have to take off work. If you are interested the sign up will give you heads up on the regulatory meetings as well as the bills and other sportsman related activites in CT.
 
Bob I would like the info on th CT coalition if you could please. Thanks.

Guys the Sundays could and should be offset by closing a week day pick one. I too do not want to shorten the season.

You all have valid points!!!! I would like to hear more reasons why a few of you think its okay not to hunt Sundays. Giving the birds a rest is a good one but another week day would also do this.

I think the younger hunters not being able to go out is valid and a big reason we do not have the youth today getting involved in hunting/outdoors. At lease in CT and Ma. When you go to VT and NH were you can hunt sundays and I tink you will see more youth hunter!!!!! When you read the Hawkeye / Local hunting papers you see all kinds of kids pic in them.

I also see the added revenue in taxes and sales from local shops and big boxes growing with opening up the sunday hunt.

As far as openning bow hunting first sure but when and were I duck hunt I rarely see any hikers or bird watchers do you guy see other people out at the crack of dawn??? Possibly Deer hunting you would have more interaction

I would have no Problem with a 1/2 day no shooting after 12:00 noon it would at least give us the chance to get out.

What we need is a word smith to put this all together so we can e mail the petition to clubs and groups to sign and send into the coalition!!!!!!!! Anyone interested!!!!!!!
 
I think the "swap a weekday for sunday" thought is missing the mark. These laws are not intended to allow the game to rest. They were passed for religious reasons and upheld constitutionally as valid due to the states' rights and legitimate interests in preserving a "day of rest." If the motive behind swapping a weekday for a weekend day is to allow the game to rest, I don't think that will carry much weight in the legislature. They really don't care much about that. The main opposition to these laws (notwithstanding the few on this forum who like Sunday Hunting Laws) are private landowners including farmers, birdwatchers, and other recreationalists who want THEIR chance to go out and enjoy their pursuits without having to fear being shot by hunters. As of right now, they are much louder than hunters and their interests are being served. The proper pitch to make regards the revenue sunday hunting can bring to state and local enonomies. Hunters spend a lot of money and allowing hunting on sundays will not only bring others into the sport but will allow those who already enjoy it to spend more. Here is a link to an interesting newspaper article on the subject from last year, which includes a discussion of the financial incentives of opening sundays to hunting. http://www.postgazette.com/pg/06246/718691-358.stm
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top