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In Maryland, you must fill out a "possession tag" prior to moving a harvested deer. But, like many states we have a 1-800 number to call in and legally check-in a deer. At the end of the check-in process you are given a "confirmation number." The check-in must be completed within the first 24 hours. Since many hunters report their deer at the kill site and record their confirmation number, what's the purpose of a possession tag?

If an officer needs to know who killed a deer, why wouldn't he just ask? Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems the possession tag is just another way to harass hunters.

What other stupid game laws have you experienced in your state?

Inefficencies. i.e. PA has 3 separate agencies (and 3x admin costs) for our game commission, fish and boat commission, and DCNR.

Deer farms/canned hunting operations remaining legal in spite of overwhelming evidence they are the primary vector for CWD transmission.

Antiquated processes. I.e. County treasurers process our doe license applications. Via snail mail. Checks only.

Evidence of sex laws out West and other stupid/confusing/semi-pointless intracacies prone to frequent accidental violations.

Prioritization of trophy hunting vs. opportunity in tag allocations, mostly out West.

Any form of outfitter welfare (Wyoming wilderness laws, allocated tags)

Conflicting/illogical electronics laws in many states (cell cams ok but no lighted pins?)

Quite a few illogical public land regulations. Tree stands allowed to be left up all season is a big pet peeve of mine.

Evidence of sex must be attached in Colorado

Not attached in Wyoming. Last year we had 5 cows in ice chests when we got checked. They said a zip loc bag of 5 udders would be fine.

Also confusing. Where you keep the punched tag after harvest while packing out. I saw a warning given for punched tag in Colorado because it was attached to antlers. That may have changed. I don't hunt Colorado any more.

I don't like that the carcass tag can't be placed on the antlers.

I wish the state would better align the grouse opening day with elk opening day.

I'm conflicted as to why muzzle load hunters must wear orange but not required for archery hunters in the same season and in the same area.

We just got lighted knocks last year and a recording device is now allowed attached to bow but still no lighted pins.

I agree with not allowing people to hang one for the entire season and claim ownership on a spot, but you should be able to leave a stand for 72 hours or something like that.

It is illegal in NC to punch your tag without an authorization number.

I shot a bear once. I don't know what it weighed. It was long, tall and lanky. I butchered it -and called the end about info on what footy they wanted for their study. Talked with a GW and he said he'd just Swing by later and pull it for me.

Long drama short, when pulling the tooth, he determined the tooth was too short and said he was going to write me a ticket. The law at the time was a hundred pound bear. I got a bathroom scale and weighed myself with and without the hide. He and I determined the rough weight of skull and hide was about 33 pounds. I then asked him if he thought the guts, bone, and muscle from that bear would make 100 pounds. He said no doubt. But, I'm writing you the ticket for the tooth length. Which was not a rule defined by the regulations. No matter the common sense a dog has, he wrote me a ticket.

I fought that in court and smoked them. Felt good minus the money it took for an attorney. Never did get my bear back either. I stalked and bow shot that bear from 6 yards. I don't have a lot of use for most of them. Year after that, the regulations were defined better, closing up the loop holes they were using to write these tickets.

PA give NO PREFERENCE to residents. We are just thrown in with all the applicants. How many states do that????

Thanks Terry

Another law that probably every big game hunter I know has likely broken is that the tag has to stay with the meat until consumed. Have a package of elk burger at the bottom the freezer from 2011? Need to have the tag with it.

"I fought the law and the law won"

I think you accumulate bonus points if I remember correctly, (cause I missed the application deadline this year after 13 years of applying and called to see if I lost my points), but anyhow I believe these bonus points gives you more/better chances in the lottery whether resident or nores...

boonr: That one's always baffled me also. The reasoning behind the shotguns only rule is supposedly safety, as Illinois is a more densely populated state, but if that were the case then logic (I know..."logic" and government are polar opposites) would dictate that it should apply to ANY use of a rifle for hunting.

Well, that one is easy. The best hunting period for deer is crepuscular prime time. If we hunt too many deer during prime time then CT state would not have to opportunity to complain about deer population. Without complaints about deer population how is the state going to justify spending $$$$$ money with White Buffalo for night over bait deer cull? See the bee-line? It is all politically and financially motivated. Glad I got that off my chest. Ufff.

Yup me too very rare I can't put up a stand quietly on the same day of the hunt. Or take it down if I need to.

That's a BIG advantage of using leg irons. I have even shot deer while climbing tress getting set up for the daily hunts. In the areas where they are not allowed, cause someone decides they damage trees. Somehow I have trouble believing that when I hunt the same trees year after year and they do fine, the bark is repaired every spring.. What kills a tree is driving nails, screws, bolts into the tree allowing bugs, fungus to enter deep into the wood.

Making it illegal to dig a small pit in the woods for your feet on a natural ground blind seems kinda dense too. Bears, coyotes, foxes, badgers, groundhogs and marmots all do the same..

Just tell the Warden that you were about to take a dump and you only brushed yourself in because you're such a modest and discreet fellow....

I live in CT these days, and 'twould appear that most of our dumbest regs have been addressed - No Sunday Hunting, no dove season; you can't kill a fawn with spots, but a week later it's fair game; you can bow-hunt for coyotes from a tree stand for up to 1/2 hour after sunset, but you can't legally shoot a deer at a half-second past....

But JMO, there are three kinds of Dumb Laws - those which are completely irrelevant (like Sunday-hunting blue laws); those which achieve no management purpose and are there purely because of public sentiment (such as the protections for doves, spotties, pie-balds and albinos); and those which exist only to close up a loophole that once got a poacher off the hook.

Those are the worst, because they criminalize decisions which would otherwise be made based on good judgment...

Like Hunting Hours: depending on weather & cover, how much light you have to work with may not have a whole lot to do with were the sun is; you can be extremely safe and ethical by pure moonlight, if it comes to that, but if a CO hears a shot at 0:45 after sunset, he can bust a jack-lighter whether he saw the light in use or not. FWIW, I cannot side with a CO who waits by a vehicle after hours and busts a guy just returning from the woods, but possession of Hunting Implements IS Prima Facie evidence of Hunting in every state that I know anything about. On the other hand, if the CO has a solid reason to put the heat on a specific individual, I'm OK with the courts affording that Officer some discretion.

Proof of sex: I always thought that was nuts (pardon the pun!), but a friend of mine from the U of WY/DFG Co-op unit pointed out that that the head of a road-killed (or poached) bull could be used as a free pass to shoot a cow (or a bull that doesn't meet the points requirement for a unit), or that a single head could be used to check more than one animal through a station. And from a management standpoint, it's a lot more important to control the number of cows killed than whether a raghorn had a brow-tine of 3.5" or 4". That never would have occurred to me, but then, I'm not looking for a way to beat the rules; where there's a Will, there's a Way, and - unfortunately - usually when there's a Way, there's somebody out there with the Will....

But back to Stupid... Hell, in some states, you can't shoot a deer if its feet are touching water - probably because somebody had the clever notion to drive deer off of a point or an island and pot-shoot them as they made a swim for it.

And JMO, I would rather hunt a state with restrictions as to how long you can leave a stand out in the woods (or maintain a camp on a given site) than not. In CT, I hunted a public area one year and was never out of sight of at least a half-dozen stands until I followed a deer trail into about 3 acres of Mtn Laurel where the wasn't a big enough tree to hand a stand anywhere in sight. Weren't any DEER to be seen, either, but at least I saw definite signs that deer HAD been there and no indication that I was "tresspassing" on somebody else's patch of PUBLIC land... The way some people talk, you'd think you should give serious thought to a sturdy flak jacket just in case you accidentally cross paths with some of these jerks.

And in CO, the drainage that I always hunted has been under increasing pressure from guys who put a big camp with a wall tent and all that, and LEAVE IT there for the entire season to spare themselves the effort of hiking in and out on a daily basis or the hardship of a Spike Camp; sometimes you get the feeling that those same camps are in regular use from mid-August until the last tag is filled in rifle season - then you're faced with leaving a safe & courteous amount of distance between yourself and someone else's camp, vs. avoiding a good area out of "courtesy" to some SOB who is perfectly happy to monopolize an area for the entire year!

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent!

Brilliant!!

In Alberta we have combined our Bowhunting organization with other outdoor user groups to have more clout with government. We used to not be allowed to hunt on Sundays. We used to have to put our license number on our arrow. Funny that what finally made sense to the politicians is when someone asked why gun hunters didn't have to put their numbers on their bullets.

The stupidest thing up here is having an appointed politician (by the party in power) in charge of the Provinces Natural Resources when their only qualification is having been a lawyer.

So you're right, and I'm making assumptions about how responsible people are going to be when they have a gun-stock in their hands vs a vertical bow... which is undeniably prejudiced, with maybe a little snobbery built into it.

But I still have more confidence in the safety record for archery. Irrational, maybe, but there it is.

BTM - better yet: in CT, a rifle is legal if the cartridge is .243 or larger, so a Marlin 1894 is legal with a .38 Spcl... Wonder if that means a .25ACP would be legal if you built a rifle for it?

Bow must be able to propel an arrow 120 yards to be legal. How do you test that in the field when confronted by a CO? By launching an arrow into the sky at 45 degrees? Who's fault is it when that arrow hits somebody? Who reimburses me for my lost $30 arrow?