Allow Sunday hunting?
Connecticut
A lot of my land I can hunt is in the Sunday hunting restriction. Is there others in the same boat? Would you rather be allowed to hunt on reduced tags in this area if you could hunt Sunday?
I don't hunt that zone but would certainly agree to it.
That makes to much sense all they have to do is limit the tags and all areas could be open Sunday and Jan it isn't that hard to figure out
Private land anywhere in the state should be allowed and tags limit the harvest. Too much sense, state won't allow
Bob,
One thing that became apparent during the years I was involved with the UBC and went to Hartford to testify at public hearings for Sunday hunting was the number of people who trespass on private land (think of the horse riders as a prime example) as a matter of routine, and feel they are perfectly entitled to do so.
It was truly amazing to see opponents get up and testify that the prime reason they opposed Sunday hunting was concerns for their safety on private land for which they had no permission to be on! With only a few exceptions the Environmental Committee did not point out this obvious fact; people breaking the law (trespassing) were demanding protection from law-abiding hunters (with legal permission to be on private land) by the body (state legislature) responsible for the laws that govern us all.
THAT is the nonsensical mindset we are faced with and a prime reason it took so long to finally get some Sunday hunting allowed. On it's face it makes no sense that a legal activity (hunting) can be restricted on privately owned property.
Mike that's exactly what upsets me with politics today! As a landowner you should be allowed to conduct any legal activity on your land on any day you wish! The blue laws were thrown to the side of the road years ago, so why not hunting?
Tags should have nothing to do with it if you're allowed 4. tags for the whole season what's it matter if you harvest those deer on a Sunday orSaturday orTuesday it makes no sense you're allowed that number Of deer why not just open up all the private land to Sunday. The state needs money why not put five or $10 charge on Sunday Hunting and open up all the areas Believe me I do not want to pay anymore money but this is the only way these people open their eyes to things so maybe if they see they're going to get increased revenue then they'll open everything up including firearms
Mike thats maddening! Unreal. Was this brought up by hunters and dismissed by the leg? Steep uphill battle!
Will,
It was the perfect definition of a surreal moment; a woman was testifying against a Sunday hunting bill and actually referenced not wanting to worry about her safety while riding a horse through the woods. Rep John Piscopo (R) a long-time supporter of the bills asked if she had permission to be on that private land. The woman didn't miss a beat in answering "no" and then had the gall to state it shouldn't make any difference!
When Rep Piscopo pressed upon her that she was in fact breaking the law it didn't faze her in the least. As CT is a Dem-ruled state in order for anything to be done the chairman of the committee and then the Speaker of the House would have had to take the matter up; needless to say they did NOTHING.
It was unreal that we were blocked for so long when hunting is perfectly safe and anti-hunters felt they could trespass at will and the legislature didn't do anything about it.
I'm glad we finally got our foot in the door but agree with many here that it's time to expand to state-wide, private land; keeping it private land takes the "public usage of state land" argument off the table.
And you're spot-on in that it's going to be a steep, uphill battle!
Best to you and yours in 2017-Happy New Year all!
I'm also stuck with no hunting on Sunday nonsense - all my farms are in those zones -
Really really annoying that a landowner can't decide what he wants to allow on his/her property for activities - but then again the state always knows what's "best" for us
I think Al pretty much nailed it!
The state is claiming that the deer herd is compromised in the area I am talking about, that why hunting was not allowed on sundays. I agree that the sightings in this area are not what they used to be. If the herd is down in this area then limit the tags. Maybe shutting down Sundays is the only way to manage is by reducing hunting time since the tag system is so flawed now
I was also in attendance with Mike in CT at those same state hearings and could not believe the mentality of the anti hunters who felt that they could go on private land without permission or consequences and were fearing for their safety. All we could do was shake our heads in disbelief.
I feel that Sunday hunting should be state wide. If zones such as 4a are experiencing low deer densities then keep the quota lower. Like Al said so perfectly, who cares what day of the week you fill your tags on? Sunday hunting has proven to be a very safe activity in the zones where it's legal today, so why not roll it out statewide? Oh wait...this is Connecticut.
I think its hard to argue that barring Sunday hunting in a given area doesn't reduce the total take in that area. To be clear I am against the Sunday restriction and agree it is ridiculous that the loudest arguments in opposition came from people promoting trespassing. In getting what we did passed I thought that one of our strongest arguments was it was unreasonable and likely unconstitutional to have the Sunday restriction in areas that also had replacement doe tags. But as a factual matter most people don't fill all their tags so barring Sunday hunting will almost certainly reduce the take in those areas with lower densities, just as a matter of simple math and probability.
Having zone specific tags would add more enforcement problems. From what I hear DEEP has experienced an issue with people getting replacement doe tags from deer killed out of zone 11 just by driving down to check it in Zone 11. Don't know if there is a simple solution on this.
When I cornered State Rep David Kiner (D) 59th District at a local lounge, and explained that same argument - nonhunters on private property without landowners permission, ARE TRESPASSING, he was perplexed and baffled that was the opposers argument - that they should have the right to trespass on Sundays without worrying of getting thorned by an arrow; he signed on, supported the bill and co-sponsored it. It's simple logic no matter what political party you belong to. It really blows my mind how some people feel they are entitled to do as they wish, even if its illegal activity without consequences.
I was at the hunting & fishing Expo in Hartford some 8 years ago. I spoke with a CT conservation officer regarding Sunday hunting with a bow. His response to me was that "It will never happen in your lifetime". Well he has been proven wrong due to the diligence of the people on this forum. There are many out there that are not like minded but if we band together, in time anything is possible
The 2017 CT legislative session starts tomorrow and runs until June 7. For the first time in 125 years, the State Senate has an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, (18 of each).
The House has 79 Democrats and 72 Republicans ( the closest it's Been in over 50 years).
Every vote counts!
Kerry Malloy told me that his brother Governor Dan Malloy wants a Sunday Hunting bill to sign this year. So: CONTACT YOUR LOCAL SENATORS AND REPS AND ASK (demand) THAT THEY SPONSOR AND SUPPORT A SUNDAY HUNTING BILL, tell them the Governor wants it!
We have an unpopular governor, and a projected 1.4 BILLION dollar budget deficit!!
He needs the support of Sportsmen. The message we need to send is: "You give us Sunday Hunting, we'll consider supporting you."
One thing that is interesting is they reduced tags for gun and muzzle loader. But then did not allow Sunday hunting for bow. No consistency. Just reduce tags for all in an area
I think the tag reduction is a joke. When your reducing them say 14 down to 10 per person it will have no effect. If they are going to reduce them in zone 4a then reduce them. If they are serious they would give 1 tag for bow and 1 for gun. The percentage of hunters killing 3 or more deer is too low to have an effect in a zone like 4a.
You all make good points, however, Sunday hunting has nothing to do with logic. It is all political. Like everyone else, I shared the same frustration in each of the years that the Sunday hunting bill made its way through the public hearings and legislative process, only to see that the bill would never get called for a vote or die in committee. This was despite the fact that it was a state sponsored bill in the first place! When I asked my legislature for her support, Beth Bye, she said she would vote yes but form me to not get my hopes up because the chairperson of the committee had already indicated they would never call it for a vote. Thats politics. Wish I could recall who the chairperson was at the time, but it really doesn't matter. The anti-hunters owned them. It was frustrating to see so much time, money and energy spent as we jumped through the hopes each year in total futility. The opposition would make any excuse and throw any obstacles in the path of the bill passing. If I recall, one of their totally lame arguments that forced an amendment one year was that the archer to put their name on their arrows. The same thing will happen if and when the DEEP ever decides to initiate a black bear season.
