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Massachusetts Sunday Hunting Initiatve

https://www.change.org/p/2017-massachusetts-sunday-hunting-initiative?recruiter=585569693&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

Please support our 2017 Massachusetts Sunday Hunting Initiative. We are getting an early jump on this, and have nearly two hundred signatures already. There is another petition on my page, but as there were sharing issues, and fb is but a small part of the internet, we chose to use change.org for a wider platform. This link can be shared, emailed, sent in a message, or posted on social media sites and message boards. Thank you for your time and consideration. Len K HWM

respectfully disagree, compromising with the non hunting folks that use the trails for walking, dog walking, biking etc and want to feel safe during gun season is very important. If we get hunting on sundays, you're going to see a lot more towns push for no hunting or bows only. Bad for the long term

Not sure where I sit on this. But I would be curious how this would impact doe and buck tag allocation. I would guess we would see reductions.

I too am not a fan. I know I love this sport and make time to get in the woods. I feel like Sundays would just let people who half as* it, just wing it, or walk around and see if they see anything. With the east coast being more populated, might make deer nocturnal. Deff would be a bonus for the guys out west....not for us east side guys.

VT allows sunday hunting, NH allows sunday hunting and I hunt both. I see people of all platforms enjoying the outdoors together. In MA there would be little to no bad juju with the non hunters. Ya some will be butt hurt but will get over it eventually. Besides non hunters can carry out their activity of choice year round 7 days a week and we are restricted to a few months a year and 6 days a week. I say they should compromise with us instead of us continually compromising with them. Many many times I have been walking down a power line in VT or on public land on a cart road in NH and pass a couple of mountain bikers or hikers while toting my dads old model 94 30-30 only to have them nod and keep going or stop and ask me if I have seen anything. Every single encounter I've had with a non hunter while hunting has been positive or neutral. There's absolutely no evidence that it is unsafe or will push for town hunting bans or archery only towns which is not enforced by state game wardens anyway. Also if a town does become archery only it will also become safer for walkers, bikers, and hikers and will likely put them at ease knowing guys aren't walking around with shotguns. Those half assers and just wing it guys will be out there on other days as well not just sundays. I have been successful "winging it" on new public land during shotgun season just by going for a walk and setting up on fresh sign. I don't see anything negative about that. I'm for sunday hunting in all forms because its bad enough most of us work mon- fri only to have a single day a week for a few months a year. That extra day will definitely benefit more than it will hinder. My 2 cents I guess. Have a good off season everyone!

I sent it. With all of us working stiffs it is good to be able to hunt Sundays when the weather sucks on Saturday which as we all know it is usually the case. I believe with kids and wives that a lot of hunters would still either hunt Saturday or Sunday but not always both. I was slammed at work during the season and could not use all my V days in November so Sunday hunting would have been welcomed. As for the hikers they have all year and I try not to hunt spots where it has heavy traffic. That's my 2 cents.

I am all for it! Driving two hours from school every weekend, and not being able to hunt on Sunday sucks! And everyone knows that every single sunday is an absolutely perfect hunting day. Cloudy, cool, and no wind!

I am in !

Moons, instead of giving you Sundays I think they oughta take away your Saturdays, save some deer for the rest of us ;-)

I mostly agree with Buckshot89, don't think all those negatives will necessarily manifest. The most important thing we can do to avoid the negatives is for ALL hunters to make every interaction with non-hunters positive, or neutral in the worst case. Unfortunately there are too many "hunters" out there who aren't smart enough to realize that, or they're just a-holes in general. I support Sundays in general, or even archery only. Problem is, here in MA we can petition all we want, we're not likely to see either...

Bruce - I had the same idea. Lets not hunt Sunday, but only let Moons hunt Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Make it at least a little hard on the kid. He he he (just kidding Moons!)

I also agree with your comments RE Sundays. Ill review the link and likely sign on.

HWM, Question. and I'm not trying to be a dink...

I see it will be submitted to the state senate. Is this ultimately your petition, so a petition from you to the senate essentially - showing a good number (hopefully) of signatures? Or, is this actually part of something being done by say MassBowhunters or a similar organization? It feels like this should be funneled through a group like that which has previously established political clout to really hit the right people and have the greatest odds of success.

For example, Reb Anne Gobi (who voted against and has said she will refuse the leg. pay raise they just sent to Gov Baker) has been super positive with rural land use issues - be it helping with trail access for mountain biking or previous willingness to help push sunday hunting initiatives. Perhaps looking at legislatures who have been positive towards hunting initiatives and sending it to all of them would increase odds of forward motion.

Not downplaying what you are doing. Im just curious if it's a good idea that will just fall on deaf ears via not reaching enough or the correct people?

Flawed logic with some of you guys, there is no compromise with an anti hunter and Sunday hunting won't change those opinions. Go for it, I signed the petition.

Locate boston bow hunters facebook page, join and attach this link. There is a lot of traffic on this page for Massachusetts hunters. For this to pass, you need grass roots efforts. I did see somewhere where bow hunting on sunday for private property had good traction. I would start there. good luck

I literally just shared it to every MA hunting page I know and belong to on FB.

Wow, just wow. Some of the comments on here are just plain amazing. No wonder we as hunters can't get anything done, because we can't just come together as hunters. Nope. Too many people on their soap boxes looking down on others for the implement they choose to hunt with or those that have jobs and responsibilities that limit the amount of time they can hunt which some choose to describe as "half-ass". You do realize the Anti-hunters don't care what implement you use or how many days you get out, they paint us with one big brush classifying us all as "Hunters". Yet we continue to divide ourselves thinking that it makes a difference to those that oppose us.

Signed! I'm fortunate to be able to manipulate my work schedule to make it out mid week, but I know a lot of guys can only make it out Saturday and Sunday.

And I also agree with you guys, the anti's end goal is to have us hunting no days.

non hunters work all week too. (except those bernie supporters) I'm glad my non hunter, nature loving wife, hyperactive dog and I can romp in the woods for a couple hours every sunday without worrying about some yahoo who is shooting at any flash of brown. I would much rather fight to protect public land or second amendment rights. Pick your battles

as a hunter I also feel bad walking through / near someones set-up with dog and kids in tow. Hunt Saturday / Family Sunday seems to be a perfectly reasonable compromise.

And non-hunters have almost 10 months (2 weeks shotgun deer, 2 weeks muzzleloader and 1 month turkey) when they can walk in the woods without any hunters (other than a few small game hunters or bow hunters) in the woods.

So let's keep restricting the hunters because the non-hunters (who by the way didn't contribute to the funds to purchase those WMAs) don't have enough time to walk in the woods.

Non-hunters have 12 months. They go out even during hunting season. They don't care. I work Monday through Friday and can't hunt mornings during the week even if I take a vacation day because I get the kids ready and put them on the bus. My wife is a teacher, so she leave for work at 5:30am. I can hunt saturday mornings or weekdays after 9am if I take a vacation day. So sunday hunting would be very helpful for me. I signed it and sent it to 30 people.

I prefer and support Sunday hunting without any additional restrictions.

But sometimes small steps are easier. Gun control is practiced as a slow chipping away of our rights, city by city, town by town, state by state. Using that approach to gain Sunday hunting might be more effective. The argument against Sunday hunting is usually portrayed as safety on public lands. We know that it is a flawed argument but it is effective for people who don't want to research the facts. To address that argument, initial Sunday hunting could be limited to private property with written permission and WMA's. It would be starting point and probably more palatable to non hunters (forget animal rightists) no hope there .

Cougar your nuts.....these liberals can use woods 24/7 365 , we should be able to on Sunday during our short seasons.....period . It's discrimatory against us hunters

Signed and donated!

well idealistically i'm a libertarian so I have major issues with government control of just about everything... from licensing firearm possession for a yearly fee (ahem, F U MA), to selling hunting licenses individually for every species, where does over regulation end? BUT, if it wasn't for some of these regulations there would be nothing to hunt... and also, its not 1650 anymore, so the no-government ship has sailed. There has to be compromise somewhere. I shake my head at arguments that start with "my job only allows this" or "i object to the laws because (__ insert personal issue here __)". Laws are not made for YOU, they are made for US. Philosophically deciding "what is best?" can only be done by step back and reasoning from the perspective of each interest group and saying what works for everyone? I understand guys get pinched by life and want more time in the woods. But I also understand that folks who are conservationists, outdoor enthusiasts and non-hunters want to feel safe enjoying what they love. We'll never win over most of the anti-hunters but I'd prefer to have the good faith and good will of the non-hunting but supportive folks on our side when the real issues come to the table. No hunting on Sundays is a powerful olive branch.

I still think it would be worthwhile speaking with fish&game and a wildlife manager, because increasing hunting effort on Sunday means they would likely have to reduce effort in some other way to compensate. This could be through a reduction in season length or reduction in tag allocation. These are things we should consider before we move forward.

I don't really have a dog in this fight,I'm lucky enough to have a job that gives me the flexibility to hunt during the week. I know a few guys however that put in 50+ hours in the fall,pay all the licensing fees,who truly care about this state and it's wildlife,and those guys get to hunt one day? I think it's just an issue of what's right. If it means I see fewer deer,but Bob and Jim get an extra day to hunt,I'll just have to see less deer.

Hunting in all forms collectively is the most popular sport in America. That being said if you take all things in consideration and look at all the true accidents and negligent activities documented combined it is still the safest activity/sport in the country. I read an article in field and stream years ago that compared it to most popular activities and sports in America at that time and one is more likely to be injured in a friendly tennis match, softball game, or in a game of horseshoes as a participant or spectator than one would in a hunting situation as a participant or an observer (hiker, biker, bird watcher, etc.). So the "safety" issue is non existent. If you're a non hunter conducting your activity of choice during hunting season and feel unsafe well I guess you have many more opportunities throughout the year outside of hunting season than a hunter does if they feel compromised hunting shared public land because they are restricted to specific times. Also if you are hunting on shared public land as a hunter you take that risk of having your set compromised and most people accept that and continue to hunt anyway without. Wear blaze orange put a blaze orange vest on your pup if your worried I mean come on man VT and NH don't have any problems and most people are smart enough to take necessary responsibility if they go for a hike when hunters are out.

Cougar where do you hunt that non-hunting public goes into the woods and fears being shot?.....little exaggerated don't you think?

Another good reason to support Sunday hunting is that if you don't see squat on Saturday you can go bird or small game hunting Sunday.

or deer hunting again spike lol

I think there is a little bit of "I" or "My pet" will get shot mentality in some non hunters. They have never seen a "Hunter does something nice" story on the news, they have only seen a "Hunter shoots buddy/walker/horse/car/etc" story on the news. It's like anything, we get a warped view of reality when the only information we are presented with shows something a certain way. Watch the local news and you may think every home owner will experience a fire, given they seem to show them every night. Just wont happen in reality. Any way, I do think people have that sense, due to a warped sense of reality. Tough to overcome that.

I do support sunday hunting, even if they said they had to "shorten" the season - say instead of a 6 week archery season it was only 5... but you could hunt sunday. Sounds good. Then again, every time I hear that, the next thought I have is: If sunday opens up so much more opportunity to kill deer/game, then reduce bag limits. Fine, fewer doe permits and a single buck become the limit - on the theory that more people have a chance to fill a tag with sunday being open. I'd be ok with that too.

The increased opportunity is good.

Increased opportunity would be phenomenal. Also the bag limits wont really increase or if they do it wont decimate the herd at all. Think about it the state issues XXX amount of tags total (2 bucks state wide or doe according to zone). The state bases the tag numbers on the amount of deer they know of roaming the state and the densities in certain zones hence the different doe permit opportunities as well as previous license sales. The state can safely harvest the exact amount of tags sold in that given year and not impact the herd all that much. Plus not every hunter will be successful so there will still be plenty to go around.

I'm not saying I believe walking through the woods during hunting season here is unsafe, but this isn't VT or NH. Its Mass. Our rights as hunters and firearm owners are some of the most restrictive in the country. If say, 20 % of us hunt and 20 % are anti's... we need as much of the other 60 percent supporting our cause as possible to protect our rights in the voting booth. A vast majority of my non-hunting friends appreciate no hunting on sunday laws, which is why they exist in the first place, in response to a majority opinion. (and maybe Puritanical wives) The last thing I want is to sour that passive support for our hunting tradition in ways that will be detrimental to protecting 2nd amendment rights or preventing no hunting town bylaws in the future.

Buckshot - Question for you. My understanding was that tags are based on historical hunter success. So, say 100 tags were given (for anterless) and they say we have a 15% (guessing) hunter success rate, then they are assuming in X days of hunting about 15 hunters out of the 100 tags allotted will be filled. Said differently, if the state felt that zone could handle 15 antlerless deer killed, then they would provide 100 tags for that zone.

Is it actually that they literally are hoping all 100 tags would be filled?

Cougar, did you know there is more land preserved for NONhunters than there is public land for us hunters? In MA, only 49920 acres are deemed public and huntable. MA Audubon alone has 35000 acres protected! Only 4.6% of land is protected for hunters in this state. I am not going to even spout the additional acreage towns have that don't allow hunting, its too long to list.... SMH

Xman

4,992 seems super low. State forests, WMA's, federal flood control lands, National seashore, many "trustees of reservation" lands. Look at the MASS wildlands mapper. Especially in the West there is a lot of green there. This would be an interesting total number to have.

Tekoa

I don't think they are necessarily hoping for 100% success. However, they realize its highly unlikely for every tag sold to be filled. I know the harvest counts are a huge factor which dictates the allotted tag numbers for sure. I meant to add harvest numbers in my OP.

.......and this is one of the reasons MA will never see Sunday hunting, because the "Hunters" cannot even agree on it, unbelievable.....

It will never happen in this Communist State, ever.

You'll never see sunday gun hunting, but might see sunday bow hunting.

The state should start with Sunday hunting on private property with written permission.

Tekoa, yeup typo there its missing a 0 :) LOL

Only thing I have to say in response to the naysayers is we are only talking about ten days here. Maybe eleven. Thats all. And the opportunities this will open for working dads to take their kids hunting? Priceless.

Don't understand those who would be against this effort. Even if you're not going to hunt on Sunday, for whatever reason, let the guys who want to hunt, hunt. I would not be hunting Sundays even if it was legal but I would not be opposed to allowing others to hunt. Personally, I look forward to the day off. Clean out the truck, organize my gear, watch football etc....I also attend church with Lisa in the morning so my Sunday is already full. As far as the anti's and the non hunting public go, too bad. As sportsmen we also have the right to enjoy our time in the woods.

Before daylight savings change I can only hunt after work and Saturdays. Sunday Bowhunting close to home sounds really good to me. We couldnt buy beer on Sunday, they changed that.

I have not heard anyone mention the deer etc... Do the animals deserve a day of rest ?

As much as I would like to hunt Sundays I think its nice to have a day to scout/move stands without worrying about screwing someone elses hunt up.

gdc23 is that for real ? Do the animals deserve a day of rest ??

Xman - not being confrontational, I'm just astonished at those numbers. Just using Trustees lands as an example. The person who donates the land has say on what uses are allowed. (I used to be on a property committee for the Trustees and learned this via them during that appointment). In areas close to me, I'd say 2/3-3/4 of the trustees lands are legal. There are massive amounts of open to hunt DCR lands (not including quabbin), lots of WMA's. And, Army corps lands that I can think of are legal. Add in state forest and town forest land and there is a great amount of open ground.

That said, if you count towns with bylaws restricting access, audobon, quabbin due to restrictions or wachusset (closed) and some local parks / forests in bylaw towns... I guess I start to see the numbers.

My suspicion though is that eastern MA has WAY more land in that no hunting camp than central or western.

I'm just amazed at the land totals you were noting because my local experience is that there is a lot of huntable ground.

Will, those numbers of 49K acres is public land noted to allow hunting. I am sure there are undercover places that drive those numbers up but its not public information or listed by fish and game.

Xman - so the 49K then is WMA and state forest (likely if MDFW is noting it)? I bet that's it...

All for Sunday hunting.

I wonder what hunters who are Jewish think about this? It seems to me the current law could be viewed as discriminatory against Jewish hunters who attend temple on Saturday and then can't hunt on Sunday--their only free day on the weekend. Imagine how folks would scream if the law banned hunting on Saturday but allowed it on Sunday. It seems like allowing hunting on both Saturday and Sunday would be most respectful to hunters of all religions.

This should not be a matter of hunting or not. It should be the reversal of the archaic Blue Laws in this state. Thirty years ago some stores were closed, all liquor store were closed and there were many things that could not be done before noon on Sundays. This is the last Blue Law that dates back to the Puritans. REPEAL ALL OF THE BLUE LAWS!!! Smile gang Spring is here! Let's Go

Ec, I'm screwed. I was born catholic and married jewish. I work Monday thru friday. This stinks for me. Let's go, I agree. Old laws need updating. They use that thought for BS gun control, so why not hunting. Liquor can now be sold on sunday, why not allow for hunting. Like I always say, we just need everyone to show respect to one another and everything will be fine. If hunters and non-hunters can show respect Monday thru saturday, why not sunday? The law is old and outdated. It needs to go. Just tell them "let it go." Sorry, I have kids and could pass on the Frozen movie remark.

I see the "hunters" who initially said they were against Sunday hunting at the beginning of this thread have nothing to say now.........probably because they are just trolls of the "anti" agenda trying to get us conservationists pitted against each other, wouldn't surprise me one bit. And if they are truly "hunters" they should be ashamed of themselves, start golfing more and sell your bows and guns to those who deserve them, what a joke to our tradition, pathetic. Glad I'm moving to the Big Sky country, where hunting is a tradition and a part of society's culture!

Everyone has a right to their own opinion Phil. You call them anti trolls, and here you are trying to get them riled up. Thus, making you a troll also. To me I can care less about if we can hunt on Sunday not. It really doesn't matter to me either way because my days of Tuesday and Wednesday ( A hunters/fishermens dream. Never anyone out there), but I do get it. Most people have the weekends off, and only get to go out on Saturday. I would have signed it to help those people out, but there are other things in that bill that I don't agree with. If that makes me a "fake hunter" in some peoples eyes. So be it

+1 Murphy, excellent response.

X2 Murphy

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