Maryland Legislature Passes Sunday Hunting
The same winter weather that battered anglers played havoc with the two-week modern firearms deer season. Yet hunters managed to take slightly more deer this year.

If it wasn't snow, it was wind or fog that kept hunters out of their tree stands. On the first day, winds contributed to an 18 percent drop from a year ago, to 12,634 deer.

Opening day was followed by the first day of Sunday hunting since Colonial times. Sabbath shooters killed 2,899 deer in 12 counties to bring the total to 15,533.

But the winds and precipitation returned to chase hunters inside. The people who operate check stations said they couldn't remember a year when they had so many idle periods.

Despite the poor conditions, hunters took an estimated 42,166 deer compared to 41,469 during the firearms period last year, a 1.7 percent increase, the Department of Natural Resources said Friday. http://www.sunspot.net/sports/outdoors/bal-sp.thomson21dec21,1,6118162.story

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Ehrlich signs Sunday hunting law
Archers, shooters given extra day each per year to bag deer in 12 counties
http://www.sunspot.net/sports/outdoors/bal-sp.hunting23apr23,0,6556180.story?coll=bal-sports-outdoors
Originally published April 23, 2003             [bold ours]

With the stroke of a pen yesterday, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. ended a 280-year ban on Sunday deer hunting in Maryland by authorizing one day each for archers and shooters.
The law allows hunting on private land in 12 rural counties in Western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore. 
 
"I never thought I'd live long enough to see this," said former Del. Michael Weir, 79, who championed Sunday hunting legislation during his 28 years in the House of Delegates.
 
Last year, the state legislature approved a single Sunday of hunting, only to see the bill vetoed by then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening.
 
Weir attributed this year's successful campaign to growing public frustration over the damage caused by the state's burgeoning deer population, estimated at 250,000.
 
"You have more people being hurt in car accidents with deer, and people are tired of deer eating their bushes and causing crop damage," he said. "Bambi's lost a few friends over the years."
 
The law sets aside the first Sunday in November for archers and the first Sunday in modern firearms season. (This year they fall on Nov. 2 and 30.)
 
It continues the ban in Central Maryland and Frederick, Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties.
 
The Department of Natural Resources will develop hunting regulations that incorporate the new law, a process that will take about four months, said Mark Hoffman, who oversees legislative matters for the agency.
 
Sunday hunting was the highest priority for sportsmen's groups and the 70-member bipartisan Maryland Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus. The bill was approved by overwhelming margins in both the House and Senate.
 
Animal rights advocates and recreational groups such as equestrians and bird watchers lobbied Ehrlich to veto the measure and expressed disappointment that he did not.
 
Michael Markarian, president of the Fund for Animals, noted that, during last fall's gubernatorial campaign, Ehrlich said he opposed Sunday hunting in a questionnaire from the 20,000-member Maryland Sportsmen's Association.
 
"It's outrageous that he flip-flopped and sided with hunters, and it's ironic that he signed a bill on Earth Day that will force thousands of people who enjoy wildlife watching to stay indoors for their safety," Markarian said.
 
Markarian predicted voters would remember the governor's action in three years. [Doesn't matter, they have little politcal clout, clearly nothing matching the other side of the coin - sportsmen]
 
"This is Gov. Ehrlich's animal protection record in his first year. He thumbed his nose at the people," he said.
 
DNR biologists say they need to add days within the five-month deer-hunting season if they are to have any chance of keeping the population in check.
 
Forty states permit some form of Sunday hunting, although the states bordering Maryland do not. West Virginia allows local jurisdictions to decide, and 41 of 55 counties voted last year to prohibit Sunday hunting.
 
In a compromise, Maryland lawmakers reduced the number of hunting Sundays in the bill from six to two and required DNR to issue a report by Jan. 15 on the deer population and the public's reaction to the additional hunting days.
 
Steve Huettner, president of the MSA, said the bill was extending to hunters the same right enjoyed by other outdoor recreational groups.
 
Huettner, who stood behind Ehrlich as he signed the bill and received one of the ceremonial pens, smiled as he put it in his pocket.
 
"You know what I'm going to do with it?" he asked. "I'm going to use it to fill out my first tag on the first deer I take on Sunday."

The Maryland legislature has passed a bill to permit limited Sunday hunting. 

House Bill 679, sponsored by Rep. Boutin (R-Harford) will permit Sunday deer hunting on private property with written permission from the landowner. The bill also increases penalties for trespassing.  House Bill 679 passed the House by a vote of 87 to 41 and in the Senate by a vote of 33 to 11.

It does not allow Sunday hunting on public land. 

The bill now awaits Governor Ehrlich’s signature. 

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance worked with the Maryland Sportsmen’s Association and other conservation groups to urge thousands of sportsmen statewide to contact their state legislators in support of the measure. 

House Bill 679 will provide an additional day in the field for Maryland sportsmen, many of whom work during the week and on Saturdays.  Currently, 35 states permit Sunday hunting without restrictions and eight states allow it under special restrictions.

http://www.ussportsmen.org/interactive/features/Read.cfm?ID=1056