Legal Hunting Time in Maine Today

Harvest restrictions, special seasons and hunting regulations for Maine`s hunting season vary by animal and season. Maine is divided into Wildlife Management Districts (WMDs), which determine the start and end dates of the regional season. For more information on obtaining licenses, permits, and regulations, visit the Maine Department of Fisheries and Wildlife website. Massachusetts is the only other state to completely ban hunting on Sundays. There are nine other states with some form of „blue law” restrictions, but no outright bans, including Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Such laws got their name because the Puritan rulers of the 18th century printed Sunday trade restrictions on blue paper. Laws were enacted so that workers could spend time at church or with their families. If you`re planning to explore the East Coast, Maine`s hunting seasons might be the place for you. The state offers deer, elk, bear and small game seasons in the fall and spring. One of these exceptions is coyote hunting. You can get a night coyote hunting license to hunt coyotes on the night of December 16 to August 31. Between these dates, from September 1 to December 15, the Commissioner of the Ministère des Pêches continentale et de la Faune may also appoint certain officers to hunt coyotes. To facilitate their hunting at night, coyote hunters can use artificial light during hunting.

Joel and Virginia Parker of Readfield filed a lawsuit in Kennebec County Superior Court, arguing that the Sunday hunting ban was archaic and prevented them from harvesting food for their families, which is in direct contradiction to the new amendment. To hold a hunting license in Maine, you not only need a valid hunting license and a license for the animal you want to pursue, but also: Now is the time to drop this outdated ban. We have wildlife biologists from Maine who say to take several deer this season (if you`ve pulled bonus tags). All hunting permits are at record levels, but we are still not meeting IFW harvest targets year after year. Each additional day of hunting will certainly not be a panacea. However, an extra day of hunting would be huge for those who work from Monday to Friday. At a time when everyone`s time is limited, we need to make it easier for people to participate in hunting. Deer hunting season begins on October 2 in Maine for archery. In Maine, the state legislature`s Sunday hunting ban has been lifted or revoked 35 times in the past 45 years. Another exception to the rule prohibiting night hunting is raccoon hunting.

However, there are additional requirements you must meet to hunt raccoons at night. First of all, you can hunt raccoons during the open season only at night. Secondly, the method of hunting is highly regulated. You can only hunt if you are accompanied by a dog and you can only use an electric flashlight to find raccoons that have been trees or kept at bay by your pet dogs. In addition, you can only use a rifle or handgun that uses .22 or less caliber ammunition. This weapon can only be loaded when a raccoon has been mounted or kept at bay. The lawsuit calls for the ban on Sunday hunting to be declared unconstitutional and lifted definitively. This time, the issues are somewhat different, as the prosecution now transfers the decision to the courts instead of demanding changes to the legislature.

The possibility of many more prosecutions, according to the precedent set in this case, is at stake. ** Seasonal dates vary by area and animals without wood or wood. Elk hunting is restricted to licence holders and only one moose can be caught per year. Elk hunting is restricted to licence holders and only one moose can be caught per year. Moose hunting seasons vary by location. According to the letter of the law, Maine operates under an implicit licensing structure, meaning it`s legal to hunt if the land is not made public. Of course, it`s kind of an unwritten rule to ask permission from the landowner, which most hunters follow. Finally, the general rule is that hunting cannot be carried out from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise.

However, this changes for migratory birds, which cannot be hunted from sunset until 30 minutes before sunrise. If you plan to hunt migratory birds in Maine, be sure to follow the state`s legal hunting seasons. Maine is one of the few states in the country that still bans hunting on Sundays. Is it time to abolish this rule? However, as with most laws, there are exceptions to Maine rules that make it illegal to hunt at night. However, these exceptions are still subject to the law that makes hunting in Maine illegal on Sunday, so hunters must stop before midnight on Saturday night and start after midnight on Sunday night. Between 1 and 15 September. December It is also illegal to use artificial light at night to illuminate, lift, locate or display wild animals or birds. This does not apply to raccoon hunting with electric flashlights or to hunting officers assigned to coyote hunting by the Commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Only 34% of respondents were in favor of lifting the Sunday ban completely and treating it like the other six days of the week, while 45% favored conditionally opening hunting on Sundays — meaning hunters would have to ask permission from the landowner to climb a stand. Maine passed a constitutional amendment to the right to food last November, guaranteeing state residents the right to grow and harvest food for personal consumption. Thanks to an interesting interpretation of the amendment, a recent lawsuit challenged Maine`s ban on Sunday hunting.

Coyote: Daytime hunting hours, see table above. Coyote hunting during the night coyote hunting season (December 16 to August 31) is legal from 1/2 hour after sunset to 1/2 hour before sunrise and ends every Saturday at midnight and continues on Mondays at 00:01. Maine`s hunting and conservation laws are vast and often very complex. Contact an experienced law firm that understands the nuances and pitfalls of the law to ensure that your enjoyment of nature does not lead to arrest. Contact Maine Criminal Defense Group today. You can start bird hunting in Maine on September 25, 2021. The regulations are very specific about what it means to hunt „at night”. „Overnight” means the hour between 30 minutes after sunset and the hour 30 minutes before sunrise the next day, according to the official Eastern Standard Time in Bangor, Maine. The Ministère des Pêches intérieurs et de la Faune has compiled a useful PDF of the legal hunting seasons for the 2014-15 hunting season based on this legal definition of „night”. Legal hunting seasons are based on sunrise/sunset in Bangor, Maine (Eastern Standard Time).