Michael A. Sawyers
Cumberland Times-News
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The Maryland General Assembly gathers every year to make new laws.
The Maryland Wildlife & Heritage Service, showing much more intelligence and restraint than the elected officials, meets every two years to create new hunting regulations.
It is most fascinating to watch these two journeys — sometimes toward the same goals — as they unfold in parallel universes.
Laws and regulations can actually accomplish the same things.
The politicians hold the trump card, though. If they can get enough people to go along with it, they can override the wildlife agency, passing for example a law that would allow squirrel hunting only on rainy Tuesday afternoons. The wildlife agency would then be required to place it in the regulation booklet and Natural Resources Police officers would be required to ticket squirrel hunters who are out on a sunny Wednesday morning.
That’s why it isn’t good, most of the time, for the General Assembly to dally in a political sense in matters of the scientific world. That’s why, too, Paul Peditto, the director of the W&HS, spends a lot of time at Senate and House bill hearings at this time of year explaining why certain bills would be real bad and other would be pretty good. He has had ample success doing so, by the way.
This year the wildlife agency has proposed a regulation that all archery hunters be allowed to use crossbows to kill deer. Obviously, somebody somewhere anticipated this and talked an elected official into filing a bill that would prohibit the W&HS from charging an extra fee to use a crossbow.
We all know that politicians sometimes sponsor a bill just to please constituents, knowing all the while that the thing will die and sometimes, behind the scenes, make sure that legislative death happens.
When it comes to hunting and fishing matters, I see more of that kind of thing in the West Virginia Legislature than in the Maryland General Assembly. But then that’s not surprising since the opening day of deer season might as well be an official state holiday because it brings Mountain State society to a halt anyway.
A politician’s return to the hallowed halls in Charleston could very well depend upon whether or not he agrees with the members of the Hoot and Holler Hunting Club, for example. Even if the bill fails, the delegate can tell the HHHC members, “Hey, I tried.”
There have been some very interesting things take place in Maryland’s legislative world this year.
Delegate Barbara Frush, who has been on the stinging end of this column a number of times (and rightly so) cast a committee vote thumbs up on a bill that would allow for a small amount of Sunday spring gobbler hunting in Allegany and Garrett counties.
I sincerely say to her and to her compatriot Delegate Virginia Clagett, who has joined her in anti-hunting legislation in the past, “Thanks, Babs. Thanks, Ginny.” And I mean it.
In fact, Frush has joined with our guy, Delegate Wendell Beitzel, in sponsoring a house bill that would allow the DNR to revoke not only the ability to buy a hunting license, but also the ability to hunt on your own land for certain repeat offenders.
That sounds like a good idea to me. Let’s hope it goes. Repeat offenders are bad.
And then there is the Sunday hunting issue. We now have some Sunday deer hunting and are hoping to get more here in Almost Maryland.
Sunday hunting cannot be set by regulation, but must come by decree of the General Assembly and the ink in the governor’s pen.
Consequently, we have a hodgepodge of Sunday deer hunting in place throughout the state and a hodgepodge squared awaiting us if certain bills now being considered become law. It may become almost as difficult to know where and when you can hunt deer on a Sunday in Maryland as it already is to know in which trout stream you can use what lure or bait and when. But any Sunday hunting is good.
What else?
Oh, there is House Bill 858. Annually, bills are introduced to restrict or eliminate trapping. This one would make it illegal to use leghold or body gripping traps anywhere in Montgomery County. If it passes, those associated with the rabid animal industry are likely to do a good business and suburban cat owners will wonder why Boots didn’t come back inside after going out for pee pee. The coyotes and foxes will just smile and lick their chops.
Ever try to get away from a rabid coon? You’ll probably have a chance in the near future in places such as Gaithersburg and Aspen Hill.
Have those opposed to bear hunting in Maryland actually given up? Probably not, but it may be that they have recognized that a legislative answer to their warped sense of the animal kingdom is not within their grasp. “There have been no bills introduced this year to end or restrict Maryland’s successful and well-managed bear hunting season,” he said as he awaits his bear rug.
So. We are on the downhill side of our legislative and regulatory trips. Soon we will know what we can and can’t do with our rifles, shotguns and bows during the next hunting season.
Stay tuned, because there is a chance hunting history will be made this year in Maryland. If and when that happens, you’ll see it here first.
Contact Outdoor Editor Mike Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.
