The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Services presented the Wildlife Advisory Commission with a list of proposed changes for the upcoming seasons. The commission will review the proposals and take them into consideration. The process requires a 30-day comment period which will end on June 12. During this period, the Maryland Administrative, Executive and Legislative committees will review the proposals as well.
Below is a list of some of the proposals presented the WAC.
- Managed Hunt Permit – Simplifies what once was a multiple fee structure system to hunt on certain Maryland State Park lands.
- Rails and snipe – Will require non-toxic shot be used to hunt these species in the future. Also, the bag limit for king rails is reduced to one per day.
- Beaver and otter – Run the beaver and otter seasons concurrently and eliminate beaver trapping zones.
- Trapping – Trap size and placement restrictions modified.
- Black bear – Expand the hunting area to include all of Garrett and Allegany Counties. Requires individuals who kill or wound a black bear to report it to the Department within 24 hours, except for holders of black bear hunting permits for which there are existing reporting requirements.
- Wild turkey- Prohibit the use of electronic or motorized decoys, allow for the use of handguns in the fall season and restrict shot size for shotguns to 4, 5 and 6.
- Sika deer – Add Caroline and Talbot counties to the list of counties open to sika deer hunting.
- Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) – Restrictions on carcass importation and reporting requirements for hunter-killed deer and elk from those states where CWD has been identified.
Tom Remington
