Of course the decision(s) to allow or ban Sunday hunting are mostly politically and religiously driven and science has almost nothing to do with it.

In this particular article my focus and comments were based on the state of Maine. Maine is a state that for the most part doesn’t have a problem with too many deer. In fact much of the geographical area of Maine suffers from fewer deer than the fish and game would like.

In cases like this, science has to have precedence in determining the number of hunting days etc. That still doesn’t mean there can be no Sunday hunting. It means that the length of season might have to be adjusted.

In states that have too many deer and are trying to be creative to find ways to get harvest up and hunters in the woods, poses a different problem.

Make no mistake about it though, those opposed to hunting will use whatever means possible to achieve that. If that means fighting to keep Sunday hunting banned, then so be it.

I do believe is many of the southern states that ban Sunday hunting, i.e. VA, WVA, SC, NC, those states have a strong opposition for religious reasons.

When I looked into the issue more closely in some of these states, I was surprised to see that that opposition to Sunday hunting wasn’t coming from anti-hunters but from hunters with a strong religious background (religious referring to those who believe in keeping the Sabbath holy.)

In short, I agree that generally speaking, your observation that Sunday hunting bans reflect more liberal states, but I don’t believe that is THE determining factor…..yet.

Of course the decision(s) to allow or ban Sunday hunting are mostly politically and religiously driven and science has almost nothing to do with it.

In this particular article my focus and comments were based on the state of Maine. Maine is a state that for the most part doesn’t have a problem with too many deer. In fact much of the geographical area of Maine suffers from fewer deer than the fish and game would like.

In cases like this, science has to have precedence in determining the number of hunting days etc. That still doesn’t mean there can be no Sunday hunting. It means that the length of season might have to be adjusted.

In states that have too many deer and are trying to be creative to find ways to get harvest up and hunters in the woods, poses a different problem.

Make no mistake about it though, those opposed to hunting will use whatever means possible to achieve that. If that means fighting to keep Sunday hunting banned, then so be it.

I do believe is many of the southern states that ban Sunday hunting, i.e. VA, WVA, SC, NC, those states have a strong opposition for religious reasons.

When I looked into the issue more closely in some of these states, I was surprised to see that that opposition to Sunday hunting wasn’t coming from anti-hunters but from hunters with a strong religious background (religious referring to those who believe in keeping the Sabbath holy.)

In short, I agree that generally speaking, your observation that Sunday hunting bans reflect more liberal states, but I don’t believe that is THE determining factor…..yet.

After reading this and your other article “How much is a hunter worth?”, there appears to be an obvious “trend” that you have failed to mention (for the most part). That trend is that hunting is not allowed on Sunday in areas that that tend to be more liberal and less supportive of hunting in all its forms and times. This is true not only of the northeastern US, but also of Canada. My intention is certainly not to start any debate about politics, but didn’t you also notice that trend?
There are state and provincial departments which support the idea of Sunday hunting but are unable to get it passed into law, suggesting that politics, not science is reason for the Sunday hunting ban. Most the Sunday hunting bans originated because of religion, but those bans that persist today do so largely because of a general fear of and opposition to hunting. If the experts (the managers and biologists) support hunting on Sunday, then why should nonexperts be allowed to stop it?
Thanks for your interest and efforts on discussing this issue!
TMR

After reading this and your other article “How much is a hunter worth?”, there appears to be an obvious “trend” that you have failed to mention (for the most part). That trend is that hunting is not allowed on Sunday in areas that that tend to be more liberal and less supportive of hunting in all its forms and times. This is true not only of the northeastern US, but also of Canada. My intention is certainly not to start any debate about politics, but didn’t you also notice that trend?
There are state and provincial departments which support the idea of Sunday hunting but are unable to get it passed into law, suggesting that politics, not science is reason for the Sunday hunting ban. Most the Sunday hunting bans originated because of religion, but those bans that persist today do so largely because of a general fear of and opposition to hunting. If the experts (the managers and biologists) support hunting on Sunday, then why should nonexperts be allowed to stop it?
Thanks for your interest and efforts on discussing this issue!
TMR