On the Sunday Hunting debate a lot if the proposal to allow Falconry Hunting on Sundays passes. Last night I attended district 5 public meeting about wildlife proposals for the coming year. One of them is to open up Sunday hunting for falconry which according to NCWRC is not covered under the Sunday Hunting ban in the State Statues. I already knew this because I’ve debated the Sunday Hunting Issue on numerous occasions and for the record I’m opposed to changing the law. Now my opposition is somewhat mild in the sense that I’m not going out of my way to prevent the law from being changed nor am I voting for individuals based on their views on this subject.
As fate would have it I was sitting next to one of the pro supporters who was on the local TV news with me a while back. We’re friends and have even hunted a time or two together and talk on line some. The question in the open part of the hearing came up about how come falconry could be allowed but Sunday Hunting in general could not be allowed. The spokesman for the Wildlife Commission said that the law in question was passed in 1869 and it did not address hunting with falcons which means the Wildlife Commission has the authority to open up Sundays for this type of hunting. I then specifically asked if the law addressed archery or not. The spokesman said no it only banned the use of firearms to hunt with on Sunday’s. This means that it is within the NCWRC authority to open up bow hunting on Sundays just as it is for them to open up falconry.
I find it interesting that every year they dodge the Sunday hunting ban by saying it requires the law makers to change the law when in actuality they could open it up to archers. Once this information was realized by many in the room there was a flurry of folks going on the record urging them to bring this proposal up as soon as possible.
You can hear the recording I made of this exchange on my radio show this week, Moose Droppings Fridays at 1 pm.
