It's October and time for hunting and baseball.  Imagine if the Red Sox scored five points in the first inning tonight and then say “We have enough points.  We will only pitch for the rest of the game.  We'll also agree to play as many innings as the Ray's would like.”

Maine hunters do that every year.  We never seem to GAIN any ground, just sit around waiting for HSUS to come attack us again.  If you wonder what they have been up to lately, they are still attacking hunting in other states (one method of take at a time), have made it nearly impossible to breed dogs in Pennsylvania, and are working on Massachusetts, and have even started their own Veterinary Medical Association.  

So what have Maine hunters done to shore up our hunting rights while the HSUS has been pestering other folks?  Nothing.  Not a damn thing.

We ought to be expanding hunting rights in Maine.  It doesn't matter if we win or not, we ought to be trying, because that puts the anti's on defense.  They spend their time and money trying to defeat our initiative.  If we loose the inning, at least we don't go backwards.

So what do I propose?  There are a lot of things that could be changed in this state to improve hunting rights.  However, I also propose that if any of these ideas are not sound from a Wildlife Biology or Forestry perspective, we do not move forward on them.

Sunday Hunting.  Yes, we've tried before and failed before.  I propose we initiate Sunday Hunting in wildlife management areas (the ones bought with hunter's money, not ATV money) and on large tracts of land, such as paper company property.  Oh, and you should be allowed to hunt your own land on Sunday too.

Tax breaks on un-posted land.  If public access is allowed on private land, there is a huge benefit to everyone.  This should be reflected in the tax rates.  What I propose wouldn't effect small land owners much, but it would encourage large land owners to keep their land open to the public.  Basically, post your land, pay more taxes.

Allow hunting of Cottontail Rabbits and Spruce Grouse.  These are two species that are “rare” in Maine, but are not rare by any stretch of the imagination.  We are on the northern edge of one and the southern edge of the other.  Cottontails are legal game in New Hampshire.  Spruce Grouse are legal in the neighboring Canadian provinces.  OK, here's what happens a few miles from where these animals are legal game.  A bird flies up with the same shape and manors, and similar color to the Ruffed Grouse.  You are accustomed to shooting the Ruffed grouse, which flies up to 20 MPH through dense woods to disappear.  To shoot them you have to see them, then shoot.  So you made a mistake, shot the wrong bird, and are a criminal.  Most folks who make this mistake dump the bird in the woods and leave the area.

My proposal, which sounded logical to a former Maine and Vermont Wildlife Biologist (currently a Wildlife Biologist in another state),  would be to allow incidental take of these animals.  (This is for Spruce Grouse, but a similar deal would work for bunnies.)  If you shoot a Spruce Grouse you put it in your bag.  It counts against your bag and possession limit for grouse.  You clip a wing and attach a tag to it indicating your name and where and when you shot the bird.  You turn in your wings within 14 days to any game check-in station, to be turned in to IF&W.  The wing would give an indication of the size (age) and gender of the bird, the tag would give an indication of the distribution.  Maine biologists have very little understanding of how many and where these birds live in the state.  You solve several problems at once.  First stop turning hunters into criminals.  Second, the spruce grouse are eaten by hunters (a punishment, I hear, that will ensure you never shoot one again).  Third, the state gets FREE information about the numbers and distribution of these species in Maine.  

Hire a Grouse Biologist.  This is a no-brainer.  It's the second most hunted animal in the state and we do zero research on it.  Most states put most of their biology dollars on the game animals that bring revenue to their state.

Make “Them” Pay.  Almost all the money for wildlife and outdoor activities comes from a few sources:  1) Pittman Robertson hidden federal 11% tax on guns (10% on handguns), ammunition, and archery equipment, and 2) sale of hunting and fishing licenses, and 3) registration fees on recreational vehicles and boats.  I propose that since we have to share our Wildlife Management Areas with bird watchers, hikers, kayakers, etc. they should pay too.  There should be a hidden 10% state tax on binoculars, bicycles, canoes, fishing tackle, tents, sleeping bags, etc.  Basically any equipment used for outdoor recreation that isn't already taxed federally.  This money should go directly to IF&W to fund their programs.  If I have to put up with a mountain biker riding through my dog training session in a WMA, he should be paying something towards the effort.  Don't complain about the $100 extra he'd spend on the bike, I spent $200 extra on the shotgun I carry.  (Because the tax is at the wholesale level, the increase in cost to the consumer is about 20%.)

At the time Pittman Robertson was enacted (1937), hunters and anglers were presumed to be the only folks enjoying the outdoors.  Today somewhere between 70% and 95% of the folks using the land purchased and managed with P-R money are non-hunters.

Repeal the Sales Tax on outdoor recreational equipment.  You know I wouldn't recommend raising taxes.  If there was no sales tax on all the items I listed above, plus guns and ammunition, even more of these items would sell here.  We'd recover the money in our hidden tax, remember, but the money would be directed to the IF&W.

Allow IF&W to expand seasons and methods of take to meet goals.  It seems to me there are a few species in Maine that we don't kill enough of each year.  If we killed too many, you know they'd shorten seasons, change the rules, and make it harder to kill them.  Well, if we aren't killing enough, they should have the power to lengthen seasons, loosen the rules, expand the legal hunting methods to meet the sound wildlife biological goals.

Spring Bear Season.  This goes with the above, but it's one thing I know we need.  When the bear was over-hunted, the spring season was eliminated.  We don't shoot enough bears now, but the spring season has not come back.  It is traditional, and it is “sporting.”  As an added benefit, the meat is leaner and tastier in the spring.

Expanded Grouse Season.  OK, I need to run this by a biologist, but hear me out.  Hunting grouse has no impact on mortality.  Hunters are responsible for fewer than one grouse death out of 50 grouse deaths.  And, the mortality rate does not change if they are not hunted.  That one grouse gets eaten by a coyote or something.  So, why not open the season in September?  If it's sound biologically, we should fight for it.

Make Maine Forest Friendly again.  I've hunted timber company land all my life in Ohio and in Maine (same companies own the land in both states, btw).  Timber companies provide some of our best hunting, fishing and outdoor recreational properties.  They are friendly to hunters, and good for our economy.  So why have we allowed voters in Portland decide how trees in Aroostook County should be harvested?  We need to make sure it's cheaper to grow and harvest in Maine than it is elsewhere.  We compete in a global economy, poorly.  When it gets to the point that the most profitable thing to do with all that land is chop it up and sell it, that's what the multi-national corporations that own it will do.  The land and jobs associated with the timber will be lost forever.

From what I understand in talking with foresters, Maine's laws regarding harvest make no sense economically, ecologically or biologically.  The limitations on clear-cutting are feel-good legislation.  If you live on a 7500 square foot lot in Portland, then twenty acres seems like a lot of land.  Well, there's about ten million acres of timber-company owned land in northern Maine.  

I'm not suggesting clear cutting the north woods, just that we apply sound management for the ecology, the economy and wildlife.

More later, I'm going to watch the Sox.  Bet they don't forfeit the right to go on offense.