Bill would allow hunting on two Sundays in Montgomery

Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006

A bill that would add two Sundays of deer hunting in Montgomery County has been introduced in the General Assembly.

‘‘From my perspective, the biggest hurdles have been overcome, and that’s getting through the House and Senate delegations,” said Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown.

The bill would add one Sunday to the bow-hunting season in November and one Sunday to the firearms season after Thanksgiving. All hunting would remain on private land. Hunting would still be prohibited in state and county parks.

Sunday hunting would be allowed only for a two-year pilot.

Supporters say the extra Sundays will increase the harvest of deer, an animal whose population is destroying crops, spreading Lyme disease and endangering motorists.

The bill’s detractors say that all Sundays should be free from hunting and that there needs to be greater investigation into nonlethal forms of controlling deer.

Both the Senate and the House delegations supported the bill by the small majorities — a 5-3 vote among senators and a 13-10 vote among delegates.

Garagiola said he supports the legislation in part because of the dangers deer pose to crops grown in the county’s agricultural reserve.

Time would be the greatest impediment to the legislation now, Garagiola said. The bill could be knotted up in committees or delaying tactics could be introduced on the floor.

Otherwise, the bill should pass, he said, because of the legislature’s custom of ‘‘local courtesy,” where bills affecting a single jurisdiction receive approval so long as a majority of that jurisdiction’s lawmakers agree.

The House Environmental Matters Committee is expected to hold a hearing on the measure, but no date has been set. The Senate version of the bill is in the chamber’s Rules Committee.

Ten other counties and Baltimore city currently prohibit hunting on Sundays.