New DNR Free Permit Requirements

[Biggfoot44]

Soooo , I'm F'ed everywhere , except for my own property , where I already don't need a License .

Well , good thing I checked MDS just before getting in the car , I had been planning to go get License on the way home , now I know better . ( Just deciding if I should be ticked at my friends who sold me last years Licence . Guess it worked out for the best that life bit me on the butt last year , and I couldn't get out to where I had intended .

 

[AlBeight]

Soooo , I'm F'ed everywhere , except for my own property , where I already don't need a License .

Well , good thing I checked MDS just before getting in the car , I had been planning to go get License on the way home , now I know better . ( Just deciding if I should be ticked at my friends who sold me last years Licence . Guess it worked out for the best that life bit me on the butt last year , and I couldn't get out to where I had intended .

I’d say you’re only screwed if you can’t get a reservation for the property you want. It really isn’t so bad, once you navigate thru this year’s process to obtain all the required permits and passes. Now the tough part is actually making your reservations. I’ve found other public lands that I had never been to (and turned out liking) because my preferred area was booked solid when I finally got thru on the phone. I wouldn’t give up on it, it just takes some planning and a willingness to try a new area.

Best of luck to all at the mercy of the reservation system.

 

[Biggfoot44]

i had comment mostly done , but fell asleep before clicking , and it expired .

 

[Pale Ryder]

I see some inconvenience in some properties, but not all. Where are you looking to go? Three places that I have hunted, or scouted to hunt are Tuckahoe State Park, Cedarville State Forest, and Cunningham Falls State Park. Two are daily sign in the other nothing. This is for small game and deer.

 

[lazarus]

No credit card charge you just put in your info and it shows up on your license as free

I just renewed my fishing and hunting license a week ago and it let me add all the things to my license at checkout.

Fur bearer, bonus buck, archery, ML, costal and non-costal fishing and free hunt permit.

So no needing to fill anything else out? Good to go? No I going to hunt where I’d need the paid for managed hunt permit.

 

[ToBeFree]

It is to manage some areas on the number of hunters at the location. Too many and it can become a shit show!
Others areas are not affected nad they can become a shit show.
Read the list.
I've hunted for a few years two miles from the house in Carroll Cnty. No problems.

While pausing this reply - I got my hunting license. No problem. At all.

 

[Biggfoot44]

But did that list include the public land permits for the various region(s) ?

 

[Goldslammer]

So am I reading this right, You no longer get a "parking permit" to display on your vehicle when hunting WMA areas ?

 

[AlBeight]

So am I reading this right, You no longer get a "parking permit" to display on your vehicle when hunting WMA areas ?

You get a parking permit the next day, when DNR emails you the pdf packet of rules and regs. The parking permit doesn’t come to you in the packet completed with your own personal info on it, you have to write/type in your DNR ID # & print it out. The permit itself that we used to have to carry is no longer sent, it appears on your list of items on your license with your license, stamps, etc....

 

[JamesDong]

I don’t hunt places that this is required yet, but what is the benefit? Seems like a way to drive hunters away. Public land should be open to public without a bunch of hoops attached.

I wonder how many licensed hunters there are now compared to say 1970 when hunting seemed to be at it's peak?

 

[Goldslammer]

You get a parking permit the next day, when DNR emails you the pdf packet of rules and regs. The parking permit doesn’t come to you in the packet completed with your own personal info on it, you have to write/type in your DNR ID # & print it out. The permit itself that we used to have to carry is no longer sent, it appears on your list of items on your license with your license, stamps, etc....

Thanks, I had to go back in and "buy" the free hunting license, I didn't even notice it when I renewed. I guess they will Email me the info tomorrow

 

[AlBeight]

I wonder how many licensed hunters there are now compared to say 1970 when hunting seemed to be at it's peak?

Sorry - meant to quote Pale Rider
Don’t understand your question, obviously the “benefit” is you get to hunt any number of public hunting lands, with a little hassle of the reservation system. The reservations are often difficult to secure, but the older “sign-in” system is/was an utter failure. Picture being excited all week to hunt a spot on Saturday morning that you’ve really been looking forward to hunting. You pull into the parking lot and there’s only one truck there with a sign-in capacity of 14 hunters, only all 14 spots are already taken. Then you read the sign-in sheet, and some 10 of the 14 are signed-in at 5:30 am or later, yet it’s only actually 4:45 am. These dickheads drove by sometime Friday night and signed-in for the next morning, writing 5:30 am as sign-in time. DNR took exception to this as well, and threatened to close those parks altogether. They went mostly reservation for nearly all their properties, they were sick of getting complaints and dealing with the heated arguments, threats, and fist-fights in the parking areas. I spoke to DNR about this one Opening morning of shotgun season at one of the Soldiers Delight areas in Owings Mills the very first year these areas were ever open to legal hunting. I had to switch over to another zone that I never had even set foot in before. DNR cop had asked me over there why, I told him I got there to Zone-1 at 4:45 am and out of 20 spots available on the sign-in sheet there, the last 8-10 people were signed in for a time after 4:45 am (btw there was only a total of 12 or 13 people physically there in the parking lot). He said he was going over there to cite every single person that signed in after 4:45 am, and revoke their public land hunting permits for violating the rules. Now, reservations control that a whole bunch better.

My friends and I hunt public lands frequently, and successfully. You just have to be versatile, plan ahead, and be willing to change plans early and often. If you suffer from ulcers, I recommend you find a nice quiet private property somewhere. It can be frustrating. Or go to Millington or Savage River SF where you just park and walk in/hunt.

 

[gtodave]

I'm glad they got away from those stupid regional permits. We already have TWO hunter ID numbers...no need for a 3rd and 4th. I've complained about that for years.

 

[AlBeight]

I'm glad they got away from those stupid regional permits. We already have TWO hunter ID numbers...no need for a 3rd and 4th. I've complained about that for years.

Amen to that. I know last year on at least two occasions I mistakenly placed the Central Region parking permit on my dashboard when I was at a Southern Region public land. They should’ve at least made them look differently. Thankfully this year - one parking permit only, this helps.

 

[Biggfoot44]

What if you just walk in thru the woods into the hunting zone instead of driving ?

( Mostly Not a joke )

 

[AlBeight]

What if you just walk in thru the woods into the hunting zone instead of driving ?

( Mostly Not a joke )

That’s actually a real problem for some. Some people live on the fence or border of these public lands, often having immediate access to far remote portions of those properties that are all but impossible to reach from the parking lot. The problem is the rules state that you have to park in the designated parking areas only (so DNR can verify your parking permit and that you have a valid reservation for that day). In this case you’d have to get in your vehicle, and drive out and around the park to the one single parking lot, and walk all the way back to your house, essentially, then do it again in reverse at the end of your hunt. Not all the rules make sense.

 

[Biggfoot44]

But that's the point , I wouldn't be parking in a Non designated parking area , I wouldn't be parking at all .

 

[AlBeight]

But that's the point , I wouldn't be parking in a Non designated parking area , I wouldn't be parking at all .

As I understand it, some of the folks that live on or near the parks get permission from the DNR to walk in off their own land, rather than parking in the predetermined parking areas. For the record, I’d really hate you if I got to the parking lot and there were no other cars there, and I thought I was the only hunter there that day, then walked the 2 miles back thru thick brush and soul-sucking hills to my preferred spot, only to find you in it already. If I knew someone would be back there I’d have gone to a different spot. This has happened to me on more than one occasion, needless to say it pissed me off massively. This is just one of the headaches you can expect hunting on public land. Backup plans are very much required, as is a very proficient knowledge of the terrain, trails, and the better hunting spots of each park.

 

[Harrys]

I have several friends that live next to DNR land and they just walk in. When you hunt on DNR/State lands some hunters are just asshats. I do not still hunt but track and move around a lot and I am pretty stealthy doing it. I often walk upon a hunter and they do not know I am there until I grunt as I do not want to get shot. They get pissed well that is public hunting just deal with it. Last year I caught a guy hunting over bait and had him on video. I called DNR and he was in deep shit he was a walk in from his property. I watch hunters leave their trash and shells like all public property there are always those who have no respect or have a sense of entitlement. My personal preference is to park in designated parking areas that way you know there are other hunters in your area. I do not have any heart burn of hunters walking in from their property. However, they should also have a check in process too. DNR can have an APP with the check in process and a way to see how many hunters are walk ins. If people keep crapping up hunting areas, not following the rules, and want to be confrontational, we could lose a good thing.

 

[RobSky]

Noticed how cost is $0, how long before that changes?