Carrying on private land.

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  • Ifmacfie

    Member
    Oct 23, 2017
    2
    Pasadena, MD
    I hunt in Garrett county and have been seeing more and more signs of bear. It’s my in laws property and I have permission. I was wondering if it was legal to open/conceal carry while I’m bow hunting there.
     

    newmuzzleloader

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Apr 14, 2009
    4,761
    joppa
    Check the hunting regs but I think in 'bear' country you're allowed to carry a handgun with you. And I see you're in the comments and suggestions forum....
     

    Ifmacfie

    Member
    Oct 23, 2017
    2
    Pasadena, MD
    Thanks. I was having trouble finding it on any dnr webpage. Yeah I wasn’t sure what thread to post this question in so I figured this was general enough that people would see it and respond.
     

    TargetGrade

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Aug 13, 2017
    2,970
    Pensultucky
    I hunt in Garrett county and have been seeing more and more signs of bear. It’s my in laws property and I have permission. I was wondering if it was legal to open/conceal carry while I’m bow hunting there.

    Unless laws have changed.... a definite no no.
     

    AlanInSilverSpring

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Apr 25, 2017
    1,645
    Does it matter what you're doing ? shooting ? yoga ? archery ? sunbathing ?

    If you're on private property can't you carry any way any time you want ?
     

    K31

    "Part of that Ultra MAGA Crowd"
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 15, 2006
    35,600
    AA county
    Does it matter what you're doing ? shooting ? yoga ? archery ? sunbathing ?

    If you're on private property can't you carry any way any time you want ?

    If you're nude sunbathing carrying is not a good idea. You might fall asleep in the sun and wind up with an imprint of a gun in your flesh. Then you have real problems the next time you try to board a plane.
     

    Sticky

    Beware of Dog
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 16, 2013
    4,500
    AA Co
    Does it matter what you're doing ? shooting ? yoga ? archery ? sunbathing ?

    If you're on private property can't you carry any way any time you want ?
    No, carrying while bowhunting is not allowed, except as noted earlier. I'm not sure that 'private property' allows for carry either, unless it is your property...
     

    iH8DemLibz

    When All Else Fails.
    Apr 1, 2013
    25,396
    Libtardistan
    ^^^Agreed.^^^

    If carrying on other people's private property were the law of the land, all of us could carry in the homes and yards of family members and friends.

    But it doesn't work that way.
     

    AlanInSilverSpring

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Apr 25, 2017
    1,645
    No, carrying while bowhunting is not allowed, except as noted earlier. I'm not sure that 'private property' allows for carry either, unless it is your property...

    ^^^Agreed.^^^

    If carrying on other people's private property were the law of the land, all of us could carry in the homes and yards of family members and friends.

    But it doesn't work that way.

    The more I learn about MD firearm law, the more it sucks :(
     

    ras_oscar

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 23, 2014
    1,662
    Technically this is a hunting regulation, not a gun control law. But that's just nitpicking.

    I've read enough of the hunting regulations to verify they are far too complex and confusing for me to take up the sport. Let's see if I understand this concept:

    If I am out in the woods with a bow and a deer tag during bow hunting season, If I also carry a firearm, DNR will conclude that I am illegally hunting with a firearm during bow season? is that correct?

    Does the situation change if I am carrying a modern rifle and deer tag during firearm season and the handgun meets the minimums for handgun hunting?
     

    Sticky

    Beware of Dog
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 16, 2013
    4,500
    AA Co
    I've read enough of the hunting regulations to verify they are far too complex and confusing for me to take up the sport. Let's see if I understand this concept:

    If I am out in the woods with a bow and a deer tag during bow hunting season, If I also carry a firearm, DNR will conclude that I am illegally hunting with a firearm during bow season? is that correct?

    Does the situation change if I am carrying a modern rifle and deer tag during firearm season and the handgun meets the minimums for handgun hunting?
    Yes, you are not permitted to carry a handgun except during rifle deer season (two weeks) in those counties that permit centerfire rifle hunting.
    Yes, you can carry a pistol as long as you are hunting in one of the few counties that allow the use of centerfire weapons and the handgun meets the criteria legal for hunting with it. You are then permitted to carry it during the deer firearms season.

    Those counties are shown in the following map from the DNR..
     

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    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,775
    But it has to be in a county/ area where centerfire rifles are allowed for deer hunting. Most of Md is restricted to shotgun or muzzleloader. And in that scenario must meet the bbl length and muzzle energy requirements.

    The interesting answer to the question you didn't ask :

    Coyote can be hunted in every county in Md.
    Coyote are in season 365 , part of the year 24hrs .
    Handguns are acceptable for hunting coyote, with no limit on cal , bbl length, or muzzle energy.
     

    daNattyFatty

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 27, 2009
    3,908
    Bel Air, MD
    Sidetracking a bit......

    I’m not a hunter, so could someone help me understand why there are particular seasons for the same game, such as bow vs centerfire?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
     

    Sticky

    Beware of Dog
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 16, 2013
    4,500
    AA Co
    The rules are a bit confusing, but basically the use of centerfire rifles/pistols is only allowed in less populated and in some cases terrain typical of being able to stop a rifle projectile from traveling a mile or so in the event of a miss. Shotguns are mostly limited to slugs and can't travel nearly as far before they drop to the ground, so it was mainly done this way for safety reasons, to protect people and property around hunting areas.

    There are separate seasons for bow, muzzleloader and rifle and they change a bit every year (well, not every year, but they have changed a lot over the many years that I have hunted). Gun season is two weeks, muzzleloader is two weeks and there are a few scattered extra days for each in areas where the deer herd needs to be reduced. Archery is separate (though you can hunt with a bow during gun seasons) and much longer, because archers take fewer deer than gun hunters and it is harder to take a deer with a bow than a gun. Archery is also much safer, so they give us a very long season to use that gear for deer hunting.

    The seasons and regs are to help control the population of wildlife and also keeping in mind the safety of those that live in areas where deer and game are typically hunted. The seasons also take into account the safety of the hunters in the field, so we don't shoot each other too often... LOL Well, more like they don't want gun hunters out when the archery folks are out hunting, etc.. the orange rule for most hunting seasons helps minimize collateral damage to hunters as well.
     

    sxs

    Senior Member
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 20, 2009
    3,366
    Anne Arundel County, MD
    Sidetracking a bit......

    I’m not a hunter, so could someone help me understand why there are particular seasons for the same game, such as bow vs centerfire?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

    To further elaborate from Sticky's comments, hunting is used for game management. More people can manage to hunt deer successfully using modern firearms than using other methods (bows, muzzleloaders, etc). So, hunting deer with modern firearms is fairly limited in the length of season in large part to control the harvest number. But for those who want more challenge, you can also have dedicated seasons for bow and muzzleloader. Furthermore, as deer populations have exploded, more hunting opportunity has been opened up albeit primarily with bow or muzzleloader. There have been other expansions as well including such things as youth hunts and extended deer firearms seasons (such as the 2 day January dates that have become common in recent years) as well as making more hunting accessible to more people during bow season by allowing use of crossbows during archery season (modern crossbows, especially when equipped with a scope, require somewhat less practice to be reasonably proficient than compound or recurve bows especially since most hunters are already familiar with shooting rifles). Note that these seasons mostly have to do with deer hunting rather than small game, upland bird or waterfowl hunting which generally just have a firearms season although it is allowed in some cases to take these other game animals using a bow or muzzleloader. In addition, because of the much more limited range of bow type hunting implements, some areas close to population centers limit all deer hunting within their boundaries to bow only and sometimes disallow the use of firearms for any hunting at all (even shotgun for small game). Nevetheless, shotguns, at least when using small shot for small game or birds (which actually also have very limited range a few hundred yards or less) so are often allowed for small game or bird hunting even in areas where deer hunting is limited to bow. This is because even though shotguns shooting slugs have more limited range than rifles in general, they still have very significant range when compared to a smoothbore shotgun using smaller shot. There are, however, a number of areas open to bow hunting for deer where no firearms are allowed.

    Yeah, it can be complex. However, what you really have to be concerned with is the exact hunting regs and laws for the area you expect to be hunting.
     

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