Small Game Includes: Crows, Pheasant, Quail, Rabbits, Ruffed Grouse, and Squirrels
General Small Game Hunting Rules
The Delmarva fox squirrel and snow shoe hare may not be hunted in Maryland.
Daily small game shooting hours are one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset.
•A hunter must carry personal photo identification (such as a driver’s license) or a secondary form of positive identification while hunting.
•Written permission is required to hunt on private land.
•A hunting license is required to hunt small game in Maryland (with exceptions). (See Maryland Hunting Licenses) for requirements, types, costs, exceptions, purchasing, and Armed Forces information.
•Fluorescent orange clothing is required to hunt small game in Maryland except crows. (See Fluorescent Orange Clothing Requirements and Exceptions).
•The use of decoys, calls, and/or recordings may be used for crow hunting.
•The head, plumage, and feet shall remain attached to all pheasants to permit identification of species and sex while being transported from the place where killed to the place of final disposition. This does not pertain to captive-reared pheasants taken on Regulated Shooting Areas.
•It is against the law to hunt any animal other than deer on the first day of Deer Firearms Season, except sea ducks in the Sea Duck Zone.
Small Game Hunting Devices & Regulations
•Firearms, air rifles, and archery equipment may be used to hunt small game.
•A shotgun may not hold more than three (3) shells in the magazine and chamber combined.
•Telescopic and laser sights may be used on all devices legal for hunting small game.
•It is illegal to have a loaded firearm in, on, or leaning against any vehicle. This includes ammunition in the magazine or a muzzleloader ready to fire.
•All crossbows should have a working safety.
•It is unlawful to have a loaded crossbow in, on or leaning against any vehicle. A cocked crossbow without a bolt or arrow in the firing position is considered to be unloaded.
•It is illegal to shoot on, from or across any public road.
•It is illegal to hunt, trap or shoot at wildlife within 150 yards of an occupied building or camp without permission of the owner or occupant. For archery hunters this distance is 100 yards in Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties and 50 yards in Calvert, Carroll, Frederick, and St. Mary’s counties. In Harford County, the distance for archery hunters is now 50 yards, however, archers must use a tree stand when hunting between 50 and 100 yards of an occupied dwelling or other building.
•It is against the law to discharge a firearm within 300 yards of a public or nonpublic school while hunting. This prohibition only applies during school hours or when the building is occupied. This safety zone does not apply to colleges, universities, or home schools.
•It is unlawful to cast the rays of an artificial light from a vehicle on woods, fields, orchards, livestock, wild mammals or birds, dwellings or buildings. (See General Hunting Regulations for exceptions).
You must be outside the no-fire zone in MoCo to discharge a firearm. It is my understanding that in Region B (MoCo HoCo,etc.); anything under 25 cal is legal to shoot for small game. This really surprised me because that opens up a lot of very high power rounds not that you would want to use them on squirels etc unless you wanted to vaporize them. .117, 22 lr or 22 win mag depending on the varmint are good choices.
And remember,, carry the Proclamation (Rules-Regs) with you. Because most likely the Resource officer will not know the regs. It has happened to me twice.
definitely carry written consent from landowner if thats the situation and definitely learn the rules for your area...then again, if no one sees you, whos gonna hear you?
I sometimes wander around Mckee Beshers with a can on my .22 however, I short drive over, the Frederick watershed is a nicer place to walk around and having a can doesn't scare the mountain bikers
I have been hunting small game with 22 shorts especially squirrels. They are not loud and get the job done, of course you need a gun that shoots them. I have a lever action which shoots them all S, L and LR along with an old bolt action. Luckily I have several bricks of each round purchased over several years. A few years ago I was cleaning out my pack rat stuff. I found a box of shorts that I bought back in 65 for .35 cents. They were squirreled away at the bottom of a box filled with old hunting cloths that do not fit. I took them out and went squirrel hunting they shot fine and I did get a couple for squirrels. I gave a few to a friend that had a wood chuck problem and lived in a neighbor hood they did the job and no one was the wiser.