Connecticut Sunday Hunting Action Center

DO THIS RIGHT NOW!!

When Contacting elected representatives the following approach is preferred:

A Brief Written letter which is stamped and mailed to your representative's office. Followed by a Phone Call. Note: E-mail is far less effective because it is seen as effortless by representatives. We only use them to follow up on a written message or a phone call.

See the table below which lists your town and links to your representatives. You need to locate and contact your HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE right now. While you are there, check the Senate Roll Call below and THANK YOUR SENATOR IF THEY VOTED YES. Here is a script for you to use when communicating with your Senator:

Dear Representative ??????(insert your representative here)

My name is ??????? and I live in your district at (??? insert your address here). On Tuesday, April 11th, the Senate passed SB605 by a wide margin. The reason this has gained so much momentum is because Sunday bowhunting on private land is a common-sense bill for CT. The bill provides the DEP a vital management tool in their effort to bring our deer herd back into balance. I am asking you to vote in favor of SB605, the Sunday Bowhunting Bill. If you would like to discuss this further I would be happy to, my phone number is ???-???-???? and my email address is ????@?????.com. Thank you in advance for your support! Sincerely (your name)

Note, if you talk with them directly be sure to state your wishes above, then ask them how they intend to vote for the bill. It is important that we get a vote count - please post on the CT Conference on Bowsite.com.

USE THIS TABLE TO FIND YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE

4/11/06 - Update: Message from Bob Crook of the CT Sportsman's Alliance

SENATE PASSED! Tuesday 04/11. The official vote was 27 yeas, 8 no’s and 1 absent http://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/jnl/s/2006SJL00411-R00-JNL.htm . If your State Senator was a positive vote, CALL and THANK them.

ENVIRONMENT. S. B. No. 605 (RAISED) (File No. 341) AN ACT CONCERNING LIMITED SUNDAY HUNTING. {Note data in brackets ours}

Senator Finch of the 22nd explained the bill and moved passage. [well done, knowledgeable presentation. Possibly a reason there was little debate]

Remarking were Senator Gaffey of the 13th [Support. Accidents, crop damage, landscaping - management needed.), Prague of the 19th [Oppose. DEP can manage better rather than SH. Got to be a better way of control. Opponents state 50% of deer wounded. Kids may get hit by stray arrow. SH means more fun for hunters], Handley of the 4th [Oppose. Relatives killed in hunting accidents, one in VA, one in VT. Fears woods during hunting season. 6 days enough.], Stillman of the 20th [Oppose. Asked Finch if there was a discussion of more deer tags. Didn't recall. Last year didn't have this debate.], McKinney of the 28th [Support. Private lands only, Zones - permit from landowner. Those using those lands are trespassers if no permission. Adjoining lands not relevant concerning bowhunting, hunter in tree stands, short distances, shooting downward. No danger to general public. If you oppose hunting, vote NO] , LeBeau of the 3rd [Support. Article in Courant on overpopulated deer eating pine trees.], and Cook of the 18th [Support. Related her personal observations of Bluff Point deer herd-vastly overpoulated, browse lines to 7 feet, no undergrowth, poor health quality of deer, fawns dying. Inhumane to not control herd.]

The chair ordered the vote be taken by roll call.

The following is the result of the vote at 5:56 p. m. :
Total Number Voting 35
Necessary for Adoption 18
Those voting Yea 27
Those voting Nay 8
Those absent and not voting 1

On the roll call vote Senate Bill No. 605 was passed.

The following is the roll call vote:

	N	1	JOHN W. FONFARA			N	19	EDITH G. PRAGUE
	N	2	ERIC D. COLEMAN			N	20	ANDREA STILLMAN
Y		3	GARY D. LEBEAU		Y		21	GEORGE L. GUNTHER
	N	4	MARY ANN HANDLEY		Y		22	BILL FINCH
Y		5	JONATHAN HARRIS			N	23	EDWIN A. GOMES
Y		6	DONALD J. DEFRONZO		Y		24	DAVID CAPPIELLO
Y		7	JOHN A. KISSEL		Y		25	BOB DUFF
Y		8	THOMAS HERLIHY	A			26	JUDITH G. FREEDMAN
Y		9	BIAGIO CIOTTO			N	27	ANDREW J. MCDONALD
	N	10	TONI N. HARP		Y		28	JOHN MCKINNEY
Y		11	MARTIN M. LOONEY		Y		29	DONALD E. WILLIAMS, JR.
Y		12	EDWARD MEYER		Y		30	ANDREW W. RORABACK
Y		13	THOMAS P. GAFFEY		Y		31	THOMAS A. COLAPIETRO
Y		14	GAYLE SLOSSBERG		Y		32	LOUIS C. DELUCA
Y		15	JOAN V. HARTLEY		Y		33	EILEEN M. DAILY
Y		16	CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY		Y		34	LEONARD FASANO
Y		17	JOSEPH J. CRISCO, JR.		Y		35	ANTHONY GUGLIELMO
Y		18	CATHERINE W. COOK		Y		36	WILLIAM H. NICKERSON

General Assembly

Raised Bill No. 605

February Session, 2006

LCO No. 2932

*02932_______ENV*

Referred to Committee on Environment

Introduced by:

(ENV)

AN ACT CONCERNING LIMITED SUNDAY HUNTING.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:Section 1. Section 26-73 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2006):(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, Sunday shall be a closed season except for the purpose of trapping under the provisions of this chapter. The possession in the open air on Sunday of any implement for hunting shall be prima facie evidence of hunting in violation of the provisions of this section. No provision of this section shall be construed so as to affect any provision of section 26-31, 26-48, 26-52 or 27-35 or apply to the use of bow and arrow for purposes other than hunting. Artificially propagated birds designated by the commissioner may be shot on Sundays on licensed private shooting preserves subject to such regulations of the commissioner as may apply to such private shooting preserves, provided permission so to shoot has been obtained from the town or towns within which such licensed private shooting preserves are located. (b) The commissioner may allow Sunday hunting with a bow and arrow on private property in areas designated by the commissioner to require additional management to control game species overpopulation. A person hunting on private property pursuant to this subsection shall obtain the written consent of the owner of such private property or from such owner's authorized agent. Such written consent shall be carried by such person while hunting pursuant to this subsection. Sec. 2. Section 26-86a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2006):(a) The commissioner shall establish by regulation adopted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 standards for deer management, and methods, regulated areas, bag limits, seasons and permit eligibility for hunting deer with bow and arrow, muzzleloader and shotgun. [, except that no] No such hunting shall be permitted on Sunday, except as provided in section 26-73, as amended by this act. No person shall hunt, pursue, wound or kill deer with a firearm without first obtaining a deer permit from the commissioner in addition to the license required by section 26-27, as amended. Application for such permit shall be made on forms furnished by the commissioner and containing such information as he may require. Such permit shall be of a design prescribed by the commissioner, shall contain such information and conditions as the commissioner may require, and may be revoked for violation of any provision of this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant thereto. As used in this section, "muzzleloader" means a rifle or shotgun of at least forty-five caliber, incapable of firing a self-contained cartridge, which uses powder, a projectile, including, but not limited to, a standard round ball, mini-balls, maxi-balls and Sabot bullets, and wadding loaded separately at the muzzle end and "rifle" means a long gun the projectile of which is six millimeters or larger in diameter. The fee for a firearms permit shall be fourteen dollars for residents of the state and fifty dollars for nonresidents, except that any nonresident who is an active full-time member of the armed forces, as defined in section 27-103, may purchase a firearms permit for the same fee as is charged a resident of the state. The commissioner shall issue, without fee, a private land deer permit to the owner of ten or more acres of private land and the husband or wife, parent, grandparent, sibling and any lineal descendant of such owner, provided no such owner, husband or wife, parent, grandparent, sibling or lineal descendant shall be issued more than one such permit per season. Such permit shall allow the use of a rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader or bow and arrow on such land from November first to December thirty-first, inclusive. Deer may be so hunted at such times and in such areas of such state-owned land as are designated by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection and on privately owned land with the signed consent of the landowner, on forms furnished by the department, and such signed consent shall be carried by any person when so hunting on private land. The owner of ten acres or more of private land may allow the use of a rifle to hunt deer on such land during the shotgun season. The commissioner shall determine, by regulation, the number of consent forms issued for any regulated area established by said commissioner. The commissioner shall provide for a fair and equitable random method for the selection of successful applicants who may obtain shotgun and muzzleloader permits for hunting deer on state lands. Any person whose name appears on more than one application for a shotgun permit or more than one application for a muzzleloader permit shall be disqualified from the selection process for such permit. No person shall hunt, pursue, wound or kill deer with a bow and arrow without first obtaining a bow and arrow permit pursuant to section 26-86c. "Bow and arrow" as used in this section and in section 26-86c means a bow with a draw weight of not less than forty pounds. The arrowhead shall have two or more blades and may not be less than seven-eighths of an inch at the widest point. No person shall carry firearms of any kind while hunting with a bow and arrow under said sections. (b) Any person who takes a deer without a permit shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars or more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than thirty days or more than six months or shall be both fined and imprisoned, for the first offense, and for each subsequent offense shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars or more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year or shall be both fined and imprisoned.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

Section 1

July 1, 2006

26-73

Sec. 2

July 1, 2006

26-86a

Statement of Purpose: To allow bow and arrow hunting on Sunday on private property.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]

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*** UBC Sunday Hunting Action Center ***

DO THIS RIGHT NOW!!

USE THIS TABLE TO FIND YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE

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