Access limited after hunting time extended

Last year’s hunting fatality in Levant brought attention to the extended hunting time change that allows hunting deer until one-half hour after sunset. I provided comments to the BDN on my opinion on the matter and the fact that I posted some of my property in Dedham Access by “permission only” after the extra 15 minutes was added two seasons ago.

Since the article, I have had to defend my positions many times to other hunters. For the record, I did not post my property to have all the deer for myself. I allowed six other deer hunters access to my land during firearm season for deer and no, I did not get a deer myself this season.

For the record, no I am not an out-of-stater. I was born in Ellsworth and raised in Bucksport. My reasons for being careful who I let hunt are simple. I quit hunting for deer when I feel I cannot identify a deer clearly enough to make a clean kill. That typically occurs 15 to 20 minutes after sunset. I do not feel comfortable walking out of the woods during the low light conditions that are now legal shooting times due to the extra 15 minutes for I know some hunters are still hunting bcause the law book says the can.

Anyone who has hunted deer as long as I have has heard shots on occasion five to 10 minutes after the legal-ending time. If the law now allows hunting until very low light conditions, even after darkness on some days, it should be no surprise that some individuals are going to still be hunting a little later. After all, dark is dark. That may have been a contributing factor in Levant. Blazed orange does one little good in the dark.

The low light conditions at one-half hour before sunrise are risky, but safer because most hunters are at their stand locations, with the use of a flashlight, and not moving around in the woods. I am lucky enough to have a large property of my own to hunt and have the luxury of choosing what type of deer hunters I allow on it during deer season. I wish everyone was so lucky.

John Craig

Master Maine Guide

Dedham

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