Public land hunting question

[cpc1027]

I just moved to Baltimore County after spending a few years in Northern VA, and I'm looking to get back into hunting this fall. I don't have access to any private land at the moment, so I have been pouring over property records looking for government owned lands that I might be able to hunt on. I have identified a few parcels for investigation, but I'm not sure how to go about it. I have been searching the laws for the relevant government body, but they seem to only address specific things like hunting or discharge of a firearm inside town boundaries or metropolitan region boundaries. If these properties do not fall into an excluded area, and if there is no law generally prohibiting hunting on government owned lands, and the property itself is not posted, does that mean I can hunt there? Or are we MD residents limited to only the public lands listed on the DNR website? I've thought about trying to find someone to contact at each government level but, I would be concerned about just cold-contacting someone and either getting a person who just doesn't want to be bothered or someone who doesn't want people hunting, and they just say no, even if the correct answer might be yes.

So in short, my question is: how do I determine if state/county/town owned property can be hunted on?

TIA for any advice!

 

[Harrys]

All your questions will be answered.

DNR

An official website of the State of Maryland.

dnr.maryland.gov

 

[gtodave]

There are state parks, Federal parks, and WMA's...probably one I'm forgetting too. Managed Hunts fall in there somewhere. They each have slightly different rules and requirements.

State Parks

https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/Documents/MPS_HuntingProgram.pdf

WMA's

Public Hunting Lands - Maryland Hunting

Key a public archery range v provisions to hunt from a vehicle, call each area for other conditions that may apply i provisions for hunters with mobility impairments, call each area for site conditions f free permit required s public shooting range d daily sign-in required t trapping allowed by…

www.eregulations.com

Maryland Public Lands Managed by the Wildlife and Heritage Service

An official website of the State of Maryland.

dnr.maryland.gov

Federal

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

United States federal agency that manages national wildlife refuges, protects endangered species, manages migratory birds, restores nationally significant fisheries, and enforces federal wildlife laws.

fws.gov

 

[cpc1027]

There are state parks, Federal parks, and WMA's...probably one I'm forgetting too. Managed Hunts fall in there somewhere. They each have slightly different rules and requirements.

State Parks

https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/Documents/MPS_HuntingProgram.pdf

WMA's

Public Hunting Lands - Maryland Hunting

Key a public archery range v provisions to hunt from a vehicle, call each area for other conditions that may apply i provisions for hunters with mobility impairments, call each area for site conditions f free permit required s public shooting range d daily sign-in required t trapping allowed by…

www.eregulations.com

Maryland Public Lands Managed by the Wildlife and Heritage Service

An official website of the State of Maryland.

dnr.maryland.gov

Federal

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

United States federal agency that manages national wildlife refuges, protects endangered species, manages migratory birds, restores nationally significant fisheries, and enforces federal wildlife laws.

fws.gov

Thanks for posting that. I haven't ruled out those areas, but I'm hopping to get a ruling on the less publicized parcels of government owned property that I have found.

I wasn't sure that DNR would be able to give me an answer on the non-state lands, but maybe I should take Harry's suggestion and find someone there to contact.

 

[gtodave]

No idea which lands you're talking about. Feel free to PM me if you like.

Also, the DNR app is pretty good for looking up property, and very good for checking in deer.

Go Hokies.

 

[Hibs]

I assume if you're looking for specific federal land to hunt, you need to contact that specific organization to find what their procedures are.

Example, to archery hunt deer on Ft. Meade you have to apply with the Meade Rod and Gun club, and spots are given in a tiered system starting with active duty, then retirees, then contractors and civilians. You likely aren't going to find this information within a DNR website.

To hunt the Patuxtent Research Refuge a permit system is delegated from the US Fish and Wildlife service to the Meade Natural Heritage Association. Permits are $80 and additional to state hunting permit costs.

I know at one point there was managed hunts at the Goddard Space Center. No idea if that still exists or who to contact.

I'm curious to hear what specific land you are looking at.

 

[cpc1027]

I assume if you're looking for specific federal land to hunt, you need to contact that specific organization to find what their procedures are.

Example, to archery hunt deer on Ft. Meade you have to apply with the Meade Rod and Gun club, and spots are given in a tiered system starting with active duty, then retirees, then contractors and civilians. You likely aren't going to find this information within a DNR website.

To hunt the Patuxtent Research Refuge a permit system is delegated from the US Fish and Wildlife service to the Meade Natural Heritage Association. Permits are $80 and additional to state hunting permit costs.

I know at one point there was managed hunts at the Goddard Space Center. No idea if that still exists or who to contact.

I'm curious to hear what specific land you are looking at.

Just trying to see if people are allowed to hunt land owned by various levels of government. For instance, there is a 1-1/4 acre parcel of land in Hereford that is owned by Baltimore County, here: 39.59090, -76.66173. Obviously that's too small and in the middle of too much population to hunt, but Baltimore County also owns much larger parcels scattered around the county that might suited to hunting. I'm trying to figure out who, if anyone, I need to ask about hunting these kinds of places.

 

[Antarctica]

Near Baltimore its important to use the same thought process as hunting in grizzly country... i.e., constantly assess if you are the hunter or the hunted...

;-)

 

[Blacksmith101]

https://www.eregulations.com/assets/docs/guides/21MDHD_VLR.pdf

See starting on page 60

 

[cpc1027]

https://www.eregulations.com/assets/docs/guides/21MDHD_VLR.pdf

See starting on page 60

Thanks, I think the relevant part of the guidebook to the question that I am asking is:

"Hunters should contact the appropriate managing authority for information on public hunting opportunities not listed here, such as National Wildlife Refuges, military installations, or other government-owned properties."

So it sounds like I would need to try to track someone down at the various levels of government to ask for permission to hunt property owned by that level of government.

 

[Archeryrob]

If you want good public land hunting I would recommend bow hunting. Many places are just over whelmed during gun, even out west here. Liberty and Loch raven are huge and you need to spend a lot of time finding good places to hunt and probably walk a way to hunt them.

Liberty Reservoir Cooperative Wildlife Management Area

An official website of the State of Maryland.

dnr.maryland.gov

Loch Raven Reservoir Cooperative Wildlife Management Area

An official website of the State of Maryland.

dnr.maryland.gov

 

[TTBJ]

All Public Hunting Lands by county

Public Hunting Lands - Maryland Hunting

Key a public archery range v provisions to hunt from a vehicle, call each area for other conditions that may apply i provisions for hunters with mobility impairments, call each area for site conditions f free permit required s public shooting range d daily sign-in required t trapping allowed by…

www.eregulations.com

 

[cpc1027]

Thanks, everyone, for posting the links to the published public hunting lands. I am familiar with those and I may have to fall back to them but, as Archeryrob pointed out, many of them are overwhelmed during certain seasons. I may also get into bow hunting at some point, but I don't really need another hobby right now, so I was hoping to put in some work to see about hunting on government owned land that is not included in the lists of public hunting land.

For example, the image below shows parcels larger than 5 acres that are owned by some level of government in Baltimore County. County code prohibits discharge of a firearm inside the metropolitan district, so I would have to look at the parcels in the shaded areas that are outside the metropolitan district. Obviously some of those will already prohibit hunting (e.g. NCR trail) or limit hunting (e.g the reservoirs). Of those that are left, some will not be suitable for hunting, but there are some parcels that are just tracts of fields and/or woods. My goal was to understand the rules governing those properties. Since they are government owned, my hope for an answer was "if there is nothing posted to prohibit it, go for it". I'm sure that was wishful thinking, but it's good to have dreams, haha.

 

[possumman]

Don't use the "if its not posted go for it method" it is still probably illegal---go on DNR website --it will tell you where you have access --and get a crossbow if you don't already have one. You don't have to spend more than $500 on one to have a very effective and accurate deer hunting weapon---of course you can spend $2k if you want---bow season runs from September into February

 

[cpc1027]

Possumman, I think you're probably right about not just going for it, I more-or-less expected to have to find someone to ask. DNR doesn't list or control access to all land that might be available for hunting, so I don't want to limit myself to that - the hunting and trapping guidebook even says that hunters should contact the appropriate managing authority for public properties that are not listed by DNR, so I think that reinforces my expectation. The trick now will be figuring out who the right person is to ask...

$500 isn't a bad price point, and I may get into archery, I just know I have a bad habit of wanting to jump into new hobbies with top of the line equipment, haha. Even if I do pick up a crossbow, it would still be nice to possibly have access to publicly owned land that no one else has permission to hunt on.

 

[gtodave]

If you're serious about deer hunting in MD, you'll seriously want to archery hunt. It's about the only way to get decent public spots, since there's SO much more opportunity.

 

[cpc1027]

Ok, message received, guess it's time to start looking into a new hobby. I'll have to start researching crossbows.

 

[Hibs]

I would second that, I was doing a lot of research last year. Tons of public spots available by permits or even lottery, most in urban areas, that is available to deer hunt only via archery. It seems like in these areas (that require an extra permit or to put in for a lottery) people are much more successful in their hunt.

 

[Yamhandss]

Came for the hunting question, stayed for your thumbnail. Go Hokies.

 

[newmuzzleloader]

Thanks, everyone, for posting the links to the published public hunting lands. I am familiar with those and I may have to fall back to them but, as Archeryrob pointed out, many of them are overwhelmed during certain seasons. I may also get into bow hunting at some point, but I don't really need another hobby right now, so I was hoping to put in some work to see about hunting on government owned land that is not included in the lists of public hunting land.

For example, the image below shows parcels larger than 5 acres that are owned by some level of government in Baltimore County. County code prohibits discharge of a firearm inside the metropolitan district, so I would have to look at the parcels in the shaded areas that are outside the metropolitan district. Obviously some of those will already prohibit hunting (e.g. NCR trail) or limit hunting (e.g the reservoirs). Of those that are left, some will not be suitable for hunting, but there are some parcels that are just tracts of fields and/or woods. My goal was to understand the rules governing those properties. Since they are government owned, my hope for an answer was "if there is nothing posted to prohibit it, go for it". I'm sure that was wishful thinking, but it's good to have dreams, haha.

View attachment 364202

I don't know about Baltimore County parks but I can tell you that Harford County WILL NOT allow you to hunt on County owned parkland. Even when there is a hundred acres or more of undeveloped open space it is posted no hunting. I hope for your sake Baltimore County doesn't play by the same rules.