On September 24, the Maryland Hunting Coalition hosted the 3rd Annual Hunting Summit in Annapolis, Maryland. Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) Mid-Atlantic States Coordinator Kara Hartman and Federal Relations Coordinator Taylor Schmitz joined representatives from nearly 20 different sportsmen’s organizations to present their organizational goals for the 2018 legislative session.
The Summit provided an opportunity for attendees to discuss matters of mutual concern and devise a year-long strategy to advance sportsmen’s issues in 2018. Some of the issues addressed included poaching and trespassing enforcement, issues with Deer Management Permits, Sunday hunting, anti-sportsmen’s organizations tactics, public access, and game meat donation programs, to name a few.
The Coalition’s advocate and first recipient of CSF’s Brad Rowse Leadership Award, Bill Miles, commented on the importance of hosting this annual meeting, “It’s the role of the Maryland Hunting Coalition to serve as an ally for the hunting community, along with the bipartisan Maryland Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus. The Annual Hunter’s Summit affords the Coalition an opportunity to discuss, first-hand, priorities of the state’s hunters.”
Also joining the sportsmen’s organizations was Director Paul Peditto of the Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Services and Maryland Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Delegate Johnny Mautz.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
