Why It Matters: On October 21, 2025, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources held a hearing featuring 55 bills, many of which would have a substantial impact on sportsmen and women’s access and opportunities, both in potentially good and bad ways. At least six bills addressed opening Sunday Hunting, multiple bills want to expand the use of crossbows to all hunters, and two bills address banning traditional lead ammunition for the use of hunting.
Highlights:
- Massachusetts testimony rules only allow three minutes of testimony total, regardless of how many bills an individual wishes to address.
- Those wanting to submit written testimony have until November 3rd, 2025 to submit.
As the leader in conservation and sporting policy, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), lead efforts to sound the alarm and make aware to our in-state and national partners that Tuesday’s massive hearing would be taking place in the Commonwealth. Out of the 55 bills being heard, CSF is actively tracking and working on more than a dozen of them, many of which are sponsored by Massachusetts Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Members and Caucus Co-Chairs Senator Durant and Representative Vieira. Access and opportunity issues of allowing Sunday hunting and opening the use of crossbows to all sportsmen and women, not just those with disabilities, made up most of those positive bills in this hearing.
Massachusetts and Maine are the only two states to still have a complete prohibition on Sunday hunting. After this year’s success of providing more opportunities in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, it is time Massachusetts drops their anachronistic “blue laws” and provides the much-needed opportunities that modern families require to have a successful hunting season. Many Massachusetts legislators are first trying to open the door for Sunday hunting by following states like New Jersey in 2009 and Connecticut in 2015 when they initially allowed deer hunting during the archery season on Sundays. And, due to years of CSF efforts and leadership from the Sportsmen’s Caucus, Connecticut expanded Sunday hunting to all seasons on private land except for migratory birds in 2025. Legislators in Massachusetts can incrementally provide more access over the years as MassWildlife will be able to report the success from providing more opportunities in the Commonwealth.
Allowing full implementation of crossbows during the archery season, instead of only providing allowances for those with disabilities as is currently the practice, would also provide more tools for MassWildlife with their efforts of Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation (R3), and would also provide them with an additional adaptive management tool from which to utilize hunters to better deal with instances of overpopulation in suburban and exurban landscapes, when they occur. The Commonwealth’s neighboring state of New York recently fully allowed crossbows throughout the archery season following over a decade of concerted efforts of CSF, the New York Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, and numerous in-state partners. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) addressed crossbow use as a priority during the 2025 session and knew the advantages allowing new technologies would have on a fish and wildlife agency’s ability to continue to effectively manage wildlife populations.
Massachusetts House Bill 1047 (MA H.1047)- requiring lead free ammunition when taking wildlife, would mandate the Director to certify ammunition in the Commonwealth, it also adds the line “birds or mammals shall only be taken with nonlead ammunition.” It would be unfortunate if this bill is considered further, as one of the only supporters at the hearing was its sponsor.
Last month, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) adopted a resolution to use education, information, and voluntary choice as tools to support best management practices to mitigate potential harm that may happen due to infrequent and inadvertent ingestion of lead by wildlife. Our fish and wildlife agencies are made up of professionals and wildlife experts who understand the science on spent lead. Voluntary, incentive-based approaches work. Far-reaching statutory bans come with significant unintended, but negative consequences, including a potential diminishment of conservation funding which would ultimately harm the species these bills purportedly seek to protect.
The inherent complexities of Sunday hunting, crossbow expansion, and potential lead bans make them significant issues for the sportsmen’s community which require continued and persistent education along with focused discussion. The three minutes of testimony permitted by Massachusetts, which would have to be split amongst the many bills, does a disservice to legislators, as there is simply no time to have the nuanced and thorough conversations these topics require – ultimately resulting in a situation where legislators may be asked to vote on an issue they haven’t yet fully grasped.
CSF used Massachusetts House Bill 1065 and Senate Bill 576, bills sponsored by the Massachusetts Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chairs Senator Durant and Representative Vieira, to testify on as they cover several issues important to sportsmen and women and could open questions from Committee members.
CSF continues to work directly with legislators, the Committee, and conservation partners to support and protect sportsmen and women in the Bay State and will continue our work with the Caucus to inform and educate all members of the legislature on these and other issues moving forward. If you are interested in having your voice heard on these issues, written testimony needs to be submitted by November 3rd, 2025.
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