Why It Matters: Currently, Maryland has some Sunday hunting allowances that differ from county to county and species to species. However, the “Old Line State” still has the centuries-old blue law on the books, which legislatively prohibits the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from fully managing wildlife species through hunting season dates, which would simplify public input via the regulatory process versus the legislative process. Maryland House Bill 1063 (HB 1063) and its crossfile, Senate Bill 643 (SB 643), seek to remove this archaic legislative prohibition on Sunday hunting.
Highlights:
- HB 1063 has wide bipartisan support and is co-sponsored by Maryland Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus House Co-Chair Del. Kevin Hornberger, while SB 643 is sponsored by Senate Co-Chair and National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses Executive Council Secretary Sen. Jack Bailey.
- Both HB 1063 and SB 643 have provisions in the bill to address specific aspects of Sunday hunting. However, a key element of the current legislative package is that by December 1, 2029, the DNR would be granted the ability to manage all game species hunting season dates and times, as they currently have the authority to do the other six days a week.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) submitted written testimony in addition to testifying in person during the House hearing for HB 1063 on Friday, February 27, 2026. The Senate hearing for SB 643 is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10, 2026.
In 2025, Maryland’s House Environment and Transportation Committee Vice Chair, Delegate Regina Boyce, worked with the DNR to create a stakeholder process to review the remaining Sunday hunting prohibitions in Maryland. During the interim of the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions, CSF, along with other sporting-conservation groups, attended these DNR-hosted stakeholder meetings, as did some members of the legislature, members of the equine community, and a few waterfowl guide services. HB 1063 and SB 643 are the results of these stakeholder meetings.
Maryland has already had a successful track record of limited, but ever-expanding Sunday hunting opportunities for some game species since 2003 when it was first authorized. HB 1063 and SB 643 expand upon that, providing the wildlife experts within the DNR the ability to fully regulate hunting season dates and bag limits, including allowing Sunday hunting where biologically and sociologically supported to provide increased opportunity for Maryland’s sportsmen and women.
Maryland’s bordering states have repealed most of their remaining legislative prohibitions on Sunday hunting. For example, in 2014, Virginia’s General Assembly removed their legislative prohibition on Sunday hunting for private land, and in 2022, this was expanded upon by allowing hunting on public lands, completing the removal of the statewide ban. In 2017, West Virginia passed legislation that allowed Sunday hunting on private lands, and in 2018, they expanded that by allowing Sunday hunting on public lands. More recently, in 2024, Delaware removed one of their last remaining legislative Sunday hunting bans for game birds, and in 2025, the Pennsylvania General Assembly fully removed the legislative Sunday hunting prohibition in the Commonwealth.
CSF continues to work with the Maryland Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus to encourage the passage of HB 1063 and SB 643 to provide more opportunity and access for sportsmen and women. This passage of this legislation will help bring Maryland into the 21st century by removing one of the remaining centuries-old blue laws in the “Old Line State.”
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