The Wildlife Commission is holding public hearings for input on repealing the Sunday ban for hunting, in addition to about 54 other different proposals.
From
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/outdoors/13576831.htmAnd pasted below:
Report to study Sunday hunting138-year-old law 1 of several to get a look
JACK HORAN Special Correspondent
It's never on Sunday so far as hunting goes in North Carolina.
But the legislature could decide to relax or repeal the 138-year-old law.
Gov. Mike Easley and legislators have asked the Wildlife Resources Commission to study the Sunday-hunting ban. A report is to be sent to the 2007 legislature for possible action.
Beginning this week, sportsmen and women will get an opportunity to indicate in a public forum their views on Sunday hunting.
Commission officials, at statewide hearings on proposed fishing, hunting and trapping regulations, will sample opinion about the controversial issue that divides hunters themselves. The 7 p.m. hearings nearest Charlotte are Thursday at South Stanly High School in Norwood and Jan. 17 in the Morganton Municipal Auditorium.
"All we plan to do is to ask hearing attendees informally, probably just a show of hands, how they stand on Sunday hunting," said commission spokesman Brad Deen in Raleigh. "For a couple of reasons, we don't want these public hearings to turn into a forum on Sunday hunting."
Deen said the purpose of the hearings is to solicit public comments on the proposed regulations.
North Carolina is one of eight states that ban Sunday hunting, according to the National Rifle Association's Web site. Even falconers who don't use weapons cannot fly their hawks to catch game animals such as squirrels or rabbits on Sundays. South Carolina allows hunting on private lands on Sunday for most game.
Attempts to repeal the ban partly or completely have failed since 1995. Groups that include the Family Policy Council and the N.C. Farm Bureau oppose repeal. A 2005 bill to study Sunday hunting on a limited number of state game lands didn't get out of committee. N.C. gun hunting seasons run six months a year.
The proposals, among others, would:
• Open spring turkey season each year on April 10, or April 9 when the 10th falls on a Sunday.
• Ban the importation of certain deer, elk and moose parts from other states to protect N.C. deer from chronic wasting disease.
• Replace the 20-inch minimum length for striped bass in Lake Norman with a 16-inch minimum length from May 1-Oct. 1 and no minimum length from June 1-Sept. 30.
• Set a 20-fish-per-day creel limit for crappie on Lake Rhodhiss and Lake Hickory.
• Prohibit the possession of river herring above Rhodhiss Dam on the Catawba River.
For a complete list, see
www.ncwildlife.org/.
Hearings to be held at:
Mon, Jan. 9 4 Elizabethtown 7 PM
Bladen County Courthouse
Wed, Jan. 11 5 Graham 7 PM
Alamance County Courthouse
Thurs, Jan. 12 6 Norwood 7 PM
South Stanly High School
Tues, Jan. 17 8 Morganton 7 PM
Morganton Municipal Auditorium
Wed, Jan. 18 9 Sylva 7 PM
Southwest Community College
Thurs, Jan. 19 7 Boonville 7 PM
Starmount High School
Tues, Jan. 24 1 Edenton 7 PM
Swain Auditorium
Wed, Jan. 25 2 New Bern 7 PM
Craven County Courthouse
Thurs, Jan. 26 3 Louisburg 7 PM
Annex Building,
District Court Room
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