Waterfowl hunters must be careful about hunting areas over which they do not have complete control or confidence. Baiting for waterfowl is illegal, and the Maryland statute is more stringent than federal law. Under federal law, hunters are excused if they did not know that a hunting area was baited. Maryland hunters are held to “strict liability,” according to Natural Resources Police Sgt. Ken
Turner. That means that lack of knowledge of a baited area is no excuse.
Turner pointed out that 64 baiting cases were reported in the past two years, 27 of which received citations. Payable citation fines can be up to $500, with court fines as high as $1,500 for a first offense and $4,000 and/or one year in jail for a second offense.
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Hunters must familiarize themselves with normal farming practices in any hunting area, make appropriate inquires as to possible baiting, and, prior to hunting, thoroughly inspect the area for signs of baiting. Leave any hunting site where you find grain or seed.
Switching is better than a baiting fine.
>> The planned-for spring celebration for local outdoor guru Lefty Kreh was postponed because of Lefty’s knee injury. The rescheduled event is now set for Nov. 12 (6 p.m. to 9 p.m.) at the Boatyard Bar & Grill in Annapolis, with all funds going to the Maryland Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association. For details and tickets, call 410-280-8770 or go to [email protected]. Come out and meet Lefty. He’ll have a joke or two for you.
>> My wife Brenda lost her sister Debbie to breast cancer almost a year ago. My late wife, Jackie, died of cancer 11 years ago after a long earlier bout with breast cancer. It’s a terrible disease.
One of the joys of Debbie’s life during her last few years was learning fly fishing, fly casting and fly tying through the fly fishing/cancer survivor group, Casting For Recovery. It takes women affected by cancer on expense-paid weekends to learn these skills and bond with other cancer survivors. One of Debbie’s joys was catching a trout on a woolly bugger that she had just tied.
Now, the regional Casting For Recovery group is holding its first fundraiser to continue this work. A cocktail reception and silent auction is scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 13 at The Atrium, 901 North Pitt St. in Alexandria, Va. If you can’t attend and want to bid on some of their neat auction items, check out www.castabid.net. For more information, call 1-888-553-3500, or visit www.castingforrecovery.org.
>> Waterfowl aficionados can get a special bonus this year when the first day of the migratory Canada goose season on Saturday, Nov. 15 overlaps with the Easton Waterfowl Festival. You can get a goose hunting trip in by contacting the Maryland Outfitters and Guides Association at www.mdoga.org, and enjoy the festival from Friday through Sunday (Nov. 14-16).
The 38th annual festival converts the whole town of Easton into a waterfowl Mecca with three days of carvings, displays of painting and sculpture, dog events, fly fishing lessons, food, wine tasting and other related activities. Funding from these activities has helped this nonprofit organization put $5 million into Atlantic Flyway and Chesapeake Bay conservation projects. You can get tired, but you can’t get bored.
For information, visit www.waterfowlfestival.org, or call 410-822-4567.
>> Want to make a difference in a kid’s life? The Wish-A-Fish Foundation takes disabled kids or those with life-threatening diseases on fishing trips. It gets kids hooked on fishing, hooked on life and hooked on fun with summer trips made possible by charter captains and volunteer boaters.
One way to help is to attend their annual fundraising Bull & Oyster Roast on Saturday, Oct. 25 (7 p.m. to midnight) at American Turners Hall, 9124 Lennings Lane in Rosedale. Tickets are $40. For information, call 410-533-8672, or visit www.wish-a-fish.org/bnotickets.html.
>> Over the years you probably have read articles in The Fisherman, Salt Water Sportsman and The Easton Star-Democrat by Keith Walters. Walters also wrote books on the Chesapeake Bay and salt-water fishing for stripers. Walters died last week at the age of 77 and is survived by his wife Carole.
C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally known sportsman and award-winning writer on fishing, hunting and the outdoors. He can be reached at [email protected].
