Waterfowl hunters should get up early on Tuesday, Aug. 1 or Wednesday, Aug. 2 to apply for a blind-site license for Maryland waters. This is a drawing or lottery process, and it is important to get in line early at county licensing locations.
Potential applicants should arrive at a licensing location between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. to be processed. Arrive late, and you won?t be eligible for the drawing and must wait until all lottery applicants have completed their selections.
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You must have in hand a 2005-2006 or 2006-2007 Maryland resident hunting license to participate. If you no longer have your 2005-2006 license, you can purchase a new license at Department of Natural Resources sport license agents. You must also have a photo ID (driving license) to prove residency. The only exception is for landowners or persons with landowner permission who desire to license their own property.
The licensing lottery will begin at approximately 8:30 a.m. on both days, ending at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 1 and noon on Aug. 2. Additional licensing will resume at DNR offices on Aug. 3. Check out licensing locations and maps of shoreline licensed by riparian landowners at the DNR Web site, www.dnr.maryland.gov. Blind-site licenses will cost $20.
Aug. 1 at 9 a.m. also marks the start of online applications (www.blackbear.dnr.state.mdus) for one of the 2006 black bear hunting permits. But there is no advantage to doing this early, as opposed to being the last person to apply before the Sept. 1 6 p.m. deadline.
Nor does it make any difference if you decide instead to call 888-579-6768 from Aug. 28 through Sept. 1, with calls accepted from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. This is a random chance to get one of the 220 permits available this season, up a tad from the 200 permits issued in 2005.
Hunting is a little expanded this year to all of Garrett and Allegany counties, with eastern Allegany County added this year for the Oct. 23-28 and Dec. 4-9 season. Realize that once 35 to 55 bears have been taken (a DNR decision), the season will be closed. Period.
Last season, there were approximately 3,000 applications, with a similar number expected this season. Be ready to pay a non-refundable $15 application fee, which covers the bear hunting permit if you are one of the lucky ones drawn. Remember too, no stuffing the application ballot box . It?s one application per applicant. Multiple applications aren?t fair ? and will be thrown out. You want a chance at a bear; you don?t want a chance at disqualification!
C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally-known sportsman and award-winning writer on hunting, fishing and the outdoors, and he has more than 20 books to his credit. He can be reached at [email protected].
