Sunday Hunting Laws in Maryland: County Rules, Species Limits, and What’s Changing
October 18, 2026
If you’re mapping out a Sunday hunt in Maryland, you need to check more than just the season dates. Sunday hunting bans rank among the last surviving blue laws in the state, holdovers from an era when Sunday closures also applied to opening a store or drinking alcohol. Maryland has spent the last several legislative sessions chipping away at that ban county by county and species by species, which is why Sunday hunting laws in Maryland now read more like a patchwork than a single statewide rule.
In this guide, you’ll find out exactly which species you can pursue on a Sunday, whether your hunting spot qualifies as public or private land under the rule, and what changed most recently in the state’s ongoing push to loosen the restriction. You’ll also learn how to confirm current rules before you head out, plus what penalties you’re risking if you get it wrong.
Is Sunday Hunting Legal in Maryland?
Technically, yes — but Maryland still starts from a default position of no. Sunday hunting allowances currently differ from county to county and species to species, and the state still carries a centuries-old legislative prohibition that keeps the Department of Natural Resources from managing Sunday seasons the same way it manages the other six days of the week. Unless a specific statute or regulation carves out an exception for your county, species, and land type, hunting on a Sunday remains illegal by default.
That exception system runs through Chapter 95, the law that currently governs the practice. Chapter 95 explicitly states that a person may not hunt on public lands within the State park system on a Sunday, and it gives DNR the authority to set the actual seasons for Sunday hunting. In practice, your right to hunt on a given Sunday depends on three overlapping questions: what species, what county, and public or private land. For the rules that apply the other six days of the week, see this overview of Maryland hunting laws.
Important Note: Maryland’s Sunday hunting rules change almost every legislative session. Treat any specific county or date listed here as a snapshot of the 2026 season, not a permanent rule, and verify before you hunt.
What You Can and Cannot Hunt on Sundays in Maryland
DNR may allow Sunday hunting for any game bird or mammal except migratory game birds in Allegany, Cecil, Garrett, St. Mary’s, and Washington counties on both private property and designated public land, and in Calvert, Caroline, Charles, and Queen Anne’s counties on private property only, during the open season for those species. That covers white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), squirrel, rabbit, and most furbearers — but it never covers ducks, geese, or any other migratory bird. Maryland’s fall black bear season (Ursus americanus) also isn’t among the Sunday-eligible hunts, so plan on Saturday-only unless DNR guidance says otherwise for a given year.
| Species | Sunday Hunting Allowed? | Where |
|---|---|---|
| White-tailed & sika deer | Yes, on specific Sundays | Private land in Anne Arundel, Harford, Frederick, and other listed counties |
| Wild turkey | Yes, all Sundays in season | Designated counties and public lands, plus Junior Hunt Day |
| Small game (squirrel, rabbit) | Yes, in some counties | Allegany, Cecil, Garrett, St. Mary’s, Washington, and a few others |
| Migratory birds (ducks, geese) | No | Banned every Sunday, statewide |
| Black bear | No | Not included in current Sunday allowances |
A handful of exceptions apply no matter which county you’re standing in. DNR may allow a person using a state-certified raptor to hunt game birds or mammals on any Sunday during the open season, and it may allow an unarmed participant in an organized fox chase to take part on Sundays as well. The department can also allow hunters shooting pen-reared game birds or tower-released mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) at a regulated shooting ground, and hunters age 16 or younger may take part in a Sunday junior hunt.
Timing matters just as much as the species list. In most participating counties, Sunday hunting is limited to 30 minutes before sunrise until 10:30 a.m., though that time restriction doesn’t apply on Sundays during the deer firearms season or on the last three Sundays in October and first two Sundays in November of the deer bow season.
If bow hunting is your focus, check the bow hunting laws in Maryland before you commit a Sunday to it, and note that furbearer hunters should confirm their county on the coyote hunting laws in Maryland page, since coyotes generally follow the same small-game framework.
Private Land vs. Public Land Sunday Rules in Maryland
Sunday hunting is not allowed on public lands within Maryland’s State park system, full stop. Outside of state parks, DNR maintains a specific, county-by-county list of wildlife management areas, state forests, and other public tracts where Sunday hunting is actually permitted. DNR’s published season calendar spells out exactly which lands qualify in each participating county.
| County | Public Land Open to Sunday Hunting |
|---|---|
| Allegany | Billmeyer-Belle Grove WMA, Dan’s Mountain WMA, Green Ridge SF, McCoole FMA, Sideling Hill WMA, Warrior Mountain WMA |
| Cecil | C&D Canal Lands, Earlville WMA, Grove Farm WMA, Old Bohemia WMA |
| Garrett | Cunningham Swamp WMA, Garrett SF, Mt. Nebo WMA, Potomac SF, Savage River SF |
| St. Mary’s | Salem SF, Saint Inigoes SF |
| Washington | Indian Springs WMA, Prather’s Neck WMA, Sideling Hill WMA |
| Wicomico | Ellis Bay WMA, Chesapeake Forest Lands, Johnson WMA, Nanticoke River WMA, Wetipquin WMA |
| Worcester | Chesapeake Forest Lands, E.A. Vaughn WMA, Hickory Pt. Wildlands, Isle of Wight WMA, Pocomoke SF, Pocomoke River WMA |
| Dorchester | Chesapeake Forest Lands, Fishing Bay WMA, LeCompte WMA, Linkwood WMA, Nanticoke River WMA, Taylor’s Island WMA |
| Somerset | Public land leased to hunt clubs only |
In Somerset County specifically, the designated public land open to Sunday hunting is limited to land leased to a hunt club for that purpose. On private property, the qualifying county list is longer, but the fine print gets more specific. Beyond the counties open for general game bird and mammal hunting, DNR may allow Sunday deer bow hunting on private property in Harford County on the last three Sundays in October and first two Sundays in November, and in Anne Arundel County on the first Sunday in November.
Local governments can add their own layer on top of the state rules, too. Calvert County’s own natural resource sites prohibit Sunday hunting entirely, regardless of what’s allowed elsewhere in the county. Before you plan a Sunday sit, check with the specific land manager — not just the statewide calendar — via Calvert County’s wildlife management page or your county’s equivalent.
Migratory Birds and Waterfowl on Sundays in Maryland
If you hunt ducks or geese, Sunday is off the table no matter which county you’re in. Maryland law states that a person may not hunt migratory game birds on a Sunday, statewide, with no county-by-county exception. That single rule is why waterfowlers plan almost their entire season around Saturday and weekday hunts instead of the county-by-county carve-outs deer and turkey hunters get.
The restriction held even as lawmakers expanded Sunday allowances elsewhere. The Sunday hunting allowances that now exist still apply only to specific game birds and mammals — never to migratory species. If you want to compare how differently other states handle Sunday waterfowl hunting, North Carolina’s duck hunting laws and Maryland’s own duck hunting laws page are worth a side-by-side read.
Common Mistake: Hunters sometimes assume a Sunday allowance for deer or turkey in their county automatically extends to waterfowl in that same county. It doesn’t. Migratory birds stay banned on every Sunday in Maryland regardless of any other Sunday hunting allowance in effect.
County, Game Land, and Local Exceptions in Maryland
Sunday hunting in Maryland is really a county-by-county patchwork stitched together over more than a decade of legislative amendments. Frederick County allows Sunday deer hunting from the first Sunday in October through the second Sunday in January, one of the longest Sunday windows in the state. Somerset County, by contrast, limits its Sunday allowance to public land leased to a hunt club, from 30 minutes before sunrise until 10:30 a.m.
| County | Species / Season | Sunday Allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Anne Arundel | Deer bow / firearms | First Sunday in November (bow); first Sunday of firearms season |
| Harford | Deer bow / firearms | Last 3 Sundays Oct. + first 2 Sundays Nov. (bow); all Sundays (firearms) |
| Frederick | Deer | First Sunday Oct. through second Sunday Jan. |
| Somerset | Public leased hunt-club land | 30 min. before sunrise to 10:30 a.m. |
| Wicomico | Small game & deer | Time cutoff removed under recent legislation |
| Prince George’s | Deer management permit holders | Traditional Sunday hunting exception retained |
In Prince George’s County, the general Sunday hunting prohibition does not apply to certain traditional Sunday hunting activities, and a person holding a deer management permit may still shoot deer under that permit on a Sunday. Meanwhile, the most recent round of legislation removed the old 10:30 a.m. cutoff entirely for Wicomico County, bringing it closer in line with the extended hours already available during deer firearms and bow seasons elsewhere in the state.
Compare that county-by-county approach to states that set Sunday rules at the state level instead — Kentucky’s hunting laws follow a much simpler, statewide framework rather than Maryland’s patchwork of exceptions.
Recent Changes to Sunday Hunting Laws in Maryland
In 2013, Maryland lawmakers passed identical bills making it legal to hunt on Sundays for all game species in season on both public and private land in Allegany, Garrett, and Washington counties, at a time when Sunday hunting was otherwise generally prohibited across most of the state except for deer. That was the first real crack in the modern version of the ban.
More than a decade later, House Bill 1063 chipped away at the restrictions further. Advocates continue to push for removing the legislative prohibition entirely and handing full regulatory authority to DNR, similar to what Pennsylvania did in 2025. By December 1, 2029, DNR is expected to gain the ability to manage all game species’ Sunday seasons the same way it already manages hunting for the other six days of the week.
The final version of the most recent legislation expanded hunting hours on Sundays in counties that previously required a 10:30 a.m. end time, removed the time restriction for Wicomico County, and added Sunday bow hunting for deer during the regulated deer season.
Maryland isn’t unwinding these restrictions in isolation. Delaware removed one of its last legislative Sunday hunting bans for game birds in 2024, and Pennsylvania fully repealed its legislative Sunday hunting prohibition in 2025. If you hunt across state lines, it’s worth comparing how neighboring states have handled the same question, and checking how Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island handle their own versions of the Sunday hunting question, since New England carries its own history of blue-law holdovers.
How to Confirm Current Sunday Rules With Maryland’s Wildlife Agency
Because the rules keep shifting, don’t rely on last year’s memory of what’s allowed. The Code of Maryland Regulations 08.03.03.01 is the actual regulatory text DNR updates every time a Sunday hunting change takes effect, and it lists every county and public land currently open to Sunday hunting.
For a faster county-by-county snapshot, DNR publishes an annual Sunday Deer Hunting calendar that maps out which Sundays are open in each participating county and which public lands qualify for that season.
Pro Tip: Call your regional DNR wildlife office directly before a Sunday hunt, especially if you’re hunting near a county line or land that borders a state park. Sunday hunting boundaries don’t always match the boundaries you’re used to for the rest of the week.
Tips for Planning a Weekend Hunt Around Sunday Rules in Maryland
A little planning keeps a weekend trip from turning into a citation. Work through these steps before you commit a Saturday and Sunday to the same hunt:
- Confirm your county’s Sunday allowance first. Check COMAR and the DNR calendar before you scout, not after.
- Match the species to the correct Sunday window. Deer bow, deer firearms, turkey, and small game each qualify on different Sundays.
- Verify land status. Private land with written permission, DNR-designated public land, and state parks all follow different rules — and state parks are always closed to Sunday hunting.
- Get permission in writing and respect posted boundaries. Maryland law allows landowners to mark private property boundaries with vertical blue paint stripes at least 2 inches wide and 8 inches long, and posted or painted boundaries make it illegal to enter without permission.
- Build flexibility into your weekend. Save species with no Sunday allowance, like waterfowl, for Saturday, and reserve Sunday for the counties and species that actually qualify.
- Watch your shooting hours. The standard 10:30 a.m. Sunday cutoff doesn’t apply during deer firearms season, deer bow season Sundays in late October and early November, or turkey season Sundays.
If you also hunt out of state, don’t assume the same weekend logic carries over. Illinois’s bow hunting laws, for example, follow a completely different framework for qualifying Sundays than Maryland does.
Penalties for Illegal Sunday Hunting in Maryland
Hunting on a Sunday when you don’t qualify isn’t a gray area — it’s a natural resources violation, and Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) actively patrol for it near county lines and public land boundaries.
NRP citations for hunting violations documented in 2026 carried fines up to $1,500 per charge, and stacking multiple charges — a common outcome when a Sunday hunting violation is paired with a licensing or trespassing issue — pushes the total higher fast. In one recent case, NRP cited two hunters for hunting where not permitted along with license and identification violations, exposing each to as much as $4,000 in fines.
Fines aren’t the only risk. Maryland courts have imposed penalties as steep as $6,000 in fines, up to a year in jail, and a three-year hunting license suspension for related violations such as spotlighting and hunting while intoxicated. Because Maryland belongs to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, a suspended hunting license here is also honored in 44 other states, meaning an illegal Sunday hunt can cost you hunting privileges nationwide, not just at home.
Waterfowl hunters trespassing on posted private property in Essex were cited after officers found several ducks in the back of their vehicle — a reminder that illegal Sunday waterfowl hunting is often compounded by trespassing charges when hunters push onto land they don’t have explicit permission to use.
Important Note: This article summarizes publicly available Maryland hunting statutes and regulations for general informational purposes. It is not legal advice. Confirm current rules with Maryland DNR or a licensed attorney before making any enforcement-related decisions.
Sunday hunting laws in Maryland will keep evolving through at least 2029, so treat this guide as a starting point rather than the final word. Check COMAR, the DNR calendar, and your local land manager before every Sunday hunt, and you’ll stay on the right side of a rulebook that’s still very much in motion.