Maine is one of only two states in the country where you cannot legally hunt on a Sunday, and that list is about to get shorter. Massachusetts lawmakers are now considering a repeal of their own Sunday hunting ban, a move that would leave Maine standing alone as the last state in the nation without any form of Sunday hunting. If you hunt in Maine, or you’re planning a trip here, understanding exactly what the Sunday hunting laws in Maine allow, and don’t allow, matters just as much as knowing the deer season dates.
This breakdown covers what the statute actually says, how it applies to private and public land, what happens with migratory birds, and what penalties you’re risking if you decide to test the rule.
Is Sunday Hunting Legal in Maine?
No. Maine law is direct on this point: a person may not hunt wild animals or wild birds on Sunday, full stop, with no general exception written into the statute for species, license type, or land ownership. The prohibition sits in Title 12, Section 11205 of the Maine Revised Statutes, inside the chapter governing general unlawful acts related to hunting.
The restriction is not new. The ban dates from 1840, a holdover from the era of “blue laws” that reserved Sunday for rest and worship. Maine and Massachusetts remain the only two states that completely bar Sunday hunting, though some other states still impose partial restrictions on hunting hours or game types rather than a full closure. For background on how the rest of Maine’s hunting rules are structured outside of the Sunday question, the general hunting laws in Maine cover licensing, seasons, and species-specific requirements.
Pro Tip: Don’t assume “no hunting” means “no scouting.” Walking your hunting grounds, checking trail cameras, and glassing for deer sign on a Sunday is legal in Maine as long as you’re not carrying uncased hunting equipment.
What You Can and Cannot Hunt on Sundays in Maine
The short answer is nothing. The statute doesn’t carve out exceptions by species, so whether you’re after white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), moose (Alces alces), black bear, turkey, or small game, the closure applies equally. That even extends to coyotes, which many hunters assume fall outside normal game rules because of their year-round predator status. The Sunday hunting ban applies to all species, including coyotes, so night-hunting permits and predator-control efforts still pause for the day.
Trapping and fishing are governed by separate statutes and are not swept into this hunting closure, so anglers and licensed trappers aren’t affected the same way. Compare that to a state like Mississippi, where Sunday hunting rules are far less restrictive, and the contrast becomes obvious: Maine’s approach is unusually strict by national standards.
One narrow allowance exists around equipment, not hunting itself. According to Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, a person may possess hunting equipment on Sunday for legitimate non-hunting activities such as target practice or sighting in a rifle, provided the equipment isn’t in a condition that suggests active hunting.
Private Land vs. Public Land Sunday Rules in Maine
Unlike states where Sunday hunting restrictions loosen up once you’re on your own property, Maine draws no distinction between private and public land. The closure applies everywhere in the state, on your own woodlot, on commercial timberland, on state wildlife management areas, and on federal refuges alike.
There’s a reason Maine landowners have historically pushed back hard against changing this. Maine is one of the few states where hunting private land doesn’t require the landowner’s advance permission, and no hunting on Sunday is the tradeoff for not having to get permission the other six days of the week. Multiple attempts to create landowner-specific Sunday permits, including bills that would have let owners of 20 or more open acres register for a Sunday hunting allowance, have been proposed and have stalled in the Legislature.
Important Note: Owning land in Maine does not create a Sunday hunting exemption for you or your family. The prohibition applies to the landowner just as it applies to a visiting hunter with written permission.
Migratory Birds and Waterfowl on Sundays in Maine
Waterfowl hunters sometimes assume migratory bird seasons run on a different set of rules since they’re partly governed by federal frameworks. In Maine, they aren’t exempt. The statute’s language covering wild animals or wild birds on Sunday is broad enough to include ducks, geese, and other migratory game birds, so waterfowl blinds sit empty on Sundays just like deer stands.
This trips up a fair number of hunters because the state’s own hunting hour charts list “exceptions” for migratory game birds, raccoons, and coyotes, but those exceptions apply to daily shooting-hour windows (start and stop times relative to sunrise and sunset), not to the Sunday closure itself. If you’re specifically planning a duck season around the calendar, the detailed breakdown of duck hunting laws in Maine covers how those daily hour rules work alongside the Sunday restriction.
County, Game Land, and Local Exceptions in Maine
Some states let counties or wildlife management districts opt into or out of Sunday hunting, creating a patchwork of local rules. Maine doesn’t do this. The Sunday closure is set at the state level under Title 12 and applies uniformly across every county, wildlife management district, and state game land, with no municipal or local option written into current law.
This puts Maine at odds with several other states that use a county-by-county model. Of the states with only partial Sunday restrictions, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, West Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland all allow some form of local or landowner-based Sunday hunting. North Carolina, for example, permits Sunday hunting on private land with landowner consent in many counties, a system covered in more detail in the guide to duck hunting laws in North Carolina.
Kentucky takes a similarly more permissive approach, outlined in its own state hunting laws overview. Maine lawmakers have floated local-option bills before, including a proposal to create a regional exception allowing rifle deer hunting on Sundays in specific areas, but none of these county-level or regional carve-outs have passed.
| State | Sunday Hunting Status |
|---|---|
| Maine | Fully prohibited statewide, no local exceptions |
| Massachusetts | Historically prohibited; repeal proposed in 2026 |
| North Carolina | Permitted on private land with landowner consent in many counties |
| Pennsylvania | Partial allowance for specific game and methods |
| South Carolina | Partial restrictions by county |
Recent Changes to Sunday Hunting Laws in Maine
The statute itself hasn’t changed, but the landscape around it has shifted twice in recent years. First, Maine’s highest court settled a constitutional challenge to the ban. Hunters Virginia and Joel Parker argued that the state’s 2021 “Right to Food” constitutional amendment overrode the Sunday hunting prohibition, since it guaranteed residents the right to harvest food for themselves. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court disagreed, ruling in March 2024 that the ban on hunting on Sundays does not violate this amendment, since the amendment doesn’t extend to situations where the underlying activity is already illegal.
Second, the pressure is now coming from next door. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has proposed eliminating her state’s own Sunday hunting ban, and if that bill passes, Maine could become the only state in the country without Sunday hunting. For hunters who split time between the two states, it’s worth tracking how Massachusetts handles the transition; the current framework there is covered in the Massachusetts hunting laws guide.
Inside Maine, legislative attempts to repeal or soften the ban keep coming and keep failing. Maine Woodland Owners, a group that has consistently opposed the change, points out that there have been 39 failed attempts over the last 45 years to pass some form of Sunday hunting in the state.
How to Confirm Current Sunday Rules With Maine’s Wildlife Agency
Because Sunday hunting bills surface almost every legislative session, it’s worth double-checking the rule before each season rather than relying on memory or last year’s regulations booklet. Here’s a practical way to do it:
- Check the current quick reference guide. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife publishes an annual hunting quick reference guide that states plainly whether Sunday hunting is illegal for the season in question, along with the legal hunting-hour tables.
- Call the department directly. IFW’s hunting information line can confirm season-specific rules and any recent regulatory changes before you head out.
- Track legislative sessions. Bills to allow Sunday hunting are introduced almost every year; following the Maine Legislature’s website during session months tells you if a change is actually close to passing rather than just proposed.
- Report violations, don’t assume enforcement is lax. Maine’s Operation Game Thief hotline exists specifically for reporting suspected Sunday hunting and other game law violations.
Key Insight: Because no Sunday hunting exception currently exists in Maine, “confirming the rules” mostly means confirming that nothing has changed, not looking for a loophole. Treat any claim of a new Sunday allowance with skepticism until you see it published by IFW directly.
Tips for Planning a Weekend Hunt Around Sunday Rules in Maine
A Saturday-only hunting weekend takes more planning than a two-day one, especially if you’re traveling from out of state. A few adjustments make the loss of Sunday less costly:
- Front-load your scouting. Use Sunday for trail camera checks, sign scouting, and stand placement instead of treating it as a lost day entirely.
- Case your equipment properly if you’re in the field. Possession of uncased hunting equipment in the woods on a Sunday can be treated as evidence of a violation on its own, so pack rifles and bows the same way you would for airline travel.
- Consider a border-state add-on. If your trip allows it, hunters based near the New Hampshire or Vermont line sometimes plan Sunday hunts across the border, where rules differ; the Vermont hunting laws guide and the Vermont duck hunting laws breakdown cover what’s allowed there.
- Look at license reciprocity if you’re hunting a multi-state trip. Some hunters build a Saturday-in-Maine, Sunday-elsewhere trip; Rhode Island is another nearby option, detailed in the Rhode Island hunting laws overview.
- Use Sunday for gear maintenance and licensing tasks. Renewing tags, sighting in optics at a range, and prepping gear keeps the day productive without violating the closure.
Penalties for Illegal Sunday Hunting in Maine
Sunday hunting violations in Maine aren’t treated as a minor citation. Under the statute, a person who violates the Sunday hunting prohibition commits a Class E crime, putting it on the criminal rather than purely civil side of Maine’s penalty structure.
That’s a meaningfully different outcome than a warden simply asking you to end your hunt early. Possession alone can also create legal exposure. Maine law treats possession of hunting equipment in the fields, forests, waters, or ice of the state on a Sunday as prima facie evidence of a violation unless that equipment is securely cased, wrapped, or broken down into pieces that can’t be fired without reassembly. That means simply carrying an uncased rifle through the woods on a Sunday, even without firing a shot, can be enough for a warden to build a case against you.
Common Mistake: Assuming that carrying a firearm “just for protection” while hiking on a Sunday is automatically legal. If the firearm is a hunting-type weapon and it isn’t properly cased, you can still be cited even if you never intended to hunt.
For general background on the broader legal framework behind Maine’s hunting rules, including license requirements and standard season penalties, the Maine hunting laws guide is a useful companion to this breakdown. If your hunt takes you toward waterfowl specifically, cross-reference the season and Sunday details in the Maine duck hunting laws page before you plan your blind schedule.
Bottom line: Maine’s Sunday hunting ban is one of the strictest and oldest hunting regulations left in the country, and as of the 2026-27 season, it shows no sign of changing through the Legislature. Plan your six hunting days accordingly, keep your gear properly cased if you’re out on a Sunday, and check IFW’s published guidance each season rather than assuming last year’s rules still apply.