Eddiemax
New Member
Recently, Alabama re-defined night hunting hours from sunset to daylight changing them to 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise. The new law also expanded the authority delegated to the commissioner to allow hunting protected animals at night.
Previously, night hunting was defined by law as beginning at sunset and ending at daylight, but the DCNR defined legal hunting hours as "daylight hours only". Depredation permits issued by the DCNR that allowed night hunting of protected animals other than those allowed by law without being prosecuted for the violation required the user to sign an agreement to "abide by all laws". That amounted to the criminal act of perjury and the lack of enforcement of the law by game wardens amounted to the criminal act of complicity. The new law clears all of that up.
The new law doesn't take any daytime hunting hours away... it adds legal daytime hunting hours. The DCNR was just as obligated to enforce the old law beginning at sunset as it is to enforce the new law beginning at 30 minutes after sunset.
Now you don't have to commit perjury in order to use a depredation permit to hunt nuisance animals at night. The law now authorizes the commissioner to allow you hunt all protected animals at night by his rules where it previously limited night hunting protected animals to raccoons, opossums and foxes.
I don't see any reason for the complaints I've read about these changes. The only problem with them that I see is the new definitions leaves a gap from sunset to 30 minutes after sunset in the requirement to have permission to hunt on someone else's property. That needs to be corrected.
Previously, night hunting was defined by law as beginning at sunset and ending at daylight, but the DCNR defined legal hunting hours as "daylight hours only". Depredation permits issued by the DCNR that allowed night hunting of protected animals other than those allowed by law without being prosecuted for the violation required the user to sign an agreement to "abide by all laws". That amounted to the criminal act of perjury and the lack of enforcement of the law by game wardens amounted to the criminal act of complicity. The new law clears all of that up.
The new law doesn't take any daytime hunting hours away... it adds legal daytime hunting hours. The DCNR was just as obligated to enforce the old law beginning at sunset as it is to enforce the new law beginning at 30 minutes after sunset.
Now you don't have to commit perjury in order to use a depredation permit to hunt nuisance animals at night. The law now authorizes the commissioner to allow you hunt all protected animals at night by his rules where it previously limited night hunting protected animals to raccoons, opossums and foxes.
I don't see any reason for the complaints I've read about these changes. The only problem with them that I see is the new definitions leaves a gap from sunset to 30 minutes after sunset in the requirement to have permission to hunt on someone else's property. That needs to be corrected.
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