This is for all Maryland Hunters! Does anyone know for sure if it is legal to hunt squirrels at Patuxent River State Park with a rimfire. I'm pretty sure you can, but Marylands weapons rules are wierd. You can hunt deer with shotgun and muzzleloader only in the B section, but you can kill squirrels with a 300 WIN MAG! Hunted once this year there for deer and wanted to do some scouting and whack some bushytails but wanted to be legal for the area. I'm used to hunting western Md where it's pretty much all rifle. Thanks!
They may have the phone number of the site manager office you could call.
Not from MD, just trying to think out how I'd get the info if I were there.
Thanks Jerry! Yea I can just call MD DNR, I just don't like to if I don't have to. I'm sure like other states, our Hunting Guide has most of the important rules and ALL the rules of the things we can't do, but we have alot of diff rules for what firearms u can use in diff parts of the state, esp in State Parks and State Forests. There are rules that say you can hunt in certain places with certain weapons down to a certain borderline. They will only let us shoot deer with shotguns and muzzleloaders in more than half the state but you can use a 300 win mag to hunt squirrels. It's crazy.
Are squirrels viewed as vermin in MD? The only reason to shoot one with a .300 is if you are shooting for pest control. Bloody hell I can take tree rats with a .22lr revolver!
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Verd ori'shya beskar'gam. - "A warrior is more than his armor"
We have the same specifics here in IL. They call them site specific rules. Some places still have bow hunters about during the squirell season. .22's zinging through the air with tree dwellers may not be good, so they make it shotgun only, site specific.
They do make ours a bit easier to navigate. Here are two sites for example: Sand Ridge Hunter Fact Sheet Mackinaw River Hunter Fact Sheet
I suppose I really wasn't considering bow hunters up in the trees. Most of the small game hunting I do on private land, and it's more as pest control than food, or pelts.
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Verd ori'shya beskar'gam. - "A warrior is more than his armor"
I hunt at patuxent river state park in the howard and montgomery county sections. This is region B for deer hunting also. In this area you absulutely can not use any rimfire rifle or centerfires there. It is strictly shotgun and muzzleloader firearms. I have been hunting there for over 20 years. Got a few squirrels with the 410 there about a month ago .
I hunt at patuxent river state park in the howard and montgomery county sections. This is region B for deer hunting also. In this area you absulutely can not use any rimfire rifle or centerfires there. It is strictly shotgun and muzzleloader firearms. I have been hunting there for over 20 years. Got a few squirrels with the 410 there about a month ago .
Hey Rando, I was wondering when you were gonna chime in. I've talked to you before about Pax River State Park regulations. So basically we can't anywhere witha centerfire or rimfire rifle that we can't hunt deer with either. They need to really be more clear on this in the Hunting Guide. The book says we can hunt forest game with a rifle. They are very clear what we can hunt deer with but not small game. Thanks Again Rando.
I hunt at patuxent river state park in the howard and montgomery county sections. This is region B for deer hunting also. In this area you absulutely can not use any rimfire rifle or centerfires there. It is strictly shotgun and muzzleloader firearms. I have been hunting there for over 20 years. Got a few squirrels with the 410 there about a month ago .
Hey Rando. Sent an email to Md DNR. Got a response back from a fellow named Peter Jayne of the Wildlife & Heritage Service. He said you can use rimfire and centerfire rifle to hunt small game in Region B. The county weapon rules are only for deer hunting only. He also said that some public lands in Md limit weapons you can use in that track of land. He gave me a #301-924-2127 to call to confirm. I think that's the number for Seneca isn't it. I think all business for Seneca, Pax St Park and Monocacy all comes out of Seneca. I guess I'll call tomorrow to make sure. I thought we could, I just can't figure why we have to hunt deer with shotgun or muzzleloader, but can kill squirrels with a rifle. Unbelievable.
Dksdeerslayer, I really would like to find out for sure. I have allways been told that you cant have rifles there and looked like the regulations dont allow them. Yes the phone number you have is from Seneca I believe. They manage quite a few areas in montgomery county. I have quite a few 22 rifles all scoped and sighted in and ready. I cant believe that I have been missing out on carrying my 22. I have been traveling to carroll and frederick just to use them. Let me know. I usually hunt off of route 94 at the river and divides the two counties. Also I hunt two other areas which is up river off of rt. 108 and downriver at hipsley mill road. It would be awesome to use a 22 for squirrell there.I read over the regulation book again and has no info about rifle hunting for forest game in there. They allways had regulations posted in a case at each site you park at but they removed them last year.
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