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An Act To Amend the Hunting Laws as They Pertain to the Training of Dogs
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §12051, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2011, c. 253, §21 and c. 309, §4, is further amended to read:
 
1. Open training season.   Unless otherwise provided in this Part, a person may not train dogs on wild birds and wild animals except as follows.
 
A. A person may train dogs on foxes, snowshoe hare and raccoons from July 1st through the following March 31st, including Sundays.
 
B. A person may train sporting dogs on wild birds at any time, including Sundays.
 
C. A resident may train up to 6 dogs at any one time on bear from July 1st to the 4th day preceding the open season on hunting bear, except in those portions of Washington County and Hancock County that are situated south of Route 9.
 
A person may not engage in activities authorized under this subsection unless that person possesses a valid hunting license issued under section 11109, except that a person may train dogs on pen-raised birds at any time without a license. For the purpose of this subsection, "pen-raised birds" includes, but is not limited to, quail, pheasant, pigeons and Hungarian partridge.
 
A person who violates this subsection commits a Class E crime.
 
SUMMARY
This bill allows a person to train dogs on pen-raised birds at any time without a hunting license.