Sec. 14. 12 MRSA §7945, first ¶, as amended by PL 1997, c. 432, §58, is further amended to read:

Possession of hunting equipment in the fields or forests or on the waters or ice in the State or in a motor vehicle being operated on an unpaved highway or road located in an unorganized township on Sunday is prima facie evidence of a violation of section 7406, subsection 4, unless:

Sec. 15. Rules. The Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall adopt rules to implement the changes effected by those sections of this Act that amend the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 7102-A, subsection 6; section 7107-A, subsection 4; section 7168, subsection 3; section 7451, subsection 1; section 7457, subsection 1; and section 7468, subsection 6 by July 1, 2004. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

Sec. 16. Effective date; rules. Those sections of this Act that amend the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 7102-A, subsection 6; section 7107-A, subsection 4; section 7168, subsection 3; section 7451, subsection 1; section 7457, subsection 1; and section 7468, subsection 6 take effect July 1, 2004.

SUMMARY

This bill:

1. Sets the hunting hours except for coyote, raccoon and wild turkey to 30 minutes prior to sunrise and 15 minutes after sunset. Wild turkey hunting hours are extended from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Twilight hunting is defined as that period of time between sunset and 15 minutes after sunset and for the purposes of this provision sunset is the time the sun sets in Bangor, Maine;

2. Requires the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to establish a system by rule that allows a person to transfer a valid hunting permit to another person and prohibits the tranferee from selling or charging a fee for that permit;

3. Requires residents to obtain a valid hunting license prior to applying for certain permits;