@NCCapitol

Some want to shoot down NC Sunday hunting ban

North Carolina is one of only 11 states that restricts hunting with a gun on Sunday, but some hunters want to remove the state from that list.

Posted Updated

By
Arielle Clay
FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C. — North Carolina is one of only 11 states that restricts hunting with a gun on Sunday, but some hunters want to remove the state from that list.

Farmers are some of the biggest opponents to changing the Sunday hunting law. For many, it's about having peace and quiet one day of the week.

"I'm a Christian. That was one of the things you didn't do on Sunday was hunt," said Fred Burt, who raises cattle on a 700-acre spread in near Fuquay-Varina.

Burt is a hunter and sometimes lets other hunters onto his land.

Justin Rogers, owner of NC Hunter Supply in Raleigh, said hunters have wanted to pull out their shotguns on Sundays ever since lawmakers legalized Sunday bow-hunting in 2010.

A Senate bill introduced last year would allow Sunday gun-hunting on private property, but it stalled in a Senate committee shortly after it was introduced.

"For everybody to be able to have that opportunity on Sunday, I think, is great," Rogers said. "There's nothing much better for a hunter than to be able to take your family out in the woods to hunt."

Peter Daniel, assistant to the president of the North Carolina Farm Bureau, said that, even if farmers opposed to Sunday hunting don't allow it on their land, hunters could spill over from nearby property.

"(They should be able to) find out what's going on on the back 40 or back 400 acres without concern of a stray bullet or gunshots," he said.

Daniel said he would like to see both sides sit down with lawmakers to hammer out a compromise that both farmers and hunters can accept.

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.