Had a hunting friend who lved in PA. Back then there was no hunting on the Sabbath. Dates back to the Puritans I believe.

That is true, and it makes about as much sense as not being able to buy beer on Sunday.

That's why they call it the wild west! 

The so-called blue laws have been present in all of the southern states I have lived in.  I don't get the logic in rules that prohibit buying beer and similar libations at the local mart on Sundays but allow consumption of margaritas and what-not at the local bar.

That is true, and it makes about as much sense as not being able to buy beer on Sunday.

Yep, that's Pennsylvania!

Although I think that buying beer on Sundays is allowed meanwhile (I have never tried it, though).

It is also the law that from November 15th through December 15, one must wear at least a blaze orange hat when in the woods. Always fun to watch the fashion shows that this entails!

Well everyone has deal with their own comfort levels. I'm pretty comfortable around hunters and firearms. No big deal. And I'm willing to bet that for every "hunter with an attitude towards runners" there are dozens of drivers with that same attitude. I'll take my chances in the woods thank you.

In our state the hunting seasons run from the beginning of Sep.to the end of Jan. I am unwilling to give up the trails on public lands for that length of time. So I deal with it. Stay on the roads or treadmill if you want to but I'll be in the woods.

Risk management, make your choices in all we do. I love whitewater canoeing and almost died once doing it. I am comfortable with the risk and continue to do it. I also know two people that were thrown off treadmills and seriously injured one thru her own screw up and the other a faulty machine. I know peeps that were whacked by cars while running and biking. You tell me what's totally safe. But from a risk management stand point I believe I am as safe in the woods during hunting season as doing about anything. If you don't then stay out of the woods. Pretty simple.

Sorry for my attitude but most of us are NOT liquored up sloths looking to take out runners.

Interesting timing.  Harrier, did you get this e-mail just now too?

MADISON – The opening date for hunting and trapping would be moved back in certain parks with a high volume of late fall visitors and horseback riders, and areas around high winter use trail systems in some parks would be included in closed areas, under revisions the Department of Natural Resources State Parks Program is proposing to its original plan to accommodate broader hunting opportunities and open trapping on state park properties.

The changes are being made after review of more than 2,000 written and oral comments the parks program received on their initial proposal to implement the part of a new law the legislature approved earlier this year -- Act 168, known as the Sporting Heritage Bill – that expands hunting and trapping in state parks.

Act 168, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2013, allows the DNR to prohibit hunting and trapping within 100 yards of a designated use area such as a campground, picnic area, or beach. A determination to prohibit hunting and trapping in any other areas of a state park, a portion of a state park, or during certain time periods must be approved by a majority of the Natural Resources Board.

The parks program will present the revised implementation plan to the State Natural Resources Board at its meeting Dec. 11 in Madison. Board members held five listening sessions around the state in late October and early November to gather feedback on the department’s preliminary plan to implement the law. In addition, the DNR accepted written and electronic comments on the draft plan through Nov. 23.

In total, the department received 2,033 comments including written and oral comments provided at the listening sessions and those sent directly via email and letters. There were 157 oral comments presented at the five listening sessions.

“Many of the comments were directed at reducing hunting and trapping in specific state parks, and we reviewed each of those circumstances and made appropriate adjustments to the implementation plan where warranted,” said Dan Schuller, Director of Wisconsin State Parks.

Changes made to the department proposal in the revised implementation plan for Act 168 include:

• A total of 20 state park maps were changed after the listening sessions. These maps were amended to reflect changes in the allowable hunting/trapping areas.
• A total of 14 State Ice Age Trail Area maps were updated. Most were minor updates closing very small areas cut off by the Ice Age Trail buffer from the rest of the property.
• Certain highly used trail systems at Blue Mound, Council Grounds, Hartman Creek and Newport state parks are now being recommended for closure due to density of other park users during general hunting seasons.
• Hunting and trapping opening dates were recommended to be moved back to Nov. 15 on portions of Hartman Creek and Lake Wissota state parks due to heavy late season use by equestrians. The other properties with partial Nov. 15 openings would be Council Grounds, High Cliff, Peninsula, and Wildcat Mountain state parks, and the Elroy-Sparta State Trail.

The Natural Resources Board will also be taking testimony and written comments on this issue the Dec. 11. The board has extended the deadlineto register to testify to 4 p.m. Monday Dec. 10. The meeting will be in Room G09 of the State Natural Resources Building (GEF 2), 101 S. Webster St., Madison. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. and the Act 168 implementation plan is the third item on the Tuesday agenda.

All of the proposed hunting and trapping maps for state parks properties are available by searching the DNR website for “parks” and then clicking on the link for hunting in state parks 2013.

The draft Act 168 Implementation Plan is available by searching for “NRB” on the DNR website and then clicking on the button for “view agendas,” and then the link for the December 11-12, 2012 NRB meeting” and the link for “Request adoption of plan for management of hunting, fishing, and trapping in Wisconsin State Parks [PDF].”

What causes some consternation where I run is the county park and the

state park have a common property line.  There is one trail that is  thought

of as the dividing line, but... if you know the trail, you know some is in, some

is out of the state park, or county park depending on your view.

There is no hunting allowed in the state park.

There is hunting allowed in the county park.

People that know the property lines, but not the squiggles of the trail

are both hunters and nonhunters.  The state cannot yield to hunting

on that one trail because of the precedent it would set.

The only major violation of laws is the folks who load their rifles (why

is this not a shotguns only area, very dense brush, lots and lots of

twisty turny short-sight visibility trails) when they get out of their vehicle.

The access road is in the state park--no hunting, no loaded weapons.

They have 300-400 yards to walk before being in the legal hunting

area.

I do no dawn or dusk runs during hunting season.  That pretty much

safely separates us.

The interesting running was on the Rez' -- there is hunting year round

as a means of putting meat on the tables (no sport hunting).  There

was no such thing as a safe season.  We were told to run on the roads

or in the middle of the day.  All was good.

I agree that we all have to assess our risks.  I think there are different degrees of risk depending on what woods we are talking about.  My experiences have been with woods that are relatively small areas with a high concentration of hunters.  You are right that most hunters are very responsible and serious about hunting/gun safety/animal cruelty/etc.  On the flip side, I also know people who hunt without licenses, shoot deer from their truck, trespass, drink, take 30 deer in a season, don't chase a deer that doesn't drop after one shot, wear non-orange camo during rifle season, think its funny to shoot near people, hunt on Sundays etc. (albeit the minority).

Personally, I'm pro hunting also (for the ones that do it right)...love venison, hate deer over-population.