Update on Pending Hunting Legislation

The Andover Sportsmen's Club and the League of Essex County Sportsmen's Clubs would like to ask for your support on pending Hunting Legistation.

On March 19, 2026 Governor Healey put out a Press Release announcing support for the following changes to existing Hunting Legistation:

• Allow Sunday hunting: Massachusetts is currently one of only two states in the country with an outright ban on Sunday hunting. Allowing hunting on Sundays during limited hunting seasons will expand equitable access to outdoor recreation and provide MassWildlife with increased ability to manage healthy wildlife populations.
• Allow crossbows for hunting: Massachusetts currently has the most restrictive crossbow hunting laws in the Northeast and only allows their use by hunters with a permanent disability. Crossbows are safe, effective, and ethical hunting implements, and are generally more accessible than traditional and compound bows because they require less physical strength to use. Removing the ban on crossbow hunting will help MassWildlife reach wildlife management goals and provide more equitable opportunities for all hunters. 
• Reduce setback limits for bowhunting: Massachusetts currently prohibits hunting within 500 feet of a dwelling except with permission. Reducing the setback for bowhunting to 250 feet would bring Massachusetts laws into alignment with neighboring states and could open up thousands of acres of land to hunting, especially in areas where wildlife populations are exceeding management goals. This will also remove the setback for falconry, the regulated practice of using a trained bird of prey to hunt, since it does not pose any public safety risk.

Those changes are included in the Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations Bill H.5377 which is currently in the House Ways and Mean Committee.

Representatives from the League of Essex County Sportsmen's Clubs spoke to Kristin Kassner's office in the last few days. They indicated that they have really only heard from people against the changes (probably over the lifting of the Sunday hunting ban).

Please call and email these folks below and express your support for the hunting modifications listed above and contained in bill H5377.  You can also call and email your own reps, but the two folks below hold the keys to this legislation at this time.

Representative Aaron Michlewitz
Chairperson of the House Committee on Ways and Means
Democrat - 3rd Suffolk
Email: Aaron.M.Michlewitz@mahouse.gov
Phone: (617) 722-2990

Representative Kristin Kassner
Member of the House Committee on Ways and Means
Democrat - 2nd Essex
Email: Kristin.Kassner@mahouse.gov
Phone: (617) 722-2220

To look up your local Legislator you can click here: Find My Legislator