Hunting on Town Owned Lands in MA

Joined
Sep 12, 2007
Messages
610
Likes
175
Location
Southeast MA
Feedback: 5 / 0 / 0
I did a quick search and did not see anything specific to the laws allowing/not allowing in MA. My town purchased a rather large nice piece of property for $1m through our CPC (community preservation committee). However, a year or so later its still posted. Several hunters have contacted me as I sit on several boards in town to look into the matter. The Conservation Agent is telling me its MA Law that hunting is not allowed unless the town votes to allow it. I am pretty sure this is BS, and probably the reverse is true.

I like to play with my share of firearms but hunting has never been my thing. If anyone can point me in the right direction on the actual LAWS and/or case law that would be great. And will do my part and try and open up these parcels as options for others.

Thanks.
 
So far as I know, according to MA state law you can hunt on any land that is not posted or is otherwise prohibited.
So, yeah what that Conservation agent told you is the complete opposite.
The town can create a bylaw for basically whatever they want though - i.e. requiring written permission for private land.

One thing you should look in to is where did the money come from that they used to purchase that land. If any MA wildlife stamp funds, or some federal conservation/wildlife funds were used then they are required to keep it open to hunting.
 
One thing you should look in to is where did the money come from that they used to purchase that land. If any MA wildlife stamp funds, or some federal conservation/wildlife funds were used then they are required to keep it open to hunting.

Call the local DFW office to see if there is a conservation easement on the property.
 
So far as I know, according to MA state law you can hunt on any land that is not posted or is otherwise prohibited.
So, yeah what that Conservation agent told you is the complete opposite.
The town can create a bylaw for basically whatever they want though - i.e. requiring written permission for private land.

One thing you should look in to is where did the money come from that they used to purchase that land. If any MA wildlife stamp funds, or some federal conservation/wildlife funds were used then they are required to keep it open to hunting.

The town has no information on hunting in any ordinance.

Yes, the CPA is created from local funding with a % from state match.
 
The state match is derived from fees paid for real estate transactions at registries of deeds. No mass wildlife blah blah funds. Thanks.
 
The town has no information on hunting in any ordinance.

Yes, the CPA is created from local funding with a % from state match.

You should find precisely where (which account) the state money came from.

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIX/Chapter131/Section2A
Section 2A. There is hereby established within the Inland Fisheries and Game Fund, a wildland acquisition account
.............
Acquisition of all lands so purchased shall be made with the advice and consent of the fisheries and wildlife board. All such lands shall be acquired exclusively for protection and management of wildlife habitat and shall be available for fishing, trapping, and hunting.


If the town has no bylaw regarding hunting, then any land that is not posted can be legally hunted in accordance with any state laws.
The question then is whether than can rightfully post the land.

- - - Updated - - -

The state match is derived from fees paid for real estate transactions at registries of deeds. No mass wildlife blah blah funds. Thanks.

Ah. might be SOL then...
 
I did a quick search and did not see anything specific to the laws allowing/not allowing in MA. My town purchased a rather large nice piece of property for $1m through our CPC (community preservation committee). However, a year or so later its still posted. Several hunters have contacted me as I sit on several boards in town to look into the matter. The Conservation Agent is telling me its MA Law that hunting is not allowed unless the town votes to allow it. I am pretty sure this is BS, and probably the reverse is true.

I like to play with my share of firearms but hunting has never been my thing. If anyone can point me in the right direction on the actual LAWS and/or case law that would be great. And will do my part and try and open up these parcels as options for others.

Thanks.
They are incorrect.....hence the reason trying to get permission on town land is a fxcking nightmare. You can ask 5 different agency's in town and get 5 different answers depending on who you talk to if they are anti...etc...

With exeptions with towns that have anti hunting bylaws.........MA law is hunting is allowed on any land that is not posted or signage to that effect is at the entrance. While my opinion is you should always ask permission....on town land.....its too hard to get permission because there are too many idiots to deal with.

Town land unposted to me I hunt it....especially if its my town that i pay taxes to....WTF.

Private land....totally different story for me.......I respect the taxpayer and I ask for permission always!

The owner is the town, If its still posted by the town then you can't hunt on it. If the postings are old, and by the original owner previous to the town, then you could argue it's not "legally" posted by the owner.Technically there are legal ways to post (owners must be name and address on the posting, and postings must be every 50 feet)

Now if stopped and you have to argue that point....game wardens don't care about that. If they see one posted sign, your generally screwed, arguing legal posting probably a waste of time with them and or the cops. However, as one pointed out above, if you have data that shows it was bought with Fish and Wildlife funds....then your argument will stand.
 
Last edited:
Always wondered about that. The town owns all the land. We pay rent to the town to live on it. How can I post "my" land if I don't own it? If I post it, I would be posting land that I don't own. Jack.
 
Always wondered about that. The town owns all the land. We pay rent to the town to live on it. How can I post "my" land if I don't own it? If I post it, I would be posting land that I don't own. Jack.
Technically true Jack. And more and more, even though my mortgage is paid. I feel like I'm renting with the taxes constantly going up.

Like my dad.....he pays in taxes now, what his mortgage once was.......

I'd imagine when I move down south and pay 1/4 of what the taxes are up here......I'll feel better about it. Can't wait for the day my quarterly tax payment, becomes my once a year tax payment.
 
Back
Top Bottom