An Act To Lower the Eligibility Age for a Junior Hunting License
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0156
Committee Amendment CA_A_H105 (House)
Amends: 12 MRSA §11102, 12 MRSA §1110, 12 MRSA §11154

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 114, L.D. 156, Bill, "An Act To Lower 
the Eligibility Age for a Junior Hunting License" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting, the following: 
'An Act To Eliminate the Minimum Age Requirement for a Junior Hunting License 
and Increase the Number of Times a Person May Hold an Apprentice Hunter 
License' 
Amend the bill in section 1 in subsection 8 in the 4th line (page 1, line 7 in L.D.) by 
striking out the following: ", M ~ years of age or older," and inserting the following: ',.-l-O 
years of age or older,' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §11102, as affected by PL 2003, c. 614, §9 and repealed and 
replaced by c. 655, Pt. B, §ll1 and affected by §422, is repealed.' 
Amend the bill in section 3 in paragraph B in the first line (page 1, line 24 in L.D.) by 
striking out the following: "~ years of age or older and" and inserting the following: 
'years of age or older and' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in subsection 2 in the first line (page 1, line 28 in L.D.) by 
striking out the following: "~ years of age or' older and" and inserting the following: 
'years of age or older and' 
Amend the bill in section 5 in subsection 2 in the first line (page 1, line 32 in L.D.) by 
striking out the following: "~ years of age or older and" and inserting the following: 
'years of age or older and' 
Amend the bill in section 6 in subsection 1 in the 2nd line (page 2, line 2 in L.D.) by 
striking out the following: "over M ~ years of age" and inserting the following: 'oyer 10 
years of age' 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 114, L.D. 156 
Amend the bill in section 6 in subsection 1 in the 3rd line (page 2, line 3 in L.D.) by 
striking out the following: "over .w ~ years of age" and inserting the following: 'over 10 
years of age' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 7 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 7. 12 MRSA §1110B-B, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2013, c. 538, § 19, is 
further amended to read: 
3. Eligibility. A resident or nonresident 16 years of age or older who has never held 
a valid adult hunting license in this State, or any other state, province or country, is 
eligible to obtain an apprentice hunter license. Notwithstanding section 11105, a person is 
eligible to obtain an apprentice hunter license without having successfully completed a 
hunter safety course. A person may not obtain an apprentice hunter license more than 
twiee 5 times. A person selected to receive a moose permit may not then purchase an 
apprentice hunter license to meet the licensing requirements for that perm~t. 
Sec. B. 12 MRSA §1110B-C, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 538, §20, is amended to 
read: 
§ 111 OS-C. Eligibility and restrictions for a junior hunting license 
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. "Adult supervisor" means: 
(1) The parent or guardian of the junior hunter who holds or has held a valid 
Maine hunting license or successfully completed a hunter safety course that 
meets the requirements of section 11105; or 
(2) A person 18 years of age or older who: 
(a) Is approved by the parent or guardian of the junior hunter; and 
(b) 
Holds or has held a valid Maine hunting license or successfully 
completed a hunter safety course that meets the requirements of section 
11105. 
B. "In the presence of' means in visual and voice contact without the use of visual or 
audio enhancement devices, including but not limited to binoculars and citizen band 
radios. 
2. Eligibility. A resident or nonresident who is at least 10 years of age and under 16 
years of age may obtain a junior hunting license, which allows that person to hunt subject 
to the conditions set out in this section: ' 
. 
.. Supervision of juniOr 1MIiIten. A hunter who is at least 10 years of age and 
under 16 years of age may not hurtt unless that person holds a junior hunting license and 
is in the presence of and under the effective control of an adult supervisor. 
4. Supervision of junior hunters 16 years of age. A hunter 16 years of age who 
obtained a junior ffim.teF hunting license before that person reached 16 years of age may 
not hunt with that license unless the person is in the presence of eF and under the effective 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
ROr S 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A " 
to H.P. 114, L.D. 156 
I 
control of an adult supervisor or the person has successfully completed a hunter safety 
course acceptable under section 11105. The following penalties apply to a violation of 
this subsection: 
A. A person who violates this subsection commits a civil violation for which a fine 
of not less than $100 nor more than $500 may be adjudged; and 
B. 
A person who violates paragraph A after having been adjudicated as having 
committed 3 or more civil violations under this Part within the previous 5-year period 
commits a Class E crime. 
5. Expiration of junior hunting license issued to person 15 years of age. A junior 
hunting license issued to a person who is 15 years of age is valid through the calendar 
II 
year for which the license is issued. In addition to the requirements of subsection 4, all 
other permit requirements applicable to a person who is 16 years of age or older apply to 
a person who continues to hunt with a junior hunting license under this subsection after 
reaching that person's 16th birthday. 
6. 
Penalties for supervisors of junior hunters. 
A person who is the adult 
. supervisor of a holder of a valid junior hunting license when that junior hunter violates 
any provision of this Part pertaining to hunting: 
A. Commits a civil violation for which a fine of not less than $100 nor more than 
$500 may be adjudged; and 
B. After having been adjudicated as having committed 3 or more civil violations 
under this Part within the previous 5-year period, commits a Class E crime.' 
Amend the bill in section 8 in paragraph A in the first line (page 2, line 21 in L.D.) by 
striking out the following: "~ years of age or older and" and inserting the following: 
'years of age or older and' 
Amend the bill in section 9 in paragraph F in the first line (page 2, line 29 in L.D.) by 
striking out the following: "~ years of age or older and" and inserting the following: 
7 
'years of age or older and' 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 9 the following: 
'Sec. 10. 12 MRSA §11154, sub-§13, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 143, §1, is 
amended to read: 
13. Hunting adventure permits for children. 
Notwithstanding subsection 6 ilfHi 
seetion 11102, the commissioner may issue 2 moose permits to a nonprofit organization 
dedicated to providing hunting and fishing adventures to children under 21 years of age 
with life-threatening, critical or terminal illnesses. The commissioner may issue these 
permits upon written request by an eligible nonprofit organization but may not issue more 
than 2 permits in total for a calendar year. These permits are in addition to the moose 
hunting permits issued under subsection 2 for each wildlife management district and are 
at no cost to the organization. 
Sec. 11. Effective date. Thi~ Act takes effectJanuary 1,2016.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 114, L.D. 156 
SUMMARY 
The bill lowers the eligibility age for a junior hunting license from 10 to 8 years of 
age; this amendment instead removes the minimum age requirement for a junior hunting 
license. This amendment also provides that the adult supervisor of the junior hunter must 
hold or have held a Maine hunting license or have successfully completed a hunter safety 
course. It also increases the number of times a person may hold an apprentice hunter 
license from twice to 5 times before becoming ineligible to purchase the license. This 
amendment provides an effective date of January 1, 2016. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Net Cost (Savings) 
General Fund 
Revenue 
General Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Approved: 04/24/15 
wac 
LD 156 
LR 718(02) 
An Act To Lower the Eligibility Age for a Junior Hunting License 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendmeniit' {H -ID~ 
Committee: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Potential current biennium revenue increase - Federal Expenditures Fund 
FY 2015-16 
FY 2016~17 
$0 
($27,875) 
$0 
$27,875 
Projections 
FY 2017-18 
($27,875) 
$27,875 
Projections 
FY 2018-19 
($27,875) 
$27,875 
The bill removes the requirement that somebody be at least 10 years old to be eligible for a junior hunting license and 
allows those under 16 years old to obtain this license. This will increase General Fund revenue collected through the 
Department ofInland Fisheries & Wildlife (IF&W) by an estimated $27,875 annually beginning in fiscal year 2016-
17. IF&W expects to increase Federal Expenditures Fund revenue by $25,445 annually for federal grants for the 
expected increase in licenses issued beginning in fiscal year 2016-17. 
LR07l8(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1