Assembly to consider allowing Sunday deer hunting

TRENTON - A state law banning most types of hunting on Sunday could soon be changed to allow hunters to kill deer with a bow and arrow on the Christian Sabbath.

The original ban, enacted in 1903, prohibits hunting with dogs or weapons or bringing a gun into the "woods or fields or on the waters on the Sabbath day, commonly called Sunday, under a penalty of twenty dollars for each offense."

The so-called blue law has been tweaked over the years to allow for some hunting. Under the new measure, which will be heard today in the state Assembly, licensed hunters would be allowed to kill deer on private property or on state wildlife management land during deer season.

Approved by the state Senate in October, the bill is warmly welcomed by many Garden State hunters. "We need to bring this part of the country into the 21st century," said Rob Fischer, a Sewell resident who's been hunting for 40 years. - AP