The Maryland Senate on the floor advanced Senate Bill 100, which would allow a hunter who wounds a deer during legal hunting hours to pursue and kill that deer after legal hunting hours under rules set by the Department of Natural Resources.

Senator Bailey, the bill sponsor, told the chamber the change is intended to allow humane dispatch of wounded deer and to permit DNR to write regulations governing how and when after-hours pursuit may occur. "So the whole purpose of the bill is to allow DNR the opportunity to develop regulations so that we can deal with this," Bailey said, adding that the measure also would allow the Natural Resources Police to require reporting and to set safety protocols.

The bill, as described on the floor, limits the post-hours use to "only the means authorized for the applicable hunting season or permit to kill the deer." The Senate also adopted a committee amendment that expressly authorizes limited use of lighting equipment when pursuing a wounded deer.

A senator on the floor asked how a hunter would prove the deer was wounded before legal hours. Bailey responded that the bill's intent is to give DNR the authority to develop regulations addressing evidentiary and reporting requirements; she said that the department could require hunters to report their activity to law enforcement or a DNR dispatch center so officers would know where and when a pursuit was taking place.

On procedural steps, the Senate adopted two committee amendments without objection, accepted the favorable committee report, and ordered Senate Bill 100 printed for a third reading.

The bill does not yet include final statutory language detailing reporting or evidence standards; supporters said those details would be developed in DNR regulations if the bill advances.

If enacted, the measure would change when and how wounded deer may be tracked and humanely dispatched, but any operational specifics will come from the Department of Natural Resources' implementing regulations.