1. Have you hunted with non-lead ammo?

2. Should Maine establish a spring bear hunt to help reduce the bear population?

3. Should the applications filed by landowners for preference in any-deer permit drawings be open to public inspection?

4. Have you removed all lead sinkers and lead split shot from your freshwater tackle boxes?

5. Did you hunt coyotes within the past year?

6. Because of Covid-related restrictions, did you hunt and fish close to home more frequently than usual this year?

7. Virtually all of Maine’s navigable rivers and streams have been channelized, bulldozed, dynamited, straightened, or otherwise altered to facilitate driving of logs, which ended in 1976. Should the state initiate a program to restore our rivers to provide better habitat for fish and wildlife?

8. Did you hunt with a crossbow within the past 12 months?

9. Did you hunt with a muzzleloader within the past 12 months?

10. It is unlawful to hunt in Maine with an autoloading rifle with a magazine with the capacity of more than five cartridges. Should it be unlawful to possess an autoloading rifle with a magazine having a capacity of more than five cartridges?

11. Do you believe global warming is caused by human activity on Earth?

12. Do you believe global warming is a real environmental threat?

13. Should DIF&W establish a program to improve spawning habitat for trout and salmon?

14. Should ice fishing be allowed on some salmon and trout waters now closed each winter, if anglers are required to use only artificial lures?

15. Did you hunt or fish outside of the state of Maine in the past 12 months?

16. Has the turkey population expanded to the point that the state should end the seasonal tag limits for the spring season, and allow the taking of one tom turkey each day?

17. Is the dumping of household goods and tires causing landowners to post their property?

18. Should buyers of auto and truck tires pay a returnable deposit, as we do on beverage bottles, which we would get back when we returned the used tires?

19. Pike are an exotic invasive species that has the potential to wreak havoc with our native trout and salmon. Should anglers be required to kill any pike that are caught?

20. Would you support a proposal to expand the instant background check of purchasers of firearms to include sales between private parties?

21. Should income from bear bait hunting sites leased by landowners be taxed, with the revenue going to DIF&W?

22. Should a system be developed to allow an any-deer permit to be used in more than one Wildlife Management District?

23. Do you believe DIF&W wardens are spread too thin to deter poachers?

24. When wardens spend time on search and rescue activities unrelated to fish or game activities, should the state’s General Fund pay for their time?

25. Do you approve of DIF&W’s current practice of stocking brook trout in marginal, put-and-take waters where these fish cannot survive warm summer water?

26. Did you spend time fly-casting in the past 12 months?

27. Should mechanized gold mining in Maine rivers and streams be ended, to protect trout and salmon spawning areas?

28. Only 3% of all bears killed each year are harvested by trapping. To remove an emotional issue from future bear hunting debates, should the state end the recreational trapping of bears?

29. Should municipalities that regulate bow hunting in the expanded season zones be barred from charging fees for permits?

30. Should landlocked salmon be managed to promote larger fish?

31. Should DIF&W regulate winter-feeding of deer?

32. Should nonresidents be permitted to hunt deer on opening day of the firearms season?

33. Were you checked by a game warden within the last 12 months?

34. Should hunting with crossbows be allowed wherever hunters can use regular bows, as is now the case with hunters 65 and older?

35. Do you believe many hunters in Maine tag deer they didn’t shoot?

36. Should the owners of land with conservation easements be required to post online maps showing the land and the location of the public’s right of access?

37. Should Maine’s law permitting children of any age to hunt under supervision, be modified to establish a minimum hunting age?

38. Should a system of tagging turkeys by telephone or online replace tagging stations?

39. Should the price of a Maine hunting license include the right to hunt all game animals (except moose) without additional fees?

40. Have you (or has anyone you know) seen a cougar in Maine? If you answered “Yes,” write will@mainesportsman.com and tell us about it.

41. Please write in any question you’d like to have us ask in our reader poll next year.

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