Two Buck Limit & Foot in the Door On Sunday Hunting Shot Down
March 6, 2008
The Wildlife Commission met today and although the official minutes have not been posted the news from the meeting is that these two proposals were shot down. As I reported before there was over whelming support for a statewide two buck limit with most opposition coming from the hound hunters. It seems the commissioners have sided once again with the dog lobby which really doesn’t surprise me but it is disappointing. No matter where you side on this issue you have to be concerned that a small minority with a lobbyist can sway the commissioners to vote against the majority opinion of sportsmen as well as their own biologists.
The other proposal that went down in flames that really surprises me is the one to open up falconry on Sundays. I heard of very little opposition to this proposal at the hearing I was at and from those I have talked to about other hearings from across the state. Many in the hunting community were looking at this as a stepping stone to open bow hunting on Sundays in the near future. Sunday hunting was endorsed by the Wildlife Commission briefly about a year ago with the completion of the Sunday Hunting Study and a recommendation to change the law seemed close. Then after a brief recess they undid all that and passed the study on without any comment. I really thought this would pass but obviously someone got to them or a lot of write in comments came in against it.
As far as the other 80 or so proposals go I haven’t heard anything so we’ll have to wait for the minutes to get posted.
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The dog hunters were a very vocal minority here in SC too, and they managed to do the exact same thing… complain, complain, complain. And the exact same thing happened – nothing. No new antler rules or buck limits.
I just hate that the same guys (some of them anyway) that allow their dogs to trespass get to decide the future of our state’s deer hunting and management.
At least we still get to hunt on Sunday. Can’t believe that in a free country, you can’t hunt your own land if the season is open. Next the government will tell you that you can’t allow smoking in your own restaurant. Oh, wait…
We continue to suffer the Sunday hunting prohibition here in Virginia as well. Weird that so few states ban it, but those that do seem to be clustered in this part of the country.
Keep in mind that not all hound hunters are shooting anything with antlers. The club I’ve hunted with in King William County has strict rules that discourage hunters from taking young bucks and participates in DMAP, which leads to shooting a lot of does.
The strategy has paid off in growing bigger bucks.
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