2 General Assembly bills raising ire of Virgina hunters
The Virginia General Assembly got off to a non-combative start as far as most outdoor sportsmen are concerned; then, on Friday, two bills were introduced that have hunters across the state in hot debate. Both pieces of legislation are the work of David Ramadan, a Republican who represents Northern Virginia’s Loudoun and Prince William counties.
- HB 2343 would allow the feeding of wildlife on private property regardless of whether hunting season is open or closed.
- HB 2345 would end Virginia’s long-standing right-to-retrieve law by requiring hunters to gain permission from a landowner before going onto private property to retrieve their dogs.
The problem with feeding deer, bear, turkeys and other game animals during the hunting season, the process rapidly can become baiting. In Virginia, baiting has been banned for more than 75 years. It is considered a breach of fair chase by many. Others disagree.
Twenty-two states allow some form of baiting; 28 do not, according to research by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Last year, the Virginia Senate Rules Committee requested the DGIF to study the impact of baiting. DGIF selected key biologists for an internal Hunting Over Bait in Virginia Committee.
In October, committee members reported to the DGIF board, giving an hour-long presentation that outlined the negative consequences of feeding and baiting. The board is scheduled to take a final vote on the issue at a March meeting in Blacksburg. In the meantime, the committee’s report was sent to the Senate Rules Committee with the recommendation “that the 78-year-old ban on hunting over bait in the Commonwealth be maintained.”
The report also recommended that “strong regulations on feeding of wildlife should be maintained or enhanced.”
While Ramadan’s bill does not mention baiting, it can be difficult to distinguish the difference between feeding and baiting during hunting season.
The current regulation of keeping feeding apart from hunting season appears to be working well, and it has the support of major hunting/conservation organizations.
Many hound hunters believe Virginia’s right-to-retrieve law — said to be one of two in the nation — is vital to the well-being of their sport. It allows hunters to lawfully retrieve their dogs from private property without permission from the landowner.
Leading the charge to defend this practice is the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance, which claims 60,000 members under the umbrella of the Commonwealth Sportsman Alliance, a political action committee led by Kirby Burch of Powhatan County.
Supporting the bill is Aaron Bumgarner of Courtland, a forester who is part of a group of property-rights advocates organizing what is being called the Virginia Landowners Association.
“Anyone who wants to enter someone’s property for any reason should need to ask permission regardless of what the situation may be,” he said. “This is not a hunting issue, but a property-rights issue that has been abused statewide by various special-interest groups.”
Burch said it is an urban legend “that folks who hunt with dogs are running wild across the state.” The truth is, relationships between landowners and dog hunters are good and improving, he said. The VHDA promotes a code of ethics urging dog hunters to treat landowners and their property with respect.
On its web site, the VHDA says the real purpose of Ramadan’s bills is to pave the way for deer farming and commercial hunting in Virginia.
Burch told me: “I believe that bills filed by a delegate who lives in a county where there is almost no hunting and dogs are rarely if ever used to hunt deer, coupled with the wildlife feeding bill, should tell the most skeptical person that this is a commercial hunting effort thinly disguised by a few hunters.”
Ramadan has yet to respond to my questions.
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* The above information was shared with Star City Whitetails by Bill Cochran of the Roanoke Times*
Thanks Bill.