Stop Sunday Hunting in Virginia.

I am an NRA member and have hunted off and on most of my life. However I strongly oppose Sunday Hunting. Actually I'd like to see a few more restrictions, or more accurately actual enforcement of the laws we already have.
I wasnt happy with the NRA-ILA coming out in favor of this without asking or surveying its members for input. They are also sending out misleading information.

In my area deer shooting season runs about 3 months wide open, not the couple weeks claimed by the NRA, that's a full 3rd of the year, the best part I might add,
They also claim a low accident incident between hunters and non hunters as proof of safety, Actually it is just proof non hunters stay out of the woods.
What people do in my area is hard to dignify with the term hunting, Running deer into the roads with dogs and shooting them as they cross from the back of your truck isnt hunting in my eyes.
The current system is a very good compromise, Saturday hunting, Sunday for everything else, like horse riding. Sunday hunting would effectively ban the rest of the public from the woods the entire fall.
VA has no enforced trespass laws, and dogs wouldnt obey the boundaries anyway.
Please contact your state reps and let them know your feelings, Also demand they publicly make a stand one way or the other. William Barlow, my delagate has come out against it. Where does yours stand ?

Feel free to copy and paste this all you want,,,, Joe Ford.

I wasn't aware that there was a bill pending to allow Sunday hunting in Virginia.

Can you give the citation for the legislation?

And I'm not sure from your post what you view as the problem; Sunday hunting or hunting deer with dogs?

Also, East of the Blue Ridge, in no county is firearms season for deer longer than two months, and in some counties is as short as three weeks.

Deer

As a horseperson and a trail rider, I don't worry much about either archery or muzzleloading seasons, as there is very little risk to me riding in the woods.

I'd be an unhappy camper if they did away with Sunday hunting here. I see a few problems with it. My hubby more often than not works 6 days a week so Sunday is his only day to unwind and hunt. Not to mention we eat a lot of venison (and upland birds) that we take ourselves, not having that would certainly add more cost to my grocery bill. I'd also wonder what effect that would have on cutting back the deer population. We have a huge overpopulation problem here, so much so that one individual can get 8 tags in my county. Hunters are also encouraged to hunt other counties where they can get more tags as well as open hunt days at our state parks with a draw. Last year my hubby took 6, 3 in my freezer and we had the other 3 processed to donate to the food pantry.

I mainly hunt pheasant & quail, that's such a short season as it is that if they took away Sunday hunting me & my dog would be depressed.

I do agree about the idiots chasing them down with trucks, that's not sport. Though I doubt any law would keep folks like that from doing what they are going to do. They aren't playing by the rules as it is.

The dogs and lack of road hunting enforcement are a separate problem. But Achery starts 1 oct and muzzleloading 5 Nov, so gun hunting runs from 5 NOV-7 January in much of eastern Va add the archery season and it totals just over 3 months, (1/4th not 1/3 that was a typo above.)

The bill was voted down last session, but since then the VDGIF, and the NRA has come out in support, so I imagine 2012 will see it show up again

MH foundation Quarters, Do you go trail ride on your horse during deer season ? And how long is the season. It wouldnt be that big a deal to me if the season was truely only a couple weeks, but it is the entire fall and into winter down here.

Our season runs about the same amount of time, though they split it up quite a bit. Bow is in now until Nov, firearms Nov-Dec including 2 weeks of muzzleloader, followed by late archery Dec to Jan 1. If firearms were in now, I might go deer hunting...too cold in nov/dec to sit in a tree stand for me lol!

As I stated previously, archery and muzzleloading seasons don't impact my riding at all. I just wear my blaze orange, ride in the middle of the day, and try to avoid friend's tree stands so I don't spook their game.

In my part of VA, regular firearms season is 7 weeks long. So, Sunday hunting would mean 7 weeks of prime riding weather where I could only ride in a small area, so yes, I'm opposed. But I don't think it's a serious threat.

As far as hunting with dogs, it requires a very large tract of land. The only places around me where it occurs is at private hunt clubs with big leased tracks of land. Also, on a large farm property where I leased a barn and paddocks, the owners allowed a local hunt club to bring their dogs twice a year on doe days. While not to my taste, it's a very effective technique to reduce population, and as the last undeveloped property in a mostly suburban environment, the deer population was a huge problem. I cancelled lessons and kept the horses up those days, and the hunters would save me a haunch.

So while I don't want to participate in it, I don't have a problem with it when done responsibly.

There in lies the rub, responsibly. Doesnt happen around me, the run deer everywhere and hunt from the roads. Dog hunters will turn there dogs loose on on eroad let them run across posted property, and shoot the deer as they run across the other side. And Nothing LEO will do about it.

But back to Sundays, as yu just said 7 weeks, 7 isnt a couple weeks like the NRA-ILA is falsely reporting. That is all fall.

Most of the decent places to ride are state and national parks and forests, many of them open to hunting. So just avoiding a "friends treestand " isnt going to cut it.

Honstly I don't see the problem now. It is a very good compromise for everyone, hunters hunt six days a week, every saturday and all holidays, The rest of us are just asking for one day a week.

You don't want people hunting on sunday, because you trail ride on those days? I have got to be missing somthing.
In MI, gun season is only 2 weeks long, bow season is 3 months long. I know nothing about muzzleloading. Hunting deer from the road or with dogs is illeal, in all areas, as far as I know.
No one trail riding is going to get shot with a bow...I mean a bow doesnt have much range and the hunter would be able to see that there is a horse.......
Not to mention any chit chatting that goes on while trail riding would be a dead give away....and a ruined hunt.


The last thing this country needs is more gun legislation. Its silly to think someone shouldnt hunt ( not deer shooting) on sunday. If that's when they have time to put food on the table, then so be it.

I think the whole thing is silly. Enforce the laws that are already in place, not add more that hinders those that DO follow the law.
Passing a law doent affect those that break them, so no need for new ones.

Joe, apparently you lack the basic requirements for critical thinking. I have dogs that I run on bear, lion, bobcat and coon. These are the same basic dogs people use on deer. Last I checked, dogs can't read no trespassing signs. Or anything for that matter. You are the classic problem of what's wrong in society. ME! ME! ME! ME! ME! What

I do trail ride during hunting season, both on my own land as well as state park land. I wear my orange bird vest, bird pockets are good for horse junk too lol. The state park hunts are one day deals and they don't allow any campers, hikers or riders on those days.
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