Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 8, 1992 TAG: 9203090230
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The proposals brought cheers from several hundred hounds' hunters who filled a hearing room Saturday; however, the measures are subject to a final vote in May.
Tom Evans, who represented the Virginia Houndsmen and Sporting Dog Association, compared the bear and raccoon chase seasons to catch and release trout and bass fishing, saying it is a non-lethal way of hunting that should be encouraged.
"I don't know of any other way that the hunting public has been able to do a catch and release," he said.
Some board members of the game department have expressed concern that the chase seasons would be disruptive to other hunters and to wildlife.
"I want to hear from other hunters," said Eli Jones Jr., board member from Tazewell. "I have to consider other sportsmen. My vote will be predicated in May a lot on what I hear."
Board members emphasized that the proposed bear chase season would be classified as experimental. Bob Duncan, chief of the agency's game division, said it would be evaluated as to public acceptance, hunter participation and compliance with the rules.
The proposal would establish a Sept. 5-Oct. 3 season this fall when hunters could chase but not kill or capture bears in counties where bear hunting is permitted except Bland, Pulaski, Russell, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington and Wythe. Duncan said bear restoration programs are being conducted in the counties that were excluded.
The proposed western raccoon season would be open Aug. 1-May 31, and would include kill dates of Oct. 15-Jan. 31. It would match the current season east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The western season has ended Jan. 31 during recent years.
"We don't want more hunting season - just training," said David Sexton, president of the Southwest Virginia Coon Hunters Federation.
Duncan said Virginia currently ranks 23rd among 35 raccoon hunting states in opportunities for coon hunters to pursue their sport. Under the proposed lengthening of the season, the ranking would increase to 19, he said.
"So we still, in comparison to many of those other states, are conservative."
Several states have a bear chase or bear hound training season that is much longer than the one proposed for Virginia, Duncan said.
"I think what we are after is very reasonable. Other states have not been able to discern any kind of negative impact. We think we are well within the limits of safety on this thing."
State wildlife officials estimate that there are 3,200 bear in Virginia, Duncan said. The past hunting season saw a record kill of 657 animals.
The chase season proposal was made after game officials met on several occasions with bear hunters, Duncan said.
"The bear hunters have come to realize that the future of their sport really depends on how well we can work together," he said.
"We would not think of asking for this if we thought it was detrimental to the [bear] population," said Cecil Boggs of the Virginia Bear Hunters Association.
Boggs said a chase season wouldn't just brighten the life of bear hunters, but their hounds as well.
"Nothing has the desire to go hunting when they aren't able to more than a hound," he said. "They are the marathon athletics of the canine world."
Bear hunters began campaigning in earnest for a chase season in May, while western raccoon hunters have pressed for an extended chase season for a number of years. Lacking results, some hunters supported an unsuccessful bill in the 1992 General Assembly that would have established an Aug. 1-May 31 raccoon season in the west.
Evans chastised this effort, telling sportsmen they should accomplish their goals through the game department. Jones emphasized that his vote for the proposed raccoon season should not be interpreted as being influenced by the threat of a legislative-set season.
Also proposed for the fall hunting season is an emergency deer season for the City of Lynchburg, where deer damage complaints and deer-auto accidents have been on a sharp rise. Other hunting regulations for the 1992-93 season remain unchanged from last season.
A final vote for the proposals is set for May 16 in Farmville. At that time, board members also are scheduled to discuss the controversial issue of whether the hybrid wolf-dog should be classified as a wild or domestic animal in the state's non-game regulations.
by CNB