Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 11, 1993 TAG: 9304110082
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NEW PROPOSALS PUZZLE HUNTERS
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries spent months preaching the need to kill more doe deer for the well-being of the herd, then turned around and proposed an expanded early muzzle-loading season for bucks only.That proposal and several others for the fall seasons have hunters perplexed.
During a series of game department meetings around the state, one of the requests repeated most often by hunters was for a longer early muzzle-loading season, one that would include doe days. For two years, early muzzle-loading has been a one-week, bucks-only affair.
Game biologists have been quoted as saying that a bucks-only season sends the wrong message during an era when herd control has become more important than herd expansion. Even so, they suggested only a single doe day for the muzzle-loading season west of the Blue Ridge. And that was dropped by the department's 11 board members after a lengthy debate.
So hunters in the west face a season that is more than twice as long as last year's, but without a single doe day.
Then there is the new proposal covering the checking of big game. The past two years, hunters have had until 9 p.m. to check a deer, bear or turkey. That proved to be a poor regulation, because too many hunters waited until about the time the check station attendant was ready to head home before transporting their game.
So a revision was merited, but the wording is confusing. The proposal says big game shall be checked "upon vehicle transport of the carcass or at the conclusion of legal hunting hours, whichever occurs first, and without unnecessary delay."
What is vehicle transport? Does that mean if you kill a deer and load it into your pickup, you must immediately go to the check station? But if you simply lay it alongside your vehicle you can go back into the woods and continue hunting. Remember, the new deer bag limit is two a day.
And isn't it possible to interpret "at the conclusion of legal hunting hours" to mean you must have your game at the check station before legal hunting hours end at one-half hour after sunset? That would eliminate late-day hunting.
None of this is intended, game officials say. The idea simply is to get hunters to the check station within a reasonable time.
Even so, many hunters would feel more comfortable if this proposal was reworded for clarity.
Still another contention is the new design for the hunting licenses. There will be no deer tags on the bow and muzzle-loading licenses, only on the big-game license. It will contain three deer tags, and a hunter may use them during the season of his choice. If the three tags aren't enough, the hunter can make unlimited purchases of $12.50 bonus deer permits, which contain two additional tags for use on private land only.
The old license system was confusing, and a revision was needed. However, it hasn't taken long for hunters to figure out the new system means fewer tags at a higher price.
Many hunters are saying the department made a mistake by failing to be up front about that. Hunters recognize the game department needs additional funding and most are willing to pay their share, but they don't like the feeling that the agency thinks it is pulling one over on them, even if it is not intentional.
The lack of doe days for the western muzzle-loading season and the big game checking proposal will come up for review in early June, as will most other hunting-season recommendations by game officials. So there is an opportunity to take a second look before they become law.
That's not the case for the new license system. It is final.