Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 20, 1993 TAG: 9306200129
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has lengthened the bow and muzzle-loading seasons and given hunters across the state more opportunities to kill antlerless deer.
The department's 11-member board backed away from a controversial proposal that would have outlawed the use of rifles during the spring gobbler season. The proposal had the support of the Virginia Wild Turkey Federation, but it generated hundreds of letters of opposition, mostly from the far southwest part of the state, where rifle hunting is popular.
In the end, it wasn't public opinion that swayed the board, but doubts about whether it had authority to restrict the use of a particular type of firearm. That could be a task for the General Assembly.
"There is a question regarding legal authority; therefore, we will seek counsel from the attorney general," said Laurence Jahn, a board member from Vienna.
The board tackled the controversial bear-chase season, although it was not on the agenda, since there were no proposals to change the regulation that established the season last year.
Elsa Porter, a board member from Alexandria, said she understood that the '92 season was to have been a trial affair and the board would have the opportunity to evaluate it before its continuation.
"We expected to have an opportunity to have a public hearing and debates," said Porter, whose recommendation for an evaluation following the '93 season received board approval.
The more liberal deer-hunting regulations received praise from John Johnson of the Virginia Farm Bureau, who said deer damage to crops has become a $20 million annual problem in the state.
The bowhunting season will open Oct. 2, which means it will be a week earlier and week longer than in the past.
The board also added an extra week to the early muzzle-loading season by opening it the first Monday in November, rather than the second. A Saturday, Oct. 30 opening had been proposed, but that was defeated by a 6-4 vote after Leon Turner, a board member from Fincastle, said it would infringe on the bowhunting season.
The muzzle-loading season west of the Blue Ridge will offer hunting for deer of either sex the first Saturday - something board members added to the proposal - while the entire eastern season will be an either-sex affair.
There are exceptions: Bucks only will be legal during the black-powder season in Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, Washington and Wise counties and on national forest property in Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah and Smyth counties.
Sabot rounds, designed for speed and accuracy, will be legal for the first time during the muzzle-loading season.
A number of counties were given significantly more doe-hunting days during the regular firearms season. There will be either-sex hunting every day of the two-week season in Botetourt, Floyd, Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties.
Roanoke County had been recommended for a full season of either-sex hunting by state game biologists, but that recommendation was dropped when Turner said doe hunting the first day of the season could cause a safety problem.
"It is like opening day of the trout season. A lot of people just go one day," he said.
So Roanoke County will have the same three days of doe hunting as last season.
Doe days were doubled in a large bloc of Piedmont counties, including Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Halifax, Nelson and eastern Pittsylvania.
For the first time in recent years, a Saturday of either-sex hunting will be permitted in Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, Washington and Wise counties. That idea was opposed by Tom Cash, a board member from Tazewell.
"I have had no one to speak in favor of extending doe days in those areas," he said.
Either-sex hunting was recommended for the area by game biologists, who said it is needed for herd management.
"We have to let these biologists manage the deer out there," Turner told Cash.
Cash then asked Turner why that didn't apply to Roanoke County.
"That was a safety effort," Turner said.
The deer season will have a two-per day, three-per season limit statewide. A bonus tag, which sells for $12.50, will be available for use on private land. It will contain an additional two deer tags. Hunters may buy as many as they wish.
The grouse season had been proposed to open and close a week earlier, but some board members made the point that the earlier closing would deny sportsmen the opportunity for February sport, when they have the woods to themselves. A compromise gave hunters the Oct. 25 earlier opening while preserving the mid-February closing of last year.
"We don't have any definitive data that shows the gun to be a limiting factor on the grouse population," said Bob Duncan, game chief for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
That's not the case for quail, he said. The quail bag limit was lowered from eight to six and the season set to close Jan. 30 statewide. It had been running to mid-February east of Interstate 95.
Other regulations approved by the board include:
No loaded guns permitted in or on vehicles on national forest or game department land anytime - including the hunting season.
A new big-game deer, bear and turkey tagging system requiring hunters to take their game to a check station as soon as it is loaded into a vehicle or without delay at the conclusion of legal hunting hours. Last year, hunters had until 9 p.m.
No permanent tree stands on national forest property.
A uniform Oct. 15-Jan. 31 raccoon season on national forest land east and west of the Blue Ridge.
A crow season open Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday of each week from the third Saturday in August to the third Saturday in March.
Hunters must make a reasonable effort to retrieve game birds and animals.
Beavers may be killed when causing damage to crops or property on private land.
by CNB