Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501100007
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``We have killed 14 bucks that were eight points or better,'' said Denny Quaiff, a club member. ``We will hit right at 100 [bucks and does]. We have had a tremendous season.''
That wasn't the kind of praise being voiced by other groups of hunters, even some as close as the other side of the county.
``The clubs over there aren't killing anything,'' Quaiff said.
So, overall, what kind of deer season has it been? Are hunters happy or dissatisfied? Will they want major changes in regulations when the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries sets the rules for next season?
As executive director of the Virginia Deer Hunters Association, Quaiff hopes to find answers to these questions.
``I don't have a great feel for anything at this point,'' he said. ``I am getting a lot of spotty comments. Some people didn't find deer, and some did OK.''
Last week, the nearly 4,000 members of the 10-year-old association received a questionnaire, which addressed everything from bag limits to blaze orange. The views of members will be forwarded to game officials and general assembly members.
As an avid hunter, Quaiff has some strong opinions of his own, but promised, ``We represent only what our majority wants. Whether I like this stuff or not, I have to represent the membership.''
The survey, Quaiff believes, will show strong support for a law that requires muzzleloaders to wear blaze orange, following an accident-marred season.
``My feel for it is that the majority will not oppose that,'' he said. ``I certainly do not.''
Quaiff wears blaze orange and that hasn't kept him from killing three trophy bucks since the 1990 muzzleloading season, he said.
``I have had a tremendous amount of people call me and ask, 'What can we do to get more muzzleloading hunting?'``
The questionnaire has hunters voting on whether to include an extra Saturday in the season, or an extra week. It also will sample opinions about adding telescopic sights to primitive guns.
``Obviously, you are going to be able to identify your target better through a scope than looking over [open or peep] sights,'' he said. ``But when you get a rifle dressed up like that, it doesn't have the primitive effect or primitive appearance.''
Either way, the range is going to be about 100 yards, Quaiff said.
``You can carry your flintlock if you want to and your possibles bag and your buckskins, and I applaud you. That's fine. But if I want to put a scope on my rifle, I can't see how that is infringing on you, or anybody else. What difference does it make? If a hunter wants to be primitive, he has a choice.''
But some old-timers are wondering aloud if the muzzleloading season already is infringing on the modern gun season. Quaiff said data doesn't support that concern.
``Our club, at Spears, for example, killed seven deer with a bow, we killed 10 with a muzzleloader and the rest during the gun season. So where have the deer been killed? They have been killed with shotguns during the dog season.''
Quaiff believes the statewide tally will show the deer kill to be down this year, following a string of record seasons. Some hunters are going to say the decline is the result of game regulations that are too liberal.
``But we had too many deer,'' Quaiff said. ``We all got spoiled. If the kill is down, that is what was supposed to happen.''
The success at Spears is the result of the club's management for trophy bucks, he said.
``We are not shooting the little bucks. We are taking good numbers of does off the property to keep everything in balance. Our planning and management is kicking in and showing up.''
by CNB