Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 6, 1995 TAG: 9505090005
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries legalized the use of scopes for the muzzleloading deer season and shortened the fall turkey season to six weeks. Both issues were highly controversial and had divided hunters.
Even the department's game biologist staff was opposed to telescopic scopes for the black-powder hunting season. The department board, however, overruled its staff Friday, saying scopes would provide cleaner kills and safer hunting. Heavy backing for the proposal came from the Virginia Deer Hunters Association.
``Let's give the hunter the opportunity to be as effective as possible,'' said Denny Quaiff, the association's president.
The staff expressed concern that the muzzleloading season could become so big that it would have an adverse impact on the deer herd. Last season, it attracted 80,000 hunters who killed 30,000 deer.
``We expect the participation rate without scopes to go over 100,000,'' said Bob Duncan, chief of the game division. ``With scopes, it may go quite a bit higher than that. I would like to go on record that it is highly probably we would have to modify the season in the future, maybe limit the buck kill.''
The six-week turkey season means a two- to three-week reduction of fall hunting in western sections of the state. Game biologists had proposed a five-week season but increased that by a week following heavy opposition in many regions of the state.
Granger Macfarlane of Roanoke was the only board member to vote against the reduced season.
``I really believe the proposal, even through it has been amended, is too drastic,'' Macfarlane said. ``It is a 33 percent reduction in the hunting periods. I would have considered a vote for a seven-week period.''
The six-week season is expected to reduce the fall turkey kill by 49 percent, and that should spark population growth by sending more hens into the breeding season, Duncan said. In time, that should mean a higher success rate for hunters.
``With this reduction, fall harvests are predicted to increase 74 percent and spring harvests 292 percent in the next 10 years,'' he said.
The shorter season received heavy support from top officials of the National Wild Turkey Federation.
The board also reduced the quail season, setting it for the last Monday of November through Jan.31, which is a one week shorter than last season. Several hunters expressed concern over declining quail numbers.
``There is no biological reason for what we are doing [with the reduction in the quail season],'' said Charles McDaniel, a board member from Stafford. ``But I think we need to get everybody stirred up about the quail situation.''
Most of the changes made in the deer season were designed to reduce hunting pressure on public land, particularly the national forest, where biologists say herds are falling behind those on private land.
Either-sex hunting will be limited to the two Saturdays of the general firearms season on public land in Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Bland, Carroll, Craig, Giles, Highland, Montgomery, Pulaski, Roanoke, Rockbridge and Wythe counties.
In Grayson County, either-sex hunting on public land will be permitted only on the first Saturday of the season.
On private land in Roanoke and Grayson counties, either-sex hunting was expanded to encompass the entire two weeks of the gun season.
by CNB