SCI Announces Lawsuit to Recognize Virginia’s Right to Hunt and Drive Repeal of Ban on Sunday Hunting

 Safari Club International +

 

| November 1, 2013 | 

Safari Club International (SCI) filed a lawsuit challenging Virginia’s ban on Sunday hunting.  The lawsuit argues that the ban is unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of Virginia, in particular because of Virginia’s constitutional right to hunt.

“Sunday hunting bans should be a thing of the past,” said SCI President Craig Kauffman. “Hunters have to work during the week, and young hunters are in school, making weekends the primary time they can hunt.  The unconstitutional ban on Sunday hunting robs hunters of half their potential time afield, and has absolutely no basis in science or conservation.”

Kauffman noted that SCI anticipates debate over proposals to repeal the ban at least in part during the upcoming Virginia 2014 legislative session, and said, “As hunters, we are hopeful that state legislators support the Virginia Constitutional right to hunt and fish and pass meaningful legislation to repeal the ban.  SCI will not formally serve the Commonwealth of Virginia until state legislators have exhausted their efforts in Richmond. The filing of this lawsuit marks our promise to pursue this issue through any and all available means,” Kauffman concluded.

In addition to the constitutional claims, SCI’s suit asserts that Virginia’s purported justification for the ban – to give wildlife a “day of rest” – is not supported by sound scientific or wildlife management principles. This misunderstanding of wildlife ecology was highlighted by Virginia’s Board of Game and Inland Fisheries when it stated , “the Virginia ban on Sunday hunting serves no biological purpose and is counterproductive to matters of game management.”

In polling conducted earlier this year an overwhelming 88.6% of SCI members supported full and/or partial repeal of Virginia’s Sunday hunting ban.

Eliminating the Sunday hunting ban will provide all hunters with an additional day to hunt, will encourage Virginia hunters to stay in state to hunt on Sundays, and will give out-of-state hunters the opportunity to visit Virginia to hunt on Sundays.

Only 11 states, all on the East Coast, currently have some kind of ban or limitation on Sunday hunting.  Opponents of overturning the ban make baseless predictions of dire mayhem, but the existence of Sunday hunting in the vast majority of states proves that these wild predictions have no basis in truth.  SCI hopes that success in Virginia might encourage other states to eliminate their statutory bans or limitations on hunting on Sundays.  Professional wildlife managers should regulate hunting based on sound science and wildlife management principles, not archaic statutes that have no conservation value.

Tiny insects can be big problem for deer

by

BILL COCHRAN

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

There are a couple places in Virginia where the deer kill last season was down 30 percent, enough to impact the success of hunters. Virginia Department of Game and Fisheries' officials say much of the decline can be blamed on Epizootic Hemorrhage Disease, succinctly known as EHD or just HD.

HD occurs late summer and early fall and is carried by biting insects commonly known as midges, sand gnats/flies and no-see-ums of the genus Colicoides. They are so small that they are difficult to see, but they feel like burning cinders when they contact your skin. They are an irritant to people but can be deadly to deer.

Annual outbreaks of HD are common in Virginia and many other states. Often they are mild in intensity, but sometimes they are bad enough to take a bite out of the deer herd. The two high-impact areas in Virginia last year were the Caroline-King George County area and the Patrick-Henry County area including some spillover along the Franklin County line.

I have been wondering if the wet summer of 2013 might be the beginning of a major HD year. I known there have been many places where I've experienced swarms of gnats and stinging flies that gnaw at my ankles and dive-bomb my bald head. I figure these pests have benefited from a wet season that enhanced their breeding opportunities, so why not the same for midges, the vector of HD?

I ran this concern by Matt Knox, deer project leader for the DGIF.

"I think we may have had our first report of HD from Bedford County last week at Smith Mountain Lake," he said. "This is early."

But according to a weather profile put together by biologists including Knox, midges benefit from a mild winter, a hot summer and drought conditions during early summer. Major HD outbreaks occurred in 1999, 2002 and 2005. In 2005, 5.2 percent of the deer examined were impacted by HD, the highest ever recorded. Last year, that number was 2 percent.

"We had a fairly normal winter this year and obviously we did not have a June drought," said Knox.

In reality, drought appears to benefit midges and the spread of HD more so than an abundance of rain. But this summer rainfall has set records, so who knows?

"I have no idea what to expect," said Knox. 
Drought appears to create favorable conditions for HD by enhancing the environment for midges, which breed along the edge of water, and by drawing deer to the very places midges are most abundant. The spread of HD is from insect to deer; not deer to deer.

There is no way to prevent or control HD. It is seasonal, peaking somewhere between August and October, and ending with the first heavy frosts of autumn, which take care of the midges.

In some states, kills of up to 50 percent of the deer have been reported. The herd bounces back, but it takes time and hunters feel the impact and often express alarm.

For a time, HD was just a problem in Virginia east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but in 2007 it showed up in the west in a big way, and the same thing occurred last year.

Hunters who participate in Virginia's deer management assistance plan are major contributors of information on the severity of HD. They help monitor deer, checking for signs of HD on their property and in their kills. Those signs include deer with swollen heads, necks, tongues or eyelids, along with lameness and emaciation. In some instances, death appears in a few days.

Humans cannot contract HD from fly bites or from eating venison, so evidence or threat of the disease should not disrupt scouting and hunting. Most hunters probably aren't even aware of the problem even in impacted areas; they just know they aren't seeing as many deer as normal.

Hunters say Coyotes tough on the deer herd

by BILL COCHRAN 
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 

Is Virginia's deer herd in decline? Yes said half the hunters who participated in a recent Virginia Deer Hunters Association membership survey. Only three percent said the herd is increasing while 47 percent said it has remained about the same in recent years. 

When asked how the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries should manage the herd, 12 percent said efforts should be made to increase it; 53 percent said it should be held at current levels and five percent recommended decreasing the herd. 

Coyote predation was cited as the No. 1 reason for the decline in deer numbers. Loss of habitat ranked second. 

Fifty-nine percent of the survey participants said they saw a coyote while deer hunting this past season; 15 percent reported killing a coyote. 

"Our association has been completing surveys and asking our members tough questions for more than 20 years," said Denny Quaiff, executive director of the association, which was formed in 1985. One tough question that wasn't included in the 2013 survey was the Sunday hunting issue, a subject that has sharply divided members in past surveys. 

Seventy-seven percent of the participants said they practiced quality deer management; meaning they passed up small bucks in order to give them a chance to mature and grow larger antlers. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all, 60 percent of the participants said they favored an antler-point restriction that would require at least one buck in the bag limit to have a minimum of four points on one side before it is a legal target. Forty percent said no to that. 

Fifty-five percent said that would support a regulation that required a deer hunter to kill a doe before a second buck could be taken. 

Members were opposed to hunting over bait (57 percent), but 64 percent said they were involved in planting food plots and 60 percent favored year-round supplementary feeding. Twenty-two percent opposed year-round feeding and 18 percent said it didn't matter. Feeding currently is prohibited Sept. 1 though the first Saturday in January. 

Just over half the participants said doe days should remain as they are while 12 percent said they should be increased and 35 percent decreased. 

Likelihood of Collision with Deer 2011-2012

Bill Cochran's Outdoors: Hunters concerned over decline in national forest deer

By Bill Cochran Thursday, June 23, 2011

“Whitetail hunters who know Virginia know to head for a county called Bath for a buck.”
That was the title of a 1960s article in Outdoor Life Magazine. Bath County once was the jewel of Virginia’s deer hunting.
No longer. The deer herd and harvest have plummeted, especially on national forest land, which makes up more than half of the county.

That fact drew about 100 sportsmen to a meeting with Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologists last week at Bath County High School. The same meeting could have drawn the same crowd and sparked the same questions and discussions in Rockingham County, in Augusta County, in Shenandoah County, in most any county that harbors a large chunk of national forest property.

Across the more than 1 million acres of George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, the once bountiful deer herd is in sharp decline and hunters are taking notice and demanding action. Since the mid-1990s, there has been a 50 percent decline in the deer kill on public land west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Just what is going on?
Lots of things, according to the four wildlife biologists who addressed the Bath County meeting. Let’s take a look:

HABITAT: The quality of deer habitat on the national forest has declined. The once succulent under story that was the result of timber harvests, fires and wildlife work, has matured into contiguous blocks of aging hardwoods. Environmentalists love what is happening, but it doesn’t make good deer habitat, and the same can be said of other species, especially grouse.

Old growth forest becomes a deer desert when there is a mast failure, like in 2007, 2008 and 2009. An urban area with houses, gardens and ornamentals provides better deer habitat than a mature forest, said DGIF biologist Al Bourgeois.

Deer require forage, the kind produced when there is a checkerboard of habitats, including early-succession forest that comes in the wake of timber cutting and fires. An adult deer needs three to four pounds of vegetation every day. That can be difficult to achieve when the majority of the forest is 80 or more years old. There has been an 80 percent decline in national forest timber harvest the past 20 years, Matt Knox, DGIF deer biologist, told sportsmen in Bath County.
Hunters need to tell national forest officials that they want more wildlife habitat, said Bourgeois. Now is a perfect time to do that. The George Washington National Forest is asking for public comment on a new management plan it has drafted, which, by the way, includes little cutting. Address comments to comments-southern-georgewashington-jefferson@fs.fed.us.

PREDATORS: Both coyotes and bear prey on deer, primarily fawns, but wildlife officials don’t have solid data on how significant such predation is. They hope to find out from a three-year DGIF research project just under way that is called the Virginia Appalachian Coyote Study. It is being accomplished in cooperation with the forest service, Virginia Tech and the Nature Conservancy.
Field work will be done in Bath County and western Rockingham County, two areas receiving the most complaints about declining deer.

“If we find out coyotes are the problem, what can we do about it? asked Mike Fies, DGIF biologist. “They are very hard to control.”
Both bear and coyote populations are growing, and there are more coyotes on public land than on private land, Fies said. He believes their impact on the deer population is minimal, but they could compound problems in areas of low density.
Check Cochran Field Reports for more information on the coyote/bear predation study.

FEWER HUNTERS: During the glory days of deer hunting in Bath County, sportsmen came from miles, including from out of state, not just because there were trophies in Bath, but because there were no deer in their home area. When the Outdoor Life headline at the top of this column was published, Bedford County didn’t have deer. Last year, it reported a kill of 7,500, highest in the state.

Deer hunting now is spread across the calendar and across the state and never will be the crowded, often accident prone, show that it once was, and that is good. But fewer hunters and fewer deer make for a different kind of hunting that sportsmen need to embrace. Gone from the national forest is the kind of hunting pressure that moved deer and made them more vulnerable to hunters.

Hunters aren’t just spread out more than ever, they also are older and are dropping out of the sport. The decline has been about 1.5 percent a year, Knox said. That doesn’t sound like much, but over a 20 year period it is significant and it has impacted the kill.

The decline of hunters on national forest property is even more startling -- 40 percent the last 16 years. Old-timers can remember when forest service roads were crowded with deer camps, but there has been a 60 percent decline in such camps on national forest property since 1995.

“The main reason they aren’t coming is they have better deer hunting at home,” Knox said.
REGULATIONS: In recent years, the DGIF has been reducing the number of either-sex hunting days on most national forest land and in some cases on adjoining private land. In terms of lowering the female kill, the regulations have worked, Knox said.

Either-sex hunting days in Bath County this fall have been lowered from three to two. It is the same for Alleghany and Highland counties, the only three in the state with fewer doe days for the upcoming season.
If that doesn’t do the job of growing the herd, the next step will be bucks only, which would be back peddling to the 1940s and '50s. Knox hopes that won’t be necessary.

Deer Population decline (more)

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries estimates the state deer population at between 850,000 and 1 million deer.  The summer was very warm, but there wasn’t much drought here, and deer forage was abundant and high quality.

Over the last five years, the Department's been managing the deer hunt here with the goal of boosting the antlerless harvest in much of the state where deer populations were over goal. It’s worked. The antlerless kill has been at record levels for the past five consecutive deer seasons.

State deer coordinator Matt Knox says the western-third of Virginia, essentially west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, has seen a dramatic drop in deer numbers and harvests the last decade-plus, especially in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.  Older forests, with little understory, appear to be the main cause of the deer decline.  But Knox also notes that this part of the state has also seen a huge growth in coyote numbers. A three-year study to determine what impacts the predator may be having on deer numbers is now in its second year.

Health issues?  Chronic wasting disease was found in the very northwestern corner of Virginia in 2009, but only a handful of deer have since tested positive for the disease. 

Coyotes and Deer?

Virginia
W. Matt Knox, Deer Program supervisor with the State of Virginia, explains that, "In the western part of the state, we very frequently get comments and questions from deer hunters regarding the impact of coyotes on the deer herd. These hunters frequently perceive coyotes as having a negative impact. It should be noted, however, that the deer kill in this part of the state has been at record levels for the past 3 years. However, there has been no decline in deer herds anywhere in the state that can be attributed to coyote predation. I would hypothesize that coyotes feed on deer primarily at three times: fawns during the fawning season, wounded/crippled/unrecovered deer during hunting season and deer in very-poor conditions during late winter/early spring. Luckily there are very few areas or deer in Virginia that meet this criteria." Knox mentions that due to the negative impact of coyotes on agricultural interests, he thinks the state could use fewer coyotes. "Our hunter-survey data clearly demonstrates an increasing coyote population in Virginia."

A coyote trotting through the Eastern hardwoods is becoming a common sight these days, and hunters are beginning to wonder if the predators are having an effect on deer numbers. In some places, whitetail populations have indeed slipped while coyote populations have increased. Hunters in parts of western Virginia and western North Carolina, for example, have seen success rates fall and in some cases, bag limits reduced. Biologists, however, blame the decline in deer numbers directly on the loss of good habitat, not on coyotes. National forests throughout the East are experiencing a decline in suitable habitat as a result of decreased timber harvest, said North Carolina Wildlife Resources biologist Gordon Warburton.
“Cutting timber creates excellent browse and high-quality fawning areas,” he said. “As the forests mature, we have less and less quality habitat because environmentalists have succeeded in stopping timber cutting on public lands.”

or

April 28, 2012

Scientific confirmation

Studies show that coyotes eat a significant amount of deer

Science has confirmed what West Virginia's hunters have long suspected: Coyotes eat a lot of deer.

By John McCoy

The Charleston Gazette

Science has confirmed what West Virginia's hunters have long suspected: Coyotes eat a lot of deer.
A 20-month study of coyotes' dietary habits found that deer remains were found in nearly 60 percent of coyotes' stomach contents and manure samples.

Geriann Albers, the West Virginia University graduate student who coordinated the research, revealed her findings recently at a meeting of the Northeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. She didn't mince words.
"Coyotes in West Virginia are primarily consuming deer," Albers said.

Division of Natural Resources officials commissioned the study to try to determine what impact, if any, coyotes might be having on the state's whitetail herds. The findings appear to show at least some impact.
"Of course, we had no way of telling how much of those stomach contents were the result of predation," Albers explained. "There's probably a good bit of it, but coyotes also scavenge road kills, eat remains of deer gutted during hunting seasons, and scavenge the carcasses of deer that die of winterkill.
"Our findings would suggest that there's a need for further study to see how much predation actually is occurring."

The research that generated Albers' findings wasn't at all glamorous. Instead, it involved hundreds of hours' worth of grisly, smelly CSI-style detective work.

Researchers spent part of that time examining the stomach contents of road-killed coyotes and coyotes killed by hunters and trappers. That, believe it or not, was the most glamorous part.
They spent the rest of the time breaking down coyote manure samples and analyzing the contents.
Deer remains showed up in 59.5 percent of the 969 samples examined. Grass and twigs showed up in 39.7 percent, small mammals such as mice and voles in 19.3 percent, fruits and seeds in 18.4 percent, squirrels and chipmunks in 11.4 percent, birds in 4 percent and rabbits in 4 percent. The percentages add up to more than 100 percent because many samples contained more than one category of food items.

The study found that by volume, deer remains comprised nearly four times as much of coyotes' stomach contents and manure composition as small mammals, the second-ranked category.
Deer accounted for 44 percent of the volume, followed by small mammals at 12.5 percent, squirrels and chipmunks at 8.2 percent, fruits and seeds at 7.1 percent, grass and twigs at 7.1 percent, rabbits at 3.3 percent and livestock at 3.1 percent.

If nothing else, the study showed that coyotes are opportunistic feeders.
"They'll eat anything - and I mean anything," Albers said. "Their diets vary according to what is available."

Science has confirmed what West Virginia's hunters have long suspected: Coyotes eat a lot of deer. A 20-month study of coyotes' dietary habits found that deer remains were found in nearly 60 percent of coyotes' stomach contents and manure samples.

Geriann Albers, the West Virginia University graduate student who coordinated the research, revealed her findings recently at a meeting of the Northeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. She didn't mince words.

"Coyotes in West Virginia are primarily consuming deer," Albers said.
Division of Natural Resources officials commissioned the study to try to determine what impact, if any, coyotes might be having on the state's whitetail herds. The findings appear to show at least some impact.

"Of course, we had no way of telling how much of those stomach contents were the result of predation," Albers explained. "There's probably a good bit of it, but coyotes also scavenge road kills, eat remains of deer gutted during hunting seasons, and scavenge the carcasses of deer that die of winterkill.

"Our findings would suggest that there's a need for further study to see how much predation actually is occurring."

The research that generated Albers' findings wasn't at all glamorous. Instead, it involved hundreds of hours' worth of grisly, smelly CSI-style detective work.
Researchers spent part of that time examining the stomach contents of road-killed coyotes and coyotes killed by hunters and trappers. That, believe it or not, was the most glamorous part.
They spent the rest of the time breaking down coyote manure samples and analyzing the contents.
Deer remains showed up in 59.5 percent of the 969 samples examined. Grass and twigs showed up in 39.7 percent, small mammals such as mice and voles in 19.3 percent, fruits and seeds in 18.4 percent, squirrels and chipmunks in 11.4 percent, birds in 4 percent and rabbits in 4 percent. The percentages add up to more than 100 percent because many samples contained more than one category of food items.

The study found that by volume, deer remains comprised nearly four times as much of coyotes' stomach contents and manure composition as small mammals, the second-ranked category.
Deer accounted for 44 percent of the volume, followed by small mammals at 12.5 percent, squirrels and chipmunks at 8.2 percent, fruits and seeds at 7.1 percent, grass and twigs at 7.1 percent, rabbits at 3.3 percent and livestock at 3.1 percent.

If nothing else, the study showed that coyotes are opportunistic feeders.
"They'll eat anything - and I mean anything," Albers said. "Their diets vary according to what is available."

For example, the study found that deer remains were only half as abundant in coyotes from West Virginia's southern coalfields, where deer populations aren't nearly as dense as in the rest of the state. Albers said that in the coalfields, coyotes ate deer far less often and ate plants and squirrels far more often.

Hunters have long accused coyotes of killing large numbers of newly born fawns, but the study's findings didn't bear that out. In fact, the data revealed that coyotes feed most heavily on deer between January and April.
"Studies in other states have shown that during times when snow is deep, coyotes have an easier time preying on deer," Albers said. "Winter is also a time when deer die of winterkill, and they travel on roads to avoid deep snow and get hit by cars. Scavenging accounts for a good percentage of winter deer consumption stems from scavenging, but there's probably a lot of predation too."
During the January-April time period, deer showed up in more than 70 percent of coyotes' stomach contents and stool samples. Between May and August, which includes the fawn birthing period of May and June, only 55 percent of the samples contained deer remains.
"One of our more interesting findings was that the percentage dropped to just 38 percent between September and December," Albers said. "At first glance that seemed odd, because that period includes the hunting seasons. Between wounding loss and piles of offal left from field dressing, coyotes have a lot of opportunities to eat deer.

"We think the drop-off occurs because coyotes can take advantage of easier food sources during that time period. During our survey period, there were oodles of squirrels, and lots of fruits and nuts. It's easier for a coyote to eat a persimmon or kill a squirrel than it is to kill a deer or find a gut pile left by a hunter."

Another finding that defied conventional wisdom was the study's discovery that turkey remains and turkey eggshells didn't often show up in the stomach contents or scat samples.
Hunters have long believed that coyotes prey heavily on nesting hen turkeys and their eggs, but Albers said the data show just the opposite.

"Of the 4 percent of samples that contained bird remains, only half of those were from [ground-nesting] birds such as turkeys and grouse," she said. "We did find some shell fragments, but those were from turtle eggs. We found no evidence of bird shell fragments."

Still, Albers has no doubt that a coyote would eat those things if it had the opportunity.
"They will eat just anything. We saw remains of skunks and opossums - things you wouldn't think they would eat," she said.

One coyote took its eat-anything reputation seriously.
"It must have been a Dumpster diver," Albers said with a grin. "In its stomach we found the remnants of a Dairy Queen napkin, a Subway sandwich wrapper, a Taco Bell sauce packet and a commercial crab leg."

CARL SPAMER BENCKERT 
(Age 85)  

Of Louisa, VA, formerly of Springfield, VA and Ft. Pierce, FL, Carl went to be with the Lord and all his loved ones that went before him on Thursday, July 12, 2012 in Richmond, VA. Carl left behind two children, Julie Bohn and David Benckert; daughter-in-law, Kathy, three grandchildren, Korie Young, Megan Benckert and Tyler Benckert; a brother, George Benckert and a sister, Audrey Deane. Carl grew up in South Arlington, VA, graduating from Washington and Lee High School before enlisting in the Navy. Carl served his country in the Navy during WWII. He retired to Florida after a career at the U.S. Naval Observatory. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Maxine Sauls Benckert and second wife, Eloise P. Benckert. He loved the outdoors and being with his fellow members of the Virginia Archery and Rifle Club outside of Woodstock, VA. Carl was loved by all that knew him, always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need and will be greatly missed. Relatives and friends may call at Jefferson Funeral Chapel, 5755 Castlewellan Dr. Alexandria, VA on Sunday, July 15, 2012 from 5 to 8 p.m., where funeral service will be held on Monday at 12 Noon. Interment Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of Virginia (804-281-0451) www.hospiceva.com

Published in The Washington Post on July 14, 2012

Senate overwhelmingly passes Sunday hunting bill

Thursday - 1/26/2012, 4:43pm ET

By BOB LEWIS
AP Political Writer

RICHMOND, Va. - Hunting on private land on Sundays is one step closer to becoming law with passage of a bill by the Virginia Senate.

Sen. Ralph Northam's measure advanced to the House of Delegates on a 29-11 vote over the objection of senators who said it would discourage people from other outdoor pursuits on Sundays, the only day when sportsmen aren't firing guns nearby.

The bill applies only to people who wish to hunt on their own property or the private land of someone else provided they carry with them written permission from its owner.

Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, said his daughters are avid equestrians who love horseback trail rides, but do so only on Sundays when stray bullets aren't a threat. "Bullets don't know where property lines are," said Deeds, whose wooded, mountainous home county is popular with hunters.

Sen. Richard Stuart, a Republican and an avid hunter from Stafford's sprawling suburbs, said the measure would breed resentment from non-hunters afraid to enjoy the outdoors on Sundays.

"People tolerate us hunters and they do it because they have Sundays to enjoy their property," Stuart said. "This is going to ruin hunting as we know it."

Sen. Ralph Smith, R-Roanoke County, was more succinct in his opposition, citing the Fourth Commandment: "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy."

The sponsor of a Sunday hunting bill that got incorporated into Northam's, Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, said the bill gives working people time to hunt on weekends. He said no state bordering Virginia outlaws Sunday hunting.

Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, scoffed at Deeds' fears of non-hunters being shot. Most hunting injuries were to hunters themselves, many of them resulting from deer hunters falling from perches they've made for themselves high in trees. Injuries to others, he said, are rare.

"I'm not aware of anyone being shot off a horse," he said. "When I think of people getting shot off a horse, I think of old Westerns."

Another opponent, Senate Democratic Leader Richard L. Saslaw, referred to long-ago blue laws that forbade certain businesses on Sundays. When they were repealed, people predicted dire consequences, but none happened, he said

Sunday Hunting Advances

RICHMOND – A Senate committee has approved compromise legislation to allow Virginians to hunt on Sundays.
The Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee voted 11-4 to lift the state’s ban on Sunday hunting. The bill recommended by the panel would permit hunting on Sundays only on private land in Virginia.
The measure now goes to the full Senate for consideration.
“We’ve designated hunting and fishing as a constitutional freedom in Virginia,” said Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, who wrote the “private lands” provision. “How you can restrict hunting one day of the week?”
The committee Thursday considered four Senate bills regarding Sunday hunting.
Three of them would have lifted the Sunday hunting ban entirely. They were SB 151 by Sen. Phillip Puckett, D-Tazewell; SB 464 by Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk; and SB 512 by Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach.
The other bill – SB 173 by Petersen – limited Sunday hunting to private lands with the property owner’s permission.
The panel folded all of the bills into SB 464 and then passed the measure with the “private lands” provision.
The seven Democrats on the committee voted for the bill. Four Republicans voted for the bill, and four voted against it.
“It is time of the Commonwealth of Virginia to make a decision that the government should not be telling us, as property owners, what we can do on our property, and when we can do it,” Northam said.
The Senate has scheduled a vote on SB 464 during the coming week.
Existing state law prohibits hunting on Sundays, declaring it a “rest day for all species of wild bird and wild animal life, except raccoons, which may be hunted until 2:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings.”
Ten other states outlaw hunting on Sundays. They are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia.
Four bills before the House of Delegates also would repeal or relax Virginia’s Sunday hunting ban:
• HB 921, by Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Woodbridge, would rescind the Sunday hunting ban entirely.
• HB 989, by Del. Will Morefield, R-North Tazewell, would allow hunting on Sundays between 2 p.m. and sunset.
• HB 369, by Del. Michael Webert, R-Marshall, would allow Sunday hunting only on private lands.
• HB 1002, by Del. David Ramadan, R-South Riding, would allow Sunday hunting only on private lands in Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William counties.
All four measures have been referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources.

Spring 2011 Meeting

Deer Get Revenge With A Pox On 2 Hunters

by SCOTT HENSLEY

EnlargeRobert F. Bukaty/AP

A white-tailed deer browses at the edge of a farm field in Brunswick, Maine.

A couple of deer hunters, one in Virginia and the other in Connecticut, developed strange sores on their index fingers a few weeks after dressing two white-tailed deer they'd killed.

The men nicked their fingers while dressing the carcasses. Within a few weeks angry-looking raised lesions appeared at the sites of the cuts. Their fingers were slow to heal, so the men went to their doctors.

Pretty strange stuff.

Samples from their fingers were sent independently to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2009 for analysis.

The culprit? A previously unknown virus had infected the men. The CDC researchers, whose findings appear in the latest New England Journal of Medicine, concluded from DNA analysis that the virus belongs to a big group called parapoxviruses.

New England Journal of Medicine

A virus caught from a deer caused this sore on a Virginia deer hunter's finger.

Viruses like these infect goats, sheep, cattle and even reindeer. Sometimes the bugs jump to humans, like herders, who have a lot of contact with animals.

The strain of virus found in the deer didn't seem to cause them any harm. And the men are OK, too. The Virginia hunter's lesion healed in about two months, though he still felt a little pain in the finger the following summer. The paper says the Connecticut man's "symptoms mirrored those" of the Virginia hunter. In an e-mail, the CDC's Dr. Inger Damon, senior author of the paper, confirmed both men "fully recovered" without any lasting problems.

The scientists say this kind of virus doesn't appear to be a health problem for deer. And neither human case was very serious. Still, these types of viruses can cause trouble for people with weakened immune systems. And the lesions can be mistaken for something worse, like anthrax.

There will probably be more reports of illnesses like these. There are more than 20 million deer romping around the United States these days, up from just 500,000 in 1900. The scientific paper says there are about 10 million deer hunters in this country.

As a precaution against parapoxviruses, hunters could wear protective gloves when dressing deer. And doctors, the authors write, should ask patients with strange lesions about their hobbies.

Chronic Wasting Desease

What is being done about CWD in Virginia?
VDGIF has developed a CWD Response Plan (PDF)s that guides response actions when CWD is found in or near Virginia, as well as an annually-updated CWD Surveillance Plan (PDF) that guides how we will continue to look for the disease. VDGIF monitors CWD status in other states as well as new information and developments as they emerge, continues to closely regulate captive deer in Virginia, and regularly provides accurate and timely information about CWD to deer hunters and the general public.

Due to the detection of CWD in Frederick County in 2009, VDGIF has implemented a number of measures to protect Virginia's deer herd, effective April 2010. The following measures will be taken to help slow and contain the spread of CWD. All measures outlined below will apply to the CWD Containment Area located in Frederick County and the City of Winchester west of I-81 and that portion of Shenandoah County west of I-81 and north of Route 675 (see map, right). Hunting season changes and a year-round ban on deer feeding also apply to surrounding areas (including Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties).

• All deer killed by hunters within the CWD Containment Area on specified dates must be brought to a designated sampling station for CWD testing:
  The first 3 Saturdays of general firearms season (e.g., November 13, 20, and 27 during 2010)
• Hunters can still check their deer via telephone or Internet but must bring the deer to a designated CWD sampling station on these specified dates
  For designated sampling stations and other updates, please check this web page and look for press releases before hunting season.
  
• Whole deer carcasses or deer parts cannot be transported out of the CWD Containment Area, except:
  Deer parts currently allowed under the carcass importation ban (i.e., quarters or other meat with no spinal material, wrapped boned-out meat; see complete list above)
  Whole deer carcasses or parts being transported directly to commercial meat processors, taxidermists, or lined landfills within Frederick or Shenandoah counties
  
• Three hunting season changes will apply to private lands in Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and the City of Winchester including:
  
• The daily bag limit shall be two deer per day
  
• Earn-A-Buck is in effect, meaning at least one antlerless deer must be taken on private lands before the second antlered deer of the license year may be taken on private lands
  
• Both the early and late muzzleloading seasons on private lands in Shenandoah County will be full season either sex
  
• No changes have been made for public lands in any of these counties
  
• Feeding of deer is prohibited year round in Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and the City of Winchester. Elsewhere in Virginia, it is unlawful to distribute food, minerals, carrion or similar substances to feed or attract deer from September 1 through the first Saturday in January. This prohibition does not include the planting of wildlife food plots.
  
• Rehabilitation is prohibited for any deer that originates from within the CWD Containment Area.

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/diseases/cwd/

VDGIF to Hold Public Information Meeting on CWD May 12

News Release
For Immediate Release
4/28/2010
Contact
Nelson Lafon, Deer Project Coordinator, 540-248-9295
Cale Godfrey, Assistant Director of Wildlife Division, 804-367-6482

VDGIF to Hold Public Information Meeting on CWD
What does CWD mean to me? Come find out at the CWD Public Information Meeting Scheduled for May 12 at Gainesboro Elementary School

Richmond, VA — The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) will be hosting an information meeting regarding Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and how having a confirmed case in Virginia will affect hunting and other activities in the region. The meeting will be held on May 12, at Gainesboro Elementary School from 7-9 p.m. Wildlife biologists and conservation police officers will be on hand to discuss the agency's CWD Response Plan and actions that may be taken.

VDGIF received laboratory results from CWD samples collected through the 2009-2010 hunting season, and found one confirmed case of CWD. Since 2002, nearly 5,000 samples have been collected in Virginia, and CWD has been detected in only one deer.

The CWD-positive deer was killed by a hunter on November 14, 2009, in western Frederick County and was one of more than 200 hunter-killed and vehicle-killed deer in the Active Surveillance Area tested this year for CWD. The Active Surveillance Area consisted of parts of western Frederick and Shenandoah Counties. VDGIF biologists have focused CWD surveillance in this area since 2005, when a deer with the disease was found in Hampshire County, West Virginia, within 10 miles of the Virginia state line. Deer with CWD have been found in that area of West Virginia every year since then.

CWD has been detected in 18 states and two Canadian provinces. CWD is a slow, progressive neurological (brain and nervous system) disease found in deer, elk, and moose in North America. The disease ultimately results in death of the animal. Symptoms exhibited by CWD-infected deer include, staggering, abnormal posture, lowered head, drooling, acting confused, and marked weight loss. There is no evidence that CWD can be naturally transmitted to humans, livestock, or pets.

Guided by the CWD Response Plan, a CWD Response Team composed of staff from VDGIF and other state and federal agencies considered a range of potential measures to manage CWD in the area. Recommended management actions, endorsed by the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries on April 20, 2010, and effective immediately, include:

* Delineation of a CWD Containment Area (CA) in western Frederick and Shenandoah counties, including the City of Winchester.
* Mandatory disease testing of deer harvested by hunters in the Containment Area on November 13, 20, and 27, 2010, at seven designated sampling stations.
* Prohibition of deer feeding year-round in Clark, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties, and in the City of Winchester.
* Prohibit movement of deer carcasses and parts out of the Containment Area, with exceptions for certain parts allowed under the carcass importation law (e.g., quarters), and for parts going to meat processors, taxidermists, or landfills in Frederick or Shenandoah counties.
* Require meat processors, taxidermists, road-kill pickup crews, and waste management service contractors to dispose of all deer wastes from the Containment Area in a lined landfill in Frederick or Shenandoah counties.
* Prohibit rehabilitation and release of deer that originate from within the Containment Area and require that deer rehabilitated elsewhere in Frederick or Shenandoah counties not be released outside the county of origin.
* As a proactive measure to prevent spread of CWD, reduce the deer population in Clark, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and in the City of Winchester by increasing the daily bag limit to two deer, activating an Earn-A-Buck requirement, and establishing all muzzleloader seasons as full-season either-sex.

The full text of recommended management actions can be found on the VDGIF website at www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/diseases/cwd/, along with other information about CWD.

Anyone who sees a sick deer that displays any of the signs described above should contact the nearest VDGIF office immediately with accurate location information. Please do not attempt to disturb or kill the deer before contacting the VDGIF.

It is the mission of the VDGIF to maintain optimum populations of all species to serve the needs of the Commonwealth; to provide opportunity for all to enjoy wildlife, inland fish, boating and related outdoor recreation and to work diligently to safeguard the rights of the people to hunt, fish and harvest game as provided for in the Constitution of Virginia; to promote safety for persons and property in connection with boating, hunting and fishing; to provide educational outreach programs and materials that foster an awareness of and appreciation for Virginia's fish and wildlife resources, their habitats, and hunting, fishing, and boating opportunities.

Strong Leonid Meteor Shower Expected Nov. 17

Circle Nov. 17 on your calendar, for early that morning a moderate to possibly very strong showing of annual Leonid meteor shower is likely.


The very strong display will favor those living across most of central and eastern Asia. In this region, meteor rates might briefly rise to a few hundred per hour (the time frame for the most intense activity is anticipated sometime around 21:40 GMT).


A far more modest, but still potentially enjoyable display of a few dozen Leonid meteors per hour is expected to favor North America. In the United States and Canada, eastern observers will be particularly well-positioned for maximum activity, expected sometime between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. EST, when the radiant of the Leonid shower will be well up in the dark southeastern sky.


A meteor shower's radiant is the perspective point from which all the meteors would appear to originate if their paths were traced backward far enough. The higher the radiant is, the more meteors flash into view all over the sky (though meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, so focusing on the radiant is not necessary).


The Leonid radiant is within the so-called "Sickle" of Leo; a backwards question-mark pattern of stars that outlines the head and mane of the constellation Leo, the Lion. Hence the meteors are known as "Leonids."


Not in the East? Don't fret. Observers all across North America may experience a good Leonid show with "shooting stars" streaking across the sky every few minutes.


Also a big plus in 2009 is the lack of any interference from the moon. New moon is on Nov. 16, so skies will be dark for catching the fainter meteor streaks. And the first light of dawn will not break until shortly after 5 a.m. local time.


Europe and Africa appear largely out of luck. This year's first round of expected enhanced activity will happen chiefly during their daylight hours. The second, stronger outburst will occur during early evening, but that's hours before Leo comes above the horizon. Europeans might try watching before sunrise on the morning of Nov. 17, but are not likely to see more than 10 or 15 Leonids per hour.



Cosmic garbage


It may not sound sexy, but simply put, the reason for this year's anticipated good Leonid showing is due to cosmic garbage.


The Leonids are known to be made up of cosmic litter from a small – 2.2 mi (3.6 km) – dusty comet discovered by two astronomers in the late 19th century and christened Tempel-Tuttle. The Leonid meteors are thought to be the dusty legacy of Comet Tempel-Tuttle because the dust is moving around the sun in virtually the same orbit as the comet.


As the Earth encounters the debris left behind by the comet's previous passes through our orbit, these tiny fragments of the comet – typically no bigger than a sand grain or the occasional pea – impact our atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 miles per second (71 kps), causing them to blaze briefly but brightly in the night sky.


The Leonids are not a one-night stand. The dust from Tempel-Tuttle spangles the sky for a few nights every year in mid-November. This year, the peak is expected during the predawn hours of Nov. 17, but early-morning hours on the dates surrounding Nov. 17 could provide a decent show, too.


Tempel-Tuttle last passed near the sun and Earth more than a decade ago (in 1998) and for several years thereafter the Leonids put on some spectacular displays, producing many hundreds – even thousands of meteors per hour. But with the departed comet now cruising through the outer part of the solar system, we typically would not expect to see more than 8 or 10 Leonids during an hour's watch.


Yet if several meteor scientists are correct, this year will be atypical. The researchers have produced various models of the Leonid stream and all of them are indicating that the Earth will intersect a few "rivers of rubble" left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle.


Asian forecast


In particular, French astronomer, Jeremie Vaubaillon, Russian astronomer, Mikhail Maslov and Americans Bill Cooke and Danielle Moser of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office are all in agreement that material that was ejected from the comet's nucleus during the years 1466 and 1533 will likely produce a very strong meteor display over much of Asia.


"The year 2009 will not see a Leonid storm, but an outburst for sure," Vaubaillon said, adding that "there are still some uncertainties."

Last year, the material that was shed by the comet back in 1466 produced about 100 Leonids per hour.
This year, Earth will cross through the 1466 stream again, but this time much closer – 42,000 mi. (68,000 km) – to the center on Nov. 17 at around 21:40 GMT. This time favors central and eastern Asia (and it comes during daylight in North America). In addition, at about this same time, the Earth will also be passing through dust ejected by the comet in 1533. The consensus forecast among the astronomers for this year suggests anywhere from 130 to perhaps 300 Leonids per hour in Asia, but this spread has been calibrated chiefly using last year's Earth interaction solely with the 1466 stream.

"But nothing is known (about) the 1533 stream," Vaubaillon said.

North America forecast

About 12 to 14 hours before the main event, Earth is forecast to sideswipe a stream of dust that was loosed from the nucleus of Comet Tempel-Tuttle in the year 1567, passing to within 188,000 mi. (302,000 km.) of the stream's center. This interaction could provide smodest activity for North Americans.

The best guesstimate is for perhaps 25 to 30 Leonids per hour, which would most likely target a time frame sometime between roughly 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. ET (12:30 to 2:30 a.m. PT).

For North American observers, the emphasis might be on quality, not quantity; for while the numbers might not be exceptionally high as compared to Asia, a few of these meteors, though visible for a just a fraction of a second, might leave bright trails of ionized atoms in their wake that hang in the sky for many seconds – or possibly even minutes – as these tiny dust particles streak through our atmosphere at altitudes of 80 to 100 miles (130 to 160 km).

And seeing even just one such outstandingly bright meteor like that can make a cold early morning vigil worthwhile.

Advance practice

If you want to get started early, you can practice for the big event.

The first Leonid forerunners might be sighted as early as Nov. 10, although overall activity will be rather low and spotty – perhaps only a few per hour at most. Around Nov. 16, in the predawn, Leonid activity will noticeably increase to perhaps four to eight per hour.

Observers on the lookout for early Leonids might also notice a number of rather slow moving meteors appearing to emanate from around the constellation of Taurus, the Bull (high in the southwest sky after midnight). These are the Taurid meteors and are most active between Nov. 5 and 12 when they can produce as many as five or 10 per hour.

Venison vs. Beef, taste test results

VENISON VERSUS BEEF
THE TASTE CONTROVERSY ENDS
FROM THE UNITED STATES VENISON COUNCIL

Controversy has long raged about the relative quality and taste of
venison and beef as gourmet foods. Some people say that venison is
tough, with a strong "wild" taste. Others insist that venison's flavor
is delicate. An independent food research group was retained by the
Venison Council to conduct a taste test to determine the truth of these
conflicting assertions once and for all.

First, a Grade A Choice Holstein steer was chased into a swamp a mile and
a half from a road and shot several times. After some of the entrails
were removed, the carcass was dragged back over rocks and logs, and
through mud and dust to the road. It was then thrown into the back of a
pickup truck and driven through rain and snow for 100 miles before being
hung out in the sun for a day.

After that it was lugged into a garage, where it was skinned and rolled
around on the floor for a while. Strict sanitary precautions were
observed throughout the test, within the limitations of the butchering
environment. For instance, dogs and cats were allowed to sniff and lick
the steer
carcass, but were chased away when they attempted to bite chunks out of
it.

Next a sheet of plywood left from last year's butchering was set up in
the basement on two saw horses. The pieces of dried blood, hair and fat
left from last year were scraped off with a wire brush last used to
clean out the grass stuck under the lawn mower.

The skinned carcass was then dragged down the steps into the basement
where a half dozen inexperienced but enthusiastic and intoxicated men
worked on it with meat saws, cleavers and dull knives. The result was
375 pounds of soup bones, four bushel baskets of meat scraps, and a
couple of steaks that were an eighth of an inch thick on one edge and an
inch and a half thick on the other.

The steaks were seared on a glowing red hot cast iron skillet to lock in
the flavor. When the smoke cleared, rancid bacon grease was added along
with three pounds of onions, and the whole conglomeration was fried for
two hours.

The meat was gently teased from the frying pan and served to three
blindfolded taste panel volunteers. Every one of the members of the
panel thought it was venison. One of the volunteers even said it tasted
exactly like the venison he had eaten in hunting camps for the past 27
years. The results of this scientific test show conclusively that there
is no difference between the taste of beef and venison.

Hunter is steamed over decline of deer in national forest

Doyle Ritchie has been telling anyone who will listen that the number of deer on the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Virginia, where he hunts, has experienced a drastic decline.

“This year the hunting season was just terrible on the national forest,” said Ritchie, a veteran deer hunter of 40 years. He lives in Fulks Run on the edge of the national forest in Rockingham County.

“I scouted week after week all summer and fall. I hunted day in and day out during the archery, early muzzleloader and firearm’s seasons. I’ve been out during the late archery and muzzleloading season, but with the same results. There are few, if any, deer in the national forest in the many regions I hunted.”

You might think Ritchie’s message would be a tough sell, considering Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ officials are saying the 2008-09 deer season could go down as a record when the final count is made in a few weeks. Last season kill was a record.

Add to that, there are so many deer in some sections of the state that they end up in the grills of vehicles and they account for millions of dollars in crop damage.

But what Richie says about the national forest gets solid backing from many sportsmen who hunt public property, particularly the northern end of the forest.

“Hunter after hunter I spoke with reported the same,” he said.

Even DGIF wildlife biologists share the concern.

“I agree with him that we have low deer populations on United States Forest Service lands,” said Jay Jeffreys. He is the DGIF regional wildlife manager assigned to the northern Shenandoah Valley, including national forest property.

Where the differences occur, wildlife officials blame the national forest situation on declining deer habitat, mast failures and lower numbers of hunters. Richie puts the problem squarely on liberal hunting regulations that he says have resulted in a purging of too many does and young bucks.

“You won’t see mature deer if you shoot out the young ones,” Richie said. “You won’t have deer around here if you take the does.”

Richie, who calls himself “blunt,” is a newcomer to this debate, which has been going on for about four years and mostly has involved hunters in Rockingham, Augusta and Highland counties. He is more aggressive than most, leveling stinging criticism at Matt Knox, the DGIF deer project coordinator.

“Knox and his team seem to want to kill off the deer, no matter what,” said Richie. “If it is brown, it needs to go down. You never hear Knox or members of his team say good things about deer. The mentality is pest control.”

During a recent meeting with Knox, Jeffreys and Bob Ellis, chief of the DGIF wildlife division, Richie recommended a moratorium on shooting does in the national forest and a limit of two bucks that meet a minimum of six points.

Some restrictions are expected to be set this year, but Richie isn’t likely to get all he wants by a long shot. But officials are sympathetic.

Here’s the challenge, said Jeffreys: Deer don’t recognize boundaries. They range on both national forest and private land. When they come out of the national forest to forage for food they are confronted by more liberal seasons and bag limits. When they return to the forest there isn’t that much food available.

“Private land regulations may well have driven down deer numbers on adjoining public land,” he said.

One resolution would be to enhance deer habitat on the national forest, but state biologists are limited in what they can do.

“We as an agency can enact regulations but we have real limitations in managing deer habitat on U.S. Forest Service land,” said Jeffreys.

Just this week, Congress advanced legislation that would set aside 43,000 acres of additional wilderness in Virginia, and environmentalists are betting on the new president to move even further down that road. Wilderness and roadless areas prohibit the kind of forest management that provides the new growth necessary to advance the wellbeing of deer, especially during times of mast failure.

One factor the two sides agree on, deer are being impacted by the growing number of predators, namely coyotes and black bear.

“The talk out here where I live is not how many deer that hunters saw, but how many bears they saw,” said Ritchie. “The bear hunters brag about how they have brought the bears back, and they certainly have been successful. But the problem is the number of fawns the bears and coyotes are taking. Last summer, I found so much bear crap in the national forest containing fawn hair that it was hard not to step in it.”

PART II next week: No easy answer for improving deer herd on the national forest

Aging of national forest is bad news for deer hunters -- Part 2

Van Humphreys, who lives in Craig County, can remember hunting in the national forest when you couldn’t see much beyond 50 yards because of the thick understory. It was ideal habitat for deer, not to mention grouse and other wildlife species.

Now often you can see twice that far because of the scarcity of cover. That’s particularly bad for deer and for deer hunters. The same can be said of grouse and woodcock hunters.

“No protection, no browse equal no game,” Humphreys said in response to last week’s column on the decline of deer in the national forest.

The national forest is aging. Browse is giving way to mature trees and a park-like atmosphere.

“There is a slow but steady decline in quality of deer habitat,” said Jay Jeffreys, a regional wildlife manger for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

While mature trees can produce mast, namely acorns which deer relish, mast crops are unreliable. When they fail, as they did in 2002 and 2003, a mature forest becomes a wasteland. The result: deer productivity and recruitment are impacted, said Jeffreys.

Whether they realize it or not, hunters are locked in a battle with environmentalists over how the national forest will be managed. Environmentalists want more wilderness and roadless areas, which they are likely to get under the Obama Administration. This means less logging and other minumpliation of the forest, the kind of activities that create quality habitat for deer through new growth.

There is room for both wilderness and enhanced deer habit on the more than 1 million acres of national forest in Virginia, but that hasn’t kept some environmentalists from trying to hog it all. Either they don’t care or understand what their actions are doing to wildlife.

Hunters have exerted little effort in fighting back, although they have science on their side. Many simply have switched their attention to private property, where deer are abundant. This lack of hunting pressure adds to the decline in the number of deer being killed on the national forest.

“Many of our staff believes the reduced number of hunters results in a significant reduction of deer movement, thus fewer deer coming before the hunter’s gun,” said Jeffreys.

What you have on the national forest is an interaction of a number of factors -- poorer deer habitat, increased predators, fewer hunters, mast failures and more liberal hunting regulations that are designed to address the overabundance of deer on nearby private land but also impact national forest herds.

Jeffreys correctly places habitat decline at the apex of the equation, but he gets an argument from Doyle Ritchie of Rockingham County who has become a major critic of the DGIF’s deer management practices. Ritchie believes the national forest deer herd has been harmed by DGIF regulations that crop off an excess of does and young bucks.

While it is true that DGIF has attempted to address the decline in the national forest deer herd by setting more restrictive bag limits on forest property, Ritchie says these efforts have been offset by the addition of an extra week of muzzleloading season and increased youth hunting opportunities.

“I’m just really angry about the way the national forest is going downhill, yet deer flourish in places right next to the forest,” said Ritchie. “I don’t think it’s a lack of food or mast crop failure. I think the problem is really poor management practices.”

A case could be made that there are plenty of deer on private land. So why manipulate the national forest for deer? The answers: There are sportsmen who depend on the national forest for their hunting. Other wildlife species, even song birds, benefit from a young forest habitat and the day may come when more hunters will depend on the national forest as private land is developed.

HERE’S WHAT HUNTERS CAN DO:

1. Take an active role in the management of the national forest. Right now the George Washington National Forest is revising its Land and Resource Management Plan. The plan is tilting toward removing 42 percent of the forest from active management practices, the kind that provide deer habitat. Several input meetings have been lightly attended by hunters. There are a couple remaining: Jan. 29, 6:30- 9 p.m., Rockbridge County High School, Lexington and Feb. 5, 6:30-9 p.m., Peter Muhlengerg Middle School, Woodstock. Also check the forest’s Web site for information on the plan revision. Let your congressman and senators know that you want deer/grouse habitat to get a fair shake in the management of the national forests.

2. Participate in the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ current regulatory process with an eye toward establishing hunting laws that address the needs of the national forest. Check HuntFishVa.com for opportunities to express views at public meetings and online. Beyond that, tell DGIF and forest officials that you would like for them to rekindle the spirit of the 70-year old Cooperative Wildlife Management Agreement that mandates state wildlife officials working hand-in-hand with federal forest officials.

George and the Judge!

 

 

Christmas may be late this year!