Thursday, November 01, 2007
Of bear hunters, game preserves
Bill Cochran
Recent mail
BILL: I read your Mail Bag letter from Warren Radford on bear hunting. As a Bedford County landowner who has had conflicts with bear hunters with hounds, I would like to weigh in on the subject.
The worst encounter was on a Sunday morning at 6 a.m. when I was awakened to a hunter outside our bedroom window looking for his bear dog. Our house is situated in the middle of 74 acres and you can not see another house in any direction. We do not even have curtains, because we own all of the land surrounding the house as far as the eye can see.
Retrieving bear dogs should not give anyone the right to trespass on another’s land without permission. As a deer hunter, if I shoot game that goes onto someone else’s land I am supposed to call that landowner and get permission to look for it. How much sense does it make to have that law for deer hunting and still have a wide open door for bear hunters retrieving their dogs?
I honestly believe that many bear hunters do use the right-to-retrieve law to trespass on land they do not have permission to hunt. It is just wrong.
BOB HOLDEN
BILL: I want to try hunting at a shooting preserve, but don’t know where to find a listing of these facilities. Can you help?
B.H.
B.H.: The best source of information on shooting preserves in Virginia that I am aware of is “Black’s 2008 Wind & Clay Waterfowl.” This book lists about two dozen shooting preserve facilities across the state. A copy can be found at online book sources or check blackswingandclay.com. It also is a great source of sporting clay facilities and wing-shooting equipment. I always keep a copy near my desk.
BILL
