Thursday, March 29, 2007
Bill Cochran's Outdoors: How you can play a role in new hunting and fishing regulations
Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.
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A few decades ago, if you spotted a deer track in the Bedford County soil it was worthy of awe -- maybe even a call to the country newspaper. Deer were scarce. You could find them in Bath County, but not Bedford, which didn’t have a hunting season until 1962. That year, 27 bucks and 3 does were reported killed.
Last season, Bedford was the top deer kill county in Virginia, with hunters reporting an amazing take of 8,215 bucks and does, 866 more than the previous season.
Even so, officials of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries don’t think the kill was high enough to stabilize the population and keep it producing the kind of bucks that have put the county on the map as trophy country.
On Tuesday, biologists of the DGIF recommended more liberal doe hunting regulations for Bedford, as well as other counties in the region, Amherst, Franklin, Patrick and Roanoke.
The same doe reduction was being recommended for Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties in Northern Virginia where clashes are common between deer and a growing human population.
But that’s not the case for Rockingham County, in the Shenandoah Valley, where deer hunting has been a tradition since 1947. Rockingham registered a kill of more than 1,000 deer when Bedford had its first season.
The past half-dozen years or so, the western side of the county has fallen onto hard times as far as deer and deer hunters are concerned. The deer population has declined, biologist say, and the lament of hunters can be heard. Biologists are recommending more restrictive deer hunting regulations for the area of concern.
As can be seen, when you thumb through the pages of the newly revised DGIF deer management plan, there is nothing like a “one size fits all” management practice for the herd. This was evident Tuesday when the DGIF board met with its staff and interested sportsmen to begin the laborious task of revamping both hunting and fishing regulations.
The process will be a bit different this time. On Tuesday, the staff recommended to the board amendments to current regulations that it feels need to be considered. These are scheduled to be posted on the agency’s Web site April 10.
Sportsmen are invited to comment on these as well as other topics and suggestions. Gone is the series of public hearings in schools, firehouses and public buildings that have been a tradition in the past. Officials say they didn’t attract the kind of participation that was desired.
Much of the input this time will be received electronically through the department’s Web site or via e-mail. Letters also are welcome.
For those who desire eye-to-eye contact, public comments will be received at four upcoming board meetings at the agency’s headquarters in Richmond. The dates are June 5, July 17, Aug. 21 and Oct. 16. The sessions begin 9 a.m. at 4000 West Broad St.
Wildlife officials say they are willing to address specific regulatory issues during special meetings with constituent groups and local government officials.
Final action on proposed regulations is set for Oct. 16 and those that receive approval of the board become effective in 2008.
Next week this site will take a more detailed look at the hunting and fishing recommendations of the DGIF staff.
