Bill Cochran

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If you hunt deer with dogs in Virginia, chances are you are a bit edgy these days. The sport is in the spotlight. Some would say it is in the crosshairs.

Hunting deer with dogs is a deep-seated tradition in Virginia. It isn’t about to be abolished, as some would have you believe. But it is under scrutiny like never before.

It is headed toward an attitude adjustment, and that’s not all bad for those inside and outside the sport.

The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has begun the process of examining all aspects of dog hunting through a citizen’s stakeholder approach that was approved by the DGIF board last week. This week, DGIF biologists met with Dr. Steve McMullen of Virginia Tech, who will help fine-tune the process and identify stakeholders.     

The department has established the following goal: “to provide diverse opportunities for hunting with hounds in Virginia in a manner that is fair, sportsmanlike and consistent with the rights of private property owners and other citizens.”

It is an objective dog hunters can support, or doom, themselves if they don’t.

“I have friends who say dog deer hunting will be gone in 5 years,” said Richard Railey of Courtland. He owns 25 dogs. He is an attorney in Southampton County, the secretary/treasurer of the Davis-Ridley Hunt Club. He also is on the 11-member DGIF board that establishes hunting regulations.

Railey recognizes that the worse thing that can happen is for one hunter to be at the throat of another. Dog hunters vs. still hunters, for example. That is an open invitation to anti-hunters.

“If we separate we will die and there won’t be any hunting in Virginia. We have got to stand together if we want to preserve our sport,” he said during the DGIF hearing in Richmond last week.

Most DGIF board meetings are placid, but this one attracted an estimated 300 dog hunters, and some were steamed over the reality that their sport and their integrity is being questioned, even by other hunters.

Hunters are family who must stick together to survive, but it isn’t going to be easy for non-dog hunters to come to the rescue of dog hunters in places like Southampton County where strongly organized dog clubs selfishly have blocked the muzzleloading season.

Dog hunting is in the process of losing its king of the hill status, but that doesn’t mean the sport isn’t important and shouldn’t survive. It is tradition. It has a huge economic impact. It helps control the deer herd. It provides wholesome recreation and introduces new people to hunting.

Dog hunters need to shed some of their swagger in an effort to realistically embrace the challenges they face. Times are changing. The large tracts once available dog hunters to pursue their sport are being chopped up. A new million-dollar home here and a hobby farm there. The newcomers to rural areas don’t want hounds running through their property, and are challenging the rights of hunters to do so. Too many hunters counter with arrogance.

Timber companies that have been a haven for dog hunters in the past are being sold or are locking their gates to dog hunting.

Some states have passed laws requiring special permits of dog hunters and limiting their activities to certain minimum-size acreage.

There was nothing on the table of the DGIF board to enact new dog hunting regulations, but many of the 300 dog hunters who attended last week’s hearing came to Richmond angry, thinking that was the case. Fanning the flames was a postcard sent to dog hunters that stated: “This is an anti-hunting effort.” The card acknowledged that the message was authorized by the United Eastern Virginia Hunting Dog Association and paid for by the Commonwealth’s Sportsmen’s Alliance.

While Bob Duncan, DGIF wildlife department chief, and his crew had no new rule changes for deer dog hunting, they were ready for the onslaught they faced. The approach was to address the issue and develop strategies through a stakeholder advisory group.

Some dog hunters didn’t like the idea, and others said only dog hunters should be invited to be stakeholders. That won’t be the case. Coming to the table also will be hunters who don’t use dogs, landowners, even animal welfare people.

"It is a matter of adjusting for the times,” said Railey. “That is the way we preserve our sport.”

It is a reasonable approach, said Denny Quaiff of the Virginia Deer Hunters Association.

“We will work to make sure that dog hunting is done in a way that is just and consistent with the rights of private landowners and the citizens of our great Commonwealth while preserving the tradition for future generations,” he said