Sunday, March 01, 2009
Bear hunting laws spark debate
Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.
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RICHMOND -- On a chilly morning this past November, Richard Garrett stood next to a tree in the national forest in Rockbridge County, hoping a good whitetail would show up.
The growing sound of crunching leaves seemed to indicate he was in luck. But when Garrett turned to the sound he didn't see a deer.
It was a huge black bear.
Garrett aimed and shot, and soon was admiring the first bear he has killed in more than four decades of hunting.
The potential to score a bonus bear, a feat realized each year by just a few hundred of Virginia's roughly 300,000 deer hunters, may require an extra commitment from those hunters.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board of directors is considering a proposal to remove the bear tag from its big game license, creating a separate bear license.
Board member Sherry Crumley of Buchanan made the motion to establish the license at a cost of $25 for residents and $150 for non-residents, with her fellow directors unanimously voting to forward the idea for public comments.
The proposal was among a long list of potential hunting regulations changes the department's board advanced at a meeting at the agency's headquarters on Friday.
The public will get several months to comment on the suggestions, with the board set to take final action in early June. Rule changes would take effect in time for the 2009 fall hunting seasons.
Other suggestions include removing the one-buck limit during the early black powder deer season in Western Virginia, establishing a youth deer hunting day the final Saturday in September, widespread modifications of either-sex deer hunting seasons on both public and private lands, and eliminating the in-person checking option for hunters who kill a spring gobbler.
Hunters suggest license
Unlike most of the suggestions, the bear license idea wasn't among the proposed changes brought forward by the agency's staff.
Instead, a number of speakers representing the Virginia Bear Hunters Association requested the new license.
This is not the first try by the group, which consists almost exclusively of hunters who use hounds to pursue bears during a five-week season in December and early January.
One speaker captured the hunters' attitude concisely when he said that bears shouldn't be a "bonus" animal for deer hunters.
Bear license proponents said it could bring in up to $300,000 in new revenue for the agency.
While asking for the license, the speakers also adamantly opposed a DGIF staff recommendation to establish a six-day firearms season for bears the last week of September in an area where biologists want to significantly increase the kill to reverse a steady -- and unwanted -- growth of the bear population.
Other proposals to increase pressure on bears include adding two weeks to the archery season, and extending firearms and muzzleloader seasons in many parts of the state.
But it was the proposed September season that drew most of the focus from the houndsmen.
They would have been able to participate in the season, which would have fallen during the final week of what is now the hound training season.
But such a season would likely attract a fair amount of interest from hunters who don't use hounds.
Critics of the proposal argued that killing a bear in September, when it can be warm, would lead to spoiled meat and ruined trophies.
But, while the hound hunters were careful not to appear selfish, it's clear their primary concern is that other hunters will kill so many bears that it would adversely affect their hunting opportunities come December.
They cited the record kill of 2,204 bears last season as proof that hunters are already making a big impact on the bear population.
Conversely, agency biologists used those same figures to support their assertion that the bear population is growing and needs additional pressure.
Siding with the critics of the proposed September hunt, the board voted unanimously to eliminate that proposal.
A somewhat frustrated Bob Ellis, director of the agency's Wildlife Division, said something had to be done to achieve the estimated 60 percent increase in the bear kill needed in the area, which includes Alleghany, Bath, Botetourt counties, and parts of Augusta, Botetourt, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Rockingham and Shenandoah counties.
"We definitely need some additional harvest of bears in that area," Ellis said, noting that not taking decisive action goes against the strategy outlined in the agency's bear management plan. "You might as well throw it out the window."
After a discussion with the houndsmen, agency biologists proposed a compromise that would open the firearms bear season a day early, on a Saturday. That expansion, plus the other suggested changes, could increase the kill by about 47 percent, Ellis said.
The board OK'd that idea for advancement.
Fewer bear hunters?
The timing of the bear license proposal is interesting.
Coming at a time when the agency is hoping to increase hunter pressure on bears, a bear-only license seems certain to significantly reduce the pool of those available to help with the task. That's because while some optimistic deer hunters would buy the license just in case they saw a bear, plenty would play the odds and save their money.
DGIF staffers didn't publicly comment on the move, seemingly content to wait for public reaction before taking a position.
While it seems likely the bear license proposal will generate plenty of feedback from hunters, the proposal to remove the one-buck limit during the two-week early muzzleloader season west of the Blue Ridge will probably also get some attention.
Surveys have shown that about 70 percent of deer hunters in Western Virginia either support such a move, or have no preference. But more than a quarter of hunters prefer a one-buck limit so it's certain the idea will face some resistance.
The full list of proposals, as well as a list of public meeting dates and sites, is available on the DGIF's Internet site (www.dgif.virginia.gov).
