Sunday, March 29, 2009
Bear license hot topic at public forum
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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Hunters aren't exactly shy about defending their passion.
So it seemed there could be potential for fireworks when a bunch of people squarely on opposite sides of an issue -- a proposed special license for bear hunting -- got together Thursday night in one room.
As expected, the proposed bear license was the hot discussion item at the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public meeting at Glenvar Middle School to discuss proposed changes to Virginia hunting regulations.
But while supporters and opponents of the proposal all spoke passionately about their beliefs, they also all maintained an impressive level of courtesy.
The lesson?
Sportsmen can and do get along even when they disagree.
And they certainly disagree about this, the arguments Thursday night echoing comments that have been common since the proposal was introduced in late February at the urging of members of the Virginia Bear Hunters Association.
On one hand are the bear hunters who want this license, which would cost residents $25 as proposed.
Supporters, most of whom hunt with hounds, say the license could provide needed funding for the DGIF. It also, they say, would afford additional protection to the species at a time when some bear hunters worry that recent record kills -- of which non-houndsmen account for about two-thirds of the total -- might be hitting the bear population too hard.
Houndsmen, many of whom kill relatively few of the bears their hounds tree, want robust populations because it provides more opportunities for their dogs to run, and that is the aspect of the activity they most enjoy.
Opponents claim the special license proposal gives the impression that houndsmen are trying to hoard bears for their season.
Because the odds of seeing a bear while deer hunting are fairly slim, critics say few non-hound hunters would gamble and spend the extra money on the license, especially since license costs already push $100 annually for many hunters.
The DGIF's staff has not taken a position on the proposed license.
Many of the changes to bear-related regulations the staff has recommended seek to increase hunter pressure on the bear population, which biologists say is expanding beyond levels called for in the agency's bear management plan.
The public comments came after regional wildlife manager Jim Bowman presented a 35-minute program on the many proposed changes under consideration.
Other proposals with potentially wide-reaching impact include changes to deer-bag limits and restrictions on both public and private land across the state.
In general, either-sex hunting rules are proposed to ease on private land in many counties, but get tighter on public land.
John Boone, who said he deer hunts mostly on public land, said he opposed further elimination of days on which he is allowed to shoot an antlerless deer.
"Last season I watched three does walk from private land onto national forest where I was hunting and I couldn't shoot them," said Boone, who added that he saw many antlerless deer on public land last hunting season.
Turkey hunter Mark Mullen of Roanoke asked officials to move the week of fall turkey season that overlaps the early muzzleloader deer season to later in the winter. Mullen said that would reduce the number of turkeys shot by deer hunters.
Because no such proposal is under consideration, however, such a change wouldn't be possible during this review cycle of regulations.
But most of the nearly 20 speakers focused on bear proposals.
While critics of the proposed license have overwhelmingly dominated Internet message boards, including the DGIF's official public comment forum, more speakers at Thursday night's meeting supported the proposal than opposed it.
Several speakers claimed that biased media coverage of the issue had fueled criticism of the proposal.
Richard Sprinkle of Fincastle said he supported a special bear license, but would like to see the price be the same as the special archery and muzzleloader licences, which cost $18.
Sprinkle also said he would like to see hunters under 16 years old exempt from the license, a suggestion echoed by several other license supporters.
Richard Pauley of Buchanan argued against the license, calling it a "difficult sell" at a time when the game department is seeking to increase the bear kill in many areas.
Dave Steffen, a senior wildlife biologist with the DGIF, said he and his staff would consider public feedback as they work on what they will recommend to the agency's board before it votes on the bear license and other proposals at its June 2 meeting.
