I’ve had the privilege to hunt in about a third of VA’s counties over the decades. Again, I haven’t experienced, in any of those counties, the criminal element that you describe. I’m not sure if I’ve hunted in your county, but I’ve hunted every area of the State. I have to say…..you apparently have a criminal element in your community regardless of the day or the season. It puzzles me why residents wouldn’t force the county supervisors to make changes……or force them out of office.

This Sunday only concern is the most illogical argument we can make. It basically is saying, you can violate us Monday through Saturday, so long as you respect us on Sunday.

The gate shooter was prosecuted which cost my brother a couple of days of work and the shooter got a slap on the wrist and was told to not do it any more. Deputies are also spread thin and it’s difficult to make armed individuals hold still until the law arrives.

I also lease land to a hunt club and last year wrote no Sunday hunting into the lease. The hunt club didn’t object at all.

I wish you and all ethical hunters great luck in rooting out the rogues. Personally, I don’t even remember hearing of a hunter turning in another hunter but I’m sure it happens somewhere, at least I hope so.

I don’t say that I like living with rogue hunters, it’s just that every time I’ve tried to do something about it the consequences to the hunter are less than the consequences that I face in lost time, danger etc. I and my family do run trespassers off our land and it’s invariably when I don’t have time to deal with them. In our area, judges are very lenient on civil hunting violations such as trespass, hunting within riparian areas etc. and it’s hardly worth going to court. Game wardens are similarly not interested but are ready with a ticket if your license isn’t perfect, you forgot a HIP number etc.

The level of hunting trespass violations and other hunting behavior is definitely less on Sunday in this area because rogues stand out like a single billiard ball on the pool table. I’m glad you live in a more Utopian area but as we both know, different areas have different conditions. You want more time to do something you love, I don’t want to expand the time I have to deal with unpleasant issues. Different circumstances and different views for each of us. While I can only control my land, I’m also in contact with many farmers and landowners who own a significant amount of land. Much of that is teetering on the edge of “no hunting” and Sunday hunting may tip the balance. As I stated above, I think it likely that the hunters may win the battle but lose the war as land starts closing down to hunting.

Do we say a shop lifter is shopping as they shove items into their pockets. Is a bank robber banking when he says “Open up the drawer and give me all the money!”? Certainly not, but a person entering somebody else’s property armed or somebody who is out shooting is called a hunter. It puzzles me.

I would say this, if somebody is on my property without permission there will be no shrug of the shoulders and admission that the game wardens don’t care. That is ludicrous, I will have the matter addressed.

I have a sneaking suspicion when these “horror stories” that arise just don’t hold water to how a reasonable person would respond to a perceived dangerous sitiuation. If it were me and my family that were dealing with a perceived dangerous situation there wouldn’t be any kind of thoughts like “Oh well, the game wardens just don’t address it.” In addition to the fact that I have heard twice as many stories of game wardens spending countless hours investigating, tracking down and stacking out tresspassing situations.

The horror stories just don’t pass the sniff test in my book.

You mentioned something about hunters shooting at gates or property. You also mention that game wardens don’t respond. I don’t have any experience with these types of incidents. But, my question would be, if you know game wardens are spread thin, why wouldn’t you call the sheriff’s office? What you describe is criminal activity, not hunting activity.

I feel confident that I can speak for every responsible and ethical hunter in VA…..we want what you describe removed completely from the hunting community. We, whenever we see violations, would be the first to get involved. We recognize this as what it is, a threat to our hunting future.

But what puzzles me most is that people will live with this so long as hunting doesn’t expand to Sunday……I honestly can make no sense of that.

In over four decades of hunting, and that includes years where I hunted nearly every morning, or every afternoon, and many Saturdays, I’ve never seen a non-hunter, and have seen four individuals trespass. Two were hunters that “eased” over the property line, and both eased back when they saw me. One young man that trespassed rode an ATV, and we worked out an agreement where he could ride and I could hunt without any problems. Another trespasser was actually a group of horse trailriders. Again, we worked things out where everyone won. Never, had the experience that some describe though.

Today in VA there are about 100 license commercial and/or private shooting preserves……all have access to Sunday hours from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunrise. I follow hunting issues pretty closely…..and I’m unaware of Sunday hunting being an issue at any of these preserves.

I have no idea how many shooting ranges there are in VA, but again I haven’t been able to find where there’s much, if any, opposition to range activity on Sundays.

Like I’ve posted above, 8,000,000 firearms reside in the homes of 2,000,000 Virginians that are gun owners. Laws restrict hunting on Sunday, but we don’t regulate recreational shooting. Does one justify restricting the other, or does one justify liberating the other?

Back to trespassing. I’ve heard, everytime Sunday hunting enters the discussion, that it’s a huge problem. It was a big enough problem last year, that one legislator felt compelled to introduce stricter legislation……but the bill’s support was apparently mute……I have to ask why?

I live very close to the water too. I hear the waterfowlers in the fall, I hear the waterman about all year, and I hear the boats from March through November……but I never allowed it to bother me. I hope someone out there is having the time of their life. But, quite honestly, if what these folks did bothered me……it’d have to bother me each and everyday, and not just on Sundays. Oh….and I forgot, I hear the timber workers too…..and everyday so long as it’s dry enough to work…..but they are doing something on their land that the law says is legal. All hunters that support expanding Sunday hunting are asking is to do something on their land that the law says is legal…..and all they are essentially asking is to be able to do so without the restriction that only applies to Sunday.

I was also reminded of one other large difference between this area of the state and the Roanoke area. We have waterfowl hunting on large open flat fields and larger open waterways where the sound of gunshots travels for miles. With calm weather the past week, I’ve had no trouble knowing exactly when 1/2 hour before sunrise was as I’ve been awakened with barrage after barrage from 1/2 hour before until about an hour after sunrise. From the sound, I think these are typically four or more hunters in a blind each shooting three shots at whatever. (I’ve seen as many as 15 hunters in a goose blind. That sounds like a military firing line.) Since many of the homes in my area are on the waterfront, my experience is shared by many, many non-hunters. Many of those folks barely tolerate hunting now but can easily become active in the no-hunting movement. Different places have different conditions and while many deer hunters in your area can slip into the woods, fire one shot and have a great deer hunt without hardly being noticed, many of our area hunters are noticed by dozens, if not hundreds of people.

Finally, this issue like gun control, too often becomes an emotional issue rather than a logical discussion. Someone else can’t believe that a landowner would close down hunting on their property if Sunday hunting passes while I can easily understand that sometimes you just get tired of dealing with requests for hunting and it’s much easier to say “No Hunting, period.” Hunters want to expand their season while many non-hunters wish there was no hunting. Hunters acting badly do poison the discussion for ethical hunters. In turn ethical hunters can’t understand why landowners lump the good in with the bad. I personally don’t think VDGIF has been very proactive in bringing together hunters and landowners. For what it’s worth, I think hunters may win the Sunday hunting battle and lose the public perception war. Ultimately that will mean less land to hunt, less public support and less opportunity for the sport.

It’s a tough battle for hunters when we have a history of shooting ourselves, as well as some non-hunters. My point has always been, why hasn’t there been changes that could impact the safety of not only hunters…..but more importantly the non-hunter?

It’s never made much sense that the DGIF suggests that non-hunters wear a safety color that designates them as another hunter. Why wouldn’t VA take the lead, and suggest a color other than hunter orange for those not hunting……perhaps that bright green color that our first responders, and road workers use? And then lets educate hunters as to what that color designates, and what the appropriate behavior would be?

We continue to work apart, when we truly need to work together……but why?

I understand why some non-hunters are concerned. After all it is the unknown, at least in Virginia. Hey, hunters are some of the best fearmongers I know. Remember the doomsday talk we had when crossbows were being considered? The world was going to end, remember?

The best I can do is to try to assure those with concerns that those concerns are not warranted. And then try to not be too smug when turns out I am right, which I will be.