West Virginia’s Senate has unanimously approved legislation that allows leashed dogs to track mortally wounded deer or bear.
The bill, approved 33-0 Friday, now goes to the House.
It would revise the current law that prohibits using dogs to hunt or chase deer.
It says that only the hunter may kill the wounded animal, which would count toward the hunter’s bag limit.
The tracking would remain subject to all applicable laws, including having written permission to hunt on private property, doing it during legal hunting hours and having a valid West Virginia hunting license and any requisite stamps or permits.
Tag: Hunting
West Virginia House Opposes Wasting Hunters' Prey
The West Virginia House has voted to make it a crime to waste game by leaving carcasses or just taking trophies such as heads, claws or feathers.
The bill, passed 56-39 on Monday, would set fines ranging from $500 to $2,500 for big game, meaning deer, bear, boars and turkeys. Hunting and fishing licenses would be suspended for five years.
Penalties would range from $100 to $1,000 for other animals.
All could mean 10 to 100 days in jail.
Some lawmakers say the prohibition against abandoning “any portion of game suitable for food” could be misinterpreted as barring field dressing deer by removing their organs.
Judiciary Committee Chairman John Shott says wildlife officials want to address the problem of “people slaughtering large numbers” of animals and taking only display parts.
West Virginia Updates Hunting, Fishing Online Map
West Virginia wildlife officials say an online interactive map with information about hunting and fishing around the state has been updated.
Division of Natural Resources Director Stephen McDaniel says the map at www.wvdnr.gov can be useful for hikers and boaters as well.
Instructions are on the division’s website at mapwv.gov/huntfish/ where the division says hunters can find the location of license agents, check stations, public shooting ranges, wildlife management areas, Class Q hunter access roads and hiking trails.
A search option lets users focus on one county, wildlife management area, state forest or area surrounding a city or state park.
It can also show fishing and boating access sites, trout-stocked streams, public fishing lakes and float trips.
County Sunday Hunting Votes Could be Overriden by Senate Bill
Over the past several years, West Virginia voters have decided on a county-by-county basis whether to allow hunting on Sundays, and many counties have approved the measure.
A bill now being considered in the state Senate would make those provisions uniform across counties.
Senate Bill 345* would allow hunting and trapping on Sundays on private land anywhere in West Virginia, with the landowners permission.
“The working man really has one day to hunt in the counties that don’t allow it,” Republican Senator Mark Maynard, chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, said of the measure. He’s the bill’s lead sponsor.
Thirty-three counties in West Virginia already allow Sunday hunting, largely as a result of voter-approved initiatives.
According to the Sunday Hunting Coalition, a national advocacy group made up of several sporting groups like the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, only 11 states restrict hunting on Sunday’s in some form, including West Virginia.
West Virginia’s bill is backed by the National Rifle Association and the West Virginia Citizens Defense League, along with gun manufacturers and sellers from across the country.
But Maynard said Monday the bill also has the support of both the Division of Natural Resources — the state agency that oversees hunting and fishing regulations — and the Division of Tourism.
“It would just give tourists another day to come to our state, sometimes just for the weekend. You know, if someone comes here on a weekend vacation, they only have one day to hunt,” he said.
Additional hunting days mean more money spent in the state, Maynard said.
The bill has bipartisan support in the chamber. Democratic Sen. Glen Jeffries signed on as a sponsor also citing the potential economic impact.
A fiscal note from the Division of Natural Resources anticipates an additional $616,000 in revenue in 2018 should the bill take effect.
Maynard said there have been concerns expressed about allowing Sunday hunting on public lands, but this bill focuses on private property, although he says he’d like to see that change in the future.
The Senate Committee on Natural Resources voted to advance the bill Monday to the chamber’s Judiciary Committee.
*an earlier version of this story listed the wrong bill number
Officials Trumpeting Return of Elk to West Virginia
Officials are trumpeting the return of an elk herd to West Virginia for the first time since 1875.
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and officials from the state Division of Natural Resources are set to introduce the elk on Monday in Logan County.
DNR biologists trapped two dozen elk at the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in Kentucky in November. After the elk were quarantined to determine whether they were disease-free, they were transported to the Tomblin Wildlife Management Area in Logan County.
The hope is to eventually open up the area to hunting.
National Group: Sunday Hunting Could Bring $115M to State
A representative of a national sportsmen’s advocacy group told West Virginia lawmakers that allowing hunting on Sundays could create thousands of new jobs and spur millions in spending.
Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation Coordinator John Culclasure appeared Tuesday before the Joint Commission on Economic Development to urge lawmakers to pass a law next year that would legalize Sunday hunting statewide.
Culclasure says making Sunday hunting legal statewide could create about 2,600 jobs and spur up to $155 million in additional economic activity each year. Twenty-two of the state’s 55 counties currently allow hunting on Sunday on private land.
Culclasure says numerous West Virginia residents travel on the weekends to states such as Ohio and Kentucky where there are no Sunday hunting restrictions. Thirty-nine states have no Sunday hunting restrictions.