Plan to modify hunt rules pleases few – News – inRich.com

By ANDY THOMPSON

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The Board of Game and Inland Fisheries yesterday received the results of a 15-month study designed to identify and reduce conflicts between landowners and Virginia hunters who hunt with dogs.

And in the overflow crowd of more than 100 people — from raccoon and deer hunters to landowners to representatives of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — almost no one seemed satisfied with what they saw.

The most contentious proposal would alter Virginia’s “right-to retrieve” law, which allows hunters to enter private land to retrieve their dogs without the property owner’s permission. Virginia and Minnesota are the only states with such a statute.

Almost 30 speakers from various interest groups addressed the board at Game and Inland Fisheries headquarters on West Broad Street in Richmond. The vast majority were hound hunters voicing their dissatisfaction with any modification of the law. Many saw it as the beginning of a “slippery slope” toward taking away what they consider a birthright and a way of life. Click link below for Full Story!

Plan to modify hunt rules pleases few – News – inRich.com.