NEW61375

The way I see it the VAHDA needs some better spokesmen.

I've been on hound sites lately trying to gain some insight as to why so many hound hunters are opposed to Sunday Hunting. I've attempted to have reasonable dialogue and have asked many questions in regards to their opposition. I'd like to say I made some headway but ultimately I was left with more questions than answers. No legal arguments were made, no data or information showing the potential for an adverse impact on hound hunting was provided, no explanation as to the opposition against private landowners being able to hunt their own land, absolutely nothing.

I assure you that Hokieman can provide no such information either. The VAHDA is the blind leading the blind and what's worse is they are headed towards a cliff of their own making. The hound site I referred to earlier goes as far as to delete SH threads where their arguments are dismantled and their hypocrisy is put on display, no matter how civil they remain. Why? They don't want their own members to read it and start thinking for themselves.

The 3 largest groups opposed to Sunday Hunting in 2010-11 were the HSUS,the VAHDA, and the Farm Bureau. Be careful who you lay with as the HSUS isn't the best company for a hunting organization to be keeping.

Sunday hunting in VA has the support of the NRA, Ducks Unlimited, Bass Pro, and many other strong lobbyists for outdoorsman. We had an overwhelming change in momentum this year with 11-4 vote in the Senate sub-committee followed by 29-11 vote in the Senate to make it to the house. Delegate Lee Ware is VA Sunday Hunting public enemy number 1 (imo) as he headed the sub-committee that killed it with the 4-3 vote and wrote several editorials in local papers in opposition. Yet in the same year he and many others voted in support of allowing bear chasing to begin earlier than 30 minutes before sunrise (changed to 4:00 a.m.) during the bear chase season. That in itself is no big deal except for the fact that bear chase seasons and many other chase seasons are already legal on Sundays. Chasing is defined as hunting by the VDGIF and requires a hunting license.

So what that says to me as a landowner is this. I can't legally hunt my land on Sunday but someone else can run their dogs through it in effect hunting raccoon, fox, deer, bobcat, bear, etc. and if need be they can go onto my property to retrieve said hounds. In Del. Wares' mind that is fair and keeping the laws that way is for the "common good" as he has said many times.

So taking my rights to my private property away and giving them to someone else is ok as long as it's for the "common good".


"History calls those men the greatest who have ennobled themselves by working for the common good.." Karl Marx

"The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property."

Karl Marx-The Communist Manifesto


I only put the above quotes in to highlight just how flawed that "common good" logic can be. I don't believe Ware to be some horrible person but as an elected official Ware is supposed to have an objective view on these bills yet at every corner he approves Sunday seasons for his constituents and blocks Sunday Hunting for the rest of us. Landowner rights on private property should not be infringed to appease his VAHDA and Farm Bureau supporters.

VA hunters, call your legislators, e-mail them, get your family to, get your neighbors to and continue to do so all year and especially when it comes vote time again. Join the VA Sunday hunting groups and make some noise.