What the New Sunday Hunting Law Means to You

Bill Cochran at the Roanoke Times notes what the new Sunday Hunting Law means for hunters:

...Firearm’s deer season will be lengthened by as many as nine days in some areas; bear season by as many as 13; fall turkey by as many as six; spring gobbler season by five; doves, 10; rabbits, 17; squirrels, 27.

Cochran also notes that there will be 12 additional days for hunting quail, if you are lucky enough to live where the species has not completely disappeared. He also writes that the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) is waiting on the AG's office to give an official opinion on what the term "landowner" means and once they get the clarification (one would think that is not all that hard but we are talking about lawyers) the agency will begin a public education campaign.

It should be noted, that if you go after nuisance species like groundhogs or predator species like coyotes, which have a year-round open season, you get to start taking advantage of Sunday Hunting now on private property.

Coyotes an Increasing Problem in Virginia

This isn't news to Virginia hunters.  There have been increasing reports of coyote sightings by hunters, but now suburban residents are seeing more of them.  Coyotes are in every part of Virginia.  Last night, WTVR CBS 6 had this story.  Coyotes are playing havoc with the Commonwealth's deer herd and on small game, and even kill domestic animals in suburban areas.  I had a coyote on my trail camera two of the last three winters.   I've noticed a reduction in the number of deer I have had on camera this year, seeing only one doe/fawn pair, when in years past I had several family groups on film during the summer.

Coyotes Spotted in Chesterfield County

What was once a species confined to the western part of the nation has now been spotted in Chesterfield County. The Chesterfield Observer published this story earlier this week that states coyotes are now in every county of the Commonwealth.

According to Mike Fies, wildlife research biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF), people reported sightings of coyotes in Virginia as early as the 1950s. Those initial sightings were probably animals that were transported into the state as pets.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that the population of coyotes expanded northward from the southeastern states and became established in Southwest Virginia. Then in the early 1980s, a population from the northern tier states and Canada ventured southward and arrived in Northern Virginia.

“They are found in every county in the state,” says Fies.

A friend in rural Amelia County told me a couple of years ago that coyotes had moved into the area and it was thought that the reduced fawn sitings that year were directly attributed to the presence of coyotes.

Predators that have no natural enemies (other than man) in the area can wreak havoc on wildlife populations like whitetail deer.

An absence of large predators was like a welcome mat for coyotes.

“A niche was left for them. The wolf was extirpated and the same for the mountain lion,” says Fies. “There’s no top predator, and the habitat here in Virginia is good for them. There’s plenty of food, and they are extremely adaptable animals that can tolerate humans well, and there’s nothing really to stop them.”

There is a continuous open season on coyotes on private land. Coyote hunting in National Forest Lands and Game Department Lands is permitted from September 1-March 10 and during the spring turkey season and spring squirrel season on certain areas (see area listings for spring squirrel season). Counties have the option of establishing their own coyote bounty system but Coyote bounties are not administered by DGIF. For more information, hunters and trappers should contact their County Administrator or County Board of Supervisors.