HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — At a board meeting Thursday morning, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) voted to approve five proposals to regulate hound hunting — and reject the other two.
For decades, there has been ongoing conflict between hunters and private landowners in Virginia as the state tries to keep the tradition of hunting animals with hound dogs alive while protecting the rights of landowners.
In recent months, the board has approved five out the seven proposed changes to change the future of hound hunting in the Commonwealth:
Approved proposals
- Support for funding for additional Conservation Police officers
- Enhancement of Conservation Police officer training and law enforcement strategies
- Prioritize enforcement of prohibition against hunting outside of open season
- Enhance outreach to communities, hunters and landowners
- Enhance educational efforts
Proposal six would have addressed property rights concerns by requiring hunting dogs to wear tracking collars when hunting deer or bears. Proposal seven would have required hunters and landowners to demonstrate reasonable effort in keeping hunting hounds off of private property.