Virginia General Assembly: Senate Committee refuses to lift Sunday hunting ban

Their fight is over this year, but supporters say they'll be back

Sunday hunting bill defeated in a second General Assembly committee

Joe Dashiell Reporter WDBJ7

11:02 p.m. EST, January 31, 2011

RICHMOND, Va.—

It appears that Virginia’s ban on Sunday hunting will survive for another year. On Monday, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources voted down legislation that would have lifted the ban. A House Committee rejected similar legislation last week.

Supporters of the measure said they were disappointed by the vote, but convinced that it’s only a matter of time until the state removes the ban. Mark Crain is the Chairman of the Northern Virginia Chapter of Delta Waterfowl. “We weren’t successful. The board voted not to pass it on the Senate,” Crain told News 7, “but it did get voted on this year. Usually, it just gets tabled in committee, so while it’s not a victory, we’re getting closer.”

The vote wasn’t close. Just two of 15 committee members were in favor of lifting the restriction. Virginia is one of six states in the nation that currently ban hunting on Sunday.

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Comments (5)

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g33kygurl at 6:49 PM March 12, 2011

Not to mention they want to raise the price for our hunting license by 119%. The least they could do is extend hunting to sundays. I work a 9-5 job and pay taxes 5 days a week. I'd like to relax in a treestand on saturday and sunday and since I ONLY hunt with rifle, I have 3 days a year I can hunt unless I take vacation time from work. C'mon DGIF and Virginia General Assembly.... throw us a bone.

7dayhunter at 1:50 PM February 09, 2011

Here is a novel idea: In order to hunt on Sunday charge another ten dollars per license. Hunters are happy and the VDGIF gets the money they are after. This would be a good way to see exactly how much interest there is in Sunday hunting. It is a win-win situation, but too obvious for them to see I guess.

Brother in Need at 7:54 AM February 01, 2011

Hokie007, you are absolutely correct. There was an article just this past week about how the number of hunting license sold this past year was half that of 1974. If Va. doesn't want to allow hunting on Sundays, then they better stop complaining about the overpopulation of deer, the disease, and the damage to crops, gardens, and of course the accidents caused by them. Quite honestly if those who want to go for a walk in the woods can't give up a few Sundays out of the year, seems to me they are the ones who are being selfish. Oh, you can fish, drink, or do most anything else you want to do on Sunday in Va. so why are the bleeding heart librals afraid for me to take my son hunting? Maybe next year I'll just take my money and go hunt somewhere else!

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Sunday hunting bill defeated in a second General Assembly committee

Their fight is over this year, but supporters say they'll be back

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