CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Right now, Kanawha County is one of 33 West Virginia counties where hunting on Sunday is not allowed. However, there is a growing voice for that to change. Wednesday the Kanawha County Planning Commission hopes to hear more about the prospects of changing the prohibition which was voted into place in 2003.
“Sunday hunting would only be open on private property with written land owner permission,” said Jason Webb, Lobbyist for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. “It’s not going to include Kanawha State Forest or any public land and won’t affect the use and enjoyment of those areas.”
In the past three elections voters in seven West Virginia counties have agreed to reopen Sunday hunting on private property, the most recent was Jackson County in the May primary. Two other counties where it was on the ballot, Lewis and Gilmer, voted against it.
The legislature legalized Sunday hunting on private property in 2002, but also created the capability of a local referendum to close the season if voters were able to petition to have it removed. The very next election all but 14 counties voted to close the season. It wasn’t until two years ago attitudes toward the idea started to change. Sportsmen interested in a vote have been acquiring petitions of five percent of a county’s registered voters to get it on the ballot, but Webb said that doesn’t appear to even be necessary.
“It’s my understanding the Secretary of State has looked at the law and determined you don’t have to have a petition,” said Webb. “The way the law was written and is currently on the books, to REMOVE Sunday hunting from a county, you need the petition.”
Kanawha County’s planning commission, directed by the County Commission, is holding the public hearing to explore the idea and gauge interest.
“Jackson County passed it in May and it passed at about 57 percent,” said Webb. “Now you have six counties that adjoin Kanawha County and allow for Sunday hunting, Boone, Jackson, Lincoln, Nicholas, Clay and Roane Counties.”
The push to reinstate Sunday hunting has come hardest from those who own their own property. They maintain it is wrong to prohibit an activity on their property one day a week which is legal the other six. Webb believed there were even more reasons to expand hunting opportunities as much as possible, not only in Kanawha County, but anywhere.
“One is Lyme disease,” said Webb. “Another is you have a one in 40 chance of colliding with a deer in West Virginia. We lead the nation with the highest per capita rate of auto/deer collisions in the country.”
The hearing is set for Wednesday, June 8, at 6 p.m. in the County Commission Courtroom of the Kanawha County Courthouse.