At least many of us did as the North Carolina lawmakers failed to pass laws to overturn the addition of crossbows as archery equipment, the addition of a second week of muzzle loader season, opening up Sunday’s to hunting on private land and a number of other rules that were delayed. I think it was a good choice by our lawmakers to leave the rule making and wildlife management to the Wildlife Commission. I would also like to thank many of my readers who contacted law makers and urged them to let these bills die and not given into the special interest groups that hired lobbyists to get these rules blocked.
The new regulation digest will come out in August but NCWRC in anticipation of the interest in this did a press release listing all the delayed rules that will go into effect next month.

• Require persons harvesting deer through the Deer Management Assistance Program to use tags provided by the Commission and report their harvests, whether those deer are antlerless or antlered. Allow harvest of deer on DMAP areas under the big game harvest report card and the bonus antlerless deer harvest report card, where applicable.
• Change the description of where bonus antlerless deer harvest report cards may be used from “private lands” to “lands other than those enrolled in the Commission’s Game Land Program” in order to permit the use of these cards on military installations, national wildlife refuges, and other public lands that are NOT game lands.
• Remove the daily bag limit for deer.
• Allow hunters to use archery equipment to harvest deer during the muzzleloading firearms season on game lands.
• Shorten the bow season by one week and open the muzzleloader season one week earlier to create a two week muzzleloader season.
• Deer seasons in the Northwestern deer season will be changed so that the regular gun season is extended through January 1. Deer seasons in the Eastern, Central, and Western deer season structures will remain unchanged.
• Deer seasons on game lands in the Northwestern deer season will be changed so that the regular gun season is extended through January 1. Deer seasons on game lands in the Eastern, Central, and Western deer season structures will remain unchanged.
• Open all private lands in the Eastern, Central, and Northwestern deer seasons to the maximum either-sex deer season.
• Assign all of Moore County to the Eastern deer season.
• Allow falconry on Sundays, except for migratory game birds.
• Allow bow hunting on Sundays on private lands only, except for migratory game birds.
• Allow the use of crossbows anytime bow and arrows are legal weapons.
• Disallow the selling of live foxes and coyotes taken under a depredation permit to controlled hunting preserves.
• Allow a landowner with a valid depredation permit to give away the edible portions of deer to anyone. Require the recipient to retain a copy of the depredation permit.
• Eliminate the requirement that a landholder must get a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit for the taking of migratory birds before getting a Commission permit to do so.

This is great news for all of us who supported these changes but let’s remember there were a number of sportsmen for whatever reason opposed these rules. I hope that we can move on and find our common ground and mend fences because I’m sure there will be attacks on our traditions by anti hunting groups.

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The duck season ended for most with a winter storm across most of the state. I was suppose to head to Orange county but given the weather forecast and the fact that scouting of the area by a few of the guys had shown that there was very few ducks there the days leading up to the hunt. The snow was the kicker so Friday morning the Saturday hunt was called. What normally would be a 70 minute ride in the conditions we had would have been more like a 2 ½ hour trip. Ducks seem to like the nasty weather so I’m sure those with places to go and could get there they were rewarded with a pretty good hunt.
Yesterdays snow, sleet, and freezing rain has been replaced today with cold air and sun. Growing up in New England temperatures below 20 are cold but I leave the “bone chilling” description, which is getting thrown around here a lot, for when you get down in the negatives. 15 to 20 bellow my bones might be getting a bit cool.
Today with the conditions the way they are would be a perfect day to turn some beagles lose on some rabbits but this is North Carolina and hunting on Sunday is not allowed even those Sundays that most churches have decided to close their doors. The roads are now like many of the roads in places like Northern Maine packed snow and ice but minus the big snow banks to keep ya out of the ditch. There is not much in the line of snow removal equipment in this neck of the woods so we’ll have to wait for Mother Nature to clear the roads which could take some time given the “bone chilling” temperatures we have to endure.
We ventured out last evening to the Carolina Hurricanes game and it was fun to drive on roads that reminded me of my youth. Less than 7,000 of us showed up (over 14,000 tickets had been sold) to watch our last place Hurricanes knock off first place Black Hawks. A great game and good evening of fun. I was glad that we stopped and got something to eat before we got to the arena because it seems that most of their employees stayed home. The only concession stands that were open was on the first level and only about half of them at that.
The thermometer says it is about 18’ right now a warm cup of coffee and the gas logs going... Mother Nature can take her time on clearing the roads. I like this “bone chilling” “snowed in” type of weather while I sit and dream of the sound of beagles on a hot rabbit. I got to wonder if we can't get Hunting on Sunday if the church is closed?

Raleigh TV Station WRAL does a series where they pick out a leader a week and let viewers submit questions for that leader. Then that leader answers 10 questions and they post them on the website. The most recent one was North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Chairman Steve Windham. Chairman Windham took a variety of questions with the most common theme being access for hunting and fishing in the state. It’s no secret that development continues to sprawl across the state access is lost for many outdoor activities.

As a result of continued acquisitions and cooperative agreements with other state, federal, corporate and private landowners, the game land acreage in our state has increased to more than 2 million acres.
The Wildlife Resources Commission currently owns approximately one-half million acres in fee title, and more than half of that has been acquired since 1990, largely as a result of the funding opportunities provided by the creation of the North Carolina Natural Heritage and Clean Water Management Trust Funds, along with the support of numerous conservation partners that have worked with us to identify and protect these valuable properties in conservation ownership.
Within the last couple of years, we have just completed one of the largest land acquisition projects in the agency’s history. In a deal brokered by The Nature Conservancy, we have added 66,000 acres of former International Paper Company lands to our game lands program in the Upper Tar, Roanoke and Chowan River Basins. Incidentally, this acquisition will be featured in the October 2009 issue of our Wildlife in North Carolina magazine.

Other themes he touched on were dealing with wildlife that has become problematic and destructive and of course the hunting ban on Sunday’s that continues to be a hot button issue. Overall a pretty good selection of issues to cover in this small format forum that WRAL “Ask Anything”.
While it would appear that many of the folks that they interview for this section seem hard to get up with and talk to for the average person I honestly don’t believe this is the case with Chairman Windham or any of the other wildlife commissioners. My interactions with them whether in person or through email has always been good even when we talked about issues we didn’t agree on. So I guess what I’m saying is if you have a question that wasn’t covered in the 10 Chairman Windham answered contact him or one of the commissioners and get it addressed.

The NCWRC has released the new regulations book for the coming year on line version is available and hard copies should be showing up at the license agents soon. This had looked to be a monumental year in the hunting arena with what seemed like the approval of the use of crossbows, archery hunting on Sunday, as well as the addition of a second week of muzzle loader but all of that got delayed on some technicalities.
In an earlier post I wrongly agreed with a fellow outdoor writer Mike Zlotnick of the N&O when he placed the blame for these changes not taking place squarely on the shoulders of the NC Bow Hunters Association. While that is partially true because they spearheaded a letter writing campaign that blocked some of these proposals and educated other special interest groups on how to the same the NCWRC shares a lot of the blame as well. Clerical errors, ineptness, sloppiness or a combination of all of them on the NCWRC part lead to them not having a method of getting many if not all these rules in as temporary to block the shenanigans of a few special interest groups.
The big question is will NCWRC get their act together or will this be an annual occurrence making it a two year process to get any meaningful changes to game laws in North Carolina?

Mike Zlotnicki over at the News & Observer has got it right. The 10-letter rule that sidetracked most of the new hunting proposals has got to go.

They’re not going to happen this fall, because of an obscure rule that allows a state regulation passed by a rule-making body to be delayed if the Rules Review Commission receives 10 letters of protest on a given rule.
This, after nine public hearings across the state, more than 40,000 comments in person, mailed and sent via the Internet. The proposals were then sent to the state Rules Review Commission (as are all state agency regulation changes) for review and were passed by the commission. However, because of the 10-letter rule, they now will be forwarded to the legislature for consideration in the fall. There, a proposal can die with the passing of a bill.

I whole heartily agree with ya Mike. It be one thing if these folks didn’t have the opportunity to speak up but they did and some I’m sure at multiple hearings. I’m mostly disappointed in the NC Bow Hunters Association while I support their right to stand up for their members this fight is very slimy. As an organization they do not allow any difference of opinion on the topic of crossbows. Members are forced out if they in any way support or condone the use of a crossbow. I know a number of members who do not support the total anti crossbow view but have to remain silent. I suspect that among the rank and file there is not as heavy support as the front the organization presents. Heck it wasn’t all that long ago that the purists within bow hunting organizations opposed the now widely accepted compound bow. I believe that many of those purists still hold that view but now turn it on to the crossbow.
Bottom line we all lose next season because of this stunt.

The 10-letter rule is counterproductive. The proposals had been hashed out and discussed by the public and by the commissioners.

A bill to remove the ban on hunting on Sunday’s in the state of North Carolina has been sidelined once again. This has been a controversial topic even among the hunting ranks but it still appears the opposition from many church goers seems to be the major obstacle. Unless the bill is resurrected by Thursday it will be 2011 before it has a chance to be considered again.

Republican Sen. Fletcher Hartsell of Cabarrus County said the measure is unlikely to come back before a Thursday deadline, which means it is unlikely to be heard again until 2011.

WRAL
A plan to allow bow hunting on Sunday, which would not necessarily require a change in current laws just a rule change, has also been sidetracked after passing the public hearings and being passed by the NCWRC. The rules committee received enough letters of opposition (10 or more) to delay and possible have it reviewed by the same state law makers that failed to bring this other bill out of committee. So hang on it looks like this will be a bumpy ride for the next little bit.

Many feel that the North Carolina Bow hunters Association (NCBA) has launched what amounts to a thermal nuclear war in the development of hunting rules and regulations for the state of North Carolina. Traditionally the changes to hunting regulations are proposed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) and then taken to public hearings for debate and comments. Based on those hearings the Commissioners then vote on the proposals those that pass become effective the following July when the new regulation book is released. A simple and orderly process that for the most part has worked and most interested hunters understood and had accepted.
This year there was some controversial proposals that the NCBA opposed, removing the requirement that an individual has to be disabled in order to hunt with a crossbow and add a second week to muzzle loading. (Bow hunting would be allowed) At the public hearings there was overwhelming support for these two proposals despite efforts by the NCBA to organize opposition. There was also a number of other proposals including allowing bow hunting on Sundays that NCBA did not oppose that have traditionally been difficult to get past public hearings.
The Commissioners took these public meetings as well as the electronic comments into consideration when they voted on the proposals and traditionally that would be it those that passed would be the new rules. Except for this year the NCBA found a loophole in the final process that all new rules have to go before a State Review Commission that makes sure that the state agency making these rules has the authority to make these rules and that the new rules do not violate a current law. A new rule could be temporarily blocked if the State Review Commission received 10 letters of opposition to the new rule. That would then force the new rule to be put on hold giving the state legislators the opportunity to review it at their next session or to do nothing and then it would automatically pass. While this option has been around for a longtime it seems to be one that was not well known and rarely if ever used especially on Game Laws.
NCBA launched a letter writing campaign to block the expansion of muzzle loading from a one week to a two week season as well as blocking crossbows. Other groups followed the lead and Sunday Hunting along with a number of other proposals has been delayed as well.
Now in order for the NCBA to succeed in completely blocking these changes they now have the monumental task of getting a bills written passed and signed into law during the next legislative session that make it illegal for the NCWRC to allow the use of cross bows by non handicap hunters as well as a law that will not allow NCWRC to alter season dates. That is a mighty tall order to fill and I can about guarantee that it cannot be done.
There is no doubt that the NCBA had the right to take these actions but I would suggest that they did not think this whole thing through before they did it. They could not even come close to making a good argument or garner support at the public hearings where the majority of people there are fellow sportsmen. How will they get the support of those not interested in hunting? Many of these sportsmen now feel like the NCBA has pulled a fast one and they are now opposed to just about anything the NCBA stands for.

( For full disclosure I am currently a member of the NCBA)

Press Release from NCWRC

No doubt there was a number of controversial proposals made this year and debated at the public hearings for changes to the hunting regulations but after all the dust settled it seemed a number of them had passed. Legalizing the use of crossbows and the adding of an additional week to the muzzleloader season is what drew the ire of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association and even being organized they could not overcome the support for these proposals by the rank and file hunters across the state. The Wildlife Commissioners adopted these changes based on the public hearings and the public comments so it seemed like too many who had fought for these changes over the years that next year they would happen.
However what has normally been a mere formality in the past today will become a major roadblock and delay the implementation of these rules and possible a number of others. Once the Wildlife Commission approves the rules they are sent to a Rules Review Committee that reviews them and makes sure they fall within the scope of the agency and do not violate the State Constitution if they pass they can be enacted if they don’t they are rejected and sent back to the Commissioners. There is also another scenario that can take place that up until this point has never happened with Wildlife Commission Rules and that is if the committee receives Ten or more letters of opposition to a particular rule or rules then that rule is not enacted and sent to the state legislators for a review. That review will not take place until the next open session of the legislators which is not scheduled until June. There would not enough time to allow the enacting of these rules by the July 1st deadline for the printing of the regulation digest for the 09-10 season.
In addition to the letter writing campaign organized by the North Carolina Bowhunters Association it is believed that a religious group is using the same tactic to block the change to allow hunting on Sunday’s with archery equipment. While I doubt this tactic will prevent these rules from eventually taking place it could delay them for a year and may open a new era of wildlife management where it could take an additional year to pass any changes. I’m sure any group opposed to hunting, trapping or fishing can get ten letters of opposition to any proposed rule changes in the future. Today in Raleigh when the Rules Committee meets we may witness the opening of Pandora’s Box.

As time goes on fewer and fewer states keep or enforce laws that were put in place to maintain “the Sabbath”. Many of us remember the days when stores were closed on Sundays and hardly anyone had to work those are by gone days for sure. North Carolina seems to be moving towards eliminating the last of the Blue Laws

Alcoholic Beverage Control stores have been closed on Sundays since the 1930s. The Sunday firearm hunting ban on state-regulated land has been in place since 1869.

N&O
Two separate bills have been introduced one to end the ban on hunting with a firearm in North Carolina and another to allow the sales of alcohol on Sundays. It would appear the bill that will generate money for the state because they are after all in the business of selling booze has some legs. The Sunday Hunting Bill does not have the same level of support so it is unclear whether it will pass this time. I’m sure it is only a matter of time before the Sunday Hunting ban is lifted. Maybe some churches with a lot of parishioners who hunt could move the morning service a bit closer to noon and include a meal to encourage them to come out of the woods. Who knows that may even help add more folks to the church.

NCWRC has released a document containing all the public comments on the hunting, fishing and trapping proposals that the commison will take up at their March 4th meeting. A number of these propsals if passed will have significant impact on how we enjoy the great outdoors here in North Carolina.

After reviewing the more-than 40,000 comments, the 19-member governing board will meet on March 4 and vote on adoption. Some of the proposals apply only to one county or region, while others apply statewide. Approved proposals will take effect July 1, 2009.

Comments were gathered at nine public hearings held across the state in January, as well as online and mailed comments accepted through Jan. 31.

“The agency had a tremendous response to the proposals this year and I would like to thank all members of the public who took the time and effort to be a part of the process,” said Gordon Myers, executive director of N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “That input is critical in helping the Commission make decisions that best conserve our wildlife resources. Wildlife Commissioners will include all public comments in their deliberations before making final regulations decisions at the March meeting.”

North Carolina General Statutes charge the Commission with stewardship of all state wildlife resources. Through hunting, fishing, and trapping regulations, the Commission works to conserve and sustain these resources and to provide more opportunities for hunting and fishing, promote hunter recruitment and retention and enhance sportsmen’s experience in the field.

We will continue to follow this story as it develops.n