By Cory Boothe
Coryboothe@hotmail.com
Sunday hunting is legal in forty-three states. Sunday hunting is legal in fourteen counties in West Virginia. Sunday hunting has been allowed for over a decade in neighboring Clay County. Sunday hunting was allowed state-wide in 2001.
Many people have a doom and gloom attitude towards Sunday hunting for various reasons. Some opponents say it is unsafe. According to the Center for Disease Control, you are much more likely to be hurt or killed hiking, horseback riding, or even playing golf than while hunting.
Some say we should respect the sabbath. I agree that we should, and I personally question how hunting on Sunday is any more disrespectful than going to eat after church, mowing lawns, or any shopping activity on Sunday. What an individual decides to do after church is up to them.
Many farmers cite a day of rest from hunting. Many farmers do not allow hunting on their land so they currently get seven days a week off from hunting. It is also of note that a farmer has never been shot by a hunter in West Virginia.
Also, even with Sunday hunting, it is perfectly acceptable for a farmer or landowner to not allow hunting on their land that day.
Hunting is one of Calhoun's greatest sources of out of county revenue. Everyone understands that very few come to shop in Calhoun County. However, during hunting season, it is a homecoming each weekend.
It could be easily argued that opening week of gun season is the busiest week of the year for establishments such as Foodland and our mom and pop convenience stores. Unfortunately, we are not capitalizing on hunting revenues because we limit them to one day a weekend. If hunters had two days a weekend to hunt, more would commit to the weekend away in beautiful Calhoun County.
Sunday hunting only adds one day to gun season for deer and zero days for doe hunting with a gun. The majority of days added will be for small game, archery, and spring turkey season.
As soon as you cross the Ohio River, you can hunt on Sunday all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Sunday hunting is for private land only. A landowner has the right to decide what he or she does on their land as long as it doesn't affect others.
However, nobody should be deciding for others what they do on their land. My land is my choice. Your land is your choice.
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