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Save This Page• Who: Charles City County Board of Supervisors
• What: proposals to restrict the use of rifles by deer hunters
• When: 7:45 p.m.
• Where: auditorium in the Government and School Board Administration Building at 10900 Courthouse Road in Charles City.
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The question of whether deer hunters should be prohibited from using high-powered rifles in Charles City County could be settled this week.
Some residents say the rifles are dangerous and that someone could get hit by a stray bullet. Others say the current practice of shooting rifles from elevated tree stands is relatively safe because hunters are shooting downward and the bullets don't go as far.
The county Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing tomorrow night and consider adopting one of three proposed amendments on the issue. County Administrator John F. Miniclier Jr. said as many as 200 residents might attend.
Rifle-related amendments have come to a vote before, but tomorrow's will be the first one since Sherri M. Bowman was elected to the three-member board in November. Part of Bowman's election platform was to rescind the use of high-powered rifles for hunting. She defeated incumbent Michael L. Holmes.
Holmes voted with board Chairman Gilbert A. Smith in 2005 to allow deer hunting with high-powered rifles. Supervisor Timothy W. Cotman Sr. voted against the measure.
Bowman said Friday that she did not wish to discuss how she will vote. "I will reveal that at Tuesday's meeting," she said.
Miniclier said he was unaware of anyone being hit by a bullet from a high-powered rifle since the 2005 vote allowing their use.
Before that vote, high-powered rifles had been prohibited for deer hunting since at least 1990.
In 2006, after some residents raised safety concerns, the board amended the code to require hunters using high-powered rifles to shoot from at least 10 feet off the ground. Holmes and Smith voted in favor. Cotman abstained.
This year, the board, including the newly elected Bowman, held a public discussion on the rifle issue. After listening to residents' concerns, county officials came up with three options for amending the code:
The deer-hunting restrictions would not prevent people from shooting animals, such as coyotes and foxes, with high-powered rifles, and they don't need a tree stand. Hunters would still be able to kill deer with muzzleloading rifles and shotguns.
Charles Schreiber, a deer hunter in Charles City, said that tree stands make the use of rifles safe.
"If you miss the deer, the bullet hits the ground," said Schreiber, a member of the National Rifle Association.
David Soto, owner of a convenience store in Charles City, opposes rifle hunting and hopes a lot like-minded people turn out for tomorrow night's public hearing. "We need to really get out there in numbers," he said.
Cotman said he still opposes hunting with high-powered rifles for safety reasons but is considering a compromise.
"My perception is high-powered rifles used on flat land basically isn't very safe," he said. "The projectile goes farther than anybody has any control over."
Smith said he will support option one and added that it is time to be done with the issue.
"We've beat it to death," he said.
Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or rwilliams@timesdispatch.com.
