News
Mason County Hunters Await Sunday Hunting Decision
By: Kaitlyn Roman
Posted on:
Voters in Mason County, West Virginia will decide the fate of Sunday Hunting on private lands.
If it passes, hunters like RF Stein of Mason county could spend their entire weekend in the woods.
"Most of us are working folk. We work Monday through Friday. So Saturday's the only day we have to hunt. I talked to a gentleman the other day, he said I wanted to take my grandson squirrel hunting. It rained on Saturday, I didn't want to take my six year old grandson out in the rain on Saturday, and I couldn't hunt on Sunday, and I had to go back to work Monday" said Stein.
Steve Whittington, an avid hunter of Mason County, has been hunting since age 6.
"It's a lifestyle for West Virginia. I can't believe it's not a West Virginia law."
However, not everyone in the county believes hunting should be allowed on Sundays.
Some believe it is a day of rest, for both people and animals. Others say church attendance will go down.
Stein, who has been involved in the movement, says back in 2001, the State Legislature made Sunday Hunting legal throughout West Virginia. It was then left up to voters in each county to decide to ban it- which Mason county residents did in 2002.
Hunting may be a lifestyle, but as supporter Cory Boothe points out, it is also a freedom of choice.
"If Sunday hunting gets implemented, and you're not in favor of it, the good news is no one is forcing you to hunt on Sunday" said Boothe.
West Virginia is one of only a few states that restrict hunting on Sundays. 45 out of 50 states allow it. Roane County is the only other county with this on the ballot.
Right now, it is only allowed in 19 of the state's 55 counties.