In Virginia, even the animals get a day of rest. For now.

 

Hunters in the Commonwealth have been barred from hunting on Sundays since the days of John Smith and Pocahontas says Gov. Robert F. McDonnell. But the governor has promised to consider pushing legislation to lift some restrictions on Sunday hunting.

 

“I don’t know any of us remember it not being in place,” said Charlie Sledd, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries outreach director.

“Blue laws,” statutes based on tradition and religion, still restrict hunters in 11 states from loading up their firearms and heading into the woods on Sundays. Virginia’s law mandates Sunday as “a rest day for all species of wild bird and wild animal life, except raccoons, which may be hunted until 2:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings.”

 

Individuals have repeatedly asked McDonnell if the law, or at least a part of it, could be repealed.

 

“It’s hard to get out. It’s hard to find a place to hunt,” said Mark Crain, chairman of the Northern Virginia chapter of Delta Waterfowl, a group lobbying to have Sundays open for hunting.

 

So far, McDonnell has promised to at least consider Sunday hunting.

 

“I know for most people who are working five days a week, Monday to Friday, that takes 50 percent of your possible hunting time away so I know we’ve had some discussions, we’ve had some support to start hunting on private property. That ought to be a property right of the land owner,” the governor said this week.

 

The issue comes up repeatedly in the General Assembly, but so far, nothing has changed.

 

Hunters in favor of Sunday hunting recognize the restriction probably won’t be repealed completely but are arguing that it should be allowed on private property, in certain areas with over-run deer populations, or with restrictions on firearms, such as limiting Sunday to bow hunters. For the first time this fall, hunters in North Carolina will be allowed to hunt with bows on private lands on Sundays.

 

The state could also profit from repealing the ban. Because many of Virginia’s neighboring states have bans, opening Sundays to hunting would attract out-of-state hunters who would spend money in the Commonwealth.

 

For many, it simply comes down to using their land for whatever they want, seven days a week.

 

“It’s perfectly legal on my own private property six days a week, and illegal one day a week,” Crain said.

 

He also argued that the ban limits the next generation from getting involved in the sport. The average age of members of his organization is increasing because teenagers must choose between traditional sports or hunting on Saturdays.

 

But Sunday hunting does not have a consensus among hunters. Within a sport that attracts many who value tradition, change can be a tough sell. Sledd said there is a divide between northern and southern Virginia, with northern hunters in favor of Sunday hunting. The Virginia Deer Hunters Association does not endorse any legislation allowing Sunday hunting because many of their members like the “day of rest” concept.

 

“A lot of people in the Bible-belt feel that this is the worst thing we could do,” said Tex Sadler, president of the Virginia Deer Hunters Association.

 

In their poll of members and hunters from across the state, only 40 percent are in favor of Sunday hunting, while 60 percent think it should be banned. But the percentage of hunters in favor of Sunday hunting has steadily increased, said Sadler. Several years ago, just 25 percent thought hunting on Sunday was a good idea.

 

“It’s a gradual thing,” Sadler said. “Ramming it down the throats of our Virginia culture would not be a good thing for business.”

 

The Virginia Deer Hunters Association is careful to keep a positive image in the community, and believes this could damage that.

 

“There ought to be a time when a man, his wife, and child ought to be able to walk through the woods without seeing blaze orange,” Sadler said.