I am writing to oppose proposal #7 4VAC15-40-320.  This proposal should be killed.  The proposal that would make a dog trespass a criminal offense and especially to only a subset of dog owners is wrong.  The Board is not an elected group, and has ignored what the majority of the public, our legislative body and the two studies that the board had done.  FOI requests have proven that the numbers supporting this regulation are not there.  This is a case of the board being bullied into making a law to appease a few loud individuals and ignoring the rest of the hunting public.  The department is funded by hunters and should represent them.  Please reject this proposal.  It is unfair to certain hunters, difficult to enforce and is at its root Anti-hunting.  How can the board unilaterally enact a law making criminals out of its' constituents after the legislature and both hound studies fail to support it?  I feel the board is bowing to political pressure.  Hunter numbers are on the decline and this will drive them in the dirt. 

I also oppose proposal #6 4VAC15-40-310.  Although GPS is very useful, I am concerned it will be used as a tool against hunters if proposal #7 is passed.  Every deer and bear hunter I know already uses GPS.  It has decreased conflicts and kept houndsmen off the road tremendously.  I wouldn't hunt without it, but forcing its use is wrong.  The system is costly and many young hunters may not be able to afford it.  Requiring it seems somewhat discriminatory.  It should be illegal for an officer to use your own GPS data against you, because context is everything.  It won't show the efforts I make to keep a god on good ground, only that a dog crossed and came back.  I believe that our own technology would be used against us.