by Jackie Nunnery
HEATHSVILLE—The Northumberland board of supervisors on Thursday, November 14, considered a proposed revision to the hunting ordinance that would permit deer hunting with a rifle of a caliber larger than a 0.23 from an elevated platform at least eight feet above ground level. It would also require written permission from the land owner.
The board tabled the proposal until December 12 in order to review the ordinances of other counties.
Senior Conservation Officer Tyler Bumgarner said the Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) “supports all legal forms of hunting and you have to decide what’s best for the citizens of Northumberland.” He said there were 10 hunting incidents statewide in 2023-24 hunting season, one involving a rifle, seven with a shotgun, one with a muzzle loader and one with an unknown weapon. Incidents were described by Bumgarner as something that involves a fatality, injury or property damage during hunting.
In DWR’s Region 11, which encompasses King George and the Northern Neck counties, King George and Richmond counties allow rifle hunting….
