Editor, Gazette-Journal: Several weeks ago, I wrote about the growing conflict between hound hunters and private property owners in Virginia. Hound hunting trespass complaints have steadily increased year-over-year for the past 10 years. We are the only state that allows hunters to enter posted private property over the objection of landowners. We are also the only state that does not regulate hound hunting to prevent abuses. Forty-two states have banned hound hunting. The remaining eight states, except Virginia, have passed reasonable laws or permit systems to protect hunting traditions and deter criminal behavior. There is more. VA Code § 18.2-132.1, trespass by hunters using dogs, commonly referred to as “intentional release,” is so poorly written that preventing repeated trespass is unenforceable. When hound hunters release dogs to hunt on acreage clearly too small for hound hunting, there is no remedy in the criminal code. In 2025, after receiving 1,105 complaints related to hound...