| The opening of Sunday hunting in Calhoun is being placed on the May 2014 primary ballot, after the Calhoun Commission received a petition for the initiative.
Calhoun Clerk Jean Simers said the clerks office received a petition of 305 verified voter signatures, a number required under state code.
Outdoors writer Cory Boothe, who supports the change, said "blue laws" created in the 1700's to promote church attendance, have blocked hunters in some West Virginia counties from being afield on Sundays.
"Thirty-nine of 50 states have no ban or restrictions on Sunday hunting," Boothe said. "These states experience thriving wildlife populations while not having any noticeable effects on church attendance. This is a landowner rights issue and for private land only."
Fourteen counties in West Virginia allow Sunday hunting.
In 2002 the Calhoun Commission voted to place Sunday hunting on the primary election ballot after receiving required petitions for the change.
Calhoun voters turned the proposal down.
The Sunday hunting issue was originally designated as county option by the West Virginia legislature, but that body said they made a mistake opening up hunting in all 55 counties because of loose wording in the bill.
| 
