Coon hunters are upset at a big change in their hunting season proposed for next year. Rodney Burris, vice president of the Cherokee Houndsmen, said the proposal completely eliminates coon hunting south of Hwy. 64, although there will be times for training the dogs. He said the days for hunting have been reduced every year, but never before this drastically -- from 34 days to none.

Burris, who attended the meeting of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission, said the only comment was that there had been too much illegal hunting. He called the move the first step toward shutting the area down for turkey and deer only. He said the change is turning the forest into an isolated preserve for certain groups of hunters, adding deer hunters have been losing Bowater land and other hunting spots.

He said deer hunters are concerned about dogs but noted that coon hunting takes place in the winter when there is no other hunting.

Burris said there are days for coon hunting on Benton and Kimsey mountains but noted the hunters have lost more than 53,000 acres with the proposed change. He said he hopes to hold a local meeting to encourage coon hunters to write letters voicing their opinions to TWRA and their state representatives and senators before the final decision is made.