Deer season offers early opportunities for Virginia hunters this year
The countdown to Virginia's 2013 deer hunting season is about to get rolling in earnest. The general archery season opens Oct. 5, but many of us will get started earlier, thanks to a couple of special offerings. First comes the urban archery season, a population control tool that the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries started offering several years ago. Urban archery season, during which only antlerless deer are fair
BILL COCHRAN: Former delegate believes quail restoration effort needs boost from Virginia General Assembly
When Bill Wilson of Covington served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1974 to 1989, he headed a General Assembly joint subcommittee to study the alarming decline of quail in the state's rural landscape. Wilson believes the time has come to repeat the effort and is working with Sen. Emmett Hanger, Jr., R-Mount Solon, and Del. Lacy Putney, I-Bedford, toward 2014 legislation that would create a new study. He
MAILBAG: Disease tough on deer in Grayson County
BILL: Good column on EHD. Grayson County's deer kill last year fell by 600 animals. Our Conservation Police Officer reported 30 carcasses found in September on one farm. The total reported to him was over 200 dead deer, mostly in the central part of the county. Western North Carolina had a bad outbreak, just across the river, where the deer population has been artificially supported by feeding/baiting. Reproductive success is
FIELD REPORTS: Few people bother to turn out to discuss turkey plan
Only 42 people turned out for the six public meetings held across the state to discuss a draft of Virginia's Wild Turkey Management Plan. Some meetings attracted more technicians from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and Virginia Tech than they did sportsmen. The 60-plus page plan, more than a year in the making, is designed to serve as a road map for managing wild turkeys over the next
BILL COCHRAN: Tiny insects can be big problem for deer
There are a couple places in Virginia where the deer kill last season was down 30 percent, enough to impact the success of hunters. Virginia Department of Game and Fisheries' officials say much of the decline can be blamed on Epizootic Hemorrhage Disease, succinctly known as EHD or just HD. HD occurs late summer and early fall and is carried by biting insects commonly known as midges, sand gnats/flies and
Fishing report for Aug. 1, 2013
Ben Moles has been itching to fish in a bass tournament with his dad, Brady. Tuesday evening, the 8-year-old from Pulaski got his chance in the Rock House Marina night tournament at Claytor Lake. Ben's debut was a good one. Casting a Jitterbug topwater plug, Ben hooked a 5.59-pound largemouth bass about 9 p.m. The lure had been headed toward a tangle in a fallen tree when the bass struck,
FIELD REPORTS: Virginia angler Jeff Lugar 'comes out of nowhere' to win B.A.S.S. event
It looked like Virginia was about to be embarrassed, going into the final day of the B.A.S.S. Nation Mid-Atlantic Division tournament on Lake Erie this past week. Leading Virginia's pack of 14 entries was Bryant Copley of Altavista, who was in 19th spot. Jeff Lugar of McGaheysville was 21st. Fat chance for an Old Dominion angler to come out on top. Then, "out of nowhere," as B.A.S.S. described it, came
They’re back!
If looks could kill, an insect buzzing around these parts this summer would be a serious assassin. It’s a wasp, and a big one, with a fat body about an inch-and-a-half long. But while the critter can appear quite menacing — especially territorial males — its threat to humans is minimal. Its threat to another insect is quite serious, however. The insect is the cicada killer, and its name is
Fishing report for July 25, 2013
Trips to the coast have been paying off for Roanoke-area anglers. As I wrote in my Tuesday column, Fincastle 15-year-old Annalee Rader headed a team that pulled a 100-pound-plus tarpon from the South Carolina surf on July 18. The previous weekend, Kara Solomon of New Castle hit it big while fishing in the Hatteras Grand Slam fishing tournament. Solomon was fishing with her husband, Doug Solomon, aboard the Outlaw. In
BILL COCHRAN: Friends of the NRA event combines food, fun, fellowship and fundraising
Concern over efforts to establish more stringent gun laws has resulted in record gun sales and a demand for ammunition that outpaces the supply. It also has pumped unprecedented amounts of money into state wildlife agencies through an excise tax on guns, ammo and other hunting and shooting equipment. But there's more. It has helped boost turn-away crowds at Friends of the NRA banquets in many parts of the country.
MAILBAG: Turkey plan should include more habitat improvement
BILL: I have been reading the wild turkey management plan and have found it very interesting. I will have to say that I have learned some things about the wild turkey that I didn't know, so after 72 years I am still learning. From what I have read so far, I would have to say they did a pretty good job, although I had hoped that they would have addressed
FIELD REPORTS: Bass Pro Shops to expand by 21 stores
More than 30-years ago, I wrote about a young man who was fishing the B.A.S.S. tournaments that Ray Scott brought to Virginia in the 60s and 70s. He was a likable fellow, full of life, and a good-natured target of the jokes and pranks of older tournament fishermen, people like Tom Mann. He did reasonably well in a tournament or two, but I didn't see him as having much of
Fincastle's Raders use teamwork to snare giant tarpon
Patrick Graham had been fishing for a total 25 hours during his vacation to Hilton Head, faithfully standing in the surf, catching stingrays and hoping something more interesting would gobble his bait. When here came surf caster Annalee Rader, taking a spot on the beach near the rising college freshman from Lake Norman, N.C. Annalee put a piece of cut mullet on her hook, cast into the surf and stood
Take care when hiking in the heat
For hiker Trevor Cook, dealing with heat is old hat. A resident of Corpus Christie, Texas, Cook is used to summer temperatures that make the heat wave that hit Western Virginia this past week look like child's play. That experience is paying off as Cook makes his way north on the Appalachian Trail toward Maine, covering 20 to 25 miles a day on the trail. Cook, who was passing through
Roanoke working to restore its NWTF chapter
Right about the time Jim Basham was getting involved in the National Wild Turkey Federation, the group's Roanoke chapter was entering a dormant stage. Basham, an avid turkey hunter from Roanoke, eventually let his membership lapse, too. But then he recently rejoined, and has since started working to restore the Roanoke chapter, once one of the state's largest and most successful at fund-raising. Inspiration came from the city's neighbors. "You
Tenkara revolution revives old-style cane pole fishing
Fishermen love the next big thing. That’s likely because fishing really hasn’t changed that much over time. It used to be you put food or something a fish thought was food on a hook and tied it to a line. When a fish bit, you pulled the fish in. Because that’s really what fishing still is, even relatively small developments can be the next big thing. In fly fishing, one
Fishing report for July 18, 2013
I was standing in a hardware store Tuesday evening when the skies opened up, huge raindrops pelting the parking lot and the metal roof. “Well,” the guy standing next me in line said, “we do need the rain.” At this point it’s tough to do much more than joke about the wet weather. And, while those affected by flooding would likely beg to differ, it’s probably better over the long
Alleghany Fondo a beautiful, tough bike ride
It’s one thing for someone to talk a big game. It’s another to play it. Saturday morning, the folks of Alleghany County held up their end. They turned out in force and with smiles to support the Alleghany Gran Fondo, a timed bike tour that took riders on a jaunt over some of the county’s most beautiful — and challenging — roads. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about
BILL COCHRAN: Towing packages are a safety net for boaters
Kevin Crum frequently crosses the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel from his home in Virginia Beach to launch his johnboat on the seaside of the Eastern Shore. From there, he traverses a shallow stretch of water to reach a remote barrier island where he successfully catches jumbo-size red drum in the surf. I have taken the trip with him, so I know it is not the kind of venture that an
FIELD REPORTS: Outdoor show puts on the dog for its 30th anniversary
Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show is the biggest event of its kind in the state-and getting bigger. Housed at the Richmond Raceway Complex (600 E. Laburnum Ave.), the 2013 edition will feature more than 400 wall-to-wall exhibits and a bunch of outdoor celebrities who will mingle with the crowd and put on seminars. The Aug. 9-11 show is sponsored by the Virginia Deer Hunters Association and
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
4. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
6. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
7. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
8. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
9. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area
THE ROANOKE TIMES
