Thursday, October 13, 2005
Big buck has hunters talking
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
This was supposed to be the year when crossbows stole the thunder of the early bow/crossbow season. But that hasn’t been the case.
The talk of the new deer hunting season is a massive, 17-point buck killed in Pulaski County by Brian Lytton of Pulaski on opening day of the bow/crossbow season. He was using a compound bow.
“Brian has taken several wall-hangers, but this is by far his best buck,” said his hunting partner Dale Wade. Wade killed a 4-pointer the same day with a recurved bow.
“We both broke our opening day jinks,” said Wade.
“It was the most memorial hunt for Lytton since the one when he killed a bear and a doe the same day at age 13.
Another buck killed with a compound bow that is getting the spotlight this season is a dandy 8-pointer taken on national forest land in Botetourt County by Donald Arrington of Hardy.
WHAT TO DO WITH CROSSBOW TROPHIES?
The sponsors of Virginia’s Big Game Trophy Show will have to decide how to handle trophy deer killed with crossbows this season. The state’s new crossbow hunting license allows the general use of crossbows during the bowhunting season.
Should trophy deer killed with crossbows be entered in the bowhunting category of the big game show or should there be a new category for crossbows? That is a question contest officials are expected to address this month.
The 66-year-old contest, oldest of its kind in the nation, has three major sponsors, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America and the Virginia Peninsula Sportsmen’s Association (VPSA).
Kenneth Pickin, president of VPSA, said he anticipated a lengthy meeting with consider debate over how to handle the crossbow kills. Something similar occurred several years ago when muzzleloading hunting came onto the scene and there was discussion over whether to include black-powder kills in the same class with modern guns. Deer taken with black-powder got their own category.
Some sportsmen believe crossbows are an intrusion on traditional bowhunting and the two should not be judged in the same category. One strong opponent of crossbows is the Pope and Young Club, the national keeper of bowhunting records. The club recently deemed crossbows an “imminent and critical threat to the future of bowhunting as we know it.”
The Archery Trade Association supports crossbows as a way to increase hunter participation and curb swelling deer populations.
If crossbows get their own category in the contest, the result will be increased paperwork and a longer awards ceremony. The contest already has a dozen classes for modern firearm, muzzleloading and bow-killed deer, plus a bear and turkey category. It can take more than an hour just to hand out awards.
Yet a good argument can be made that crossbows should not compete with traditional bows in the contest. Some bowhunters would like to see compound bows separated from recurved bows. They will tell you there is more difference between a recurved bow and compound than there between a compound and a crossbow.
SNAKEHEADS SWARM IN THE POTOMAC
Northern snakehead fish have been a newsmaker in the Potomac River. First one, then two of the undesirable fish showed up, then a dozen. Even with the low numbers, wildlife officials were concerned over the potential of this China/Korea species harming native fish, especially smallmouth bass.
Those concerns appeared to be well founded Sunday when large numbers of snakeheads showed up in Dogue Creek, a tributary of the Potomac near Mount Vernon. The Washington Post, which has on hand, reported that hundreds of snakeheads were slithering among minnows in the creek, rising up through a dam “like salmon leaping for freedom.”
“They were there by the thousands,” the newspaper quoted Mark Hammond. “We would throw one in the cooler, two others would jump out and we’d have to chase them through the woods.”
The newspaper estimated that at least 80 were caught Sunday and Monday. Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist John Odenkirk called the large number “incredible.”
The snakehead is described as a top-line predator that will compete with bass for food and space. It has one major advantage. It can cross dry land.
STATE RECORD SHEEPSHEAD
Interest in fishing for sheepsheads has mushroomed in Virginia this season, as more and more anglers learn how to catch this species. But Friday, Arun Nhek of Newport News wanted nothing more than just to catch something to take home to eat.
Nhek was dangling a clam bait from the Seagull Fishing Pier at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel when a sheepshead struck. And what a sheepshead!
“It was quite a fish,” said Claude Bain, tournament director of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament.
In fact, it was a state record, weighing 20 pounds, 12 ounces and measuring 30.5 inches. The previous record was a 19-pound, 3-ounce catch taken July 25, 2004 by Jeff Hutton of Virginia Beach. He was fishing the Second Island of the bridge-tunnel.
Nhek was working the rocks of the First Island when he hooked his record catch.
“After staying away from the rocks initially, the fish made a couple of strong runs towards them,” said Bain. “Nhek ran down the pier away from the rocks to get a better angle and leverage to keep the fish away from the rocks. Even so, the line (12-pound test) was badly frayed during the fight.”
After a battle that lasted 10 to 15 minutes a net was lowered to the water and the fish was safely hoisted onto the pier.
Anglers have learned to target sheepsheads around the rock islands of the bridge-tunnel under a variety of tide conditions, Bain said.
“The fishery has been growing each year,” he said. “It took a quantum leap this year for people learning how to catch them.”
DGIF AWASH WITH COMMENTS
When Department of Game and Inland Fisheries officials meet in Richmond Oct. 27 to give final consideration to a number of hunting, fishing, trapping, nongame and boating proposals, they will be awash with the opinions of sportsmen.
The public comment period, which ended Oct. 10, attracted comments from more than 300 people via the agency’s website and email. About one-third that number appeared at public meetings across the state. A handful of sportsmen have written letters.
Many of the proposals have sportsmen sharply divided. Getting heavy attention are proposals concerning a restriction on feeding deer; the use of smokeless powder in muzzleloading guns; the extension of the grouse season; the expansion of the bear chase season and changes to striped bass limits in Smith Mountain Lake and smallmouth bass limits in the James River.
Sportsmen still can make comments to individual DGIF board members and will get one final say during the Oct. 27 board meeting, which will be held at the agency headquarters, 4,000 West Broad Street, Richmond.
MORE DATA ON MOUNTAIN LIONS
Are there mountain lions roaming the Eastern United States, including Virginia? That remains a hotly debated topic. You either are a believer or you aren’t.
A new volume titled “The Eastern Cougar” is an interesting read no matter which side of the controversy you happen to come down on. It contains historical accounts, scientific investigations, fact and fiction, not to mention a bit of spirituality that could have been edited out.
Will the book change anyone’s views. Probably not, but it is a fairly interesting read on a fascinating subject. Be aware that it is the work of two people who apparently would very much like to see the return of the big cats, Virginia Chris Bolgiano and Jerry Roberts. The book is published by Stackpole Boosk, www.stackpolebooks.com.
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>The Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA banquet is worth attending just for the opportunity of wining one of the nearly 30 firearms that will be offered. But there is more. Friends events in Virginia have provided more than $250,000 in grants the past three years used to fund youth and shooting sports programs. The Roanoke Valley banquet is set for 5:30 p.m., Oct. 15 at the Salem Civic Center. The chairman is Chris Kessler, 884-3259.
>It appears that a larger number of hunters than ever are using the state’s phone check system to register the deer they kill during the bow/crossbow season. Old-fashioned check stations report very light business, but the phone system is ringing off the hook.
>Hunters out during the early, 4-day October duck season did well on wood ducks in the Game Farm Marsh area of Chickahominy Lake.
>Good numbers of small striped bass are being caught in the tidal James River and around the islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. One James River group reported catching and releasing 50 stripers to 6 pounds.
>The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has prepared a draft environmental assessment for eradicating zebra mussels from Millbrook Quarry in Prince William County. A public hearing is set for 7 p.m., Oct. 19 in the Boardroom of Fairfax Water in Fairfax. The assessment can be found on www.dgif.virginia.gov/zebramussels. The zebra mussel is viewed as a serious threat to native wildlife.
>American Rivers would like for you to see their side of the debate on the Endangered Species Act on www.AmericanRivers.org/ESA_Success_Stories_pdf.
SALTWATER TOURNAMENT
The Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament has new leaders in the sheepshead and kingfish categories. Here are the standings:
BLACK DRUM: 93 pounds, 9 ounces, Willie McWhite, Jr., Richmond, lower eastern Chesapeake Bay.
COBIA: 96 pounds, Michael Goodove, Virginia Beach, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
CROAKER: 4-pounds, 8 ounces, Elliott Souldourian, Virginia Beach, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
DOLPHIN: 52 pounds, Willi Fenske, Hopewell, ocean off Virginia Beach.
FLOUNDER: 17 pounds, 2 ounces, Hopie Firth, Poquoson, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 12 ounces, James Daughtrey III, Suffolk, lower eastern Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TROUT: 12 pounds, 14 ounces, William Flipin, Hayes, upper eastern Chesapeake Bay.
KING MACKEREL, 47 pounds, Frank Riganto, Virginia Beach off Virginia Beach.
KINGFISH: 2 pounds, Joseph Phelan, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
POMPANO: 3 pounds, 2 ounces, Mark Ottarson, North, Mobjack Bay.
SEA BASS: 6 pounds, 14 ounces, Chad Stoker, Chesapeake, off Virginia Beach.
SHEEPSHEAD: 20 pounds, 12 ounces, Arun Nhek, Newport News, pier of Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
SPADEFISH: 12 pounds, 8 ounces, Jerry Carnell, Jr. Oxford, N.C. upper eastern Chesapeake Bay.
SPANISH MACKEREL: 9 pounds, 2 ounces, Bob Tolhurst, King George, upper western Chesapeake Bay.
SPECKLED TROUT: 11 pounds, 3 ounces, Brain Pomije, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 4 ounces, Robert Richardson, Richmond, Elizabeth River.
STRIPED BASS: 63 pounds, 8 ounces, state record, Paul Leckner, Greenbackville, Bradford Bay.
TAUTOG: 18 pounds, 4 ounces, Larry Larue, Virginia Beach, ocean off Virginia Beach.
TUNA (BLUEFIN) 158 pounds, Eric Holum, Silver Springs, Md., ocean off Eastern Shore.
TUNA: 90 pounds, 8 ounces, John Mackey, Virginia Beach, ocean off Virginia Beach.
WAHOO: 83 pounds, 3 ounces, John Hamilton, Norfolk, ocean off Eastern Shore.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA banquet, Oct. 15, Salem Civic Center, $30 single, $50 couple, 27 firearms and other items to give away, proceeds go to grants and programs for youth and sports shooting programs, information from Chris Kessler, 884-3259.
Meeting of the tournament committee of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament to discuss trends and potential rule changes, Oct. 17, 6:45 p.m., Oceans East Tackle Shop, Virginia Beach. Public comments will be received.
Conference on the smallmouth bass die-off in the Shenandoah River, James Madison University, 9 a.m. Oct. 24, hosted by the Shenandoah Valley Pure Water Forum, information and registration from www.purewaterforum.org/.
Final action on proposed hunting, fishing, trapping, boating and non-game proposals by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Oct. 27, 9 a.m. DGIF headquarters, 4000 West Broad Street, Richmond.
H.C. Edwards Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society banquet, Oct. 28, Augusta Expoland, Fisherville, $55 individuals, $75 individual and guest, information from Matt Smith, 540-432-7732 (W) or 540-459-3559 (H).
Fall turkey hunting season, Oct. 31-Nov. 12; Nov. 24 and Dec. 12-Jan. 7.
Primitive Skills Weekend at Holiday Lake (near Appomattox), Nov. 4-6, for youth and adults, $85 includes meals and lodging, information from Mike Hayslett, 434-248-5444 or www.ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/holiday/.
Muzzleloading season east of Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 5-18.
Wilderness First Aid class, Nov. 5 and 6, Blacksburg, 18-hour, two-day study, cost is $160, registration and information from http://wfa.net.
Muzzleloading season west of Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 12-18
Woodcock season Nov. 12-26 and Dec. 17-31, three per day limit.
Deer hunting season west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 19-Dec. 3
Deer hunting season east of Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 19-Jan. 7
Board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Nov. 29, 9 a.m., DGIF headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street, Richmond.
Board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Dec. 16, 9 a.m., DGIF headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street, Richmond.
Late muzzleloading season, Dec. 17-Jan. 7.
Got an event? Let us know: xtails@earthlink.net.
