Thursday, May 24, 2007
Bill Cochran's Field Reports: So you want to be an outdoor writer
Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.
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What a job! Fish, hunt, boat, camp, hike, bike and get paid for it.
Such is the life of an outdoor writer. Well, sometimes. There also is work involved, and deadlines. Sometimes it can appear that your buddies are hunting and fishing more than you are. Then, too, you need to develop some basic skills.
“We all started with just interest and desire,” said Kevin Rhoades, executive director of Outdoor Writers Association of America.
A good beginning place for would-be writers will be Hotel Roanoke, June 16-19 when the OWAA holds its 80th annual conference. On the 16th, a free, half-day workshop titled “How to Become an Outdoor Communicator,” will be offered to anyone interested in pursuing outdoor writing. It isn’t often an opportunities of this status come along.
The local instructors include Mark Taylor, outdoor editor of the Roanoke Times, and Bruce Ingram, a prolific freelance writers who lives in Botetourt County. They will be joined by a bevy of other writers from across the country.
The workshop will cover the newspaper outdoor beat, radio shows, magazine writing, photography, travel writing, outdoor books, women in the outdoors and writing careers available at state and federal agencies. There will be time for questions and answers, said Rhoades.
You can register by sending your name, address and e-mail to krhoades@owaa.org. In the subject line, please specify “How to Become an Outdoor Communicator Workshop.” You will receive confirmation.
BILL
CALL OF QUAIL PURE COUNTRY
The past few days we have had a male quail calling around our house. The calls come from first one direction, then another. I believe it is the same bird. Perhaps his movements are in frustration for not being able to locate any of his own kind. As far as I can tell, his calls are unanswered.
There is no sound more distinctly “country” than the crisp “Bob White” call of a quail late spring and early summer. It penetrates deeply into the soul.
We have plenty of cover for quail on our place, but for years there have been few birds to take advantage of it. It is much the same elsewhere. Quail populations naturally ebb and swell year to year, but for too long there has been a steady decline. We hear them less and less in the spring and summer.
By fall, they are all gone. Vanished. It has been a long time since I have thrilled to the distinct sound of a covey flush on our place -- or most any other place.
We can gloat over the great job of bringing the deer, turkey and bear populations back, but we have failed with quail. And that is sad. It can appear to be irreversible as time goes by.
BILL
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
> Some 15 ESPN camera crews and 60 production and event staff personnel are scheduled to be part of the June 7-10 ESPN/BASS Blue Ridge Brawl at Smith Mountain Lake. The field of 106 Elite BASS anglers include three Virginian’s: John Crews of Salem; Rick Morris of Virginia Beach and Kurt Dove of Warrenton.
>The National Wildlife Federation is encouraging parents and kids to turn off their TV remotes, ipods, Playstations, computers, MP3 players and other high tech gadgets and try star-gazing, cooking over an open fire, listening to nocturnal wildlife sounds and telling stories during a campout in their backyard. It’s all part of the Great American Backyard Campout June 23. Last year the event attracted more than 60,000 participants.
>Only about 39 percent of anglers and 47 percent of hunters correctly know where the money from their fishing and hunting licenses go, according to a survey by Southwick Associates.
>The Web sites that gets the most hits in the retail sports and fitness category is Cabela’s. In 2006 it received more than 10 million U.S. visits.
BILL
VIRGINIA SALTWATER TOURNAMENT
The standings of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament:
BLACK DRUM: 82 pounds, caught by Ray Willett, Parksley, at Hog Island Bay.
BLUEFISH: 16 pounds, Peter Carey of Fredericksburg in the lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.
BLUELINE TILEFISH: 20-pound, 7-ounce, Robert Holtz, Virginia Beach, ocean off Virginia Beach.
CROAKER: 3 pounds, 3 ounces, Cecil Smith, Shacklefords, lower York River.
FLOUNDER: 10 pounds, 11 ounces, Tom Nash, Prospect Park, Pa., lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 3 ounces, Julie Ball, Virginia Beach, ocean off Virginia Beach.
SEA BASS: 7 pounds, 7 ounces, David Howard, Leesburg, ocean off Virginia Beach.
SPECKLED TOURT: 11 pounds, 5 ounces, Daniel Peters, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 1 ounce, Joe Few, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
STRIPED BASS: 62 pounds, 1 ounce, Wayne Rickman, Mechanicsville, off Virginia Beach.
TAUTOG: 17 pounds, 1 ounce, Joe Hart, Virginia Beach, lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Sixth annual Pig River Ramble Canoe/Kayak Fun Float Weekend, June 1-3, information/registration from historicrockymount.com/events/pigg.html.
Spring/summer squirrel hunting season, June 2-23.
BASS Elite Series, June 7-10, 2007, Smith Mountain Lake, information from bassmaster.com.
Reedville Bluefish Derby, Buzzard’s Point Marine, June 8-9, Reedville reedvillebluefishderby.com.
Outdoor Writers Association of America conference, June 16-19, Hotel Roanoke.
17th annual Antique and Classic Boat Weekend, Smith Mountain Lake, Aug. 10-12, Mariners Landing, information from woodenboats.net.
The Western Regional Championship of the Virginia Big Game Show, Sept. 8-9, Rockingham County Fairgrounds near Harrisonburg, information from vpsa.org.
Hunters for the Hungry banquet, Sept. 8, Dave Sarmadi Mitsubishi dealership, Salem, inquire about tickets at Hunt4hungry@cs.com.
The Eastern Region and State Championship of the Virginia Big Game Show, Sept. 22 & 23, Southampton County Fairgrounds in Franklin, information from from vpsa.org.
DGIF meetings
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, June 5, 9 a.m. at agency’s headquarters, 4000 W. Broad St.
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, July 17, 9 a.m. at agency’s headquarters, 4000 W. Broad St.
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, Aug. 21, 9 a.m. at agency’s headquarters, 4000 W. Broad St.
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, Oct. 16, 9 a.m. at agency’s headquarters, 4000 W. Broad St.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
