Thursday, February 21, 2008
Bill Cochran's Field Reports: Hunters are biggest supporters of wildlife
Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.
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Joe Miele thinks it is time to abolish hunting. “Hiking, camping and wildlife watching are far better choices of outdoor recreation than the violence of hunting,” he said in a letter to the editor of The Roanoke Times published Feb. 16.
Miele, who is vice president of the New Jersey-based Committee to Abolish Sports Hunting, was responding to my Feb. 7 column, “Door to hunting will swing wider in Virginia.” In the piece, I lauded the Virginia General Assembly’s action to make it easier for people to try hunting.
Said Miele, “As interest in sport hunting wanes in Virginia and nationwide, hunting organizations grasp at anything that could possibly increase interest in destroying wildlife under the guise of recreation.” He said the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries “should abandon its hunting programs and shift its focus toward wildlife watching.”
I agree that wildlife watching is great, but when it comes to abandoning hunting I beg to differ on several counts:
>Many of our wildlife watching opportunities can be credited to hunters who have provided the funding and the philosophy for protecting and enhancing wildlife habitat. Miele’s group does virtually nothing for wildlife. The organization’s acronym is C.A.S.H. and it makes no bones about asking people to send some its way. The money isn’t used for wildlife; rather: for defeating hunting. Miele is doing cartwheels over a recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife report that reveal hunting is declining, but in reality every person lost to hunting is a lost friend and supporter of wildlife.
>Hunting and angling are wholesome family recreations that merit everyone’s support because they expose kids to nature, directing them away from TVs, video games, hanging out at the mall, obesity and drugs.
>Hunting remains a critical tool in the management of a number of wildlife species, deer being a prime example. The kindest thing you can do for wildlife is to keep it within its carrying capacity, and hunting is the best tool to accomplish that.
BILL
STRIPER CERTFIED AS A STATE RECORD
That 73-pound striped bass caught Jan. 23 off Virginia Beach has been certified as a state record by the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. The catch survived some chat line attacks that clamed angler Frederick Barnes of Chesapeake had been fishing outside the 3-mile limit.
Such charges are common when big stripers are landed, said Lewis Gillingham, tournament director. He reported that the fish was caught about one-half mile north of 4A Buoy off Fisherman’s Island, well inside legal water.
Gillingham witness the official weighing of the 52-inch fish.
“Every fin was perfect, every scale was in place and the fish just glowed,” he said. “The fish was big from its head to tail. It didn’t just have a big stomach.”
When Barnes landed the fish after a 10-minute battle, he thought it was just another 40-pounder. But the more he and his crew looked at the fish, the bigger it appeared. So after briefly continuing to fish they headed for a set of scales in Rudee Inlet.
To put things in perspective, the 73-pound fish is one of about a half-dozen documented catches greater than 70 pounds along the entire Atlantic Coast, Gillingham said. The world record is a 78.5-pound bass caught in 1982 by Al Reynolds from the beach at Atlantic City, N.J.
BILL
SAYING ‘SPECIAL REGULATIONS’ IN SPANISH
Conservation Police officers were having problems with people disobeying the rather restrictive trout fishing rules along a special-regulations section of the Roanoke River in the Salem/Roanoke County area.
“When cited for illegally fishing, their defense in court was that they couldn’t read the trout regulations signs posted in English,” said Capt. Ron Henry.
When the local Trout Unlimited chapter got wind of what was happening, members used their own funds to print signs in Spanish.
“According to my Conservation Police Officers who patrol that area, the signs appear to have had a positive effect on reducing violation,” Henry said. “Once again, it appears that Trout Unlimited stepped forward with a cooperative conservation spirit to help preserve our natural resources.”
BILL
TWO WESTERN VIRGINIANS IN BASS CLASSIC
John Crews and Jeff Freeman are the two Virginians among 50 anglers casting for a $250,000 first-place prize in the Bassmaster Classic set for Friday through Sunday on South Carolina’s 56,000-acre Lake Hartwell.
The lake has tuned cold, windy and tough for the big party, with practice days producing poor catches.
Crews is 29 and lives in Salem while Freeman is 35 and lives in Max Meadows. While their age is close enough for argument and they live in the same region, the two arrived at the Classic in contrasting ways.
A professional angler, Crews qualified through the Bassmaster Elite Series, which is just that: elite. This will be his fourth Classic and his BASS winnings are near $350,000.
Freeman is what you call an amateur. He has a day job as a deputy sheriff in Wythe County. He earned a spot in the Classic by winning the BASS Federation National Championship.
ESPN2 will be providing 11 hours of programming through the three days of competition. Results also can be found on Bassmaster.com.
Mark Taylor, outdoor writer for The Roanoke Times, will be on the scene offering some of the best coverage of Crews and Freeman. He is scheduled to be in the boat with Freeman Friday.
BILL
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>>Striped bass have been hanging so close to the shore along Virginia Beach that some are being landed by surf and pier fishermen, according to Dr. Julie Ball. Water temperatures have been hovering in the upper 40s, keeping big stripers active in Virginia throughout February. Some anglers continue to hook jumbo bass in the Chesapeake Bay, where the keep season is closed, but catch-and-release can be practiced.
>>Four anglers, Charlie Campbell, Nick Crème, Buck Perry and Virgil Ward, are scheduled to be inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame today. Campbell was an early tournament angler with 67 wins to his credit. Crème created the first rubber worms on his kitchen stove. Perry invented the Spoonplug and is known as the father of structure fishing. Ward had an early syndicated TV fishing show, a syndicated newspaper column and started the Bass Buster Lure Co.
BILL
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
National Wild Turkey Federation conference, Feb. 21-24, Georgia World Conference Center, Atlanta.
The Virginia Outdoor Sportsmen’s Classic, Feb. 22-24, Roanoke Civic Center, vaoutdoorsportsmensclassic.com.
Bassmaster Classic, Feb. 22-24, Greenville, S.C.
Dixie Deer Classic, Feb. 28-March 2, North Carolina State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, dixiedeerclassic.org.
Southwest Virginia Boat Show, Feb. 29-March 2, Roanoke Civic Center.
Smith River Trout Unlimited Chapter meeting, 6 p.m. March 6, Ranias’ Restaurant, Martinsivlle, program on Trout in the Classroom, guests welcome, can order a meal, information from B.J. Walker, 434-728-1419 bjfireresq@embarqmail.com or Al Kittredge, 910-868-5235.
National Capital Boat Show, March 7-9, Dulles Expo Center, information from agievents.com.
Smith Mountain Striper Club meeting, April 4, 7 p.m., Moneta Community Center, program by Dan Wilson, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist.
Youth spring gobbler day, April 5
Spring gobbler season, April 12-May 17.
Virginia Mountains Chapter Ruffed Grouse Society banquet, Roanoke Plaza Hotel (formerly Wyndham), April 12, 6 p.m., tickets and membership $55, spouse $30, information/tickets from Brandon Harper.
Seventh Annual David H. Horne Memorial Hunters for the Hungry Golf Tournament, May 7, Birkdale Golf Course, Richmond, contact Braxton Bell, 804-739-3010.
Twenty-fifth annual Bluefish Derby, June 13 & 14, Reedville, information from Jett’s Hardware, 804-453-5325.
Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA banquet, Oct. 18.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
