Thursday, July 24, 2008
Outdoor Sportsman show coming up
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
For 25 years, the Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show has been the last major bash prior to the much-anticipated hunting season. This time it is set for Aug. 8-10 at the ShowPlace, located at 3000 Mechanicsville Turnpike in Richmond.
The headliner is Larry Weishuhn, well known in hunting circles as “Mr. Whitetail.” He is a highly respected wildlife biologist, outdoor writer and TV personality. Weishuhn will be featured in seminars that utilize his ability to entertain and provide first-hand facts on deer hunting.
If you enjoy observing trophy deer heads, this is the place. The NRA will have its whitetail collection on display, featuring a dozen monster bucks. The show also features the Virginia Deer Classic, where hunters can place deer killed last season into competition. Other competition includes the Virginia State Open Turkey Calling Championship.
The show will feature more than 290 exhibits of hunting supplies and accessories and displays by numerous organizations. One of them will be the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, which will disperse information and sell hunting licenses. Last year DGIF had good success selling licenses at the event, and it is gearing up to do the same this time. It will be promoting its new apprentice hunting license, on sale for the first time this fall.
DGIF also expects to field a bunch of questions on its hound hunting study. It will host a special workshop for hunters with disabilities on Saturday of the event from noon to 1 p.m.
Adult tickets to the show are $10 per day or $15 for the weekend. Kids age 15 and under get in free with a paying adult. A Parker $799 compound bow will be offered as a door prize.
The major sponsor of the show is the Virginia Deer Hunters Association. Show manager is Hugh Crittenden. The Web site is sportsmanshow.com.
BILL
A STAMP FOR WOODCOCK HUNTERS
Should woodcock hunters be required to buy a federal stamp, like waterfowl hunters now must do?
Dennis Labare believes the answer is yes. He has been promoting a federal woodcock stamp for some time, and appears to have received help from the Ruffed Grouse Society. The society, in conjunction with state and federal agencies, is putting together a survey of woodcock hunters to weigh the interest in a woodcock stamp. Approximately 5,000 woodcock hunters are being chosen for the survey from HIP data, Labare said.
The woodcock population has been in a 1.2-percent decline since the mid-1960s. Recent research indicates that habitat loss is the problem, not hunting. Virginia’s woodcock season had dwindled to a scant 30 days.
BILL
TOWN HALL MEETINGS TO DISCUSS HUNTING
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has scheduled a series of town meetings across the state to hear the ideas of hunters on regulation changes. Meetings begin at 6 p.m. at the following dates and locations:
Sept. 3: Cedar Bluff, Southwest Virginia Community College
Sept. 4: Wise, University of Virginia’s College at Wise
Sept. 8: Christiansburg, Montgomery County Government Center
Sept. 9: Chesapeake, Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office
Lexington, Rockbridge County High School
Centerville, Arlington/Fairfax Chapter Izaak Walton League
Sept. 10: Wakefield, Airfield 4-H Center
Middletown, Middletown Elementary School
Sept. 11: Gloucester Point, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Burkeville, Burkeville Fire Department
Madison, War Memorial Building
Sept. 15: Covington, Alleghany County Governmental Complex
Sept. 16: Warsaw, Rappahannock Community College
Danville, Danville Community College
Harrisonburg, Rockingham County Fairgrounds
Richmond, DGIF Board Meeting Room
Sept. 17: Charles City, DGIF Regional 1 Office, Rice Center
Sept. 18: Lynchburg, Central Virginia Community College
Fredericksburg, Gander Mountain Store Meeting Room
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>>The study on hunting with hounds in Virginia, being conducted by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, is on time, agency officials say. It is heading toward a series of public input meetings in August and September. A final report on the issue is scheduled to be made to the DGIF board in October.
>>In a display of bipartisan support for recreation boating, the House and Senate this week passed “The Clean Boating Act of 2008” which will restore a long-standing exemption for recreation boats from permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act.
>>The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has limited the term its chairman and vice chairman can serve to one year during a four-year appointment on the board. The limit has been noted in the agency’s governance manual and is in compliance with a change in the Code of Virginia.
>Tom Guest, who spent 20 years with the U.S. Coast Guard, has been named Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Boating Safety Education Chief.
>>The use of the Internet by anglers searching for fishing information has risen sharply the past year while hunter use has remained virtually unchanged. This is the finding of AnglerSurvey.com and HunterSurvey.com. Magazines remain the primary media source for both anglers and hunters, the survey said.
>>ESPN Outdoors has announced the creation of a new tournament series of saltwater events, titled the ESPN Outdoors Saltwater Series. It will receive TV coverage on ESPN2 the first half of 2009 and will be presented on other ESPN multi-media platforms, including a newly devoted annual magazine, the ESPN Outdoors Saltwater Series, to be e published the spring of 2009.
>>The National Wild Turkey Federation has donated $10,000 to the U.S. Olympic Shooting Team as it goes for the gold this summer in Beijing.
>>Dr. Julie Ball of Virginia Beach has submitted a 7- pound, 6-ounce spadefish for International Game Fish Association world-record status in the 4-pound line class. “It took all day and I threw back over a dozen small fish, broke off at least a dozen, but managed to get six to the boat that pushed over 7 pounds.” She was fishing a wreck east of Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach.
>>A total of 38 billfish were entered by 18 boats out of Pirate’s Cove, N.C. in the recent Fifth Annual Dare County Boat Builders Challenge. The two-day catch breakdown was one blue marlin, seven white marlin and 30 sailfish.
BILL
SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT
There are new leading entries in the blueline tilefish, croaker, king mackerel, bluefin tuna and wahoo categories of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. Here are the standings:
BLACK DRUM: 87 pounds, 3 ounces, Paul Elliott, Surry, Latimer Shoals (C-2 Buoy). BLUEFISH: 19 pounds, 4 ounces, Richard Brown, Richmond, off Virginia Beach.
BLUEFIN TILEFISH: 18 pounds, 14 ounces, Chris Boyce, Hampton, Norfolk Canyon.
COBIA: 90 pounds, 10 ounces, Charles Thain, Birdsnest, Inner Middle Ground, C-13.
CROAKER: 4 pounds, Glen Ford, Newport News, James River.
. DOLPHIN: 58 pounds, 6 ounces, Burt Whitt, Norfolk, Cigar.
FLOUNDER: 11 pounds, Rudolph Levasseur, Chesapeake, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
GRAY TRIGERFISH: 4 pounds, 2 ounces, Adam Lyons, Chesapeake, Seagull Pier on Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
GRAY TROUT: 9 pounds, 8 ounces, Joseph Hudgins, Jr., Chesapeake, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (4th island).
KING MACKEREL, 30 pounds, 3 ounces, Earl Harper, Virginia Beach, Norfolk Canyon.
KINGFISH: 2 pounds, 3 ounces, Bill Pope, Norfolk, Sandbridge surf.
SEA BASS: 7 pounds, 8 ounces, Reggie Myrick, Portsmouth, off Virginia Beach.
SHEEPSHEAD: 13 pounds, 15 ounces, Andrew McDougald, Raleigh, N.C., Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. .
SPADEFISH: 13 pounds, 15 ounces, Donald Knight, Chesterfield, Wolf Trap Light.
SPANISH MACKEREL: 6 pounds, Alfred Simpson, Virginia Beach, Sandbridge pier.
SPECKLED TROUT: 9 pounds, 15 ounces, David Hester, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
STRIPED BASS: 73 pounds, state record, Frederick Barnes, Chesapeake, off Virginia Beach.
TAUTOG: 20 pounds, 6 ounces, Michael Shreve, Glen Burnie, Md., Monroe Wreck.
TUNA, BLUEFIN: 226 pounds, Kim Schwallenberg, Edgewater, Md., off Wachapreague.
TUNA: 89 pounds, Troy Holtry, Newburg, Pa., 20 Fathom Finger.
WAHOO: 68 pounds, Ron Fair, Cheriton, off Wachapreague.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Smith Mountain Striper Club meeting, 7 p.m., Aug. 1, Moneta Center, presentation by Ken Mitchell, manager of the Brookneal striper hatchery.
Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show, Aug. 8-10, ShowPlace, 3000 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond, features Larry Weishuhn, the NRA trophy deer display and nearly 300 exhibitors. Adult tickets $10 per day or $15 for the weekend, kids under 15 can enter free with a paying adult. Information from sportsmanshow.com.
Triangle Archer’s 3D tournament, Aug. 17, Blacksburg, fee $12 or $25 per family, information from Triangle Archers 3D tournament, June 22, Blacksburg, fee $12 or $25 per family, information from James Overfelt.
Eastern Regional Big Game Championship, Sept. 13 and 14, Southampton County Fairgrounds, Franklin, sponsored by the Virginia Peninsula Sportsmen’s Association, more information from Kenneth Pickin, P.O. Box 1860, Williamsburg, Va. 23187-1860; 757-229-0490. This is the contest for deer, bear and turkey killed east of the Blue Ridge. Additional information from vpsa.org.
Triangle Archer’s 3D tournament, Sept 14, Blacksburg, fee $12 or $25 per family, information from James Overfelt.
Third annual WSLS 10 Hunters for the Hungry banquet, 6 p.m. Sept. 27, Dave Sarmadi Mitsubishi, Salem, tickets $20 singles; $35 couples, kids 12 and under free, to benefit the organization’s feed-the-needy program, tickets from Jeff Fletcher, 540-985-6523 or Fred and Phyllis Wells, 540-992-3874 or may be purchased at Dave Sarmadi Mitsubishi, additional information from hunt4hungry@cs.com.
Western Regional and State Big Game Championship, for deer, bear and turkey killed west of the Blue Ridge or advanced from the Eastern Championship, Sept. 27 & 28, Rockingham County Fairgrounds, Harrisonburg, more information from Jon Ritenour, 2041 Spaders Church Road, Harrisonburg, Va. 22801, 540-434-8028. Additional information from vpsa.org.
Fall Optimist Club of Cave Springs Fishing Tournament, Oct. 3-5, Smith Mountain Lake.
Saltwater striped bass tournament opens Oct. 4.
Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA banquet, Oct. 18.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
