Thursday, November 06, 2008
Landowners: tell hunters what you expect
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
You are a landowner with too many deer on your property and there is a guy knocking on your door asking permission to hunt. What do you tell him?
Time was when many landowners would have told him to “Get lost!” But most landowners nowadays are troubled with an excess of deer and welcome help from hunters.
However, if you want to resolve your overpopulation of deer you must lay down some ground rules for those wishing to hunt your property.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries recently recommended strategies for landowners:
>Permit deer hunting on your property.
>Give permission only to hunters who agree to assist in reducing the deer herd by killing does. If your hunter will not shoot does, find somebody who will.
>You can encourage doe hunting by adopting your own earn-a-buck program that requires at least two does be taken for every antlered buck killed on your property. Understand: if only bucks are killed then nothing is being accomplished in your effort to reduce the herd.
>Favor hunters who hunt during all seasons -- archery/crossbow, muzzleloading and modern firearms.
BILL
FLOYD COUNTY: YOU'VE GOT MAIL
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries recently send an open letter to landowners and deer hunters in Floyd Count.
It said: “HELP! We need your help to reduce the deer population in Floyd County.”
Floyd County landowners are suffering unacceptable levels of deer damage at the current deer population level, said biologists Matt Knox and Betsy Stinson, who devised the open letter. Excessive damage has been going on for 10 years.
That is happening even though:
>The county ranks third in the state in the number of out-of-season deer kill permits that are issued.
>Increasingly liberal deer hunting regulations have been enacted since 1993, including an extra week of muzzleloading hunting this season.
>The deer management plan has been revised to reduce the herd rather than stabilize it.
The bottom line: biologists want hunters to kill more does, and they want them killed during the deer season, not off-season with kill permits.
The task won’t be easy. “It is estimated that it will take 3 to 5 years of intensive doe harvest to reduce the deer population substantially,” the biologists said.
BILL
READ ANY GOOD DEER STAND BOOKS RECENTLY?
Hunters do a variety of things to occupy their time during those long waits in a deer stand.
Al Kittredge admits that he is a reader. On a recent hunt, after settling in his deer stand, he pulled out a historical novel about Wild Bill Hitchcock.
“I read a paragraph, place my finger on the spot and look around,” he said.
He hadn’t read long before he saw a mature doe approaching his stand from the left along an oak ridge.
“Wild Bill was slipped back into my pack and the safety on my TenPoint Phantom Crossbow was eased off.”
The deer cane a short distance then stood out of range for what seemed to be an eternity to Kittredge.
“She wandered a bit closer then bedded down right in front of me.”
Kittredge’s rangefinder showed the distance to be 50 yards, too far for an ethical shot with a crossbow.
“I figured at the very least she was a good decoy and at the best she would eventually get up and either wander off in the opposite direction or come towards me and offer a shot. I was happy either way. Needless to say, my reading was over the afternoon and I remained on high alert.”
An hour passed and someone shot a gun in the distance and the doe got up and stood for a few moments, then moved in the direction of Kittredge.
“Yep, you bet, I am smiling now. I got a fatal shot at a distance of 15 yards.”
No time for a book report.
BILL
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>>Ken Wilkes, a spokesman for the Quality Deer Management Association, has petitioned the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to establish a youth deer hunting day. Virginia presently has a youth waterfowl hunting day and youth days for the spring and fall turkey season. Their objective is to stimulate interest in hunting among young people.
>>The Tournament Committee of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament has scheduled a meeting 6:45 p.m. Nov. 12 at Marina Shores in Virginia Beach to hear public comment on the tournament. Changes are being considered to reduce the qualifying weight for swordfish and reduce the length requirement for a tarpon release. In addition there will be an update on hooking mortality of winter striped bass.
>>The six-event 2009 Wal-Mart FLW Tour doesn’t include a stop in Virginia. The nearest tournament is on Lake Norman near Charlotte.
BILL
SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT
Here are the standings in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament:
BLACK DRUM: 87 pounds, 3 ounces, Paul Elliott, Surry, Latimer Shoals (C-2 Buoy).
BLUEFISH: 19 pounds, 15 ounces, Skip Feller, Virginia Beach, Triangle Wrecks.
BLUEFIN TILEFISH: 19 pounds, 9 ounces, Sidney Long, Jr., Branchville, Norfolk Canyon.
COBIA: 94 pounds, 6 ounces, Wesley Smith, Virginia Beach, Bluefish Rock.
CROAKER: 4 pounds, 14 ounces, B.W. Wild, Virginia Beach, Lynnhaven Inlet. DOLPHIN: 66 pounds, Todd Conner, Midlothian, Norfolk Canyon.
FLOUNDER: 13 pounds, 9 ounces, Christopher Mounie, Suffolk, Third Island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
GRAY TRIGERFISH: 5 pounds, 8 ounces, Nick Wright, Virginia Beach, inshore waters of Virginia Beach.
GRAY TROUT: 9 pounds, 8 ounces, Joseph Hudgins, Jr., Chesapeake, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (4th island).
KING MACKEREL, 62 pounds, 3 ounces, James McDonald, Virginia Beach, Sandbridge Pier.
KINGFISH: 2 pounds, 3 ounces, Bill Pope, Norfolk, Sandbridge Surf.
POMPANO: 2 pounds, 8 ounces, Ron Pennington, Annandale, Kiptopeak Pier.
SEA BASS: 7 pounds, 8 ounces, Reggie Myrick, Portsmouth, wreck off Virginia Beach.
SHEEPSHEAD: 14 pounds, 5 ounces, Kay Alley, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. .
SPADEFISH: 14 pounds, 1 ounce, Josh Durvin, Dunnsville, The Cell.
SPANISH MACKEREL: 6 pounds, Alfred Simpson, Virginia Beach, Sandbridge Pier.
SPECKLED TROUT: 9 pounds, 15 ounces, David Hester, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 8 ounces, Michael Whittaker, Chesapeake, 664 Bridge-Tunnel.
STRIPED BASS: 73 pounds, state record, Frederick Barnes, Chesapeake, off Virginia Beach.
SWORDFISH: 190 pounds, Aaron Peckham, Virginia Beach, Norfolk Canyon.
TAUTOG: 20 pounds, 6 ounces, Michael Shreve, Glen Burnie, Md., Monroe Wreck.
TUNA, BLUEFIN: 226 pounds, Kim Schwallenberg, Edgewater, Md., off Wachapreague.
TUNA: 305 pounds, Rick Wyatt, Norfolk, Norfolk Canyon.
YAHOO: 69 pounds, Brian Davis, Virginia Beach, Norfolk Canyon.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
George Washington National Forest workshop on vegetation management, Nov. 13, 6:30-9 p.m., Augusta County Government Center, Verona.
General firearm’s deer season opens Nov. 15.
George Washington National Forest workshop on vegetation management, Dec. 3, 6:30-9 p.m., Rockbridge High School, Lexington, wildlife habitat improvement, timber harvest, prescribed fire will be discussed.
Fifteenth annual Benefit Rockfish Tournament, Dec. 6. sponsored by Coastal Conservation Association, Norview Marine, Deltaville, $225 per boat entry fee, top price $5,000.
Virginia Outdoor Sportsmen’s Classic, Roanoke Civic Center, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2009, vaoutdoorsportsmensclassic.com.
Youth spring turkey hunting day, April 4, 2009.
2009 spring gobbler season, April 11-May 16.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
