Thursday, September 03, 2009
Squirrel hunting season looks promising
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
A neighbor told me he is going to introduce his son to hunting by stalking squirrel on the ridge behind their house where they are city-park thick.
I told him that was a great idea. Often kids, nowadays, start out on deer and turkeys. When they do, they miss the joy and the learning experience that comes with squirrel hunting, a sport that contains all the rudiments of big game hunting.
Squirrel hunting has become an overlooked resource in many instances. I’m guessing there are more squirrels killed by vehicles on the rural road I travel than are killed by hunters on adjoining land.
When I asked Marc Puckett, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist, what kind of action can expect during the lengthy Sept. 5-Jan. 30 season, his answer was: “Long story short: great squirrel hunting this fall.”
It is too early to have information on the DGIF mast study and other surveys that would give an indication on the abundance of squirrels and the availability of food for them, but here’s what Puckett said:
“Last fall we entered the season with a bumper crop of squirrels, up 11 percent. With a relatively mild winter and lots of good spring and summer rainfall, plus very little if any late frost this spring, the white oak and soft mast crops should be good and offer prime conditions for squirrels, Puckett said. “It looks like hickories are loaded. With so much [food] available, squirrels will be more evenly distributed, thus I’d predict good squirrel hunting for all.”
As for a hunting tip, Puckett had this to say: “Finding shagbark hickory should yield great early season action and may be a key to filling a limit before work some mornings.”
New regulations offer additional fox squirrel hunting this season. The counties of Patrick, Franklin, Bedford, Albemarle, Greene and Prince William were added to the fox squirrel season.
“Fox squirrels are more abundant around farmlands and woodlots, than in deeply forested tracts,” said Puckett. “Fox squirrels tend to like walnuts, but also cherish hickories. They also eat corn, so hunters concentrating their efforts in wooded areas near farms with cornfields should have a great chance for a mixed bag of squirrels.”
BILL
KENTUCKY INCREASES ELK HUNTING TAGS
Kentucky reports an elk herd of 10,000 animals, going on 11,000. The herd is beginning to produce some giant typical and non-typical antlered bulls.
In its preseason forecast, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation reported that Kentucky’s elk season is “wildly popular.”
Kentucky officials are boosting the number of elk licenses available by more than 50 percent. The state will offer 250 bull permits and 750 anttlerless permits, with 10 percent of them going to out-of-state hunters.
Nonresident hunters are charged $130 for a basic hunting license and $365 for an elk tag. The tags are distributed through a drawing. Hunters who miss out on the drawing often can pick up tags from landowners who auction off their permits.
Virginia is looking into the option of allowing a modest herd of elk in Southwest Virginia to build up by proposing a ban on shooting elk. The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ proposal is subject to a final vote Oct. 22 and could become effective as early as Oct. 23.
BILL
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
- The U.S. Forest Service is proposing a ban on hunting deer with dogs in the Louisiana’s Kisatchie National Forest beginning with the 2010-11 season.
- The Recreational Fishing Alliance, a political action organization representing sport fishermen, isn’t happy with the appointments to the Mid Atlantic Fisheries Management Council made by the governors of Virginia and New Jersey. The new council members are unknowns, meaning that traditional stakeholders were excluded, said Jim Donofrio, executive director of the RFA. The Council calls the shots on the management and the regulations of several saltwater species, including flounder.
- A package I received from Seaguar contained a box that was the kind you’d expect to find a gift pocketknife or angler’s pliers. Instead it was a flash drive with information on the company’s Fluorocarbon fishing line. Is this is a glimpse of the future: fewer freebies and more product releases that are electronic rather than paper? Pure fishing sent me some catalogues and when I couldn’t find what I was looking for they told me check the DVD they had enclosed. What next, a Bass Pro Shops’ catalogue on a disk?
BILL
VIRGINIA SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT
Here are the standings in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament:
BLACK DRUM: 84 pounds, 12 ounces, William Brown, Hampton, Inner Middle Ground; C-13
BLUELINE TILEFISH: 20 pounds, 10 ounces, Kenneth Bowe, Chester, Norfolk Canyon.
COBIA: 105 pounds, 8 ounces, Wes Blow, Newport News, lower Chesapeake Bay.
CROAKER: 5 pounds, 3 ounces, Nathan Clendenin, Richmond, lower York River. .
DOLPHIN: 39 pounds, Robert Manus, Ark, Triple Zero’s.
FLOUNDER: 12 pounds, 12 ounce, Mike Perron, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 4 ounces, Julie Ball, Virginia Beach, wreck off Virginia Beach.
KING MACKEREL: 33 pounds, 1 ounce, Ed Cromwell Jr., Virginia Beach, inshore waters off Virginia Beach.
KINGFISH: 1 pound, 12 ounces, Bill Pope, Norfolk, Sandbridge Pier.
SEA BASS: 8 pounds, 4 ounces, Rob Collins, Norfolk, wreck off Virginia Beach.
SHEEPHEAD: 14 pounds, 4 ounces, Lesley Inge, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake Bay.
SPADEFISH: 14 pounds, 14 ounces, state record, Roland Murphy, Fredericksburg, the Cell.
SPANISH MACKEREL: 6 pounds, 7 ounces, Michael Bell, Lynchburg, 26 Mile Hill.
SPECKLED TROUT: 13 pounds, 14 ounces, Michael Whittaker, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 2 ounces, Chris Brooks, Virginia Beach, Elizabeth River.
STRIPED BASS: 66 pounds, 8 ounces, Pete Johnson, Hampton, Smith Island.
TAUTOG: 21 pounds, 13 ounces, Skip Feller, Virginia Beach, wreck off Virginia Beach.
TUNA (BLUEFIN): 168 pounds, Paulette Johnson, Uniontown, Ohio, 100 Fathom off Virginia Beach.
TUNA: 230 pounds, Jeff Creekmore, Chesapeake, Norfolk Canyon.
WAHOO: 62 pounds, 1 ounce, K.W. Flowers, Richmond, The Fingers.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Smith Mountain Striper Club meeting, Sept. 4, program by Captains Spike and Kathy Franceschini, 7 p.m., Moneta Community Center.
Eastern Shore Bird and Wildlife Festival, Sept. 17-20, headquartered at Cape Charles, info@esvachamber.org.
Special youth deer hunting day, Sept. 26.
Dove hunting season, Sept. 5-26; Oct. 7-Nov. 7 and Dec. 25-Jan. 9. Bag limit 15 daily.
Rail hunting season, Sept. 8-Oct. 3; Oct. 5-Nov. 17.
Hunters for the Hungry banquet, Sept. 12, 5:30 p.m., Roanoke Moose Lodge #284, 3233 Catawba Valley Drive, Roanoke County, $20 single, $35 couple, children under 12 free, tickets from Dave Sarmadi Mitsubishi, Jeff Fletcher, 540-985-6523 or Fred and Phyllis Wells, 540-992-3874.
Virginia Big Game Eastern Regional and State Championship, Sept. 26 and 27, Southampton County Fairground, Franklin, information from vpsa.org or Kenneth Pickin 757-229-0409.
Triangle Bowhunters of Montgomery County 3D tournament Sept. 13, check vfaa.org for details or contact Jim Overfelt.
H.C. Edwards Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society, 20th annual Sportsmen’s Banquet, Sept 19, 6 p.m., Augusta Expoland, Fisherville, ticket information from Kenny Wilkinson, 540-337-1298.
September teal hunting season, Sept 21-30, east of I-95 only, four daily.
Virginia Big Game Eastern Regional and State Championship, Sept. 26 and 27, Southampton County Fairground, Franklin, information from vpsa.org or Kenneth Pickin 757-229-0409.
Snipe hunting season, Oct. 8-12; Oct. 21-Jan. 30.
Woodcock hunting season, Nov. 7-21; Dec. 26-Jan. 9, three per day.
BASS Elite Blue Ridge Brawl, April 15-18, Smith Mountain Lake.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
