Thursday, November 17, 2005
Election a huge loss for NRA
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
Tim Kaine’s victory in the Virginia governor’s race was a huge loss for the NRA, which exerted an unprecedented amount of time, money and personnel to the unsuccessful bid of Jerry Kilgore. Up to the eve of the election, the NRA was telling its members that Kaine “supports shutting down gun shows, suing the gun industry out of existence and has been endorsed by the Brady Campaign.”
The NRA had given Kaine an F rating, the same as it gave Jon Corzine, who won the governor’s race in New Jersey.
Sportsmen didn’t see the governor’s race in Virginia the easy call that the NRA did. In fact, the choice was difficult for many sportsmen, because neither candidate was convincing when it came to explaining what he would do to benefit anglers and hunters. Thus, the outdoor vote was split.
While Kilgore got an A rating from the NRA, sportsmen had a hard time remembering anything he had done for them apart from the gun ownership issue. His handlers fumbled when it came to broadening his appeal to outdoorsmen. His Sportsmen for Kilgore movement was toothless. For many sportsmen, the issue wasn’t guns, it was the mess at the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. That was not addressed in a meaningful manner.
When candidates fail to embrace outdoor issues during campaigns, can sportsmen expect anything different once the election is over? Let’s hope so.
Kaine has potential of receiving major help in dealing with outdoorsmen and outdoor issues from his transition director, Roanoker Brian Shepard. For years, Shepard was an aid to Vic Thomas, a delegate who was the champion of sportsmen for 30 years. This makes Shepard no stranger to sportsmen.
IS THE RUT IN A RUT?
When my wife, Katherine, and I operated a bed and breakfast in Roanoke County people would call to ask when the peak of our autumn color season occurred. I would tell them, with considerable accuracy, that the leaves in our area would be most brilliant the third week in October.
Had I said that this year, I would have been off by a couple of weeks. The color season was late, and this makes you wonder if other great natural events also are late. The rut, for example. The rut is a three-letter word for sex in the life of a deer.
While a mature buck seldom does anything stupid, the rut does make him more aggressive, thus more vulnerable. Let’s put it this way, were it not for the rut, you wouldn’t see many deer at big game trophy shows.
As a rule, I will predict that the rut peaks the second week of November, which happens to be the week of the western muzzle loading season. That’s one of the reason black-powder hunting has become so popular and productive.
But this time the leaves were late to change color and the deer hunting season is offering balmy weather more suited for water skiing than hunting. So is the rut late?
That’s an issue hunters are debating. They always do. Is it early? Is it late? Is it tongue-hanging out intense or is it mild, like last year. Is this the pre-run, the rut or the post rut? Is the rut controlled by temperatures, the slant of the sun, the length of the day, or deer hunting magazines?
So, let’s ask an expert, Matt Knox, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries deer biologist.
“The leaves are two to three weeks later than normal, but the word I am getting is that the rut appears to be early,” said Knox.
Reports of bucks chasing does started reaching Knox three weeks ago.
“I thought people were crazy and then I saw a big buck chasing a doe while I was driving home that very week.”
“Over a week ago when I went to put my tree stand up, I saw a lot of scrapes, probably more than I have seen in years,” said Knox. “Everyone I am talking to is seeing a lot of runt activity now.”
STRIPER FISHING WILL GET BETTER
Striped bass anglers have been saying that the fishing is going to get better. It will. But when?
Mid-November traditionally sends big striped bass scurrying out of the Chesapeake Bay, down the Atlantic Coast and into the shallows of inland lakes where they feed heavily. But the action is tardy this season.
Blame it on the warm weather.
“I think all fishing is running a little behind due to warmer weather,” said Mike Smith, a veteran striper angler who lives in the western section of Virginia. “The best is yet to come.”
Stripers have been doing some surface feeding on Kerr Lake. At Lake Anna, Carlos Wood, who operates High Point Marina, said striped bass fishing is getting better every day and should be great by the end of the month into early December.
Stripers aren’t just scarce, they also are small, along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which normally is a fall-into-winter hotspots. One angler said he had fished with artificial lures for two days without success, then began using live spot and that improved his results in size and numbers of fish.
The poor fishing in the bay has been hard on businesses that cater to anglers. But business owners are keeping their chin up. Like everyone else, they are saying, “It will get better.”
FOREST PLAN SHOULD BENEFIT HUNTERS
The Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia should be managed for hunter access and active habitat manipulation. That is the position of the NRA, which has urged sportsmen to contact forest officials in support of Alternative 2 of the current planning process.
The NRA said, “The anti-access groups are pushing for the 3 alternative that provides for the least hunter access and restricts active forest habitat management. That alternative does this by declaring large sections of the forest as new wilderness areas.”
Once an area is declared wilderness, many types of active habitat management are restricted and hunter-access roads are often closed or not maintained, the NRA said.
“West Virginia already has ample wilderness areas and does not need more,” said the NRA.
STILL MORE ACCESS FOR THE JAMES
Maybe the new public boat ramp on the upper James River should be called the Ray Hunley Ramp. Or the Don Meredith Ramp. Or the Hunley-Meredith Ramp.
Hunley, who lives near Eagle Rock, pointed out the potential for the ramp on a site already in public ownership, something that had been overlooked by Department of Game and Inland Fisheries officials.
A retired forester, Hunley contacted Botetourt County Board of Supervisor Don Meredith, who got the project rolling.
The ramp, for non-powered boats, is located off Virginia 683 near its intersection with U.S. 220, where Craig Creek flows into the James River. This is a popular section for paddlers and float fishermen.
Earlier this year, DGIF re-opened a ramp, called Narrow Passage, downstream from this one. It, too, became a reality following pressure from interested citizens.
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>Preliminary results of the early bow/crossbow in Virginia reveal that crossbow hunters killed about 25 percent of the deer.
>When 120 surf casting teams showed up for the 48th annual Cape Hatteras,( N.C.) Anglers Club Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament the sponsors decided to submit paperwork to the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest ocean surf-fishing tournament in the world.
>Last week I mentioned that BASS legend Roland Martin had announced his retirement from tournament fishing. But that may not be the last you see of the Martin name. A week after Roland’s announcement, his son, Scott, teamed up with BASS Tournament Manager Deb Wilkinson to win the Angling Against Cancer charity bass fishing tournament in Florida.
>Luke Poulin of Salem tans deer hides the old-fashioned way, a process he calls braintan. “(It is a) really old way of making leather using the brains or eggs or soap and oil and tons of elbow grease,” he said. Poulin always is on the lookout for hides. He will come by and skin your deer for you if you contribute the hike. His phone number is 540-521-0791.
>Duck hunters in North America don’t have to worry about the dangerous strain of avian flu that has grabbed headlines, according to Dr. Robert Webster of World Health Organizations. The disease is not in native ducks, he said.
>Want to know what animal made that track in the dust, mud or snow?
The answer likely can be found in the new, third edition of “The Peterson Field Guide to Animal Tracks.” This updated, fully revised book includes a new key to tracks for quick reference in the field.>Fishing for bass and crappie has improved across Virginia, but angler pressure is light. Many sportsmen are turning their back on angling to go deer hunting, according to Jack Randolph who compiles a weekly fishing report.
>Ice fishing’s version of the World Series is set for Dec. 17 and 18 in Alexandria, Minn. when 100 of the world’s greatest ice anglers will compete in the Fifth Annual North American Ice Fishing Championship.
>If Bill C-50 is approved in Canada, anglers could face cruelty charges for catching a fish or baiting a hook.
>Looking for a site where waterfowl hunters share their experiences and thoughts? Try www.duckhunter.net.
>New Jersey is scheduled to get a six-day bear hunting season Dec. 6, part of a five-year black bear management plan for the state. Last year, the hunt was defeated after a battle that led all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court where it failed.
SALTWATER TOURNAMENT
Here are the standings in the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament:
BLACK DRUM: 93 pounds, 9 ounces, Willie McWhite, Jr., Richmond, lower eastern Chesapeake Bay.COBIA: 96 pounds, Michael Goodove, Virginia Beach, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
CROAKER: 4-pounds, 8 ounces, Elliott Souldourian, Virginia Beach, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
DOLPHIN: 52 pounds, Willi Fenske, Hopewell, ocean off Virginia Beach.
FLOUNDER: 17 pounds, 2 ounces, Hopie Firth, Poquoson, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 12 ounces, James Daughtrey III, Suffolk, lower eastern Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TROUT: 12 pounds, 14 ounces, William Flipin, Hayes, upper eastern Chesapeake Bay.
KING MACKEREL: 47 pounds, Frank Riganto, Virginia Beach off Virginia Beach.
KINGFISH: 2 pounds, Joseph Phelan, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
POMPANO: 3 pounds, 2 ounces, Mark Ottarson, North, Mobjack Bay.
SEA BASS: 6 pounds, 14 ounces, Chad Stoker, Chesapeake, off Virginia Beach.
SHEEPSHEAD: 20 pounds, 12 ounces, Arun Nhek, Newport News, pier of Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
SPADEFISH: 12 pounds, 8 ounces, Jerry Carnell, Jr. Oxford, N.C. upper eastern Chesapeake Bay.
SPANISH MACKEREL: 9 pounds, 2 ounces, Bob Tolhurst, King George, upper western Chesapeake Bay.
SPECKLED TROUT: 11 pounds, 3 ounces, Brain Pomije, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 8 ounces, Willie Fleetwood, Hampton, lower James River.
STRIPED BASS: 63 pounds, 8 ounces, state record, Paul Leckner, Greenbackville, Bradford Bay.
TAUTOG: 18 pounds, 4 ounces, Larry Larue, Virginia Beach, ocean off Virginia Beach.
TUNA (BLUEFIN) 158 pounds, Eric Holum, Silver Springs, Md., ocean off Eastern Shore.
TUNA: 90 pounds, 8 ounces, John Mackey, Virginia Beach, ocean off Virginia Beach.
WAHOO: 83 pounds, 3 ounces, John Hamilton, Norfolk, ocean off Eastern Shore.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Deer hunting season west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 19-Dec. 3
Deer hunting season east of Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 19-Jan. 7
Board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Nov. 29, 9 a.m., DGIF headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street, Richmond.
Smith River Trout Unlimited Christmas meeting, 7 p.m. Dec. 1, Riana’s Restaurant, Martinsville. Review of 2005 chapter activities, update on local issues and plans for next year including officer elections.
CCA-Green Top 12th annual Rockfish Tournament, Dec. 3, Norview Marina, Deltaville, $250 per boat, 200 boat limit, $100,000 offered to angler breaking state striped bass record. Other prizes include a $6,000 first-place purse, information from 804-346-1926.
Board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Dec. 16, 9 a.m., DGIF headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street, Richmond.
Late muzzleloading season, Dec. 17-Jan. 7.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
