Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.

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Bill Cochran's Outdoors

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• Drum fishing on Virginia’s Coast comes in two colors
• Elk advocate finally gets his day
• Turkeys are plentiful, so why are hunting regulations so tight fisted?
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Deer hunters have been afield with muzzleloaders in the east since Nov. 4 and those in the west will take the plunge Saturday. So what’s happening or what can be expected?

>There is a good mast crop in many areas of the state, and this has the deer scattered. Most likely they are going to be found feeding on acorns in the woods, rather than grazing in fields like they do during poor-mast years. This favors the experienced or aggressive hunters who isn’t afraid to get out of sight of his vehicle. It is a bad year for road-hunting outlaws.

>Expect to see fewer deer, not just because they are scattered due to an abundant food, but because they are fewer in number. At least Matt Knox, deer project supervisor for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, hopes so.

The state’s deer management plan calls for keeping the herd in check in many areas of Virginia. Liberal regulations have been hammering does to accomplish this. There have been three consecutive years of record female deer kills.

Last season, hunters reported killing just under 215,000 deer, which was a 3 percent decline. That caught Knox by surprise. He expected—even hoped--the decline to be more.

>Look for a higher percentage of bucks in the herd than anytime you’ve hunted. That’s because the doe kill is approaching 45 percent and hunters are letting many small bucks walk. Time was when anything that had “horns” got blasted, and does were viewed as the golden goose. That resulted in herds with hoards of does and few bucks. No longer. Last season, 93,000 does were reported killed.

Voluntary quality deer management this season is being fortified with a new regulation that call for antler restrictions in Shenandoah County. If you kill two antlered deer in the county, one must have at least four antler points on one side that are one inch or longer. The significant thing about the regulations is that it could spread to other counties if it goes well here.

>This season should be a trophy year. There was decent mast in many areas last year, and the winter was mild. These conditions sent bucks into the new year with extra energy for antler development. The good mast crop this year won’t impact current antler growth, but it will render good body weights for deer.

When deer are healthy they can exert more energy to the rut, which means they are more active, a fact that favors hunters.

>If you only have a few days to hunt and would like to challenge a trophy buck, go mid-November. That is the peak of the rut, according to Knox. This makes the last week of the muzzleloading season and the first week of the gun season the prime time to take a bragging-size buck.

I’m thinking the rut may be a bit early this time, because the deer are in good physical shape. Even during the bow/crossbow season some hunters were working scrape lines. Bucks have been on the prowl for several weeks. In short, it is a dandy season.

ACORNS NOT SOURCE OF BELLYACHE?

Can a buck eat so many across that he gets sick? That is a question Ray Alderman and some buddies had after finding an 8-point buck reclined in a field, alive but showing no signs of fear.

When the animal was examined after being killed, there was no apparent evidence that it had been hit by a vehicle, shot or harmed by another buck or animal. In fact, it appeared to be healthy, with good layers of fat, Alderman said.

What was evident, it was stuffed with acorns.

Alderman wondered if the deer had eaten so many acorns that it had foundered. For sure, it had vomited.

“The answer is, ‘No.’ said Matt Knox, deer biologist for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

“I’ve never heard of a deer foundering on acorns,” he said. “Acorns are the perfect fall food for deer. There are several substances that could poison a deer and make it vomit and die, but such cases are exceedingly rare.”

OUTDOOR NOTES

>For years, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries mailed a weekly outdoor report to the media, organizations and nearly anyone who wanted a copy. That was stopped some time ago. Now the Outdoor Report is about to be given new birth. An electronic version is scheduled to be in circulation about mid-November. Anyone who wants a copy can register on www.dgif.virginia.gov and it will be sent to their Web address weekly. It is part of the DGIF new openness policy.

>The Fourth Edition of “Peterson Field Guide to Mammals of North America,” offers an extreme makeover of this important guidebook. There are descriptions, pictures, tracks, skulls and maps stuffed into nearly 600 pages, all at a very reasonable $20.

>Seventy-two percent more women are hunting with firearms today than just 5 years ago, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. And 50-percent more women are now target shooting. There now are more than 3-million women who hunt and more than 5 million who participate in sports shooting.

>The Education, Planning and Outreach Committee of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will talk about the decline in the number of game wardens and how to stop it at a meeting 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at the agency’s headquarters in Richmond. An additional subject will be “Families Afield,” a national program that has criticized Virginia for making it difficult for newcomers to enter the ranks of hunters.

>A free online resource for sportsmen provides information on hunting and shooting, along with chances to win a Polaris ATV, bird-hunting trip for two or NASCAR tickets for four. The Web site, www.HuntAndShoot.org, is the product of the firearm industry's trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).

BILL

SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT.

A late-migrating spot that weighed 1 pound, 7 ounces has become a new leader in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. Here are the standings:

BLACK DRUM: 83 pounds, 13 ounces, Charles Porter, Birdsnest, caught at Oyster Bay.
COBIA: 109 pound pending state record, Joseph Berberich II, Hayes, lower-western Chesapeake Bay.
CROAKER: 5 pounds, 4 ounces, William Bull, Jr., Poquoson, lower-western Chesapeake Bay.
DOLPHIN: 56 pounds, 6 ounces, Richard Koch, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
FLOUNDER: 13 pounds, 13 ounces, Lewis Graves, Sr., Fredericksburg, lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 5 pounds, 13 ounces, Earl Sari, Chesapeake, ocean off Virginia Beach.
GRAY TROUT: 12 pounds, 4 ounces, Marvin Williams III, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
KING MACKEREL: 39 pounds, David Worton, Norfolk, off Virginia Beach.
KINGFISH: 2 pounds, 3 ounces, Robert Vick, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
POMPANO: 2 pounds, Bruce Williams, Virginia Beach off Eastern Shore.
SEA BASS: 7 pounds, 2 ounces, Steve Harding, Norfolk, off Virginia Beach.
SHEEPSHEAD: 17 pounds, 13 ounces, Arun Nhek, Newport News, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
SPADEFISH: 14 pound state record, Austin Edwards, Powhatan, Cell in the Chesapeake Bay.
SPANISH MACKEREL: 6 pounds, 13 ounces, Charles Quann, King George, upper western Chesapeake Bay.
SPECKLED TROUT: 12 pounds, 1 ounce, Barclay Shepard, Poquoson, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 7 ounces, Herman Jones, Norfolk, lower-western Chesapeake Bay.
STRIPED BASS: 68 pounds, 1 ounce state record, Clay Armstrong, Mechanicsville, off Virginia Beach.
TAUTOG: 18 pounds, 1 ounce, Paul Hurtubise, McGaheysville, off Virginia Beach.
TRUE ALBACORE: 40 pounds, John Hanna, Seaford, ocean off Virginia Beach.
TUNA, BLUEFIN: 168 pounds, Cory Cinque, Annapolis Md., off Eastern Shore.
TUNA: 260 pounds, John Travers, Damascus, Md., off Eastern Shore.
WAHOO: 91 pounds, Aurelio Diaz, Jr., Glen Allen, off Virginia Beach.

MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS

Two-day wilderness first aid course, Nov. 11 and 12 in Richmond, $160, information and registration, http://wfa.net.

Ruffed Grouse Society Highland Drummer Chapter banquet, Dec. 9, State Fair Grounds (Underwood Building) Lewisburg, W.Va, information from Todd Spencer, 304-645-7039.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, Dec. 12, 4000 W. Broad Street, Richmond.

Final portion of the dove season, Dec. 28-Jan. 15.

Western Virginia Sports Show, Augusta Expoland, Fisherville, Feb. 16-18.

CITGO Bassmaster Classic, Feb. 23-25, Birmingham, Ala.

The National Wild Turkey Federation’s 2007 National Convention and Sport Show, Feb. 22-25, Gaylord Opryland Resort, Nashville, Tenn.

BASS Elite Series, June 7-10, 2007, Smith Mountain Lake, information from www.bassmaster.com.

Outdoor Writers Association of America conference, June 16-19, Hotel Roanoke.

Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.