Thursday, August 10, 2006
Sunday hunting gets attention; of crossbows and checking
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
Virginia is one of a handful of states that prohibit most hunting on Sunday. The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has skirted the controversial issue, but that could be about to change.
Sunday hunting is scheduled to be discussed by its Wildlife and Boat Committee during a 3 p.m. meeting Aug. 21 at the department’s headquarters in Richmond. The results of that discussion likely will be passed onto the full board at its Aug. 22 meeting in Richmond.
Many sportsmen participating in a recent public input process concerning increases in license fees said they wanted to be able to hunt on Sundays and would look more favorable on the increased fees if they were granted an additional day to pursue their sport.
The DGIF board does not have authority to end Virginia’s long-standing ban on Sunday hunting. That is under the authority of the General Assembly. But an endorsement by DGIF likely would be weighed heavily by legislators.
BILL
CHANGES FOR BIG GAME CONTEST
Last year, the use of a crossbow was legalized during the bowhunting season for anyone purchasing a special crossbow hunting license.
This spawned the question of what to do with the crossbow-killed deer when they show up in big game contests. Should crossbow entries have their own category, apart from the bow, muzzleloader and modern firearm’s category? Or should they be judged as part of the bowhunting class, which would be contrary to the desires of many traditional bowhunters?
The issue created some spirited debate among members of the Virginia Peninsula Sportsmen’s Association and the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Izaak Walton League, sponsors of the Virginia Big Game Trophy Show.
“We really went around on these issues and basically agreed to disagree,” said Buddy Faison, a member of the VPSA.
The decision was to place crossbow kills in the firearm’s category, which isn’t likely to make crossbow hunters happy.
The Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show, sponsored by the Virginia Deer Hunters Association, opted to make crossbows part of the bowhunting class.
There will be yet another significant change for the Virginia Big Game Trophy Show. A youth class with deer, bear and turkey categories has been established. The youth hunter must have been age 15 or younger on the date of the kill to qualify for the special category. Youth also can enter their trophy in the regular deer, bear and turkey categories.
Another issue that was discussed is how to handle trophies that have been registered through the new phone-check system. In the past, the Virginia Big Game Trophy Show has mandated that all entries be accompanied with the tag issued when the kill was checked at a big game station. Nowadays, many kills are checked via phone.
The decision made is to accept deer checked by phone, but to continue to require that turkeys and bears be accompanied with a tag issued at big game stations.
The Eastern Regional Championship of the Virginia Big Game Trophy Show is set for Sept. 9 and 10 in Franklin and the Western Region and State Championship is set for Sept. 23 and 24 in Harrisonburg. Look for details at vpsa.org.
The Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show is this weekend, Aug. 11-13 at the Showplace in Mechanicsville. Information can be located on sportsmanshow.com.
BILL
HUNTERS FOR THE HUNGRY BANQUET
In an effort to overcome lagging funds, Hunters for the Hungry has scheduled a banquet in Salem Oct. 21 at the Dave Sarmadi Mitsubishi dealership.
“We have been struggling a bit this year; donations are down and our raffles seem to be behind,” said Gary Arrington, a spokesman for the organization.
Arrington blames the financial downturn on recent natural disasters, particularly Katrina, which have created additional competition for contributions.
“While we are in no position to start a banquet program like the National Wild Turkey Federation and other large conservation groups, we do want to find some way to raise some awareness and maybe some funding in the process,” Arrington said. “Our desire is not to compete with these other groups in that we rely on them for so much support.”
In fact, Arrington is calling his event a “dinner” rather than a banquet. But that is in name only. The affair could draw as many as 300 people, he said. Ticket prices will be lower than charged at other banquets.
“I know there are so many that would come out just for the cause, whether they hunted or not, but in my mind it would be a wonderful opportunity for every hunter to come out and support a program that gives them and their sport such a positive look”
Hunters for the Hungry distributes about 50,000 pounds of venison annually in Southwest Virginia, much of it through the Southwest Virginia Food Bank, Arrington said. With additional funds for processing the meat, that figure could be increased sharply, a point that will be made at the banquet.
Information on banquet tickets is expected to be available shortly. Arrington can always use help in setting up the event. His email is Hunt4hungry@cs.com.
BILL
HOW MANY TURKEYS DO YOU SEE?
One day this week I spotted something black and moving slowly in a nearby meadow. I thought it might be a cub bear, so I ran to grab a pair of binoculars.
It was a turkey gobbler, puffed up and strutting like it was springtime. I must have been one of those self-gratification affairs, because there were no other turkeys nearby. Later my wife said she had spotted one hen turkey and a single polt several hundred yards from the tom.
So what does this tell me? Reproduction is poor this year and there is an odd gobbler fanning about?
What if what I saw was compiled with the observations of hundreds of other outdoorsmen from across the state? Would that provide a database that would help wildlife officials determine the well being of the turkey population including reproduction success?
“Yes,” hope Department of Game and Inland Fisheries wildlife biologists. The department has established an online wild turkey reporting system. You can report what you see June through August via dgif.viginia.gov/wildlife/turkey/report/login.asp.
The survey is new and it will take several years to establish the kind of baseline data that biologists hope will pinpoint trends.
BILL
CONSERVATION HEARING IN ROANOKE
The Roanoke Valley is one of eight stops on a federal tour where citizens and organization will be invited to address ideas, incentives, partnerships and regulations aimed at enhancing the nation’s wildlife, conservation and environmental efforts.
A meeting has been set at Roanoke College, 9 a.m., Aug. 14. It will be held in the Colket Center, Wortmann Ballroom.
The series, which will be spread from Virginia to California, is a combined effort of the Secretaries of Interior, Commerce and Agriculture, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Pre-registration can be done on cooperativeconservation.gov.
BILL
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>Finishing eighth in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship might be cause for joy on the part of many people, but Lynchburg pro David Dudley called it his “worst day.” Dudley won the championship in 2003, but this time, on Alabama’s Logan Martin Lake, he broke off a bunch of bass the final day, taking home $22,000 rather than the $500,000 landed by winner Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif.
>John Crews of Salem ranks ninth in the 2006 CITGO Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with two events left, including one this weekend on the Potomac River. The standing’s leader is New Jersey’s Michael Iaconelli, who is 226 points ahead of Crews.
>Scott Word of Richmond has left his position as development director of the Ruffed Grouse Society, but that hasn’t slowed his interest in grouse. He and his Dad, Tom, the author of “None Held Back” and “A Little Competition,” two books about bird dogs, have opened an estate planning and fiduciary legal service business in Richmond. Both are lawyers. Check their Web site and you will see that the two aren’t ashamed they are hunters:wordandword.com.
>The North American Muzzleloading Association has filed a civil rights complaint alleging discrimination against the fish and game departments of 15 state that do not allow the use of scopes during the muzzleloading hunting season. Virginia is not included because it has permitted scope use for a number of years. Most of the states that are the target of the association are in the Midwest and West.
>Quail Forever celebrates its first-year anniversary today. During the past year it has organized 26 chapters in 23 states. The organization was spawned by Pheasants Forever. Information can be found at www.QuailForever.org. Virginia is one of the few states in the eastern half of the nation that does not have a Quail Forever Chapter.
>Some 1,500 youngsters from 26 states are participating in the Scholastic Clay Trap Program’s National Trapshooting Championship in Sparta, Ill.
BILL
SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT
The Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament has new leading entries in the dolphin, flounder and king mackerel categories. Here are the standings for non-release catches:
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: 4 pounds, David West, Deltaville, upper-eastern 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: 4 pounds, 15 ounces, Phillip Gaskins, Chesapeake, lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TROUT: 12 pounds, 4 ounces, Marvin Williams III, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
KING MACKEREL: 33 pounds, Patrick Beattie, Foster, off Virginia Beach.
KINGFISH: 2 pounds, 2 ounces, Any Backowski, Chesapeake, off Virginia Beach.
SEA BASS: 7 pounds, 2 ounces, Steve Harding, Norfolk, off Virginia Beach.
SHEEPSHEAD: 16 pounds, Walter Scott, Smithfield, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
SPADEFISH: 14 pound state record, Austin Edwards, Powhatan, Cell in the Chesapeake Bay.
SPANISH MACKEREL: 5 pounds, 8 ounces, Michael Mayhugh, Nokesville, lower Potomac River.
SPECKLED TROUT: 12 pounds, 1 ounce, Barclay Shepard, Poquoson, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 4 ounces, Michael Mihalcoe, Gloucester, lower York River. .
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.
TUNA, BLUEFIN: 168 pounds, Cory Cinque, Annapolis Md., off Eastern Shore.
TUNA: 260 pounds, John Travers, Damascus, Md., off Eastern Shore.
WAHOO: 83 pounds, William Cooke II, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
BILL
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show, sponsored by the Virginia Deer Hunters Association, Aug. 11-13, Mechanicsville, information from sportsmanshow.com.
Smith Mountain Lake Classic and Antique Boat Society Show, The Point at Mariners Landing, Aug. 11 & 12, woodenboats.net.
New River Valley Chapter of National Wild Turkey Federation banquet, Aug. 12, 5:30 pm., Custom Catering, Blacksburg, information from Glenn Carroll, 540-552-1580.
Belvoir Bowhunters 3D Tournament to benefit Hunters for the Hungry, Aug. 13, information from Bob Foster, 703-758-5540.
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, Aug. 22, 4000 W. Broad St., Richmond.
Eastern Region Championship Virginia Big Game Show, Sept. 9 and 10, Southampton County Fairgrounds, Franklin, information from vpsa.org.
National Hunting and Fishing Day, Sept. 23.
Western Region and State Championship Virginia Big Game Show, Sept. 23 and 24, Rockingham County Fairgrounds, information from vpsa.org.
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, Oct. 17, 4000 W. Broad St., Richmond.
Bassmaster Northern Open, Smith Mountain Lake, Oct. 26-28, information on www.bassmaster.com.
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, Dec. 12, 4000 W. Broad St., Richmond.
Western Virginia Sports Show, Augusta Expoland, Fisherville, Feb. 16-18.
BASS Elite Series, June 7-10, 2007, Smith Mountain Lake, information from bassmaster.com.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
