Thursday, October 14, 2004
Varmint hunting
Bill Cochran
Recent mail
BILL: I live in Richmond and wanted to know what are some of the best varmints to hunt in or around your area. Do any clubs exist in your area that hold this type of hunting? I have always wanted to get into fox but have never had a group to hunt with.
JAMES NORMAN
JAMES: For most hunters in the western part of Virginia, varmint hunting means going after crows and groundhogs. I am unaware of any clubs centered on these two species. The hunting generally is done by small groups of friends.
More organized is coon hunting, although calling a raccoon a varmint might provoke a fight among avid coon hunters. I know little about fox hunting, although it is certainly done in the region by hound hunters. I’m talking about the good old boys, not the red coat riders.
If you want to try to catch up with a group of fox or coon hunters, I’d suggest you get the names of some major organizations from Bob Duncan, wildlife division director of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries: bduncan@dgif.state.va.us.
BILL
BILL: Can you tell me if the blue catfish action on the lower James River has returned to normal following the recent floods or is it over for the year?
C.A.
C.A.: The river is running a little high, but the water is clearing and fishable. It wasn’t the water, but the weather that hurt fishing this week. Beautiful autumn conditions knocked down the blue catfish action, reports guide Mike Ostrander of the James River Fishing School.
“With the pressure near 30.50, which is very high, the blue catfish just stopped biting,” he said.
Ostrander did manage to get a couple of decent days on the river when two clients from Pennsylvania landed blue catfish that weighed 42, 35 and 28 pounds. The fish should bite for a couple more weeks,” said Ostrander.
BILL
