Sunday, July 20, 2008
Goose hunters get boost in daily limits
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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On a chilly day this past February, friends Tom Maynard, Chuck Hagedorn and I had a memorable float trip on the New River in Wythe County.
We were loaded for double duty, packing along fishing rods in hopes of tackling some walleyes and shotguns in case we encountered any geese.
The fishing was decent, but the hunting was great and we ended up with 12 geese, just three short of our limit.
I got the cleaning duty while Tom and Chuck took care of the shuttle.
They got the better deal because cleaning 12 geese isn't a picnic.
Goose cleaning duties could become even more trying for some goose hunters this September under new bag limits approved last week by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
For the September Canada goose season, which is intended to keep numbers of resident geese in check, the limit has been increased from five to 10 birds daily. The possession limit doubled, too, to 20.
The increase is actually conservative.
Federal wildlife officials, who set the frameworks by which states must abide when they establish hunting seasons for migratory birds, would have allowed the limit to go up to 15 birds.
Increasing hunting pressure has helped control resident goose numbers. The population estimate for 2008 is about 157,560 down from and estimated 264,867 a decade ago.
The population numbers have actually crept up a bit the past few years, while the kill has held fairly steady. The kill was about 11,000 in September 2006, the last year for which figures are available.
In presenting the proposed bag limit to the board, Wildlife Division director Bob Ellis said he didn't expect the increase to make a big impact on the overall kill.
Part of the thinking is that even among hunters who have opportunities to take more than five birds a day, plenty will opt not to.
The early season will open on Sept. 1 and run through Sept. 25.
Shooting hours will be 30 minutes prior to sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset statewide through Sept. 19. From Sept. 20-25 shooting hours will end at sunset east of Interstate 95, a precaution to protect migratory geese that may start arriving in that part of the state around that time.
Federal officials had also opened the door for the use of electronic calls and unplugged shotguns during the September season. Those changes were not adopted in Virginia.
The department's board also expanded dove hunting limits in response to liberalized federal frameworks.
The season will run for 70 days, with a 15-bird daily limit during the entire season.
In years past, the feds made states choose from between 60 days of hunting with a 15-bird limit or 70 days of hunting with a limit of 12.
The expansion stems from analyses of annual dove kills that show little difference in total kills in states that have different season lengths, because hunting pressure drops off significantly after the first few days of the season.
The first segment of this fall's season will run from Sept. 1-27. Hunting hours will be noon to sunset during that period.
The two later segments will be Oct. 4-31 and Dec. 27-Jan. 10, during which shooting hours will be from 30 minutes prior to sunrise to sunset.
Virginia has about 26,500 dove hunters, a number that has held fairly steady the past decade. Last year's total kill was 418,100, according to data collected through the state's Harvest Information Program.
The woodcock season will run Nov. 8-22 and Dec. 20-Jan. 3, with a daily limit of three birds and a possession limit of six.
Public hunting meetings announced
As part of its transition to a new regulations review process that encourages personal interaction with it constituents, the DGIF has set up a series of a wildlife town hall meetings to be held in early September.
The meetings will provide an informal atmosphere at which hunters will be able to make comments or suggestions regarding hunting regulations and other wildlife-related issues.
For example, if you're one of those folks who is not happy with the one-buck rule during the early black powder deer season west of the Blue Ridge, this is your chance to get out and be heard.
With 19 meetings, there's one reasonably close to every outdoorsman. Roanoke, however, didn't make the list.
A meeting will be held in Christiansburg at the Montgomery County Government Center on Sept. 8. Rockbridge County High School in Lexington will host one on Sept. 9 and there will be a meeting on Sept. 15 in Covington at the Alleghany County Governmental Complex. Another meeting that is close to Roanoke will be at the Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg on Sept. 18.
Stocking changes at fee areas
The DGIF has changed its stocking schedules for fee fishing areas at Big Tumbling and Crooked creeks and, like so many other things, high fuel prices are to blame.
Stocking trucks have been going to the creeks six days a week, but the number will be cut in half starting Monday.
"We were having two guys drive 100 miles and sometimes delivering just 50 trout," said Gary Martel, director of the agency's Fisheries Division.
Stocking will now occur Mondays and Wednesdays, and either Friday evening or early Saturday morning.
The total number of fish stocked will not change, meaning trout numbers will double on each trip.
Daily permits for the fee areas are $6.50 and the limit is six fish.
