You've got to check this out:
The Ugliest Deerstands in America Contest
Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
G & S WILD COUNTRY OUTFITTERS
I highly recommend stopping in at G&S Wild Country Outfitters
on the way to the cabin.
This is a fairly new gun store and outfitters, and they deserve your patronage.
It is really good to have a good source for hunting supplies near the hunt club.
Mac and I bought our crossbows from them last year, and I received the best customer service and attention that I have ever gotten from a store.
Gene (the owner) not only helped set up my crossbow, but spent hours with me showing how to use it, and sighting it in with the sights and the red dot scope.
They have all kind of hunting and fishing supplies and are a firearms dealer. Stop in and talk to Gene and Sheila, let them know you are from VARC.
G&S Wild Country Outfitters
23987 Senedo RD Woodstock, VA 22664 (rt 42 just past the Walmart on the right)
(540)459-7787
Some of the items they carry:
http://www.bucksdeer.com
Email: bucks2@rica.net
on the way to the cabin.
This is a fairly new gun store and outfitters, and they deserve your patronage.
It is really good to have a good source for hunting supplies near the hunt club.
Mac and I bought our crossbows from them last year, and I received the best customer service and attention that I have ever gotten from a store.
Gene (the owner) not only helped set up my crossbow, but spent hours with me showing how to use it, and sighting it in with the sights and the red dot scope.
They have all kind of hunting and fishing supplies and are a firearms dealer. Stop in and talk to Gene and Sheila, let them know you are from VARC.
G&S Wild Country Outfitters
23987 Senedo RD Woodstock, VA 22664 (rt 42 just past the Walmart on the right)
(540)459-7787
Some of the items they carry:
http://www.bucksdeer.com
Email: bucks2@rica.net
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Cabin Addition Update
Carl and George were up to the cabin over the weekend. They wired the new addition.
Work that can be done now:
Insulate the walls, the wiring is finished. Not the ceiling, the duct work still needs to be run.
Connect and run duct work from the furness to the new room and honeymoon suite. See Carl for details.
Finish front of addition. Cover with plywood.
Build overhang on side of addition.
Shingle the roof.
Put in exterior doors.
Apply siding.
Work that can be done now:
Insulate the walls, the wiring is finished. Not the ceiling, the duct work still needs to be run.
Connect and run duct work from the furness to the new room and honeymoon suite. See Carl for details.
Finish front of addition. Cover with plywood.
Build overhang on side of addition.
Shingle the roof.
Put in exterior doors.
Apply siding.
New Virginia electronic license sales system
New electric license sales system highlights good and bad
By Bill Cochran
Sportsmen buying their hunting and fishing licenses and agents selling them have been working under a new electronic system since July 1.
How is it going?
Good and bad, according to whom you are addressing.
Gone is the old system of an agent filling out a thick book of license forms. Most licenses now are being sold by agents of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries who use a computer to fill in the license form. Some are being purchased online or by phone.
Here are some observations on the new system:
>Some license buyers, as well as license agents, say it takes longer to issue a license under the new system. One outdoor writer has been saying, “Better get your license early or expect to stand in line.”
Virgil Kopf, assistant director of administration of the DGIF, said he had hear the “it takes longer” chant, but when he put a stopwatch to the new system he found little difference. During the early going, 90 percent of the sales have been completed in 5 minutes or less. No question, the process speeds up multi-sales.
Logging onto the Internet is not included in Kopf’s time check. Agents have been given the option of remaining logged on during inactive periods. Some choose to, others don’t.
The agents who have told me that it takes longer to issue a license also admit that after-sale paperwork goes much faster, which is in their favor.
>If you purchase a license online this year, look for the process to go much quicker next year because the data filled in the initial time will pop back up. As for this year, don’t wait until the day before deer season to buy your licenses, even though Kopf predicts that several enhancements to the process should be in place before the rush of deer hunting. He anticipated that this will include an express issuing process for license buyers who already are in the system.
>Some of the country stores and other shops where licenses have been sold in the past no longer sell them. On July 1, more than 130 agents had dropped out, saying they did not want to automate; however, another 61 who never had sold licenses signed onto the new system, Kopf said. The number of agents has continued to grow since July, with the figure passing 450, which is lower than this time last year.
The DGIF has a goal of establishing an agent within a 30-minute drive of consumers in 90 percent of the state. “That has been exceeded,” said Kopf.
>One license agent on Eastern Shore told me that there needs to be a protocol license that can be issued when the system is down. For example, it doesn’t make for a happy camper when someone is in her shop early morning planning to go fishing and the system won’t let her issue a license. She said that a hand-written form needs to be available to show that the sportsmen attempted to purchase a license.
A backup system is not justifiable because of the paperwork and cost involved, said Kopf. DGIF is addressing the downtime problem by attempting to eliminate system failure. There were some lost hours during the early going of the new system, and lessons were learned, he said. Stress testing has been taking place to verify the ability of the system to handle the huge volume of sales expected prior to the deer season.
>The majority of the licenses continue to be sold through agents, but licenses also may be purchased on line via the DGIF Web site: www.dgif.virginia.gov, and by phone. The toll-free phone is 866-693-9157.
>Unlike in the past, hunting and fishing licenses will be good for one year after the date of purchase. In the past, hunting licenses have expired June 30 and fishing license Dec. 31 no matter the date purchased. There are two exceptions to the new process. The big game license and the national forest stamp will be valid July 1-June 30.
>There is a distinct advantage to buying all of your licenses at one time. It saves time and the licenses will be printed out on one single piece of paper.
>License buyers may check off a $2 contribution to Hunters For the Hungry, but few are doing so. I have had license agents have told me they can’t find the prompt necessary to make the contribution. This is perplexing to Kopf because the check-off is highlighted by a blaze orange band at the top of the license sales form.
An end of August tally showed that there were sales of approximately 44,000 hunting license, 35,000 big game license, 21,000 muzzleloading license and 11,000 bow license, but only just over 1,150 $2 check-offs for Hunters For the Hungry.
License agents simply aren’t asking buyer if they want to contribute to this program. That was a problem with the old system. It was thought that the electronic license system would change that, but it hasn’t.
>Anglers who fish the state’s three public fee-fishing areas--Douthat State Park, Crooked Creek and Big Tumbling Creek--now can purchase their daily fee from any license agent, online or by phone. This eliminates the need to spend extra time standing in line at the site. Permits no longer will be available onsite at Big Tumbling Creek and license agents will not be available at Douthat Park and Crooked Creek after Sept. 30.
>You can purchase a state waterfowl stamp under the new system, but not a federal stamp. That could change in the future. Under a pilot program approved by Congress, 15 states are selling federal duck stamps over the phone or Internet this season. Virginia is not one of them, but likely will be part of the system in the future.
Licence Information
Online sales
By Bill Cochran
Sportsmen buying their hunting and fishing licenses and agents selling them have been working under a new electronic system since July 1.
How is it going?
Good and bad, according to whom you are addressing.
Gone is the old system of an agent filling out a thick book of license forms. Most licenses now are being sold by agents of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries who use a computer to fill in the license form. Some are being purchased online or by phone.
Here are some observations on the new system:
>Some license buyers, as well as license agents, say it takes longer to issue a license under the new system. One outdoor writer has been saying, “Better get your license early or expect to stand in line.”
Virgil Kopf, assistant director of administration of the DGIF, said he had hear the “it takes longer” chant, but when he put a stopwatch to the new system he found little difference. During the early going, 90 percent of the sales have been completed in 5 minutes or less. No question, the process speeds up multi-sales.
Logging onto the Internet is not included in Kopf’s time check. Agents have been given the option of remaining logged on during inactive periods. Some choose to, others don’t.
The agents who have told me that it takes longer to issue a license also admit that after-sale paperwork goes much faster, which is in their favor.
>If you purchase a license online this year, look for the process to go much quicker next year because the data filled in the initial time will pop back up. As for this year, don’t wait until the day before deer season to buy your licenses, even though Kopf predicts that several enhancements to the process should be in place before the rush of deer hunting. He anticipated that this will include an express issuing process for license buyers who already are in the system.
>Some of the country stores and other shops where licenses have been sold in the past no longer sell them. On July 1, more than 130 agents had dropped out, saying they did not want to automate; however, another 61 who never had sold licenses signed onto the new system, Kopf said. The number of agents has continued to grow since July, with the figure passing 450, which is lower than this time last year.
The DGIF has a goal of establishing an agent within a 30-minute drive of consumers in 90 percent of the state. “That has been exceeded,” said Kopf.
>One license agent on Eastern Shore told me that there needs to be a protocol license that can be issued when the system is down. For example, it doesn’t make for a happy camper when someone is in her shop early morning planning to go fishing and the system won’t let her issue a license. She said that a hand-written form needs to be available to show that the sportsmen attempted to purchase a license.
A backup system is not justifiable because of the paperwork and cost involved, said Kopf. DGIF is addressing the downtime problem by attempting to eliminate system failure. There were some lost hours during the early going of the new system, and lessons were learned, he said. Stress testing has been taking place to verify the ability of the system to handle the huge volume of sales expected prior to the deer season.
>The majority of the licenses continue to be sold through agents, but licenses also may be purchased on line via the DGIF Web site: www.dgif.virginia.gov, and by phone. The toll-free phone is 866-693-9157.
>Unlike in the past, hunting and fishing licenses will be good for one year after the date of purchase. In the past, hunting licenses have expired June 30 and fishing license Dec. 31 no matter the date purchased. There are two exceptions to the new process. The big game license and the national forest stamp will be valid July 1-June 30.
>There is a distinct advantage to buying all of your licenses at one time. It saves time and the licenses will be printed out on one single piece of paper.
>License buyers may check off a $2 contribution to Hunters For the Hungry, but few are doing so. I have had license agents have told me they can’t find the prompt necessary to make the contribution. This is perplexing to Kopf because the check-off is highlighted by a blaze orange band at the top of the license sales form.
An end of August tally showed that there were sales of approximately 44,000 hunting license, 35,000 big game license, 21,000 muzzleloading license and 11,000 bow license, but only just over 1,150 $2 check-offs for Hunters For the Hungry.
License agents simply aren’t asking buyer if they want to contribute to this program. That was a problem with the old system. It was thought that the electronic license system would change that, but it hasn’t.
>Anglers who fish the state’s three public fee-fishing areas--Douthat State Park, Crooked Creek and Big Tumbling Creek--now can purchase their daily fee from any license agent, online or by phone. This eliminates the need to spend extra time standing in line at the site. Permits no longer will be available onsite at Big Tumbling Creek and license agents will not be available at Douthat Park and Crooked Creek after Sept. 30.
>You can purchase a state waterfowl stamp under the new system, but not a federal stamp. That could change in the future. Under a pilot program approved by Congress, 15 states are selling federal duck stamps over the phone or Internet this season. Virginia is not one of them, but likely will be part of the system in the future.
Licence Information
Online sales
Monday, September 11, 2006
Success!
We finally got the roof on the cabin addition! It is now more or less weather tight. And best of all, no one was injured.
Thanks to everyone that helped out this weekend including Carl and George, Pleze, Joe, Jack, Vance, Ray, Dave, George Smith. Also stopping by to provide moral support were Mac, and later Levin.
We still need to finish the front with plywood and tar paper, put the shingles on the roof, and install the doors and siding.
I will post some photos later.
Rut is a three-letter word for deer hunting success
By Bill Cochran
Matt Knox won’t soon forget that morning he spent in a treestand the second week of last year’s muzzleloading deer season. By the time he climbed out of his stand at 10:30 a.m. he had seen eight different antlered bucks.
“They appeared to be everywhere, coursing the property like bird dogs looking for does. It was amazing,” said Knox, who is the deer biologist for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Hunters use one word to describe what was happening around Knox’s treestand. That word is “rut.”
You might say that “rut” is another three-letter word for sex in the life of a deer. It is a time of heightened sexual interest and without it there would be a whole lot fewer trophy deer killed each season. The rut can cause a buck to cast aside some of his survival instincts and take chances that he normally wouldn’t take. It is the clink in his armor.
Smart hunters plan their activities around the rut. So the question for many along about this time of the year is this: “When will the peak of the rut occur in 2006?”
When I received that question from reader Jason Hale, I relayed it to Knox.
“This one is easy,” he said. “We have been collecting reproductive data from across the state for several years and although the peak date of breeding varies a little from year to year, the average is always around mid-November.”
While the best time to go hunting during the deer season is anytime you can get away, be aware if you are looking for a buck the peak hunting is going to be Nov. 11-17 of the muzzleloading season and Nov. 18-25 of the general firearms seasons. Sure, big deer will be killed outside of those dates, but if you want proof about the impact of the rut just go to a big game trophy show and see how the trophy heads line up with the dates of the peak of the rut. I recall cataloging trophy deer that had been entered in a contest and an amazing number of them had been killed the same day.
There are many clubhouse theories on what jumpstarts the rut; cold temperatures, the moon phrase, the food supply among them. Most of it is what Knox calls “bunk.”
The rut is triggered by photo period, he said. The seasonal change of light affects the pituitary glands in bucks, which stimulates the release of testosterone, a male sex hormone produced in the testes.
There are some secondary factors involved. “Healthier deer with a more balanced sex ratio and an older buck age structure will have an earlier and more intense rut,” Knox said. This can explain some of the variance in the timing of the rut.
While outdoor magazine writers churn out lots of copy on the pre-rut, the rut and the post-rut, in reality most does are bred in a pretty short period and then the rut is over, he said.
When you are afield at the magical peak time, you can be rewarded with a parade of bucks like Knox observed last muzzleloading season. It is a show that you won’t want to miss.
Matt Knox won’t soon forget that morning he spent in a treestand the second week of last year’s muzzleloading deer season. By the time he climbed out of his stand at 10:30 a.m. he had seen eight different antlered bucks.
“They appeared to be everywhere, coursing the property like bird dogs looking for does. It was amazing,” said Knox, who is the deer biologist for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Hunters use one word to describe what was happening around Knox’s treestand. That word is “rut.”
You might say that “rut” is another three-letter word for sex in the life of a deer. It is a time of heightened sexual interest and without it there would be a whole lot fewer trophy deer killed each season. The rut can cause a buck to cast aside some of his survival instincts and take chances that he normally wouldn’t take. It is the clink in his armor.
Smart hunters plan their activities around the rut. So the question for many along about this time of the year is this: “When will the peak of the rut occur in 2006?”
When I received that question from reader Jason Hale, I relayed it to Knox.
“This one is easy,” he said. “We have been collecting reproductive data from across the state for several years and although the peak date of breeding varies a little from year to year, the average is always around mid-November.”
While the best time to go hunting during the deer season is anytime you can get away, be aware if you are looking for a buck the peak hunting is going to be Nov. 11-17 of the muzzleloading season and Nov. 18-25 of the general firearms seasons. Sure, big deer will be killed outside of those dates, but if you want proof about the impact of the rut just go to a big game trophy show and see how the trophy heads line up with the dates of the peak of the rut. I recall cataloging trophy deer that had been entered in a contest and an amazing number of them had been killed the same day.
There are many clubhouse theories on what jumpstarts the rut; cold temperatures, the moon phrase, the food supply among them. Most of it is what Knox calls “bunk.”
The rut is triggered by photo period, he said. The seasonal change of light affects the pituitary glands in bucks, which stimulates the release of testosterone, a male sex hormone produced in the testes.
There are some secondary factors involved. “Healthier deer with a more balanced sex ratio and an older buck age structure will have an earlier and more intense rut,” Knox said. This can explain some of the variance in the timing of the rut.
While outdoor magazine writers churn out lots of copy on the pre-rut, the rut and the post-rut, in reality most does are bred in a pretty short period and then the rut is over, he said.
When you are afield at the magical peak time, you can be rewarded with a parade of bucks like Knox observed last muzzleloading season. It is a show that you won’t want to miss.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Let's work on the cabin this weekend.
We really need to get it weather tight.
Roll call as of 9/8/06
Mac and Pleze will be up on Friday.
Jack, Vance, Dave, Levin, Joe, Carl are in.
John Bratch, Mike, Jimie and Don can't make it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)