Doyle Ritchie has been telling anyone who will listen that the number of deer on the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Virginia, where he hunts, has experienced a drastic decline.
“This year the hunting season was just terrible on the national forest,” said Ritchie, a veteran deer hunter of 40 years. He lives in Fulks Run on the edge of the national forest in Rockingham County.
“I scouted week after week all summer and fall. I hunted day in and day out during the archery, early muzzleloader and firearm’s seasons. I’ve been out during the late archery and muzzleloading season, but with the same results. There are few, if any, deer in the national forest in the many regions I hunted.”
You might think Ritchie’s message would be a tough sell, considering Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ officials are saying the 2008-09 deer season could go down as a record when the final count is made in a few weeks. Last season kill was a record.
Add to that, there are so many deer in some sections of the state that they end up in the grills of vehicles and they account for millions of dollars in crop damage.
But what Richie says about the national forest gets solid backing from many sportsmen who hunt public property, particularly the northern end of the forest.
“Hunter after hunter I spoke with reported the same,” he said.
Even DGIF wildlife biologists share the concern.
“I agree with him that we have low deer populations on United States Forest Service lands,” said Jay Jeffreys. He is the DGIF regional wildlife manager assigned to the northern Shenandoah Valley, including national forest property.
Where the differences occur, wildlife officials blame the national forest situation on declining deer habitat, mast failures and lower numbers of hunters. Richie puts the problem squarely on liberal hunting regulations that he says have resulted in a purging of too many does and young bucks.
“You won’t see mature deer if you shoot out the young ones,” Richie said. “You won’t have deer around here if you take the does.”
Richie, who calls himself “blunt,” is a newcomer to this debate, which has been going on for about four years and mostly has involved hunters in Rockingham, Augusta and Highland counties. He is more aggressive than most, leveling stinging criticism at Matt Knox, the DGIF deer project coordinator.
“Knox and his team seem to want to kill off the deer, no matter what,” said Richie. “If it is brown, it needs to go down. You never hear Knox or members of his team say good things about deer. The mentality is pest control.”
During a recent meeting with Knox, Jeffreys and Bob Ellis, chief of the DGIF wildlife division, Richie recommended a moratorium on shooting does in the national forest and a limit of two bucks that meet a minimum of six points.
Some restrictions are expected to be set this year, but Richie isn’t likely to get all he wants by a long shot. But officials are sympathetic.
Here’s the challenge, said Jeffreys: Deer don’t recognize boundaries. They range on both national forest and private land. When they come out of the national forest to forage for food they are confronted by more liberal seasons and bag limits. When they return to the forest there isn’t that much food available.
“Private land regulations may well have driven down deer numbers on adjoining public land,” he said.
One resolution would be to enhance deer habitat on the national forest, but state biologists are limited in what they can do.
“We as an agency can enact regulations but we have real limitations in managing deer habitat on U.S. Forest Service land,” said Jeffreys.
Just this week, Congress advanced legislation that would set aside 43,000 acres of additional wilderness in Virginia, and environmentalists are betting on the new president to move even further down that road. Wilderness and roadless areas prohibit the kind of forest management that provides the new growth necessary to advance the wellbeing of deer, especially during times of mast failure.
One factor the two sides agree on, deer are being impacted by the growing number of predators, namely coyotes and black bear.
“The talk out here where I live is not how many deer that hunters saw, but how many bears they saw,” said Ritchie. “The bear hunters brag about how they have brought the bears back, and they certainly have been successful. But the problem is the number of fawns the bears and coyotes are taking. Last summer, I found so much bear crap in the national forest containing fawn hair that it was hard not to step in it.”
PART II next week: No easy answer for improving deer herd on the national forest
Friday, January 23, 2009
Aging of national forest is bad news for deer hunters -- Part 2
Van Humphreys, who lives in Craig County, can remember hunting in the national forest when you couldn’t see much beyond 50 yards because of the thick understory. It was ideal habitat for deer, not to mention grouse and other wildlife species.
Now often you can see twice that far because of the scarcity of cover. That’s particularly bad for deer and for deer hunters. The same can be said of grouse and woodcock hunters.
“No protection, no browse equal no game,” Humphreys said in response to last week’s column on the decline of deer in the national forest.
The national forest is aging. Browse is giving way to mature trees and a park-like atmosphere.
“There is a slow but steady decline in quality of deer habitat,” said Jay Jeffreys, a regional wildlife manger for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
While mature trees can produce mast, namely acorns which deer relish, mast crops are unreliable. When they fail, as they did in 2002 and 2003, a mature forest becomes a wasteland. The result: deer productivity and recruitment are impacted, said Jeffreys.
Whether they realize it or not, hunters are locked in a battle with environmentalists over how the national forest will be managed. Environmentalists want more wilderness and roadless areas, which they are likely to get under the Obama Administration. This means less logging and other minumpliation of the forest, the kind of activities that create quality habitat for deer through new growth.
There is room for both wilderness and enhanced deer habit on the more than 1 million acres of national forest in Virginia, but that hasn’t kept some environmentalists from trying to hog it all. Either they don’t care or understand what their actions are doing to wildlife.
Hunters have exerted little effort in fighting back, although they have science on their side. Many simply have switched their attention to private property, where deer are abundant. This lack of hunting pressure adds to the decline in the number of deer being killed on the national forest.
“Many of our staff believes the reduced number of hunters results in a significant reduction of deer movement, thus fewer deer coming before the hunter’s gun,” said Jeffreys.
What you have on the national forest is an interaction of a number of factors -- poorer deer habitat, increased predators, fewer hunters, mast failures and more liberal hunting regulations that are designed to address the overabundance of deer on nearby private land but also impact national forest herds.
Jeffreys correctly places habitat decline at the apex of the equation, but he gets an argument from Doyle Ritchie of Rockingham County who has become a major critic of the DGIF’s deer management practices. Ritchie believes the national forest deer herd has been harmed by DGIF regulations that crop off an excess of does and young bucks.
While it is true that DGIF has attempted to address the decline in the national forest deer herd by setting more restrictive bag limits on forest property, Ritchie says these efforts have been offset by the addition of an extra week of muzzleloading season and increased youth hunting opportunities.
“I’m just really angry about the way the national forest is going downhill, yet deer flourish in places right next to the forest,” said Ritchie. “I don’t think it’s a lack of food or mast crop failure. I think the problem is really poor management practices.”
A case could be made that there are plenty of deer on private land. So why manipulate the national forest for deer? The answers: There are sportsmen who depend on the national forest for their hunting. Other wildlife species, even song birds, benefit from a young forest habitat and the day may come when more hunters will depend on the national forest as private land is developed.
HERE’S WHAT HUNTERS CAN DO:
1. Take an active role in the management of the national forest. Right now the George Washington National Forest is revising its Land and Resource Management Plan. The plan is tilting toward removing 42 percent of the forest from active management practices, the kind that provide deer habitat. Several input meetings have been lightly attended by hunters. There are a couple remaining: Jan. 29, 6:30- 9 p.m., Rockbridge County High School, Lexington and Feb. 5, 6:30-9 p.m., Peter Muhlengerg Middle School, Woodstock. Also check the forest’s Web site for information on the plan revision. Let your congressman and senators know that you want deer/grouse habitat to get a fair shake in the management of the national forests.
2. Participate in the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ current regulatory process with an eye toward establishing hunting laws that address the needs of the national forest. Check HuntFishVa.com for opportunities to express views at public meetings and online. Beyond that, tell DGIF and forest officials that you would like for them to rekindle the spirit of the 70-year old Cooperative Wildlife Management Agreement that mandates state wildlife officials working hand-in-hand with federal forest officials.
Now often you can see twice that far because of the scarcity of cover. That’s particularly bad for deer and for deer hunters. The same can be said of grouse and woodcock hunters.
“No protection, no browse equal no game,” Humphreys said in response to last week’s column on the decline of deer in the national forest.
The national forest is aging. Browse is giving way to mature trees and a park-like atmosphere.
“There is a slow but steady decline in quality of deer habitat,” said Jay Jeffreys, a regional wildlife manger for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
While mature trees can produce mast, namely acorns which deer relish, mast crops are unreliable. When they fail, as they did in 2002 and 2003, a mature forest becomes a wasteland. The result: deer productivity and recruitment are impacted, said Jeffreys.
Whether they realize it or not, hunters are locked in a battle with environmentalists over how the national forest will be managed. Environmentalists want more wilderness and roadless areas, which they are likely to get under the Obama Administration. This means less logging and other minumpliation of the forest, the kind of activities that create quality habitat for deer through new growth.
There is room for both wilderness and enhanced deer habit on the more than 1 million acres of national forest in Virginia, but that hasn’t kept some environmentalists from trying to hog it all. Either they don’t care or understand what their actions are doing to wildlife.
Hunters have exerted little effort in fighting back, although they have science on their side. Many simply have switched their attention to private property, where deer are abundant. This lack of hunting pressure adds to the decline in the number of deer being killed on the national forest.
“Many of our staff believes the reduced number of hunters results in a significant reduction of deer movement, thus fewer deer coming before the hunter’s gun,” said Jeffreys.
What you have on the national forest is an interaction of a number of factors -- poorer deer habitat, increased predators, fewer hunters, mast failures and more liberal hunting regulations that are designed to address the overabundance of deer on nearby private land but also impact national forest herds.
Jeffreys correctly places habitat decline at the apex of the equation, but he gets an argument from Doyle Ritchie of Rockingham County who has become a major critic of the DGIF’s deer management practices. Ritchie believes the national forest deer herd has been harmed by DGIF regulations that crop off an excess of does and young bucks.
While it is true that DGIF has attempted to address the decline in the national forest deer herd by setting more restrictive bag limits on forest property, Ritchie says these efforts have been offset by the addition of an extra week of muzzleloading season and increased youth hunting opportunities.
“I’m just really angry about the way the national forest is going downhill, yet deer flourish in places right next to the forest,” said Ritchie. “I don’t think it’s a lack of food or mast crop failure. I think the problem is really poor management practices.”
A case could be made that there are plenty of deer on private land. So why manipulate the national forest for deer? The answers: There are sportsmen who depend on the national forest for their hunting. Other wildlife species, even song birds, benefit from a young forest habitat and the day may come when more hunters will depend on the national forest as private land is developed.
HERE’S WHAT HUNTERS CAN DO:
1. Take an active role in the management of the national forest. Right now the George Washington National Forest is revising its Land and Resource Management Plan. The plan is tilting toward removing 42 percent of the forest from active management practices, the kind that provide deer habitat. Several input meetings have been lightly attended by hunters. There are a couple remaining: Jan. 29, 6:30- 9 p.m., Rockbridge County High School, Lexington and Feb. 5, 6:30-9 p.m., Peter Muhlengerg Middle School, Woodstock. Also check the forest’s Web site for information on the plan revision. Let your congressman and senators know that you want deer/grouse habitat to get a fair shake in the management of the national forests.
2. Participate in the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ current regulatory process with an eye toward establishing hunting laws that address the needs of the national forest. Check HuntFishVa.com for opportunities to express views at public meetings and online. Beyond that, tell DGIF and forest officials that you would like for them to rekindle the spirit of the 70-year old Cooperative Wildlife Management Agreement that mandates state wildlife officials working hand-in-hand with federal forest officials.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Bears at the cabin
Jimmie and Mac related an encounter with aggressive black bears right at the cabin.
The bear or bears appear to have lost all fear of humans and will stay in the immediate area, even when shouted at.
Cabins and Residential Areas
Never leave unattended food or garbage outside.
Do not feed birds between April and November.
Do not leave pet food outside (especially overnight).
Bear-proof bee hives, compost piles, and gardens with electric or chain-link fence.
Do not leave food as bait for any animals or leave food scraps on the ground.
If a bear approaches, move your family and any food indoors immediately.
Bear Encounters
Although black bears rarely attack, they are powerful animals and are capable of injuring or killing humans. These steps may be helpful if you encounter a bear.
If you see a bear in the distance, make a wide detour or leave the area.
Do not feed or toss food to a bear, or any other wild animal.
Pick up children or put them on your shoulders.
Never approach bears - they are dangerous wild animals. If a bear changes its natural behavior because of your presence, you are too close.
Give a bear plenty of room to pass, and it usually will.
If a bear approaches you:
Don't run.
Drop your backpack and then,
Back away slowly.
Face the bear, but don't look directly into its eyes.
Keep it in sight.
Make yourself look bigger by waving your arms and yelling.
Make lots of noise and stomp your feet.
Remember, you can't outrun a black bear. They are extremely fast on the ground or climbing a tree. Warning signs of an attack include: a steady glare; ears laid back; smacking of the jaws and stomping of the front feet.
If the bear attacks, fight back with anything available. Act aggressively. Throwing rocks or hitting a bear with large sticks has been effective some cases.
f you're home when a black bear enters your property, there are lots of things you can do to deter it from coming closer or staying. Do not attempt to deter a grizzly (brown) bear on your own - call for help!
The most important tool we have at our disposal is our own human presence, particularly the use of direct eye contact and a take charge ATTITUDE! First ensure that the bear has a clear and safe avenue of escape with no people or obstacles in its way. Look directly at the bear, facing it and standing tall. Yell at the bear and firmly tell it to leave! "Get out of here, bear!" Keep a can of pepper spray in hand (with the safety removed) in case the bear approaches you too close. Or gather a group of people together - the more people, the more intimidating you will appear to the bear - simply out number it.
You may use any of the tools noted below in order to appear even more intimidating to the bear.....
Stones aimed at the bear's rump - never throw stones directly in the bear's face. Stones should not be larger than a golf ball.
A soup can filled with pebbles and taped shut. Shake it vigorously and then, perhaps throw it beside the bear. These work particularly well in areas where bears may already encounter rattle snakes.
Big huge beach balls can be tossed at bears often times scaring the heck out of them, opening and closing an umbrella, shaking a big plastic (colored) tarp or a big plastic garbage bag, or banging pots and pans can work as well.
Varying your technique each time a bear attempts to return works better than always just banging pots and pans or sounding an air horn. Bears catch on quickly if everyone does the same thing, get used to it and soon ignore it.
Keep a baseball bat handy to beat on trees. If a bear climbs up a tree to escape, yell at them and beat the base of the tree. Keep them up there for a while, smacking the tree and telling them off. It really scares them. After they've been picked on long enough go back inside your home, let them come down and watch them tear off.
These techniques have been provided courtesy of Ann Bryant of the Lake Tahoe BEAR League.
I suggest carrying a large caliber pistol (at least .357 class) with you and have your hunting rifle within reach.
Remember bear season is November 24-January 3.
The bear or bears appear to have lost all fear of humans and will stay in the immediate area, even when shouted at.
Cabins and Residential Areas
Never leave unattended food or garbage outside.
Do not feed birds between April and November.
Do not leave pet food outside (especially overnight).
Bear-proof bee hives, compost piles, and gardens with electric or chain-link fence.
Do not leave food as bait for any animals or leave food scraps on the ground.
If a bear approaches, move your family and any food indoors immediately.
Bear Encounters
Although black bears rarely attack, they are powerful animals and are capable of injuring or killing humans. These steps may be helpful if you encounter a bear.
If you see a bear in the distance, make a wide detour or leave the area.
Do not feed or toss food to a bear, or any other wild animal.
Pick up children or put them on your shoulders.
Never approach bears - they are dangerous wild animals. If a bear changes its natural behavior because of your presence, you are too close.
Give a bear plenty of room to pass, and it usually will.
If a bear approaches you:
Don't run.
Drop your backpack and then,
Back away slowly.
Face the bear, but don't look directly into its eyes.
Keep it in sight.
Make yourself look bigger by waving your arms and yelling.
Make lots of noise and stomp your feet.
Remember, you can't outrun a black bear. They are extremely fast on the ground or climbing a tree. Warning signs of an attack include: a steady glare; ears laid back; smacking of the jaws and stomping of the front feet.
If the bear attacks, fight back with anything available. Act aggressively. Throwing rocks or hitting a bear with large sticks has been effective some cases.
f you're home when a black bear enters your property, there are lots of things you can do to deter it from coming closer or staying. Do not attempt to deter a grizzly (brown) bear on your own - call for help!
The most important tool we have at our disposal is our own human presence, particularly the use of direct eye contact and a take charge ATTITUDE! First ensure that the bear has a clear and safe avenue of escape with no people or obstacles in its way. Look directly at the bear, facing it and standing tall. Yell at the bear and firmly tell it to leave! "Get out of here, bear!" Keep a can of pepper spray in hand (with the safety removed) in case the bear approaches you too close. Or gather a group of people together - the more people, the more intimidating you will appear to the bear - simply out number it.
You may use any of the tools noted below in order to appear even more intimidating to the bear.....
Stones aimed at the bear's rump - never throw stones directly in the bear's face. Stones should not be larger than a golf ball.
A soup can filled with pebbles and taped shut. Shake it vigorously and then, perhaps throw it beside the bear. These work particularly well in areas where bears may already encounter rattle snakes.
Big huge beach balls can be tossed at bears often times scaring the heck out of them, opening and closing an umbrella, shaking a big plastic (colored) tarp or a big plastic garbage bag, or banging pots and pans can work as well.
Varying your technique each time a bear attempts to return works better than always just banging pots and pans or sounding an air horn. Bears catch on quickly if everyone does the same thing, get used to it and soon ignore it.
Keep a baseball bat handy to beat on trees. If a bear climbs up a tree to escape, yell at them and beat the base of the tree. Keep them up there for a while, smacking the tree and telling them off. It really scares them. After they've been picked on long enough go back inside your home, let them come down and watch them tear off.
These techniques have been provided courtesy of Ann Bryant of the Lake Tahoe BEAR League.
I suggest carrying a large caliber pistol (at least .357 class) with you and have your hunting rifle within reach.
Remember bear season is November 24-January 3.
The latest Forest Service Proposed Actions
Laurel Run CE
- Vegetation management (other than forest products)
- Wildlife, Fish, Rare plants
Description: Wildlife Openings on approximately 11 acres
Location: UNIT - Lee Ranger District. STATE - Virginia. COUNTY - Shenandoah. Lee Ranger District; Shenandoah County, Virginia; Great North Mtn.
In Progress:
Scoping 02/24/2005 Start 06/2008 Expected:12/2008
Contact:
Holden Mason
540-984-4101
hmason@fs.fed.us
Laurel Run/Road Timber Sale EA
Description: Proposal to harvest about 484 acres in 22 cutting units
Location: UNIT - Lee Ranger District. STATE - Virginia. COUNTY - Shenandoah. Sideslopes of Great North Mt, Sine Mt, Middle Mt, and Fat Mt.
Actual: 04/11/2008 Expected Implementation: 05/2009
Contact:
Holden Mason
540-984-4101
hmason@fs.fed.us
- Vegetation management (other than forest products)
- Wildlife, Fish, Rare plants
Description: Wildlife Openings on approximately 11 acres
Location: UNIT - Lee Ranger District. STATE - Virginia. COUNTY - Shenandoah. Lee Ranger District; Shenandoah County, Virginia; Great North Mtn.
In Progress:
Scoping 02/24/2005 Start 06/2008 Expected:12/2008
Contact:
Holden Mason
540-984-4101
hmason@fs.fed.us
Laurel Run/Road Timber Sale EA
Description: Proposal to harvest about 484 acres in 22 cutting units
Location: UNIT - Lee Ranger District. STATE - Virginia. COUNTY - Shenandoah. Sideslopes of Great North Mt, Sine Mt, Middle Mt, and Fat Mt.
Actual: 04/11/2008 Expected Implementation: 05/2009
Contact:
Holden Mason
540-984-4101
hmason@fs.fed.us
Outhouse at the cabin
Thursday I had an outhouse delivered to the cabin from Valley Portable Toilets.
They already had a unit intalled at the Hotel California's campsite.
At the spring meeting, it was decided to get a portajohn for the fall hunting season to reduce the waste load on the existing outhouse.
The cost for a basic unit, serviced weekly, is $78/month.
We will put a combination lock on the gate to allow them weekly access.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Wind turbines Location Map
FreedomWorks Shenandoah is 215 MW wind plant proposed on Shenandoah Mountain within George Washington National Forest. FreedomWorks has begun testing permit application process with U.S. Forest Service for MET tower ands special use permits to facilitate avian and bat mist net studies. FreedomWorks Shenandoah will help prepare an environmental impact statement to make sure the project is also is environmentally sound. Testing and study period is expected to last two years after permit issuance.(See Vawind.org map, and press articles below).
Wind turbines to be built in GW Forest
Wind Turbine Forum
People in Shenandoah County had the opportunity to hear both sides of the wind turbine debate Tuesday night at a public forum. They turned out to learn more about what potential impacts, good and bad, the turbines would have. Impacts to land, wildlife, and the local economy are just a few of the considerations. ... After about two hours, people left with much to consider. "Both of them brought up good points," says Kelley. "And, it's just something that I think is going to take some time to absorb everything."
June 19, 2008 by Michael Hyland in WHSV TV3
People in Shenandoah County had the opportunity to hear both sides of the wind turbine debate Tuesday night at a public forum. They turned out to learn more about what potential impacts, good and bad, the turbines would have.
Impacts to land, wildlife, and the local economy are just a few of the considerations.
Douglas Kelley was one of about 250 people looking to understand a plan to put about 130 turbines on the Virginia-West Virginia border in the George Washington National Forest.
"We've got ourselves dependent on something," says Kelley. "And here's something that may be a solution or may be part of a solution."
The group, Shenandoah Forum, hosted the event after gaging public interest.
"We don't know enough to take a position," says Rosemary Wallinger, president of the group. "And tonight was a first step in getting some information."
Frank Maisano, a representative of the business interested in developing the turbines, FreedomWorks LLC, spoke to the potential economic benefits, including tourism. He says the mammoth structures can be a big draw for curious tourists.
"We are going to develop projects only where it makes sense," says Maisano. "Hopefully, it will be done in an appropriate manner."
Environmental specialist Dan Boone doesn't oppose developing wind energy but doesn't think our area is the best spot to pursue it.
Impacted areas would be on public land near the borders of Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Hardy counties. The turbines would be about 440 feet tall. The U.S. Forest Service and the Federal Aviation Administration are two regulatory agencies that would have to approve any such construction.
"There [are] many tremendous areas for wind energy development in the Midwest, far greater than the East," says Boone.
Opponents cite threats to bat and bird populations and say the turbines would only reduce the rate of growth of CO2 emissions, not lower them outright.
"Our greatest demand for electricity is during the summer, and wind turbines produce their least amount of electricity in the three summer months," says Boone.
"Unfortunately, those who don't want wind turbines in their own backyard want them in someone else's backyard," says Maisano. "And the fact of the matter is this region needs wind turbines."
After about two hours, people left with much to consider.
"Both of them brought up good points," says Kelley. "And, it's just something that I think is going to take some time to absorb everything."
The U.S. Department of Energy recently released a report detailing how they'd like to achieve the goal of generating 20 percent of our nation's electricity from wind power by 2030.
JMU will hold a two-day symposium on wind energy starting Wednesday.
http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/20205309.html
People in Shenandoah County had the opportunity to hear both sides of the wind turbine debate Tuesday night at a public forum. They turned out to learn more about what potential impacts, good and bad, the turbines would have. Impacts to land, wildlife, and the local economy are just a few of the considerations. ... After about two hours, people left with much to consider. "Both of them brought up good points," says Kelley. "And, it's just something that I think is going to take some time to absorb everything."
June 19, 2008 by Michael Hyland in WHSV TV3
People in Shenandoah County had the opportunity to hear both sides of the wind turbine debate Tuesday night at a public forum. They turned out to learn more about what potential impacts, good and bad, the turbines would have.
Impacts to land, wildlife, and the local economy are just a few of the considerations.
Douglas Kelley was one of about 250 people looking to understand a plan to put about 130 turbines on the Virginia-West Virginia border in the George Washington National Forest.
"We've got ourselves dependent on something," says Kelley. "And here's something that may be a solution or may be part of a solution."
The group, Shenandoah Forum, hosted the event after gaging public interest.
"We don't know enough to take a position," says Rosemary Wallinger, president of the group. "And tonight was a first step in getting some information."
Frank Maisano, a representative of the business interested in developing the turbines, FreedomWorks LLC, spoke to the potential economic benefits, including tourism. He says the mammoth structures can be a big draw for curious tourists.
"We are going to develop projects only where it makes sense," says Maisano. "Hopefully, it will be done in an appropriate manner."
Environmental specialist Dan Boone doesn't oppose developing wind energy but doesn't think our area is the best spot to pursue it.
Impacted areas would be on public land near the borders of Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Hardy counties. The turbines would be about 440 feet tall. The U.S. Forest Service and the Federal Aviation Administration are two regulatory agencies that would have to approve any such construction.
"There [are] many tremendous areas for wind energy development in the Midwest, far greater than the East," says Boone.
Opponents cite threats to bat and bird populations and say the turbines would only reduce the rate of growth of CO2 emissions, not lower them outright.
"Our greatest demand for electricity is during the summer, and wind turbines produce their least amount of electricity in the three summer months," says Boone.
"Unfortunately, those who don't want wind turbines in their own backyard want them in someone else's backyard," says Maisano. "And the fact of the matter is this region needs wind turbines."
After about two hours, people left with much to consider.
"Both of them brought up good points," says Kelley. "And, it's just something that I think is going to take some time to absorb everything."
The U.S. Department of Energy recently released a report detailing how they'd like to achieve the goal of generating 20 percent of our nation's electricity from wind power by 2030.
JMU will hold a two-day symposium on wind energy starting Wednesday.
http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/20205309.html
Forum on wind turbines
Forum on wind turbines tonight
A community forum on the pros and cons of wind turbines along the Virginia-West Virginia border will be held tonight at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School in Woodstock. ...The discussion was triggered in March by a proposal by FreedomWorks LLC, a renewable-energy firm from Harpers Ferry, W.Va., to study the impact of constructing 130 440-foot wind turbines in George Washington National Forest, said Rosemary Wallinger, chairman of the Forum. Freedom Works requested the Federal Aviation Administration look into the plan. The FAA is one of the regulatory bodies involved in wind farm proposals. The proposal also would need the approval of the U.S. Forest Service.
June 17, 2008 by Anthony Bootz in The Daily News Record
Shenandoah Group Hosts Woodstock TalkA community forum on the pros and cons of wind turbines along the Virginia-West Virginia border will be held tonight at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School in Woodstock.
The Shenandoah Forum, a group of central Valley residents working to foster discussion about growth and development in Shenandoah County, is hosting the event, which will run from 7 to 9 p.m.
The discussion was triggered in March by a proposal by FreedomWorks LLC, a renewable-energy firm from Harpers Ferry, W.Va., to study the impact of constructing 130 440-foot wind turbines in George Washington National Forest, said Rosemary Wallinger, chairman of the Forum.
Freedom Works requested the Federal Aviation Administration look into the plan. The FAA is one of the regulatory bodies involved in wind farm proposals. The proposal also would need the approval of the U.S. Forest Service.
Goal An ‘Informed' Public
The study is the first of many hurdles the company would have to jump to build its turbines on public land in Shenandoah and Rockingham counties. The approval process could take two to three years, according to officials familiar with the plan.
"Our goal is to provide the community with two things: sources we consider authoritative and accurate, and to provide a format for people to ask questions and get answers so that they can make informed decisions," said Wallinger.
Tonight's forum will feature a point-counterpoint format with presentations by environmental consultant and policy analyst Dan Boone, as well as Frank Maisono, spokesman for MidWind, an ad-hoc group of mid-Atlantic wind developers. FreedomWorks is a member of MidWind.
"My role is simply to provide information and alternative analysis," said Boone, formerly with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "It's up to the people to decide whether the pros and cons match up."
David Carr of the Southern Environmental Law Center also will speak about the legal issues involved in the proposal and the opportunities for public involvement in FreedomWorks' permitting process. Carr will also cover the public's role in the ensuing update of George Washington National Forest's management plan.
A question-and-answer session will follow the presentations.
Local Support ‘Essential'
FreedomWorks declined to speak at the event, said Tim Williamson, managing director for the company, citing the company's intention to provide a series of community meetings following approval of the plan.
"We understand that gaining local support is essential to the viability of the project," Williamson said.
The arguments for and against the turbines run the gamut from cleaner, domestic energy, to ecological and aesthetic concerns for local hiking trails and the region's many Civil War battlefields.
"Our organization is very much in favor of alternative energy ... that includes wind," said Jim Murray, president of the Virginia Wildlife Committee, an organization that has close ties with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
"However, we think some places are inappropriate, specifically the high ridges of the [forest]."
Murray cites the danger turbines could have on birds whose principal southern routes run through the Virginia-West Virginia ridgeline. He also expressed concern about the federally protected Cow Knob salamander, which can only be found in the mountain ranges along the Virginias.
Impact On Battlefields
The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, along with other organizations in the Valley, has offered a contribution to Shenandoah Forum to help cover some of the costs of the event, said Howard Kittel, the foundation's executive director.
The wind turbines, Kittel said, would damage the "experience" of the three Civil War battlefields the proposed building sites border: Toms Brook, Fishers Hill and New Market.
"They aren't taking a pro- or anti-position to the issue," Kittel said. "We felt that was an important approach and that it was a great opportunity to quell rumors and get information out there about the proposal."
The forum has been involved in other hot-button issues in the central Valley. It hosted a January 2005 discussion on the proposed expansion of Interstate 81.
http://www.dailynews-record.com/opinion_details.php?AID=29236&CHID=1
A community forum on the pros and cons of wind turbines along the Virginia-West Virginia border will be held tonight at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School in Woodstock. ...The discussion was triggered in March by a proposal by FreedomWorks LLC, a renewable-energy firm from Harpers Ferry, W.Va., to study the impact of constructing 130 440-foot wind turbines in George Washington National Forest, said Rosemary Wallinger, chairman of the Forum. Freedom Works requested the Federal Aviation Administration look into the plan. The FAA is one of the regulatory bodies involved in wind farm proposals. The proposal also would need the approval of the U.S. Forest Service.
June 17, 2008 by Anthony Bootz in The Daily News Record
Shenandoah Group Hosts Woodstock TalkA community forum on the pros and cons of wind turbines along the Virginia-West Virginia border will be held tonight at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School in Woodstock.
The Shenandoah Forum, a group of central Valley residents working to foster discussion about growth and development in Shenandoah County, is hosting the event, which will run from 7 to 9 p.m.
The discussion was triggered in March by a proposal by FreedomWorks LLC, a renewable-energy firm from Harpers Ferry, W.Va., to study the impact of constructing 130 440-foot wind turbines in George Washington National Forest, said Rosemary Wallinger, chairman of the Forum.
Freedom Works requested the Federal Aviation Administration look into the plan. The FAA is one of the regulatory bodies involved in wind farm proposals. The proposal also would need the approval of the U.S. Forest Service.
Goal An ‘Informed' Public
The study is the first of many hurdles the company would have to jump to build its turbines on public land in Shenandoah and Rockingham counties. The approval process could take two to three years, according to officials familiar with the plan.
"Our goal is to provide the community with two things: sources we consider authoritative and accurate, and to provide a format for people to ask questions and get answers so that they can make informed decisions," said Wallinger.
Tonight's forum will feature a point-counterpoint format with presentations by environmental consultant and policy analyst Dan Boone, as well as Frank Maisono, spokesman for MidWind, an ad-hoc group of mid-Atlantic wind developers. FreedomWorks is a member of MidWind.
"My role is simply to provide information and alternative analysis," said Boone, formerly with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "It's up to the people to decide whether the pros and cons match up."
David Carr of the Southern Environmental Law Center also will speak about the legal issues involved in the proposal and the opportunities for public involvement in FreedomWorks' permitting process. Carr will also cover the public's role in the ensuing update of George Washington National Forest's management plan.
A question-and-answer session will follow the presentations.
Local Support ‘Essential'
FreedomWorks declined to speak at the event, said Tim Williamson, managing director for the company, citing the company's intention to provide a series of community meetings following approval of the plan.
"We understand that gaining local support is essential to the viability of the project," Williamson said.
The arguments for and against the turbines run the gamut from cleaner, domestic energy, to ecological and aesthetic concerns for local hiking trails and the region's many Civil War battlefields.
"Our organization is very much in favor of alternative energy ... that includes wind," said Jim Murray, president of the Virginia Wildlife Committee, an organization that has close ties with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
"However, we think some places are inappropriate, specifically the high ridges of the [forest]."
Murray cites the danger turbines could have on birds whose principal southern routes run through the Virginia-West Virginia ridgeline. He also expressed concern about the federally protected Cow Knob salamander, which can only be found in the mountain ranges along the Virginias.
Impact On Battlefields
The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, along with other organizations in the Valley, has offered a contribution to Shenandoah Forum to help cover some of the costs of the event, said Howard Kittel, the foundation's executive director.
The wind turbines, Kittel said, would damage the "experience" of the three Civil War battlefields the proposed building sites border: Toms Brook, Fishers Hill and New Market.
"They aren't taking a pro- or anti-position to the issue," Kittel said. "We felt that was an important approach and that it was a great opportunity to quell rumors and get information out there about the proposal."
The forum has been involved in other hot-button issues in the central Valley. It hosted a January 2005 discussion on the proposed expansion of Interstate 81.
http://www.dailynews-record.com/opinion_details.php?AID=29236&CHID=1
Friday, June 20, 2008
Plan for Next Hunting Season! Helpful dates for 2008 season openings
For complete listings of seasons and bag limits see 2008-2009 Hunting and Trapping in Virginia digest available July 1, 2008.
Opening dates for selected species
Deer
Archery: Oct. 4, 2008
Muzzleloader (east and west of the Blue Ridge): Nov. 1, 2008
Firearms: Nov. 15, 2008
Bear
Archery: Oct. 11, 2008
Muzzleloader: Nov. 11, 2008
Firearms: opening dates and season lengths vary depending on county; see digest
Turkey
Archery: Oct. 4, 2008
Fall Youth Hunt Day: Oct. 18, 2008
Firearms: Oct. 25, 2008 (season lengths vary; see digest)
Small Game
Grouse: Oct. 25, 2008
Quail: Nov. 8, 2008
Squirrel: Sept. 6, 2008
Opening dates for selected species
Deer
Archery: Oct. 4, 2008
Muzzleloader (east and west of the Blue Ridge): Nov. 1, 2008
Firearms: Nov. 15, 2008
Bear
Archery: Oct. 11, 2008
Muzzleloader: Nov. 11, 2008
Firearms: opening dates and season lengths vary depending on county; see digest
Turkey
Archery: Oct. 4, 2008
Fall Youth Hunt Day: Oct. 18, 2008
Firearms: Oct. 25, 2008 (season lengths vary; see digest)
Small Game
Grouse: Oct. 25, 2008
Quail: Nov. 8, 2008
Squirrel: Sept. 6, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
The entire Dellinger property is for sale.
The Dellinger brothers have decided to sell their entire property, not just the 10 acres on the other side of the road.
They want $199,000 for 50 acres.
This is the property adjacent to ours on the south side, near the Bear Lodge.
They want $199,000 for 50 acres.
This is the property adjacent to ours on the south side, near the Bear Lodge.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Sportsmen in crosshairs of General Assembly
By Bill Cochran
Thursday, January 17, 200
Bills that would have a serious impact on the way we hunt, fish, boat and trap are being introduced at a brisk rate in the 2008 Virginia General Assembly, including one that would lift the ban on Sunday hunting and another that would fire current members of the board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Here are some issues to keep an eye on:
SUNDAY HUNTING
Every session in recent years has seen one to three bills introduced that would ease or remove Virginia’s ban on Sunday hunting. They’ve always failed, and that likely will be the fate of this year’s attempt, SB 524, introduced by Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach. It would strike all references to Sunday hunting in the code, making Sunday a day of hunting just like any other day of the week.
While there is growing interest in hunting on Sunday, what has been lacking is any credible, organized move to get behind the effort. It is going to take more than someone just dumping a bill in the hopper.
DGIF UNDER ATTACK
Legislation has been introduced that reflects distrust and downright disgust of the DGIF. HB 1352, whose patron is R.L. Ware, R-Powhatan, would dismiss current DGIF board members and start fresh with new appointees. The bill also changes the way board members are appointed, mandates that they must have held a hunting or fishing license three consecutive years prior to their appointment and limits the term of the board chairman to one year.
Other bills would mandate greater accountability within the agency, something the current board already has made huge strides in accomplishing.
APPRENTICE LICENSE
There is a growing feeling that it should be easier for people to give hunting a try in order to see if it is something they would like to take up. Right now, entry-level participants first must pass a lengthy hunter education course and spend a chunk of change for licenses. Some simply say, “Forget it,” and license sales lag as a result.
Identical legislation introduced in the House and Senate would establish an apprentice hunting license that would temporarily waive the hunter education requirement and sell for a modest $10 for residents and $20 for non residents. It would be a one-time license, good for one year, and the user would have to be under direct supervision of licensed hunter 18-years old or above.
A similar set-up has been successful in several states. The bills are expected to receive the blessing of the DGIF. They are HB 1175, introduced by Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William County, and SB 617, introduced by former DGIF board members Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.
RETRIEVING DOGS
Hunters have the right to go onto private property to retrieve their dogs, but they’d best not do it while carrying a gun or bow under a bill introduced by Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville. His SB 263 calls for forfeiture of the gun or bow being carried and the loss of hunting rights for the current and following seasons. It already is against the law to carry weapons onto private land without permission to retrieve dogs, but the penalty is no where near this stiff.
Deeds, who has announced he will run for governor, unwisely decided not to wait for the outcome of a major study being conducted by DGIF on hound/landowner relationships.
BLAZE ORANGE
Hunters would be spending considerable more time wearing blaze orange, and more of it, under HB 872 introduced by Joseph Johnson, D-Abingdon. For the first time, blaze orange would be required during the muzzleloading season.
The bill mandates blaze orange “during any firearms deer season,” which I take to mean that anytime there is any firearm’s deer season in progress all other hunters, including turkey, varmint and bow would be required to wear blaze orange. This becomes a bit tricky in view of the fact that there are many overlapping season. Waterfowl hunters are exempt and so are bowhunters in areas where the discharge of firearms is prohibited by state or local ordinance.
Muzzleloaders, by the way, have an admirable safety record when it comes to serious gunshot wounds, but there was a fatality the past season in Bath County.
The amount of blaze orange required under Johnson’s bill would more than double, from 100-square inches to 250-squire inches. Anyone accompanying a hunter would be under the same requirements.
CHASING BEARS
Organized hound hunters want to be able to chase bears at night during the training season. This would give hunters who work the dayshift more opportunity to hunt, and it would provide cooler temperatures to work dogs.
Bear hunters have taken their request for night chasing to the DGIF, but it has gone unheeded, so it now comes up in the General Assembly via HB 886 introduced by Matthew Lohr, R-Harrisonburg.
Here again, is an issue that should be handled by the DGIF not the General Assembly.
LIFE JACKETS FOR KIDS
David Poisson, D-Sterling, believes that kids age 12 and under should be required by law to wear a life preserver when on a recreational boat less than 21 feet, unless they are in an enclosed cabin or below deck. His HB 1250 would mandate that, but the likelihood of it passing is slim. Recent sessions have seen similar bills fail.
DGIF has not given it much support in the past, although the agency highly recommends the use of personal flotation devices.
TRAPPING:
Trappers would receive a break through two bill introduced by R. L. Ware. His HB 114 would let trappers mark their traps with an identification number, issued by DGIF, rather than the current required name and address.
His HB 115 would authorize DGIF to allow trappers to visit complete submerged Conibear-style body-griping traps every 72 hours instead of the current 24 hours.
TURKEY GUNS
Hunters often debate whether rifles should be used in the hunting of turkeys. SB 365 introduced by Sen. John Watkins, R-Midlothian, would give counties the option of prohibiting rifles in turkey hunting.
No matter how you come down on the issue, the bill is a bad one because it meddles in an issue that should be left to the DGIF.
BAITING DEER
Virginia wildlife officials long have been opposed to hunting over bait; in fact, they have tightened baiting loopholes recently. But should hunters be allowed to use bait when dealing with nuisance deer?
HB 1016, introduced by Timothy Hugo, R-Centerville, would give the DGIF authority to authorize the killing of deer over bait in counties/cities that request this option for the special late-antlerless season.
SESSION OF THE DOG
According to a recent count by Bob Kane, president of the Virginia Hunting Dog Owners’ Association, no less than 26 animal-related bills have been introduced in the early going of this session, many of them impacting dogs, their breeding and their owners. The Humane Society of the United States has retained a Richmond lobbing firm “to push its anti-breeding, anti-owner agenda,” said Kane.
“The majority of these bill are extremely ill-considered; the most obvious of these is HB 538, [which is] HSUS’s effort to regulate Old Dominion hobby breeders, introduced by Bobby Orrock, [R-Thornburg],” Kane said.
RIGHT TO FLOAT
Just what right the public has to float, fish and navigate waters of the state often is open to speculation, not to mention confusion. HJ 114, introduced by Matthew Lohr, R-Harrisonburg, appears to be an effort to clear this up through the appointment of a six-member joint subcommittee assigned to study the issue.
Thursday, January 17, 200
Bills that would have a serious impact on the way we hunt, fish, boat and trap are being introduced at a brisk rate in the 2008 Virginia General Assembly, including one that would lift the ban on Sunday hunting and another that would fire current members of the board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Here are some issues to keep an eye on:
SUNDAY HUNTING
Every session in recent years has seen one to three bills introduced that would ease or remove Virginia’s ban on Sunday hunting. They’ve always failed, and that likely will be the fate of this year’s attempt, SB 524, introduced by Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach. It would strike all references to Sunday hunting in the code, making Sunday a day of hunting just like any other day of the week.
While there is growing interest in hunting on Sunday, what has been lacking is any credible, organized move to get behind the effort. It is going to take more than someone just dumping a bill in the hopper.
DGIF UNDER ATTACK
Legislation has been introduced that reflects distrust and downright disgust of the DGIF. HB 1352, whose patron is R.L. Ware, R-Powhatan, would dismiss current DGIF board members and start fresh with new appointees. The bill also changes the way board members are appointed, mandates that they must have held a hunting or fishing license three consecutive years prior to their appointment and limits the term of the board chairman to one year.
Other bills would mandate greater accountability within the agency, something the current board already has made huge strides in accomplishing.
APPRENTICE LICENSE
There is a growing feeling that it should be easier for people to give hunting a try in order to see if it is something they would like to take up. Right now, entry-level participants first must pass a lengthy hunter education course and spend a chunk of change for licenses. Some simply say, “Forget it,” and license sales lag as a result.
Identical legislation introduced in the House and Senate would establish an apprentice hunting license that would temporarily waive the hunter education requirement and sell for a modest $10 for residents and $20 for non residents. It would be a one-time license, good for one year, and the user would have to be under direct supervision of licensed hunter 18-years old or above.
A similar set-up has been successful in several states. The bills are expected to receive the blessing of the DGIF. They are HB 1175, introduced by Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William County, and SB 617, introduced by former DGIF board members Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.
RETRIEVING DOGS
Hunters have the right to go onto private property to retrieve their dogs, but they’d best not do it while carrying a gun or bow under a bill introduced by Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville. His SB 263 calls for forfeiture of the gun or bow being carried and the loss of hunting rights for the current and following seasons. It already is against the law to carry weapons onto private land without permission to retrieve dogs, but the penalty is no where near this stiff.
Deeds, who has announced he will run for governor, unwisely decided not to wait for the outcome of a major study being conducted by DGIF on hound/landowner relationships.
BLAZE ORANGE
Hunters would be spending considerable more time wearing blaze orange, and more of it, under HB 872 introduced by Joseph Johnson, D-Abingdon. For the first time, blaze orange would be required during the muzzleloading season.
The bill mandates blaze orange “during any firearms deer season,” which I take to mean that anytime there is any firearm’s deer season in progress all other hunters, including turkey, varmint and bow would be required to wear blaze orange. This becomes a bit tricky in view of the fact that there are many overlapping season. Waterfowl hunters are exempt and so are bowhunters in areas where the discharge of firearms is prohibited by state or local ordinance.
Muzzleloaders, by the way, have an admirable safety record when it comes to serious gunshot wounds, but there was a fatality the past season in Bath County.
The amount of blaze orange required under Johnson’s bill would more than double, from 100-square inches to 250-squire inches. Anyone accompanying a hunter would be under the same requirements.
CHASING BEARS
Organized hound hunters want to be able to chase bears at night during the training season. This would give hunters who work the dayshift more opportunity to hunt, and it would provide cooler temperatures to work dogs.
Bear hunters have taken their request for night chasing to the DGIF, but it has gone unheeded, so it now comes up in the General Assembly via HB 886 introduced by Matthew Lohr, R-Harrisonburg.
Here again, is an issue that should be handled by the DGIF not the General Assembly.
LIFE JACKETS FOR KIDS
David Poisson, D-Sterling, believes that kids age 12 and under should be required by law to wear a life preserver when on a recreational boat less than 21 feet, unless they are in an enclosed cabin or below deck. His HB 1250 would mandate that, but the likelihood of it passing is slim. Recent sessions have seen similar bills fail.
DGIF has not given it much support in the past, although the agency highly recommends the use of personal flotation devices.
TRAPPING:
Trappers would receive a break through two bill introduced by R. L. Ware. His HB 114 would let trappers mark their traps with an identification number, issued by DGIF, rather than the current required name and address.
His HB 115 would authorize DGIF to allow trappers to visit complete submerged Conibear-style body-griping traps every 72 hours instead of the current 24 hours.
TURKEY GUNS
Hunters often debate whether rifles should be used in the hunting of turkeys. SB 365 introduced by Sen. John Watkins, R-Midlothian, would give counties the option of prohibiting rifles in turkey hunting.
No matter how you come down on the issue, the bill is a bad one because it meddles in an issue that should be left to the DGIF.
BAITING DEER
Virginia wildlife officials long have been opposed to hunting over bait; in fact, they have tightened baiting loopholes recently. But should hunters be allowed to use bait when dealing with nuisance deer?
HB 1016, introduced by Timothy Hugo, R-Centerville, would give the DGIF authority to authorize the killing of deer over bait in counties/cities that request this option for the special late-antlerless season.
SESSION OF THE DOG
According to a recent count by Bob Kane, president of the Virginia Hunting Dog Owners’ Association, no less than 26 animal-related bills have been introduced in the early going of this session, many of them impacting dogs, their breeding and their owners. The Humane Society of the United States has retained a Richmond lobbing firm “to push its anti-breeding, anti-owner agenda,” said Kane.
“The majority of these bill are extremely ill-considered; the most obvious of these is HB 538, [which is] HSUS’s effort to regulate Old Dominion hobby breeders, introduced by Bobby Orrock, [R-Thornburg],” Kane said.
RIGHT TO FLOAT
Just what right the public has to float, fish and navigate waters of the state often is open to speculation, not to mention confusion. HJ 114, introduced by Matthew Lohr, R-Harrisonburg, appears to be an effort to clear this up through the appointment of a six-member joint subcommittee assigned to study the issue.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Can you believe how opening day of deer season has changed?
By Bill Cochran
On Saturday, I drove across a big chunk of Virginia, from table-flat Eastern Shore to the blue-hued mountains of the Southwest. It was opening day of the deer hunting season, yet unless you were a hunter you probably wouldn’t notice. You had to look closely for evidence.
I spotted three pickups bearing dog boxes in the edge of a field in the Piedmont. Occasionally I would see a guy wearing a blaze orange cap going into a convenience store. On the highway were a few ATVs jammed into pickup beds.
Most startling was what I didn’t see. Not a single dead deer in the bed of a pickup or strapped to a vehicle, soft fur to hard metal. Nor would there be a story and pictures of first-day results in the Sunday Roanoke Times.
My, how opening day has changed.
I am certain there were pockets of intense activities, say in Southampton County where deer clubs were turning their hounds loose, or on private farms tucked into the fringes of the Blue Ridge in Bedford County, or on national forest property in Bath, Highland, Craig and Botetourt. But you’d have to look far and hard to find anything like the concentrations of deer hunters that once were common.
I recall 35 years ago you’d see a steady string of red taillights as a convoy of deer hunters headed north on U.S. 220 in the predawn darkness. They would late in the day, a 55 mph conveyor belt of deer in every grotesque shape of death you could imagine. A big buck on a Bonneville; a couple of spikes bouncing in a homemade trailer; deer lashed to hoods, to fenders to rooftops, eyes glazed, stomachs slit, tongues frozen in last-gasp positions, legs broken, blood for all to see, even those who didn’t want to see it.
What you couldn’t see in the dark interior of the vehicles was the joy of hunters who had gotten the job done quickly and were headed for home or the butcher shop or maybe a drive through town to show off their buck in a celebration that was as much life as death.
I remember one morning in Bedford County counting more than 100 shots fired the first hour of daylight. In the national forest, places like Patterson Creek, Tub Run and the narrow, gravel roads that traverse Potts Mountain, the big task could be finding a place to park.
Opening day was on a Monday, and deer season lasted a scant week or two. Schools were closed and workers either took vacation or became skillful at calling in sick. You’d better hope you didn’t need a plumber or mechanic or even a lawyer.
Wood smoke drifted from the chimneys of backcountry cabins, and campgrounds were filled with tents and trailers that had rusted wheel wells.
I once stopped at Blowing Springs Campground in Bath County and talked to a man who said he knew every one of the more than 200 people in the site. They had traveled from the coalfields of far Southwest Virginia, where deer were a rarity. They had brought their wives and kids and grandma and coon hounds, and the weather had turned hot and you could smell the stench of ripe deer hanging in the trees of the campground.
That’s how it once was. It is no longer like that, not because of a decline in deer hunters as much as the fact that deer hunting has been expanded across the state and across the calendar.
No longer do you have to drive from the coalfields to Bath County, because the coalfields have big bucks of their own. No longer do you have to crowd into national forest areas, because you are more likely to see a good buck flash around a barn in Roanoke, Botetourt or Franklin county than you are to see one in the wilderness. No longer is being out on opening day a must, because by using a variety of tools and seasons you can hunt deer from the first Saturday in October into January. That explains why I was driving, not hunting, opening day.
Deer hunting has become more methodical, more businesslike, with hunters spending an hour or two in a treestand before heading to work, or leaving the office a couple hours early. If they go to camp, some take a gun case in one hand and a laptop in the others. Many of the old cabins that housed deer clubs and harbored the aroma of smoke and greasy food have crumbled. Hunters nowadays are more likely to eat dinner at home, sleep in their own bed and shower regularly, rather than spend a week tethering between civilization and wilderness.
Gone are the red-clad crowds at country store check stations. A cell phone or computer is all you need to register a deer nowadays. Bites on a country store hotdog have given way to megabytes, and the store proprietor longs for your business.
Deer hunting isn’t the high testosterone, harsh language, hard drinks, men-only affair it once was. Chances are that the hunter on the next stand over from you is a lady.
And that’s pretty neat
On Saturday, I drove across a big chunk of Virginia, from table-flat Eastern Shore to the blue-hued mountains of the Southwest. It was opening day of the deer hunting season, yet unless you were a hunter you probably wouldn’t notice. You had to look closely for evidence.
I spotted three pickups bearing dog boxes in the edge of a field in the Piedmont. Occasionally I would see a guy wearing a blaze orange cap going into a convenience store. On the highway were a few ATVs jammed into pickup beds.
Most startling was what I didn’t see. Not a single dead deer in the bed of a pickup or strapped to a vehicle, soft fur to hard metal. Nor would there be a story and pictures of first-day results in the Sunday Roanoke Times.
My, how opening day has changed.
I am certain there were pockets of intense activities, say in Southampton County where deer clubs were turning their hounds loose, or on private farms tucked into the fringes of the Blue Ridge in Bedford County, or on national forest property in Bath, Highland, Craig and Botetourt. But you’d have to look far and hard to find anything like the concentrations of deer hunters that once were common.
I recall 35 years ago you’d see a steady string of red taillights as a convoy of deer hunters headed north on U.S. 220 in the predawn darkness. They would late in the day, a 55 mph conveyor belt of deer in every grotesque shape of death you could imagine. A big buck on a Bonneville; a couple of spikes bouncing in a homemade trailer; deer lashed to hoods, to fenders to rooftops, eyes glazed, stomachs slit, tongues frozen in last-gasp positions, legs broken, blood for all to see, even those who didn’t want to see it.
What you couldn’t see in the dark interior of the vehicles was the joy of hunters who had gotten the job done quickly and were headed for home or the butcher shop or maybe a drive through town to show off their buck in a celebration that was as much life as death.
I remember one morning in Bedford County counting more than 100 shots fired the first hour of daylight. In the national forest, places like Patterson Creek, Tub Run and the narrow, gravel roads that traverse Potts Mountain, the big task could be finding a place to park.
Opening day was on a Monday, and deer season lasted a scant week or two. Schools were closed and workers either took vacation or became skillful at calling in sick. You’d better hope you didn’t need a plumber or mechanic or even a lawyer.
Wood smoke drifted from the chimneys of backcountry cabins, and campgrounds were filled with tents and trailers that had rusted wheel wells.
I once stopped at Blowing Springs Campground in Bath County and talked to a man who said he knew every one of the more than 200 people in the site. They had traveled from the coalfields of far Southwest Virginia, where deer were a rarity. They had brought their wives and kids and grandma and coon hounds, and the weather had turned hot and you could smell the stench of ripe deer hanging in the trees of the campground.
That’s how it once was. It is no longer like that, not because of a decline in deer hunters as much as the fact that deer hunting has been expanded across the state and across the calendar.
No longer do you have to drive from the coalfields to Bath County, because the coalfields have big bucks of their own. No longer do you have to crowd into national forest areas, because you are more likely to see a good buck flash around a barn in Roanoke, Botetourt or Franklin county than you are to see one in the wilderness. No longer is being out on opening day a must, because by using a variety of tools and seasons you can hunt deer from the first Saturday in October into January. That explains why I was driving, not hunting, opening day.
Deer hunting has become more methodical, more businesslike, with hunters spending an hour or two in a treestand before heading to work, or leaving the office a couple hours early. If they go to camp, some take a gun case in one hand and a laptop in the others. Many of the old cabins that housed deer clubs and harbored the aroma of smoke and greasy food have crumbled. Hunters nowadays are more likely to eat dinner at home, sleep in their own bed and shower regularly, rather than spend a week tethering between civilization and wilderness.
Gone are the red-clad crowds at country store check stations. A cell phone or computer is all you need to register a deer nowadays. Bites on a country store hotdog have given way to megabytes, and the store proprietor longs for your business.
Deer hunting isn’t the high testosterone, harsh language, hard drinks, men-only affair it once was. Chances are that the hunter on the next stand over from you is a lady.
And that’s pretty neat
Friday, November 09, 2007
Is sharing the woods that big a deal?
By Bill Cochran
Next year at this time, bowhunters will be sharing the deer woods with muzzleloading hunters west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Some bowhunters don’t like that thought, but their quiet protest didn’t stop the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries from adding one week to the beginning of the western muzzleloading season starting next year.
The muzzleloading season dates will be Nov. 1-14 as compared to Nov. 10-16 this season. That means bowhunters in the west will have to share two weeks of their early season with muzzleloaders, rather than one, which already is the case in the east.
Bowhunters aren’t losing any hunting days in the deal, but what they are losing is the quality of the hunt, said Dave Burpee, hunting vice president of the Virginia Bowhunters Association. Gunfire makes deer hunting an entirely different game, he said.
“The loss of this week reduces the precious time an archer has in the woods to hunt deer that are not yet alerted by the sound of gunfire,” he said.
The new week to be shared happens to be a prime time for bowhunters, because the weather is beginning to cool and deer are becoming more active. Often the first two weeks of the bow season, which opens the first Saturday in October, are marked by high temperatures that make hunting difficult, Burpee said. That was the case this season.
“Every time someone proposes a new season or additional hunting time it seems to encroach on the early archery season,” a hunter from Linville told the DGIF.
Some purist bowhunters still are smarting over the fact that crossbows use was added to the bow season the fall of 2005. But that’s not the case for all archers. Many simply traded their compound for a crossbow. Others, who never tried bowhuning, have taken up crossbow hunting because they see it as quick and easy access to the long and lucrative archery season.
Crossbow license sales this season have passed the 20,000 mark, a record, while bow license sales have declined. Bow license sales still are twice that of crossbows.
Bowhunters aren’t the only ones sharing the woods with muzzleloaders. Add turkey, grouse and rabbit hunters to the list. There simply aren’t enough weeks in November to go around, so overlapping is going to occur.
But is sharing all that bad?
The National Ruffed Grouse Society says it sees no major problems with muzzleloaders using the woods the same time as grouse hunters. Difficulties haven’t occurred in other states where this happens, a society spokesman said.
But some grouse hunters will tell you that it is a bit unnerving to have their treasured dogs running through woods that harbor gun-toting deer hunters lurking in the shadows. Some may sit out the muzzleloading season, the same as they now do the modern firearm’s season.
That will mean one less week of grouse hunting next year. Outside a few days at the end of October, grouse hunters will have to wait until Dec. 2 for the woods to be cleared of significant numbers of deer hunters bearing firearms.
As for bowhunters, sharing the woods an extra week shouldn’t be a major loss. Not in this era when there are so many deer and so many places to hunt them. It is not like everyone is confined to the national forest, which once was the case. Most hunting nowadays takes place on private land, where the landowner can decide who get access.
Even so, you have to like the fact that bowhutners consider their season and the quality of their sport worth fighting for.
Next year at this time, bowhunters will be sharing the deer woods with muzzleloading hunters west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Some bowhunters don’t like that thought, but their quiet protest didn’t stop the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries from adding one week to the beginning of the western muzzleloading season starting next year.
The muzzleloading season dates will be Nov. 1-14 as compared to Nov. 10-16 this season. That means bowhunters in the west will have to share two weeks of their early season with muzzleloaders, rather than one, which already is the case in the east.
Bowhunters aren’t losing any hunting days in the deal, but what they are losing is the quality of the hunt, said Dave Burpee, hunting vice president of the Virginia Bowhunters Association. Gunfire makes deer hunting an entirely different game, he said.
“The loss of this week reduces the precious time an archer has in the woods to hunt deer that are not yet alerted by the sound of gunfire,” he said.
The new week to be shared happens to be a prime time for bowhunters, because the weather is beginning to cool and deer are becoming more active. Often the first two weeks of the bow season, which opens the first Saturday in October, are marked by high temperatures that make hunting difficult, Burpee said. That was the case this season.
“Every time someone proposes a new season or additional hunting time it seems to encroach on the early archery season,” a hunter from Linville told the DGIF.
Some purist bowhunters still are smarting over the fact that crossbows use was added to the bow season the fall of 2005. But that’s not the case for all archers. Many simply traded their compound for a crossbow. Others, who never tried bowhuning, have taken up crossbow hunting because they see it as quick and easy access to the long and lucrative archery season.
Crossbow license sales this season have passed the 20,000 mark, a record, while bow license sales have declined. Bow license sales still are twice that of crossbows.
Bowhunters aren’t the only ones sharing the woods with muzzleloaders. Add turkey, grouse and rabbit hunters to the list. There simply aren’t enough weeks in November to go around, so overlapping is going to occur.
But is sharing all that bad?
The National Ruffed Grouse Society says it sees no major problems with muzzleloaders using the woods the same time as grouse hunters. Difficulties haven’t occurred in other states where this happens, a society spokesman said.
But some grouse hunters will tell you that it is a bit unnerving to have their treasured dogs running through woods that harbor gun-toting deer hunters lurking in the shadows. Some may sit out the muzzleloading season, the same as they now do the modern firearm’s season.
That will mean one less week of grouse hunting next year. Outside a few days at the end of October, grouse hunters will have to wait until Dec. 2 for the woods to be cleared of significant numbers of deer hunters bearing firearms.
As for bowhunters, sharing the woods an extra week shouldn’t be a major loss. Not in this era when there are so many deer and so many places to hunt them. It is not like everyone is confined to the national forest, which once was the case. Most hunting nowadays takes place on private land, where the landowner can decide who get access.
Even so, you have to like the fact that bowhutners consider their season and the quality of their sport worth fighting for.
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