www.roanoke.com

My buddy Freddy McGuire shot this awesome video April 18 in Bedford County while hunting with Jeff D'Agostino over D'Agostino's stuffed gobbler decoy, Uno.

This is going to make you want to stuff the next gobbler you kill just to use it as a decoy.

At the end of the segment Freddy says, "Robbie is in there taking a shower. He is gonna have a coronary."

Robbie is Freddy's brother. He roosted these two birds and spent some time in the blind with these guys that morning. But he had to leave for work, and the gobblers showed up shortly thereafter. Actually, Robbie, who is about as low-key as anyone I know, was totally cool with these guys shooting "his" turkeys.

They had only one gun and Jeff shot first. That black thing you see flapping up is the window screen. When the second gobbler stuck around, Jeff handed Freddy the gun and he was able to kill the other longbeard. Unfortunately Freddy had to shoot out the side window of the blind so that kill wasn't on camera.

Freddy, who runs the Vaturkey.com Web site, shoots some video for the guys who put together the Blue Ridge Mountain Memories (airs on WHSV TV in Harrisonburg) and Just Kill'n Time (Sportsman Channel) TV shows. This hunt will certainly end up on one of those shows next spring so I had to do a little begging to get my hands on it. Thanks to Freddy and Max Rowe (of those shows and BTD Outdoors Scents and Game Calls) for letting me slip this sneak preview out there a year early!

A couple of months ago, after a sobering trip to my doctor, I signed up for a short triathlon to help keep me motivated as I worked to get back into decent shape.

Other than a two-week layoff during a particularly nasty cold, my training has been going reasonbly well. I've been swimming, biking or running about five or six days a week.

I've lost about 7 pounds, which isn't as much as I'd hoped for but better than nothing. I just broke under 200 pounds, which means I could probably have made weight for the masters clydesdales class if I drank a big jug of water before the event. (Actually, do they even weigh you in for that? Or is it just on the honor system?)

But everything almost all came to a crashing halt today when I nearly died -- trying on a wetsuit.

After a couple weeks of digging I finally located the old Wavelength suit I wore back when I was doing these things in the late '80s and early '90s. It was in amazingly good shape. It is also a medium tall. Medium? I didn't think I ever wore medium.

I knew it was going to be a rough one. So I stripped down and got to work. The suit was tight on my legs, but it got really ugly when I got the chest. I got the thing zipped up, but it was so tight I had a flashback to those old football practice fumble drills when I'd end up on the bottom of the pile. I could breath, but barely. I was even a little claustrophobic. I wasn't much under 185 even back then but I guess 15 pounds is enough to make a BIG difference.

Bottom line, there's no way I could swim 25 meters in that thing, let alone 750 meters. So I'm loaning it to a skinny co-worker who's also doing the race.

I've got an full-body surf suit that's larger, but I expect the lake will be too warm. So I guess I'll wear the neoprene shorts and shirt I use for cool-water kayaking. It's not exactly sleek, but it's not like the extra drag is going to be the difference between me finishing on or off the podium. I could wear the best wetsuit in the world and ride the best bike and I'd still finish way back.

But I will finish, which is the goal at this point.

Despite brutal winds, Norma Quarles of Roanoke was able to kill this trophy gobbler last Tuesday while hunting with her husband, Carson, in Botetourt County. The bird weighed more than 22 pounds, had a 9-inch beard and incredible 1.5-inch spurs.

While some hunters were able to buck the horrible weather during the season's first few days, most were happy to see conditions lighten up toward the end of the week. The milder weather not only was more comfortable, but the gobblers were more active.

I got out Saturday, my second hunt of the season after walking miles in the rain on opening morning without hearing a bird.

Saturday was better. Hunting private land in Bedford County I heard several gobblers before first light.

I was working into position on one when I managed to get too close and spooked him off the roost.

There were a couple birds a couple hollows over so I hustled over there. I couldn't get too close because there was a big open area that I couldn't risk crossing, so I set up under a pine tree.

After the birds flew down I could hear one that was hanging out in a small field. He didn't pay much attention to calls but shock gobbled at everything. I was pinned down so I planned to just wait him out. Complicating matters was the hunter on the adjoining property. He heard the gobbler, too.

He must have been using an electronic call (which is illegal, actually) because it had two calls -- a five-note yelp and a gobble that sounded like one of those toy turkeys. There was no variation in either of the calls.

I just made a few subtle calls now and then so the gobbler knew I was there. The gobbler didn't respond but the hunter answered nearly every one of my calls with either a yelp or a gobble. It was kind of funny, actually.

Well, after about an hour I finally saw movement. I thought it was him strutting but it was actually cows. When they started coming through the field the gobbler came into the woods and started working his way toward me. He was probably 100 yards away and it was pretty thick. I had to get my gun up. I should have waited until he was in the bottom of the hollow and out of view. But I was literally under the bows of a pine tree so I thought I was OK. I wasn't. As soon as I moved he turned around. He just walked away and never made another sound.

I moved around and checked out a few more spots. The only other gobbles I heard the rest of the morning were those from the hunter across the creek.

I hope to get out a couple of times this week. Saturday I'm carrying a video camera on an NWTF Wheelin' Sportsman hunt in Bedford County.

I've spent the past day working on turkey hunting coverage, which seems pretty surreal and trivial in light of what's going on in Blacksburg. But the fact is, while the Virginia Tech shooting will dominate our paper for days, weeks and probably months to come, the paper needs other content. So, while I'm on standby to help with coverage if needed, I'll just do my best to do my job. And I hope my readers can appreciate seeing something other than the coverge of that unthinkable tragedy.

As I wrote in my column in today's paper, I was a little surprised to hear that 780 hunters checked in gobblers by phone Saturday, the season's opening day. That was 95 more than on last year's opener. Hunters in Eastern Virginia were able to get in some hunting before the rain hit. Some Western Virginia hunters, including Troy Lamy (pictured above with a nice Patrick County gobbler), took advantage of breaks in the rain. And, no doubt some hunters located turkeys in fields, with many likely shooting the birds at a distance with rifles (which is legal here).

I surmised that hunting was tougher in yesterday's wind. At least I got that part right. According to the phone check-in numbers I just got, only 152 turkeys were checked in on Monday. That's barely a third of the 421 checked in on the first Monday last spring.

One of my buddies called one in for a friend yesterday. He was out there today and said they didn't hear a thing. So, today's kill was probably even lower.

Looks like weather should be a little better for the next few days, although there is more rain in the forecast.

Today was Virginia's spring gobbler season opener. I hunted national forest land in Botetourt County. My buddy Sam Dean and I left early to make sure we got our spot and we did.

I think we walked at least 6 miles, and did'nt hear anything. Actually, Sam said at one point he thought he heard a distant gobble but then added, "It may have been my imagination."

It rained steadily the whole time. I had a Gore-Tex shell but got soaked anyway. May have been from sweat from all the uphill walking. I knew rain was expected. I don't have camo rain pants so I sprayed some old camo pants with Scotch Guard yesterday. Didn't work.

We did find some great sign and I have confidence that if we (or I) get back in there we'll at least have some action.

We ran into four hunters. One had heard one turkey gobble twice, and another guy had seen five hens. So, it was tough for everyone up there.

Driving home we saw about two dozen turkeys in fields. We were joking about going and knocking on doors and asking for permission to hunt.

I expect it was a pretty quiet opener for a lot of people because I haven't gotten any e-mails from buddies bragging about their opening day birds.

My brother-in-law is in town and if he's up for it Monday morning I may take him out to a spot I have in Bedford County.

If you have a good story or pictures from opening day, please share

Last Saturday's Youth Turkey Day came on a snowy, windy, freezing, generally miserable day. Still, a number of enthusiastic (crazy?) hunters still went after birds, and a few even got them.

Here's one of the lucky youngsters, Mcguire Osborne, with an 18.5-pounder he killed near Independence. It was Mcguire's first turkey.

Ah, irony...

As a commentor already mentioned below, Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell has advised the State Police to stop releasing the list of the state's 135,000 concealed weapons permit holders, and the State Police says it will follow the recommendation.

Here's the lead of Roanoke Times reporter Laurence Hammack's story, which appeared on the paper's front page today:

"An editorial writer's botched attempt to highlight an open record -- the list of Virginians licensed to carry a concealed handgun -- resulted Friday in the record being closed."

Pretty well sums it up, huh?

Read the whole story HERE.

This story isn't over, of course. Next up will be legislative action to try to firm up rules about what is sensitive and what isn't.

I just got this news of yet another big change in U.S. firearms business from Jim Shepherd at the Outdoor and Shooting Wires:

"SPECIAL BULLETIN

From The Outdoor & Shooting Wires

Remington Arms Company, Inc. one of the nation's oldest continually-operating firearms companies, is being acquired by an affiliate of Cereberus Capital Management, L.P. The $370 million dollar acquisition includes the assumption of all of Remington Arms Company, Inc.'s liabilities and product lines.

Remington CEO Tommy Millner released a statement characterizing the transaction as "an acknowledgment of the Remington tradition, its strong brand, and the excellent products built over 191 years…"

The acquisition gives Cereberus two gun companies, Remington Arms and Bushmaster. Sources familiar with both companies say Remington will quickly add an AR-style rifle platform to complement their M24SWS Sniper Weapon System while Bushmaster will likely add signature branded ammunition and products.

Remington also includes a total line of shotshell, centerfire, rimfire and handgun ammunition and manufacturing under the Remington and UMC brands. For many years, Remington has remained the number one producer of both rifles and shotguns in the US domestic market.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC provided financing commitment and advisor services to Cereberus in the acquisition, expected to close in June 2007.

We will have complete details and reaction to the acquisition in the Friday, April 6, 2007 editions of The Outdoor and Shooting Wires."

As many of you may already know, The Roanoke Times decision to post a database of all concealed weapons permittees in the state was the subject of a segment on CNN's Paula Zahn Now show.

The segment appeared last night, when Rich Sanchez was sitting in for Zahn.

I missed the show but have read the transcript. You can read it HERE. You'll have to scroll through the first two stories.

The segment's producers managed to track down a couple of Virginians who were profoundly impacted by the posting of the database, including a parole officer and a woman who lives in fear of her abusive ex-husband. That man is serving a 36-year prison sentence, and the story didn't indicate when he is scheduled to be released, just that the woman was terrified that "if" he gets out he'll come after her.

No one from the newspaper appeared on the segment, preferring to let the March 25 editorial apology and the paper's decision to pull down the database after a day serve as the paper's statements on the subject.

While attempting to approve comments this morning I somehow managed to zap not only the SPAM messages pushing cheap car parts and fake Rolex watches, but also a couple of legitimate comments. Sorry about that.

So, if you wrote a comment to any of these blog entries over the weekend and the comment hasn't been posted, I promise it's not because I'm deliberately censoring you. Remember, I'm the guy who approved a comment from a guy who called me a wuss, so I'm not into censoring. (OK, I did cut out one part of the wuss guy's comment because it was unnecessarily vulgar.)

If it's not too much trouble, please repost the comment and I'll hope the system works like it's supposed to. (Notice how I'm blaming the system? Really, it wasn't my fault.)