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Most Sunday hunting-related bills die quick deaths in the General Assembly, but one bill is actually making its way through the system this year. As I wrote about in my Sunday column in The Roanoke Times, Senate Bill 708 would essentially bring the urban archery rules in line with those governing shooting preserves -- the only places in Virginia where Sunday hunting is allowed.

This is the epitome of baby step. Only 21 localities even participate in the urban archery season. And they wouldn't be required to offer Sunday hunting. It would be up to them. And, of course, relatively few hunters actually participate in the seasons.

So should this pass -- and it has passed the Senate and is now in the House -- the impact would be tiny. In fact, it would be pretty much transparent.

One advantage this bill has is that it doesn't butt up against one key concern of many Sunday hunting critics -- that allowing hunting on Sunday would be disruptive to rural churches. Critics who say hunters will interfere with other recreationists on Sunday also will have trouble faulting this change. With booming whitetail herds in these localities -- which is why they have the urban archery season in the first place -- even the non-hunting public would like to see as much hunting as possible.

The question is, will this get the ball rolling down that so-called slippery slope? You know, if things go smoothly, will it open the door for further liberalization of the ban?

If it does initiate movement, it seems it could still take years before Virginia's rules are in line with those in nearly every other state.

For those of you who would like to see the ban lifted, is this little start -- and it's not a sure thing yet -- better than nothing? Do you think this could get things going? Or will it turn out to be like the shooting preserve allowance? One little thing that will have little effect on the majority of hunters?

Of course I'd also like to hear from those of you who support the Sunday hunting ban.

Here's the picture of what will probably be Virginia's state record saltwater striped bass. The particulars are:

Date: Jan. 23, 2008
Angler: Fred Barnes, Chesapeake
Fish weight: 73 pounds
Length: 52 inches
Girth: 31.5 inches
Lure: Mann's Stretch 30
Reel: Penn 30 level-wind spooled with 50-pound-test line
Boat: Country Girl
Captain: Pat Foster

Even though this fish is barely 5 pounds shy of the world record, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this record falls again soon. It sounds like there are just loads of stripers off Virginia Beach right now and you know there have got to be some bigger ones in there.

It looks like Virginia could have a new saltwater striped bass record.

The fish just tipped the scales at 73 pounds, 4 ounces at the Virginia Beach Fishing Center, more than 5 pounds over the current record of 68 pounds, 1 ounce. The angler was Fred Barnes of Chesapeake, who was fishing with charter captain Pat Foster aboard Country Girl, one of the boats that runs out of VBFC.

Claude Bain, the retired director of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, called me with the tip. Claude works part time at a tackle shop near the Fishing Center so he was able to get down there when he heard about the catch.

"I saw the fish," Claude said. "It's a monster."

The fish is barely 5 pounds shy of the world all-tackle record of 78 pounds, 8 ounces, and probably one of the top 10 saltwater stripers ever landed on a rod and reel.

Even though the monster striper breaks the record it won't be the official record until Barnes submits an application and it's approved.

I spent a good part of a recent Saturday hunting rabbits with brothers Marshall and Walter Meadows in Franklin County. Seth Gitner, the mulit-media editor for Roanoke.com, came along with his video camera.

We jumped only one rabbit, and didn't kill it. Seth pointed out that on the hunting assignments he's been on with me, nothing has ever been killed. It's not like he jinxes us. That's just hunting.

Despite the slow hunting, Seth put together a great video of the experience.

As dusk approached on Dec. 1, Sonny Hodges of Hardy was thinking that his long sit in a treestand at his Floyd County hunting spot was going to produce squirrel sightings and nothing else. Then at 5 p.m. Hodges heard leaves crunching behind him. He turned to see this gorgeous buck, about 100 yards away. The buck was about 110 yards away when Hodges pulled the trigger. The buck piled up after running about 40 yards.

Not only was this 12-pointer the biggest buck of Hodges' life, it was extra special because he was hunting with an old Winchester 30-30 that had been passed down from his late grandfather, Perry Dillon.

The rack has a 20-inch outside spread. It also has impressive mass, which is more evident in another shot Hodges sent me. Its most unique feature is the split G-2s on both sides. Hodges said he's been passing up shots at smaller bucks for the past six years. This is what can happen if you have that kind of patience.

Todd Burton shot this coyote on the final day of the deer season while hunting near Quantico in Prince William County. This was one of two that showed up near a food plot around 9:15 a.m. "I thought that was kind of late for them to be out," wrote Burton, who actually sent me this shot late last week and not in response to my recent entry about coyote hunting.

Yesterday afternoon I had a good conversation with Abner Druckenmiller (no relation to Jim) at Foxpro Hunting Calls. He gave me some more pretty good tips. I'm hoping I can get my hands on one of their calls for a while for some field testing.

Thanks again to everybody who offered some advice on hunting coyotes. Those of you who get out there after them, send reports when you can.

I went rabbit hunting in Franklin County on Saturday. It was slow. Really slow. They had nine beagles and in three hours of walking perfect-looking -- and I mean PERFECT-LOOKING -- rabbit cover we had one chase. I actually saw the bugger for a split second but couldn't get a shot.

The guys who invited me felt bad but it certainly wasn't their fault. I'm pretty sure coyotes were to blame. Everywhere there was mud there were coyote prints.

I had planned to give coyote hunting a try this winter anyway and have a couple places in mind. But this place seems to have some real potential. One of the rabbit guys said he was willing to get us back in there.

I've been watching the first Primos Predator video and that's been fairly helpful. I've got a couple mouth calls and have been practicing. Plus a buddy loaned me his old CD-based predator call. Another guy who I met through this blog is also just starting and we're hoping to get out there soon.

Before I go out there and educate the coyotes on my spots, I'd appreciate any suggestions or tips from those of you who have hunted coyotes.

Among the hunting-related bills proposed this week in the General Assembly is one that would change blaze orange requirements and which could have a major impact on hunters.

House Bill 872 would change the current blaze orange law. It would require that hunters and anyone accompanying a hunter wear blaze orange during any deer firearms season, including muzzleloader seasons. It would increase the minimum amount from 100 square inches to 250 square inches, and eliminate the provision that allows someone to display blaze orange at their hunting spot (by tying a ribbon around a tree, for example).

Now, we all know why the current law was implemented for general firearms seasons and not for archery or muzzleloader seasons. The thinking was that because bows and muzzleloaders were close range weapons, hunters would be less likely to mistake a hunter for a deer.

That was then and this is now. Most of us also know that modern muzzleloaders are not exactly close range weapons. Just look back through this blog at pictures of big bucks shot with muzzleloaders and see the ranges at which those deer were shot. So if blaze orange is a good idea for general firearms hunting -- and I think most of us agree it is and safety statistics bear us out -- isn't a good idea for muzzleloading hunting?

But here's the rub. Black powder seasons sometimes -- often, actually -- run concurrently with other seasons during which blaze orange use would not be embraced. While archery deer hunters wouldn't be crazy about blaze orange, I think folks would eventually get used to it when the realize it isn't hurting their hunting. (And, I really think it wouldn't.) Turkey hunting is another thing.

I'll be honest. I don't know how well turkeys see blaze orange. I plan to ask the experts. But I do know that turkeys have amazing eyes, which is why we wear head-to-toe camo when turkey hunting. I also know that I had turkeys hang up at about 40 yards this fall one day when they saw the blaze orange flap on my hunting pack. They didn't spook, but they didn't come close enough for a bow shot.

Anyway, I'm working on a column on this and other proposed legislation. I'd be interested to hear what you all think about the blaze orange proposal.

Is it fair? Could it be better crafted? Should the rule be left as is?

Ritchie Griffin said he hunted harder this season than he has in the past 10 years. His personal take? One doe. That's because he put most of his effort into helping his daughter Emerald try to get her first whitetail. And after several close calls, the effort paid off when Emerald made a perfect 126-yard shot with her .243 on this Floyd County doe -- on Emerald's 10th birthday. "It was totally worth it," Ritchie reported.

Ritchie said that Emerald was particular about getting a broadside shot and passed up several shots that he (and, I'm guessing, most of us) would have taken. That says something, doesn't it? What great sportsmanship. Or, should that be sportsgirlship?

I've got just a couple more deer shots to post and I'll try to get those up soon. Then I guess it will be fairly quiet on the hero shots until spring gobbler season, although I'd be more than happy to post your pictures of waterfowl or even squirrels or rabbits. In fact, I'm planning to go rabbit hunting on Saturday and if we get any I'll try to get some pictures.

A friend just called to tell me he saw the trout truck at Tinker Creek this morning.

This worked out well. I'm actually working on a piece about wintertime trout fishing and thought I might head up to Pandapas Pond, which was stocked yesterday. This saves me a trip.

What a great day for fishing, huh? It's going to be beautiful. Maybe I'll see you out there this afternoon. I'll be the one with the camera.