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This is one of two shots Dennis Stevens sent me earlier this week. These bucks are suburban bucks and were seen in the same area of Roanoke County where the big non-typical and 10-pointer we have pictures (and sheds) from are wandering around.

Dennis said he's been out looking for sheds in the area with no luck. But no doubt there's a better likelihood of finding a good shed in the suburbs than out there in the wide open woods.

As for the second picture Dennis sent, anyone care to guess what deer it was?

If you want to see the picture, you're going to have to pick up tomorrow's Roanoke Times. I'm using the shot on my outdoors page story about last fall's deer kill totals -- even though the deer in the picture wasn't one of the more than a quarter million deer that hunters killed this past fall.

Neal Crocker of Roanoke was planning to sleep in on Nov. 4 while camping and hunting in the national forest in Craig County. At 7 a.m. his son woke him up and said, "Dad, are you going hunting?"

Crocker rolled out and headed into the woods. About a quarter mile in he sat down and hit his grunt call. A few mintues later, this bruiser showed up and Proctor made the 30-yard shot with his muzzleloader.

You know, we hear lots of stories about hunters who put all kinds of preparation and time into the hunt, target a specific deer and then eventually win the battle. Those stories are great. But there's nothing wrong with a story like this, either.

In September I posted a shot of two large bucks still in velvet. One was a great 10-pointer;  the other an awesome non-typical with at least two, and maybe three drop tines. The picture prompted some interesting debate about which deer was the most desirable for a hunter.

The bucks were photographed in a suburban area where hunting could be possible, but is not really practical. Plenty of folks were aware of these deer so I wouldn't have been surprised if one or both had been killed during the seasons. As far as the non-typical, for sure, had it been killed I'm pretty sure word would have gotten around.

Well, both deer made it through the season. Last week I got a call that a couple of kids playing in the woods had found three of the four sheds.

This was exciting news. First and foremost, I was thrilled to hear that some kids still get out and play in the woods. Of course I was eager to see the sheds in person, something I was able to arrange on a recent evening.

It was pretty funny setting it up with my buddy who was serving as the intermediary. It was like we were setting up some kind of ransom exchange when called me and said, "The sheds will be there in 10 minutes, but we don't have long."

So here they are.

Eleven-year-old Ante Coric found the right side of the non-typical and the left half of the 10-point. Ben Rosenberger, also 11, found the other half of the 10. In the attached pic he's holding the matching set.

I didn't measure the antlers. Based on my rudimentary knowledge of deer scoring I'd say the 10 would be about a 140- to 150-class buck. A great deer, but not that unusual.

The non-typical was pretty cool. It had gnarly bases and at least seven scoreable points. The G-2 was more than 14 inches long. The drop tine was about 8 inches long. The other side had more points and more inches, obviously. I don't feel any inclination to change my original guess of it grossing about 190 B&C.

Having these sheds in my hands made me eager to get back out there for some more shed hunting. I may try that one of these weekends. I've got a couple spots in mind. (No, the spot where these were found isn't one of them.)

Derek Keith killed this great six-pointer in Botetourt County during the first week of the general firearms season. What an impressive spread.

Jr. Clifton shot this gorgeous 10-pointer in Craig County during the 2008 early muzzleloader season.

Velvet bucks are sought after by whitetail hunters, but pretty hard to come by because so few states offer hunting seasons before whitetails have shed their velvet in early- to mid-September.

The exception is when a deer doesn't shed its velvet, typically as the result of an injury. The sender of this shot didn't include details on what kind of injury this deer had, but there's no doubt it had one.

My folks had some recent excitement in their little rural corner of Southern Oregon.

The area has a lot of turkeys. And while they were a novelty around the house at first, they eventually outwore their welcome. My mom really hated them because they would scratch up seeds from her garden and such.

To the rescue came the cavalry -- a combination of staff from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and volunteers from the National Wild Turkey Federation (not sure if the guy in this shot is NWTF or ODFW).

They baited the turkeys and then set up their canon net. They ended up catching about a dozen, I think. Mom and Dad helped stuff the birds on boxes for their long ride to a part of the state where the population is still light.

Most of us are already looking foward to next deer season -- which seems so distant -- but there's nothing wrong with continuing to look back fondly at the season we just got through.

Randy Sadler was among the 100,000 or so Virginia hunters who killed an antlered buck. He shot this wide six-pointer in Giles County this past November.

In my Tuesday column I wrote about how some local bass tournament promoters plan to hold a bass tournament at Smith Mountain Lake at the same time the BASS Elite Series will be here, April 23-26.

The amateur tournament, named Beat the Elites, will operate with the same format, running for four days with cuts after days two and three.

The boater entry fee will be $450, with a top prize of $12,000 based on a 100-boat field.

Well, let's just say I've heard some interesting feedback on this.

Critics say the open tournament is rude and will reflect poorly on the region. Some predict ugly confrontations between pros and locals fighting over fishing areas.

But some amateur anglers point out that other lakes host local contests on lakes during Elite Series tournaments, and claim there is room enough for everyone to fish. They also argue that BASS reduced the potential economic impact by eliminating co-anglers from Elite Series tournaments and say that having another tournament will help make up for some of that hit.

I'm still not convinced the local tournament will come off. Tournament organizers say they need 40 or 50 boats to make the tournament worthwhile. I wouldn't be surprised if they can draw enough boaters, but I can see them having a hard time getting enough co-anglers (at an entry fee of $225) to match up with the boaters.

I'm wondering what others think about the tournament.

Good idea? Bad Idea? And why?

If you've been following this year's Virginia General Assembly -- and, with important proposals on topics such as background checks at gun shows youth life jacket laws, and hunting license fees out there, you should be -- you probably know there was a bill to legalize the .223 and .22-250 calibers for deer hunting.

The key word there is "was." The bill was tabled in a House committee today. (FYI, the Senate also killed the gun show background check effort.)

The debate on the .223/.22-250 issue is pretty simple: Is a .22 centerfire cartridge enough to consistently and humanely take deer?

I've heard passionate arguments from both sides.

Clearly, in the right hands and right situation, a .223 or .22-250 is plenty good. Me, I'm pretty conservative with shot selection and I'm a pretty good shot. (I credit my years of shooting at sparrows and starlings with my air rifle and not my stint on my ROTC rifle team with the good shot thing.) I'm pretty sure I would do as well with a .223 or .22-250 as I do with my .280 Rem on the whitetails around here.

On the other hand, there is no doubt less room for error with those tiny (55 - 65 gr.) bullets. And those little projectiles often don't exit, which can lead to poor (if any) blood trail. So the deer may die, but you may not find it. (I saw a hunter hit a deer with a .243 WSSM this fall and we could not find an entry hole or exit hole until we field-dressed the deer. There was no exit hole becuase the fragments lodged in the off shoulder.)

Maybe because I don't currently own one of these guns (would love a .22-250, though) I don't have strong feelings either way on this. I'm wondering what others think.

Are you disappointed this fell through? Or did that committee make the right call?

It's hard to believe that the 3-D archery season is already rolling.

Sherwood Archers is hosting a shoot this weekend (Feb. 7, 8). Registration hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to noon on Sunday. The club is in Roanoke County near Hanging Rock. Directions are available on their Web site, along with more information. The club is also hosting an indoor shoot on Saturday at 10 a.m.

Registration fees are $10 for a practice round; $15 for the competitive round and $20 for the elite money round.

The weather forecast looks excellent. I'd like to shoot but am trying to arrange a rabbit hunt on Saturday and that's the priority.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a member of Sherwood. But I'll give anyone who sends me their announcements the same amount of pub.  So if you're a member of a club get me your shoot schedule.