October 31, 2006Yikes!
The buck was trailing three does, according to Lazenby. I'm not surprised deer were moving that evening. A strong front, which brought a bunch of rain on Friday and a bunch of wind on Saturday and Sunday, was approaching. That will usually get deer moving. October 30, 2006It's time...
A reader sent in this shot of a nice buck working a scrape in Franklin County last week. I've gotten just a couple buck shots the past few days (I'm waiting on info from senders before I can post them) and they both had lots of bark in their antlers. So they're scraping and rubbing. I'm guessing they're also starting to chase. I have to guess because I haven't actually been in the woods since Oct. 13. That dry spell should end in a couple of days, right about the time we're expected to get some more cool weather. The next two weeks should offer hunters their best shot at killing a trophy buck this season. It's tempting to hold out for trophy bucks this time of year. But I'll be hunting with a bow for the most part, and if a mature doe walks within bow range of my stand, she's getting it. October 25, 2006Searching for IkeSmith Mountain Lake is hosting a Northern Open bass tournament this week. The tournament will feature mostly weekend anglers with big dreams, but a few well known pros are here. The list includes Mike "Ike" Iaconelli, who I'd say is the best known young pro bass fisherman in the county. I told Scott Martin, an official with co-host Franklin County, that I was going to do a feature story on Ike after the tournament's second day. He asked if I wanted to hook up with Ike ahead of time. Of course I said yes. Tuesday Martin sent me an e-mail saying I could meet Ike at his rented house at 6:30 p.m. I used Mapquest to find the place, but didn't get directions. I figured my detailed map of the neighborhood (on the lake's Bedford County side), combined with my trusty "Virginia Atlas and Gazetteer" would be fine. I was wrong. I took at least four wrong turns before I finally reached the house, just before 7 p.m. Fortunately Ike and his roommate had just gotten there, too. It turned out his boat broke down. His uncle was driving down from New Jersey with Ike's spare boat -- wouldn't it be nice to have a spare boat? -- and Ike had to get all his gear out of his main ride so he could put it in the other boat. He didn't stop what he was doing. But after he made a dent, he took a break for about an hour to talk with me. Yeah, he's savvy about the media. But there comes a time when you just can't fake that stuff. After the interview I thanked him, wished him luck and stumbled through the complete blackness to reach my truck. That's one thing about those older neighborhoods out there at the lake -- they are seriously dark. Living in the city, I take streetlights for granted. When I reached the first intersection I took a right to reach the main road out -- but hit a dead end. I went the other way, took a turn, and reached another dead end. After studying the map I tried again, and ended up back at the first dead end. At this point I was looking at my truck's compass and the map. I knew I had to go Northwest. I finally figured it out and headed up the road -- and there was Ike's truck and boat. I had gone, literally, nowhere. Five minutes later I finally got out of the neighborhood. I had been pretty stressed when I was late getting to the interview. But at that point, all I could do was laugh. October 23, 2006Seven is enough
Steve Jenkins didn't really want to go hunting. But he did. He hadn't been in his Botetourt County stand too long when an 8-pointer approached and started feeding on acorns. It wasn't quite a shooter in Jenkins' eyes so he waited. And this thing showed up. Jenkins, who lives in Buchanan and just started crossbow hunting this year, dropped it with a prefect shot. It's a seven-pointer, but this is one of those cases where the number of points doesn't really matter. It's tall, wide and has scary mass all the way up. Jenkins summed it up well when he said, "This thing is a freak." A good kind of freak. Jenkins said he was taking the cape to taxidermist Ted Justice, whose studio is just up the road from my office. I hope to swing by this week so I can get my hands on this rack, and find out how old the deer was. Virginia classic
With its tall tines and nearly-touching main beams, this is the kind of rack that should score well under the unique Virginia antler scoring system, which favors what its creators deemed the classic "basket" rack. Whatever it scores, there's no denying that it's one pretty buck. October 19, 2006Lucky 13th
October 18, 2006He knew the season, this time
The bear also offered Blankenship a chance for redemption. Two years ago he had a bear walked by him while Blankenship was bowhunting deer. He didn't shoot the bear because he thought the season didn't open for another two days. Later he found out that the opener had been moved up from the traditional Monday to the Saturday on which Blankensip passed up his shot. October 16, 2006Another first buck
October 14, 2006A surprising find
It certainly did for me on opening day. The second I saw this deer I thought "shooter." This was my first bow buck so, really, at this point in my bowhunting career most 2.5-year-olds are shooters. Still, when I put my hands on this one I thought he was probably 3.5 years old because the antlers, even though they had only six points, were pretty wide (18 inches, outside) and heavy. Plus, HE was heavy - 145 pounds field dressed. I'm doing a European skull mount and today spent some time simmering the skull. When I pulled the lower jaw I was surprised by the good condition of the teeth. The buck looked to be just 2.5. I took the jaw to tonight's Hunters for the Hungry benefit dinner, hoping Virginia deer guru Matt Knox would be there. He was, and confirmed that it was 2.5. Ideally, it's best to let 2.5-year-old deer walk if you're seriously hoping to manage for trophy bucks. Not many yearlings get shot on the place where this one was killed, but we really aren't actively managing for trophies, either. It's hard to say what potential this deer had. Its rack would have gotten heavier, certainly. But it might never have had many points. I can't help wondering what a 3.5-year-old or older buck on this place might be able to grow on his head. October 13, 2006Back to earthI finally got back in the woods this morning for my second hunt of the bow season. Today seemed to have some real potential, with the coldest temperatures of the season arriving last night. Several of my friends hunted this morning or are hunting all day. I haven't heard any reports from them yet. The wind was right for the stand I shot my opening day buck out of so I went back there. Walking in I bumped five or six deer out of a field. Three hours in the stand produced only fleeting glimpses of three does, all of which were well out of bow range. The white oak that had been the draw for my buck is pretty much bare. The ground under it is trampled and there are few nuts left. I checked a few other white oaks on the walk out and most are pretty much done. So it didn't surprise me when on the way back to the truck I bumped two does from under a chestnut oak. There are also lots of red oak acorns on the ground over there so I think that will keep the deer in the woods for weeks. One big white oak I checked out was behind schedule and still had quite a few nuts. The problem is there are cattle in that area and they are camped under that tree. If time allows I may slip back in there this evening and see if anything deer show up to compete with those big bovines. October 12, 2006One to wait for
In response he sent back this trail cam shot of a hog roaming one of his hunting properties. In Pa. hunters get a single buck tag. Knowing a buck like this is around sure makes it easy to let the little guys walk. October 10, 2006Biggest ever
"After nine months of waiting for the opening day of Virginia's archery deer season, Jim Ramsdell wasn't about to let Saturday's miserable weather keep him home. As the Roanoker got soaked in his stand, he had second thoughts. "Saturday was no fun," said Ramsdell, a 40-year HVAC supervisor at Virginia Western Community College. "I was out in it all day." And he didn't even see a deer. Monday was a different story. About 7:30 a.m. three does walked by Ramsdell's stand on a friend's place near Boones Mill. The deer winded him and bolted. Thirty minutes later a big eight-point buck appeared from the same direction. Fortunately for Ramsdell, the wind had shifted. "It was about a 40-yard shot," he said. "I had a 1-foot window to shoot through." Ramsdell's crossbow is an inexpensive model he bought over the Internet, but he'd practiced with the thing enough to know that it shot well. It did the job, and not much later Ramsdell was hauling the best buck of his life off the mountain."
Good start
"I couldn't hunt Saturady but made a mad dash after work today. I took advantage of the acorns again this year. A couple years ago I met you at the Old Mill Grocery while checking in a mature doe. You were trying to get enough material to do a story on the opening of bow season. Like that hunt, this was mainly a freezer hunt, but this one had a few more heartbeats. This Buck would stand still for 10 minutes at a time, always with something in the way. After about 30 minutes of playing peek-a-boo a doe/button buck ran by the blind and the buck chased it in a circle. The circle ended 25 yards from the blind. He went about 20 yards after the shot. Then to the freezer." October 9, 2006A team effort
So much for plans. At 6:30 p.m. Saturday evening this big six-point buck walked in to 15 yards. Over the past five years I've passed on a number of smaller bucks and am proud of this deer, the first buck I’ve killed with my bow. But this isn’t going to be about the hunt, which lasted maybe 45 seconds once I saw the buck. This is about the two guys pictured with me. On the left is Freddy McGuire of Goodview. On the right is David Levine of Stewartsville. These guys are more than hunting buddies. They are good friends who were willing to give up a huge chunk of their Sunday to help a friend. That 15-yard shot was a gimme, but not when an arrow clips even a tiny branch. Thrown off course, the arrow hit the buck in the paunch. October 6, 2006Nice prospect
The roll included shots of eight different bucks, four of which were mature "shooters." This is the biggest. When you know something like this is out there, it sure makes it easier when that alarms goes off, doesn't it? Good luck to everyone tomorrow. If you get one, send me a picture. October 4, 2006A close callYesterday evening I came really close to killing my first deer of the fall. Just one problem. I was in my truck. I had been at my archery club in rural Roanoke County, sighting in my bow with the broadhead-tipped arrows I'll be carrying starting Saturday, opening day of the early archery season for deer. About dusk I jumped into the truck and headed down the winding rural road. I had my girls with me, battened into their boosters in the back seat of my Toyota Tundra crew cab. Not a mile from the club I was rounding a bend when a deer jumped from the woods to my left into to the middle of the road, about 30 yards ahead. I knew I wouldn't hit it, but I also knew that where there's one, there are usually more. I braked while looking into the woods and sure enough, there was another one standing there. As it jumped I hammered the brake padal to the floor. My truck's ABS system did its job. The Tundra lurched to a stop without skidding as the doe, maybe 10 feet in front of the bumper, hopped into the woods on the other side of the road. It shook me up, but the girls found the whole episode pretty entertaining, actually. October 3, 2006Counting it downVirginia's archery deer opener is four days away and I can't remember a year when I've been more eager to get rolling. My excitement is rooted in a couple of things. One, I'm looking to make up for lost time. Last year my season got messed up when unexpected job requirements kept me in the office much of November and December. I got to hunt, just not as much as I'd hoped. I will say that gave me a new appreciation for working hunters who just can't get out for weekday hunts -- even short ones like I usually end up taking. It also helps that I've been seeing good numbers of deer and sign on my scouting trips. Sunday afternoon I headed out to one spot to put some climbing steps in trees. The spot I wanted to check out was a big white oak on the edge of the woods near an inside corner of a field. As I'd hoped, the tree had a fair amount of acorns. As I drove up at 2 p.m., a doe and fawn that had been feeding there bounded away. After I got the steps placed I headed a hollow over to check out another big white oak. As I walked up I could see it was loaded. Then I saw movement in the woods. Two bucks were bounding away. They weren't huge, but both were solid shooters, at least with archery tackle. Then I saw two more deer heading out. I couldn't ID one, but the other was another buck. It was running but I got a decent look at the rack. It wasn't especially tall or wide, but it looked to have great mass. I hated that I spooked the bucks, but it's a working farm so at least they're used to people. I won't be able to get after them Saturday morning because I will be speaking at a career workshop. But I'll be out there Saturday afterrnoon. I'd love it if any one of those bucks showed up, but that's probably asking a little much. It will probably do me good to warm up on a doe, anyway -- although that's far from a sure thing with a bow. October 2, 2006Lots of sushi
Anyone who follows Virginia saltwater fishing has heard of Julie, the Virginia Beach representative to the International Game Fish Association. A dentist in the Coast Guard, she's one of the state's top saltwater trophy anglers, boating loads of citation-sized fish annually. She also does a weekly fishing report and I plan to keep posting highlights here. Here's what she wrote about Saturday's trip: "We headed offshore with Capt Jake Hiles onboard the Matador. Our crew, Howard, Robin, Eric, and Steve. We left the dock around 4:30 out of Rudee. Lines in near the Norfolk Canyon in 100 fathoms. The seas were calm with a slight chop. We ended our trip with tuna to about 60-pounds, dolphin to about 12-pounds, and a cooler of tilefish and seabass." Jackson Brown
My column about our trip, which ran in Sunday's paper, prompted a call from a reader who said he was also on the river Thursday. Using streamers, he caught a brown that dwarfed ours. He said it was 22 inches long. He didn't have a camera and the only witness was his black lab. But there's no reason to not believe him because those fish are in there. |
About this blog
While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures. Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism. After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters. .....Advertisement.....
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