Officials in Bristol have announced that Cabela’s will anchor a shopping development in the city.

According to a city press release, construction on the store could start as soon as next summer, with a target opening date of October 2014.

The nearest Cabela’s is a store that just opened in  Charleston, W. Va., about three hours from Roanoke.

There are two Bass Pro Shops super stores within three hours of Roanoke, one near Charlotte and another in Richmond.

Bristol officials are counting on the Cabela’s location to be more than just a big retail store, but for it to be a tourist draw.

That the stores will draw big tourist crowds is often cited by Cabela’s and Bass Pro leaders as they seek store locations, with their decisions often hinging on generous  financial incentive packages. However, some analyses, including one  cited in this recent article,  dispute the idea that  public investment in the large stores is a wise investment.

Here’s the full release from Bristol:

Bristol Virginia Lures Cabela’s To The Falls

BRISTOL, VA – The City of Bristol, Virginia has lured an important anchor store to a new retail tourism site located on 140 acres within the city’s limits. City officials announced today that signed documents are in hand from outdoor outfitter giant, Cabela’s, who will be the first of two anchor stores at The Falls. With 38 retail stores worldwide, the Bristol store will be the first Cabela’s in Virginia.

“Cabela’s has a deep customer base not only in and around Bristol but across the region, people who share our passion for the Great Outdoors,” said Tommy Millner, Cabela’s Chief Executive Officer. “These outdoorsmen and women have supported Cabela’s for a long time, shopped with us via our catalog and online, so it was time to bring them the unique Cabela’s retail experience.”
Read more »

I’m not a big hiker, unless I’m hiking to get somewhere to hunt or fish.

But I have to admit that the 8-mile trek to and from McAfee Knob never gets old. It is just spectacular up there.

Last week I did my first evening hike, heading up there in time for the sunset. As sunsets around here go, this one wasn’t off the charts. But it was still pretty amazing, and everyone up there pulled out their cameras as the sun dropped. I took this shot of the shooters with my phone.

The story, as well as some really nice photos by Sam Dean, ran in today’s Roanoke Times.

We are in the process of overhauling Roanoke.com, and we’ve been reaching out to readers for feedback on what they’d like to see with the new site. We even have a blog, The Refresh RT blog, to keep readers in the loop.

So, let me pose that question to you all: How can we improve the Outdoors content on Roanoke.com? What are we doing well? What can we do better? What else would you like to see? Are there other outdoors sites we should look at for ideas?

Be blunt and honest. Your input will make a difference.

First, some basic background on what we have now.

–Outdoors stories and columns that appear in The Roanoke Times comprise part of our online Outdoors package. I write nearly all of these.  Read more »

As expected, a seven-person subcommittee in Virginia’s House of Delegates voted this morning to table SB 464, the bill that would have allowed Sunday hunting — with restrictions — in Virginia.

The vote was 4-3.

I just got back from a fun two hours at the Y with my kids. I just popped a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It’s delicious. And bitter. Which seems appropriate. The bitter part, I mean. Anyway, now is not the time for me to get wordy.

To those who worked hard to try to get fair treatment for the feared, misunderstood minority that are hunters, I say “Prost!”

And that’s all from me tonight.

Rumors started floating around a couple weeks ago that Sportsman’s Warehouse would be reopening its Roanoke location.

Those rumors were confirmed when the company recently added Roanoke to its map of store locations. Karen Seaman, the company’s chief marketing officer, left no doubt.

“We are returning to the area this spring and looking forward to reopening our store in Roanoke,” she wrote to me in an email earlier today.

According to the company’s website, the store, which is on Ferncliff Avenue near the Hersberger Road and I-581 interchange, will open on April 16, with a grand opening celebration on April 28.

I’m trying to connect with Seaman by phone for more details.

The Roanoke store was one of 23 the company closed in 2009 as part of  Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Fifteen stores were sold to a Canadian company. A cash investment from a venture capital company helped the company get back on its feet, and Sportsman’s Warehouse emerged from Chapter 11 in August of 2009.

Since word of the return of Sportman’s Warehouse has started getting around, I’ve heard from several people who were enthusiastic about the news. Even though the Roanoke store was open for less than two years, the store earned plenty of devoted fans.

As would be expected, the topic of Sunday hunting has generated a fair amount of feedback in the editorial page offices of The Roanoke Times.

On Saturday the paper published a commentary by Marlene A. Condon, a nature lover and writer from Charlottesville. As a nature lover and gardener, Condon knows that too many deer are not a good thing.  Condon’s essay should be required reading for anyone who cares about this debate because it is a good example of the emotions that some non-hunters have about this topic. Her assertion that the DGIF manages the deer population to be artificially high for the benefit of hunters — and encourages hunters to wantonly kill competitors, such as coyotes — was sure to raise some eyebrows. And it did.

Today’s paper carried a rebuttal letter from Daleville’s Dutch Holland regarding Condon’s column, as well as two rebuttal commentaries. One of those commentaries came from Kirk Mantay, who did about as good a job as I’ve seen in addressing the concerns about Sunday hunting that have been floated out there by Sunday hunting opponents. Mantay’s River Mud blog can be seen here.

Smith Mountain Lake marina manager Scott Schlesser of Roanoke also provide a thorough and well-thought-outresponse to Condon’s piece.

Again, no matter where you are in this debate, you should read these pieces because they are very reflective of the varied reasons for supporting or opposing the ban.

Virginia’s General Assembly session got started this week.

Who cares, right? I mean, it’s just a bunch of politicians trying to repay their campaign donors and friends with special favors, isn’t it?

Well, maybe sort of.

But since I started really paying attention to the General Assesmbly — and, admittedly, it wasn’t until I had to keep up with their proposals that affected my beat — I’ve become pretty fascinated with the General Assembly. Some of the GA’s antics can be pretty interesting. Even downright entertaining.

This session many folks expect the topic of Sunday hunting to be a big deal.

We all know that the Sunday hunting ban comes up every session in some way, shape or form. And it quickly gets killed. Read more »

A Virginia Senate bill to allow hunting on Sundays not only failed on Monday, it failed spectacularly.

Senate Bill 850, which would have overturned Virginia’s longstanding ban on Sunday hunting, was defeated by a 13-2 vote today in the Senate’s Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources committee. That means Virginia remains one of 11 states with a full or partial restriction on Sunday hunting.

Sunday hunting proponents might have felt a little hope this year as, for a change, big lobbying players such as the NRA and National Shooting Sports Foundation were actively campaigning for the bill.

But the dismal showing by the proposal seems to indicate that the lobbying efforts didn’t do much, if any, good.

Was that because the Sunday hunting ban is so ingrained there is no hope for a change? Or because the lobbying efforts came so late in the game?

I suspect there’s a little of both at work here. I think there are certain politicians who won’t ever change their opinions on Sunday hunting. I also think there are probably  some who could be persuaded to reconsider their support of the ban, but it’s going to take more than just e-mail blasts in the week before a vote.

For pro-Sunday hunting lobbying efforts to have any chance of working, they need to focus on facts and statistics, such as those that address what I suspect politicians consider the most compelling argument against change: safety concerns of non-hunters.

As we have seen from some comments on this blog, there is concern among some non-hunting outdoors enthusiasts that they are risking their lives any time they go outdoors during a hunting season. There is ample evidence to the contrary. After all, if hunting and other outdoors recreation weren’t compatible, there wouldn’t be Sunday hunting in whole or partial form in 43 states. But until pro-Sunday hunting advocates can clearly show Virginia politicians that hunters and non-hunters can safely co-exist, few senators and delegates are going to go out on a limb on this issue.

I wonder if this small bit of momentum will continue and this effort will continue with an eye toward next year’s General Assembly. Or, in the wake of this resounding defeat, will lobbying groups such as the NRA and NSSF write off Virginia as a no hope state and put their resources elsewhere?

Virginian-Pilot reporter Joanne Kimberlin recently wrote about legislation focused on Virginia’s ban on Sunday hunting, an article we picked up for Sunday’s front page in The Roanoke Times.

Kimberlin spoke with a number of key players on the issue, and they didn’t disappoint, coming up with some meaty quotes.

Said Sen. Chap Peterson, a bill co-sponsor: “We don’t suspend our other constitutional rights one day a week. Why do we suspend this one?”

Greg Hicks of the Virginia Farm Bureau had an answer for his group’s support of the ban: “We’re a God-fearing group. We don’t believe in hunting on Sundays.”

Del. Mark Keam, a self-proclaimed Christian, offered his take on the church argument:  “… to say hunters should be in church instead of hunting… well, that argument is a little outdated.”

I was talking about the Sunday hunting story the other day with a friend and the church argument came up. She wondered, “Does it mean you’ll be required to hunt on Sunday instead of going to church?”

The story also had this unattributed line: “Farmers look forward to Sundays as a time when they’re less likely to have hunters trespassing on their land or leaving litter in fields that can damage combines and other equipment.”

I’m not a landowner so maybe I’m missing something. But, really?

First off, trespassers are trespassers. They don’t care what day of the week it is. In fact, if I were looking to trespass to illegally hunt, I would look strongly at doing it on a Sunday because I wouldn’t have to worry about getting caught by the people who have permission to hunt the land but who are obeying the law and not hunting on Sunday.

And litter? Slobs are slobs. They’re going to litter only on Sunday? Or save their big, combine-damaging litter for Sunday? Interesting.

The story also brought up the oft-mentioned argument that non-consumptive (birding, hiking, etc.) outdoors enthusiasts enjoy having one day of peace and quiet. There is no arguing with that. Many of those folks do appreciate having that weekend day. But I also think some of that opinion is based on perception and memories of a past when hunters flooded public lands for short, intense hunting seasons.

Has anyone else gone hunting recently on public land lately? It’s a ghost town out there. You’ll hear more gun shots while hiking the Roanoke River Greenway.

And, really, there is ample public recreation land out there where hunting is not allowed at all. (Granted, the birding can be terrible in such areas because over abundant deer have destroyed the understory. But that’s another story.)

My favorite nugget in the story came from Department of Game and Inland Fisheries director Bob Duncan.

Duncan gave some blunt biological information about the potential impact on lifting the ban (short answer: none).

But Duncan also offered the smoking gun, pun intended:  “A lot of the wives wouldn’t be too happy about it.”

Granted, there are plenty of wives out there who are more than happy to get their husbands out of the house any time it’s possible. But, let’s face it, there are plenty of others who believe (and probably rightfully so!) that that ban on Sunday hunting is the one thing that allows them to get any heavy lifting done around the home in November.

I just returned from a short, busy trip to Utah. I didn’t have access to a computer, which is why I just this morning was able to approve the past few days’ worth of comments.

I was at Snowbird, a resort outside Salt Lake City. It’s the site of the Outdoor Writers Association of America conference next July. As 2nd VP of OWAA it’s my responsibility to put together the program for the conference, so I and several members of the conference team were working on our plans. After three straight conferences in nondescript upper Midwest cities it is going to be awesome to have a conference in a location people actually will want to visit.

I got to Snowbird late Monday night and left early yesterday morning, with two solid days of meetings in between. Not that it was all tedious work. One evening we took a tram ride to Hidden Peak, 3,000 feet above the resort, which is where this shot was taken. The scenery is spectacular everywhere, but you really gain an appreciation from a high vantage point. This picture doesn’t do it justice.

I have long dreamed of going on a wilderness elk hunt out West and this trip solidified that goal. How great would it be to spend a week or 10 days in country like this chasing big bulls? I have gained some serious respect for those of you who have done these high country hunts. I went for a run early one morning and it turned into a hike on some of the climbs. Man, is it hard to get your breath at 8,000-plus feet.

It was 42 degrees on the peak when we were up there, and was 42 at the resort yesterday morning. I was not thrilled to step off the plane into Roanoke’s 90 degrees yesterday afternoon. At least it appears we finally may be getting a break from this heat soon.

From the looks of my e-mail it appears trailcam shots of nice deer remain pretty scarce. We’re in a transition phase anyway. Starting tomorrow — youth day — it will be time to be posting hero shots.

Good luck to everyone hunting tomorrow. Be safe out there.