January 2, 2008
John Pinkard with a big Franklin County buck
A friend of John Pinkard sent in this shot of John with a beautiful Franklin County 10-pointer killed on the opening day of the general firearms season.
Picture submissions have pretty much slowed to a trickle and most of the shots that have come in from the past few weeks are of deer killed in November.
That's normal. There are still some big bucks wandering around out there, but most are doing their wandering under the cover of darkness. And, as usual, deer hunting pressure in this part of Virginia has pretty much ground to a halt. Of my friends who have been hunting, most are focusing on other stuff, such as waterfowl and coyotes.
The same can't be said of hunters in Eastern Virginia, where the final week of the deer season is pretty popular among those who hunt with hounds. Driving back yesterday from a weekend at my mother-in-law's in Virginia Beach, I saw lot of hunter activity. I talked with a guy as a gas station in Crewe who said his 70-member club had killed over 100 deer this season.
Comments
[January 4, 2008 10:10 AM]
BacklashWOW!! That is a pretty impressive Buck. For Franklin County there are web sites that boast hunts for animals like this from $8 to $10,000 dollars or more.
When hunters from outside the state view this photo it will be a win win for Franklin County. The average non- hunter don't see the potential economic growth from this photo. Hunters spent about $40,000,000 dollars through out the United States during the 2006 season this kind of spending will always infuse the local economy on every level.
Can you picture how many hunters will visit and inquire about hunting your county. The doors should be open and friendly this will insure a constant flow of money to the region and this can go a long way to better land management for you and your families future.
Everyone loves a honey hole to hunt and fish, but when it comes to economic stability why not take a chance. Grab hold of the ability to make a profit. You can even ensure the land management by having people help do some of the work for a positive chance of hunting on your property.
As a hunter we are a diverse group that will fellowship and help our fellow hunter in time of need.
A brief story: In 2006 I had shot a buck, it was quite a distant from my vehicle while returning some hunting equipment to my vehicle. A fellow hunter asked about my luck. I told him of my dilemma he said he would help me drag the animal back. After we got the animal back he said he was leaving because he left his ammo at home. Luckily I was using the same caliber of ammo, giving him ammo and some of the deer scent i was using and off he went just as happy could be.
I never caught his name, but I appreciated his help. One thing he said was visiting relatives in the area. Nor did I tell him I've recently moved here, Yet somewhere in the United States there is a hunting story being told about the kind people of Virginia.
Something to consider when we meet and greet in the hunting and fishing supply aisles preparing to get that next trophy and fill the freezer.
Backlash Christiansburg
[January 7, 2008 12:47 PM]
Mark TaylorThanks for the comment, Backlash.
You're right about that buck being the kind that could attract tourist hunters and their dollars.
But it's a challenge to compete against the Midwest, where there are lots of big, contiguous blocks of private land that can be managed by outfitters.
If I've got $5,000 to spend on a whitetail hunt, it's going to be tough to convince me to come to Virginia rather than Illinois, Kansas, Iowa, etc.
As for budget hunts, Virginia is great in some ways because we're within easy driving distance of millions of people and because we have a fair amount of public land. But one of the challenges there is the Sunday hunting ban, which is a real disadvantage for weekend hunters.
mt
[February 13, 2008 2:14 PM]
a disconcerted onlookerMark Taylor, i do not even want to imagine what kind of sick joy you get out of slaughtering poor helpless creatures. Tell me do you get a kick out of photographing yourself and your "comrades" with the lifeless corpses of once magnificent creatures. What the hell gives you the right to become a natural selector ? Any way this is how i see it, your worse than the animals you kill, your degrading the human race, setting us back years because of your ridiculous inhumanity. But lets forget about you, you cant be saved , you have gone too far into whatever digusting relm it is your in. But the fact that you are actually encouraging children to do it, as regards your article on emerald griffin, she doesent understand what shes doing, why dont you explain it to her? See is she still keen having learned that she is killing fellow inhabitants of this earth, killing does who are potentially mothers, deer who maybe supporting an entire family. Finally you also announce in your article on her that she showed sportsmanship in refusing to shoot the doe when it was broad on. Mark this isnt sportsmanship this is her demonstration that beneath all that violence there is still a shred of humanity. Look stop polluting the minds of our youth, they still hae it in them to stop, unfortunately i fear that you are too far in. You need not respond as bo argument you could possibly put forward will redeem you from your crimed
[February 13, 2008 3:37 PM]
Mark TaylorI appreciate your not expecting a reply, Disconcerted, because your comment pretty much leaves me at a loss for words.
mt
[February 21, 2008 6:50 PM]
Shon Snyder : →http://www.gotfoodplots.comThank God this is the United States of America and she has the right to say the uneducated things she says. This may take a while. I just happen to come about this while do research for a gentleman in your area for his deer management plan. Sir you may not want to respond, but I will for what ever use it may be.
Mamm, deer are not nor any other creature in the wilderness, have the wisdom to know when they reach the carring capacity of the land they live on. So say we stop hunting them and they continue to breed. Now from my research you are setting around 30-45 deer per square mile, and most does breed at 8-15 months of age and have a minumum 1-2 fawns a year and does naturally make up 50% of the herd. With this scenario your herd would exceed there habitat in less than two to three years with only natural death rates. What would you say when they are in your yard eatting your dafadils or laying across your lap when you collide with one and you are injured. Maybe the picture of a doe and fawn standing on death edge and the bone showing threw the skin as you can count the ribs God gave them because you did not want to see them managed. I will not even go in the the economics of this as I'm sure she will not under stand it.
As far as teaching childern about ethics, responceablities, and traditions. It is part of our culture, and has been for thousands of years, or milllions of years which ever way you see it.
It may not be her way and I respect her thoughts, she has that God given right. I promise you she does not feel the same to us. She would take our rights away from us with a snap of her fingers, and without a second thought of the consequenses. Thats why evertime someone like she talks, three of us need to respond.
Shon Snyder Pike Co, Illinois www.gotfoodplots.com
[March 1, 2008 1:37 PM]
Backlasha disconcerted onlooker
Mark does a service to the community as a whole for the positive and the negative of the outdoors yet I found this on the internet I will share with you....
Speak Out
How should deal with its deer population?
Erin Elizabethtown Area High School Hunting has been going on since the beginning of time. Now is not the time to be worrying about the deer population. I won't lie; I like a good steak now and then. :)
Maddi A. Sun Valley High School For now I believe that Pennsylvania should listen to the environmentalists. After all, the environmentalists are the people who do the most research on these topics. For now if there are too many deer it should be ok for the hunters to kill more. It will help the environment. If the deer become endangered than it may be time to cut back on hunting.
Melissa T. Sun Valley High School Here's my view on the deer population. They cause a hazard to drivers everywhere in the US. People have been killed in automobile accidents after hitting an unsuspecting deer. Once the deers are hit, they are usually left on the side of the road, just rotting away. They become contaminated and they give off disgusting odors. They do not affect our daily lives anyway, except for maybe meat and to mount on our walls.
What's the big deal?
One kid spoke of a deer car collision killing his Grandmother and sister i did not have the heart to post those words.
My point is you think of a deer as if it were a person, maybe you should go to a prison and adopt one of those reforming criminal prospects, yet you won't and the numbers of deer will continue. Our future leaders have spoken.
What's the big deal......
[March 1, 2008 2:13 PM]
Backlasha disconcerted onlooker
Something I left out, Mark had the decency to post your comments, you should have the decency to use better language. (What the hell gives you the right to become a natural selector?)
This site might be new to you but hunters and non-hunters have been performing in a verbal manner not to cross that line.
So in the future if you try to use such verbiage on this blog I am sure it will be blocked.
That's the beauty of First Amendment you can say it but we don't have to read it.. Here.
Thank you and have a Heck of a day.
Shon Snyder... Touché