Here's a short video from a June 25 prairie dog hunt near Bowman, N.D.

I don't know that I would go to North Dakota (or Wyoming or Montana) just to hunt prairie dogs -- something plenty of folks do. But I'm glad I got out there on the prairie to check this out.

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• Posted by Mark Taylor in HuntingHunting ::
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Here's the video from my turkey hunt with Freddy McGuire on May 1 in Bedford County.

Based on this video I am not expecting Will Primos to call and ask me to join his video team any time soon. I also fully expect my brother to tell me the video (particularly my ultracheesy voice over), is "more than I can bear."

But I hadn't killed a turkey in two years so that was my priority on this day. Given that and the general challenges of this hunt, I think this turned out as well as we could have hoped for under the circumstances.

Two details about the video. At one point in the voice over I say "I decided to belly crawl..." That's not true. As we were trying to figure out how to get this bird, Freddy -- who is an expert at this stuff -- suggested that I belly crawl over to try to peak into the hollow. I was going to give him a signal if it was clear for him to get over there with the camera. But it was clear the turkey was only 50 yards away and there was no way we could risk it.

Also, this video is quick, but at least 15 minutes elapsed between when I started crawling and when I finally shot.

I think the average viewer of outdoors videos would be surprised to know how many hunts those pro video teams go on to get the great footage that makes the cuts for their shows and DVDs. The more I lug cameras along on hunts, the more appreciation I have for the teams that get great footage out there under fair chase conditions.

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• Posted by Mark Taylor in TurkeyTurkey ::
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Here's a short video from that recent float trip my friend Alfie Hammerstrom and I took on the New River.

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• Posted by Mark Taylor in BassBass ::
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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.

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• Posted by Mark Taylor in HuntingHunting ::
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I lugged my little Sony Handycam along with me on a morning bowhunt on Oct. 13 in Bedford County, Va.

The hunt was quick and exciting. The footage? Let's just say I'm not going to be putting the guys at Primos or Realtree out of jobs any time soon.

But for shooting this thing myself (and also producing it, the first time I've done that) it could be worse. I hope to get a couple more deer (and some more footage) as the season progresses.

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• Posted by Mark Taylor in DeerDeer ::
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I'm pretty sure this is the biggest fish I've ever caught. It's a 48-inch red drum I pulled in last Saturday while fishing for cobia in the Chesapeake Bay. I released it so can only guess at the weight. Claude Bain of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament looked at the pictures and said he felt it was pushing 60 pounds. It was incredibly fat, that much is certain.

We shot some video that day. The production isn't great as I didn't really take the time to shoot b-roll so the producer didn't have much to work with. But it turned out OK despite that. At a few points you'll hear whistles, which covered up some innappropriate language (not from me). I'm not sure why we couldn't just use the same bleep everyone else uses but, whatever. Next time, no swearing.

In the video I say, "I just caught the two biggest fish of my life today." I figured that cobia was close to 50 pounds, and am still surprised it was only 38. So that means it wasn't as heavy as the 46-inch striper I caught (and released) in the Bay about eight years ago. But I caught that striper, which was stout and probably weighed 45 pounds, while trolling with Claude and the only thing I really did was reel it in. I was particularly happy with that cobia and drum because that was a total do-it-ourself trip.

You can see the video HERE.

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• Posted by Mark Taylor in Saltwater fishingSaltwater fishing ::
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The other evening I spent a couple of hours at the duck ponds at Virginia Tech chasing carp.

Usually when I go after carp I'm armed with my bowfishing gear. This time I had my 5-weight fly rod and some tiny flies tied by Bruce Pencek, the social sciences librarian at Tech's library.

Bruce had a big one on briefly. I had two takes and was so shaken by the first explosion that I snapped the tippet on a flailing hook-set. I was more careful with the second, maybe too careful because it took me nearly 15 minutes to land the fish.

I've caught carp before but never on trout-sized tackle. It was a hoot and I plan to try it again at some other good carp spots I know.

Anyway, here's a short video of some of the action.

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• Posted by rt in FishingFishing ::
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During a recent trip out West I hooked four steelhead while fly fishing the North Umpqua River in Oregon. I also hooked my nose, burying an egg fly into my beak during a particularly ugly backcast. It was a good reminder of why you should always wear sunglasses or clear glasses when fly fishing. Even a small fly is bad news when it hits an eyeball.

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• Posted by rt in Fly fishingFly fishing ::
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