Opening Day Is Almost Here

September 2nd, 2009

Alright guys, the day has almost arrived. The beginning of another fall starts September 1st with Resident Canada Goose season, 10 birds per day. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been busy!! There have been enough mornings this past week that I’ve gotten up at 4:30 to go riding and watch birds before work that I feel like hunting season is already here. I haven’t found anything I’m too excited about yet, but there are still a few more days to look, and there have been a couple spots with enough birds for a decent shoot. According to the VDGIF the resident population has been cut in half in the past 10 years, and my scouting seems to be backing that up. I’m certainly not seeing the number of birds in my areas that we had a few years ago. It’s beyond me why the limit is being raised higher and higher, but it seems like they are gonna try to wipe the resident geese out in order to satisfy the landowners that complain about them(and don’t allow hunting). I don’t even want to talk about the summer kill permits they’re handing out like candy now. But gripes about resident goose management are thoughts for the off-season. Now it’s time to try to smack 10 a day, as the current law permits.

I spent 7 hours yesterday wading in tennis shoes and shorts through nasty swamps and ponds repairing and brushing blinds. And a few more hours after that putting up blind licenses elsewhere. I have more cuts, scratches, and stains from sap and mud on my hands than I’ve had since this time last year. My hands still feel like they’re gripping a paddle. Not to mention the seed ticks and chiggers I picked up while cutting brush. What a great time of year!!! On the plus side, there were 40 or 50 woodies swimming around one blind when we showed up. October duck season will be here soon enough. Don’t fail to scout your ducks while doing all this work for goose season. And keep your eyes open for the teal as they blow through our state this month. If you’re lucky there will still be some around later this month when teal season opens up. I had a friend report seeing a nice group of 30 blue-wingers a couple weeks ago. That flocks probably in Florida by now.

Sunday I’ll be cutting fresh grass and grassing up all my layout blinds. Then doing more work on building walk-ways through the swamp to where I want to put some new permanent blinds. A slow process when it’s a new piece of property and you’re starting from scratch. And when you haven’t seen where the winter birds like to go, you’ve got to guess. Put it in the wrong spot and it’s a costly mistake. Lumber’s not cheap these days.

I hope you’re getting out there and getting ready. If you’ve got spots you’ve always hunted that you go to without scouting, then I hope the birds are there for you, and not in reduced numbers. If you’re the type who is always on the go, hunting a lot of mediocre spots like me, and trying to figure out which spot will be best, then I hope you find something good by the opener. Good Luck and Good Hunting!

- Brad Stephenson

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Basic Hunting Tactics For September Geese

July 27th, 2009

OK, you’ve found these geese that you’re gonna hunt, and you’ve gotten permission for or checked on the legality of hunting the spot that you’ve chosen.  Hopefully you are on the X.  Now it’s time to talk about tactics.  First and foremost, these are not the geese from up north that come down in the winter.  These are local birds, and they know the in’s and out’s of the area.  The one thing we have in our favor is that a large number of them are young and dumb and have no idea what a hunter is.  And for the rest of them, they’ve had over 6 months to get lazy and let their guard down.  But don’t let that fool you, opening day may be easy, but it’ll get tough quick.  Canada Geese have been documented to live for over 30 years, and I’ve killed numerous banded birds in the 10 year range around here.  A turkey may live to be 5 to 7 if he’s miraculously lucky.  A deer may make it to 7 or 8 if he’s living somewhere that they have an antler size restriction, and he’s really lucky.  But there are lots of geese flying in that flock that you’re gonna hunt that are older than any deer or turkey.  They’ve seen decoys, dogs, blinds, and hunters; they’ve watched their broodmates fall to the gun.  When that first gun goes off, they’ll remember it all very quick.  That said, it’s still easier now than it will be later in the season.

Hide!!!  I’ve had some gimme hunts that didn’t turn out at all because guys in the party assumed the birds to be so dumb that they didn’t take the time to really cover up and blend in to the terrain.  I’m sorry, but if you spend the time to scout the birds well, then spend the time to go set the decoys, it’s worth that last little bit of time to truly brush your blinds and blend in.  Birds that have been in the same spot every day will notice something out of place.  If you walked into your living room and there was a new rug on the floor and someone laying under it, you would probably notice that.  It works the same way for them- you’re in their living room.  In a permanent blind, no worries, the geese are used to it; in a layout blind or something temporary that you set up for that hunt, take the time to brush it heavily with the same vegetation that the blind is sitting in.  Make your hide as invisible as possible.  And try to keep it from sticking up above the surrounding cover.

Don’t put too many decoys out.  How many birds are in the spot you want to hunt everyday?  Put out one third to half that many- no more!  These birds know each other.  They know who was there yesterday, and who will be there today.  Smaller flocks may come in if you have out more decoys, but the larger flocks will wonder who the new guys in their spot are, and they may spook without coming in.  You want it to appear that the first few birds have arrived, and that’s all.

Since these birds know where they’re going, they don’t need to do a lot of talking amongst themselves about it.  You won’t find our resident birds making as much noise as the migrant flocks later in the year.  The birds on the ground in particular, which are the ones you’re imitating, won’t do a lot of calling to incoming flocks.  They’re already there, they’re content, and they expect those incoming birds to come right on in.  They’re fairly quiet about it, and you should be too.  Call just enough to let the incoming flocks know you’re there, and to warn them not to land too close.  That’s it.  A few honks as they approach, and a little mildly aggressive clucking as they close those last 100 yards.
The one time that you want more decoys, more calling, more flagging, more everyting, is when you are not on the X.  If you’re not on the X then you have to RUN TRAFFIC.  Running Traffic means that you have to overcome their desire to go where they’re headed, and that’s only gonna be by convincing them that they’ll miss one heck of a party if they don’t stop by to see you and your decoys.  Put out a lot of decoys, make a lot of movement in the dekes with flagging or motion decoys, and call your butt off until you break them from their flight pattern and they start coming your way.  Then keep doing it because if you stop now, the older birds are likely to turn the flock back to where it had been headed originally.

-Brad Stephenson

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Basic Scouting For September Goose Season

July 20th, 2009

As we move into the month of July, our resident geese have regrown their flight feathers after going through a summer molt during the last weeks of June and first weeks of July.  The young of the year are getting their adult plumage, growing their first flight feathers, and getting ready for mom and dad to teach them how to fly.  It’s time for us to start figuring out what areas the non-breeding adult birds have grouped up in during the summer, and what areas have produced a bumper crop of young, dumb goslings.  Start checking your farm ponds, cruising your lakes and rivers by boat, and checking the nearby parks and golf courses.  Don’t start planning your hunt just yet though, as they still have plenty of time to move before the season arrives.

Family units, consisting of parents and goslings, will move around a lot during the month of August.  It seems that mom and dad want to show the kids the area, teach them the landmarks, and show them a few other areas to move to should the happy nesting grounds become unsafe.  Frequently the birds from smaller bodies of water move to larger bodies of water and loosely “flock up” with other family groups.  This time of year the geese are predominantly grazers, and will be feeding on aquatic plants and pastures or yards near water.  The molting groups of non-nesting adults are less likely to make large moves away from their safe water bodies of summer, but may start moving around more to nearby feeding locations that they couldn’t get to while they couldn’t fly.

As crops begin to be harvested in late August and early September, some geese will make a major shift from grassy areas to the newly cut corn silage fields for feeding.  Watch these areas, as they may become great for a goose hunt, but be aware of whether the field you’re watching is gonna be hunted by the opening day dove crowd.  That volume of people and shooting can send the geese packing before you get out there if you don’t hunt the field before they do.  Other geese will still be in their summer routine and will still be in the grassy areas.  I have had some great September goose hunts in hay and cow pastures, especially with a farm pond in them.  And then there is the Virginia favorite of so many hunters, floating the rivers and lakes in a boat, either setting up in a fixed stationary blind, or hunting from a blind built on the boat (check regulations for applicable blind laws in the county you’re hunting if hunting on public water).

Whatever terrain or habitat you find the geese using, that’s where you need to be hunting!!!  In the world of waterfowl hunting, there’s a term used to describe the spot that the birds want to be naturally (without some disturbance, that’s where they’ll be), and that spot is called THE X.  You want to hunt the X!! If you can get permission to hunt the X, you should have a good hunt.  If you can’t, get as close to it as you can, preferrably under the flight path they take to get there, and get in similar habitat to what they’re using if you can.  Being in the right spot this time of year matters more than good decoys or good calling, as the birds are most likely going where they were yesterday.  These local birds know the terrain and they know each other, so don’t go hunt a location they don’t use.

-Brad Stephenson

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Pre Season Speed Scouting

July 13th, 2009

Bow season will be here before you know it.  It is hot, but I am in the woods doing what I call pre-season speed scouting.  Bow hunting is not really about bows, it’s all about getting close to the game.  I believe tree stand placement is the most important part of the hunt.  Intense scouting helps me to pick the right tree.  I do not have the luxury of hunting property that I am familiar with.  Some people don’t scout as much because they already know where the deer travel year after year on their property. I have to find the deer.

So I begin my scouting by using a topographic map and satellite imagery which you can find on Google Maps.  However, the most important tool is actual boots on the ground.  First I find land features that attract deer. I get this information from satellite imagery.  The land features that I look for are woodlots, elevations on ridges, drainage or creeks. I find creeks important because they have everything a deer needs. Water, browse, food and the higher ridges around the creek offers bedding cover.  Since creeks are natural travel routes for deer, I also use it to go in and out of my stands.  They are quiet and they keep me hidden.  Take the creek and follow until it comes to a deer crossing. Seeing a rut dug into the bank with fresh deer tracks is what to look for.  This will then lead you to a well worn deer path.

I spend time following the deer path in both directions.  Look for fresh deer droppings, this tells me the trail is being used daily.  Finding old rubs and scrapes from the previous year is a plus.  This trail will usually intersect lesser trails; this is where I will place a stand.  During the rut, bucks will travel these lesser trails to scent check for does.  After scouting the main trail for a good distance and I am convinced that it connects bedding cover and food sources, a second stand will be hung where I predict will be the down wind side of the trail.

I also will hang other stands, one near the bedding area for the morning hunt and the other near the food source for the evening hunt.  Morning stands should placed on higher elevation up the ridge and evening near the creek.  The reason for this is because of air thermals.  Thermals are the sun heating cool air in the morning which causes it to rise, air then cools in the evening which causes it to sink. I would not put my stand low in the morning because the rising air would carry my scent across the trails, running parallel to the ridge and creek.  The opposite would be true in the evening. A helpful hint is high in the morning, low in the evening.  Bow hunting deer is a complex and detailed sport and takes a lot of time to learn.  But since I do not always have time to scout, which entails long hours, I have found speed scouting to be an effective way for a bow shot. I’ve consistently had success with this set up.  Success is not necessarily harvesting a deer, but just seeing deer because I was in the right tree, and got close to the game.

-Joe Rothgeb

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Wytheville Trout Fishing

July 10th, 2009

On Tuesday, June 30, 2009, two of my close friends and I departed Richmond and headed south to Wytheville.  We were making our annual pilgrimage to Cedar Springs Sportsman’s Lodge located on Cripple Creek.  We’ve been fishing there at least once per year for the past seven years with excellent success on almost every trip.  The trout stocking program that they have is top notch.  There are always plenty of rainbow trout in the stream with good numbers of brook trout and brown trout stocked as well.  The size of the trout is what keeps us coming back.  Over the years we’ve landed rainbows up to seven pounds, browns up to eight pounds, and brooks over three pounds.  This trip was no different

After a restless nights sleep at the Hampton Inn in Wytheville, we rose out of bed at 4:45 in the morning, loaded the truck and drove to Joey’s, a great place to grab some breakfast on the way to the stream.  We finished our breakfast and were at the stream fishing by 6:30 in the morning.  A light rain had just quit about the time we wet our lines.  Immediately we were catching fish.  My first trout hit a ball of yellow Berkley Power Bait.  A nice three pound specimen.  Over the course of the day I landed eleven rainbows, three of which were over four pounds.  I caught most of my fish drifting live night crawlers and throwing #2 gold Panther Martin spinners.  I released all but five of my fish, since there is a five fish limit on the stream.  One of my buddies also landed eleven rainbows, keeping only five.  My lass fortunate friend only landed three rainbows, all of which he kept.

The next morning started much like the previous.  We started fishing at 6:15 in the morning.  After landing two quick fish, one on Powerbait, and one on a night crawler, I started fly fishing exclusively.  The trout were all over the flies.  The most productive was a #8 black woolybuggar.  Dead drifting the woolybuggar seemed to be the best presentation.  I lost more fish than I landed.  I had at least five or six throw the hook on me, and two that broke me off.  One of the two that broke me off was a rainbow in the six pound range.  I did manage to land three fish on the fly to complete my five fish limit.  My friend with eleven fish the day before also caught five on the second day.  But, my less fortunate friend managed to land four trout with a little feeling of redemption.  At 2:00 in the afternoon we packed up the gear and headed back to Richmond with another good trip under our belts and some fillets for the freezer.

-Billy

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King William Pond Bass Fishing

July 10th, 2009

Last week I went fishing on a private pond in King William.  I took along a friend and fellow employee that had never been to this pond.  Freddie and I got there early and used topwater lures first.  We threw wake baits and frogs and had some luck with 2lb. bass.  Freddie made a switch after a while to a Super Speed Craw green pumpkin color.  I switched to a black and blue jig and we had better luck.  Freddie landed an 8 pounder!  Big bass of the day.

As the day unfolded, we had much better luck than we did at first light.  We ended up catching 1 bass over 8lbs., 2 over 7lbs., and 12 4lbs. to 5lbs.

I’ve been fishing for over 50 years and thought that I knew most of what is out there to know.  Freddie taught me a couple of things.  I always want to learn something new, especially if it keeps me catching the big ones.

The very next day, I took another friend to the same lake.  This time, we got there at 2pm instead of first thing in the morning.  I started using my favorite bait: 3/16oz. black and blue jig with a swimming chunk.  That’s the same thing I used the day before with Freddie.

Clay Lewis was throwing a 10.5” ‘Ol Monster in red shad.  He caught two over 8lbs.!!  That’s when I made the switch to what he was throwing.  When we got done, we had 4 over 8lbs., and 15 from 4lbs. to 5lbs.  It was another great day.  These are days to hope for, but rarely ever happen.

-Mickey

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Late June Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel Fishing

July 10th, 2009

I went fishing for flounder on Thursday 6/25 and had a blast.  We went to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, started at the 1st Island and went to the 4th Island.  The morning was a little rough but the Bay calmed down around noon.  I troll as well as drift for flounder, but this time we decided to drift and bounce bucktails off the bottom and see what happened.  I also have a smaller boat and it’s easier to drift than troll.

That was a good choice because we had five keepers and too many throw backs to count.  We used 1.5 oz. to 2 oz. bucktails with Berkley Jerk Shads on the back.  Both were chartreuse and seemed to work better than the other colors.

We hit the right tide but that changed when the tide stopped.  It was slow going right before and right after the change so we had a dead zone to deal with for a while.  When the tide started moving again, the fishing picked up.  The high falling tide was the most productive, we should have just started fishing then, but oh well.

The biggest flounder of the day was 23”.  All-in-all, it was a fun day.  I’ve had better days, but I’ve also been skunked more times than I’ll admit.

-Will

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