Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 27, 1993 TAG: 9309290325
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
2 Hunting with a bow and arrow isn't the handicap it once was. Modern bows shoot flat and hard, and with amazing accuracy. Deer are more numerous than even during the era of the Indians. And the bow season keeps expanding.
The early season for hunting deer opens Saturday, a week earlier than in past, and it also will close a week later, Nov. 13. Be aware that bears are a legal target only from Sept. 9 to Nov. 6, but archers may hunt turkeys and squirrels throughout the special bow season.
Bowhunters won't be the only hunters afield a week earlier this month. The grouse season, which traditionally has opened the first Monday in November, will begin Oct. 25. It continues through Feb. 12.
The northern squirrel season also opens in October. Hunters in the northern mountains through the Piedmont may begin going after bushytails the 9th. That season continues through Jan. 31, as does the southern season, which opened early September..
\ A season for wood ducks
6 For sportsmen who live well away from the salt marshes, some of the best waterfowl hunting of the season occurs in October. That's when the early duck season provides a brief period for going after resident wood ducks, just before cold weather sends them winging southward.
The early duck dates this season are Oct. 6-9. The three-way split season also will be open Nov. 25-27 and Dec. 27-Jan 18.
The wood duck population should be above average. The wet spring provided good water conditions during the early part of the nesting season; however, this partially may have been offset by dry weather beginning in July, which curtailed renesting efforts.
The daily bag limit is three ducks, but that may include no more than one hen mallard, two wood ducks, two redheads, one black duck and one pintail.
\ Breathing hard and liking it
9 If you've been wanting to try the new Allegheny Trial, which stretches some 300 miles, from north of Covington to near Morgantown, W. Va., here's your chance. And you can help a worthy cause at the same time.
All you need to do is sign up for the annual Allegheny Trek for Life and Breath. It is three days (Oct. 9-11) and 25 miles of backpacking on the Allegheny trail from Jerry's Run, in Virginia, to Sherwood Lake, in West Virginia.
Send a $15 registration fee, along with your T-shirt size, to Evelyn Marker, American Lung Association of West Virginia, P.O. Box 3980, Charleston W.Va. 25339. A contact is Ginny Painter, 304-342-6600.
\ Eastern Shore birding bash
9 Anytime you can travel to Virginia's Eastern Shore is a grand time, but especially so in early October. The weather is great, the fish are hitting and it is migration time for neotropical songbirds and raptors.
The fact that the Shore is one of the finest birding spots in the state is a well-kept secret, but that is about to change with the first Eastern Shore Birding Festival, Oct. 9 and 10. The festival will feature guided tours, bird banding, exhibits and workshops, but you need to preregister to take part. Call 804-787-5622.
\ Sighting-in on new season
31 Every hunter needs to make certain his gun is hitting on the mark prior to the deer season. But where can you go to zero it in?
The Roanoke Rifle and Revolver Club, again this year, will open its ranges to the public for two sighting-in days: Oct. 31 and Nov. 7. The ranges have bench rests, targets, even coaches to help you. Just show up between 9 and 4 with your gun and the ammo that you plan to use when hunting.
To reach the range, travel east from Roanoke on 116, cross Windy Gap Mountain, then turn left on 678, go for one mile and turn left onto a gravel road across from a white church. Additional information is available from 774-6841.
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