THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502120154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON<
LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
It's apparent that the more deer Virginia hunters kill, the more whitetails there are the next year.
Maybe that's a testimonial to the tremendous job the state's Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has done in managing the Virginia deer herd.
With but a couple of exceptions, that management has produced record kills every year for the past five decades.
The 1994-95 season was not one of those exceptions.
The official tally for the past season shows that Virginia hunters again set a deer-kill mark, bagging 209,373 whitetails.
That's an increase of 8,251 over the previous record of 201,122, set just a year earlier. It's also the third consecutive 200,000-kill season, making Virginia one of the top deer states in the country.
Bob Duncan of the game department credited mild weather and increases in both bow-and-arrow and black-powder hunting as major contributors to the record.
``The weather was good, with no big snows or crippling freezes,'' Duncan said. ``And the increase in black-powder or muzzleloading hunting is just astronomical.''
Not to worry about the 1995-96 season, Duncan added.
``We had a great mast (natural food) crop this fall and, while no one can predict the future, I really see no reason why we shouldn't top 200,000 again,'' he said.
Before the recent season opened, Duncan estimated the Virginia whitetail population at perhaps greater than 1 million.
Hunters in peanut-rich Southampton set an all-time record for any Virginia county with a kill of 6,510. Whitetails take to peanut fields like crabs take to water.
The old record of 6,389 was set in the Northern Virginia county of Loudoun a year earlier. In 1994, Loudoun was a close second at 6,169.
Other top-10 counties included:
3. Bedford, 5,511; 4. Fauquier, 4,844; 5. Botetourt, 4,705; 6. Pittsylvania, 4,514; 7. Grayson, 4,471; 8. Albemarle, 4,383; 9. Bath, 4,320; and 10. Frederick, 3,871.
Closer to home, Virginia Beach recorded 837, while Chesapeake hunters bagged 981. Other local areas included: Sussex County, 3,482; Surry, 2,524; Suffolk, 1,772; Accomack, 1,642 and Northampton, 1,330.
The season's total included 138,271 for hunters east of the Blue Ridge Mountains and 71,102 in the west, both records.
TURKEYS, BEAR: While it wasn't a record, the fall turkey kill of 14,681 was a marked increase over 1993, when the total was 11,194.
But the bear kill dropped from a record 781 to 518, bringing it more in line with Virginia's 10-year average. ``We had an exceptional bear season in 1993,'' Duncan said.
The top turkey counties were: 1. Botetourt, 565; 2. Bedford, 551; 3. Giles, 519; 4. Grayson, 395; and 5. Franklin, 393.
SPLENDID WORK: The name Reese Lukei Jr. should be familiar to just about anyone in Virginia interested in walking trails and backpacking.
The Virginia Beach resident easily could be called Mr. Appalachian Trail, both for his jaunts along the 2,000-mile north-south walking trail and his efforts to promote and protect it.
Now Lukei, a retired civil service employee, has edited a wonderful little book, ``American Discovery Trail, Explorer's Guide.''
It's just what the title implies, a guide to the 6,300 miles of the meandering walking trail which begins at Cape Henlopen State Park in New Jersey and ends at Point Reyes National Seashore in California.
But the book is about more than a walking trail. It's about the towns, cities, mountains, rivers, creeks, plains and piedmonts along the way.
It's crammed with some excellent photos, including the Colorado home of the notorious outlaw, Butch Cassidy.
The book retails for $14.95. If it's not available in your local book store, it can be ordered directly from the publisher, American Hiking Society, P.O. Box 2160, Washington, D.C. 20041-2160.
GOOD WORK: Virginia Region 7 of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS) is helping to remedy a problem which has plagued thousands of boaters and fishermen on Buggs Island Lake.
In a Chesapeake shop, the region's members are constructing a 3,600-square-foot dock which will become a permanent facility adjacent to the boat ramp at North Bend Landing, near South Hill.
Don Sprinkle of Chesapeake, a spokesman for the group, said the Corps of Engineers provided much of the material, including the foam flotation, with labor provided by members of the Virginia BASS Federation.
``We hope to have it finished in time for the spring season,'' Sprinkle said. ``It's going to eliminate a great problem, especially when there's a tournament with 200 boats.''
BIGGEST YEAR: Virginia's Hunters for the Hungry program had its biggest year during the 1994-95 deer season, with more than 82,000 pounds of venison donated by hunters.
That's up from 70,000 pounds the previous year, according to David Horne of Big Island, Va., father of the program to provide high-protein food to the needy.
This year's program was boosted by a $20,000 donation from Philip Morris Companies, Inc., used to defray the cost of butchering, packaging and freezing the venison.
MARCH DECISION: There is still some hope for opening Virginia's recreational fishing season on flounder as early as April 1, although April 15 may be more realistic. So says Jack Travelstead of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, who added that the season probably will not be set until March 28.
Like all East Coast states, Virginia will have to keep its season within the confines of a flounder plan being developed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
The overall plan is designed to aid the beleaguered flatfish, the victim of gross over-fishing by both commercial and recreational fishermen.
Details for the 1995 season will be based on surveys to determine just how well the popular game and food fish is doing. Initial reports are not very encouraging, according to Travelstead.
Earlier, it was speculated that the season might open May 15 and run through Oct. 31, with individual states allowed to swing two weeks from the end to the beginning, meaning a possible May 1 through Oct. 15 season in Virginia.
Travelstead said he sensed some concern from ASMFC members that Virginia, especially fishing centers along the Eastern Shore seaside, would be excessively affected by any May opening. The biggest factor in Virginia's favor is that the state's anglers caught only 38 percent of their 1993 allocation. Figures for 1994 are not yet available.
SHORT CASTS: Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach will hold its annual spring clean-up March 18. If you're interested in volunteering, call 721-2412. ... State income tax check-off contributions to North Carolina's non-game and endangered species program have dropped from more than $500,000 to just over $300,000 in the past three years, threatening the quality of the state's wildlife management. ... As BASS kicks off its 1995 tournament season after a 10-week break, the competition will be on sprawling Sam Rayburn Reservoir near Jasper, Texas. Ross Darling of Richmond is the only Virginian among early registrants. ... The Mariners Museum in Newport News will host its annual ``Antique Motorboating Symposium'' March 31-April 2. Registration will be $100, including meals. Details: Gayle Donovan, 591-7714. by CNB