
DATE: Sunday, September 28, 1997            TAG: 9709280257

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C13  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON

                                            LENGTH:   89 lines

VIRGINIA'S FIRST DEER SEASONS GET UNDER WAY THIS WEEK

Virginia hunters get their first chance at whitetail deer on Wednesday, when the season opens in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and the eastern section of Suffolk. The season runs through Nov. 30.

Virginia's bow season on whitetails opens Saturday, with hunters in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and eastern Suffolk also allowed to bow hunt from Dec. 1 through Jan. 3.

Virginia's early muzzleloader season will be Nov. 3-15 in areas east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 10-15 west of the hills. Additionally, the latter will be open to muzzleloaders Dec. 15 through Jan. 3.

Virginia's general deer season opens Nov. 17, to run through Nov. 30 in the west, Jan. 3 in the east.

While Virginia's first deer seasons open this week, some North Carolina hunters already are stalking whitetails.

The bowhunting season opened Sept. 8 throughout the Tar Heel State, with muzzleloader hunting Oct. 6 in eastern and western sections, Nov. 10 in the central and Nov. 17 in the northwest.

FOR THE BIRDS: The fifth annual Eastern Shore Birding Festival will be held Friday through Sunday, with headquarters at John Maddox's Sunset Beach Inn at the north end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

The site is near Kiptopeke State Park, where more than 250,000 birds have been trapped, banded and released over the past 30 years.

This is one of the East Coast's major birding sites. Hundreds of species, some exotic, gather at the south end of the Eastern Shore each fall before migrating across the Chesapeake Bay.

Festival activities, open to anyone with reservations, include numerous exhibits, programs and tours ranging as far north as Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, bordering the Maryland line.

Registration ranges from $5 to $25. For details, contact the Eastern Shore of Virginia Chamber of Commerce in Melfa (1-757-787-2460).

MORRIS UPDATE: Rick Morris, the professional bass fisherman from Virginia Beach, is 13th in the Angler of the Year standings on the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS) trail.

The top 25 finishers in a season running through early summer 1998 will earn spots in the Bassmaster Classic, considered the World Series of bass fishing.

Morris finished 11th an won $6,000 in a contest on Lake Champlain and backed that up with a 12th place on the St. Lawrence River, winning $2,900.

No other Virginian is in the top 25.

FISHING NOTES: Almost all East Coast fishing for bluefin tuna has been closed by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The only exception will be those boats which have filled out the federal permit allowing them to land one bluefin of at least 73 inches this year.

The public also will be allowed to comment at a Virginia Beach hearing next month on developing plans for limiting the dogfish fishery.

Many scientists say that concentrations of dogfish, also known as dog sharks, have been severely reduced because of the increased demand for shark fins.

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn SunSpree, 39th and Atlantic.

SHORT CASTS: Jim Bayne, owner of the boat ``No More Excuses,'' which sank off Oregon Inlet, N.C., several weeks ago, will headline Wednesday's 7:30 p.m. meeting of the Virginia Beach Billfish Foundation. The meeting will be at Henry's restaurant on Shore Drive at the foot of the Lynnhaven Inlet Bridge. Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament with an 80 1/2-pounder, boated at Chesapeake Light Tower. ... Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach will be closed to all non-hunting visitors Oct. 4-11 for its annual whitetail deer and feral hog hunt. Additionally, the interior dike trail will be closed to all visitors Nov. 1 through April 1 to protect waterfowl. ... Chris Napier of Virginia Beach has won $250 and a shot at a $10,000 scholarship by winning the Virginia Big Bass junior title. Napier landed at 8.75-pound largemouth at Landstown Lake. The national competition takes place Oct. 10-11 in Missouri. Keith Sherman of Forest, Va., near Lynchburg, won the senior title with a 13.5-pound Briery Creek Lake catch. ... Swan-hunting permits, as well as permits to hunt waterfowl on the Barbour's Hill and False Cape areas in Virginia Beach and Hog Island area in Surry County are available. For details, contact the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in Williamsburg (1-757-253-7072). ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

DATES TO REMEMBER

Oct. 1: Deer season opens in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and

eastern section of Suffolk.

Oct. 4: Fall striped bass season opens in Chesapeake Bay and its

tidal tributaries, 2-fish bag limit, 18-inch minimum, no maximum.

Nov. 17: General firearms season for deer opens statewide.

Dec. 31: Ocean striped bass season closes, 2-fish bag limit,

28-inch minimum, no maximum. Striper season closes in Chesapeake Bay

and its tidal tributaries, 2-fish bag limit, 18-inch minimum, no

maximum.