Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation pledges $300,000 to restore elk in Virginia
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ efforts to restore elk in Virginia received a major boost just over a week before Christmas when the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation announced it is pledging...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Field Reports: Big striper smashes Optimist tournament record
When Tom Gerakaris entered a 42.88-pound striped bass in the Optimist Club tournament on Smith Mountain Lake this past weekend, he didn’t just take home $1,000 for winning the contest’s striper...
View ArticleWild pigs may become Washington’s next big pest
Picture yourself on a walk through Rock Creek Park. Whitetailed deer pick their way through the trees, eyeing you warily. Perhaps you hear the yip of a distant coyote. Then a strange grunting sound...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Outdoors: An update on Virginia’s elk restoration program
“So, how are the elk doing? That is a question Allen Boynton hears quite often these days. He is the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries wildlife biologist heading the state’s elk...
View ArticleAntler restrictions: Some hunters like them and some don't, but biologists...
Pennsylvania's 2012 deer season marks a decade under the controversial management strategy called "antler restrictions." Game commissioners put the higher standard in place in 2002 when they changed...
View ArticleHunters afield this season under host of new regulations
Hunters will be afield this season under a host of new regulations, so many that it takes nearly a full page to list them in the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ hunting law digest....
View ArticleTexas deer hunting outlook diminished in lingering severe drought
We Texas hunters have had it good for the past couple of decades. We have the largest white-tailed deer population in the country, and coupled with an increase in habitat management statewide, it...
View ArticleDGIF approves license fee increases
The Roanoke Times File 2008 The state general hunting and big-game licenses, as well as state fishing and trout licenses will go up $5 to $23, which includes a $1 issuance fee. RICHMOND -- Hunters and...
View ArticleOutdoors: Warm weather alters turkey hunting
If last weekend's Youth Day is any indication, the 2012 spring gobbler season has the makings of a good one. On April 7, young hunters had Virginia's woods and fields to themselves (along with their...
View ArticleVirginia's Ban on Feeding Deer
Starting Thursday, it's illegal to feed deer in Virginia. The feeding ban runs from Sept. 1 through the first week in January. The ban primarily overlaps hunting season in Virginia, when conflicts can...
View ArticleHunting for hunt dates? Start here
Deadlines are approaching for many of the quota and managed hunts offered by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. While there are a few changes and additions to the program, most of...
View ArticleSunday hunting in Virginia now just a matter of time
When James Hazel has gone to the Virginia General Assembly to promote Sunday hunting as a board member of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, he has done so with a handicap. Legislators will...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Field Reports: Doves, woodcock and rail seasons set
A 70-day doves season split into three sections has been set by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries for the following dates: • Sept. 1-Oct 13 • Oct 17-27 • Dec. 28-Jan. 12 The bag...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Outdoors: Reflecting on the 27 years of the Virginia Deer...
Courtesy Denny Quaiff Denny Quaiff is executive director of Virginia Deer Hunters Association and an avid hunter. Twenty-seven years ago, a handful of sportsmen got together to organize the Virginia...
View ArticleMore reasons for WA hunter anger toward WDFW, commission
Opening weekend of the general buck deer season provided more evidence for critics of game management in Washington State that the people in charge are not their friends. According to an editor’s blog...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Field Reports: Big bucks showing up
Big bucks showing up Hunters won't know for certain who killed the biggest buck of the 2011-12 season until next year's trophy shows, but expectations already are high that the top rack will rank high...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Outdoors: Putting to a test “Thou shalt not hunt on the...
The Virginia Deer Hunters Association is surveying its members—again-to see how they feel about Sunday hunting, an issue destined to grab a lot of attention when the 2012 General Assembly convenes in...
View ArticleNow what? Hunters don't have to hang up their camo just because deer season...
This past Saturday brought the end to Virginia's deer season, by far the most popular attraction for the state's hunters, but hunting season is far from over. Plenty of opportunities remain for...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Field Reports: New angling regulations aimed at growing...
If you are inclined to take home fish you catch, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries made that option easier on Tuesday when its board passed regulations to lesson restrictions on...
View ArticleOutdoors: Fall hunting guide for dove, whitetail deer and turkey
RICHMOND, Va. -- Saturday at noon, that sound you hear echoing around the Old Dominion won't just be shotgun blasts signaling the dove opener. You also may detect one huge sigh of relief as the...
View ArticleBest time to kill a trophy buck? Try the muzzleloading season
When is the best time to kill a deer? If you check Matt Knox’s vacation schedule -- he is the deer biologist for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries -- you’ll see that he plans to be...
View ArticleWildlife Officials Urge Deer Hunters to Manage Herds during Drought
Mired in what will undoubtedly be one of the worst droughts on record, white-tailed deer in Texas are facing tough conditions heading into the fall hunting season. “It doesn’t take a biologist to...
View ArticleVirginia General Assembly bills would affect how we hunt and fish
The Virginia General Assembly is dealing with more than 30 bills that would impact those of us who hunt and fish. Here is a look at some of the key legislation: SUNDAY HUNTING: There is no bigger...
View ArticleTexas Hunting Forecast �Euro" 2011-2012
Hunting seasons is upon us, and there will be adequate game for hunters. Someone once wrote that the amount of available game Texans consider “just average” can seem like a bumper crop to those less...
View ArticleEarly returns show deer kill up
For many Virginia deer hunters Sunday was the first day of a long wait. With the exception of special population-control hunts in a few localities, deer season ended at a half-hour past sunset on...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Outdoors: It is tough to be a grouse hunter these days
If you are a grouse hunter, these are difficult days, unless you just happen to enjoy long, arduous marches in woods that are silent. Virginia hunters who participated in a Department of Game and...
View ArticleDeer, turkey kills increase this season
Virginia's big game hunters had good seasons this past fall. According to preliminary figures compiled by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, totals kills for both white-tailed deer and wild...
View ArticleShort Hills short on support
Most of the time sportsmen are happy when the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries buys land for public hunting, fishing and wildlife watching. That’s not the case concerning one of the agency’s...
View ArticleDGIF enlisting non-hunters and fishermen to help pay its bills
This week, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries did what it always has done when it runs short of cash -- increase hunting and fishing license fees. But this time, it also did something...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Outdoors: Virginia dealing with four-legged ecological disaster
Aaron Procter, a wildlife biologist for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, calls feral swine “a four-legged ecological disaster.” He gets a lot of “Amen’s” from biologists across...
View ArticleNonresident sportsmen not happy with proposed license increases
Al Kittredge lives in Fayetteville, N.C., but loves to drive to Virginia to cast his hand-tied nymphs to the brightly hued brown trout in the Smith River. In fact, he delights in fly fishing and deer...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Field Reports: Volunteers wanted to draft turkey management...
If you are a serious turkey hunter, here is a call you should make. I’m not talking about yelps, gobbles, clucks, purrs, kee-kees or cackles. Rather, get on the phone or computer and inform the...
View ArticleDGIF seeks input on hunting proposals and likely will get an earful
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has proposed major changes in hunting regulations for the upcoming seasons and is asking for your input. The proposals include a special bear license; a...
View ArticleUsage fee coming to Wildlife Management Areas
If you’re a hunter, especially in the central and eastern portions of Virginia, you know how hard it can be to find quality land on which to hunt. The national forest is a long drive and not really...
View ArticlePumping new life into the fall turkey hunting season
If you’ve been thinking about buying a turkey dog, now is a good time. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has proposed adding a 12-day January segment to the fall turkey hunting...
View ArticleHunting for opinions
Although some deer hunters, such as 9-year-old Jake Balsley of Vinton, had a good season, a 15 percent drop in the deer kill prompted Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to remain conservative on...
View ArticleWhat’s going on with our Wildlife Management Areas?
Rick Layser lives on a gravel road that borders the 33,697 Goshen-Little North Mountain Wildlife Manage Area, a long, narrow and steep stretch of mountain land in Augusta, Bath and Rockbridge...
View ArticleVirginia hunters taking early aim
Though white-tailed deer are the undisputed kings of Virginia's game animals, many hunters get their fall season started long before the prime deer-hunting days of November. Small-game seasons get...
View ArticleFall turkey hunting preview
Courtesy Maslowski/NWTF Courtesy of Danny Crockett Brody Crockett was hunting on private land near Fort Chiswell in Wythe County on Oct. 12 when he shot this 22-pound gobbler, legal quarry for...
View ArticleBiologists propose new deer tag program
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Deer hunters will have an option when it comes to their individual limits for the 2012-2013 hunting season if a plan offered by state biologists is approved by the Louisiana...
View ArticleOUTDOORS: Virginia not hog wild over pig population
RICHMOND, Va. -- For nearly 500 years, a map of feral hog populations in the United States would have looked much the same. Hernando De Soto and his fellow conquistadors are credited with bringing the...
View ArticleHunters concerned over decline in national forest deer
“Whitetail hunters who know Virginia know to head for a county called Bath for a buck.” That was the title of a 1960s article in Outdoor Life Magazine. Bath County once was the jewel of Virginia’s deer...
View ArticleDeer and turkey kill figures plummet; should hunters be worried?
When the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries released the deer and turkey kill figures for the 2010-11 hunting seasons they were so bad that the agency reassured sportsmen “good hunting...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Outdoors: Hunters want a better deer herd in Bath, Highland...
Sportsmen who hunt deer in Bath, Highland and Alleghany counties are concerned about a decline in the number and quality of deer, especially on national forest land. Some 90 percent of participants in...
View ArticleAre predators taking a bite out of Virginia's deer herd?
Many hunters believe predators are taking a toll of deer in Virginia, particularly on national forest property in the western part of the state. That claim was advanced several times during 10 public...
View ArticleBiologists see nothing good about feeding deer, but people love to do it
Wildlife biologists of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries can tick off all kinds of reasons for not feeding deer: >It can spread disease >It alters the natural movements and...
View ArticleBill Cochran's Field Reports: Wanted! Information on your muskie fishing
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is asking muskie fishermen to keep a diary of their experiences for research purposes. Muskie are such an elusive, lone-wolf creature that it is...
View ArticleOutdoors: GA nixes larger issues; hunting results are in
It’s been a newsy few weeks for outdoors lovers around the state. Let’s see what’s been going on. General assembly: For hunters, the 2013 session will be known more for the legislation that wasn’t...
View ArticleJames City archers to get four extra months hunting
JAMES CITY - Area bow hunters will get more days to hunt, after the Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to extend archery season. Under the plan, the county will apply to the Virginia Department of...
View ArticleDNR urged not to rush implementation of deer trustee report
| Two veteran Wisconsin conservationists are urging the Department of Natural Resources to "not rush" implementation of the white-tailed deer trustee report. Following their participation in the March...
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