Outdoors

Outdoors

How times have changed in the bowhunting world
With another hunting season here, I can’t help but think back to past hunts. I remember how excited I got when I saw deer as a young teenager. The hunting industry has come a long way since then, with high tech hunting gadgets and lightning-fast compound bows.

October 14, 2012
Fall colors are brightening October woods
October brings shorter days, chilly morning temperatures, and splashes of color to forested landscapes. It’s time for the annual autumn extravaganza we call “fall colors.”

October 7, 2012
Practice makes perfect
West Virginians are considered great shots — it’s simply part of our mountain heritage. The Mountaineer doesn’t carry around a shrimp net, for crying out loud, and although I have never seen a nationwide poll, I can only assume that the people watching the Mountaineers play ball are somewhat confident that the Mountaineer knows a thing or two about shooting a firearm.

September 30, 2012
Matching bird food to feeders
The bird feeding season is upon us, and invariably questions about which foods and feeders are best fill my mail box. Here’s a preemptive effort to answer some of those questions.

September 30, 2012
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet Saturday
The Southern West Virginia chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will hold its third annual benefit banquet at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center, and this year, Gus Farris, a spokesman for the chapter, believes the state is closer than ever to reaching its goal of getting West Virginia declared as an elk state.

September 16, 2012
Governor announces it’s time to restore elk in W.Va.
Growing up on the Elk River, just outside of a little town named Elkview, I was often curious as to why rivers and towns were named after an animal not found there. The fact is, elk used to roam our hills and hollers in abundance long ago. But by the late 1800s, elk were completely eliminated from West Virginia. The last native elk records were reported from the headwaters of the Cheat River in Pocahontas County in 1873, and the Webster Springs area of Webster County in 1875.

September 2, 2012
Wildlife recreation continues to grow
According to the results of the recently released “2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation” (Survey), more people than ever (age 16 and older) participated in wildlife recreation. Hunter numbers (13.7 million) grew nine percent from 2006 to 2011. The number of anglers (33.1 million) increased 11 percent during the same time period. And the number of wildlife watchers (71.8 million) held steady from 2006 to 2011 while increasing nine percent over the last 10 years.

September 2, 2012
Fall Rendezvous set to get started Friday at Pipestem
The annual Fall Rendezvous, hosted by the West Virginia Bowhunters Association, will be held Friday through Sunday at Pipestem State Park.

September 2, 2012
Lumberjackin' Bluegrassin' Jamboree Oct. 12-14 in Mullens
Southern West Virginia’s deciduous forests provide the colorful backdrop for the 30th Annual Lumberjackin’ Bluegrassin’ Jamboree at Twin Falls Resort State Park near Mullens Oct. 12–14.

September 2, 2012
Study time: Regulations released
Attention, all hunters and trappers. I have enrolled you into summer school and the course materials are hot off the presses. Stop by your local sporting goods shop, a West Virginia hunting and fishing license agent counter, our DNR district office in Beckley or simply go online to retrieve the course materials. There may or may not be a test at the end of the course — but I strongly suggest you come into this fall’s hunting season prepared.

July 15, 2012 1 Photo
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