Posted By:
Don-Molter
Guest
Field 08-29-2001 22:01
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Saturday 9/1 marks the opening of the 2001 Goose Resident Bird season in WV. Several new and important items of interest should be reviewed. First, the new daily bag limit for the early season is 5 Geese per day, per hunter, with a possession limit of 10. This is up from former year limits of only 3 per day. The follow up seasons will return to the 3 per day limit. The second item of interest is the repeal of the Sunday Hunting “Blue Law” in WV. While the new law is quite confusing (if you only knew the whole story) and many Sunday’s are still off limit, the Sunday’s in the early Goose season are open to hunting. This will mark the first legal Sunday hunting in WV since Colonial Days (when we were actually part of VA). Those planning on being afield on Sunday MUST have written permission from the land owner – NO EXCEPTIONS. The fine for not having WRITTEN permission is $1,000 for the first conviction. This is quite unique as many land owners in the state normally don’t bother with written permission and just rely on their word as their bond. Not so from now on. Get it in writing and enjoy your new hunting experience. DM
Posted By:
Eric-Gerencir
WFC Sponsor
zone 2 11-22-2001 17:00
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 60-65 Degrees
Tomorrow the 23rd of November is the first day of the second season for waterfowling in the mountain state in zone 2!
Posted By:
TOYE
Guest
Mississippi 11-04-2001 19:13
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
NPDAWG,
Tough is an understatement! We’ve been killing a few birds each day but the birds we have here are extremely versed on the “open water” law! There was a lot of competetion this weekend which makes the birds even more wary and then add sunny skies with no wind and you are in for a long day! On the other hand I hear the Walleys are biting.
The Nov. 27th duck season closure is coming on fast. It sure would be nice to have a split in early Oct. for some late season mallard hunting in Dec. Especially this year!
Posted By:
Eric-Gerencir
WFC Sponsor
n/a 11-01-2001 20:50
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
I talked to a gunsmith today and discussed the problems with Steel and shooting performance and knockdown power. He pointed out the problem with steel going through the choke. If you notice on your box of steel shells that it may say 1-1/4 oz. of load. Well if you check a chart that gives the number of steel in that weight vs. the number of lead pellets in the same weight you’ll see the numbers vary greatly. Steel has more pellets. So, you think GREAT more pellets more chance to hit the target. Well, now think about getting all these pellets through the choke when you pull the trigger! Ah, there’s the rub. He suggested to open up the choke more to get all those pellets through without crowding them through. I’ll let everyone know what happens for me on my 11-87.
Posted By:
Eric-Gerencir
WFC Sponsor
River/Marsh 11-01-2001 20:38
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Well, well, well. Like the dude from Staind sings, “it’s been awhile…”.
There were woodducks. There were teal. There were even a few mallards. But, it was nothing like last year for me. We happened to bag a couple of teal and we happened to bag a single mallard. As always the woodducks seamed to provide the “best shooting” of the first split. The only time you could count on shooting was right before sunset. Up north the majority of the ducks we got were just starting to get their full plumage. So, it was very difficult to pick the males out on 25 yard passing shots and even harder on a bank flush. The birds in the southern area on the lakes seemed to be in full elegant color and it was quite a treat to hold such majestic woodducks! Really not to much to report on in the early season since these birds were all pretty much residents.
Something I would like to address is, STEEL vs. ALTERNATIVE Shot. After shooting the lights out of the clays with lead, switching to steel for ducks left me scratching my head. I haven’t tried anything else other than steel since anything else makes my wallet scream from hunger. But, if the results are cleaner kills and a fuller game bag I’m all willing to give anyone my ear. I’m going to break down this season and begin experimenting. I intend to keep updating this area with my opinions and results.
Posted By:
DUCK EYE
Guest
Pond 10-16-2001 22:46
Cloudy, High Winds – 45-50 Degrees
Nice morning! One woody, 2 Green heads.
We may be seeing the first wave of northern boys. saw lots of GWT if only I could shoot! my dog was happy he went swimming to day.
Posted By:
MOD
Guest
River 10-04-2001 22:08
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – 40-45 Degrees
Finally got to go hunting Wednesday morning for an hour. Saw several Woodies before I had to leave. Need to practice more. The gang said geese arrived after I left. Hope everyone has a good year. Come on cold weather.
Posted By:
jocan
Guest
meadow valley area 09-22-2001 10:22
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
I was out this afternoon scouting, in central WI, and after a week of precip the rain gauge showing over three inches, I had dreams of full flowages brimming with fowl, only to find water flowing over the tops of the boards on control structures of low flowages and a few cranes, makes me wonder why I pay the money for stamps.
Good Luck Gentlemen!!!!!
Posted By:
rharris
Guest
Shenandoah 09-18-2001 09:38
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Just wanted to send out a reminder that this Saturday and Sunday (9-22 and 9-23) are the designated days for the West Virginia Youth Waterfowl Hunting Days. Take a kid hunting and enjoy the weekend!
Posted By:
Don-Molter
Guest
Field 09-04-2001 21:45
Cloudy, Heavy Fog – 60-65 Degrees
Opening day was foggy and overcast. As luck would have it, the geese decided to use a nearby field were we do not have permission to hunt. We scored 3 birds before we called it quits. The second day of the early season was truly different for us in the Mountain State. For the first time, we could legally hunt on Sunday in WV. Another 3 geese were harvested before they could get to the forbidden field. One band, my first goose of the season taken on Saturday was collected. We saw a tremendous amount of local birds. Obviously, they had a very productive breeding season this spring. This will make for some nice gunning later on. DM
Posted By:
rharris
Guest
Shenandoah River 09-04-2001 13:08
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 65-70 Degrees
Jefferson County Goose Busters were back at it again. With Roger (myself), Mike, David, Art, Peter, Mike II and now the newest and youngest addition Justin (my son)on the River early Saturday morning you would expect lots of downed birds and bird down on the water – unfortunately this was not the case this day. We saw a couple of flights leave in the early morning hours but had nothing come back by noon. We were greeted by the local Game Warden and checked for license, stamps, HIP cards and most importantly flotation life vests. You must have an approved life vest in your boat, canoe or skiff while on any West Virginia waterway – even if you are just walking along. Peter found out the hard way with a piece of paying paper. I had flotation devices and was given a warning that they do not constitute as adequate flotation support. With seven hunters, four dogs, two canoes, two boats and a layout boat we had the river covered from shoreline to shoreline but the geese just did not cooperate. We did get into some doves in the afternoon and 11 year old Justin got five on his first day of real wing shooting. I got seven and Mike Moore got his limit in less than a box of shells – he is now one up on me for the years friendly competition. I had a great day just watching my son grow and learn a sport I enjoy doing. I didn’t even take a gun with me when we where goose hunting so I could just watch and coach him. I didn’t even dove hunt until 3:00 p.m. just so I could enjoy helping and teaching him. He did one beautiful shot in front of Mike and I and it took about 20 minutes to knock the grin off my face. After a round of high fives with everyone the young lad and lab wre back to watching the sky for more birds. There is nothing as much fun as sharing the times in the field with a good friend and your family. Take a kid or spouse hunting with you and share your outdoor pleasures with them. Remember this may be new to them so keep it short and easy going until they also get as excited about the time in the field as you do.
