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When you first see a person using the vertical jigging fishing technique, it always looks a little peculiar. Hunched in the bow of a boat, moving just their forearms, the anglers do not cast. They do not reel. They simply twitch their rod tips up and down—rhythmically, hypnotically.
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Every forage used for food plots has an optimum time for planting. For brassicas the best time to plant is right now. From late July through September is the time to get these plants in the ground in the Shenandoah Valley.
If you are thinking about growing a summer food plot, it’s hard to beat lablab, cowpeas, or soybeans. But if you’re looking for something fresh and exciting to offer whitetail deer and other game, you might want to take a look at sunn hemp. While this forage is fairly new to the world of wil…
A common question you often hear about night bass fishing is what’s the best moon phase? The moon certainly affects bass behavior, but the truth is I’ve actually enjoyed good luck on all moon phases.
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Last week we looked at the early years of the Leupold Company, when it had nothing to do with spotting scopes, binoculars, and riflescopes. This week’s column concludes the story of how Leupold became a hunting optics company.
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Visit hunting camps these days and you’ll see all kinds of optics from high-end German scopes to cheap discount models. But in the Shenandoah Valley, the scopes you probably see most often are those made by Leupold, an American company based in Oregon. Some are battered and nicked, but they …
There are many ways to improve the habitat for wildlife. One that’s particularly useful for open fields and meadows in the Shenandoah Valley is to plant native warm season grasses. These plants grow six to eight feet tall, require little maintenance and offer great cover for song birds, game…
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It would be hard to think of a better location for catching bass on a fly rod than farm ponds, small natural lakes and creeks backed up by beaver dams. The reason these waters are so appealing is that much of the water is shallow to medium in depth. That makes it perfect for fly fishing. And…
Picture yourself hiking along a trail towards a distant gobbler or sneaking along a trout stream and suddenly coming face-to-face with a large black bear. He rears up on his hind legs, opens its huge mouth showing a sharp set of teeth, and lets out a loud roar.
Sneaking cautiously to the water’s edge, the angler delivers a tiny fly to a small dimple in the stream. As the offering disappears, he leans back and sets the hook on a scrappy brown trout. Moments later, he releases the fish unharmed. The orange-spotted trout had been planted as a fingerli…
Your housecat is not the only predator that likes to hunt for mice. A number of gamefish are also quite fond of the furry rodents. They’re more than happy to wolf down any mouse that takes a wrong turn and tumbles into a stream or lake.
One of the most crucial needs for bucks over the age of 2 is a safe area where they can rest and feel secure. If they don’t have one on or near the land you hunt, odds are they will find one somewhere else when the hunting pressure builds.
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Last week, we looked at a few of the most common bad weather situations spring gobbler hunters can face. Here are a few more challenges Mother Nature may dish out for you when turkey season arrives.
Imagine a perfect spring turkey hunting day and it would feature vivid blue skies, crisp air but not too cold, a hint of wind to keep the bugs at bay, and not a cloud in sight. Reality is rarely so kind. Instead, a more common spring turkey hunting scenario might feature rain, sleet, fog, li…
A vivid orange sun rose above Fredericksburg as I eased into the cold, clear waters of the Rappahannock River. The air was chilly, but a thick sweater and neoprene chest waders kept me warm as I carefully eased out toward the head of a favorite pool.
In April, one of the hardest questions anglers must answer is what species to go after. This is a prime time for many gamefish, from bass to bluegills, catfish to trout. One of my favorite quarries, though, for spring outings is the crappie.
Virginia whitetail deer hunters in 2020 enjoyed a season very similar to the previous year, according to Matt Knox, Deer Project Leader for the Department of Wildlife Resources. “Harvest numbers were nearly identical to last fall and would have probably been slightly higher if not for severa…
With fishing season swinging in, it’s good to take an inventory of your tackle and see what items need replacing, cleaning or repairing. Often, steps you take now will keep you from not having the right lure for a certain situation or having gear that fails when a big fish strikes. Tackle ca…
Instead of focusing on one subject in detail, this week we’ll cover a mixed bag of hunting and fishing tips that will help you bag or catch your quarry, whether it’s a whitetail buck, call-shy gobbler, or pot-bellied largemouth bass.
Sonar lures, also called blade lures, are one of the best baits available for catching bass in late winter and early spring. That may seem puzzling when you first look at them.
The air was nearly freezing when my fishing pals and I pulled into the marina on the Chickahominy River. Frost glistened from nearby lawns and our breath exhaled in white puffs as we eased the boat into the brackish water river.
Over the last two weeks we’ve been discussing solutions for a pond with a failing drainpipe. The alternative decided on was to do away with the drainpipe and have the pond simply drain out two spillways.
In last week’s column, we talked about one of the most common problems that can occur with ponds throughout the Shenandoah Valley. The issue is failing drainpipes when metal is used for this purpose. It can happen anywhere from 15-25 years after the pond is built.
We’ve written often in the past about the joys of building, owning, hunting near, and fishing in ponds. But over time, many ponds develop problems. Some of them can be fixed easily, like having a trapper remove muskrats that are burrowing holes in the dam. But one problem that is more diffic…
Novice hunters tend to think the best time to scout for deer is during late summer or early fall. Winter through early spring, though, is in many respects a better time to gather the information that will help you have a successful hunt next fall.
With the bitter cold weather we’ve been experiencing, this is a good time to sit back in an easy chair or in front of a fireplace and think of strategic ways you can improve your success on hunting outings next year. Here are a few tips and tactics that will help for a variety of species of game.
Drifting quietly along with the river’s current, my hunting partner and I were greeted with the sight of yet another squirrel scampering across the limb of an oak tree along the bank. We were hoping we could flush a mallard or two, but after seeing several squirrels, we decided to make it a …
Deer and turkey draw the focus of most Shenandoah Valley sportsmen. But when those seasons are closed, as they are now, a surprising number of outdoorsmen and women still like to venture out and hunt both the gray and fox squirrels that inhabit our western Virginia counties.
With the arrival of January, it’s time for diehard hunters to turn their attention to a challenging game bird of the forest – the ruffed grouse. This quarry draws upland hunters to the woods no matter how cold the air and how deep the snow, with open season lasting through Feb. 13. It’s hard…
With all the attention focused on deer recently during the rifle and late muzzleloader seasons, it’s easy to forget there are plenty of other hunting opportunities for Shenandoah Valley outdoorsmen. One such activity is duck hunting. Hunters in the western counties don’t have classic waterfo…
With rabbit season remaining open through the end of February, here are some observations on hunting this great small game quarry from Marc Puckett, Virginia’s Small Game Project leader. And if you are worried that only those with a pack of beagles can enjoy this sport, think again.
Many hunters call it quits for the year when rifle season closes, usually in late November. But if you like the challenge of hunting in December, deer can still be pursued. You just have to use primitive weapons such as bows, crossbows, and during the special late season, muzzleloaders. Thes…
With rifle deer hunting finished for the year, many sportsmen are turning to fishing. Yes, even though the calendar says it’s December, gamefish can be caught on a number of waters throughout the Old Dominion. Here are highlights of a few angling opportunities available right now.
You won’t catch as many fish as you do on spring and summer outings, but no time of year offers a better chance for trophy bass than winter. You could well latch onto the fish of a lifetime now, with December through March being one of the best times of the year for citation-sized (8 pound) …
The woods seemed unusually quiet in Shenandoah County during the muzzleloader season. But perhaps that was just true in the area I hunt in the western part of the county near North Mountain.
While COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the country, there’s a far less serious condition some hunters will deal with as rifle season swings in. It’s a malady that every hunter knows the signs and symptoms of. Fortunately, they do not last long. In fact, they are present for only a few…
When the weather turns cold, many sportsmen devote themselves exclusively to hunting. But this is also a good time to improve your fishing skills. If you’ve always thought about taking up fly fishing or want to improve your technique at that sport, you’re in luck. One of the best places to u…
At the end of October and early November, bow hunting can get especially hard. Deer that had not been pressured all spring and summer start to feel the effect of hunters coming and going into the woods every day and don’t move as much as they did during the first weekend or two of the season…
When gun seasons open for deer over the next few weeks, most hunters will be hunting from tree stands or ground blinds. But if you prefer to put on “drives,” here are some strategies to make them more successful and safe. Even if you don’t turn to this method regularly, sometimes it’s worth …
Last week we looked at some mistakes that can ruin a fall turkey hunt. Here are a few more “flub-ups” to avoid. Making your hunt as error-free as possible can go a long way towards enjoying a successful outing.
Legs weary from the long morning of hunting, I was just about to take a break when suddenly there they were, right in front of me: 10 to 12 turkeys. Their brown and black feathers reflected the bright midday sun like a mirror.
Sometimes the best lure for catching a bass, striper or walleye, isn’t the latest brand new hi-tech product but rather an old offering that has proven its worth over many generations of fishermen. One such lure is the Rat-L-Trap. Today, we’ll take a look at why that lure is still so producti…
The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources announced on Wednesday that 11 counties in Northwestern Virginia have been included in a Disease Management Area for the 2020-2021 hunting seasons.
Many Shenandoah Valley hunters head west in the fall to take up the challenge of pursuing the big game animals found there. One of the most popular of all species is the pronghorn, also called antelope.
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