Bow Hunting Grand Slam 2007

By Mac Moad

The first week of October was finally here.  The first three days were spent in my favorite stand watching 3 raccoons in which I had named Larry, Curly, and Moe.  The mother raccoon was slightly bigger than the two younger ones, and seemed curious to every movement surrounding them.  The days here in eastern Oklahoma in October were still in the 80’s with mosquitoes buzzing everywhere.  I was wondering if it were still to hot to hunt and questioned myself again over and over.  Each day so far, I had hunted morning and evening with only a few does showing up. Read more

Calling Elk Bow Close

Whether hunting public or privateland, the fundamentals of calling elk remain the same.

By Michael Waddell

We heard the bull bugle at first light and snuck into his core area. When I hit a lick on my bugle, the bull simply came unglued and stormed our position like a tank, crashing through brush and small lodgepole pines like they were atchsticks. Before we could react he was in our lap and we were pinned down, myself hiding behind a camera, too afraid to even touch the tripod for fear of my shaking hands would run the footage. All I could see of my partner edged against a stunted pine was the tip of his undrawn arrow shaking uncontrollably on the rest. Before a shot presented itself, the bull smelled a  rat and disappeared as quickly as he arrived.

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A Warning To Outdoor Users About Echinococcus, From Worms

by

Tom Remington

This is a warning to outdoor users about a potentially deadly biological event that could result from one’s curiosity to poke at and kick through scat from wolves, coyotes and foxes. Of course not everyone knowingly does this but many hunters, trappers and simply the curious, want to know what these animals have been eating. Read more

Picture This!

With all the great stories, equipment, adventures and people out there I thought it would be great to get some pictures.  If you have any pictures from a hunt, your gear or best of all you geared up that would be great.  If you send in pictures I will post on our site as well as putting some of the best pictures on all our sites.

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Anti-Dog Breeder Bill Passes Virginia House

Dear SAOVA Friends,

I’m temporarily filling in for Susan Wolf, who is recovering from surgery. The Humane Society of the U.S. HB538 “commercial” breeder measure passed the Virginia House on 2/12/2008. It will clear our Senate within days. HSUS is about to gain in Virginia what it couldn’t in years of Washington lobbying the Santorum Pet Animal Welfare Statute – (AKA PAWS). VAPAWS (HB538) requires hobby dog breeder licensing and inspection for anyone selling puppies at retail as well as wholesale, if they’re over a certain size. Virginia has an early, very short and frenetic legislative session. Its 2008 agenda included over 30 animal rightist supported bills. HB538 was HSUS’s top priority. Read more

Red/Blue, Left/Right, Urban/Rural, Right/Wrong, Elite/Common, Smart/Dumb, Progressive/Backward

These lines have been drawn in the sand many times, probably since the beginning of time but I think today those drawing the lines are being more vocal about it and the lines are getting deeper and bolder. These days we dare not “profile”, once referred to as stereotyping, because it is deemed politically incorrect or socially unacceptable by the PC police. The trouble we get into when profiling other people isn’t so much that we are perhaps helping to define that person or group of persons but that we begin to look down our noses at them because they are different. My, we’ve come a long way haven’t we. Read more

Virginia Game Officials Want To Preserve Hound Hunting “Done The Right Way!”

By Tom Remington

In an article I posted the other day, I said that the state of Virginia was beginning work on dealing with hunting with hounds. I told you that I had contacted the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to get some questions answered about the hound hunting issue.

I spoke by telephone with Bob Duncan, Wildlife Division Director, who was kind enough to answer my questions and relate to me the position of the VDIGF on the issue of hound hunting. Read more

Spring Deer Scouting

By Robert Lane

In late March and early April, most outdoorsmen and women in Maine are tuning fishing gear, buying new tackle and anxiously waiting for ice-out on their favorite lakes and ponds. After a winter like this one, that can be several long weeks depending on what part of the state you live in. If you’re anything like me, most of your tackle was inspected, cleaned and any necessary repairs made over the winter. When the waters open up, I want to grab it and go. Read more

Autumn Awakenings

By Rod Davis

I squirmed and squiggled to get comfortable in the dry leaves on that October Saturday. I was sitting on a steep hillside in Pocahontas County, in West Virginia. It was mid-afternoon, probably about 3:30 -4:00 PM. The big man sitting on my left side watched the tall hickory trees intently, for any sign of movement.

It was one of those early autumn, blue bird perfect days that cause your nose to breathe a little harder than usual, just to get more of that crisp, clean air inside. Read more