The Passing of My Role Model: Dean Smith (Blog 229)

The person I admired most and who was and is my role model, former North Carolina Coach Dean Smith, passed away last Saturday.  Elaine and I were at home Sunday when I read about Dean's passing.  At first to Elaine, I expressed relief that he had died because the stress his illness had likely placed on his family.

But then grief overcame me, and I sobbed hard for several minutes.  I became a Carolina fan in 1966 when I was 14, and over the years Coach Smith shaped me as man and as a high school English teacher.  I read Dean's books and followed his philosophy on life.  Meaning in part, that I should treat my students with respect, that I should set high expectations for them and that they should meet those expectations, and that I should be honest and forthright in my dealings with them and others.

Over the years, I was able to meet and talk with three of the men who played for Coach Smith: Dave Colescott, Eric Montross, and Travis Stephenson.  Colescott visited my high school English class and told my students about the importance of education and striving to be the best possible person one could be; these were things that Coach Smith emphasized to him.  Colescott also told the students about the importance of even little life skills, such as being punctual.  The former Carolina guard said that he had once been late for practice and that Coach Smith said that his tardiness showed a lack of respect for his teammates. Coach Smith further said that Dave would have the "honor" of practicing with his teammates the next day.  That story is one of the reasons I am so insistent about my students being on time...as a way to show respect for their classmates.

Eric Montross was a big star in college and played in the NBA.  Travis Stephenson was a sub at UNC and played sparingly.  But both individuals, who played with each other at Carolina, told me that Dean treated all players the same, no matter what their reputation or skill levels were.  That he cared about each and every player as individuals.

I never met Coach Smith and never wrote a letter to him thanking him for his positive effect on my life.  But he will always be a part of who I am as a teacher, husband, and person.

Outdoors with Sam (Blog 228)

My grandson Sam is now about a little past  2 1/2, and I am thinking more and more about the outdoors fun that I will have with him in the future.  This past weekend, I introduced him to how to bring wood in from the woodpile to stoke Elaine's and my wood stove.

Sam was very enthusiastic about the prospect, announcing that he was going to "heat e-mama's house," his word for Elaine.  I often tell him that it is e-daddy's house, too, but Sam always says no that it is e-mama's house, but does allow that I live there, too.  Of course, this delights Elaine to no end.

On this our first attempt to bring in wood, Sam was unable to grasp the concept of carrying wood in a bundle, instead picking up two or three small sticks and carrying them in a haphazardly way.  It was no matter, of course.  To him, he was doing the gentlemanly thing of keeping his grandmother warm, and that man that lives there with her.

I hope Sam and I can go fishing this summer, but Elaine thinks he may be too young this year.  Of course, the decision is up to his parents, David and Sarah.  If Sam does go fishing and if he does catch any, I am sure that he will want to bring them home to feed e-mama, who hopefully will share the bounty with e-daddy, too.

Saturday at Home (Blog 227)

Since deer season ended  four weeks ago, Elaine and I have spent our weekends at home, except for the one at the annual Richmond fishing show.  After hunting or scouting every weekend from mid August through early January, I have really enjoyed a leisurely pace.

Today, I worked on a story for two hours, walked three miles, and cleaned the hen house before lunch. Then after lunch, I cut wood and did Timber Stand Improvement behind the house for several hours.  It is a real joy puttering behind the house, doing nothing of great consequence, but still gaining great satisfaction by building up our supply of firewood and freeing up some hardwoods so that they produce more mast.

After dinner and after a very disappointing North Carolina basketball loss, Elaine and I played Scrabble and listened to Prairie Home Companion.  Elaine soundly defeated me in Scrabble, winning by over 100 points.  I conceded defeat when there were still some 20 tiles left.

Not an epic day, but a relaxing one.

Turkey Hunting Goals for the Spring (Blog 226)

Last week, I wrote about my river smallmouth fishing goals for the year.  This week, my mind has turned to what I would like to accomplish this spring in the turkey woods.
1. Call in a gobbler for my son Mark.  I have taken Mark turkey hunting a number of times, but I have rarely put him in a position to kill a bird.  This year I want to.
2. Learn how to use a wingbone call.  I have gone turkey hunting every spring for the past 10 years-plus with my mentor Larry Proffitt of Elizabethton, Tennessee.  With his trumpet calls, Larry has called in a number of birds for me.  I've witnessed first hand how effective this call can be.
3. Learn how to make better and more consistent gobbler yelps.  I can do this in a satisfactory manner with many slate pot and pegs.  But I need to be more consistent with my efforts.  And I also need to learn how to make this sound with something other than a slate.
4. Learn how to more effectively use a pileated woodpecker call.  This is an offbeat locator call that has more potential than many people realize.  On several occasions, I have had hens respond to this call but never a gobbler.
5. Learn how to make better purrs with a box call.  Mine are just too loud.  It's strange that I can make much better purrs with a diaphragm than a box.

Month after next, I hope to be hunting in Tennessee for that state's opening day.  I can hardly wait.

Thinking about Where I Want to River Smallmouth Fish This Year (Blog 225)

It's winter, and the water temperature on Virginia and West Virginia's upland rivers is likely hovering in the upper 30s and lower 40s this morning.  I have already been fishing on the New River once this year, with no success, but that was more because I am a mediocre at best, probably, in reality much less than mediocre, wintertime angler than because the fish weren't there.

This year, I would like to do the following concerning angling for river smallmouths.

1. Finally become competent with the jig and pig in cold water conditions.
2. Spend more time on the Maury River, a fine underrated smallmouth river near my Botetourt County, Virginia home.
3. Not become so consumed with spring gobbler hunting in Virginia and West Virginia that I don't go fishing for river smallies as much as I should.  This will be the hardest objective for sure.
4. Return to the upper Rappahannock for the first time in several years.
5. Go on more late afternoon smallie excursions on the James in Botetourt County.
6. Go fly fishing for smallies at night on the New River with guide Britt Stoudenmire of the New River Outdoor Company.

Readers may note that there's no mention of my goals for catching 20-inch smallmouths.  I've always felt "they will come when they will come." If I am reading the water correctly and making good decisions, I will catch fish in the 14-to 18-inch size range and eventually a 20-incher will be mixed in.  If I am making poor decisions, then I will not catch big fish.

We will see how things work out.

Thinking about Spring Gobbler Season (Blog 224)

I know that several months must pass before I can even anticipate the beginning of the spring gobbler season in Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia...the three states that I hunt in every spring.  But Saturday morning I took my first tentative steps toward preparing for the event.

My  2 1/2-year-old grandson Sam and I hauled the Christmas trees from his house and Elaine's and mine into the woods to a white oak that lies at the left turn of a seeded logging road that runs across much of our Botetourt County, Virginia's 38 acres. I positioned the two evergreens around the white oak, telling Sam that we were building a fort.

Of course, Sam may end up playing there this summer, but this spring I hope the little citadel may be a place where I can call in a gobbler.  The two downed trees should offer some concealment, and I will add some other cut cedars and pines in the weeks to come.  At that same tree, I called in and killed two fall turkeys in December, so I already know the place is a favored locale.

Catawba Creek lies just over the ridge, and turkeys have long roosted there.  Anyway, the fort building was something to do on a bitterly cold January morning.

Enjoying Foods from Hunting, Gathering, and Growing (Blog 223)

One of the articles I wrote during the holidays just came out on the Quality Deer Management Association's website... http://www.qdma.com/articles/deer-tongue-for-dinner.  As the link indicates, the article is about my cooking and eating deer tongue.  Some folks may find it incredulous that I would eat such a thing, but I really enjoy experimenting and eating what nature has to offer.

The deer tongue was especially good on a salad I had Christmas week, and also in December Elaine and I dined on persimmon/walnut cookies, wild turkey leg soup, all kinds of venison dishes, and, of course, egg dishes courtesy of our chickens as well as Rome apple bread from our backyard tree.

We have ordered from various seed catalogs, and the freezer is full with deer and turkey meat, plus quart bags of wild berries.  I look forward to more experimenting in the coming year.

Wild Turkey Leg Soup and Blackberry Pie for Christmas Eve Dinner (Blog 222)

Sunday of last week after I called in and killed a turkey behind our house, I asked Elaine if we could have wild turkey leg soup for Christmas Eve dinner - perhaps served with blackberry pie from the berries we gathered last July from the 38-tract we live on in Botetourt County, Virginia.

And today, Christmas Eve, Elaine made my meal dreams come true just like she has been the dream wife for the past 36 1/2 years.  Our son Mark came over for dinner, and the three of us dined on the soup, cobbler, and vegetable dish that Elaine had prepared.

Adding to the local theme, after dinner we sat around the Christmas tree, a red cedar that we cut from our land.  After Christmas, I will use that tree and several others to create some horizontal cover for songbirds and small mammals this winter.

Elaine is a fantastic cook.  In fact, her recipe for the turkey soup once appeared in a story we wrote for the National Wild Turkey Federation.  But she is an even more fantastic wife and helpmate.

A Turkey for Christmas (Blog 221)

I had endured my worst fall turkey season this century, never even coming close to calling in a bird...that is until Sunday.  On the way home from a fruitless hunt to Franklin County, I received a phone call from my son-in-law David Reynolds who lives on our 38-acre Botetourt County, Virginia land with Elaine's and my daughter Sarah and their two sons Sam and Elie.

David had called to tell me that while squirrel hunting, he had busted up a flock of turkeys behind the house.  Was I interested?  David couldn't hunt because he had to take the boys to the other grandparents.

I sped home, ran into the woods and set up and a jenny immediately answered my yelps and kee-kees.  A few minutes later she came walking in, and I killed my first turkey of the season.

What a thrill.  All of my fall turkey hunting takes place in Virginia and West Virginia, and it seems that in the counties I had hunted in across both states have experienced a hatch failure.

But now Elaine has decided that we will have wild turkey leg soup for Christmas, and that is a dish that will be much appreciated by me this holiday.

Birding While Turkey Hunting (Blog 220)

Although my turkey hunting this autumn and winter has been disappointing, I, as always, have enjoyed bird watching while afield.  So far, I have spotted such winter visitors as winter wrens, brown creepers, hermit thrushes, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, juncos, and white-throated sparrows.

Interestingly, two species of winter visitors that I used to see this time of year, I have not observed this century: evening grosbeaks and purple finches. Do they no longer come as far south as Botetourt and Craig counties, Virginia where I live and hunt.  Or is it just random chance that I have not seen them in 15 or so years.

Of course, I would like to call in and kill a turkey for Christmas dinner, but I can still enjoy being outdoors and birding.

Turkeys Hard to Find (Blog 219)

Turkey season has come back in here in Virginia, and I am still struggling to find birds.  Most day, I have been hunting before and after teaching school and just can't seem to locate flocks.

The exception this week was that I found a flock two straight days, but they were across the property boundary.  I sat and watched them on the roost just 40 yards away.  The sweet hen sounds I sent their way were ignored as were the amped up mad hen yelps I tried next.

This morning (Saturday) I am packed and ready to go, but it is raining as I write, and the forecast is for rain all day here in Botetourt and surrounding counties.  I had hoped to drive to Franklin County, but the forecast is for rain there, too.  A heavy acorn crop, a poor hatch, precipitation, and random bad luck have conspired against me so far.  Thank goodness for Sunday hunting, and a day in the woods tomorrow.

Called in Hunter While Turkey Hunting (Blog 218)

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and Virginia's one-day Thanksgiving Holiday turkey season was in.  Content with my deer season, I decided to go turkey hunting, especially since I had trouble finding birds during the two-week early season which had ended.

So given the fact that the general firearms season was in, I decided to go hunting on some private land in Botetourt County where only I had permission to hunt. Setting up in a woodlot where I could view a woodlot and fields on both sides, I began calling.

After about 90 minutes of not having any luck, I saw another hunter "sneak hunting" toward me.  The man did not have any blaze orange on (which is illegal) and I saw him cross the property boundary (another illegal act).  He clearly was stalking me, or more precisely my turkey sounds.

In such a situation, the conventional wisdom is not to make any movements since an unethical hunter could shoot at any movement.  So I began yelling that someone was "over here."  I had to shout out four times before the man stopped and acknowledged me.  The man said he was "hunting."

I told him I was through for the day and the woods were his.  I don't like to argue with someone who is not obeying the law and who can not see another hunter with blaze orange on and just 40 yards away.

New Editions ofJames and New River Books (Blog 217)

Much of this past summer was spent with my revising my first two books, The James River Guide and The New River Guide.  Now, my publisher has informed me that the new editions of both books will be out shortly.

This has been the most intense year of writing I have ever experienced in my 31 years a freelance writer and photographer.  The second edition of my Shenandoah and Rappahannock Rivers Guide and first edition of my South Branch and Upper Potomac Rivers Guide both came out in late June.  Plus, thus summer I took a class for recertification of my teacher's certificate.  It seems like I worked nothing but 12 to 14 hours each day.

Hopefully, readers of the new editions of the James and New will think my effort was worth it. By mail, both books cost $19.75 and that includes tax and shipping.  To order, send a check to me at 1009 Brunswick Forge Road, Troutville, VA 24175.

Peregrine Falcon Makes Kill (Blog 216)

Last week while deer hunting, I espied a raptor speed across a cornfield and make a kill.  Witnessing hawks or owls kill a rodent, mammal, or bird is not uncommon while I am afield, but there was something different about this bird of prey.

The first thing I noted about the bird was its blue-gray back and its large size, then I noted the long, pointed wings and long tail - and I experienced an eureka moment - it's a peregrine falcon I said to friend Doak Harbison who was sharing the blind with me.

The sighting was in Botetourt County, Virginia, and I can't remember the last time I had glimpsed a peregrine in my home county.  I will look for this predator the next time I go to the cornfield.

One of the best things about being an outdoor writer is that when I go fishing or hunting, I am always going birding at the same time.  Birding enriches the overall outdoor experience for me.

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A Hermit Thrush and Questions of Mortality (Blog 215)

A few days ago, I was filling up the waterer for our Rhode Island Reds, and I noticed a hermit thrush flitting about on the ground.  I walked over to the bird, and to my surprise, it did not fly away.  It was then that I picked up the thrush and realized that it was either sick or injured.

What to do? A cold night was the forecast, so I decided to put the bird in our garage overnight.  The next morning the thrush was still alive but also still unable to fly.  Then, I had another philosophical thought.  Should I put the thrush back outdoors and let it come apart of the food chain (as some predator was liable to eat it) or keep it in the garage where it would no doubt die in a few days.

I decided to do nothing.  The next day when I opened the garage, the hermit thrush flitted out and into the front yard...which is where I last saw it.  Several days have passed, and I can only assume that the bird is now dead.  I don't know which predator killed and ate the thrush, but I know that the thrush's likely death is the natural order of things.

Opening Day of Virgnia's Early Muzzleloading Season (Blog 214)

It's opening day of Virginia's early muzzleloading season, and, as I write, an hour before shooting light.  My two muzzleloaders, a Knight Bighorn and a Thompson Center Triumph, have been patterned, but they reside currently in my gun case.

The problem is the weather.  The forecast has improved somewhat, but for much of the day the prediction is that rain and/or brisk winds will occur.  Here in Botetourt, only bucks are legal, and that means that I would have to have a mature 8 pointer come by my stand as I am not interested in shooting a young buck.

Of course, I could drive to Franklin County where the landowner called me last night and invited me to come.  But that is a 124-mile round trip, and I still don't like the look of that sky.  But doe season is open today in Franklin, and I could also pursue turkeys before going on deer stand.  Maybe, I should  take my crossbow and go out and hunt behind the house...maybe not though because if the rain returns it would be difficult to track a whitetail's blood trail.

So here I sit undecided.

Opening Day of Virginia's Fall Turkey Season (Blog 213)

I love the various opening days of the fall hunting seasons and try never to miss them in Virginia and West Virginia.  So it was with great anticipation that I headed out this morning to pursue turkeys in Franklin County.  Indeed, I went to the same farm where I have killed turkeys on four of the last five openers.

Today, however, I never saw or heard a turkey respond to my calls.  I arrived early, hoping to scatter birds off the roost, then proceeded to  wend my way through woodlot after woodlot, field after field, and every other form of habitat I came across - and failed to locate a flock.

I then drove to two Botetourt County farms where I have permission to hunt and struck out there, too.  We have had a tremendous acorn crop and the turkeys apparently are not traveling very much because food is so easy to find.  Still, I should have come across something.  Perhaps the hatch was not a good one this fall.  Or maybe my game plan for the day was flawed.

David's Doe (Blog 212)

My son-in-law David Reynolds and I went bowhunting on family land in Craig County Saturday, and David made an excellent shot on a mature doe after 8:00 A.M. Earlier, we had agreed that the two of us would make two turkey yelps or kee-kees if  either of us killed a deer.  That signal would let each of us know the status of the other.

Thus, I heard David make two yelps.  Although David's calling was, well, not very turkey-like, his aim was perfect and later he recounted his tagging of the whitetail.  I, meanwhile saw nothing and my poor fortune continued in the evening when I only saw two whitetails, one at 80 yards and another while I was walking to the vehicle.

A memorably day for David, a forgettable one for me.  But I am heading out this morning to try again.

Eye Problems (Blog 211)

This weekend, I had my hunting plans all organized and ready to implement.  I was going to bowhunt Friday after school here in Botetourt, go to West Virginia for opening day of the fall turkey season, and spend Sunday here in Virginia bowhunting.
 But Thursday while at school in my second block English 9 Honors class, I felt like a huge eyelash had appeared in my right eye, followed some minutes later by more eyelashes.  Unfortunately, they were not eyelashes but blood.  A blood vessel had hemorrhaged, two tears in my retina had occurred, and I could not see out of the eye.

Thursday afternoon was spent at my eye doctor's and Friday afternoon was spent in laser surgery mending the tears.  The doctor said it would take anywhere from five days to a month for me to regain full vision in the right eye.  My goal today, Saturday, will not to be to hunt turkeys but see if I can figure out how to shoot a crossbow by using my left eye to sight in.

Opening Day of Virginia's Bow Season (Blog 210)

This morning, I arose at 4:05 to go to Craig County to hunt the property that Elaine and I own there in the beautiful Johns Creek Valley.  I almost always hunt there on opening day because I almost always have a chance to tag a deer there on the season opener.

This morning, though, the wind rocked my stand about and by 10:30 I had endured enough.  There is something extremely disconcerting about being 15 feet off the ground and experiencing a tree undulating back and forth.  Plus, the temperature seemed to be growing colder all morning.

When I arrived home, I called a Botetourt County landowner, where I have permission to hunt, and asked if I could come over.  The gentleman answered in the affirmative, and with the temperature continuing to drop, I felt the deer would be moving early this evening.

My supposition turned out to be right, as I killed a doe at 2:45 P.M., just short of an hour after I set up in a ground blind - no tree stand hunting for me in those high winds.  I was home in time for dinner with Elaine, and we played Scrabble while listening to Prairie Home Companion.  Although Elaine beat me in Scrabble, any day where I can kill a deer is a good one.