Wildlife crime notebook makes for interesting reading

From "The Wild Life" with Mark Taylor.

http://blogs.roanoke.com/wildlife/

t's a proven fact that everybody loves the Police Blotter. You know, that feature in the local paper that lists that week's arrests. (The big crimes usually get more ink, of course.)

Police blotters might not be so appealing if they contained only boring things like vehicle break-ins, basic larcenies and speeding tickets. But they don't. Along with those basic crimes, the blotters detail all kinds of crazy and, frankly, funny stuff.

Regular cops aren't the only ones dealing with wacky stuff. Conservation Police Officers (formerly game wardens) run into some kooky situations, and now the regular public can read some of the highlights (or lowlights, in some cases).

The report runs in the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' Outdoor Report.

Not all of these are funny. One of the reports in the latest version details an officer's involvement with a case in which a woman died when her car went into the water at a boat ramp on the Shenandoah River.

But then there's the story about the felon who, when caught with a dead deer and a muzzleloader, claimed both belonged to a mysterious friend. The friend, of course, never showed up to claim the deer and gun.

The report a couple of weeks ago included a write-up on a couple of bass fishermen nailed for cheating at a tournament at Claytor Lake. I'm planning to use that story as a basis for a newspaper column.

The only problem with the notebook? Unlike the regular police blotters, this one doesn't include the names of the arrested.

Be sure to check out Mark's blog, it's full of good stories and information!

Rural Retreat Lake hike…

On Monday Jessica, her Mom, Harry, and I went for a short hike at Rural Retreat Lake. We had a good time and checked out the campgrounds. The sites are very nice and we will definitely be visiting them for some camping very soon! The lake was very calm and beautiful but the hike itself ended after about 30 overall minutes as Harry had a little accident and we had somehow forgotten to pack any diapers in our bag. We did make it to one end of the lake though and got to enjoy the view and rest for about 30 seconds before the (mess)! We made it back and took care of our little guy shortly after, but we learned a valuable hiking lesson. I look forward to getting back there soon though for some more hiking, some camping, and of course some fishing! On a down note though I saw no big game sign at all.

All is well on the home front here. I’m just taking some time to catch up on some around the house chores, work a little overtime, and rest and recuperate before I start finding some places to hunt hogs! (More on that to follow soon.) Jessica and Harry are both doing great as well, and I’ll try to post some new pictures of the little guy soon!

I hope all is well with all of you and that you are all enjoying your summers!

High Tech Redneck

While in the giving thanks mode, I’m thankful for the freedom to be a high tech Redneck! I just bought a Samsung Blackjack II and I love it! I ordered it on sale from AT&T and it just came in yesterday. It’s quite a bit different from the phone I had before so I’m just getting used to it but I can already tell this thing is SWEET! I love the freedom it gives me to keep up with everyone through the Internet and the phone. It also comes equipped with GPS, which could be a helpful tool on some of my hunts! I love to talk hunting and now it got even easier… my current email address is tnunley@gmail.com, hit me up.

Memorial Day

With Memorial Day coming up I thought posting this would be appropriate...


Artist: Lee Greenwood
Title: Proud To Be An American

If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.

That I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

And I’m proud to be and American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

Spring Turkey Hunting is Over

Well, the last day of Spring Turkey ’08 has came and gone here IN VA and it was turkey’s 6, Dad and I 1. All in all it was a great spring season and Dad and I had a great time! Today didn’t go the way we wanted from the start, as it was a windy day from the beginning. It was a cold day as well but we zipped up the Mossy Oak and headed for the woods. We never could get anything going today and my box call experienced some technical difficulties making the day tough from the get go. We did manage to watch a couple of does for a while and that combined with our good conversations made the day a success! Jessica was having a yard sale for us today and she’s on her way home so hopefully she had an even more successful day! I hope you all had or are having great seasons as well!

From MossyOak.com

Mossy Oak ProStaff Expands Participation
Staff Reports | May 06, 2008


For more than 20 years the Mossy Oak ProStaff has represented perhaps hunting’s most prestigious collection of outdoors personalities, a group of highly visible, hard-hunting conservationists with the ethics of fair chase and traditional family values at its core. Over the years, we’ve all seen many great Hall of Fame-type names associated with Mossy Oak… Mark and Terry Drury, Will Primos, Ted Nugent, Warren Strickland, Jim Dougherty and Barry Wensel to mention only a few.

Certainly the Mossy Oak ProStaff has benefitted everyone involved. To have ultra-successful, well- known hunters counting on the concealment advantages of good-looking and magnificently effective camouflages represents the proverbial win-win, whether you’re Mossy Oak, the Drury Brothers, a world-class manufacturer of hunting products or the free-spirited individual who just lives to hunt.

Expanding the all-important ProStaff recently became a top-priority initiative for the company’s marketing department led by Butch English and Ben Maki. The number of requests for more personal, countrywide representation has paralleled the incredible rise of the Mossy Oak brand since inception, but, of late, the interest in more and better personal contact between Mossy Oak and its friends has increased exponentially.

The upshot of all this is a program led by a dedicated manager, Tim Anderson, who is well into building out an all-new, uniquely cohesive, multi-tiered Mossy Oak ProStaff.

The Elite level will continue to consist of those people with national influences. The regional level, the newest second tier of the Mossy Oak ProStaff, will represent specific geographic region of the country while also managing the new local Prostaff level.

“Not only will we have more personal touches with consumers locally, but we’ll have folks in place regionally to promote the best patterns for each area, which follows the pursuit-specific approach,” said Anderson. So far the results have been nothing short of staggering.

Interested individuals are encouraged to contact Anderson via email at tanderson@mossyoak.com.

Last Day of Spring Turkey Hunting, Coming Soon

Saturday is the last chance this year to get my Dad a spring turkey. I really hope we can come through! Dad has hunted and fished most of his life up until the past 5 or 6 years when his health took a slight downturn and he has never gotten to take a turkey. He doesn’t seem too concerned about it but I really want to see the look on his face when he gets one! I know there is a gobbler left alive as of now where we are going to hunt but it’s going to take some help from above to seal the deal on this ol’ boy, so I really hope we get the blessing I’m going to be praying for! If nothing else we’ve had a good time in the spring woods this year and have definitely learned some new things about each other, I can’t wait to share these adventures with my own son!

Ol' Tom

May 3, 2008

Hunting Day Recap
Killed my first turkey of 2008 at 10:10AM this morning, he was a 20 lb bird with a 9” beard and 1” spurs! My Dad and I set up in a homemade pine limb and tree stump blind and begin hitting the crow call. We heard some gobbles in the distance but nothing seemed to close. As the day went on we hen called intermittently but only once heard a gobble anywhere close to us. As the day went on the wind picked up and I tried to call anytime the wind would slow down a little but that wasn’t too often. I was started to feel frustrated and was thinking about moving to another field when my Dad let me know a gobbler was coming. I was already laying on the ground so I turned slightly to look in the direction my Dad was indicating. At first I didn’t see anything and then I saw a big ol’ gobblers head come up out of a dip in the field about 30yds away. We let him strut on in toward our decoys until he got about 12yds away and then I laid him down! I thanked the good lord and went out to collect the beautiful bird! He had heard my calling and came to the edge of the field and upon spying the hen decoy he went on to try to impress him a young lady, I’m sorry to say that his best efforts didn’t work out to well for him on this occasion. We sat in the field and tried to call Dad in a bird up until 12 but it just didn’t work out. All in all it was a great day!

Oh Yeah! I Finally Got My Spring Turkey!

Finally got one today! Story to follow...