THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 18, 1996 TAG: 9608170526
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: 107 lines
Dove seasons in Virginia and North Carolina are two weeks and one day away, but unless there's a miracle, opening day may be the poorest in many years.
Why?
It's been so wet that virtually no corn has been cut. Without harvested fields, hunters are going to be hard put to find a place with many birds.
Any dove hunter knows that the fidgety flyers take to cut-over corn fields like an alligator takes to water.
Without extremely dry weather over the next two weeks, hunters are going to have to look elsewhere for places to hunt the nation's No. 1 game bird.
Even then, little corn is likely to be harvestable. That means you'll still be seeing birds at your backyard feeder and on suburban powerlines.
Most corn stalks are still green, indicating high moisture content. Farmers can't harvest it until it dries and turns yellow.
Corn left from normal harvesting isn't what draws dove to cut-over fields like swallows returning to Capistrano, although that's a misconception of many hunters.
Rather, the attraction comes from smaller weed and grass seeds accessible to dove and other birds once the corn is cut.
There's another factor. This year, opening day in both states is on Monday. That could severely deplete hunter participation, since opening day almost always comes on a Saturday, when most folks are off work.
Dan Arris, an insurance executive from Virginia Beach and one of the area's most ardent dove hunters, doesn't much care what day the season opens. But he is perplexed by the delayed corn harvest.
"We've made arrangements to hunt a farm off Potter's Road,'' Arris said. "But the corn there is as green as grass. It's more than two weeks away. Lots more.''
Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina have splendid numbers of birds.
Anyway, if you're geared up for opening day, you may want to spend some time over the next two weeks looking for alternative hunting sites.
You can check out pastures, borders of corn fields, shoulders of field roads, vacant cropland grown up in weeds and watering holes.
The bottom line is that corn harvest or no corn harvest for opening day, dove still have to eat and drink.
If they aren't where they're supposed to be, they'll be somewhere else.
A REAL LOSS: Hatteras Island lost one of its most colorful characters a few days ago with the death of Bert Dixon at age 74.
Dixon worked hard, played hard, fished hard and didn't make any excuses. Few days passed when he didn't drive from his Frisco-on-Hatteras home to Cape Point to watch his beloved ocean surf.
He never forgave the government for changing the name of his village to Frisco. "Damn the Post Office,'' he said. "It's Trent and it'll always be Trent, at least with me.''
Bert loved Hatteras and accepted the changes that came when most of the island became a popular, bustling National Seashore.
More than anything else, he was a man of honor. His word was solid.
EXPERTS, ALL: Mike Perron of Virginia Beach has become the fifth person to earn "expert angler'' designation from the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament.
The honor goes to any angler who, in one year, registers six different species for the tournament's citation awards program.
James C. Wright, an eye surgeon from Virginia Beach, became the first qualifier some weeks ago. Others include Denny Dobbins and Craig Paige of Chesapeake and David J. Smith of Virginia Beach.
WILDLIFE GUIDE: For $5 you can get a copy of a delightful publication, "Guide to Virginia's Wildlife Management Areas.'' It's well worth the cost.
The magazine-format details hunting and fishing opportunities on the 29 public-access areas owned by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
The tracts were purchased with monies from hunters and fishermen. They range from waterfowl-shooting areas on Back Bay in Virginia Beach to mountain tracts which harbor deer, bear and turkey.
To obtain a guide, send a $5 check or money order, made out to "V.I.B.,'' to: V.I.B., P.O. Box 27563, Richmond, Va. 23261. The guide also may be picked up at any Game Department office.
CLUB CHALLENGE: The Eastern Virginia Anglers Club of Virginia Beach will be defending its title in the 6th annual Anglers Club Challenge fishing tournament Sept. 7.
The contest is a function of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) of Virginia, an effort to bring clubs together from throughout the state. It'll be based at the Marina at Marina Shores in Virginia Beach.
Each club will be allowed up to five boats, with as many as five contestants on each boat. Eligible species will range from spot to tuna.
Details: Jim Bolton, 420-7928, or Randy Morton, 420-5170.
CLASSIC ON TV: Highlights from the world championship of professional bass fishing, the BASS Masters Classic, will be shown on The Nashville Network at 4 p.m. Sept. 28 and at 9 p.m. Sept. 29.
It will be hosted by Ray Scott, who inaugurated the tournament 26 years ago.
This year's contest was on Lay Lake, near Birmingham, Ala., and was won by George Cochran of Hot Springs, Ark., with a 3-day catch weighing 31 pounds, 14 ounces. He won $100,000 in cash and prizes.
More than 100,000 fishing fans were in Birmingham for the contest.
SHORT CASTS: Virginia's waterfowling seasons will be set Thursday and Friday, when the board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries meets in Richmond. Public suggestions will be accepted only at Thursday's session, which opens at 9 a.m. . . . The Moratorium Study Committee, which has spent the past two years considering how North Carolina fishery laws and agencies should be changed, has scheduled 19 public meetings. The group will receive comments on its preliminary recommendations. The schedule for Northeastern North Carolina: Sept. 10, College of the Albemarle, Elizabeth City; Sept. 11, N.C. Aquarium, Manteo; Sept. 12, Hatteras Civic Center, Buxton. All meetings will begin at 7 p.m. . . . Congress has approved suspension of the 24.4 cents-per-gallon tax on diesel fuel used in recreational boats. The suspension will be effective at least through December 1997. . . . If you think Virginia's waterways are crowded, lucky you don't live in Michigan. Virginia has 148,848 registered outboard boats and 46,192 inboards, compared with 583,605 outboards and 237,507 inboards in Michigan. That's a difference of 626,072. by CNB