Mark Fike
All hunters should know that the VDWR (formerly VDGIF) plans on discontinuing game check stations and game check books such as for DMAP (deer management assistance program) clubs starting in September. This means that the check cards that some of us had from our first deer or turkey or bear are going to be potential collectors’ items in the future.
Virginia has been using big game checking as part of the big game management program for over 70 years according to a press release by VDWR. Some states do not require you to check your harvest. I have no idea how those states keep a rough tally on how many animals they have in their state available to hunters. It is very important that hunters continue to check their big game harvest. It is the law and it does help set seasons and manage populations of animals. 
Starting in September when the urban archery seasons begin, all hunters, to include those that do not need a license, will have to check their big game or bobcat by calling DWR at 866-GOT GAME or logging into the gooutdoorsvirginia.com site or by the GoOutdoorsVA app on their smart phone if they have one.
I personally will really miss the game check cards. I miss the country stores, the banter back and forth as game was checked in at those official game check stations and the comradery that you found when gathering for a snack, coffee or ammo at those check stations. However, times change.
Last season, according to DWR, 86% of deer, 93% of fall turkeys, 100% of spring gobblers and 58% of bears were checked by the electronic method. Apparently convenience has driven hunters to use the electronic means to get their check in done. VDWR reports that getting the data electronically is more efficient and costs less.  Think about all those check station books, gas or postage to go get them and time spent counting the books and data. 
For more information on this change, please visit: dwr.virginia.gov/hunting/game-harvest-reporting-changes/.
CWD is on the move!
Just before Christmas, DWR sent out a press release detailing yet another case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) that has been discovered closer to the Northern Neck.
CWD was discovered in 2009 in Frederick County just across the border from West Virginia which was known to have cases of it. Historically, CWD has been found in penned deer operations and of course in the wild. Presumably the disease was spread from the penned deer.
As of press time, the total number of deer having tested positive for CWD in Virginia is closing in on 100. I think the last official tally I had was 90. As a recap, CWD is characterized by the following:
CWD is a slow neurological disease impacting deer, elk and moose. All infected animals ultimately die from the disease. At this time officials state that there is no evidence that CWD can be naturally transmitted to humans. However, DWR and some basic common sense urges hunters to refrain from eating any meat from sick animals to include those that have CWD.
Signs of CWD include staggering, lowered head, confusing, drooling, abnormal posture and emaciation. DWR wants to hear about any deer exhibiting these signs. Call the DWR Wildlife Conflict Helpline at 1-855-571-9003 with accurate location information if you sincerely believe you see a deer that might have several of these symptoms.
One of the regulations in place to help stem the spread of CWD include only boned out meat being permitted to leave the containment zone established in and around the counties where CWD was found in Northern VA
In early December a case was discovered in Warren County. The adult buck was taken during regular firearms season. Then a buck taken by a hunter during regular firearms season was found to be positive too. Culpeper County has a single positive case of CWD thus far as well from the 2018/2019 season.
Just prior to Christmas, DWR announced a case in Madison County, another adult buck that was harvested during firearms season.
DWR had testing sites set up for hunters to drop off heads plus 4 inches of the neck for testing. Some taxidermists and processors were authorized by DWR to collect samples as well. Information on voluntary CWD testing collection sites can be found here: dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/diseases/cwd/voluntary-chronic-wasting-disease-testing-in-disease-management-area-2/.
A summary of the CWD surveillance and monitoring will be released in late winter of 2021 and prior to the new hunting season during fall of 2021 I will do a review of the findings for hunters.
It is extremely important that hunters cooperate and help stop the spread of CWD. Sneaking or bringing back deer parts and then discarding or even burying them after you process your deer taken from a “containment zone” could potentially bring the disease back to our area!
HD pays King George a visit
The bad news rolls on unfortunately. HD or Hemorrhagic disease hits our area every four or five years. The virus is transmitted by gnats or midges and causes a high fever and sometimes death in deer. At times the death toll can be astounding. In the last decade we had a horrendous outbreak that reportedly took out an estimated third of our deer population in localized areas of the readership area. King George was a hard hit area during that scourge.
Normally HD hits in late summer to early fall and the first frost generally curtails the disease by knocking out the midges. So, discoveries of dead deer that were seeking water to cool off from the fever generally are called in before this late in the season. For whatever reason, the disease went unnoticed a bit longer this season and hunters began reporting deer with sloughing hooves and unusual gaits later in the season. It appears that a number of the deer survived. Let’s hope that the HD that swept through our deer population just made them temporarily sick and we did not lose that many animals to the disease.
It is important to note that unlike CWD, a deer with HD can survive and are safe to eat once they recovers from the disease. All of the deer I saw that were harvested looked very healthy except for one thing. Their hooves were in shambles. That is how I knew that had survived the disease. The disease or fever causes the sloughing of the hooves. Weights of these deer appeared normal and all organs appeared normal. Behavior was normal too. The deer just had not yet regrown their hooves.
I will update readers on this situation as we get information, likely closer to the 2021 hunting season.
 

Mark Fike
Farmers have a tough lot when it comes to making a living. They have to deal with rain, drought, seed prices, market prices for crops and fight to avoid disease. Simply put, the costs of farming often outweigh the profit unless the farmer is savvy and efficient. In this vein of thought, the equipment farmers have had available to them in the recent years has been very efficient at not only harvesting crops but also grinding up the stubble and stems that remained of the parts of the plants that hunters used to brush or camo their blinds when hunting in fields after the harvest.
We noticed this when we went to gather material to brush our blinds for the goose season the past few years. The farmer that worked the fields we hunted was using a much newer piece of equipment and method to harvest and prepare the field for the coming spring. Unlike years past, there was no bean stubble or corn husks laying in the field. That left us scrambling to figure out how in the world we were going to camo our layout blinds. Powder and random small pieces of plant material were all that was left plus some nice green cover crop of some sort that looked like a grass but was only a few inches in length.
The procedure we used to follow each fall included finding material such as stems or empty corn stalks and husks from the field we were going to hunt and inserting them into elastic straps on the blind to make it blend into the field and become part of it. This was a time consuming process and often worked well but with some drawbacks.
First, if we hunted a corn field but later wanted to go hunt a bean field, we had to strip out the corn stubble and change it to bean stubble and possibly change it back. Second, the material was heavy, especially if it got wet. Third, it regularly fell out and needed dressing up. Last, it could get moldy and for those with allergies, that can be a big problem to lay in a pile of moldy material and not have an allergy or asthmatic event.
So, in my search for a solution, I found a company called Arcturus online https://arcturusgear.com/. They specialize in camo and particularly Ghillie suits. However, they make accessories to include the threads that people can make Ghillie suits with.  These synthetic thread bundles come in 9 colors. The thread is lightweight, fire retardant, waterproof so it should not rot or mold. The colors are bundled in half pound packages and are 18 inches long.
We found the dry grass color which includes some olive drab in it, matches very well with local farm fields and looks to be a great fit for field goose hunts. No more allergies and the whole blind weighs half what it did before! It does not smell and can be washed although I doubt I will wash mine beyond a spray down if the blind gets too muddy.
When we got the thread bundles, we found that two knots were effective at making our blind disappear. For the sides an overhand knot which allows the thread to hang down and overlap the row of elastic strips below it worked well.
On the tops or for areas that lay flat, a simple granny knot or basic knot worked well because it left threads hanging in two directions to cover our blind.
To use the thread, we pulled 10-15 threads in a tiny bundle and tied them as a group. To do one layout blind we took a few hours and 8 bundles of thread. But we could have went much faster.
A benefit to the Arcturus thread is that we should not have to redo our blind for years unlike the corn or soybean husks which needed done pretty much each year. No more scrambling to fix our blinds each fall!
So far the product Arcturus makes appears to be top notch. I like how it is lightweight, blends well and has a 3 D appearance. You can find them online to purchase some of their thread or other products for your blinds or hunting apparel. Keep in mind that you can add other material to your blind to really blend it in addition to the Arcturus thread. I think for archery season their products will be a big plus to have too!