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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
Dogwood, Ramps and Gobblers
As I walked along the old tram road I could make out the white blossoms of the dogwoods and the rich green carpet of the ramps along the hillside. It was a perfect morning to be out in the high country searching for a wily old Tom Turkey. The wind was still with the temperature standing about 42 degrees. I had hunted this mountainside above Gandy Creek near Job many times. The...
posted Tuesday, April 2, 2013 at 1:40 PM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
March is Our Time for Transition
On one of the recent rare days of sun and warm temperatures I was driving along Shaver’s Fork in Randolph County. It sort of brought back memories of when I started trout fishing. There were several fishermen lined up in every likely looking run.
Many will remember the “circus” that was known as “Opening Day of the Trout Season.” Opening in April, it...
posted Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 10:57 AM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
January – The Month for “The Dogs”
Saturday finally arrived. The day promised to be about perfect for the little hounds. Sunshine, spotty snow to see tracks, and damp ground to provide good scenting conditions for the beagles to run the rabbits. The two little hounds were eager to go and dancing around in their boxes. Soon we had a few shells stuffed in our vests and the dogs were let out and started...
posted Friday, January 4, 2013 at 4:16 PM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
December- The Month of Choice for the Hunter
We were out on the Allegheny Front with the bird dogs on a cold December morning. The firearm buck season was over and it was time for us to check out a couple of places where we had jumped grouse during the deer season.
As we parked and got out to get the dogs ready, I could hear the distant bawling of a hound. It was obvious that this was part of a pack of dogs...
posted Friday, December 7, 2012 at 3:09 PM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
The Biggest Day of the Hunting Season
It was clear and cold as we left the vehicle and headed down the trail to a stand I had chosen a week or so before. This was a “saddle” or “low gap” in the ridge. There was a small clearing where both ridges sloped down, creating a perfect crossing from one big hollow to another. There were acorns last year and the deer were traveling from both ridges to the oak flat...
posted Thursday, November 1, 2012 at 2:21 PM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
Waiting for October and Woodcock Season
The morning dawned cool and damp with just a whisper of wind. Near perfect scenting conditions for Little Snoopy, our young Elhew Pointer. It seemed as though October would never come when Snoopy went into her kennel last February. While the dogs and I both welcomed a rest in February, it was only a couple of weeks when we began to miss those long walks across the...
posted Friday, September 28, 2012 at 5:01 PM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
I don’t know why, but the sun of September seems much hotter to me than the sun of July.
Like several other hunters sitting around the field, I was sipping on a bottle of water while keeping a watchful eye on the clear, bright sky and my watch.There was a slight breeze stirring the leaves of the locust tree that I was sitting under as the time ticked by.An occasional dove flew the length of the field as if surveying...
posted Wednesday, August 29, 2012 at 2:39 PM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
The first day of Spring Gobbler Season dawned with a howling wind, pelting snow and rain in most of the state. Many like me didn’t see the need to battle the elements and knew that there was plenty of time to put that gobbler in the freezer. The second day was better but there didn’t seem to be a lot of gobbling activity where I was. I heard one distant bird a time or two and one shot so far off that I...
posted Monday, April 30, 2012 at 3:58 PM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
Monday, January the 2, and the day New Year’s is celebrated by many throughout the state. I had talked to two of my grouse hunting buddies the night before. The plan was to check the weather about 7 a.m. and make a decision about going grouse hunting that day. I had already made my decision the night before. If the wind didn’t blow the dog off its feet and if the snow wasn’t over my knees I was going. So, as...
posted Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 9:59 AM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
With the traditional deer gun seasons ended, the muzzleloader deer season opened on the following Monday. As it has many times in the past, Monday morning dawned cold with lightly falling and blowing snow. While not the most comfortable conditions, it did present excellent hunting conditions. The cold and snow would keep the deer moving more during the day as they searched for food.
I had hunted the morning hours...
posted Friday, December 9, 2011 at 9:34 AM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
Hunting season changes mean more opportunities
I hadn’t bow hunted for more than 30 years until this year. Like many of our hunters, there are so many hunting opportunities that we often have to pick and choose when, where and what species we will hunt. Most of us have one hunting passion we hold above all others. In other words, if we were told we would have to choose only one species of game to hunt, we...
posted Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at 9:54 AM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
Snoopy’s Test
It was a typical grey day in Canaan Valley. As I dropped off of the mountain and turned onto the Cortland Road there was a mist in the air that hung heavy on the beech leaves. The clouds were sitting on top of Canaan and Cabin Mountains. As I slowed by the spot where I planned to hunt, I could hear little Snoopy shuffling around in her dog box. Like me, she could sense that we were about to embark on...
posted Friday, September 30, 2011 at 10:28 AM by Frank Jezioro
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This year, hunters will add squirrel, dove, goose, deer and coyote to the game
that can be hunted in September.
By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
Dawn broke cool and quiet with only a hint of a breeze. The aroma of fall leaves was drifting on the breeze. There was some fog rising from the valley below where the river wound its way through the bottoms and pastureland. It had been a good...
posted Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at 5:41 PM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
In most West Virginia families, someone hunts and or fishes. My grandchildren are like most youngsters across the state and most of the nation — they are fascinated by shooting. Because of this fascination, we have an obligation to do a couple of things. The first is to decide if we want our children involved in hunting and shooting. If the answer is yes, then the second thing we need to do is to prepare them...
posted Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 11:39 AM by Frank Jezioro
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By Frank Jezioro – Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
“Grandpa, there’s a fox.”
“Where?” I asked little Frankie as I searched with the binoculars.
“Right there, right there!” he exclaimed excitedly while pointing into about a 20 acre cut over area. But look as I did I couldn’t see it. The season was out but I still wanted to see it. I put down the binoculars and asked again where it was. To my surprise he was actually pointing to a small woods road not 35 yards away. I...
posted Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 1:18 PM by Frank Jezioro