I hunted much of the muzzleloader and rifle seasons and traveled on Interstate 81 many mornings and evenings. In all those days I think I only saw 3 deer road kills. And, I don't even remember seeing deer grazing along Interstate 81. Lastly, food habits of deer seemed to have completely changed. It was probably one of the best mast producing years we have had in a long time.
Acorns are still all over in the woods.
At this point, it appears that an impressive number of deer have been killed and, for certain, the animals have been in excellent shape. Some saltwater fishermen have been expressing concern that there will be major restrictions for flounder fishing next season because landings this year exceeded by a wide margin the quotas that had been set. But Virginia appears to be in good shape, because it is the only state that has been meeting its quotas the past two years. Early figures show that Virginia realized a 57-percent reduction in its take this year, while New York more than doubled its catch. Next week, fishery officials are scheduled to meet in Atlantic City, N.J., to establish a flounder management plan that will embrace size limits, possession limits and season closures for the coming year.