Well, fall must be in the air. Trapper can give a deer hunting report, talk about Dove hunting a little, ginseng, and all the neat fall time of the year type of stuff. We will talk some fishing of course, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot going on.

The "stick and string" season opened this past weekend, and while it may seem that this has been a slow start, we have to remember, it has been a bit warm to hunt. On Saturday hunters harvested 6 total deer, and we won't know Sunday's results until sometime Monday. The gender was evenly split at 3 and 3.

I have heard that in some parts of the county, Dove hunters didn't see much in the way of birds, while in others they did. The key according to Paul Boisseau was a little shower that came along during their hunt. He says that they had been there for a while with no birds flying, but the minute it started to rain a little there were birds every where. According to Paul his group harvested over 40 birds. They hunted in the South part of the county.

John Morgan (a local root buyer) called me the other day with a market update stating that he was now paying up to $350 a pound on good wild ginseng. His yellow root market is $22. No one seems to know which way the market will go. Everyone expected it to start around 500 or so, but the dig has been good so far and the major buyers are afraid of a flooded market. I have talked to a number of brokers from around the country, and they are pretty much in line with what John is offering.

One broker cautions that timing is going to be important. Don't hold hoping the market will go up when the other side of the coin is true. It could tank just as easily. Remember, unless you can get it certified by the state, you cannot hold ginseng from year to year legally. Any uncertified “sang” you are found with will be confiscated, and you are subject to fines.

There aren't any local reports on fishing, but Dave Stewart from over on the big lakes says that bass seem to be moving toward their fall patterns. The shad are already beginning to school in shallower water as the water temperatures cool down some and that is where the bass are headed. Find the shad, and you'll find bass. He says to work the creek and river ledges and points associated with those same channels.

He also says you'll find the catfish and small mouth bass in pretty much the same areas. From what he says in his report it sounds like someone is ringing the dinner bell in those locations and no where else.