Flying off to exotic destinations. Traveling bucolic countrysides. Waiting endless hours in the airport because you are traveling with a firearm. Expensive trips with outfitters that may or may not be concerned with your success.
Yes. The first few phrases can accurately describe our vision of the perfect hunting trip but, all too often, the reality is that the latter is true. But, do we really need to spend thousands of dollars to go out of state or even out of the country? Have you ever tried hunting on public land or putting in for a quota hunt? These can be excellent options for the hunter on a budget, a time constraint or both.
For the hunters in Virginia, log onto the VDGIF website and look through all of the options available to you for quota hunts. These hunts can include quail, dove, duck, goose, tundra swan, turkey, rabbit, whitetail and black bear. There are a limited number of hunters selected for each of the quota hunts and some are more limited than others. The best part of any of these hunts is that you are supporting the conservation efforts of the Virginia Game Department and the hunts are right here in your own backyard!
My husband and I just received our tundra swan tags this week. All we had to do was log into the quota hunts and complete the very simple registration, pay a few dollars, and then wait for the registration to close. This particular hunt has 750 tags available to hunters. I will advise you to make absolutely certain that you enter a valid email address. Apparently, I neglected to enter an email address and didn’t find out that I was awarded a tag until it arrived in the mail. My husband found out a few days after the registration closed via email. I just assumed that since I didn’t receive an email, I didn’t win the tag. It’s always a wonderful feeling to go through the mail and find a fabulous surprise among the bills and junk mail. Now that we had our tags, we just needed to book the outfitter. Monquin Creek Outfitters is very well known for providing excellent opportunities to hunters for waterfowl, whitetail and turkey. Chip Watkins, owner of Monquin Creek has been guiding for a very long time and the outfit is truly a family operation. He is a recognized outfitter by GreenTop Sporting Goods and comes highly recommend by his clients. For less than $1000, Mike and I will have a full day of hunting for tundra swan and hopefully, a few ducks. This dollar amount also includes all fees for hunting licenses and waterfowl stamps. Unfortunately, the taxidermy bill is an extra expense but, well worth the investment, especially if we can harvest a marvelous example of the species.
We have also applied for slots in the New Kent Forestry quail hunt. If one of us is lucky enough to win a slot, we will also be able to take three other hunters. Several of the hunts allow you to take an additional hunter and there are even apprentice hunts designed specifically to encourage youth hunters to get out and enjoy the outdoors. The next time you are thinking of possibly booking a hunt, remember that there are tremendous opportunities right here in Virginia, where hunting and fishing have long been a tradition.