A hunter faces manslaughter and other charges after authorities say he fired at Ferrum College students he mistook for a deer, leaving one dead and another wounded. Three students were collecting frogs for a biology class at about 4 p.m. Tuesday when two were shot along a trail about a mile west of campus, a college spokeswoman said. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries said 23-year-old Jessica Goode of Frederick County died after being shot in the chest, and 20-year-old Regis J. Boudinot of McLean was shot in the hand. The third student wasn’t injured.

Before they vote, Chesterfield County leaders will hear from the public tomorrow night about a proposal to prohibit the use of bows and arrows within 600 feet of a home. The ordinance change was initiated to address concerns from homeowners in Midlothian’s Salisbury community that people were hunting too close to homes. Currently, Chesterfield property owners and permitted guests are allowed to use bows anywhere on their property, so long as the arrow does not cross the property line. Because of growth in the county’s deer population, the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries allows additional bow hunting with site-specific “kill permits” on property adjacent to or within residential neighborhoods.

A proposed rental-inspection program in Chesterfield County died quietly yesterday after stirring up property-rights concerns. The Board of Supervisors declined to set a public hearing for the program, which would have charged owners of rental properties $100 for an interior and exterior inspection of selected homes. A fine would have been levied against those who chose not to participate.

Preparations for the upcoming hunting seasons can be broken down into two loose categories: the physical and the psychological. The first is necessary conditions to hunt. We must put our weapons in working order, buy ammunition and licenses, etc. These acts are perfunctory. The second is not, and they often are overlooked. But the psychological preparations every hunter makes as he readies himself to go afield are no less important, no less an obligation, than the physical. Ignoring them won’t stop a hunter from hunting, as a defective rifle will, but it will rob the experience of its fullest meaning. It will demean quarry and hunter alike.

The signs are unmistakable: a rustling in basements, attics and garages as gear is brought out and dusted off; targets with hay bales behind them set up in backyards; shot guns and rifles retrieved from their summer-long hibernation and oiled to a high shine. If you see any of these signs associated with your husband or neighbor, that can only mean one thing: He’s getting ready for hunting season. With that time of the year almost upon us, here is a preview of the early seasons - dove, deer (for bow hunters), and turkey - in central Virginia and throughout the state.

A state law granting hunters access to private property to retrieve their dogs is at the center of a court dispute in southeastern Virginia.

As a young man, Richard Charles “Dick” Wolff and a buddy he grew up with in New York City’s Bronx borough would drive a Studebaker into the Adirondack Mountains, fold the seats flat and spend the night, eager for the next day’s fishing. Fishing, camping and hunting evolved into a lifelong passion and life’s work, said his son, Warren Wolff of Danville.

The Walker Hound is now named “Numbers,“ a sardonic reference to the callous way he was identified in his early years. He is the beloved pet of a minister who adopted him from the Richmond SPCA. When Numbers first arrived at our humane center, he was emaciated and suffering from worms and other ailments indicative of lack of veterinary care and poor diet.

When it comes to getting outdoors during the winter months, Larry Rohr, Terry Rea and their disc golf compatriots follow the mail carriers’ code. “Neither rain nor snow . . . nor gloom of night” shall keep them from their appointed rounds.

For many hunters who live in the eastern United States, the west exerts a mysterious kind of pull explained by a combination of foreign species and exotic landscape.

Exactly one month from today, I’ll be sitting on the forest floor - shotgun in hand - in Pocahontas State Park waiting for a big buck or doe to come my way.

The Board of Game and Inland Fisheries yesterday received the results of a 15-month study designed to identify and reduce conflicts between landowners and Virginia hunters who hunt with dogs.

The Board of Game and Inland Fisheries yesterday received the results of a 15-month study designed to identify and reduce conflicts between landowners and Virginia hunters who hunt with dogs. And in the overflow crowd of more than 100 people—from raccoon and deer hunters to landowners to representatives of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—almost no one seemed satisfied with what they saw.

The Board of Game and Inland Fisheries today received the results of a 15-month study designed to identify and reduce conflicts between landowners and Virginia hunters who hunt with dogs. And in the overflow crowd of more than 100 people—from raccoon and deer hunters to landowners to representatives of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—almost no one seemed satisfied with what they saw.

The victim was crossing a barbed wire fence and his coat became entangled. While attempting to free himself, the gun discharged, striking him in the lower right leg, resulting in amputation.