For the record, I considered taking this column off. I figured I’d get the editors to hang a sign in the spot where they normally put me: “Andy Thompson is out of the office. His column will resume when he comes down from a tree stand in Fluvanna or Prince Edward or Caroline counties or wherever he is. Don’t hold your breath.“ Instead, I’ve emerged from the woods to bring you this dispatch. I do so reluctantly because, frankly, I’d much prefer to be out there still.

This past spring, the game department announced that it had found white nose syndrome in bats at two different caves in western and southwestern Virginia. The news was alarming on many fronts, not least of which is that so little is known for certain about the condition - how it is contracted, how it operates, how it kills. What is obvious are its outward signs: Infected bats exhibit a white fungal growth around their noses as well as on their wings, legs or tail membranes.

The 75th Running of the Montpelier Hunt Races will take place tomorrow on the grounds of James Madison’s home in Orange County. This year’s race day will feature traditions, such as the Jack Russell terrier races, children’s stick horse races and the Dolley Madison tailgate competition. New this year will be a special opening ceremony to mark the diamond jubilee of the event. Gates will open at 9 a.m.

Is it a curse or a blessing to know the sunlight is fading, that you can count your last moments on Earth on one hand? Your body is failing, wracked by a cancer that invaded your liver and spread quickly. You don’t know how long you have, but it doesn’t feel like much. It’s a double-edged sword to know: You can count the precious few moments on one hand, but you also hold them in that hand. They’re yours.

Like it or not, every deer hunter worth his fox urine cover scent must also be a scholar of chemical attraction. Of course, I aspire to be worth my fox urine cover scent, every last ounce of the bottle currently sitting in my garage next to the red oak acorn wafers and natural cedar incense sticks. To bag a big buck, you must think like one. And this time of year, with the rut almost upon us, that means thinking about sex.

Castaway Sporting Goods (804 706-9100) reports the following citations: Calvin Hunter (Chester) caught a 2½- and 2¼-pound crappie out of a private pond; Carl Breeden caught a 33-pound bluecat out of the river. Lots of spot still being caught in the river, primarily using bloodworms or Fish Bites. Bigger striped bass are in the bay. A lot of guys are getting their limit (two per day) pretty quickly.

A little less than a year ago I wrote about the possible reintroduction of a substantial elk herd in Virginia. The eastern elk, of course, was native to Virginia and much of the eastern United States, but, due to hunting and habitat loss, the subspecies was extirpated from the region before the turn of the 20th century.

There’s an eerie silence at the edge of the quarry, where barren rock meets the forest’s end. About 20 feet back, under a canopy of willow oaks and red maples, lies the breeding ground of one of Virginia’s rarest amphibians: the mole salamander. In 15 to 20 years, as the Boxley Materials Co. mines rock for sidewalks and roads, the quarry edges in Nelson County will extend into the forest, swallowing the wetlands where the salamanders reproduce.

There was only one major agenda item on the table yesterday at the October board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, but it generated much discussion. At issue was a proposed regulation amendment that would prohibit the hunting of Rocky Mountain elk in Virginia effective immediately. Currently, small numbers of elk - anywhere from dozens to perhaps 200 - roam across the state line from Kentucky, where the species was reintroduced 12 years ago. Virginia hunters can take them on a deer tag during any part of the deer season.

Castaway Sporting Goods (804 706-9100) reports the following: Eddie Moore caught a 22¼-inch largemouth bass at Pocahontas State Park; Thomas Capps (Manassas) 51-pound, 10-ounce bluecat. A lot of people are starting to catch stripers in the river. Catfish should pick up soon, too, since one usually follows the other. In the past week, a number of anglers are starting to buy 5-8 dozen minnows as crappie begin to turn on the river, and they’re beginning to school up. Fishermen are catching a lot of good eating-sized crappie (three-fourths to 1 pound), but not the real big ones.

When I introduced the Urban Oasis series at the beginning of this year, the goal was to find patches of overlooked wilderness in the Richmond area. There are a surprising number of them - green spaces such as Williams Island, Powhite Park and Tuckahoe Creek that are often missed, even by outdoors lovers. But as I’ve searched the area for these places, what’s surprised me most are not the places that, through quirks of geography, are hidden away or off the beaten path. More surprising has been the number of places hidden in plain sight.

Rex Springston traces his love of rivers back to his childhood adventures in the Elizabeth River in the Virginia Beach area. He recalls spending a lot of time in the river with his young buddies—“a gang of little Hucks and Toms”—swimming, plucking jellyfish from their arms, and even rowing a boat to a miniature golf course upstream.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts doesn’t reopen until May of next year. The November First Fridays isn’t for three weeks. What’s an art lover to do? Usually the answer to that question would not be, “Go to Orvis.“ But tomorrow it is, especially if you’re into art with an outdoors theme. The fly-fishing store in the Short Pump Mall wraps up its Fall Orvis Days tomorrow with seminars on everything from duck and goose calling to targeting game fish around the Outer Banks. But for my money, the real draw is the art.

The third annual Central Virginia Sporting Clay Tournament, organized by the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce, will be Oct. 23 at the Sussex Shootings Sports Complex just off Route 460 near the town of Waverly. The tournament is a 100-bird event, designed to simulate actual field conditions. Participants must bring eye and ear protection and attend the safety briefing at 1:45 p.m. Shooting will begin at 2 p.m. Cash prizes (based on the number of entries) and certificates will be awarded to teams and individuals. Door prizes will be awarded after the shooting and barbecue dinner. Refreshments will be available throughout the afternoon.

Castaway Sporting Goods (804 706-9100) reports the following catch: Thomas Hickman (Manassas) 33.2 blue cat. Striper fishing seems to be picking up on freshwater side of the river with some keepers being caught. There is a lot of action on the saltwater side with spot running hot and heavy with some speckled trout, gray trout and flounder.