As Christmas quickly approaches, I would
like to wish a merry Christmas
to all WVTA members and their families. I hope everyone has a safe and
enjoyable
holiday with family and friends.
I would also like to take a moment
to welcome Billy Wriston to Troop 7.
Billy was recently transferred to Troop 7 from Troop 4. Billy was
recently involved
in a department crash in which a Beckley resident ran a red light and
struck his
cruiser on Harper Road in Beckley. Billy suffered some soreness and
stiffness
from the accident but was otherwise fine and will return to duty soon.
As customary, there was no December board meeting but rest assured
that WVTA
President John Smith has remained busy with the association
s
agenda. John has
recently met with the Governor, Public Safety Secretary and the Colonel
and discussed
numerous issues in regards to the membership. The boards
January meeting should
provide some further clarity on the WVTAS
legislative agenda as the legislative session
approaches soon.
For those who do not know, the WV Supreme Court failed to intervene
with the certified
question review petition submitted by Marvin Masters in regards to the
Plan B law suit.
Any member wanting to know specifics can contact me directly.
As always, any member wanting to know specifics on the official
business conducted
by the WVTA, (finances, conference etc.), can contact me directly.
As everyone is aware, the buck firearms season in WV is a major
event. Many of our
members are avid hunters and I felt compelled to share a few success
stories and not
so successful stories from Troop 7.
Sgt. Jack Highway Gillespie was able to harvest a four point buck
while hunting in
Summers County. Being an avid trophy hunter, Jack wouldn
t
normally stoop to the
level of taking a mere four point buck. However, the older he gets, the
more his bones
ache due to cold weather and he has recently developed an irrational
fear of the dark,
which unfortunately, prevents him from getting into the woods those
first few magical
moments after day light. Forced to hunt fair weather days and with the
aid of a night light,
has obviously not dampened this successful hunters
spirits.
I was unable to hunt most of the deer season due to an ATV accident
near Logan in
which I fracture two ribs and my scapula. I did however, manage to hunt
a few hours
during the gun season and harvested a decent nine point, photo attached.
Corporal Aaron Maddy of Troop 7 took a nice buck with close to a
twenty inch spread
while hunting in Summers County, photo attached. After some
investigation into this matter,
I was able to determine that there is more to this story than revealed
by Maddy. I have it on
good authority that this deer was actually struck by a passing truck on
the highway. Maddy
discovered the poor buck at the bottom of a ravine, scurried down with
his rifle and had his
picture taken after he finished the poor thing off. However, I caution,
suspicion is not proof.
F/Sgt. Mike Miller while on a bow hunting trip to Illinois was able
to get a shot on a really
nice trophy buck but unfortunately was unable to recover the animal
which he believes survived.
Doug Gunnoe, Troop 7
Copyright by West Virginia Troopers Association
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