Vermont Public Television is proudly supported in part by

Latest Videos

Outdoor Journal
Game Cameras, Mud Creek WMA, Trap-and-Transfer
Vermont This Week
May 18, 2012
The Governors
Jim Douglas
More Videos

VPT's Outdoor Journal

Loading the player ...

Host Marianne Eaton joins Jamie Hess of the Montshire Skating Club for an introductory Nordic skating lesson, Lawrence Pyne joins a group of hunters in the pre-dawn hours as they prepare for a snow goose hunt, and we join field researchers at the University of Vermont who are part of a study to determine the long-term effects of agricultural management on populations of grassland birds through banding operations.


Game Camera Contest

Thank you to all who entered our 2012 Game Camera Photo Challenge! Take a look through the excellent submissions we received and let us know which ones are you favorites.

Be sure to tune into new episodes of VPT's Outdoor Journal every Tuesday at 7:30 pm on VPT to find out which photos we choose to showcase!

View Photos Here

Watch Now

  • Game Cameras, Mud Creek WMA, Trap-and-Transfer
  • Bass Fishing, Sea Lamprey Control
  • Bicknell's Thrush, Sand Bar WMA, Master Angler
  • Willoughby, Eagle Point, Hawk Banding
  • Overnight Ice Fishing
  • Wildlife Habitat Incentives, Deer Mgmt
  • Upland Bird Hunting, West Mountain WMA
  • Restoring The Battenkill, HS Taxidermy
  • Crappie, Victory Basin WMA, Brilyea Dam
  • Spring Mushrooms, Brook Trout, Peregrine
  • Ice Fishing S. Lake Champlain/ Burbot
  • Youth Waterfowl Weekend/ Conservation Le
  • Canoe Based Bass Fishing/ Trout Bums
  • Nek Brook Trout/ Alburg Dunes/ Northern
  • Smallmouth Bass, Bald Eagles
  • Walleye Fishing On Conn. River
  • Goldeneye Hunting, Turtle Habitat
  • Muskie, Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge
  • Longnose Gar, Black Spot Disease, Spruce
  • Trophy Trout, Nesting Terns, Groton
  • Ice Fishing, Moose Populations
  • Invasive Plants, Trout Survey, Fly Fishi
  • Wild Edibles, Duck Banding, Vt's WMA
  • Groton St. Forest, Dead Creek Wildlife
  • Wiffle Ball, Timber Rattlesnakes, Bass
  • Throwing An Atlatl, Migrating Amphibians
  • 4-H Shooting Jamboree/Bobcat Research
  • Winter Fishing/Monitoring Forage Fish Po
  • Moose Hunting/Bobsledding In Lake Placid
  • Float-Fishing/Geo-Cashing
  • Bowfishing/Sailing Lesson
  • Telemark Skiing/Camp For Teachers
  • Dog Sledding/Montshire Museum/Shed Hunti
  • Snow Goose Hunt/Grassland Birds/Nordic S
  • Leashed Dog Deer Tracking/Black Racer
  • Salmon Restoration/Wildlife Rehab/Coasta
  • Fishing For Lg. Brook Trout
  • Dragon Boats/5-Lined Skink/Bass Fishing
  • VT. Bald Eagle Restoration Initiative
  • Ice Fishing/Morgan Fish Hatchery
  • Snowboarding/Animal Tracking/Snowmobiles
  • Tracking Deer/Banding Woodcock/Ropes
  • Bike Touring/Youth Hunting/Canada Goose
  • Fall Turkey Hunt/Target Shooting/Canoe T
  • White Water Rafting/Wood Turtles/Grn. Mt
  • Cape Cod Stripe Bass/Butterfly
  • Kayaking The Conn River/Osprey
  • Fishing With Kids/Working For Wildlife
  • Soaring/Bat Research/Fishing For Walleye
  • Ice Fishing/Boone & Crockett/Rocket Sled
  • Ice Climbing/Trapping/Primitive Biathlon
  • Riding/Jr. Waterfowl Training/Duck Hunt
  • Skeet Shoot/Treas. Hunt/Inv. Plants
  • Bow Hunting/Bears/Adaptive Fishing
  • Float Fishing/Fish Hatchery/Consv Corp
  • Sculling/Loon Recovery Program/Bass Fish
  • Hex Hatch/Peregrine Falcons/Hot Air Ball
  • Pike Fishing/Youth Turkey Hunt/Salmon Re
  • White Water Kayaking/Lake Sturgeon
  • Skijoring/Ice Fishing
  • Snowshoeing/Cat. Trail/Deer Yds/Snowshoe
  • Deer Camp/Moose Management/Caving
  • Mtn Bikes/Natural Communities/Bird
  • Duck Hunt/Decoy Carvers/Goose Round-
  • Float Fishing/Strm Fish Srvy/Scuba Divin
  • Hang Gliding/Sky Diving/Turtles/Bassmast
  • Long Trail Trout/Consv Camp/Orienteering
  • Turkey Hunt/Duck Boxes/Women Outdoors
  • Kayaking/Wooden Kayaks/Beaver Baffles

Nordic Skating

Skating ain't what it used to be. If your memories of ice-skating are filled with ill-fitting, cold skates that rumble over bumps and catch in cracks, then it might be time for you to take look at Nordic Skating. For speed and comfort on the ice, you can't beat it. Nordic skates are aluminum platforms with skate blades attached, that lock into cross-country ski boots. The blades are longer than conventional ice skate blades — up to 21 inches. The longer the blades, the more stable the skate and the faster you go. You can get up to 25 mph on the ice with a stiff tailwind. They're also curved in front to help glide over rough bumps without getting stuck. And because you're wearing cross-country ski boots, your feet are comfortable and warm. Add some poles for stability and you can even head out on snow-covered ice for a day of skating. Nordic skating is popular in Europe and Canada, though it is still relatively unknown here in the United States. But there are small groups of people working to change that. One of them is the Norwich-based Montshire Skating Club. The one hundred members of the club maintain a 2-½-mile stretch of ice on Lake Morey in Fairlee, Vermont, for skating — the longest groomed track in the country. They hold an annual winter skate-athon in January where people of all ages can try the equipment and get a feel for Nordic skating. Jamie Hess is one of the co-founders of the club. He says the skate-athon is for people who want to see how far they can skate in a day at any speed they want to. Host Marianne Eaton joins Jamie Hess of the Montshire Skating Club for an introductory Nordic skating lesson.


Grassland Birds

Grassland birds and dairy farmers in Vermont have a unique historical relationship. By clearing forests to create pasture for cows, farmers also have provided ideal habitat for birds such as Bobolinks and Savannah Sparrows. Fifty or one hundred years ago, the birds thrived. But as dairy farms and their fields have disappeared, so has the habitat. These birds rely on open grasslands to feed. And instead of building nests in trees, they construct them in the grass on the ground. This practice can leave them open to predators as well as farm machinery. When a field is hayed, essentially all the nests fail. They're either destroyed by equipment, or crows and gulls follow the farmer to clean up. Farmers must hay. And they have to get the cut in while the hay still has some value. The ideal solution would be to delay cuts to give the birds time to hatch and raise their young. But that's a tricky timing issue for a farmer who needs quality hay. On the other hand, there are farmers who have wet fields and fields that are not productive. If these fields were properly managed, it would be helpful for the birds. And it might end up being financially beneficial for the farmers. Programs such as the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) could help. It's run by the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides landowners with financial help for managing their property using wildlife management strategies. In this segment we join field researchers at the University of Vermont who are part of a study to determine the long-term effects of agricultural management on populations of grassland birds through banding operations.


Snow Goose Hunt

Goose, Hunting

In the early 1900s only a few thousand snow geese migrated along the Atlantic flyway from their nesting grounds in the eastern Arctic through Northern Quebec and the eastern U.S. By 1970 the population had grown to 100,000. Today, it's more than 900,000. A blizzard of snow geese is an amazing sight when viewed from a designated sanctuary such as the Dead Creek Wildlife Management area in Addison, Vermont. But these numbers also mean a devastating effect on habitat. A large concentration of geese can turn a salt marsh into a mud flat as they grub, ripping up large grasses by the roots and destroying habitat for other birds. And as the population grows, it has a particularly negative impact on the birds' nesting habitat — the habitat they need for the young to survive. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has now come to depend on hunters to help bring the snow goose population under control and reduce it to the carrying capacity of the habitat. Surprisingly, although the concentration of snow geese that are migrating is huge, the odds are in the favor of the birds to make it past hunters. Hunting snow geese requires dedication, teamwork and ideal weather conditions to even get the birds to look your way. And it means decoys — lots of them. And they have to be in place early. To get the 500 to 1,000 decoys in place by the time the sun comes up, the wake-up call is two o'clock in the morning for one group of dedicated hunters. It means a frantic criss-crossing in the dark, wearing headlamps to get the decoys and coffin blinds positioned in a farm field. And even with a mixture of full-body decoys, silhouettes, shells and kites, there is no guarantee the birds will come in. A sunny day can mean a long wait as light reflects off the shiny fake birds, warning the real ones to stay away. What you're looking for is high wind and dark days. But for those with the patience, good calling skills and the luck of the weather, the sight of forty or fifty birds "whiffling" in on the wind and into range is worth every minute of preparation. In this segment, Lawrence Pyne joins a group of hunters in the pre-dawn hours as they prepare for a snow goose hunt.


  • Segment Name


Donate »


Site Map



Full Size site »