Book excerpt: To the west is a stretch of Interstate 95 running from the D.C. suburbs to the South Carolina state line. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean. What lies in between, a four-hundred-mile stretch of coastal country traversing Virginia and North Carolina, is home to some of the best hunting and fishing grounds on the East Coast. For the first time, those who love to hunt and fish this unique area have a book. In Outdoors Year Round Stephen Ausband looks at an uncommonly rich spectrum of outdoor opportunities. Readers will delight in accounts of night fishing in Pamlico Sound, surf casting at Chincoteague, and bottom fishing in Chesapeake Bay. Ausband also covers large and small game, including numerous waterfowl and upland bird hunts, deer hunting tips for both rifle and bow hunters, and the pleasures of tracking bear with a practiced guide. The book is laid out chronologically, its twelve chapters covering each of the twelve months, from duck hunting in January to fishing for gray trout at Christmastime. Each chapter features two trips that allow the reader to take full advantage of what each month has to offer. These custom itineraries, which include complete traveling instructions and pricing information, outline exceptional hunting and fishing opportunities that do not strain the pocketbook. But Ausband provides more than just great practical advice. He also relates his personal experiences as an avid outdoorsman, one who has heard the howl of the red wolf near the Alligator River and flushed black ducks on the Eastern Shore--as well as his thoughts on introducing newcomers, particularly young people, to the diversity of life in the tidal zone. This is a book sportsmen will reach for, month in and month out. With Outdoors Year Round, there is no off-season.