By Mike Roche

This spring, people have been buzzing about how early things are happening in the natural world. Ice out on local lakes and ponds happened earlier than anyone can remember. Some ponds went from 5-6 inches of ice to ice out in less than a week. Up north, Lake Winnipesaukee in some parts never froze and is now completely open. New Hampshire law requires ice houses to be removed by April 8, Vermont and Maine by March 31. Not this year!

In Massachusetts, trout stocking traditionally begins as soon as conditions allow. Some years, thick ice and high water conditions due to late spring runoff have delayed the stocking of local waters in the past. This year, stocking is already underway on Cape Cod and other parts of eastern Massachusetts. A check of the MassWildlife trout stocking web page revealed that waters in Greenfield, Shutesbury, Amherst, Pelham, Ashfield and Hubbardston are listed as “coming soon.”

Lake Mattawa is one of the most heavily stocked trout waters in the state and gets significant fishing attention. However, it handles a lot of pressure and provides the equivalent of handicap access along the western shore, where you can cast from the roadside to deep water where trout are commonly found. It would seem prudent to get the old fishing pole out and re-spool with some new line to be prepared for the ‘big one.’ It will not be long!

MassWildlife will stock about 455,000 trout across Massachusetts this spring. A vast majority of those trout, 75 percent, will be over 12 inches long. The stocking will include 40 percent of the fish over 14 inches in length. Included will be 800 retired brood brown trout and 600 retired brood brook trout. All are over 18 inches and will be stocked as a bonus for Massachusetts fishermen and women. About 2,900 tiger trout will also be part of the stocking effort and they are a big favorite with Lake Mattawa anglers and will be over 14 inches long as well.

Reports of arriving migrating waterfowl continue and I wish had seen the data about a northern shoveler, a duck species found more commonly in the Midwest—that was eye-opening. A shoveler nicknamed “Scoop” was banded in Mexico by students working with officials and left Mexico City last year on March 25, heading north.

With a GPS monitor attached, Scoop’s flight was monitored. He flew 1,434 miles non-stop to Otter Creek Wildlife Management Area in central Kansas, reaching an altitude of 17,319 feet above sea level and 16,800 feet above the ground. Six of the 26 hours of his flight, he was above 15,000 feet! Speed ranged from 28 to a peak of 91 miles per hour. with most recorded speeds being between 50 and 70 miles per hour. You can find the data on Scoop and other ducks online at 50ducks.com.

Turkeys are beginning to show up and I would ask folks to consider taking down bird feeders at this time if turkeys are in the area. Birds really do not need them now and turkeys are better off if they forage for natural food. Bird feeder locations get crowded and can cause turkeys to spread disease. It also makes them much more vulnerable to predation. The chance of poults surviving is much better if they immediately learn to forage for insects and seeds.

As has been chronicled in this space, some states, particularly in the Midwest and southeast, have had significant drops in their turkey populations. My annual trip to Kansas was impacted as Kansas eliminated the fall hunting season and reduced permits available to non-residents (like me) by 25 percent and required a lottery. My application was unsuccessful and left me out after all these years. That led to some scrambling around and investigating neighboring Missouri. People from New England have no idea what it takes to hunt in most of the country, where nearly all private land is closed to hunting without permission.

The efforts of my good friend and Kansas hunting buddy Kin Hickman identified some public land in Missouri where he hunts raccoons with his outstanding hounds, and sister Pat reached out to some of her riding friends who live in Missouri and found some properties where I can hunt. The Missouri turkey season opens a bit earlier and that will result in missing the opening days, but my trip is really all about visiting my sister, so it will all work out.

Meanwhile, reports tell me that American woodcock are moving. The Ruffed Grouse Society website and others give access to GPS data on migrating woodcock and show that birds are beginning to move. My few local trips with the dogs did not move any, but those outings were while the ground was still frozen like a rock. Once the rain lets up, hopefully we will get into some migrants.

Next week, this writer is flying to Mobile, Alabama, to attend the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Woodcock Wing Bee. Volunteers, mostly wildlife biologists from the east, gather to age and sex the approximately 13,000 woodcock wings that collectors—hunters who agree to submit one wing from each woodcock they harvest—have submitted.

As a collector since 2008, this bird hunter and writer is looking forward to observing and writing an article on the event, which plays a significant part in the data analysis that is used in determining seasons as part of the Migratory Bird Act. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has the authority to set seasons and provides a framework which the states use to set individual seasons and limits. Should be very interesting!

Mike Roche is a retired teacher who has been involved in conservation and wildlife issues his entire life. He has written the Sportsman’s Corner since 1984 and has served as advisor to the MaharFish’N Game Club, counselor and director of the Massachusetts Conservation Camp, former Connecticut Valley District representative on the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board, has been a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.