As the month of October arrives, so do the various hunting seasons across New England. Here in Massachusetts, the early goose season and the first segment of the black bear season have already concluded. Woodcock opened Oct. 1 and grouse and pheasant will open up on Oct. 17. Waterfowl hunters in the Central Zone will get it going on Oct. 13 with ducks and geese opening and the archery season for deer commences on Oct. 19 here in central and western Mass. Shotgun deer season kicks off the Monday following Thanksgiving, Nov. 30. It runs for two weeks and is followed immediately by the primitive arms season on Dec. 14.
Changes to the fall turkey season allow hunters to take a fall bird of either sex even if they have taken two birds in the spring hunting season. Bow hunters may now take turkeys during the entire archery season as well. Shotgun fall turkey hunting will begin on the second to last Monday in October (Oct. 19) and run two weeks, to Oct. 31.
Our northern neighbors are also going full bore as New Hampshire small game season is now open as is archery deer hunting. Muzzleloader deer season opens on Halloween and firearms seasons begins on Veteran’s Day. New Hampshire’s deer season is complicated, with the various zones and antlerless hunting having different dates. Do your homework no matter what state you hunt as regulations change and you are responsible to know all regulations for the game you are hunting.
Vermont small game seasons opened Oct. 1 and archery deer season is also underway. Green Mountain State firearms deer season opens Nov. 14. In Maine, ruffed grouse and woodcock opened this week and the bow season starts Oct. 3. Maine firearms deer season for non-residents opens Nov. 2. Woodcock are a migratory bird and all states require the use of a shotgun with a capacity of no more than three shells and you also must also register for a HIP (Harvest Information Program) number before hunting woodcock.
This past Tuesday, the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board held their September meeting via Zoom. The agenda included a much-anticipated presentation to the board of the findings of a very intensive analysis of the R3 Program by R3 Coordinator, Astrid Huseby. R3 stands for recruitment, retention and reactivation as they relate to hunters and fishermen in Massachusetts. It was an outstanding piece of work put together with input from the entire MassWildlife staff and, this board member believes, the most important matter given to the board for consideration in my 30 years serving as the Connecticut Valley representative.
It is obvious that a lot is happening, and the data gathered is broad-based and important to consider. Since the high point in 1980, sale of hunting and sporting licenses has gone down 41 percent. The demographic picture shows a hunting population that is over 45 years old on average and aging rapidly. It does not reflect the state’s population in race, gender, or location. It is also changing with women being the fastest growing segment in both hunting and fishing with an increase of 41 percent. Short-term, hunting and sporting license sales increased 24 percent between March and September this year but outdoor activities have all increased since the arrival and impact of COVID-19.
The information presented, as I said, is very broad and far-reaching and what has really taken place is the creation of a strategic plan to begin to take steps to recruit individuals across the state’s population into hunting and fishing, put in place measures to make it easier for newcomers to continue in the activities, and offer incentives to those who formerly hunted and fished to get back involved in the outdoors.
The scope of this very detailed plan is more than can be explained in one column and is still in the draft stage. The process of reviewing and approving the plan should be completed sometime after the start of 2021. One thing is crystal clear: Massachusetts, due to the outstanding quality and effort of MassWildlife staff associated with the R3 effort, have gained national attention as R3 is on everyone’s priority list. They have been very much in demand by other states and national conservation organizations who can see that the research and planning done will reap benefits going forward as everyone tries to reverse the participation trend. With such a significant increase across the country of people returning to outdoor activities, it might just be the “perfect storm” of events that will make an important difference going forward. Stay tuned!
A phone call last week from my New York host confirmed what I believed would be going on up north. Although they had some cold temperatures last week, the leaves and understory are still thick and although those hunting moved a number of grouse, seeing and hitting them was almost impossible. Dogs were also having a difficult time with the mid-day heat and challenging scenting conditions. Dinah, Laney and I have really did not miss much but my guess is that by the time you read this, we will be at camp.