Spring, like fall, presents many different outdoor opportunities for the sportsman and woman. With both turkey hunting and a variety of fishing possibilities, that can pose some difficult choices. Beginning with the first season in 1980, turkey hunting became a reality in Massachusetts and this writer eventually decided to give it a try. It took a while for me to get involved with the new sport, but it took exactly one resounding gobble, coming from a bird that never came into view or stayed around long, to get me hooked. Over time, a lot of research and reading about turkey hunting began to really get me enthused and ultimately, the 1987 New England Outdoor Writers Association Spring Safari was where it all came together.
That event took place in Poultney, Vermont and members had a variety of choices as to what outdoor pursuit they wanted to choose. The month of May in the Green Mountain State offered stream fishing in legendary trout waters like the Battenkill or trolling on nearby lakes. Several local turkey hunters, including the legendary Bart Jacob, were also offering guide services. Bart made a presentation the first evening that was exactly what this guy was looking for and I hung on every word as he explained scouting, setup, calling and every detail that his long experience could provide. There were about a half dozen of us writers who opted to hunt turkeys and my mentor was a local named Larry Sears. After the session, he met with me and instructed me to meet him at the IGA supermarket parking lot in Rutland at 4 a.m.
Even though it was a while ago, the memory of that hunt is still fresh. After hiking up what seemed like a mountain, we paused in a clearing and listened. Eventually, my ears picked up a sound that even this rookie knew was a gobble and we were off. Setting up well above the sound, Larry made some soft calls and then the waiting game began. Over a half hour passed with nothing but silence and then three red heads appeared marching up the ridge. A trio of jakes were investigating to determine who had made those sweet, soft sounds. Carrying a borrowed gun, a Winchester 1300 National Wild Turkey Federation commemorative pump action twelve gauge with a camouflage laminated stock and dull matt finish and loaded with three-inch Winchester #4 ammo, I waited for Larry to give me the word. The lead bird tumbled, and the excitement fueled a huge adrenaline rush. My first wild turkey! That bird was well-photographed as it was the only one taken and it ended up on the front page of the Daily News on May 15, 1987. A laminated copy of the front-page hangs proudly today in my “man cave.”
Since then, a lot of turkey hunting in Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, Kansas and Maine has provided memories of places, people and hunts that include sightings of deer, coyotes, fisher and moose plus hours of listening to songbirds as the day begins in the spring turkey woods. So many great memories!
Ah, but at what expense! One simply cannot fly fish when hiking the woods in search of gobblers and my fly fishing has dropped off significantly since the turkey hunting addition set in. May is prime time for both and now both fresh and saltwater fishing with the “long wand” have taken a back seat. Earlier this week, an inventory of the fly-fishing equipment was eye-opening. Striped bass on the fly rod once captured my attention much like turkey hunting had, and the thrill of a five-pound striper on a fly rod is quite addictive as well. There were mornings when the Silverado would head to Cape Cod at 4 a.m. to catch a dawn tide and fish Scorton Creek, Sandwich Creek or Barnstable Harbor. In the bed was a float tube or kayak. After fishing one hour before and after high tide, it was back up Route 495 and back home well before noon.
Much easier was local fly fishing on the Millers River, Lake Mattawa, Laurel Lake in Erving or Moore’s Pond or Clubhouse Pond in Warwick. Twitching a nymph or streamer behind a sinking line would generally result in a strike or two and there is something special about catching a trout on a fly. For something really special, there is the booking of a trip with the quality guides that float the Deerfield River every day and provide the trip of a lifetime for a fly fisherman. The Harrison brothers of Harrison Anglers or Jonathan Bunker of Squaretail Anglers are top-shelf and will provide you and a friend with world-class fly fishing. I encourage you to give them a call.
The inventory revealed how much fly-fishing stuff there is down there in the cabinets. Vices and a tying table plus hooks, thread and dressings from my fly-tying days, salt-water gear including not one but two stripping baskets, dozens of striper flies, a Boga grip and fly rods and reels. Please promise not to tell my wife that I own three nine weight rods! One Thomas & Thomas, one Orvis and Redington Travel rod. There is also a Thomas & Thomas 7 weight, Berkley 8 weight and 6 weight rods, two Orvis 3-weights and a Ron Aroner 4 weight. And, of course, an equal abundance of quality fly reels and spools with both floating and sinking lines. I really need to do more fishing! Solving this dilemma will give me something to think about next week in Kansas while “visiting with my sister.” But that is another story.
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 Mahar Fish’N Game Club, Counselor and Director of the Massachusetts Conservation Camp, has been a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor for over 40 years and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.