The Mahar Fish ’n’ Game Club Fall Fishing Derby was held last weekend at Lake Mattawa and it was a huge success! A perfect fall day combined with cooperative fish made for a strong return from the restricted activities of the COVID-19 years and the 21 participants included a strong contingent from the middle school and a number of parents and siblings. Catches included brown trout, largemouth bass and panfish. Both the Middle School Fish and Game Club and the High School Fish ’n’ Game Club are planning a full slate of activities for the school year and a return of the popular Game Supper is likely.
The “Indian Summer” weather of this week belies the coming of “real” fall weather and that killing frost this writer is eagerly awaiting. Leaves are both turning, showcasing spectacular colors, and beginning to fall. That is just in time for the upcoming hunting seasons that includes tomorrow’s upland season opener for pheasants and ruffed grouse and Monday’s bow season opener. Waterfowl in the Central Zone opened Monday so hunting season will be full swing next week.
Deer hunting in New Hampshire and Vermont draws a lot of interest from local hunters and New Hampshire bow season has been underway since Sept. 15. The Granite State black powder hunting season for deer will commence on Oct. 29 and rifle season opens Nov. 9. In Vermont, bow hunters got at it on Oct. 1 and rifle season opens Nov. 12. Vermont also has a Novice season for hunters over age 16 who have had their first hunting license for less than 12 months and they also have a permit-only muzzleloader antlerless season and a regular antlerless season. You should visit the respective state’s fish and game department’s web pages for specific information on seasons and regulations.
Here in Massachusetts, our deer seasons will now continue until the end of the year for hunters to enjoy archery, shotgun and black powder hunting for the wary whitetail. Shotgun hunting will open the Monday following Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, and will last two weeks. That will be followed by the black powder hunt from Dec. 3 to the last legal day of December. There is no Sunday hunting in Massachusetts.
It looks like a promising season in all three states as deer numbers appear to be up and deer in great shape. Weather, as always, and hunter participation are the big factors but there should be a lot of venison harvested and a lot of stories told.
My personal hunting schedule includes the annual journey to upstate New York in pursuit of grouse and woodcock. That will be a bit abbreviated due to some family matters, but the result should be a bit more hunting in Massachusetts. Early woodcock hunting has been spotty with the dryness of many covers obvious and fewer local birds found. Each hunt going forward will be prospecting. Unfortunately, many of the upland covers the dogs and I have visited for decades are no longer good habitat for woodcock and grouse. The vegetation grows and mature trees in most cases are not nearly as hospitable for the birds. Forestry work, usually two or three years after the cut, can create new habitat if the other factors like wet soil or undergrowth that includes fruit-bearing plants for the grouse appear. The overgrown apple orchards that were everywhere during my youth are mostly gone as the overstory, particularly white pine, choke them out. I am going to have to find new places and often elicit help from those who travel back roads like USPS employees and school bus drivers. A grouse spotted beside the road has sometimes resulted in a new cover to hunt. Most of the places that this writer hunts are an acre or less and they are only good for a while unless active forestry management is undertaken. Landowners should take advantage of the multiple programs offered to reimburse landowners for work that benefits all wildlife, particularly species of concern.
Unfortunately, it looks like Dinah, my “going on 15” French Brittany, is not going to be doing much hunting this fall. The old girl has a bad hip and kidney disease and struggles in getting along in hunting cover. Combined with her severe hearing loss, it just is not possible to hunt her as she has for so many great seasons. She will be missed but Laney is ready to step up so we will see what the next few weeks are like. Stay tuned!
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, 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.