By Mike Roche
It is time for everyone to think about shooting. Bowhunters are out practicing and utilizing two great local facilities. One is at the Peqouig Bowmen’s Club, which has both indoor and outdoor ranges, and the outdoor course at the Petersham Gun Club. Shotgun shooters also have a number of great clubs and courses as well, including the Orange Gun Club and Petersham Gun Club. Both clubs offer trapshooting, with the Orange Club shooting Tuesdays. The posted time on the club’s web page is 4 p.m., but you might want to call to confirm.
The Orange Gun Club is the oldest gun club in the state, with records going back to 1884. They have a first-class rifle range that allows shooting out to 250 yards and a separate pistol range as well. Club members also enjoy two spring-fed trout ponds and the two trap fields are automated. A great local resource you should consider joining.
My inspiration for this column was the fact that I participated in a fundraising sporting clays shoot last Saturday. Given that it was my first time shooting since my shoulder issues, the 100 targets were an excellent test. My score was awful, but it felt good to finally do some shooting, and the host club, the Western Mass Bird Dog Club in Granville, Massachusetts, has very good targets and is located on 400 acres where members can hunt released birds year round.
The lunch was great also and 50 shooters showed up to support the work of the Ruffed Grouse Society and the American Woodcock Society. Participants enjoyed a great day for a great cause!
The Petersham Gun Club’s sporting clays course is excellent and well-known for quality targets and an excellent course design that provides challenges that mimic virtually every shooting environment for the upland bird or waterfowl hunter. Both trap and sporting clays at these clubs give local hunters a great place to practice for the upcoming fall hunting seasons without a lot of travel. The Petersham clays course opens on Sunday mornings at 10.
For this hunter, skeet is also a great way to get the shooting eye warmed up. Most years, a Sunday drive to Deerfield to the Franklin County League of Sportsman’s Clubs is a morning well-spent, as skeet targets are all good practice for 28-gauge and the Ruger Red Label fits the bill. You should check out the league’s web page, as it is “members only” but does open early before each session and non-members can shoot as well. The league also offers some weekday skeet shooting as well.
Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game (DFG) sent a crew of state wildland firefighters to Fairbanks, Alaska, to assist in battling significant wildfires in the area.
The 20-person crew includes 18 firefighters from DCR and two from DFG’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), all of whom are specially trained to help manage wildfires across the country. The Massachusetts crew is part of a New England contingent of three 20-person state crews, including Maine and Connecticut. Wildfires have started earlier than usual this year in the western U.S. and Canada, leading to a strain on firefighting resources. The combination of ongoing fires and difficult weather conditions has created a strong demand for help from partnering federal and state agencies nationwide.
“As climate change brings more frequent, long-lasting drought and extreme heat, wildfires are intensifying across North America. We are committed to standing by our partners across the country to protect public safety, our forests, and biodiversity,” said DFG Commissioner Tom O’Shea. “We are extremely grateful for the dedicated team from DCR and MassWildlife who have generously volunteered to contribute their hard-earned skills to this important cause. This experience in Alaska will also help our staff gain skills and proficiency for work here in Massachusetts, both for wildfires and prescribed fires that we conduct under strictly controlled protocols to maintain healthy habitats to benefit people and native wildlife and plants.”
The dogs have been getting in a little work but the shutting down of training at Hedgerow Hunt Club is a loss. In a few weeks, wild birds will be fledged, and we can train on them, but having access to chukars at Hedgerow was such an advantage.
It looks like a trip to Canada may be on the schedule as this writer was invited to Nova Scotia to spend time with a longtime friend Todd Kennedy. Todd’s family ran Lansdowne Lodge in Stewiacke, Nova Scotia. During my time as regional director for Ducks Unlimited, a group of volunteers traveled there for an exceptional experience. Todd is a “world class” fly tier and sporting guide and the plan is to travel there for a few days of hunting in early October.
A family wedding (I know! Who gets married during hunting season?) during the long weekend will have me back home, but then it is off to New York one more time and hopefully some additional sorties in search of grouse and woodcock. Be well and enjoy summer while looking forward to fall!
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, a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.