The Petersham Gun Club has announced that it will be sponsoring a youth shooting team to help young people get involved in the shooting sports and there is an ongoing fundraiser to raise money to support this effort.
You can help by purchasing a calendar. The calendars are a fundraiser sponsored by the MidwayUSA Foundation. The foundation was created by MidwayUSA, a major outdoor retailer, and will be available through Nov. 11. All those who purchase a calendar will be entered into a raffle where one firearm will be given away each week in 2027.
The calendars are $50 and only 5,000 calendars will be sold nationwide. In addition, the MidwayUSA Foundation will match every $50 donation to support the kids shooting programs across the country. You can purchase a calendar online at: tinyurl.com/PetershamCalendars. You can also order your calendar directly by scanning the QR Code on the Petersham Gun Club ‘s Facebook page. Money and matches from calendars purchased through the Petersham Gun Club will go directly to this program.
This something really special. MidwayUSA has earned a reputation over the years of generously supporting the shooting sports and particularly youth shooting activities. My personal experiences with MidwayUSA have been positive, as it offers a wide range of shooting supplies at competitive prices and this is an extremely exciting opportunity for Mahar Fish’N Game Club members and others to get top level training and support. Mahar Middle School Fish’N Game Club advisor William Devine will be coaching and coordinating this new program.
This writer took a break while writing this column to order a calendar at MidwayUSA. It took less than five minutes. This program is quickly taking shape and kudos to the PGC for initiating it. This page will provide more information as things progress, but think about supporting the kids by buying a calendar. You have 52 chances to win a gun and you will be making a difference!
This past week some real fall weather arrived, and it feels great! That led to a drive to the Berkshires on Tuesday and it was really enjoyable. Heading into covers with years of hunting memories with my good friend, mentor and fellow Fisheries and Wildlife Board member George “Gige” Darey is always special. And it was always an adventure! He spent a lifetime hunting and would spend almost every day of the Massachusetts woodcock season hunting with a string of really good Brittany Spaniels. Those hours afield led him to find some great covers and he would frequently take people he met as board chairman out woodcock hunting with those Brittanys, which were always great grouse and woodcock dogs.
Every bird season, Dr. Steve Williams and former MassWildlife Director Wayne MacCallum join me to revisit those covers and remember Gige. Steve went from Deer Project Leader in Massachusetts to a leadership position with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and then to Kansas, where he was secretary of Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. He was appointed by President George W. Bush to be the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, then went on to a career as director of the Wildlife Management Institute in Washington, D.C. We have maintained a friendship since he started at MassWildlife and enjoy a love of the outdoors and a lightly twisted sense of humor.
Our traditional hunt is scheduled for later this month, but first the Silverado is headed to Pittsburg, New Hampshire, for a stay at Tall Timber Lodge on Back Lake. Tall Timber is a really great hunting and fishing camp with outstanding food and accommodations. It has been my pleasure over the years to stay there multiple times and the New England Outdoor Writers Association held spring safaris there that were awesome. Al Mexcur and I also stayed there on a deer hunting weekend.
The dogs have really rounded into shape in a short time and both have been really good despite the unusually warm temperatures, thick understory and foliage. The foliage seems to particularly brilliant in color this fall, but yours truly wants those leaves to fall down, now!
After Pittsburg, we will be heading to New York for 15th Annual New York Grouse & Woodcock Benefit Hunt hosted by the Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society. That is a great event that always attracts great people who are strongly committed to the conservation goals of RGS/AWS. My 25-plus years spending time in that area has led to many great contacts and the local restaurants and businesses (particularly the bakery) are favorite spots to visit.
Recently, a considerable amount of the land that we hunted has changed hands, but it appears that the fundraiser will go on as before, and there are still places where the great bird hunting that I have come to enjoy will still be available to me.
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.