Sportsman’s Corner-Turning the page

Published: 11-21-2024 3:27 PM

By Mike Roche

It is time for this writer to turn the page on his hunting activities from upland hunting to deer hunting. It has indeed been a great ride this “bucket list” fall, beginning with a trip to northern Vermont for the upland opener on Sept. 28, followed by 5,000 miles of driving in the Silverado. That involved stops in northern Maine at Wadleigh Mountain Camps in Ashland, followed by a few days at Lakewood Camps in the Rangely region of western Maine, and then an extended stay at grouse camp in Ellenburg, New York.

After some time home, it was back on the road to the Catskills in western New York for a final upland hunt last week. The goal was to get 2-year-old French Brittany Tessie contact with ruffed grouse, the “King of Game Birds,” and get her and fellow Epagnuel Breton (as the breed is formally known) 9-year-old Laney the most time possible handling woodcock and grouse. The result was real progress in handling grouse and as the season winds down, with two really nice bird dogs to follow around. It appears that my Catskills trip coincided with what many describe as a very good year for flights of woodcock throughout New England, and my local covers probably entertained migrating American woodcock while we were away. You can’t be in two places at once and fall is way too short!

Here in Massachusetts, woodcock and ruffed grouse season remains open until Nov. 30 and pheasants are open through the last day of December. However, with woodcock migration seemingly winding down and the shotgun season for whitetail deer kicking off Dec. 2, some time needs to be spent shifting gears.

First and foremost, the new Winchester SuperX4 20-gauge deer gun needs to be sighted in to shoot “right on” at hunting distances. The scope was mounted a while ago and Federal sabot (a sabot is plastic sleeve that holds a rifle bullet and allows it to be used in a rifled shotgun barrel) slugs purchased for the rifled barrel. The gun’s barrel has a cantilevered scope mount atop it which is designed to attach popular “Weaver-style” scope mounts, and the Zeiss scope was removed from the Remington 1100 deer gun and mounted. A quick trip to the Orange Gun Club’s excellent rifle range got things on paper and good, but not yet to my personal standards, and there will be another trip to use the Caldwell Lead Sled to get things to the level of accuracy my father taught me was the standard.

If the gun does its job, the first order of business will be to tag the deer according to Massachusetts regulations. The law requires that upon killing a deer, the hunter must immediately fill out the paper tag on his license or antlerless permit and attach it to the carcass and that tag must remain in place until the deer is reported. The big news locally is that the Orange Gun Club will serve as an official Massachusetts Deer Checking Station, Monday through Saturday of the first week (Dec. 2-8) of the shotgun season from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Orange Gun Club leadership is to be commended for stepping up and connecting with MassWildlife to get approval to serve as a check station. The convenience for local hunters during this period, when deer must be reported in person, is significant. Royalston Fish and Game Club and Hubbardston Rod and Gun Club also have been approved and all MassWildlife facilities, including Bitzer Hatchery in Montague, Valley District Headquarters in Belchertown and Central District Headquarters in West Boylston, will be checking deer and you can go to the MassWildlife website to get the hours for each location.

Deer taken in Massachusetts must be reported (checked in) within 48 hours of taking, That may be done online by going to MassFishHunt.mass.gov during archery, black powder or the second week of shotgun season. All deer taken during the first week of shotgun season must be brought to a check station. That is required to allow the collection of data by biologists to provide analysis of deer herd health and give biologists the information needed to make recommendations regarding seasons and bag limits.

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There seems to be good numbers of deer locally as sightings, sign of deer activity in the woods, and sightings and harvest by hunters during the bow season has been good. This ongoing drought has gotten the attention of everyone and cautions about open fires remain in place. It seems to me that the deer season was once closed due to dry conditions in the 1950’s, but my search did not verify that as having happened. The rain that finally arrived is not enough to change things very much, but better than nothing.

Next week we may try to get out pheasant hunting to keep the dogs in shape, but it is always tough to see the dogs at the top of their game as the bird season ends. It will be my responsibility to get to Hedgerow to get them some work and keep them in shape until the woodcock return in the spring.

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.