Category Archives: Hunting

Hunting

Paraplegic hunters enjoy another special day

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According to Trina Moruzzi, MA Division of Fisheries & Wildlife Supervisory Biologist and Paraplegic Deer Hunt Coordinator, sixteen hunters participated statewide in the paraplegic hunts which were held on November 2 through 4. Three deer were harvested, all bucks- one in Southern Berkshires, one at Devens and one at Otis/Edwards. This translates to a 19% success rate for this year’s hunt. In the past five years, these hunters have averaged around a 25% harvest success rate.
Here in the Berkshires, six hunters participated this year – four in the southern and two in the northern Berkshires sites.
The southern Berkshires folks hunted in the Mount Washington area and it was coordinated out of the DCR Headquarters there. Fred Lampro and Mark Portiere headed it up this year. The hunters were: Sidney Eichstedt of Lee, Greg Baumli of New Lebanon, NY, Steve Gladding of Westfield, MA and Vyto Sablevicius of Norwich, MA. Helpers included: Shaun Smith, Brian Ingerson, Marc Portieri, Greg Arienti, Rick Thelig, Tom Dean, Paul Antonozzi, Fred Lampro, Al Vincent, Paul Mullins and Chuck Pickert, all from the Berkshires or northern Connecticut.
For the 9th year in a row, Chuck Pickert brought his trailer-mounted smoker/grill and cooked breakfasts and lunches for the three days. Tricia Vollmer made the fish chowder and other individuals also prepared the desserts and other food needed for the three-day event. A lot of friends who own restaurants and businesses donated food and condiments. I intentionally arrived there on Friday, just before lunch. On that day, the lunch menu was: homemade fish chowder, smoked pot roast, smoked Vidalia onion gravy, Luau baked beans (with pineapple) and home-made desserts. The day before, Pickert prepared a smoked pork loin lunch.

So how did the hunt go this year? A button buck was taken the first day by Sidney Eichstedt. Over the last 20 years that he has been participating in the paraplegic hunt, he has taken 14 deer. Three of the four other hunters saw deer. I didn’t get to see the deer as it was already cut up.

The volunteers are amazing. They did a lot of prep work by scouting several areas and placing trail cameras to see where the best deer activity was. They analyzed the pictures to determine the best places in which to place the hunters. They set up wooden ramps on which to place the wheelchairs, transported the hunters to the locations and helped to drive the deer toward the hunters. If a hunter shot a deer, they tracked it, field dressed it and dragged it to the hunter’s van. In Sidney’s case, one of the volunteers even drove the deer to a butcher to be cut up that evening.

This year, one of the hunters and his volunteers encountered two other deer hunters who planned to hunt the same area. When they learned that paraplegic hunters wanted to hunt the area, they graciously left the woods with no hard feelings.

The two hunters at the Northern Berkshires site were: Dale Bailey of Clarksburg and Shawn Mei of Baldwinville, MA. Volunteer included Rick French, Alex Daigle, Tony Mei, Stacy Sylvester, and J. Sylvester. They hunted in the Williamstown area but had no luck.
DFW Western District Manager Andrew Madden and his staff of Nate Buckhout, Jacob Morris-Siegel, Derek McDermott and Ray Bressette were on hand at both sites to help out and check in the deer.

“Since 1972, this hunt has provided thousands of hours of recreational opportunities for paraplegic sportsmen and women and I am proud to be part of it.” said Moruzzi. She noted that volunteers are integral to the program and thanked them all for their enthusiasm and commitment. There is some concern that the numbers of hunters taking advantage of the paraplegic hunt have been dwindling, mainly due to their aging or passing away. If you are a paraplegic sportsman or sportswoman interested in participating in the 2018 hunt, contact Trina Moruzzi at trina.moruzzi@state.ma.us or call (508) 389-6318.
Incidentally, the definition for paraplegic per 321 CMR 2.06 states: “(b) Paraplegic: A Division (MassWildlife) application form completed by the applicant and an attestation on the form by a physician that the applicant is a person who has total paralysis of the lower half of the body, or a condition that prevents any use of the lower limbs.”
2017 Tri-Club Champions
Congratulations to the Sheffield Sportsmen’s Club which won the 2017 Tri-Club Championship Skeet Tournament. The scores were: Sheffield Sportsmen’s Club: 1350, Stockbridge Sportsmen’s Club: 1348, and Lee Sportsmen’s Association: 1216
Lee Donsbough was the high scorer for Sheffield. The “Iron Man Shoot” at Sheffield was won by Buddy Atwood. High trap was won by Mike DiGiovani and high skeet was won by Ryan Simmons. The 50 5-Stand, 25 Skeet and 25 Trap are shot in this contest.

Shotgun Deer Hunting Revisions
Shotgun deer hunting season will be starting on November 27. A new regulation revision is that hunters must check in their deer at a deer checking station the first week, but can check their deer on-line during the second week of shotgun deer season.

Also, DFW Western District Supervisor Madden recently reported that there is a new deer checking station in East Otis. It is Papa’s Healthy Food & Fuel, 2000 East Otis Road, Otis, MA, 413-269-7779. It will be open for the first week of Shotgun Season only with the special hours: from November 27 through December 2, 2017, Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm.

Shortnose Sturgeon
In August, near the Vernon Dam, in Vernon, VT, an angler caught and released alive a shortnose sturgeon. This is the first confirmed case of a shortnose sturgeon living above the Turners Falls, MA Dam. It was thought that the dam and the natural waterfall there had always been the limit of where these fish lived in the river. This is exciting news for the sturgeon, which is endangered in the Connecticut River.

However, this also has implications for the hydroelectric facilities in the region, particularly the Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage facility. It’s critical that their equipment function in a way that does not harm these fish. And the problem with Northfield Mountain is there’s not any protection against fish – big or small – from being drawn into the intake pipes.

The Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC), which issued this news release, was already on top of the problems with the intake pipes before the shortnose sturgeon was caught. It will be even more committed to ensuring that this problem be fixed when the new FERC hydro licenses are issued.

Young pheasant hunters enjoyed a wonderful day

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On Saturday, October 7, the Lee Sportsmen’s Association held its Annual Young Adult Pheasant Hunt. That was the day before the opening of the regularly scheduled opening day of pheasant hunting season which MassWildlife reserves just for youths. LSA has held the hunt since 2006 in partnership with MassWildlife. This year, six youths participated in the hunt and every one harvested two pheasant each which is the daily limit. (I hope you noticed that four of the hunters were young ladies).
At the LSA, John Polastri of Becket, heads up the program and he is also a mentor. In addition to John, other mentors this year were George Haddad, Mike Gigliotti, Dick Salice, Doug Frank, Carl Hines and Mike Kelly and their dogs which included two Brittany Spaniels, 2 German Shorthairs and an English Cocker Spaniel. (Sorry, I don’t have their names). The dogs’ jobs were to find, point and flush the birds.
The Young Adult Pheasant Hunt Program builds the confidence of young hunters (ages 12-17) in a safe, friendly environment. They don’t need to be club members to participate.
These young hunters didn’t just walk into the fields and started shooting birds. First, they had to complete the Basic Hunter Education Program. Then, if they were 15 years or older, they had to obtain a Firearms Identification Card (FID). Then they had to find a nearby club to participate with for the seminar and hunt. Then they had to attend the Pheasant Seminar which included hands-on instruction in shotgun shooting fundamentals and firearm safety, how to have a safe and fun hunt, and information on upland hunting basics. Then onto the hunt to experience a real pheasant hunt under the supervision of an experienced hunter, who hopefully had a good bird dog.
At the LSA, John Polastri also gets the youths out onto the skeet field before the actual hunt for some skeet shooting practice. On the morning of the hunt, the kids had a good breakfast at the clubhouse, and at noon, they enjoyed a nice lunch. Later on, they were taught how to clean the pheasants. John thinks this is important because he doesn’t want them needlessly killing them and wasting the meat. (I hope their parents got hold of a good pheasant recipe and cooked up some pheasant under glass. Pheasant meat is a delicacy which only the finest restaurants have on their menus.)
I wonder if they saved any of the pheasant feathers for decorations. Also, the pheasant tail is an important feather for tying flies. The Pheasant Tail Nymph is an excellent trout fly which many, if not most anglers carry with them when they head for the streams.
Local participating sportsmen’s clubs are as follows:
Worthington Rod and Gun Club (Worthington)
Contact: Walter Fritz Jr.
(413) 238-5841
Email: ridgerdizzaboo@verizon.net
Lee Sportsmen’s Club (Lee)
Contact: John Polastri
(413) 822-8278
East Mountain Sportsmen’s Club (Williamstown)
Contact: Tom Brule
Email: tom.brule@gmail.com
To find out more about this program, click onto the MassWildlife web page. If you have more questions about the program, contact the Youth Hunt Coordinator Astrid Huseby at (508)-389-6305. Our local Western District Office in Dalton can help you also. (413) 684-1646.
Incidentally, it is worth noting that the LSA raises its own pheasants and stocks them on public lands twice a week. About 500 of them are stocked annually which can be hunted by the general public. Club member Brian Fenner heads up that effort along with help from David Morris.
If you are one of the pheasant hunters who benefits from their stocking program, please know it is fairly expensive to raise them. A great way to thank the LSC is to attend their pheasant rearing fundraising meal on the last Sunday in January.
New MassWildlife web page
All Massachusetts government websites are migrating to a new system, which means you will start to notice changes to the look and functionality of MassWildlife web pages. If you have any trouble finding information, go to Mass.gov/masswildlife and use the internal search box. With the new search engine, you should be able to find what you need on all mass.gov pages easier and faster than before. The new website is optimized for viewing on a tablet or phone as well as a desktop. MassWildlife asks that you please bear with them while they complete the website migration and make adjustments and improvements over the coming weeks. Also, MassWildlife recently announced that they are now on Instagram. Follow them @mass.wildlife for fish and wildlife news and photos and videos from the field.
Three Mile Pond Access Project –
Three Mile Pond, a 168-acre impoundment owned by MassWildlife, is the largest pond in Sheffield. It is part of the Three Mile Pond Wildlife Management Area which is 1,065.7 acres in size. Recently, MassWildlife announced that it has begun a project to improve boat access on the pond. This is a joint effort funded by MassWildife, Ducks Unlimited, the Outdoor Heritage Foundation, and the Office of Fishing and Boating Access. The project, which should be completed next spring, will result in a more usable parking and access for anglers and waterfowl hunters.
Elections
It’s that time for the sportsmen’s clubs to hold their annual elections.
Recently, the Taconic Chapter of Trout Unlimited elected Henry Swerin of Dalton its President, William Travis of Pittsfield its Treasurer and Fran Marzotto of Pittsfield its Secretary. The VP position is open.
At its last monthly meeting, the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen elected Tom Brule of Florida, MA its President, Wayne Mclain of North Adams its VP, Dan Kruszyna of Cheshire its Treasurer and me its Secretary.
Remembering our veterans
Planning on some quiet time sitting in a deer stand, hiking, paddling or enjoying Mother Nature in some form this upcoming week? You might want to look around and take a moment to silently thank those who fought and died to preserve this land and defend our freedoms. To all you veterans who are reading this column, many thanks for your service.
Questions/comments: Berkwoodsandwaters@roadrunner.com. Phone: (413) 637-1818

 

Over 1,100 acres of land acquired by MassWildlife in F/Y 2017

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According to DFW Western District Supervisor Andrew Madden, MassWildlife had another good year for land acquisition. The following parcels were acquired in the Western District during the Fiscal Year 2017 (July 2016-June 2017).

Project Town Acres

Housatonic East Branch WCE Hinsdale 14.832
Peru WMA Peru 127
Ram Hill WMA Chesterfield 60.51
Long Mountain WMA Otis 23.84
Chalet WMA Lanesborough 24
Peru WMA Peru 3.366
Eugene Moran WMA Windsor 199.78
Misery Mountain WMA Williamstown 363.64
Tower Brook WMA Chesterfield 298.61
TOTAL Acres: 1115.58
All of these lands are open to the public for passive recreation including hunting, fishing, trapping, bird watching, hiking, etc. Previously, comments were made in this column on the topography, habitat and access on all but the following three projects:
Eugene Moran Wildlife Management Area in Windsor. This property, which abuts the existing WMA, has been recently harvested and now has young forests with early successional growth. It provides good habitat for bear, deer, moose and other non-game critters. Access is from North Street in Windsor.
Misery Mountain in Williamstown has steep terrain and has a mature forest especially with oak trees. It abuts other lands on the western side which are also protected. MassWildlife’s effort is to protect the entire hillside. The property lives up to its name and is tough to hunt with the steep slopes, but there is good deer and bear habitat. There is no clear roadside access off of Rte 43, at this point but the property can be accessed from adjoining land.
Thee Tower Brook WMA is very huntable and has good access off of Cummington Fairgrounds road. property can be accessed from clear no clear roadside access at this point but the property can be accessed roadside access at this point can be
MassWildlife Habitat Management Grant Program
This program provides financial assistance to private and municipal landowners of conserved lands to improve and manage habitat for game species and other Species of Greatest Conservation Need as identified in the State Wildlife Action Plan. It also aims to expand opportunities for hunting, fishing, trapping, and other outdoor recreation, and complement the ongoing habitat management efforts on State lands.
This year Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton provided MassWildlife with $500,000 for the third year of this popular financial assistance program. Details on how to apply for this grant are posted at mass.gov/dfw/habitat-grant. The application period is now open with a proposal deadline of October 30, 2017.
During the second year of the program (FY17), MassWildlife received 45 applications for grant funding with requests totaling over $1.3 million. Twelve proposals were selected by the team of reviewers for funding. This funding went to 11 different municipalities, private citizens, and both large and small NGOs for projects in 14 towns. These wildlife habitat management projects included invasive species control, old field habitat creation, young forest enhancement, waterfowl habitat creation, and coastal heathlands improvement. In total, approximately 500 acres were successfully managed due to this funding opportunity, including the Town of Lenox which combated the invasive hardy kiwi vine in Kennedy Park. The response from the towns and cities, conservation focused non-governmental organizations, sporting clubs and private citizens, for this wildlife habitat program indicate the strong need for these funding opportunities to preserve, conserve, improve and create wildlife habitats across the entire state. The increased funding for FY18 will result in even more habitat management projects to improve our natural areas for wildlife and outdoor recreation.
Massachusetts State Wildlife Action Plan
As residents of one of the most densely forested and heavily populated states in the nation, we have an intimate relationship with our forestlands here in Massachusetts. They provide clean water for one of the best public drinking water systems in the nation, the foundation of a world class park system, jobs for thousands of people through recreation, tourism and forestry, and a setting that makes Massachusetts second to none as a place we call home. Our forests also provide habitat to a wide array of wildlife – some incredibly abundant, others in steep decline. Our relationship with our forests, and the choices we make to manage them greatly affect the success and resiliency of that wildlife.
You are invited to join the Massachusetts Forest Trust and the Ruffed Grouse Society for a day of learning, discussion, and walking. It occurs on November 2 from 9am to 3pm at the Plainfield Public Safety Complex, 38 North Central Street, Plainfield, MA. You will hear from some of the region’s foremost experts on forest habitat and bird conservation. You will have a chance to hear and discuss what you can do to improve the outlook for species in decline.
Reservation is required at nletoile@massforestalliance.org, or at: (617) 455-9918.
Black bear hunting results
The September season of black bear hunting opened on September 5 and closed on September 23. The preliminary bear harvest, as reported by MassWildlife, showed that licensed bear hunters harvested 148 bears statewide. Some 59 of them were female, 86 were male and there was no information on the remaining 3. The harvest is down from the 190 taken during the September season in 2016. The possible reason for the drop, according to District Supervisor Andrew Madden, was that corn growth was late this year and the bears were pretty well distributed around the areas.
He noted that the harvest numbers are increasing each year in Worcester County and other eastern regions as the bears are moving east. MassWildlife will be dealing with them a lot in the future.
It’s too early for the final harvest figures in the Western District but he estimated that the total should be somewhere around 70% of the statewide total, probably around 100 bears. One bear weighing 475 was checked in in New Marlborough and there were several over 300 lbs., (dressed weights). He reported that there were a lot of year-old bears harvested in our district this year.
Youth Deer Hunt
There is a special date reserved for youth deer hunters which occurs before the regular hunting season. This year the youth deer hunt day was September 30. Statewide, approximately 105 to 110 deer were harvested by the youths, down from the 138 deer which were bagged last year. District Supervisor Madden attributes the lower harvest to the lousy weather which occurred on the youth hunt day. Never-the-less, some big bucks were checked in by the youths, such as a 190 lbs, 8 point buck from Hinsdale, a 175 lbs, 8 pointer from Stockbridge, a 150 lbs, 8 pointer from North Adams, a 150 lbs, six pointer from Hinsdale, and a 145 lbs, 9 pointer from Williamstown.
Questions/comments: Berkwoodsandwaters@roadrunner.com. Phone: (413) 637-1818

 

The Fall Hunting Season Has Begun

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Waterfowl, upland game birds, cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hares hunting seasons have already opened up.
Woodcock (timberdoodle) hunting season opened on October 4 and runs through October 28. It reopens on October 30 and runs through November 18. It will be interesting to see how this season goes this fall for many folks never heard or saw any woodcock mating rituals on their properties last spring. Some wildlife biologists feel that with the early spring weather they began their migrations early and then got caught in the sudden return of wintry weather, killing many of them.
In our region, the duck and Canada goose hunting seasons opened on October 10 and will run through November 25. They reopen on December 4 and run through December 13 for geese and December 25 for ducks.
The US Fish & Wildlife Service estimate that there are 10.5 million mallard ducks this year, 11% lower than 2016 but 34% above the long-term average. The decline amounts to about 1.3 million birds less than in 2016. The bulk of that appears to be related to drier conditions in the Canadian parklands region, where the surveys detected about 0.6 million fewer mallards” they said.

Pheasant stockings
MassWildlife reported that some 40,000 pheasants will be liberated statewide this year. In our zone, the pheasant season opened on October 14 and runs through November 25.
Pheasants are stocked on Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) and other locations that are open to the public for hunting. According to DFW Western District Supervisor Andrew Madden, they have changed the stocking schedules a little bit by varying the stocking times and days, but not the numbers of birds to be stocked. Unfortunately, some hunters had known the usual stocking dates and times and were frequently waiting for the stocking trucks to arrive. The new schedules will allow more people to have a chance at hunting them. Stocking locations and frequencies for the Berkshires are as follows:
Town(s) Stocked Management Areas Stocking Frequency / Week*
Cheshire / Windsor Stafford Hill WMA 2-3
Hinsdale Hinsdale Flats WMA 2-3
Lee Hop Brook WMA 2-3
Lenox George L. Darey Housatonic Valley WMA 2-3
Sheffield Three Mile Pond WMA 2
West Stockbridge Flat Brook WMA 2
Windsor Eugene D. Moran WMA 2-3
Windsor Peru WMA 1
Other stocked areas
Town(s) Other Stocked Areas Stocking Frequency / Week*
Great Barrington Beartown State Forest, between Monterey Rd and Mt Wilcox Rd. 2
Great Barrington Taft Farm off Rte. 183 and Division Road 2
Lee Meadow Street 2
Lenox Post Farm 2
Pittsfield Brattle Brook parkland east off Longview Terrace 2
Richmond Sleepy Hollow Road 2
Tyringham Slater Farm 1
Washington October Mtn. State Forest , dry reservoir site
2
Williamstown Taconic Trail State Park off Rte. 2 2
Due to factors including equipment failure, personnel, inclement weather, high water or other unforeseen circumstances they are unable to provide actual stocking dates and locations.
The ruffed grouse season also opened on October 14 and also runs through November 25.
Hunting Season Logs
Massachusetts hunters spend many hours in the woods observing wildlife of all varieties. These observations can provide wildlife biologists with a tremendous amount of information to better understand wildlife distribution and abundance across the Commonwealth. Consequently, MassWildlife is asking archery deer and game bird hunters to complete daily hunting logs during their hunting seasons this fall.
Hunters who complete hunting logs before December 20, 2017 will be entered in a drawing to win a blaze orange MassWildlife cap or a Massachusetts Wildlife 1-year magazine subscription. 125 winners will be randomly selected to receive hats and 25 winners will be randomly selected to receive magazine subscriptions. Prizes will be mailed to the address provided by the hunter on the completed hunting log.
Bowhunters are asked to keep a daily log of their hunting activities and observations of wildlife during the archery deer season (Oct. 16 – Nov. 25, 2017). Game bird hunters are asked to keep a daily log of their hunting activities and observations of game birds while hunting bobwhite quail, pheasant, woodcock, and grouse (Oct. 14 – Nov. 25, 2017). Click onto the MassWildlife website to download a copy of the recommended logs.
Huge trout were stocked this fall
That’s according to DFW Western District Supervisor Andrew Madden. “The trout stocked this fall are some of the best quality fish that we have ever stocked during the fall season. Some of those fish weigh 3+ lbs.” So far, they stocked the Deerfield River, Upper Highland Lake, Littleville Reservoir, Pontoosuc Lake, Goose Pond, Laurel Lake, Windsor Lake, Windsor Pond, Onota Lake, Richmond Pond, Stockbridge Bowl, Ashfield Pond, North Pond, Norwich Pond, Lake Buel, Big Pond and Otis Reservoir. As of this writing, there are no plans to stock the East Branch of the Westfield River this fall due to low water. If they get surplus fish, they will try later, but for now it’s off the list for this year.t
Lake drawdown
According to a bulletin issued by Lee Hauge, President of the Friends of Pontoosuc Lake, this year’s target level for the annual drawdown will be only 3 feet. This would have been the year for a deep (5 feet) drawdown, but the purpose of the deep drawdown is to control Eurasian Milfoil, and they have not observed this plant species in the lake since the spring of 2015. “This is surprising, and very good news,” wrote Hauge. “Therefore; there is no need for the deep drawn this year or anytime unless we experience a resurgence of this invasive species.”
The annual drawdown will begin Monday, October 16. They will lower the lake level at a rate of about 1 inch per day until the target level is reached. Refill will start at ice-out, except that if ice-out has not occurred by April 1 partial refill will be started then to enable fish spawning.
TU Meeting
Dr. David Christensen, a fisheries biologist from Westfield State University, will be the guest speaker at the Taconic Chapter of Trout Unlimited meeting which will be held on October 19 at The Cork and Hearth Restaurant on Rt. 20 in Lee, MA (next to Laurel Lake). He will be speaking about both river ecology and lake/pond ecology and how it relates to fishing. With summer temperatures in the rivers being quite high and water levels low, we often have to look for other species and other waters to fish so as not to stress our resident trout. Christensen will shed some light on pike, pickerel and bass fishing as well during these summer months.
The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will begin with a social hour at 5:30 pm followed by a short business meeting at 6:00pm and then the presentation. Following the presentation an optional “order off the menu” dinner is contemplated. For more information contact chapter president John Burns at ((802) 318-1600.(413) 243-0535

State record Bowfin caught…twice

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Readers may recall that in my August 6 column I reported that the then existing state record for the Bowfin fish was broken and a new record was established. The fish which was caught by 16-year old Tauri Adamczyk of Taunton and it came out of the Taunton River. It weighed 7 lbs 14oz measured 26 ½ inches and had a girth of 14 inches.

Well, guess what, that record was beaten and a new record was established at 8 lbs 1 oz, and, get this, it was set by two people, a father and son. On August 6, David Souza of Berkley, MA caught the first one which measured 27 3/8 inches long with a girth of 13 inches. On August 8, his son, 21-year old Jake caught another one which measured 26 ¾ inches and had a girth of 13 ¾ inches. Both fish were caught from a boat out of the Taunton River. Now, what are the chances of that, a million to one?

David caught his on an early sunny day. His fish was the best of 7 Bowfin that he caught that day and most averaged 4 to 7 lbs. Two days later Jake caught his around dusk with low light around the same area. Both were using live and sometimes dead bait. Catching and then tying the record breaker was the “climax of the whole experience”, said Dave. “We are very competitive anglers. This is a blessing for a father, it felt like we hit the lottery.” Dave feels that the record will be beat, for he has lost some bowfin even larger. He thinks that there are some 10+lbs Bowfins swimming around there, possibly even 12 lbs.

The record breaking Bowfins were officially weighed in at the DFW Field Headquarters in Sandwich, MA.

If Souza’s name sounds familiar, it could be because Jake was the 2012 Angler of the Year and the 2013 and 2014 Youth Angler of the Year. In 2012, he caught the gold pin Largemouth Bass weighing 9.7 lbs. (His mom, Deirdre had a replica of it made for him). In 2012, he caught the gold pin Brown Trout weighing 8.8 lbs. In 2013, he caught the gold pin Sunfish weighing 1.2 lbs. In 2015, Dave caught the gold pin White Catfish which weighed 6.7 lbs.

But wait, there’s more. Dave and Deirdre’s other son, 18-year old Luke caught the 2014 gold pin Crappie weighing 2.3 lbs. Perhaps he will set the next record. Now wouldn’t that be something. (A gold pin is annually awarded by MassWildlife to the person who catches the largest fish in the Commonwealth of a particular species. It is a component of its Freshwater Sportsfish Awards Program)

Deirdre is very proud of her men and their accomplishments. I asked her if she fishes and she said that she loves going out with them ice fishing. She likes to skate and do the cooking while they are on the ice.

The Souzas. What a wonderful angling family.

Trapper Education Course
This course is being offered in an alternative format known as Independent Study. In independent study, students are guided by an instructor team and take the same course as students in a traditional course but will work independently to complete some of the work on their own. This essential homework is only part of the course. Students must also attend two class sessions as well.

A Trapper Hunter Education Course is being offered at the Lee Sportsman’s Association, 565 Fairview Street, Lee on September 19 and 30. The times are: 9/19 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm and on; 9/30 from 8:00am to 2:30pm. If you are interested in this course and wish to enroll, call 508-389-7830 immediately; students are enrolled first-come, first-served, and enrollment cannot be processed via email. When calling, provide your Notification ID: 48700.

If the above course is not suitable, an additional Trapper Education course is being offered in Hadley, MA on September 20 and October 1, 2017. Course listings can be found online at:
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/education-events/hed/trapper-education-courses.html

Early Canada Goose Hunting Season
On September 5, the Early Canada Goose hunting season opens up and runs until September 22. New this year for the Early Goose season only, the hunting hours are ½ hour before sunrise to ½ hour after sunset. Previously one could only hunt until sunset. The daily bag limit is 7 birds per day. All the regulations regarding migratory bird hunting applies, such as the requirement for a HIP number, waterfowl stamps, the use of non-toxic shot (no lead) etc., apply. The new 2017-2018 migratory game bird regulations are available from MassWildlife.

Black Bear Hunting
The First Season of Black Bear Hunting opens on September 5 and runs through September 23. A hunting or sporting license and bear permit is required for all seasons. Hunters may use rifles, handguns, muzzleloaders or archery during the First Season. The Second Season runs from November 6 through November 25. During that season, one can hunt with a rifle, muzzleloader or archery only, handguns may not be used. Muzzleloaders and rifles cannot be used on Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) stocked with pheasant or quail during the pheasant or quail season. A hunter orange hat is required if you hunt on a WMA. The Shotgun Season runs from November 27 to December 9 and only muzzleloaders, archery and shotgun may be used. Hunters must wear 500 square inches of hunter orange on their head, chest, and back.
No hunting of any bird or animal is allowed on Sundays in Massachusetts.

Fishing Derbies
The Berkshire Hatchery Foundation in Hartsville-New Marlborough is having its last free children’s fishing derby of the year next Saturday, September 9, from 9 to 10:30am at its lower pond. Children aged 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.