DFW Western District Manager Andrew Madden recently reported that four hunters participated in the paraplegic deer hunt that was conducted in the Mount Washington area and three hunters participated in the hunt in the Williamstown area.  In both locations the deer were moving around and there were several sightings but none of the hunters bagged any.  Nevertheless, it was a “very positive hunt”, said Madden, and it was enjoyed by hunters and volunteers alike.*****

We were saddened last week with the news of the death of Lawrence A. Lewis of Drury, MA, who apparently fell out of his tree stand while hunting near Savoy State Forest on November 3.  At the time of this writing, the circumstances of the fall are unknown.  Perhaps he slipped, or had a seizure, or simply fell asleep and rolled off.   He was an avid hunter and fisherman and was a valued member of the Berkshire Beagle Club.  The last time I saw him was late last April while he was planting hundreds of small pine trees on the Club property.  (They were planted to provide cover and protection for the hares from overhead predators).   Our condolences go out to his family.

Unfortunately, he was the second local hunter to experience a fatal accident while treestand hunting in the last few years.  Another bow hunter suffered a fatal fall from a tree while hunting near the Stockbridge Sportsmen’s Club several years ago.

Sadly, tree stand incidents and deaths are an all too familiar occurrence within the hunting community.  According to the National Bowhunter Education Foundation’s (NBEF), national studies indicate that approximately 10% – 30% of hunters who hunt from an elevated stand will have an incident sometime in their hunting career. Some will not live to tell their story; others will tell it from a hospital bed or wheel chair.  Many accident victims will never hunt again. Some states report higher fatality rates associated with tree stand incidents than with firearm incidents.

Many years ago, brothers Homer and Paul Ouellette taught a basic bowhunting course for the Mass DFW locally.   I had the privilege of taking one of their last courses and learned a great deal from them about this form of hunting and especially about the safety, ethics, bowhunting methods, and care and handling of the game.  Unfortunately no one teaches this course in the Berkshires anymore and in order to take it one has to travel to the eastern end of the state.  (Click onto the MassWildlife’s web site to find the details of these courses). 

However; MassWildlife’s Hunter Education Program has teamed up with the HUNTERcourse.com to offer tips and an opportunity to take a free, voluntary online treestand safety course.  By reviewing this 15-minute interactive, narrated treestand safety course, a tree stand owner or user will learn about the latest Treestand Manufacturers Association’s safety standards and guidelines.  I have taken it and highly recommend it to all treestand hunters. *****

The program which was developed by the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP), offers international-style target archery training through a national standardized education package.  NASP and the Archery Trade Association have partnered with the Massachusetts  Division of Fisheries & Wildlife (DFW) and the Massachusetts Outdoor Heritage Foundation, Inc. to promote student education and lifelong interest and participation in the sport of archery. 

The goal of this program is to provide school children with the ingredients to become involved in a life skill that has no barriers.  Unlike many school activities, students of all sizes can easily be involved in archery.  Archery allows students to be taught a safe lifetime skill they can practice almost anywhere.  The core content covers archery history, safety, technique, equipment, mental concentration, core strengthening physical fitness and self improvement.  Students are encouraged to continue practicing after school and to compete in State and National tournaments.

Since its inception in 2002, more than 4 million students in 4,900 schools located in 46 different states have participated.  In 2010, Massachusetts became the 47^th state and the DFW began a 10 school pilot program across the state.  Wahconah Regional and Lee High schools were the pilot schools in our area.  The program has proven to be a great success and now there are 12 schools statewide participating. 

Berkshire County League of Sportsmen (BCLS) president Mark Jester has a goal of seeing every school in the Berkshires have such a program, and the individual clubs which make up the League are with him.  They have pledged over $3,000 to be used as leverage in obtaining donations. Leverage funding has also been provided by some school districts and the NASP.  The funds will pay for three NASP archery equipment kits with teacher training packets which cost approximately $2,900 each. 

If funding can be secured, three more local school districts in the Berkshire area are targeted (pardon the pun) to come on board in the near future.  They are Undermountain Elementary School in Sheffield, Farmington River Regional School District in Otis and Pittsfield High School.  The DFW will offer free training to certify physical education teachers at each of the three school districts. 

Incidentally, the Massachusetts Outdoor Heritage Foundation, Inc is a 501©(3)organization which provides funding to directly conserve and to restore wildlife habitat and to reach out to children and citizens of all ages with ongoing programs that will engage and bring them into the natural world.  According to its Clerk, Wayne MacCallum, the archery program “is particularly key to its overall mission and is highly complementary to NASP’s.  We believe that citizens must feel at home in and engaged with the outdoors if they are to value and want to protect the natural world in the future”.

With year end rapidly approaching, you might want to consider making a tax deductable donation to the Outdoor Heritage Foundation.  You can designate where you want your donation spent and this archery in the school program seems like a good place.  To find out more about it, visit http://massoutdoorheritage.org. *****

Effective October 12, several new hunting regulations have been promulgated which expand wild turkey hunting opportunities across the state.   They are as follows:  Wildlife Management Zones (WMZ) 10, 11 and 12, which encompasses eastern MA and Cape Cod, opened for the fall wild turkey hunting season.  Previously, the fall wild turkey hunting season was open in only WMZs 1 – 9 and 13, central and western MA and Martha’s Vineyard.

It has been lengthened from a one week to a two week season.  Fall wild turkey season will begin on the second to last Monday in October and will continue for 2 weeks.  This year’s fall hunting season dates are October 22 to November 3, 2012.

Permissible shot sizes for wild turkey have been expanded to include #7 shot.  Formerly, shot sizes were limited to #4 – #6 for wild turkey hunting.    Turkey hunting is only allowed with shotguns no larger than 10 gauge or with bows 40 lbs or greater.

MassWildlife reports that thanks to successful restoration efforts and other conservation partners such as the National Wild Turkey Federation, Massachusetts has a healthy and robust wild turkey population, allowing for the expansion of the fall hunting season.  Recent technological development of turkey hunting-specific shotshells using denser-than-lead shot alloys (typically tungsten and bismuth) has improved the ballistics of smaller shot size, ensuring an effective turkey harvest. 

The fall hunting hours are different than those of the spring turkey hunting season.  The hours are ½ hour before sunrise to ½ hour after sunset except as noted in Wildlife Management Area Regulation #10.  If you shot a bearded bird in the spring season, you are allowed a bird of either sex in the fall season.  No hunter may take 2 birds in the fall season.   Birds must be tagged immediately and you must check/report the bird within 48 hours. *****

Chronic Wasting Disease (CRD) a contagious neurological disease fatal to deer, moose, elk, and other members of the cervid (deer) family continues to spread.  It was recently discovered in a deer in Pennsylvania.  With that recent discovery, MassWildlife is reminding hunters of the ban on importing intact deer carcasses from CWD-positive jurisdictions such as Pennsylvania and New York, into Massachusetts.

To prevent the possibility of this disease entering Massachusetts, regulations were adopted several years back making it illegal for anyone to import, process or possess whole carcasses or parts of these animals (from the wild or from captive herds) from states and Canadian provinces where CWD has been found. The only exceptions to the regulations are meat that is deboned, cleaned skull caps, hides without the head, or a finished taxidermy mount. Also, it is illegal to import live deer of any species into Massachusetts for any purpose. This ban includes animals used in deer farming practices and those used seasonally for petting zoos or holiday displays.

CWD attacks the brains of infected animals, resulting in their becoming emaciated, exhibiting abnormal behavior, and eventually dying.

A CWD monitoring and testing program for wild cervids has been conducted in Massachusetts since 2002.  Currently, MassWildlife is only testing deer or moose displaying symptoms of disease.  So far CWD has not been found in Massachusetts deer or moose.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The World Health Organization, there is no evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans. Hunters have been taking and eating meat from these animals from the infected areas of Colorado and Wyoming for more than 30 years.

For more information about CWD and FAQs, visit http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/wildlife/diseases/cwd_info.htm. *****

In his October report to the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen, DFW Western District Manager Andrew Madden reported that the Western District check stations logged in 96 black bear during the September hunting season.    This compares with 75 harvested during the 2011 early season.  No statewide bear harvest figures have been released yet.  The late bear hunting season opens on November 5 and runs through November 24. *****

According to MassWildlife, the New England Cottontail (NE) is the only cottontail rabbit native to New England and they historically inhabited these states as well as eastern NY.  Since 1960 their range has decreased by 86% and is restricted to small isolated populations in parts of these states with Vermont no longer having them.  In 2006 the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) designated it as a candidate for Endangered Species Act protection and determined that habitat loss and fragmentation was the primary threat.  USFWS and state agencies are working together to implement strategies to restore or create young forest/shrubland habitat in an attempt to avert Federal listing.

Blocks of 25 acres or more are ideal, as this is the minimum amount of habitat thought to sustain cottontail populations.  Since the NE experience low survival in habitat patches less than 12 acres, the most valuable locations will be at least this size.  Conservation efforts involve creating or restoring habitat in areas where they are currently known to occur and funding assistance for management on private lands is available through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NCRS).

According to MassWildlife, the only way to distinguish between the New England and the more common Eastern cottontail is by examining various skull features or submitting tissue samples for DNA analysis.  Therefore carcasses in any condition can be donated to facilitate conservation efforts.  Road killed carcasses or cottontail heads should be placed in a plastic bag and frozen until they can be dropped off at a MassWildlife District Office or Field Hqs.  Be sure to wear gloves when handling carcasses and include a note with your contact information, date of collection and detailed, specific location information such as the street address, intersection or other discernible landmark.

My father, who was a rabbit hunter, was aware of the two kinds of cottontails, referring to one type as “swamp rabbits”.   I never knew which type it was nor could I tell the difference.  They all tasted the same to me, too.   It has been said that the NE Cottontails are sometimes slightly smaller and darker with dark spots on their heads.  The Eastern Cottontail supposedly has eyes higher up on its head and can spot overhead predators such as hawks and owls easier, which would explain its higher survival rate.  According to MassWildlife, there is no evidence of interbreeding between the two bunnies.

In December, 2010 MassWildlife appealed to sportsmen, highway department workers, animal control officers and others to provide them with carcasses or skulls.  Since the first appeal, 500 specimens were received and about 10% have been identified as NE Cottontails, and significantly, several new local populations have been identified. The majority of the samples came from the eastern and southeastern parts of the state, and they need more specimens from Worcester County and all points west. 

Efforts to manage habitat suitable for NE Cottontails are being implemented on public and private land in specific focal areas where they are known to occur.  Private landowners interested in contributing to these conservation efforts may be eligible to receive funding assistance to implement a habitat management project.  In the Berkshires there is a focal area which includes Becket, Monterey, Otis, Blanford, New Marlboro, Sandisfield, Tolland and Granville.  Contact Marianne Piché at (508)389-6313 or Marianne.Piche@state.ma.us about how you may be able to participate in managing habitat for these bunnies and other species in greatest need of conservation. *****

Speaking of habitat management, last month you may have seen people doing some digging and planting next to the Housatonic River along Route 8 in Hinsdale near the parking area of the Old Mill Trailhead of the Housatonic River Association (HVA) River trail.  They were members of the Taconic Chapter of Trout Unlimited, HVA and Project Native, all non-profits concerned about our streams and the environment.  They were planting native trees, shrubs and wildflowers which were selected to enhance the biodiversity of the stream and buffer zone. These native plants will provide shade for the fish and habitat for native birds, butterflies and pollinators and will act as a buffer between the parking lot pavement and river, thus reducing runoff.

Grants, which were obtained from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, the Fields Pond Foundation and the Housatonic Heritage Foundation, were used for the project which started approximately a year ago.

I am listing the plants and trees that were planted in case you have a stream on your property or know of a stream that could use some shade and biodiversity.  The common names for the trees planted were: Red Osier Dogwood, Sycamore, White Oak and small elderberry.  The plants and wildflowers were: Boneset, Purple Joe-Pye and Carolina Thermopsis.   If you need some of them, contact Project Native at (413)274-3433 or www.projectnative.org.*****

Don’t put away your fishing rod just yet.  According to MassWildlife over 71,000 rainbow trout have been allocated to be stocked statewide and the Western District will surely get its share.  They average over 12 inches in length.  Due to favorable water temperatures and flow levels, trout stocking in much of the state began the week of September 24 and was completed last week.

The following local bodies of water were scheduled for stocking this fall:  Ashfield Lake, North Pond, Windsor Lake, Lake Buel, Windsor Pond, Upper Highland Lake, Otis Reservoir,  Big Pond, Stockbridge Bowl, Norwich Lake,  Pontoosuc Lake, Deerfield River, Goose Pond, Onota Lake, Westfield River (East Branch) – Chesterfield Gorge,  Richmond Pond, Laurel Lake and Littleville Lake.  A complete listing of trout waters stocked is posted at: www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/recreation/fishing/trout/trout_stocked_waters.htm.   Water bodies stocked in the fall are underlined.

But wait, there is more good news!  Jeff Mosher, USFWS Biological Technician working out of the Berkshire National Fish Hatchery in Hartsville/New Marlboro reported that last week he stocked the Williams, Green, and Konkapot Rivers as well as Lake Garfield, and Lake Buel with 10 inch pre-spawned native brook trout.   

Beautiful fall foliage and waters full of feisty trout.  It doesn’t get any better than this. *****

Recently the Chesapeake Beach Consulting firm conducted a national public opinion poll among 800 randomly drawn, self-identified hunters and anglers for the National Wildlife Federation. To qualify, a respondent must have indicated they were a hunter, an angler or both as well as a registered voter.  The margin of error for this study is plus or minus 3.2% at the 95% confidence level.

 It is important to consider the demographics:  Gender – 63% Male, 37% Female;  Partisanship – 42% Republican, 18% Democrat, 32% Independent (27% indicate they split their ticket when voting) ;  Ideology – 10% Liberal, 37% Moderate, 50% Conservative;  Type of Sportsperson – 33% Angler, 12% Hunter, 55% Both; Age – 2% 18-29 years old, 10% 30-44, 23% 45-54, 27% 55-64 and 36% 65+.

Here are the results:

• Hunters and anglers tend to be conservative,      Republican or Independent, and, they vote.
• Conservation is just as important to them as      gun rights (A partisan divide is evident      here with 56% of Democrats indicating that gun rights and conservation are      equally important while 50% of Republicans believe that gun rights are the      most important issue.  50% of      Independents believe the two issues are equally important as do 54% of      ticket-splitters).
• They favor restoring Clean Water Act      protections to wetlands and waterways including smaller creeks and      streams.  (Bi-partisan support with 94% of Democrats, 78% of      Independents and 73% of Republicans favoring restoring Clean Water Act      protections to wetlands and waterways).
• They want public lands protected and they want      access to these lands that to date have been inaccessible.  They want the government to take their      needs and desires into account when issuing oil and gas leases.   Outdoor recreation in this country      contributes $730 billion a year to the U.S. economy. (49% believe protecting public lands should be given      priority, even at the risk of limiting the amount of energy supplies such      as oil, gas and coal the United States produces.  Just 34% favor development of energy      supplies even if our public lands suffer).
• They believe global warming is occurring and      believe we have a moral responsibility to confront it to protect our      children’s future. They also believe that global warming is a cause of the      recent hot temperatures we have experienced.  (Majorities      in every region of the country, both men and women and all age groups      agree that global warming is occurring as do 86% of Democrats and 61% of      Independents.  Republicans split on      this question with 45% agreeing and 49% disagreeing.  Ticket-splitters agree global warming is      occurring by a margin of 67% to 28%.       Some 72% agree that we can improve the environment and strengthen      the economy by investing in renewable energy technologies that create jobs      while reducing global warming pollution.
• They want BP held accountable and want monies      collected from fines used for Gulf restoration and not spent on roads,      bridges, ports and convention centers.     
• Children spending hours each day in front of      the television or computer screen and not enough time outdoors is a      problem and a threat to the future of wildlife conservation in America.   (87% of      hunters and anglers believe it is a very serious problem).

While there were only 800 sportsmen surveyed, they were randomly selected from hundreds of thousands of individuals who fell into the hunter/angler category.  It is surprising that the Democratic, Republican and Independent sportsmen actually agree on some issues such as global warming and clean waters and want something done about it.   It came out in this survey loud and clear.

It would be wise for our politicians to pay attention to the results of this survey.  It is estimated that there are 60 million anglers and 30 – 40 million hunters, and outdoor recreation in this country contributes $730 billion a year to the U.S. economy.  With that much political and economic clout, the sportsmen should not allow our politicians to skirt these important issues and make them state their positions now, before Election Day.

Then again, maybe they are getting the word.  Recently the U.S. Senate voted in favor of two measures important to the sportfishing industry that will, among other things, conserve recreationally-important fish stocks, restore fish habitat and support fishing access.   According to the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), the first bill, The Billfish Conservation Act passed and will help restore billfish populations and improve recreational fishing opportunities while concurrently creating jobs and other economic benefits.  The second bill, The Sportmen’s  Act of 2012 awaits post-election vote.  Many of ASA’s top legislative priorities are included in the Sportsmen’s Act, and the recent action taken by the Senate lines up this bill for a vote when it returns in November.  This legislation provides for increased access, habitat conservation, protection of traditional fishing equipment and improved fish and wildlife management. *****

In his September report to the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen, Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) Western District Manager Andrew Madden reported on DFW and Department of Fish and Game Land Acquisitions in Fiscal Year 2012.  The land acquisition program protected over 5,600 acres statewide during the fiscal year (July 2011-June 2012).  Western District efforts included the following projects:   Alford – 114 acres of Conservation Easement with Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Egremont – 20 acres abutting Jug End Fen, North Egremont – 2.5 acres of access to the Green River, Sheffield – 140 Acres abutting Hubbard Brook WMA and Chesterfield – 230 Acres of former Boy Scout property.  All of these properties are open to the public for passive recreation.  *****

Recently, I had the good fortune to join Paul Knauth of Hinsdale and Allen Gray of Pittsfield on a 10 day fly fishing trip to western Montana.  We fished the rivers around the Missoula, MT region.  We were seeking the famed Bitterroot Brown Trout, West Slope Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, Bull Trout and whitefish.  These were not stocked fish but wild, native fish which were hatched and raised in the rivers.

As soon as we stepped out of the airport terminal, we could smell the smoke from the several forest fires in the region.  The Mustang fire near Missoula was a particularly bad one.  We couldn’t see the fires but could clearly see the smoke which moved through the Rocky Mountain passes.  It wasn’t so bad as to make our eyes water but clearly it affected our sinuses. 

Other than the smoke, the first thing that caught our attention was the magnificent Rocky Mountains which surrounded us.  This area is one of the most beautiful that I have seen in the continental US.

 Luck would have it that the weather was gorgeous for the whole trip….40’s in the morning and warming up to the 80’s in the afternoons with clear blue skies.  The second thing that became immediately obvious was the friendliness of the residents.  Everywhere we went we were greeted by friendly and helpful people.

There was no need to worry about warm water conditions even though the air temperatures were in the 80’s.  There are a lot of cold springs feeding these rivers and at no time did the water temperatures exceed 65 degrees……perfect conditions for the trout. 

We really did some traveling to get to the rivers in the area, putting on 1,300 miles on the rental car in those 10 days.  It was nothing to drive 40-50 miles to a famed river – the Bitterroot, the Blackfoot, Clark Fork or Rock
Creek.  We would eat breakfast, pack our sandwiches and liquids and be off by 8:30am. Sometimes we would visit the fly shop a short distance away to restock up on flies, get the latest scoop on what flies the fish were hitting or where the most recent sightings of the grizzly bears took place.  Then we would fish all day, eat our lunches on the stream and return at dusk.

The rivers are large but manageable and we had plenty of room to spread out to fish our favorite type of waters – pools, riffles, or the rapids.  There was no problem getting to the rivers for there were many public fishing accesses.  As long as we stayed in the high water mark, we could go up or downstream to our heart’s content.  We would go our individual ways and would link up later at a predetermined location and time.    It provided the peace and solitude that we enjoyed.  Usually we fished two or three sections of a river this way each day.

One of the rivers, the Blackfoot, is the river that Norman Maclean wrote about in his very popular book and movie “A River Runs Through It”.  One could almost feel his presence and recall the final words of his book, “I am haunted by waters.”

One could not help but to take time off from fly fishing to take in the surrounding beauty….to watch the bald or golden eagles that soared over the river, the mule or whitetail deer or antelope passing through.  Occasionally the solitude was interrupted by the passing of an inflatable raft with a guide and a couple of fishermen on board.  This posed no problem as there was room for everyone to fish these rivers. 

Yes, we caught lots of frisky, wild trout and some of them were large.  But they were challenging and there were a couple of places where we caught nothing.  The most productive flies were the Blue Wing Olive emergers and spinners, the Girdle Fly (with white legs), Prince Nymphs, AuSable Wulffs, small bead head nymphs, beetles, ants and small Stimulators. 

At the end of the day while driving back to our cabin we would frequently see Rocky Mountain Sheep grazing in the valleys or perhaps surprise a mama black bear with her cub.  When we returned to our cabin we would have a drink out on the deck while listening to the nearby river and looking at the steep mountain on the other side.  There were no e-mails or cell phones to interrupt this setting.

The cabin we rented was 100 yards from Rock Creek, a famed river in that region.  The river is a big, cold, clear and beautiful one which contains all of the trout listed above.  The cabin had all of the amenities, a well stocked kitchen with modern appliances including a dish washer, a washer and dryer, big screen TV, comfortable sofa and stuffed chairs, comfortable beds, etc.

This trip was quite affordable and cost a little over $1,000 per person, which included the air fare, SUV rental, fuel, cabin, excellent meals, etc., for 10 days.  We had Allen Gray to thank for that for he was an astute shopper at Priceline.com., saving us quite a bit of money. *****