By Mike Roche

Although Massachusetts deer hunting seasons begin with archery hunting in early October and ends with the primitive firearms season that is held the last couple of weeks of December, it is the two-week shotgun season that most people consider “deer season.” This is the time when those of us who are known hunters are asked, “Didya git yor deer yet?”

This column is being penned on Wednesday after my day began with a couple hours of sitting on my ladder stand in what most would consider very cold weather and watching a group of turkeys regroup after being disturbed off the roost by my pre-dawn passage. At this early juncture, deer season has been interesting, as it always seems to be.

Those who know me know that deer hunting has become this writer’s method of coping with the end of upland bird hunting season. Once the woodcock migration and season ends, there is a void and a bit of depression that needs to be addressed. Deer hunting gets me through this difficult time when the two French Brittanys do not understand why they are no longer loaded into the dog boxes and driven around from cover to cover.

The two hunting activities are different. Bird hunting involves a lot of walking in mild weather with healthy cardio and usually frequent action, with birds and constant entertainment watching the bird dogs do “their thing.” For a good part of my bird hunting life, there has been a tally of birds because of my involvement as a woodcock wing collector for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service migratory bird wing collection survey, and the number of grouse can be tallied most years on one hand.

Since I always pick up my spent shotgun hulls (more than one landowner has told me that they consider spent shells litter and do not like finding them on their property – they are always put in the vest pocket) the number shots taken can be determined at season’s end. By taking the number of empty casings and dividing that by the number of birds harvested each year, a ratio of spots per bird can be calculated.

On really good years that number has been plus/minus three but lately it has been higher, providing me with so many great excuses, like the bird flew into the sun, thick foliage, the bird flew too low or behind a tree and so many more. All helping me reinforce my definition of conservation – shooting poorly! Most of those years the number of shells fired exceeds 100 and that is a lot of action!

When you compare that to deer hunting during shotgun season, it becomes quite interesting. More than one person had told me about their first deer hunting experience and is often been told to sit or stand here and do not move or the deer will see you. Since weather during early December is often frigid and commonly includes freezing rain or blowing snow, the comfort level is not great. You have to be a special person to be able to sit motionless for hours dealing with cold feet, hands and other body parts and then being able to react without being detected by a deer, whose defense system of eyes, ears and nose is very good!

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Moving through the woods and being able to “walk up” to a deer without being detected is almost impossible, particularly on the dry noisy forest floor with dead leaves and twigs underfoot. Snow (hopefully the predicted Wednesday/Thursday storm has produced “tracking snow”) does shift the odds a little and the hunter’s chances are improved with the ability to move more quietly, follow fresh tracks, and the natural coloration of a deer’s coat standing out against a white background. The snow also gets more hunters out in the woods and the single most significant factor of hunter success during the shotgun season is hunter density, with eight hunters per square mile being the optimum for hunter success.

The group of local hunters that it has been my pleasure to deer hunt with during the shotgun and primitive arms seasons has shrunk in numbers and Monday and Tuesday we matched wits with local whitetails. After being shut out opening day, Steve Johnson filled his doe tag Tuesday with a nice, mature 120-pound 3-year-old that will provide some great venison. One factor is venison quality is shot placement and when a deer is “dropped in its tracks” like this one, the meat is usually perfect.

Yours truly has not yet seen a deer, but the commitment of energy by members of the group has diminished some over the years. Rather than hunting hard every minute of daylight, there is a more casual attitude and a long lunch break for a great meal. Monday we enjoyed a really tasty venison stew and Tuesday was the ultimate comfort food with toasted ham and cheese sandwiches and tomato soup – thanks Mitch and Deedee! There are still a few antlerless tags unfilled, including one in my wallet, and it is my hope that a chance to christen the new Winchester SuperX4 20-gauge slug gun will present itself.

Having a local deer checking station was a blessing when we checked Steve’s doe in and there was an EPO at the Orange Gun Club Tuesday afternoon and two MassWildlife biologists manning the station. Deer were weighed, aged (if you agreed to having the jaw cut to expose the teeth that are used to age deer) and there also was a request to remove the nymph nodes for testing for the presence of chronic wasting disease.

CWD has not been detected in Massachusetts but is found in most states west, including neighboring New York. Massachusetts has put into place prohibitions that include not allowing anyone to bring into Massachusetts cervids (deer, elk, antelope, moose or caribou) carcasses, or the head, brain, spinal tissue, or bones. You are allowed to bring in de-boned meat, cleaned skull caps for taxidermy, or hides without the head.

We will see what this weekend brings and will be out there looking for a dumb deer to fill the freezer.

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.