By Mike Roche

This week’s column is all about deer as MassWildlife has released preliminary harvest totals and 2022 produced the highest deer harvest ever, by a huge margin! But before we get into the details of the record-setting hunting season, there is news about a very interesting workshop being offered locally that will allow those participating to learn how Native Americans tanned deer hides.

This workshop will provide an opportunity for attendees to learn the Eastern Woodlands Indigenous process of “brain tanning” a deer hide. I remember well listening to my late friend Randy Julius describing how Native Americans would tan hides and he said that everything needed was provided by the deer itself, including sinews to sew the hides and a bone from the deer hoof to use as a needle.

This workshop will be full-day experience that will guide people through the “hands-on” process with the different stages of tanning a deer hide. While the entire process cannot be completed in a day, participants will leave with their own deer hide and the knowledge to complete the process on their own. According to the information provided by Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, which is sponsoring the event, a key component of the day will be “community, getting to know each other, sharing questions and experiences around tanning, and what it means to be in relationship with our animal relatives, our food and what we wear.” As a bonus, there will be a maple sap-boiling activity during lunch to celebrate spring!

This workshop will be led by Andre StrongBearHeart Gaines, Jr., a citizen of the Nipmuc people. He serves as a cultural steward for his Tribe. He is accomplished in many fields and his work focuses on bringing traditional knowledge back to Indigenous Peoples, such as brain tanning, regalia making, paddle crafting and traditional structure building. The workshop will be a chance to learn an ancient skill and absorb knowledge about Indigenous People and culture.

The workshop will be held on March 19 in Petersham. The registration fee is $300 which includes lunch, maple sap boiling, a deer hide, and will provide compensation to both the cultural steward and his mentor for their time. For information or to register, email Jennifer at bryant@mountgrace.org.

As noted in the intro, it was a very good year for Massachusetts deer hunters as the preliminary tally from all hunting seasons is 15,853. This number is a huge increase over the previous season when 13,366 were taken and breaks the high of 14,766 recorded in 2020. You can offer all kinds of anecdotal reasons for the high total but it all comes down to the fact that there are a lot of deer out there. The estimate by MassWildlife of the statewide population is around 95,000 deer. Hunter participation is down from the numbers recorded from the 1960s to today, but hunters are more efficient and have more liberal bag limits and a longer time to hunt. Archery season starts in early October and there are continuous seasons as shotgun season follows archery and primitive firearms season caps things off, ending on the last hunting day of December.

It also interesting to note that shotgun season once accounted for a lion’s share of the harvest but today the harvest shows more deer tagged by bow hunters, who took 6,543 deer. Shotgun hunters took 5,823 and the ‘black powder’ season added 3,366 showing a remarkable balance. The youth hunt added 114 deer and paraplegic hunters took 7 deer in their special season.

All recent data, taken from information gathered at check stations, reflects a healthy deer herd and an age structure that any northeastern state would love to have. My guess is that again this year, at least 25% of the harvest will include mature males. That is the share that the manipulation of buck harvest by some states was instituted to try to create. States that allow only the taking of mature bucks by requiring antlers to have multiple points on one side are attempting to suppress buck harvest to achieve that age structure. Massachusetts achieved that balance over decades of managing by monitoring each zone and issuing antler-less permits to try to achieve population numbers that match up with available habitat.

This writer will be making a “road trip” to Illinois next week to pick up my new French Brittany bird dog and family member. Tessie, formerly known as Tina, will be coming from Sur le Delavan Kennel, the same breeder who produced Laney. Clint Lafary and his family put great effort into producing quality gun dogs and their motto is “Champion French Brittanys: At Home. In the field.” That is reflected in their importing dogs with champion bloodlines from France and Ireland and always breeding the best possible French Brittanys. He is also on the leading edge of training methods and is very active in both field trialing and bench competition.

Tessie, named after my father’s first Irish setter, is 11 months old and has traveled, been introduced to gunfire, and handled wild birds. She is a “started dog” who has been exposed to birds and guns and has exhibited the drive and desire to find birds. She is ready to be trained to reach her potential and suit the needs of a hunter. In my case, that will hopefully result in a close-working, steady bird dog who will learn from every bird and get better over time. Looking forward to meeting her!

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 MaharFish’N Game Club, Counselor and Director of the Massachusetts Conservation Camp, former Connecticut Valley District representative on the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board, has been a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.

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