By Mike Roche

Once again it is the Christmas season, and we all get caught up in the traditions and details that define the Christmas and New Years holidays.

It is impossible to not reflect on those things that each of us remember about our past. When my siblings got together, we would laugh about things like my father and his new Super8 movie camera with its blinding light and “rip and tear” when we would frantically unwrap the gifts in a frenzy of pent-up anticipation. We all remember special gifts like a new bike, a sled or the racetrack with cars that were used non-stop for a week and then gathered dust.

As has been recounted here, the year this writer turned 15, he got the “best gift ever” in the form of a new Remington 12-gauge 1100 auto-loading shotgun. That gun was my “everything” gun for hunting in Massachusetts with pheasants, woodcock, ducks, deer and even grouse being harvested with that gift, which was my only shotgun for a lot of years with the fixed modified choke making it suitable for everything hunted in Massachusetts.

There was also my rifle for deer hunting in New Hampshire, a Winchester Model 94 chambered in .32 Winchester Special. The Model 94 was reputed to have taken more whitetails than any other firearm, with most of those levered actions being chambered for the .30-30 Winchester caliber.

Being a prodigious reader of the hunting/fishing magazines of the times including Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, and Fur, Fish and Game, it caught my attention when my idol, gun writer Jack O’Connor, wrote about the Model 94 .32 Special and noted that it was created for hunters who might run into a bear and needed a little more firepower. The teenage me thought that was very cool!

The day after this column was submitted, yours truly was scheduled to travel to Kittery Trading Post in Maine to attend the quarterly meeting of the New England Outdoor Writers Association Board of Directors. That meeting has been held at KTP for years as they offer us use of their meeting room and writers always can find something to write about while there and also do some Christmas shopping!

Shopping for a hunter is as difficult as shopping done by a hunter, as doing anything during deer season is a challenge. Who put Christmas in the deer hunting season anyways? Once again, there are so many neat things out there, but the staples like warm gloves, Darn Tough socks, outerwear that is insulated and waterproof (what did we do before Gore-Tex?) and dry boots are always needed.

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Gadgets like trail cameras are popular and pop-up camo tent blinds are suddenly the rage. It seems like my downstairs “man cave” is cluttered with two of everything. Range finders, infrared tracking lights, various calls including grunt tubes and bleat calls, and enough hunter orange hats to cover the heads of every man, woman and child in Orange are lying around everywhere.

Shopping for the right gift for the hunter’s wife is even more frustrating. The husband who took his wife saying “You don’t need to get me anything this year” seriously is said to be recovering. Online shopping does provide a way to get almost everything possible delivered to your door, but do not wait until the last minute, or at least that is what I have heard. When in doubt, ask her sister or her best friend.

My trip to Kittery Trading Post was preceded by a call to the used gun department and some time will be spent interviewing someone in the department about the impact of changes to gun laws in both Massachusetts and Maine. People are still trying to figure out what the sweeping and confusing Massachusetts gun law changes really mean and local police departments are said to be doing “business as usual” on processing gun permits. Maine’s Legislature enacted a law that requires a 72-hour waiting period. According to an employee at KTP, that can be dealt with by putting a deposit on a firearm you are interested in buying in advance and then undergoing the federal background check when you pick it up.

On Thursday, my Remington 12-gauge Model 1100 slug gun will be accompanying me to Maine. After considerable thought, my decision is to replace the Carlson cantilevered rifled barrel and Timney adjustable trigger with the original slug barrel and trigger assembly. Those can both be sold separately to someone who wants to “accurize” their Model 1100 and the gun is now not likely to be used as backup, so it is expendable. The process of trading in and buying used guns at Kittery has been so uncomplicated for years, it will be interesting to see if the process has changed dramatically. After that, there will be time to do my Christmas shopping as no place has more great gift ideas for ladies than KTP.

Meanwhile, no deer sightings for me so the SuperX4 is still unused. It has been a real pleasure to tote around and at this point in my life, carrying a pound less gun is welcome! All the excuses are in play as there is food – primarily acorns – everywhere, so my waits hoping to intercept a deer heading from daytime bedding areas to nocturnal feeding sites have been unproductive. First it was too dry and noisy and then the rain wiped out the snow. The group has been “hunting history” and what has been successful in the past has not resulted in opportunities. The lunches, however, have been great!

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.