By Mike Roche

Tomorrow, Sept. 28, young hunters with a Youth Deer Permit will be able to hunt deer for one day in an exclusive deer hunt. Hunters aged 12 to 17 who possess the required free permit must be accompanied by a licensed adult. Youth hunters may use a shotgun, bow and arrow or a muzzleloader and all hunting rules apply. Either sex deer may be taken. The Youth Permit is only valid on Sept. 28.

Last year, young hunters harvested a record number of deer, taking 142. Massachusetts has other youth hunting opportunities with a Youth Turkey Hunt each April and both Youth Waterfowl and Youth Pheasant hunts each fall. This year, the first youth waterfowl day was Sept. 21, and the second will be Oct. 5. Youth pheasant hunts are conducted by sporting clubs and registration and pre-hunt workshops were held in August. For future reference, details on all Massachusetts youth hunting opportunities can be researched at the MassWildlife website, masswildlife.org, and are printed in the Massachusetts Fishing and Hunting abstracts.

By Oct. 1, hunting in the New England states will be in full swing. New Hampshire bow season for deer opens in mid-September and Massachusetts opens statewide Oct. 7. Vermont archery season kicks off Oct. 1. By that first day of October, upland bird seasons in New York, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire will be underway, with some having opened in late September.

This writer will be undertaking a bit of an odyssey this fall. As you read this, the Silverado will be making a trek north, headed to the top of Vermont, and Laney, Tessie and their intrepid master will be stepping into the woods Saturday morning. Our stay in Vermont will run through Monday when we will be making a long drive to northern Maine near Ashfield where we have rented a camp for the opener of the Maine ruffed grouse season. We will be joined by Paul Rullo and his drahthaar Gunther for a few days of chasing Maine “partridges” for the first time.

The past 20-plus years have been spent in northern New York, where we have enjoyed some great grouse and woodcock hunting and built close personal relationships with so many hunters who have also enjoyed the hunting and hospitality of good friend Bruce Bennett. Bruce first bought land near Malone and, with a group of lifelong friends, built a cabin that became On the Wing Grouse Camp. Over the years, Bruce bought many old farms and parcels of land and managed the land for wildlife.

Utilizing professional foresters and grants from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, he created hundreds of acres of very productive habitat. Bruce was a Massachusetts Environmental Police Officer who rose through the ranks and became the Director of Inland Law Enforcement before retiring. On the Wing Grouse Camp has hosted, for the past 14 years, the New York State Ruffed Grouse and American Woodcock Society Hunt. It has been my pleasure to serve as a huntsman at all those hunts, which raise money for habitat conservation work that benefits grouse, woodcock and so many other wildlife species.

Bruce is now selling the land he has accumulated, and the future is uncertain. This has caused me to do some thinking and this year there will be a number of hunting excursions which will be undertaken while this writer is still able to take advantage of opportunities. There will be an extended stay at On the Wing Grouse Camp and also a trip to the Catskills for a grouse hunt with good friend and enthusiastic upland hunter Chris Standish and, as of this week, another Maine hunting camp visit between the northern Maine hunt and New York grouse camp. The dogs are ready, the boots are treated with mink oil, hunting pants and shirts got the annual wash, the ammo is packed and the guns are cleaned and ready. This column will be penned “on the run” for a few weeks and chores and house repairs will take a back seat.

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It will be interesting to see how the two French Brittanys will look this season. Tessie is now 2 and her inaugural hunting season was fabulous. She should have plenty of chances to learn how to handle grouse and dogs tend to learn from each encounter. Laney is steady and has performed well for years and is also quite good when the woodcock are gone and we turn to pheasants.

A detail that needed to be taken care of before hunting season was the boat. An inboard/outboard requires so much more attention than an outboard! It was great when the old fish’ ski was hauled out of the water, as the Mariner outboard could just sit in the yard until spring. The 5.0 GM small-block V/8 needs to be drained before freezing weather and then serviced again in the spring. Last year, we stored the boat for the first time and Precision Water Sports in Gardner did everything needed including cleaning the hull and performing all winterizing service. Summer came and went so fast!

Many people have asked me how they can add their name to the petition to oppose H 4885, the poorly written gun bill that was rushed through the legislature at the last minute and which includes significant and unreasonable limits on legal, law-abiding gun owners, but will do little to curtail gun violence. Gun owners and those who respect the legislative process and see this as a serious violation of proper legislative procedure are putting together a petition response and signatures are needed.

The Orange Gun Club has stepped up and on Saturday Sept. 28, there will petitions for both Orange and Athol residents available at the club to sign. As a bonus, those traveling to the club, located at 357 West River St. in Orange, will be able to observe reenactors of the 26th Yankee Division who be present at the club’s rifle range for a day of qualifications. I strongly encourage everyone who cares about both responsible actions by our legislators and governor and those who support the right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms to participate in hunting and target shooting to make the effort to sign the petition.

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.