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2017/18 Hunting Thread!!

Our club runs one of the youth pheasant hunts in central MA yesterday. I've had a lot of hunting memories, but out of anything I do, this day is always tops. I do some of the training with them on shooting starting in August, once a week before the hunt...it's great to see them improve quickly over the summer on skeet, and trap. Its a great program. We have a bunch of mentors, guys with dogs willing to give their time,cooks cooking breakfast on hunt day, and parents that are willing to drive many miles to the range practices, pre hunt workshop, and hunt.

Anway, we took 17 kids out yesterday.....all of them got 2 birds. The dog had more fun than the kids I think though....the whole thing was awesome, kids were very thankful and really appreciated our time. Its good to see the interest and the hard work they are willing to put in to get better.
 
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Mark from MA said:
Our club runs one of the youth pheasant hunts in central MA yesterday. I've had a lot of hunting memories, but out of anything I do, this day is always tops. I do some of the training with them on shooting starting in August, once a week before the hunt...it's great to see them improve quickly over the summer on skeet, and trap. Its a great program. We have a bunch of mentors, guys with dogs willing to give their time,cooks cooking breakfast on hunt day, and parents that are willing to drive many miles to the range practices, pre hunt workshop, and hunt.

Anway, we took 17 kids out yesterday.....all of them got 2 birds. The dog had more fun than the kids I think though....the whole thing was awesome, kids were very thankful and really appreciated our time. Its good to see the interest and the hard work they are willing to put in to get better.
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My son did the youth duck hunt with Danvers fish and game a couple years ago. Hat off to all you guys that run these programs!
 
Mark from MA said:
Our club runs one of the youth pheasant hunts in central MA yesterday. I've had a lot of hunting memories, but out of anything I do, this day is always tops. I do some of the training with them on shooting starting in August, once a week before the hunt...it's great to see them improve quickly over the summer on skeet, and trap. Its a great program. We have a bunch of mentors, guys with dogs willing to give their time,cooks cooking breakfast on hunt day, and parents that are willing to drive many miles to the range practices, pre hunt workshop, and hunt.

Anway, we took 17 kids out yesterday.....all of them got 2 birds. The dog had more fun than the kids I think though....the whole thing was awesome, kids were very thankful and really appreciated our time. Its good to see the interest and the hard work they are willing to put in to get better.
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saw the pictures of the hunt on my FB page... all the kids had big smiles on their faces. Looked like a great time. Thanks for all you guys do to make this happen.
 
whacko said:
Edit.....that was actually my second encounter with an unhappy person while hunting. Years ago I was told by a lady walking her golden retriever on the trail to a WMA (we were in orange with shotguns over our shoulders) that "You can't hunt here....this is a wildlife management area. [rolleyes]
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I've gotten to the point where I don't feel compelled to respond to anyone, with anything other than "hiya."

"Hey, you can't hunt here." Thank you! I said, while I carried on.

"Ooh, you scared me." You scared me TOO! I said, while I carried on.

"What's in season at this time of year?!" There's a hunting season for something ALL YEAR long, I reply.
 
pupchow said:
I've gotten to the point where I don't feel compelled to respond to anyone, with anything other than "hiya."

"Hey, you can't hunt here." Thank you! I said, while I carried on.

"Ooh, you scared me." You scared me TOO! I said, while I carried on.

"What's in season at this time of year?!" There's a hunting season for something ALL YEAR long, I reply.
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Another point you bring up that pisses me off more about my jackass encounter! There is no season on red squirrel.....I could have been hunting them. Bottom line.....public wma.......he had absolutely no reason to rush out there and say a damn thing to me. Ugh

It's not like we were passing by him on the trail or near his land. We were deep in the woods and he came looking for us.
 
whacko said:
Another point you bring up that pisses me off more about my jackass encounter! There is no season on red squirrel.....I could have been hunting them. Bottom line.....public wma.......he had absolutely no reason to rush out there and say a damn thing to me. Ugh

It's not like we were passing by him on the trail or near his land. We were deep in the woods and he came looking for us.
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I generally don't run across a lot of anti's my way. Down in CT...the few times its happened.....I ignore them totally, as I'm on private land. I had to remind one person once, that the next time they bothered me I would be calling the game warden and they would be arrested for being on private land without written permission, and if they continued to bother me...I would file hunter harassment charges against them.

If pressured..and someone is bothering you on a WMA....that would really frost my a$$........I would not so pleasantly remind them that part of that WMA probably has been paid for with land stamp money, Hunting license money, and Pittman Robertson Money. Then ask them what they paid to be on that land and/or have access to it 24/7 365, while you can't access it on Sundays.

Then tell them to Fxck off (optional, depending on their attitude)

You won't see many issues in central/western MA WMA's as mostly hunters are there anyway. I've never run across it ever out here. In eastern MA where there is less land, it's likely these a$$holes try and take over the WMA land and use it as their dog walking paradise, then try and tell you not to hunt it. That shxt needs to be stopped ASAP. Which is why just this last week I hunted woodcock in my old areas that are now Frisbee Golf areas, just to remind these people that they need to COEXIST.
 
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Mark from MA said:
I generally don't run across a lot of anti's my way. Down in CT...the few times its happened.....I ignore them totally, as I'm on private land. I had to remind one person once, that the next time they bothered me I would be calling the game warden and they would be arrested for being on private land without written permission, and if they continued to bother me...I would file hunter harassment charges against them.

If pressured..and someone is bothering you on a WMA....that would really frost my a$$........I would not so pleasantly remind them that part of that WMA probably has been paid for with land stamp money, Hunting license money, and Pittman Robertson Money. Then ask them what they paid to be on that land and/or have access to it 24/7 365, while you can't access it on Sundays.

Then tell them to Fxck off (optional, depending on their attitude)

You won't see many issues in central/western MA WMA's as mostly hunters are there anyway. I've never run across it ever out here. In eastern MA where there is less land, it's likely these a$$holes try and take over the WMA land and use it as their dog walking paradise, then try and tell you not to hunt it. That shxt needs to be stopped ASAP.
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This was Townsend hills wma. Nice place to hunt squirrels.....its good bottom land.....LARGE oak trees in there. I've hunted it for early season squirrel many years now and never been approached by anyone or even seen another hunter in there. I honestly don't know what this twatwaffles problem was. Shame though because it did put a damper on the otherwise fantastic morning.

We got three nice ones on a short morning hunt.

IMG_20171007_100338026_HDR.jpg
 
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Hey, it was a still a great morning with your son. Don't let some Dbag that is totally in the wrong bother you.....you acted pretty responsibly, and kept your cool when you really didn't need to.... which was really the way to show your son how to act. Besides, kids if they are going to hunt nowadays are probably going to run across a lot more anti's than we ever will. Look at it as a good learning lesson for the morning as well as a good hunt.
 
Mark from MA said:
Hey, it was a still a great morning with your son. Don't let some Dbag that is totally in the wrong bother you.....you acted pretty responsibly, and kept your cool when you really didn't need to.... which was really the way to show your son how to act. Besides, kids if they are going to hunt nowadays are probably going to run across a lot more anti's than we ever will. Look at it as a good learning lesson for the morning as well as a good hunt.
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True. I did tell my so after that the first response should ways be polite.....like I was. But stand up for yourself.
 
Why not just gut and quarter up the deer in the field? 80 degrees is too hot to let the meat stay warm. Congrats! The fact that the deer was moving around during the day in 80 degree heat is surprising lol. I hunted in NY (3F) last weekend and it was mid-to-high 70's the whole weekend. Even at night! It was the worst conditions. Full moon, high heat, then rain on Sunday. I basically didn't see the deer at all during the day. I did however, see about 15 sets of eyes, including a couple fawn, at my location during the full moon Friday night.
 
Congrats on your spike OP! I don’t bow hunt so I have never hunted deer in 80 degree weather or even close to it! I’d be at the beach or striper fishing. ;)

Early duck ‘17 here in coastal zone starts in a few hours. 6:22 is good-to-shoot time and I’ll be in my blind well before that. My spot usually gives up a wood duck or two in the early season and then holds mallards ‘til the freeze. After that it’s tidal rivers/ the great marshes.

Here’s to a hopefully successful weekend!
Duck this morning then up to the NICU to see my son.
Pheasant tomorrow morning then up to the NICU again.
IDPA Sunday morning then back to Boston again.
(I’m trying to get accustomed to getting zero sleep for the coming years.)
 
Thanks. I breasted him out and froze it. Last year I got a drake woody in the same spot, opening day, and had him mounted. He’s the only bird I ever had mounted. I shoot em to eat em but that woody was so handsome I had to preserve his likeness! :D
 
It looks like rain ending Sunday night. Nice and quiet Monday morning for Mass archery season opening day. Northwest wind 10-15 and a high in the mid 50's... Perfect.
 
Almost no shooting this am on the Westboro WMA.

I wonder if they weren't ready to start stocking or just put in small amount of birds.
I didn't go but could hear the shooting and lack there of from my warm bed...

Anyone go to Westboro today?
 
Nice looking bird. And nice gun, Browning or copy? I love my sweet sixteen when I’m not using old single shots.

No luck today, but I heard a lot of shooters trying to catch their miss. FFS people, stop shooting after three misses, you’re not gonna get it. Tons of dogs running around, usually hundreds of yards from their “handler”.
 
Southwick WMA was packed this morning when I drove by at 9am. No hunting for me today, it's the wife's weekend to work so I'm on kid duty.

I did take the dog out yesterday around 3PM and he flushed 3 birds in about 25 minutes. So they certainly stocked it well. I'll take the kids for a walk tomorrow and see if anything is left.
 
tuna said:
Nice looking bird. And nice gun, Browning or copy?
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It’s a Remington Model 11 I found at a LGS last year for, get this:

$125. I thought that was the bargain of the century so I snatched it up. Made in 1942. Turns out they never really went for much more than that and I am amazed at that! It’s an A5 without the super fancy engraving and finish. Smooth as butter, and goes bang with anything you put through it. Very cool system for adjusting the recoil setup to what you’re shooting through it.
 
45collector said:
It’s a Remington Model 11 I found at a LGS last year for, get this:

$125. I thought that was the bargain of the century so I snatched it up. Made in 1942. Turns out they never really went for much more than that and I am amazed at that! It’s an A5 without the super fancy engraving and finish. Smooth as butter, and goes bang with anything you put through it. Very cool system for adjusting the recoil setup to what you’re shooting through it.
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I'll attest that the browning a5 and clones are awesome guns.
 
Tried a small WMA on Saturday for pheasant, but 6 guys there at 6:35 sent me back home, figuring if 6 guys at such a small one, I won't bother with the larger ones. Ended up heading out late in the afternoon to a larger WMA. When I got there saw two discouraged guys who grumbled that they "hadn't seen anything and heard no shots" as I asked them how it went. I ended up with one rooster and hit a second and aw it go down, just could never find it despite a long effort. I was the only shots despite another group out somewhere.
 
boilermaker said:
Tried a small WMA on Saturday for pheasant, but 6 guys there at 6:35 sent me back home, figuring if 6 guys at such a small one, I won't bother with the larger ones. Ended up heading out late in the afternoon to a larger WMA. When I got there saw two discouraged guys who grumbled that they "hadn't seen anything and heard no shots" as I asked them how it went. I ended up with one rooster and hit a second and aw it go down, just could never find it despite a long effort. I was the only shots despite another group out somewhere.
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Sucks when you lose a bird, I know. Pheasants are extremely good at blending in with their surroundings, even when dead. You would think with the cocks being so colorful, you could see them easily. Not so much.
 
45collector said:
Sucks when you lose a bird, I know. Pheasants are extremely good at blending in with their surroundings, even when dead. You would think with the cocks being so colorful, you could see them easily. Not so much.
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This is one of the things that always astounded me about nature. Flashy and brilliant one moment, perfect camo the next.

Hell, even our house cats do it. I cannot tell you how many times I've been walking the baby to her room in the middle of the night only to punt an orange and white ball of fluff down the hall.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
 

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