New England Hunter: Hunting 2017

Hunting Fall 2017

My 2017 hunting season started off with a trip to the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont. I had a brand new puppy named Luna, (another GSP) that I got in June and was anxious to see how she would do with wild birds. Luna was not even "whoa" broken yet. I just wanted her to get a feel for finding wild birds. She had seen a few pigeons and a few quail and I had gone through a few drills to get her used to gunfire but this was all new to her. She did more than impress me at only 6 months old.

My Dad also had a new puppy named Ruby, an English Springer Spaniel. We were hunting both puppies in a woodcock habitat area in the Silvio Conte Forest. Ruby put up a woodcock, my Dad shot it, and Luna found it.

The next day we were hunting in a cover that looked good for woodcock, thick alders and wetland, but it ended up holding a bunch of grouse. My older dog Piper had injured her elbow early on, so while she was down and out, Luna got the call from the bullpen. We must of had a dozen or so grouse flushes until I finally had an opportunity to shoot. I wasn't sure if I had hit it as I watched it glide over a hill. Luna was right on it and I was very pleasantly surprised to find her on top of it when I got over the hill. Luna had her first grouse at 6 months old.

Deer hunting was frustrating to say the least. I did not see any deer in the woods during the early season. I focused on hunting on Cape Cod mainly. Things did not happen until the first week of November. I was not able to get in the woods until Friday that week because I had training for work. Friday afternoon I bumped a nice 6 pointer with a couple does while walking into my stand. I used a new attractant, "Cooks Fatal Attraction" doe in heat. I put it out 20 yards from my stand with a scent wick and it sure did its job. A really nice 8 point came in and stood right underneath that scent wick with a large tree right in front of his vitals. While he was standing there he locked onto me. He stood there for another few minutes, as I stood as still as I could, trying not to let my adrenaline get the best of me. Finally, he did an about face and started walking away. I made the mistake of thinking I should take a shot at a deer facing completely away from me. Luckily I had a clean miss. I never found my arrow but I'm pretty sure I buried it. I was heartbroken to say the least. Later that night I found him on my trail cam, along with the other six point I had seen earlier.

Here is the deer I missed, on a licking branch, earlier that morning.

Later on in the year, I did a drive during muzzleloader. It was bitter cold, with the wind howling that day. We were wrapping up our push when I heard a loud bang and watched a small doe run in a circle. Everyone was taking a shot at it and it came within 10 yards of me. I pulled the trigger and heard, "click". Later I discovered my breach plug was full of debris and frozen over. Its not like I blew the opportunity of a lifetime, but it was a symbolic way to cap the season off. A year of disappointment and frustration.

Video of a Fisher Cat

I did some upland bird and waterfowl hunting, but with Piper out with her injury I really didn't get out as much as I usually do. Luna had a great day at the Myles Standish quail field, where we limited out in less than an hour. On Thanksgiving morning, I stopped off in Norton at a pheasant stocked WMA. Piper, (feeling better at this time) and Luna, hunted together for the first time. They bumped a female pheasant and I dropped it.

I did not get out to duck hunt until the late season, and only went a few times without any luck.