McClory: Fall hunting takes flight in Bay State

On a tranquil walk down an overgrown tote road, an apron of colorful foliage surrounds you as you breathe the crisp morning air. Autumn is here, and with it comes the traditional upland game-hunting season here in the Bay State. Starting Oct. 16, Massachusetts public hunting lands offer plenty of opportunities to hunt pheasant, quail and partridge. Over 40,000 birds will be stocked by the Mass Division of Fisheries and Wildlife in more than 40 public hunting areas known as wildlife management areas during the upland bird season. Locally the Crane Pond and Martin Burns WMA, located in the towns of Georgetown, Groveland, Newbury and West Newbury, are stocked with approximately 3,500 birds during the season. As an added bonus this year, 200 acres have been added to the original 1500 acres. More than 500 birds are released during the two days prior to the opening Saturday, and another 600 birds are stocked each week following opening day. Harold Parker State Forest in North Andover is also stocked with pheasants. Most of the Wildlife Management Areas are stocked once a week except for the Martin Burns area, which is stocked every night. Both New Hampshire and Maine upland pheasant season start on Oct. 1. New Hampshire will release 16,000 birds to the wild and Maine will release 13,500.New Hampshire bow hunters enjoyed a jump start on Sept. 15, as the first New England state to start a deer hunting this season. If you are one of the hunters to enjoy the early opener in New Hampshire, please don’t forget that you must be looking for horns – that’s right – bucks only for the first 15 days of the season. This is a change from previous years when you could take either a buck or doe. After the 15 days both sexes can be harvested.If you are deer hunting this year, maybe listening to some new deer hunting strategies is just what you need to improve your chance for success this year. Seasoned outdoorsman Dave Priebe will offer his talk “Productive Scouting and Hunting Strategies for Whitetails” on Tuesday, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m. at the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord, N.H. Admission is free. No pre-registration is required. Whitetail deer hunting is popular, but can be a challenging activity. At this talk, you’ll pick up some key knowledge of deer biology to help you understand deer signs and come up with a deer hunting plan that increases your odds of harvesting a whitetail this fall. Presenter Dave Priebe is a lifelong naturalist and a volunteer New Hampshire hunter education instructor; he’s also a Quaker Boy Game Calls Pro-Staff member. Priebe’s talk will cover the rut (the phases of male whitetail deer breeding behavior); scouting (the real hunt!) and identification of classes of deer in your area; hunting techniques and strategy during each rut phase; areas of greatest deer activity; and the effects of food, water, weather and humans on deer behavior.Autumn anglers will be happy to learn that fall trout stocking is just around the corner. This fall, over 60,000 rainbow trout and approximately 8,000 brown trout will be allocated among the five wildlife management districts across the state. The rainbow trout will average over 12 inches in length and the brown trout will average over 11 inches in length. The fish are produced at MassWildlife hatcheries in Sandwich, Belchertown, and Montague. Staff in each District has been monitoring water temperatures. Water temperatures permitting, trout stocking should begin the last full week of September and completed by mid-October.It’s the season for fairs in Massachusetts and for us, the oldest agricultural fair, the Topsfield Fair, starts Friday, Oct. 1 and runs to Oct. 11.. The fair is celebrating its 192nd year, but it is also celebrating its 100th year at its Topsfield location, the old Treadwell Farm. The Essex Agricultural Society, formed in 1818, held traveling cattle shows around Essex County but moved permanently to Topsfield in 1910. This year a special hi