McClory: Firearms season for deer is under way

A favorite time of year for most big game hunters is finally here, firearms season for deer. We hunted opening day last Monday in Maine. The weather conditions were not the best with a morning chill that quickly turned into an unseasonably warm and very windy day. Unfortunately no one in our party saw deer. As a matter of fact, we only heard two shots all day and did see one deer on the back of a truck. We attribute this to the abundance of mast crop, deer’s favorite acorns and beechnuts. Right now there is very little daytime movement because deer can literally stay in their beds and let the food fall on them. Visibility is also poor due to the leaves still on trees, and falling leaves that are covering deer signs and trails. This unusual warm weather over the last few weeks is only a snapshot in time because fall is here and in a matter of a few days we could have freezing temperatures and snow. Until then, deer will be following different patterns of movement. My recommendation is to find a remote stand of oak or beech that hasn’t been hit hard by the deer this year. Be there when dawn breaks, or just before shooting time ends for the day, and stand downwind of the trail. Be patient, stay with it and you should be rewarded with some great action.Fluorescent hunter orange will always be in style in the woods and hunters who wear it are just as likely to be successful because it’s highly visible to humans, but not to deer. Two common causes of hunting accidents are hunters moving into the line of fire of other hunters and mistaking other hunters for game. Both types of accidents involve visibility problems and both underscore the need for hunters to see and be seen during the fall firearms deer and small game seasons. According to a nationwide survey, you are seven times less likely to be shot by another hunter if you are wearing fluorescent orange.Attention, hunters – New Hampshire Fish and Game wants your input on managing the state’s deer herd. If you held a N.H. hunting license in 2009 (or held a lifetime or over-68 hunting license), watch for a letter in the mail from Fish and Game with instructions on how to participate in an important online deer management survey being conducted this month. “Over the last few years, an increasing number of hunters have asked us to implement buck age-structure management regionally or throughout the state in an effort to increase the number of older-aged (large-antlered) bucks available to hunters,” said Steve Weber, Chief of Fish and Game’s Wildlife Division. To help hunters learn more about the issue before they take the survey, Fish and Game has provided some important background information about the topic on its website at www.huntnh.com/buckagestructure. The information was compiled by a 15-member task force made up of hunters, wildlife biologists and Fish and Game Commissioners. The task force was created to ensure a balanced approach to the complicated issue of buck age-structure management.Incidentally, opening day for New Hampshire’s regular firearms deer season is November 10, 2010, a date anticipated with great enthusiasm by the state’s estimated 60,000 deer hunters. The season runs through December 5 in much of the state.Licensed black bear hunters took to the woods of western and central Massachusetts during the September season and emerged with 114 bruins. In Berkshire County, 46 bears were taken; 35 in Franklin County; 12 in Hampden County; and 21 in Hampshire County. Rifles, muzzleloaders, archery equipment, and revolvers were permitted during the September season. The second bear season began November 1 and ends November 20, 2010. Bear hunters are reminded that revolvers are prohibited during the November season.For those who would like to learn more about black bear in Massachusetts, Laura Hajduk, Furbearer and Black Bear Project Leader for the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, will present a family-friendly program about black bears in the region. This program, of