By BOB WASHBURN
For the Monitor
With hunting season well under way, Robb and have been making the rounds to some of the pheasant release sites that offer multiple game choices.
First, the site in Hill. As you drive past the Franklin dam, you observe the devastation the drought has brought. The boat launch was many yards away from any discernable trace water. The habitat at this site makes for a good pheasant release site and has excellent habitat for woodcock.
There are actually two types of woodcock – those who nest in New Hampshire and what I call flight birds, those who nest in Canada, Maine and northern New Hampshire. The lack of frost and cold temperatures has delayed the flight birds but they could arrive before the season ends.
We could hear a dog working a patch from the distinctive bell around his neck. We heard three separate shootings and saw a pheasant escape out of range. The pheasant landed and took off, running away from danger.
We later met up with the hunter and his yellow lab. It was kind of an OMG moment looking at the lab, who could be an identical twin to Nutmeg, only he was 18 pounds lighter.
The lab had flushed three pheasants and Robb had correctly guessed that the hunter was using a 28-gauge shot gun. The lab is a flusher and moved toward the pheasant. The sound of the bell around the lab’s neck put the bird on notice and as the bell got closer, the lab will end up flushing the bird. It out was a classic over-under. I showed him my 20-gauge over-under and had a chance to point the 28 and it was a great choice as it easily came to point and offers little to no recoil.
Next up, I had a chance to check out the pheasant release site in Hopkinton. There were two other vehicles parked at the entrance so I knew I had company. I came in contact with two hunters who were hunting with a Brittany. Britts are excellent upland bird dogs and they live for hunting. This one was no exception and she was disappointed that the hunt was over. She had pointed a pheasant, which her owner had easily dispatched.
Britts are the only spaniel with highly developed pointing instincts. They look and act much like a setter and many are born without tails. On another occasion, they had pointed two woodcock, birds that had nested in the spring and stayed.
Whether or not you are using a flushing or a pointing dog, it must be trained to hunt tight to the hunter. If you have what I call a far-ranging dog, birds will flush out of the hunter’s range.
Later, we met up with a party of duck hunters. They had been totally fogged out. Once again, I was impressed with how the drought had reduced the water in front of the dam. This site had lots of water in the past but not this year.
The final spot Robb and I hit was Bear Brook State Park – the part that abuts Epsom and Allenstown. Once again, we observed excellent woodcock. Walking in, I noticed a flock of turkeys nervously walking away from us. We were both clad in blaze orange so the turkeys know what we were but they didn’t want to find out. They were well out of range of my 20 and come to think of it, they were well out of range of my 12.
We walked past several pot hole swamps that had wood duck written all over them but no woodies. We then made an amazing discovery. Fish and Game had posted a notice to explain the habitat improvements they were engaged in to improve habitat with specific animals in mind.
So what is on the horizon for the future? Today is the last day of the fall shot gun turkey season. Turkeys have departed feeding in field and deer have altered their feeding time in the fields. Part of the reason for the change is the raining of acorns that shift both turkeys and deer from feeding in the fields to feasting on acorns during the day. Turkeys roost at night and deer continue feeding, hitting the fields at night. What the final take will be is a tossup.
Oct. 22-23 is youth deer hunting weekend. This is a unique weekend that allows young people 15 and younger the opportunity to go deer hunting with an adult licensed mentor without the pressure of competing with thousands of adult hunters. Accompanying adults are not allowed to carry a firearm, allowing the concentration of time and attention to coaching to young companion.
The deer herd is in great shape. Generally speaking, the acorn crop is in better shape than I anticipated. If you take your young hunter and position them between the oaks and bedding areas, you will have a better chance of making contact with deer.
New Hampshire has offered a special youth deer hunt since 1999.
(Bob Washburn can be reached at hunterscorner@aol.com.)