The Massachusetts upland bird season, which includes pheasant, quail and ruffed grouse, opened on Oct. 13 and runs through Nov. 24. In addition to hunting, there are still opportunities for fishing in fresh and saltwater during October and November.
It was cold when I woke up last Thursday morning and I decided to go pheasant hunting with our English setter Cooper. The truck was covered with frost as I loaded my hunting gear and, after defrosting the windows, I drove to the big farm fields off Route 105 in Middleboro.
When I arrived the sun was just starting to rise in the east and the moon was setting in the west. Cooper was all excited as I parked the vehicle. The week before we hunted four days in Maine for grouse and woodcock, but this was our first pheasant hunt of the year.
The fields were not plowed this summer and the deep grass and brush made for tough going as I followed Cooper through the cover. After about 20 minutes he locked up on point along the edge of a wet area and I had high hopes as I walked in behind him expecting a pheasant to flush, but it turned out to be a pair of Wilson snipe. I decided not to shoot at the fast-flying game birds, which look like a small woodcock.
While hunting we heard a few shots in other parts of the fields, but we didn’t find any pheasants in the spot where we were hunting. After an hour I decided to go back to the truck and drive to another area that might be more productive.
When we got out to the vehicle, Jim Curtin of Bridgewater was walking on the dirt road with a 2-year-old English pointer that he has been training. He wasn’t hunting, but said his dog had pointed a pheasant three times. There was another group of hunters in the area and he thought they may have gotten the bird that he was working.
He decided to go with me to another area where there might be woodcock as well as pheasant. We didn’t have any luck in the first cover, but in the second spot the dogs worked a woodcock that flushed before they could point it. Jim’s dog also pointed a small flock of snipe that were feeding in a wet, muddy section of the field. When the birds flushed, Jim had the opportunity to fire a blank training pistol while voicing commands to keep the dog steady to wing and shot. I liked seeing that.
Although we didn’t find any pheasants, it was a nice day to be afield. The air was cool and crisp and the sky was bright blue. Fall foliage is beginning to peak and the dogs looked good running against a backdrop of orange, yellow and red leaves. October is quickly coming to an end, but there is still plenty of opportunity for bird hunting in November.
The Massachusetts upland bird season, which includes pheasant, quail and ruffed grouse, opened on Oct. 13 and runs through Nov. 24. The season for snipe began the first of September and runs through Dec. 15. Woodcock opened Oct. 2 and runs through Nov. 24. There are also a variety of duck seasons that are open during November and December. Waterfowl seasons can be found online under Mass. migratory-bird-hunting regulations.
In addition to hunting, there are still opportunities for fishing in fresh and saltwater during October and November. MassWildlife has completed its fall trout-stocking program, releasing 60,000 rainbow trout that are 12 inches or longer and 4,000 brown trout about 12 inches long across Massachusetts. Stocking was scheduled to begin the last week of September and be completed by the second week of October. The exact stocking schedule depends on water temperatures.
The public can view stocking reports by visiting Mass.gov/Trout. The interactive site allows anglers to search for a specific waterbody or town using the sortable list. You can also explore new fishing spots with the map feature.
Saltwater fishing has also been good in many areas and the Cape Cod Canal is no exception. On Friday, Canal Bait and Tackle reported that the east end of the Canal has been loaded with small bass the last few mornings. The bait to match is bunker, half beaks, and sea herring. Morning is the best time to find a top-water bite. Minnow lures and soft paddle jigs have been productive. SP Minnow, LC Minnows and Redfins are the better minnow baits to use.
Night fishing has been the best bet for catching the biggest striped bass in the Canal right now. Live eels and black soft-plastic jigs are the go-to baits. A lot of bass have migrated through already and some schools are already down South. The next two weeks are usually the last hurrah of the season, but remember the biggest bass in the past 20 years was caught on Halloween in 1998. The fish weighed in at 60 pounds.
Source: https://www.enterprisenews.com/sports/20181027/outdoors-plenty-of-action-on-land-and-water
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