Sportsman’s Corner: A trip to Vermont

Published: 10-12-2023 5:00 PM

By Mike Roche

Earlier this week the dogs joined me in the Silverado on a long trek up through New Hampshire and ultimately to Jay, Vermont. The plan was to check out a couple of covers in New Hampshire and then spend the night in Jay at the home of a good friend and fellow bird hunter. The trip was open-ended for this writer, as the possibility of hunting covers in both eastern Vermont and northern New Hampshire were on the table. The possibility of staying north until a hunting reservation with a New Hampshire guide this weekend was considered.

The Sunday drive was not productive, and the cover suggested by someone was good cover but unfortunately there were other users, including hikers, dog walkers and horseback riders. It is a huge public tract of land owned by the state of New Hampshire, but bird hunting is not something that yours truly was interested in adding to the equation. Certainly legal, but to me it is not worth the possibility of creating a conflict with other users.

A second cover in Vermont was a good-looking spot, but really out of the way and it was getting late when we arrived. The dogs got a quick hunt, but it is not likely to be revisited. My “Vermont Atlas and Gazetteer” has some places noted in northeast Vermont within the Silvio Conte National Wildlife Refuge.

The refuge, like the western Mass congressman it was named after, is unique. The SilvioO. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge offers a wide variety of options for visitors throughout its 22 locations in four New England states. The refuge was established in 1997 to conserve, protect and enhance the abundance and diversity of native plant, fish and wildlife species and the ecosystems on which they depend throughout the 7.2-million-acre Connecticut River watershed. Currently, the refuge is comprised of nearly 40,000 acres within parts of the four watershed states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The refuge includes 10 divisions and 12 units that represent a wide variety of unique habitats, such as northern forest that is valuable as a nesting habitat for migrant thrushes, warblers and other birds; rivers and streams used by shad, salmon, herring and other migratory fishes; and an internationally significant complex of high-quality tidal fresh, brackish and salt marshes. Many opportunities exist for visitors to explore the diverse landscapes of the Connecticut River watershed.Among those opportunities is hunting and those acres will be forever available, hopefully.

We arrived a bit later than planned but that was fine, as we still did a bit of visiting and telling of hunting stories before turning in at an early hour. Monday morning was the holiday formerly known as Columbus Day but to us two retired guys it was just a day to enjoy a breakfast of scrambled eggs and plenty of bacon with Dave’s Killer Whole Grain toast and eventually get hunting. We drove for what in New England would be described as “a bit” and arrived at a typical New England upland cover. The mixed vegetation was birch and aspen that had been cut off 10 years ago.

Tessie was out of the box first and she quartered nicely and soon struck a solid point. The terrain pitched down slightly, and we were able to walk into her point and then proceeded to miss the woodcock. That ineptitude was repeated on another woodcock but “the sun was in our eyes.”

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Laney was next and we hunted the other side of the dirt road with only a wild-flushed grouse (out of a tree next to the road) being moved. We moved up the road a half mile and Dean took out his young Brittany and Tessie got a second run. The young French Brittany and I together wild-flushed a grouse which I watched fly away. This hunter/dog trainer does not shoot wild flushes, only over points. The second grouse that flew from the same spot a minute later was also safe. Dean had better luck, moving five woodcock and a grouse next to an old beaver pond.

He left in mid-afternoon to return to Massachusetts, but the girls and I stayed over, and the next morning Laney was first and when she pointed a woodcock, it became the first bird to fall to the Franchi20-gauge over/under. Next, Tessie hunted the beaver pond, and she did well and pointed a woodcock, which also fell. We encountered the same two grouse with the same result, but Tessie later pointed solidly on a grouse which flew off before my arrival, but it was a nice job for the young pup. Her growth will hopefully continue on each trip.

On Tuesday, the Massachusetts legislature held a hearing on gun laws and legislators listened to over six hours of testimony. There was a great deal of interest and speakers represented differing opinions regarding proposed legislation. HD 4607 is new legislation replacing HD 4420, which was vehemently opposed by gun owners across Massachusetts.

There is considerable passion and energy on both sides and a great deal of pressure on Democrats, who hold a significant majority in both the House and Senate as well as the governor’s office, to pass legislation to limit gun violence. Massachusetts already has among the most restrictive gun laws of any state. Many feel that some bill will make it to the floor this year and voters need to make their voices heard to find a balance in the rights of legal, law-abiding gun owners and those who are energized by the amount of gun violence that dominates the news.

Mike Roche is a retired teacher who has been involved in conservation and wildlife issues his entire life. He has written the Sportsman’s Corner since 1984 and has served as advisor to the MaharFish’N Game Club, counselor and director of the Massachusetts Conservation Camp, former Connecticut Valley District representative on the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board, has been a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.