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Post by Uplander on Oct 17, 2005 14:04:16 GMT -5
The torrents of rain the past week+ may have put an end to Autumn trout fishing, but partridge and woodcock seasons just opened up. First bird of the season, taken Saturday in the pouring rain.  Berkshire WoodcockShould be able to tie some nice flies this Winter with the feathers…. |
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Post by Uplander on Oct 17, 2005 20:17:31 GMT -5
Growing up we did, but, since going off to school, getting an apartment, etc., I’ve been hunting dogless.
Now that, in the past two years, I’ve gotten married and bought a house, a dog is in the works. I’m narrowing the field down, but it looks like an English Springer Spaniel will be cruising the Berkshire forests with me in the next year. Now I just need to figure out how to train it to sit calmly by streamside while I fish….
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Post by jlibs on Oct 19, 2005 12:19:37 GMT -5
I'm not experienced with bird hunting, although I went out opening pheasant day with my yellow lab and got soaked in the rain and flooded fields in South County.
Watch out for the ticks, as you know. Last year while deer hunting, I'd flick off around 20+ ticks in a morning's hunt. This year, my first outing, I freaked out once the sun came up when I saw more than four times the number of ticks on my legs. I left the woods at 7:30am and took off more than 80 ticks stuck in my wool pants. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. Be careful with your dog if you get one.
JLIBS
Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting. - Dave Barry
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Post by Uplander on Oct 19, 2005 14:00:52 GMT -5
Yeah, ticks have been bad the past 5 years or so in the Berkshires. Never used to see them. Now, it seems like after every outing I’m finding them. I spent last Easter Sunday in the North Adams Hospital emergency room having a deeply imbedded tick dug out of my armpit. I had gone for a hike the day before, and apparently the buggers were hungry….
Still, ticks are just another part of the whole outdoor experience. I figure the more unpleasant wee beasties (i.e. ticks, spiders, mosquitoes, black flies, etc.) people are bothered by when they are “outside,” the fewer people will get off the beaten trail, and that’s OK by me!
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Post by caddisking on Oct 30, 2005 8:01:20 GMT -5
The torrents of rain the past week+ may have put an end to Autumn trout fishing, but partridge and woodcock seasons just opened up. I see you're still not practicing catch and release hunting....  Nice bird, though. Get any pheasant this year? |
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Post by Uplander on Oct 30, 2005 20:59:04 GMT -5
Nice bird, though. Get any pheasant this year? Pheasants don’t really interest me…. Like my trout, I prefer my gamebirds to be of the truly wild variety. I hunt partridge (ruffed grouse) and woodcock pretty much exclusively. Rough year for partridge though. Numbers are down, and the birds that are out there are wily, wild flushers…. Getting into a mess of woodcock though!   Interestingly, most people have never even heard of woodcock, let alone ever seen one, or know where they are to be found…. |
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