I’m not quite sure where summer went but early goose season ended last week and early moose season ended Saturday. This week heralds the opening of several gunning options, including County favorites partridge and deer, which continue for two months or more. Regular duck and goose season, woodcock, a second week-long moose hunt and bear hunting are also on tap over the next several weeks.
Obviously the native goose hunters and September moose hunters had to get their gear ready early, but how about the rest of you sportsmen, is everyone prepared? If you’re like me, it’s difficult to remember where I put things last week, let along at the end of last shooting season. I’m not even positive I have enough of the right shells for every quarry and for each scattergun and rifle. I do know I’m all set for Canada geese, because I’ve played that game already this autumn, —although, I might just need another box of shells!
Just in case things are still up in the air at your house, here are a few ideas regarding proper preparation. Locate all your camo waterfowling clothing, all your upland bird hunting attire, and all your deer duds and fluorescent layers and stockpile each in a special pile in the spare room or in one particular closet. Don’t forget hats, gloves, boots, waders, stockings, facemasks, and even cold weather undergarments and rain gear for those wet, cold, snowy days sure to arrive. Now there’s no need to go prowling around the house by flashlight in the pre-dawn darkness on the day of a hunt, banging drawers and doors and bumping into things. Oh, and don’t forget the cussing and cursing in frustration—not you, your wife when your commotion rouses her from a sound sleep. Avoiding that alone proves pre-season preparation pays.
Once the hunting togs are located and stockpiled, it’s time to gather other extraneous gear to be carried in the vehicle or on your person each outing. Some equipment is for safety, other items for convenience and still more products improve your tactics and techniques. Assign a bed in the spare room, or even a couch or chair in the den or basement as the gathering point for these essential extras. Some pieces of equipment will be exclusive to a specific species while other items will go along every time.
A compass, small survival, first aid kit, waterproof matches and a pill box with a few essential medicines top the list. A straight back or folding knife with at least a four inch blade, a seven inch folding saw in a belt sheath, a multi-tool, a lightweight hatchet, a whetstone and diamond encrusted steel and sometimes a set of small sheers to sever legs and wings when cleaning game birds are added to the pile. At least one flashlight, a headlamp for hands-free work, a coil of parachute cord, binoculars and a rangefinder are also added in. Another unique item I regularly carry and pray I don’t need is a diminutive gun cleaning kit, about 6x4x? inch thick. There’s grease, solvent, silicone, patches and even a six-piece screw-together cleaning rod with several bronze brushes.
In the way of electronics, I set out my GPS and a set of two-way radios good for five- to seven-miles transmission distances. Another pile is filled with deer, moose, duck and goose calls, two spray bottles of cover scent and half a dozen bottles of attractant scents for deer and moose. There are several sizes of plastic bags, two sets of plastic gloves for cleaning game and a dozen zip lock ties of various lengths and sizes. Every outdoorsman will have a few personal favorites that need to be added to the list, and be it raisins and chocolate bars or a chain saw, if it makes you more comfortable or more efficient, by all means take it along. It’s always better to have it and not need it than vice versa, and “I’m only going out for a couple of hours” is never a good excuse to be unequipped and unprepared.
How about ammunition? Don’t be one of those hunters who think they only need one bullet per game animal or one shot/shell per bird. Every gun should be sighted in before each season and don’t settle for putting a couple of holes in the target. Be it bow, rifle or shotgun, practice yields a more comfortable, confident gunner. Bench rest shooting is OK for initial sight adjustments, but then it’s time to shoot a box of shells from standing, sitting or even prone positions. Shotgunners can visit the local trap, skeet or sporting clay field or use a hand trap in the nearest gravel pit or back field, and plan on popping a couple of boxes of shells.
There are some great new rifle, handgun, muzzleloader and shotgun loads out this year, but some work better in some guns than others, and they all need to be patterned at the range. Every hunter’s worse scenario isn’t to miss a shot, as frustrating as that can be, it’s to not make a clean kill or worse yet to wound and lose an animal. Get your gun or bow and yourself prepared and in synch.
I’m sure everyone has remembered to pick up their hunting license and pay and add on any extras, like bear, waterfowl and muzzleloading. The good news is that even if it’s the night before a hunt or a Saturday and the town office is closed, all necessary paperwork can be simply and quickly completed on line at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife web site. Federal duck stamps can only be purchased at the post office, so plan accordingly.
There are ducks in every pond and pothole and partridge have been spotted regularly all summer so it’s likely to be a better than average bird season. Moose hunting is always rewarding and whitetails had a fairly easy winter, boding well for moose roast and venison steak on the table. What I consider the most beautiful and bountiful season of the year is just getting under way, enjoy it every chance you get — and be prepared.
