By Bill Graves
I used to be a fanatic about deer hunting, but over the last decade my November priorities have changed. From recent conversations around town and a goodly number of chats with other sportsmen met afield, I’m not alone in changing my attention from fur to feathers. From the dismal whitetail results and the above average partridge, duck and goose populations so far this month, the scattergun exactly is having the best of it. Grouse gunning in control and southern suffered due to a wet spring, but October partridge hunting throughout the Crown of Maine proved memorable. Stories of daily sightings of 12- to 20- birds were common with plenty of sports boasting about bagging limit within an hour. With this amount of early season success it should be logically follow that grouse numbers would be fairly well depleted this month. So far that’s not the case.
Outdoorsmen who stalk and still hunt for whitetail are understandably reluctant to shoot partridge they spot since it might spook a nearby buck. Hunters driving the woods or field roads hoping to spot deer have no qualms about popping in the rearview mirror, lots of partridge are still being shot, but bucks continue to be a rare commodity.
Personally I’m substituting ducks for bucks this month while the small ponds, bogans and backwaters remain free of ice. Mallards and black ducks abound, visiting harvested grain fields and unplowed potato fields to fatten up for their flights south. Surprisingly I got a few shots at wood ducks, ringnecks, and even lesser scaup that were still hanging around last week despite the chilly nights.
The Aroostook River, Presque Isle stream, Prestile and Meduxnekeag are loaded with ducks. Floating is possible on many stretches and jump-shooting eddies and potholes on these flowing waterways also continues to be steadily productive. If there’s a small pond, farm spray hole, or beaver hole in your neighborhood, check it out before it freezes up. The other morning before work I jump-shot six small waterholes, spotting ducks on all six and actually collecting my limit from four potholes. Don’t overlook Christina and Josephina Reservoirs in Easton, if you live in the dozen or so nearby villages this pair of man-made ponds yield super waterfowling on a steady basis.
My new favorite late fall passion is goose gunning. While I despise the annual autumn time change, it does provide extra hours for a pre-work honker hunt. Geese roost on water each night, then just after the first fingers of dawn appear the flock wings off to feed in an area field. The trick for local waterfowlers is to locate a field the flock is currently visiting on a daily basis.
With potato harvest finished, regional farmers are hard at work plowing and preparing their land for spring planting. Each day fewer and fewer food fields remain and geese shun chisel-plowed fields with a passion. Cut grain fields, tracts of land planted with a winter cover crop and harvested potato fields are favorite buffets for local flocks of Canada geese. Only deep snow or fully frozen ground will finally send the thousands of honkers winging south for the winter.
For consistent field hunting success, at least four dozen decoys should be set out and when hunting pressure is heavy and the birds more wary, one hundred full-body, shell, rag, and silhouette dekes in some combination improves opportunities. More flocks of geese are arriving in Aroostook daily and stopping over for a week or two to rest, feed and fatten up before moving on, and hunting is top rate right now.
I’m not sure how many regional whitetail hunters will bag a buck this month, but I am positive that there are a lot more feathered quarry to try and outsmart. Throwing in the towel on deer hunting may not be the answer, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to have some backup options to insure a modicum of success.
