 I
started hunting grouse and pheasant with a very close and lifelong friend
when we were both seventeen. As the years have passed, both my free
time and the quantity of grouse and pheasant habitat have shrunk.
I have focused more of my attention on hunting deer, and now that is pretty
much all that I hunt in the fall.
I was born and raised in Southern New England and have witnessed the local whitetail deer herd grow from a nearly endangered species to what some suburbanites would call a nuisance level. I can remember the first deer I ever saw. It was a small doe that was standing at the edge of the road as I rode my bike up behind her on my way to my favorite fishing hole (to hit the dawn hornpout bite!). That was at age 11, and I don¹t think I saw another one in town until I was about 20 years old. These days, it is common for me to see at least one or two a day at almost any time of year! Similarly I have witnessed the comeback of the striped bass to Massachusetts waters. I remember fishing for years with my uncle and NEVER catching a single striper. It wasn't until I was about 25 when I caught my first schoolie bass in the Taunton River on a jig. Now I get quite downhearted if one of my frequent visits to the Cape Cod Canal does not include at least one 28" keeper bass. I am proud to be
among the few who take it as our responsibility to take part in the management
of such wonderful living resources. My memberships include the Massachusetts
Bowhunters Association, Somerset Sportsmen's Club, Sticks n Limbs Pro Staff,
and The Hunt Recorder & Note Book Pro Staff Team.
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