Hunting Holidays First Up Massachusetts
I suspect every region of the country has its traditional hunting holiday and although the traditions and the specie may vary some the importance of these days are sacred to the hunters who participate. The next few days I want to reflect on some of those traditions that I have experienced.
I first took up hunting in Massachusetts and despite what some mindless politician may lead you to believe there is actually some folks that know how to deer hunt in that state. Back in the 80’s when I took up hunting the shotgun season for deer was only a week long, many business closed for opening day in the western part of the state where I was living. Opening day would find orange the color of the day when mostly men and boys gathered in the pre dawn hours at the local diner to get some breakfast before hitting the woods in hopes of bagging a buck. In those days it was rare to have a doe tag but if you did you were considered to be a lucky individual. After a day of hunting it was off to the local check station to see who was lucky and what they bagged. Dinner was with a group of friends at the firehouse hopefully Venison and Polenta a traditional Italian style meal influenced by the local culture. Those who like to indulge would sit back and have some of the locally homemade Grappa as well and the stories would fly.
We didn’t kill a lot of deer back then as a matter of fact in the 7 or 8 years I hunted there I killed only one doe. It always seemed that one of my friends would kill a deer so at least we had some meat. I learned a lot in those early days and I chuckle at some of my ignorance. I’ve lost contact with most of those guys but the memories of opening day comes streaming back when ever I see those frosty mornings where the cold takes your breath away and the sound of crunchy leaves under your boots.
Next up I’ll talk about Maine.
I live in Northern Michigan. Some people joke that the first day of rifle hunting season up here is “St Venison’s Day”. Lots of kids are pulled out of school and you see a lot of “Good Luck Hunters” signs on local businesses.
That’s when all the Big Buck poles go up too. Small towns have at least one. Bigger towns may have several.
Hunting is still a part of the local tradition up here.
Comment by Kristine Shreve — July 19, 2007 @ 9:21 am
[...] in a series of posts on places that have a holiday atmosphere around hunting. Yesterday I covered Massachusetts and the opening of deer firearm season this is the state I first learned to hunt. Today I’ll post a little bit about Maine and the rich [...]
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