Fish Tales

by Bill Eden

Sep 05, 2007

Hands up, all those that have noticed that we have a large abundance of chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits. That was because we had just enough snow to protect all of our furry friends over the winter months. Now this summer we have had a population explosion.

While it is not good to see so many mice, it is nice to see a few more rabbits. For awhile the rabbits were few and far between. Back years ago, you would see 10 or more anytime you drove into town. Then the ticks showed up and almost wiped them out. It was a terrible thing to watch. The bunnies would sit by the edge of the road, their ears loaded with the bloodsucking ticks that their ears would drag in the gravel. Their faces would be a mass of grape-sized bumps. They were scary looking. Lots, I am sure, just walked out in front of the first car that went by so they never needed to suffer anymore. By the next spring, you noticed that there were far fewer rabbits. They might never have recovered from this, but this year is the best crop of bunnies that we have seen in years.

It was strange that, at the same time our rabbits disappeared, so did the grouse. Any time we wanted to have a partridge dinner, we would get in the car and drive out east of here and shoot a limit. Lots of times you would see flocks of six to 10 birds picking gravel off the side of the road. With a well thought out, shotgun blast you could get more than one bird per shot. But it was more fun with a 22 rifle, head shots only. If you found yourself missing a few, no big deal. There were lots more just up the road a ways.

This spring we noticed a few more birds drumming, and now this summer we have seen a few more birds sitting by the roads. So while the numbers aren’t back like the old days, there is a noticeable improvement. We will know better when the leaves start to fall and we can see through the underbrush.

The season will open Sept. 20 and run until Dec. 15. The bag limit is five a day and you can have 15 in your possession. Seems a bit much to me. But a limit of five is a wonderful feast, when you eat them, get five more. Far too often, if you put something in the freezer in October it never sees the light of day until the next spring. By then it is freezer burnt and only fit for the bears at the dump. Most things are only good when they are fresh.

Moose season will open Oct. 15 and end Oct. 20. The deer season will open, if you hunt with a bow, Oct. 15 and run until Nov. 4, the same time as the moose opener, so be sure you wear your orange jacket. If you hunt with a bow, during a gun season, you must wear orange!

The season on bears is already open, running Sept. 4 to Nov. 30. Be sure to fill out the mandatory questionnaire, even if you do not get a bear. If you buy a bear licence, you will need to fill out a report. This you will find in the regulation book. The gun season for deer, in this area, is Nov. 5 to Nov. 18. So be sure to look into the chance to hunt on the Sunday of the first week.

If you hunt rabbits, the season is already open. Sept. 1 to – get this – June 15 of next year. Here is the best part: there is no limit on how many you can have. Sucks to be a snow shoe rabbit, if you were a cotton tail or a jack rabbit the limit would be six each. But around here, we only have snowshoe rabbits and the MNR apparently thinks they are worthless.

Go figure !