Northeastern Connecticut's Neighbors Paper

Stuck in a Rut
by Tom Woron

            It is the time of year that deer hunters dream about all during the twelve months in the northern regions.  That time is now, November being the most significant.  It is time for the rut.

            The rut is the time when antlered animals, such as deer and elk, look to mate and breed.  The time of year for the rut will vary for the different species.  Many species time the rut so that their young are born the following spring.  That way new green growth will provide food for nursing females and the young will have less of a chance of freezing to death.

            What makes the time of the rut so important to deer hunters is that the white-tailed deer is on the move and easier to spot, track and kill.  The white-tailed deer is normally a very alert and cautious animal almost always looking and listening for any signs of danger.  However during the rut, the white-tailed deer, especially the large male or buck deer, have only one thing on their mind… mating.  At such time they are on the move more often and much less cautious.  This increases the odds in favor of the hunter to score a big buck as they are easier to hunt during the rut.  Buck deer can behave rather erratically and drop their guard at this time.  Fights between big bucks to establish dominance over a territory or a female (doe) deer will take place.  The buck deer scrape their antlers on trees to establish territory, however scrape marks reveal their presence to hunters.

            When the female or doe deer reaches sexual maturity, she experiences estrous cycles.  The estrous cycles are reoccurring physiological changes that are brought on by reproductive hormones.  Estrous cycles continue throughout the animal’s adult life.

            For white-tailed deer the rut typically consists of four phases that have no distinct demarcation line as to when one ends and the other begins.  Instead, the phases flow rather smoothly from one to the next over a period of approximately a month and a half. With a little knowledge of these phases, the deer’s behavior during the various phases, and adjustments to hunting tactics, the deer hunter can have a very good chance to score a big buck during the hunting season.

            The first phase of the rut begins around the last week of October.  The daylight hours are noticeably shorter.  This combined with increased testosterone levels at this time cause the buck deer to start getting antsy.  The bucks then start to emerge from the thick areas of the forest that they usually hide in and move around into more open areas in search of an estrous doe.  At the beginning of the rut bucks are also very interested in feeding as much as they can to fuel up, so to speak, for the energy they need to move around in pursuit of a mate.  While searching for mates and areas of available food, bucks will leave many telltale signs of a repeatedly traveled route.  These signs include scrapes on trees, eaten leaves on many types of bushes, disturbances on the ground, and large groups of tracks.  Once a heavily traveled route is identified, a deer hunter, whether with bow or rifle, can set up a deer stand or tree stand along this route.  The biggest bucks are likely to move along this route during early dawn or dusk. 

            The second phase of the rut will probably begin a few days into the first week of November.  At this stage the buck is primarily interested in finding and aggressively pursuing an estrous female.  For approximately the next week and a half to two weeks the deer activity level will be at its peak as bucks, experiencing maximum breeding urges due to heightened testosterone levels, will relentlessly seek and chase does. He will also do his utmost to display his strength and a show of force to other bucks as he tries to establish his dominance over an area or a particular doe.  The methods of establishing his dominance include aggressively challenging other bucks and ferociously scraping and even knocking down trees or bushes to mark his territory.             

            The trick now for the deer hunter is to not look for the buck in thick forest and rugged terrain that they recently used for cover but to find terrain where the doe prefer to hang out.  Doe tend to prefer less rugged areas such as open fields with a few bushes to feed on, pine groves and abandoned farm pastures in which high grass and weeds took over.   During this phase of the rut bucks will follow varied paths from one area that doe hang out in to another.  Keeping a close surveillance on the possible routes of travel between doe hangouts will increase the hunter’s chances at this time.  Common tactics used by hunters during this phase include using doe calls that imitate their bleating sound, and setting up decoys.  Both are effective in drawing big bucks in close.

            The middle of November is the time for the third stage of the rut.  Buck deer have now lost much weight do to being high strung and aggressively moving about during the previous weeks.  The majority of does that are to be in heat are already so.  Most issues of male dominance in doe holding areas have been settled.  At this stage things tend to mellow out as most of the breeding now takes place.  A doe’s breeding cycle lasts around 36 hours at which times the buck stays with her.  But once her cycle is over, the buck will go off to seek another mate.  Such moves to find another mate will often happen during the middle of the day.  Most hunters are programmed to quit by mid-day at least until dusk.  At this time of the rut, doing so could forfeit some excellent hunting hours as the bucks seek other does to breed with.

            Once the climax of the breeding begins to simmer down, the bucks are now worn out.  We now transition into the final stage of the rut.  The bucks are tired from all the chasing around, belligerence and clashing with other bucks to establish their strength, the breeding with multiple mates and last but not least, the hunting pressure.  In short, the bucks are spent.  They have lost much body weight.  It is time for the bucks to retire to the higher ground, to the rugged and thickly forested terrain that they came from.  Peaks and areas thick with brush and briers is where the hunter will now find the buck.              As November turns into December most of the breeding is done but the rut is not quite finished just yet.  Most of the powerful bucks that have not been felled by hunters have retreated to their thick, rugged hideouts to rest, feed and recharge.  They will eventually go on the prowl again.  Not all of the young does had previously been in heat.  Though not very numerous, these does just coming into estrous cycle late in the rut will be sought out by the remaining dominant and rejuvenated males. At this point usually only the biggest and strongest bucks remain.  This is a last chance opportunity for hunters to bag a trophy buck before the end of the rut.Tom lives in East Hartford.  E-mail: tjfworon@sbcglobal.net

Shadachusetts
by Tom Woron

         The state of Connecticut long had a claim to fame in the angling world as the most noteworthy place to go to fish for the acrobatic, hard fighting American shad.  The Connecticut River and one of its main tributaries, the Farmington River sustained a very large run of American shad each spring beginning in April and lasting until June.  There was one place in particular that was world famous as the place to go to fish for shad.  That place was the Enfield Dam.

         The Enfield Dam was only nine feet high and slanted across the Connecticut River between the towns of Suffield and Enfield, Connecticut. There are no real deep pools in the river here, but the dam was a barrier. Thousands of migrating shad used to mill around below the dam seeking what few options there were to get past it.  The water appeared to boil with shad. Each spring anglers came from all over to stand in the swift water on the Suffield side casting shad darts and other lures into the current.  Dozens of boats anchored below Enfield Dam.  During the peak of the run, the daily catch was in the hundreds and was even reported on local radio.  The world record shad, at the time, was caught here in 1973.  There was no better place.

         We live in an ever changing world.  Nothing stays the same.  Nothing remains constant.  The Enfield Dam was constructed of wood covered over by steel plates.  Time and the forces of nature took their toll.  Beginning around 1977 the steel plates began to peel away and several breaches in the dam became apparent.  The shad were no longer held back.  As the years passed, it only got worse.  Enfield Dam’s heyday as the Mecca for shad fishing was history.

         While Enfield Dam was far from the only place to fish for shad in Connecticut, it was the most famous.  Many other areas along the shores of the Connecticut and Farmington Rivers offered excellent shad fishing.  In addition, the walkway of the old (now replaced) Route 140 Bridge spanning the Connecticut River between Windsor Locks and East Windsor, Connecticut was an excellent place to jig a lure in the river’s channels using boat rods with trolling reels and heavy sinkers. In fact, this historically was one of the better shad fishing spots.  There was, of course, always the option of launching a boat and having almost unlimited access to many areas of the river. 

         With the breakup of the Enfield Dam, however, it did not take long for attention to shift to Massachusetts, our neighboring state to the north.  The next roadblock to migrating shad was the Holyoke Dam, a much higher dam constructed across the Connecticut River between the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts on the west side and South Hadley on the east side.

         Content to stay within Connecticut in pursuit of shad despite the demise of Enfield dam, I was satisfied with the many excellent shad fishing spots along the shores of both the Connecticut and Farmington Rivers as well as the walkway of the Route 140 Bridge.  It was Joe, a friend and fellow shad fisherman at the Route 140 Bridge that suggested we take a ride to Holyoke to do some shad fishing.   Finally in 1983 we had a shad season that was very cold and rainy most of the time. The water levels stayed much higher than normal.  Fishing from the shore and the Route 140 Bridge proved more difficult.  Near the end of May that year, Joe and I took a ride to Holyoke to explore.  What we found was a whole new shad fishing paradise. 

         The few miles down river from the Holyoke Dam offers shad fishermen a multitude of options to pursue their favorite quarry.  First, there are two bridges in the area for those who prefer to jig lures in the river’s channels from the downstream walkways.  About a mile downstream from Holyoke Dam is an old steel girder bridge between Holyoke and Chicopee that is part of Route 116 and is known as the Willimansett Bridge.  The river is fast flowing here so a heavy weight is needed when jigging a lure in the channel.  A boat rod, trolling reel, and line strong enough to haul a seven or more pound fish up onto the walkway are recommended.  A basket net to lower down to the water will make life much easier. 

         Further up river, just below the Holyoke Dam itself is another bridge, the Holyoke-South Hadley Bridge, also part of Route 116.  A very old steel bridge was replaced here in the early 1990s.  During periods when higher water is pouring over the dam the river channels below are teeming with numerous shad during the season.  A bridge angler jigging a lure in the channels at such times will go home very tired having fought and brought many shad up onto the walkway.  

         There is excellent shoreline access on both sides of the river downstream from the upper 116 bridge.  On the Holyoke side is a tail race channel where water is released to generate power.  It is very deep here and water levels can rise very rapidly so caution is advised.  Schools of shad flock into this channel on their way to the dam.  This is the place to drift a shad dart or other lure down the current when the water is faster.  A steady retrieve is better when the water is not so fast.  Fishing here can be excellent at times when water levels in the main river are low or even dried up.  It was here that I once rigged up with a three quarter ounce bead chain weight, a three foot leader and a willow leaf lure and squeezed my way into a crowd of anglers all casting shad darts.  Within two hours I fought and landed twenty-three shad compared to one or two among the anglers around me.  There were several deliberate attempts to snag my line to see what I was using.  Willow leafs were unknown in Massachusetts at the time, in 1985.

         Over on the South Hadley shore the river is generally shallower and during periods of high water this becomes an area of swift water and rapids.  Shad can be caught over here on the same shad darts and willow leafs with spinning outfits.  However, a fly fisherman can have a real sporting time in this area fighting large shad in the rapids with a fly rod.  Bucktails and a number of small streamers have proven successful.  This area can literally dry up when water levels drop.  If the shad run is still going when this happens then the tail race channel on the Holyoke side is the place to go. 

         Each year the Holyoke Gas and Electric company holds a shad derby fishing tournament in the Holyoke, South Hadley and Chicopee area on two weekends in the latter half of May. Derby headquarters is located at Hadley Falls Station access road at the Holyoke end of the Holyoke-South Hadley Bridge.        

         Since the breakup of the Enfield Dam in Connecticut, the area below the Holyoke Dam in the state of Massachusetts now claims the title as the world-famous place to fish for the American shad.  The presently standing world record shad was caught here in 1986.

         Another thing to consider is that when shad fishing slows down around the end of May or early June in Connecticut, it is often still going strong in the Holyoke area.  Each year can be quite different from the next.  In years that the temperatures get really warm earlier and the water levels drop rapidly, then shad fishing is over around the first of June in both states. 

         Should steady rains, however, keep water levels up at a decent height then the shad fishing in the Holyoke area can run much later, even into the latter half of June.  In one such year when there was a lot of rain during June, I drove up to Holyoke Dam area in the middle of the month.  Not a single soul was around.  Lo and behold, I hit a major late run of very large, egg-filled female shad.  For several days, I had the time of my life battling mostly large female shad all over six pounds long after the run was believed to be over. This continued right up until the day of the longest daylight of the year.  I looked around me wondering where the heck everybody was.

         There can be few, if any, regrets about buying a Massachusetts fishing license and following Alosa sapidissima up there.

Tom lives in East Hartford.   E-mail:  tjfworon@sbcglobal.net  

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