October is just around the corner and the leaves in the northern climates begin to change. It also means hunting season all over New England. The State of Connecticut will begin the stocking of pheasant for the bird season, bringing out hunters for all over. The Shetucket River Valley is heavily stocked, making opening day sometimes a bit crazy. Forget the long afternoon walks along the riverbed, only the hunters venture into that territory. On opening day it is a long standing tradition for local Fish and Game clubs to host a sunrise breakfast, Sprague Rod and Gun Club included. Many hunters asked if Fred's News was opening any earlier on that morning. "Absolutely not!" Not because we didn't want to get going any earlier, but these breakfast specials put on by these clubs were only done twice a year, once in the Fall, once in the Spring. Our take on that: It's their day, why infringe on their moment. Once the hunters had enough time in the woods, they'd pile into Fred's News anyway.
Hunters from all over enjoyed the Shetucket River Valley lands. Some would park in the old Baltic Mill parking lot and walk down, others would head up along Rte. 207 towards the Town of Scotland. Eventually the majority would all meet in Fred's News to compare stories, never revealing their "secret spot!" For many years, we enjoyed a group of these hunters that arrived every Saturday morning, beginning with bird season, then into duck season and finally deer season. Sometimes there would be only four in the group, other times at least ten would arrive, all the way from Massachusetts for some "Saturday morning exercise." They were a great bunch of gentlemen and we looked forward to their return every Fall season. We also knew their taste never varied,lots of good hot coffee, thick hamsteaks, eggs, homefries and lots of toast with grape jelly. They felt very special knowing we remembered their names and their meal choices every year. We always asked if they wanted to change and the answer remained the same. It was their "good luck" breakfast that made their "secret spot" a great hunting area. It was also the best damn ham and eggs they ever had!
Deer season also produced road hazards throughout the area. As mating season for these animals reached its peak, so did the number of traffic accidents. Our own children having minor mishaps as well. Mark had just got his first new vehicle, turn into his driveway, only to have a deer jump out of the bushes at the beginning of the driveway, right onto the hood of his new vehicle. A few thousand dollars later, it once again looked new. Todd on the other hand, had put his plow on his pickup. As he travelled along Rte. 207, a deer jumped in front of him, he swerved but clipped the deer's butt. Todd was fine, the truck was okay, but there was one sore-ass deer roaming around the Town of Franklin. Part of his hide was stuck on the corner of Todd's plow.
One cool evening in late Fall, as we cleaned up from a long day, I looked out the massive front windows of Fred's News and saw a large buck running up along High Street heading towards Buzz's Barber Shop. Knowing Buzzy was an avid hunter and hadn't got a deer yet, we called him letting him know he didn't have to go very far for a deer, there was one on the way. The word was out, "Buzzy hadn't had a good shot all season, it would be a pretty safe run up the street!"
No comments:
Post a Comment