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[ Originally published on: Thursday, November 05, 2009 ]
Despite that rutting moon burning bright in clear, cold skies this week, it's been slow going on the Pioneer Valley archery-deer-harvest front.
Well, actually, the checking stations in our western Hampshire and Hampden hills seem to be producing, with R&R Sports and the Palmer Hatchery reporting a minimum of 94 kills between them. That includes a handsome 9-point, 211-pounder shot by Michael Morrissey of West Springfield and checked at R&R. The only other confirmed 200-pounder taken locally thus far came into the Bitzer Hatchery in Montague last week, a 9-point, 202-pounder taken in Gill by Arthur LaFleur of Gill.
Other unsubstantiated reports of 200-plus-pound bucks have made the rounds, but I couldn't get confirmation of any. The first such report that crossed my path came from my brother-in-law, who took a trophy racker that tipped the Palmer Hatchery scales at 180 pounds and had the personnel gawking at its antlers. But his report that two bigger ones had already been checked there could not be confirmed by the station manager. Then there was the tale from The Outdoor Store in Orange that a 215-pound, 9-pointer had been taken in Royalston by a man who had relatives in Orange or Athol, but didn't live there himself. The Outdoor Store owner said he saw the animal with his own eyes but did not check it and didn't remember where it had been checked or who shot it; a nice deer nonetheless.
For the full version of this story, you may purchase The Recorder electronically, by returning to the home page and clicking under ''E-Edition'' on the right side of your screen, or you can purchase the print edition, which is available throughout Franklin County, Massachusetts.
