Northeast Outdoor Newsletter: December 2022

Well here we are in December, everything covered in snow and my freezer running criminally low on venison. The deer seasons came and went with a couple of spectacularly close calls, but in the end, the late muzzleloader and bow seasons ended with no tags punched. This is not the first time I haven’t been able to harvest a deer, and for damn sure won’t be the last, and that’s totally okay with me. I still enjoyed my time and miles hiked in the big woods of Northern Vermont, even if I didn’t get to make my rifle go ‘boom.’

Moving right along, December brings on a different mentality for me as we hurdle towards 2023. Big game hunting is over for me until May for spring turkey season, but there are still some species that are here right now in abundance and are currently being pursued as I write this post. Most zones in the state are still in the midst of pretty much every waterfowl season, including the new December Canada goose season that was opened up by the state this year. Additionally, small game seasons are still in full swing such as squirrel, crow and rabbit. I may find myself in the woods for a limit of gray squirrels before the season ends on December 31st, as it’s usually a successful hunt and squirrel meat is pretty fantastic in my opinion.

Cottontails are my main hunting forage in the winter months, and a hunter can take up to 3 per person per day from the end of September leading into March, depending on which Vermont WMU zone you’re hunting in. I don’t use dogs to flush rabbits, and I find the act of flushing them out of cover myself to be just as enjoyable as hunting, dressing, cooking and ultimately eating them. Two recent snow storms have deposited around 8 inches of snow in my area, but with rain coming towards the end of this week, I may have an opportunity to get out after some cottontails with less snow on the ground.

No matter how much hunting small game on snow excites me, ice fishing in all of its many forms and tactics will always remain paramount for me until the spring thaw. We have had an uncharacteristically warm fall up until this point, so most bodies of water are behind where they usually are by this point, but there is still ice to be found if you know where to look. Just like late ice, early ice can be sketchy and dangerous in a different way, so always make sure to wear ice picks around your neck in case you fall in, make sure to never fish alone and let others where you are headed, and use a spud bar to check the thickness of the ice as you walk out. One step can be the difference between staying dry and going for a swim.

Smaller lakes and ponds will freeze first and that’s what I have my eye on. Vermont recently changed their ice fishing trout seasons to start January 1st instead of the third Saturday in January, opening up a whole new experience for anglers to chase trophy fish sooner than ever before. I have my sights set for chasing some brook and rainbow trout in a few central Vermont ponds as soon as that clock strikes midnight on New Year's Day.

Until then, one can enjoy catching a variety of other fish that are far less regulated, such as pike, pickerel, perch, bluegill and sunfish. Most locations are open year round for all these species with higher bag limits than most other fish. I always consult the Vermont Fishing Regulations magazine before I go anywhere to know size, slot and quantity limits. These are always free and available at basically any bait and tackle store, Dicks Sporting Goods and Walmart. I usually grab a few every time and leave one or two in the truck, one upstairs and one downstairs at my house. You can never study it enough, and includes additional articles and photography from anglers all over the Green Mountain State.

We are certainly getting close to everything freezing up, and to get excited, check out the action from my first trip out last year (2022). Little did we know that we would land the biggest fish of the year on the first flag of the day.