sporfs

outdoors with Lou Rodia

Club Hunting Has Many Advantages

Club hunting is different from hunting alone or with one or two others South Jersey deer hunting clubs can be makeshift getJogether groups which meet at a local diner, someone's garage or warehouse, or even at a specified location in the woods to team up for the day or the season. They can be highly organized, sophisticated clubs which are incorporated, have elaborate clubhouses, shooting ranges, lakes and even large acres of woodland under ownership or lease Club hunting is historic hunting in New Jersey. No one knows which was the very first club. No one really know's who first devised the idea of flushing deer from the woods by making noise to move the game ahead to the wailing hunters. Club huntine is safe hunting in that (flubs spend a lot of time in-

docrinating members into safe hunting practices d CLUBS MEET before the t season starts. The club is a usually divided into three d groups One team is the b drivers and the other is the v slanders. The third team is n what we call in our club the t "Over the Hill" gang, a I name they hung on d themselves after a movie i of the same name. s I In that group are the ? older members who cannot withstand the* rigors of c strenuous walking, anyone t i who has an ailment which r I precludes heavy effort and r . very young hunters who t should not be put into deep c . woods where visibility is s limited. This group is the road- f I runner group which covers c the roads and boxes in the 1 ; drives. Usually, drives £ follow a path or a woods t ; road and in 'our club they ; cover an area between four s tenths and a half mile ( square. £ i i

THE STANDEES are so 1 designated because they < take positions four tenths to c a half mile away from the I (sometimes called c Their role is to s walk through the woods to > move the deer ahead of I them toward the standers. t a legal deer ( with antlers £ the regular season) is moved toward the j ■standers, one of them may 1 get an opportunity to shoot. 1 Sometimes the standers < drive the deer back toward ] the drivers because they J or make noise. It is • not unusual for the drivers 1 get shots and kjlMeer < equally as well as th^ standers Once the drive is com- ' pleted, the standers and the < drivers switch positions. j The "Over The Hill Gang' Is activated on the road for y\ the next drive. ON THE STANDS, the i standers are encouraged to climb a tree to get them above the ground. Several reasons prompt this effort. is that one can see infinitely better off the ground and in tlie tree because South Jersey woods tend to be heavy with brush. We also "try to alternate tree standers and ground standers to add an additional margin of safety. By having every other hunter elevated it largely eliminates the possibility of shooting directly at another hunter who is on the ground and in line with you. Deer do not recognize danger from above for the most part, giving tree hunters a better opportunity. Also, ground standers tend to move more and thereby chase a lot of deer out of the area. SEVERAL DRIVES are put on each day, with a break in between for lunch. The morning starts out in ->our club with a sumptuous breakfast. After Roll Call, the two teams, Red and

Yellow buttons, are counted and equalized in there is a lack of balance. The club woods captain gives the usual safety lecture. Lunches which are already packed go into the lunch truck with the thermoses of coffee and soft drinks for lunch. The group leaves for the general area where the will take place. At that point the vehicles are parked all buffer three or four pickup titucks with become wondsTtransport. The standees git on one or two trucks and the drivers on Lheotbefs. y<)n a prearranged time schedule, the standers hear the drive start and the drivers move slowly through the Voods. The Drive usually takes 20 /minutes to a half hour. When the drivers get close, they know by pre-arranged signal not to shoot ahead. The standers likewise know not to shoot in the direction of the drivers. If a deer is killed, it is field-dressed and the deer is. taken to the club cooler to be hung and kept for the final day of the season when the deer and skinned, butchered and shared. IN OUR CLUB, the hunter who bags the deer gets the hide, the head and the honor. All of the meat is pooled into a common pot and divided according to the number of days the hunters have participated. On the day following the close of the season when the meat is divided, some of the meat is prepared and dinner is served. Some of the venison is put away for future use in the club freezer. Monday night dinners oftentimes are enhanced by a tastyvenison dish. What are some of the advantages of hunting in this manner? One, of course, is the fellowship which is engendered by a day of sharing of the hunting experience. There is a tot of banter and joshing. Many, because they would be unable to hunt alone because of age. infirmities or woods knowledge, get the chance to be assisted by those more able. Young hunters get the benefit of many years of woods experience and learn from other club members. FOR SOME, the club hunt offers a chance to learn about the woods which is being hunted. Many of today's hunters do not have the time for lengthy scouting sessions . These are -performed for them by the club's woods captains and hunt leaders, who do scout the woods looking for good signs well ahead of the season. Hunters who spend time in the woods with a club rarely, if ever, get lost or left. Lots of solo hunters do and in many cases, even the families do not know exactly where the lost . hunter might be. A solo hunter risks the chance of a twisted or broken ankle or other serious injury with no one to help him. Dead batteries or cars that do not start are a problem for the solo hunter which are all but eliminated by the club | hunter. THERE IS ALSO THE opportunity to join the | nightly clubhouse activity

which precedes and follows dinner. Most clubs have sleeping, cooking and bathing facilities and the club hunter usually takes the week of deer season or part of it as vacation time to get away from the worta -day world. Gub hunting is not for everyone. Some hunters prefer the challenge of taking on the task of bagging a big game animal alone or with one or two others. TTieir choice cannot and is not faulted. In the 38 years I have been a club hunter with the same club, it has provided many of the rewards we talked about last week. As is true of all activities, some sports are for some persons and some are for others. I happen to enjoy all of the facets of club hunting. That's why I made my choice and will continue to hunt with a club as long as I am able.

RIO GRANDE ARfTW & NAVY REmODEUNG PRICES SLOSHED ON (TlflNY ITEfTIS Village Shops Rio Grande 886-6868 (Formerly Marlyn Manor) NEXTrtl?cT,^t^tNDt POST OrrlCc |gy SPORTSMAN'S STOM I Agents For All Hunting, Trapping, ~L Fishing & Shellfish Licenses. / |

" ©ut£/° ^ HEAT LOCK REPLACEMENT WINDOWS w

REINFORCED VINYl (Never n»ed« pointing) ! U 7/8" Insulated Glass V — In Panels \/l|! Easy Access, Security) Y,Y\ / Latch At Meeting Rails Full Interlock At \\)\ ' I Meeting Ralls ! Full Length Lift Rails On V Sash Panels Double Woalplle Around Entire^ Operating Panels Area

"""""" • -a ' " Z | ' - Rugged Extruded Aluminum Framing J \ \ Tilting Panels For \ \ Easy Cleaning Finger Latches To — -\\\ i Release Sash Panels \ \. U ' r\\ ' Jamb Adjustment A Devices For Fool ^\\ Proof, Accurate — Installation MAINTENANCE FREE VINYL SAVE ON FUEL ^ A ENERGY COSTS

[?]

Basketball Tryouts On CAPE MAY - Tryouts for the City Youth 'Recreation Basketball League are slated for Nov. 24 .and Dec. 1 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Elementary School on Lafayette Street. Interested youths between 8 and 13 will be registered, participate in some basic drills and be divided into teams on these dates. All players will receive team shirts prior to their first league game. The league starting date will be Dec. 15. For further information contact the Department of Gvic Affairs at 884-8411, ext. 20 or *27.

Bullies On Top AVALON -The Belleplain Bullies lived up to their name by rolling up a 33-14 score over Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital and taking a firm hold on first place in the borough Flag Football League with a 4-0 record in last week's play. In other games, Ferguson Builders eased by Champagne 13-12, and the Recking Crew topped the Mud Hens 21-14. The Blue Knights won by forfeit over J & F Builders. STANDINGS Belleplain Bullies -4-0 Furguson Construction -3-1 Kecking Crew 2-1-1 Champagne -2-2 J 4 F Builders -2-2 Blue Knights 1-2-1 Mud. Hens -1-3 B.T.M.H -0-4 Turkey Shoots VILLAS — The Bayshore Sportsmen's Club is again holding its Fall TurkeyShoots every Sunday at the clubhouse on Arizona Avenue. Persons interested in shooting are asked to be there by noon, to beat the rush and get the most out of the day. Shooting will continue while there is enough interest and/or the turkeys last. PARTICIPANTS can bring a 12 gauge shotgun, or use anyone that will be available at the shoot. The cost is $2 per shot, and contestants can shoot at more than one target during each String of shooting. For more information call the club at 886-6486 or aU 884-7109 or 8890216.

Cape May County ALMANAC NOVEMBER urjiv DuiLfc/oociTini-i: roDDrpnnv nurc PHASES/POSITIONS

The Moon's affect on the Tide is greatest when closes! to Earth (in perigee; and when in direct alignment with Sun 4 earth (full 4 new moon phases) On and about these dates, low pressure systems and/or strong winds (depending upon direction; may result in flooding, and extreme! y low tides Moon Phases First Quarter Oct.JI First Quarter Nov. 38 Full Moon g Last Quarter u hi ew Mood a Perigee v "...4 TIDE TABLE I Computed for Cape May City beachfront, for other areas, see Correction Times DATE HIGH LOW a.m. p.m. p.m. 31 Wed 12:52- 1:11 6:45- 7:36 1 Tbu 1:51- 2:10 7:54- 8:SS 2 Fn 2:55- sno 8:55- 9:27 3 Sal 3:52- 4:07 9:49-10:12 4 Sun 4:44- 4:56 10:36-10:53 5 Moo 5:27- 5:43 11:21-11:32 6 Tue 6:06- 6:22 -12:06 7 Wed 6:43- 6:50 12:13-12:46 8 Thu 7:15- 7:35 12:52- 1:29 9 Fri 7:50-8:11 1:»- 2:66 10 Sat 6:22- 8:49 2:02- 2:47 11 Sun 8:56- 9:27 2:34- 3:24 12 Moo 9:37—10:12 3:06- 4:04 13 Tue 10:25-11:06 3:45- 4:49 14 Wed 11:19- 4:30- 5:47 15 Tbu 22:06—12:19 5:39- 6:53 16 Fri 1:12- 1:24 7:01- 7:56 17 Sat 2:16- 2:21 6:17- 1:51 16 San 3:22— 3:36 9:23- 6:51 19 Mori 4:23- 4:42 10:20-10:42 20 Tue 5:17- 5:37 11:14-11:32 21 Wed 6:07- 6:26 -12:09 22 The 6:54- 7:15 12:21- 1:02 23 Fri 7:40— 8:03 1:10- 1:52 24 Sat 8:16- 8:50 1:57- 2:39 25 Sun 9:12- 9:40 2:45- 3:28 36 Moo 10:01-10:30 3:»- 4:14 27 Tue 10:50-11:26 4:17- 5:02 28 Wed 11:44- 5:10- 5:55 29 Tbu 12:19-12:35 6:06- 6:52 30 Fri 1:19- 1:27 7:19- 7:46

Compute approximate times of high 9 low water for your area by adding or subtracting the following number of minutes for each tide phase in the Tide Table LOW HIGH Great Egg Harbor Inlet Minus 12 pluslO Ocean City 19th St Bridge: plus 35 plus 22 Corson Inlet < bridge > plus 21 plus 7 Sea Die Ctty „ ilasdlam Thoro Bridge: plus 66 plus 43 Sea Die City Beach minus 2 minus 21 Townsend Inlet plus 21 plus 4 Seven Mile Beach plus 15 o Stone Harbor (Great Channel Bridge) plus 43 pins 40 Hereford Inlet (Angleaea) pius 19 o Wilds ood Beach Minus 2 mints 17 Weal Wild* ood i Grassy Channel bridge) plus 46 pi ISO Cape May Harbor phsl minus 4 Five Fathom Bank ph»Il phsl Cape May Point Phs46 plus 34 McCrte Shoal plus 26 plus 22 Delaware Bay / Bayshore Channel (Bay -Canal Junction) ptaaSl 1 pits 36 Miami Beach ; ' plus 75 Deons Creak Entrance piuaM -pks 64 Brandywu* Shoal Light Ptae77 plus 52 v