For the second year in a row, Richard Carlson of Oak Bluffs has been named Top Gun at the Rod and Gun Club’s annual Fall Shoot, held Sunday, Nov. 25. Past winner Cooper Gilkes III earned second place; Michael Ferry captured third. Participants were ranked based on their participation in three categories of competition.

Prizes were also awarded to the following people for their individual performances: Mike Ferry for the Bulls Eye competition; Dick Carlson for the Over the Shoulder competition, and Matt Gamache for the Standing Deer competition.

A total of 173 deer had been taken yesterday in the first week of shotgun season. The three primary deer check-in stations on the Island reported Thursday that the number of deer taken so far is about the same as in recent years. The two-week shotgun season for deer ends on Saturday, Dec. 8.

State wildlife forester Brian Hawthorne has been counting the deer checked in at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest. Mr. Hawthorne said, based on what he has seen so far, the deer population is healthy and well-fed.

Next week the deer hunting season shifts from bow and arrow to shotgun.

“You are up close and personal when you are in archery season, at 20, maybe 30 yards away,” said Walter Ashley, an experienced hunter on the Island. “With a shotgun, it’s not so critical.”

Mr. Ashley has been hunting for nearly 50 years, whether it be bow and arrow, shotgun or muzzleloader.

“I’d go if they had a stick and stone season,” he said.

Are you ready for shotgun season? Prove your mettle with the metal at the Rod and Gun Club’s annual Shotgun Shot, a marksmanship competition that takes place Sunday, Nov. 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., one day before the beginning of shotgun deer hunting season.
Participants are invited to compete in a variety of events including the Bull Eye Target at 60 yards; the Standing Deer Target, a 60-yard competition for slug shotguns with both open and scoped sights.

Vineyard archery season, now in its waning days, has brought out large numbers of hunters, who in turn have harvested at least 100 deer. Archery hunting season began on Oct. 15 and continues through Saturday, Nov. 24.

The end of archery hunting season for deer will be followed by shotgun season, which runs from Nov. 26 to Dec. 8, and black powder season, which runs from Dec. 10 through the last day of the year.

With each shout of “Pull!” came a loud crack as the competitors tried to find their target at the Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club’s annual skeet shooting championship Sunday. With guns loaded, ear plugs in and glasses on, Bill Damora, Brian Reed, Laurence Clancy, Bill Shanok and Brian Welch hoped they had luck on their side as they sought glory in the competition’s first flight.

Deer hunting shotgun season ends tomorrow at a half-hour after sunset. The two-week season began strongly and then slowed down this past week with the onset of bitter cold followed by rainy, windy weather. The total count for the three Island check-in stations so far is 352 deer.

Check-in stations are at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest headquarters, Wampanoag Tribe headquarters in Aquinnah and Larry’s Tackle Shop in Edgartown.

A total of 292 deer were taken during the two weeks of shotgun season on the Vineyard, which ended on Saturday, Dec. 12. Hunters were successful and the numbers are close to what was expected, despite weather conditions that were less than ideal.

“The weather was not that great,” said John Scanlon, state wildlife biologist. Mr. Scanlon operated the deer check-in station at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest during the first week of the hunting season. He checked in 137 deer.

Four days into the deer shotgun season and already 196 deer have been taken. The two-week hunting season began Monday morning with foul weather. John Scanlon, a state wildlife biologist assigned to the Vineyard this week, said that the hunters didn’t start bringing deer to the check-in station at the state forest until later in the afternoon.

By Wednesday afternoon the number was 79. By yesterday afternoon the number had grown to 95, even though Thursday morning was windy and stormy.

Shotgun season for deer began on Monday and the first week of the 12-day season was marked by good weather and a decent harvest by hunters.

By 1 p.m. yesterday, Brian Hawthorne, a forester for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, had seen 71 deer come through the deer check-in station in the state forest.