Outdoors: Christmas shopping season for sportsmen has no bag limits

Like pheasant, quail, woodcock, and grouse hunters, our archers had the last day of their exclusive deer season last Saturday. Because of the weekend’s heavy snowstorm, fewer than normal orange-clad hunters participated in the Dec. 2 opening day of the Massachusetts shotgun deer and bear seasons, which run through Dec. 14.

Upward of 5,000 deer likely will be tagged by the shotgunners, but bears will be largely spared, most having gone into hibernation with the cold spell. Any successful bear hunters will be very lucky. One big buck that won’t be taken was the huge 8-pointer that fatally collided with my son’s boat trailer last Saturday night on the road paralleling the Cape Cod Canal.

The storm also kept thousands of local shoppers from hunting for bargains. Fortunately, the Christmas shoppers’ season has no closed season and no bag limits. Many late season shoppers will desperately hunt for just the right presents with their credit cards till well after sunset on Dec. 24. For anyone still needing to check out, here is my annual suggestion list for your sportsman or woman.

See the full list by Mark Blazis on Telegram's website here.