For three days leading up to my turkey hunt, I woke up and looked at the clock to figure out how much earlier I would need to wake up to be at Staci's house on time. Aside from ticks, the worst part of turkey hunting is the early start time. The day of my hunt arrived and armed with my coffee, I drove to Staci's house to find some turkeys. Her husband, John, agreed to be our designated turkey caller. Deer ran through the woods off to our right and a partridge drummed continuously as we walked to our first spot. The world was waking up all around us but there were no turkeys to answer our calls, so we moved. I spotted the first birds of the morning, a tom fanned out with three hens (or two hens and a jake) so we...
My friend George Smith publicly announced that he had been diagnosed with ALS early this year. When he told me in late last summer, I was shocked and saddened. I can't imagine the Maine outdoors without George in it.
Yearlings run. That was the caution that Randy Cross told Staci (MyMainelyGirlAdventures) and me as we met with the Maine bear crew to prepare to head into the woods. This particular den that we were going to had a 16 year old sow, who had had four cubs with her last year when they checked her den. There was the potential for four yearlings plus Mama in the den. I was a little giddy with the idea of so many bears! It is easy to brag about the bear crew. Aside from their decades of experience working with Maine’s bear population, they are a study in how team should work. They know their strengths and weaknesses and support one another to ensure that they have a plan and back up plans for every den...
Dad assured us that deer move in the wind. He was confident that if we were in the woods, we would see something. He could be as confident as he needed to; he had tagged out and could stay warm. The wind was howling and with the Sky Condo breaking apart, I didn't waste much time getting into my tree seat in the woods. It had taken me a handful of years to be comfortable enough swaying in a tree during a windy sit, but I was ready. It was so cold that I had on my snowmobile boots with toe warmers, my ski gloves with hand warmers and a blanket over my legs to help keep the wind from hitting the backs of my legs. I had on so many layers! It was too windy to hear anything move so I just kept scanning from one side...
This is how I started my second week of deer hunting. I have never been so quiet in the woods. I was painstakingly slow and keeping my eyes peeled for deer. The week before, I had jumped two deer under my stand and I was determined not to have that happen again. I walked out and around our normal route into my stand. I was at a snail's pace. I would walk, stop and look. I would look again and take a couple of steps before doing it all over again. I watched for any movement near my stand. The leaves had fallen off the trees from the wind storm the weekend prior so I had a better view of the area. I could not see any movement near my stand so I paused next to our trail camera to look around and...
All over social media, there were posts about the rut; has it started in your area? have you seen any chasing? how do you know? what's the moon phase? As much as I would have loved to have had some concrete answer to those questions, I had never seen proof that the rut was on. Until that second week in November. Hubs was out hunting on the 10th and I was in charge of the kids and making our way up to my parent's house to hunt on the 11th. It was windy and cold and I had opted to stay in and not hunt that evening, but wait until the next day. I was holding the baby and watching the leaves blow across the lawn when I saw a doe emerge from the bushes around the pond (see down pointing arrow.) She paused and...
As I climbed into the Sky Condo to start the 2017 hunting season, the top step broke off from the tree sending a chuck of wood to the ground and leaving the bulk of the rung hanging down to the next step. I lifted my gun off my shoulder and slid it onto the floor of the Sky Condo and them threw my backpack up. I got myself into the stand and looked down at the damage. We were going to have to replace a few rungs before the following week. And my silent entry into the woods was anything but. I sat there for a couple of hours and then headed for my stand in the woods to see if anything was walking through. I was cautious walking in and looked for any sign of brown. I made it around the corner when I...
If you do not follow me on Facebook, then you don't know that Dad totally schooled us in how to shoot a big buck. Did some scouting, brought his gun, right place, right time, incredible buck! (Mom's flip phone doesn't take great pictures) So, that leaves Hubs (who has a doe permit) and I (who does not) to attempt to get a shot at one of these big bucks! The competition is on!
How do you create outdoor kids? You have them grow up experiencing outdoor adventures like it is a normal part of life. Over the summer, as I was on maternity leave, I was determined not to let the nice weather slip away without getting some fun, outdoor adventures in. Staci from MyMainelyGirlAdventures took me to one of her favorite fishing spots. I loaded up the baby, my waders (which I fit back into!) and into the water we went. We didn't catch any fish, but we did have a few bites. I had the most action on my fly line that I have ever had! Could have been the flies we put on or, maybe, this baby will be my good luck charm! The weather was perfect and we got to enjoy a few hours in the water wetting our...
