A few years ago, I decided to collect skulls and furs from the animals that I killed or trapped. It was partly selfish to be able to highlight the hunts that I have been on but it was also in an attempt to educate my kids about the animals that we eat and interact with here in Maine. My first skull was my bear’s and even though there were a lot of issues with it (cut into pieces and put back together), it was great to see what was under the fur of the animal that I killed and ate. My son loved touching the teeth and seeing the ridge where the two halves of the skull were fused together. The bear rug is thick and soft and it’s my son’s favorite spot for reading/listening to books on tape. Since that bear, my collection...
While I have been away, I have been busy advancing my hunting plans for this fall. And joining new, exciting projects. One of those is DeerCast, an app created by the folks at Drury Outdoors to give hunters the best tools available to identify peak times to be in the woods and when the deer will be moving. I have had the chance to interview hunters who have used the app and have taken some impressive deer! There are a handful of us writing articles, the entire Drury family contributes and instead of waiting a year for footage to come out on television, you can see the videos almost as they happen. Some impressive deer are being taken this year and DeerCast is free! So far, more than 218,000 people have downloaded...
I had just called in for a radio interview when I saw something land in a tree across the yard. I could tell that it was larger and lighter than the birds that are usually around. I held the phone to my ear and answered a few questions while getting my camera out, sliding the screen door open and frantically trying to snap a photo and then show it Hubs so that he could take more photos while I went back to my interview. It was a beautiful Barred owl. It flew away after sitting there for more than 30 minutes and I didn't get a chance to see where it went. A few hours later as we were getting ready for bed, we heard two Barred owls calling back and forth, one was close to the house and the other was further...
We moved to a new house about a month ago. The second night that we were there, a doe came out from the woods. Since then, we have had three does hanging around, one of which was VERY pregnant the last time we saw her (I am hoping for twins!) They are out on the back lawn at least twice a week and one morning, I had a doe only a few yards from the house. When I threw open the curtains, she just looked at me and kept eating. If I draw a doe tag this fall, they are not necessarily safe but until hunting season arrives,, we will keep watching them.
Every spring when the cows kick their yearlings out of their comfort zone, there are news reports of them showing up in the wrong places. This spring, it was near the kid's school. Friends had posted pictures of the moose but it wasn't until I took the littlest kiddo to the doctor that I saw the moose. Knowing O would love to see this, I drove home and swapped kids. I prepped him just in case the moose had moved on, but we were in luck! Aside from the fact that it was next to the interstate, the moose looked healthy with no signs of ticks or illness. The Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife got so many calls about this moose that wardens ended up tranquilizing the moose and moving...
I had the distinct honor of being named the 2018 Sportsman of the Year from the New England Outdoor Writer Association at their annual meeting. Staci and I went down to southern Mass. to attend the annual meeting and network with fellow outdoor writers. It was great to put faces to the list of familiar names there and I was voted in as one of their newest board members. Being presented the award by Ellie Horowitz Staci and I Mary Julius, Executive Secretary of NEOWA It was a long but fun day of talking with fellow writers and hearing their stories of the outdoors all across New England.
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 visit. ...
