This could be the best season ever when it comes to trail cam photos of the deer around the Sky Condo. Hunter or not, how can you not love and respect these great animals?! I can not wait until deer season...
It rained. Rained hard and the wind blew. It was anything but ideal for finding moose in the Maine woods. But Brian, Jenn and I knew that the weather was going to be clear and with some rain gear, we were off for an adventures. Last year, I was spoiled; beautiful calm weather and moose first thing in the morning. This year, our normal 4:30am start was pushed back to 10am. About an hour after we left, we were winding down dirt roads heading further into the woods. We pulled into an old skidder road, grabbed our cameras and were off. The sun had finally come out but the wind was still whipping through the trees and causing bursts of leaves to drop from their branches. Brian calling for moose We...
I was glad that I had brought extra layers when we stepped into the 29 degree October air. It was going to be a perfect hunting day with bright sun, cool temps and a great view that showed off Maine's fall foliage. Tim Cote of Cote & Sons Guide Service was taking me out on a guided bear hunt with his friends Al, Scott and Scott's two boys. And Tim's six Walkers, pups Boy and Lady, Jill, Emma, Garth and Moose. We headed for the Maine woods when it was still dark out and as the first light was breaking, we turned off the paved road and started to head deeper into the woods on some old dirt roads. Tim let the dogs out to stretch and run around the truck as we slowly drove down the road. I was taking in the view and talking to Tim...
I was so excited when I looked at the trail camera pictures from the past week. I finally was able to figure out that the deer I had been studying was (and is) the same deer. Here is my proof. Note the time and position of the deer. YEAH! Mystery solved. I am looking for one deer, who is probably 3.5 or 4.5 years old. I have pictures of him from last year and this year. He is smart, stays nocturnal for most of the season but likes to come back to the same areas. I know that no matter who sees him (us or the nearby neighbors) he will be shot at. I just need to formulate my plan of attack and be smart about it. Finally, some peace of mind... ... And then, there were two. The...
Trail Cam photo. I wish I had been able to take a shot at him. There are islands off the coast of Maine that have had to eradicate their deer population for the health of the people who live there. There have also been controlled hunts to help with deer and tick issues that wreck havoc on the health of people in the area. On Mount Desert Island, the issue of a deer hunt is going to be on the ballot this fall. The guidelines are pretty simple. For the first two to four years, hunters who own property can set up tree stands or ground blinds and hunt from them. They can have friends and family do the same with permission, on that same property. Using common sense, there will be an appropriate amount of space...
After being in the audience of thetownhall debate on changing the way the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) manages our bear populations, I was determined to interview Judy Camuso. It was Judy's knowledge, passion and drive that came through during the debate that had me and supporters in the crowd, fired up about our work helping to educate and encourage more people to Vote NO on 1. I sat down with Judy to talk about her career, Maine's wildlife and of course, bears. Photo courtesy of J. Camuso from a Portland Press Herald article What made you want to get involved in wildlife? I grew up outside. My mom had six kids and we were always outside. I loved animals from the time I was young. I went to...
The following pictures are driving me out of my hunting mind! We are getting these great pictures on a weekly basis but for the life of me (and Dad and a couple other hunters who I have asked) I can not figure out if this is one deer or two! I was sure after this last set of pictures that I had two big deer around. I still think I might based solely on their G3 tine but when I sent these pictures to two hunters, they both wrote back saying that they could not tell for sure, if it was one or two deer. I was watching hunting shows over the weekend and on two different shows they had deer that looked like the deer in this last picture and when that deer turned, it looked exactly like the first picture (above). Or visa...
There is nothing better on a nice fall day then walking through the woods with Dad and checking the trail cam pictures. We headed out to check the camera by the Sky Condo and the camera by my tree seat. That big buck has been hanging around the Sky Condo but if it's the same deer as last year, he made a few trips past my seat and into the bog. After doing some logging on the property, Dad has decided that we will move my tree seat and build another permanent stand. The plan right now is to move closer to the bog and off to the left of where I sit currently. This will allow me to sit close to the bog and thickets and if it rains, I can still be around any deer that decide to move. I am naming my new stand...
I have been going back and forth between these photos from last hunting season and the ones below. Is it the same deer? The photos are off my two months (Sept vs Nov) but are we looking at the same deer? It looks like the same antler frame and maybe the same antlers, but I think G3 is longer in the 2013 pictures - or it could be the angle, light and position of the deer. What do you think? Same...
