Maine Hunting Articles and Blog • Page 14 of 48 • And A Strong Cup of Coffee

Maine Black Bear

Back to Baiting

By Erin M | Aug 21, 2014 | 0 Comments | 4 min read

Lance and Lorri putting some bait into an empty bucket The good smelling bait... mmm strawberry I was sure that beaver was the grossest smell ever, but I was so wrong. It is easily rotten lobster bodies - the kind that are put into black trash bags and left out in the sun and forgotten about. I dont think any of us didn't gag, hold our breathe or pull our shirts up over our noses in an attempt to stop the smell from penetrating into our nostrils. We added it to one of the beaver carcases and for the first time, I really had to question a black bear's eating preferences. Of course, there is also the 'good' smelling bait...

Maine Black Bear

We are in business now!

By Erin M | Aug 18, 2014 | 0 Comments | 1 min read

Here they come! Site 1 and 2 now have bears coming in. Steve said that they are very good looking bears and healthy, too. These are from the trail camera memory chip that Steve puts into his camera. He then takes these photos, of the camera screen, with his phone. Don't worry - in a few weeks there will be a photo of the real thing 😉 ...

Finally! Some velvet

By Erin M | Aug 14, 2014 | 0 Comments | 1 min read

Dad has been gathering and rotating the camera memory cards for about a month now hoping to get a picture of something we like. There are a group of does hanging around which we think are the same group that has been there for the past three of four years. We kept telling ourselves that 'where there are does, there are buck' but it's just not the same. Finally! We saw what we were looking for. Just two pictures but this one is good enough to get us ready to take to the woods. Bring on deer season! I called tibs on this guy! A nice eight-pointer walking...

Maine Black Bear

We have bears!!

By Erin M | Aug 11, 2014 | 0 Comments | 1 min read

Steve went back out to the sites four days after we had and there were pictures at site 2. Not the best pictures but there are bears around and coming in! We have a couple more weeks until the hunting season starts and then it runs for 14 weeks. I'm trying to work my schedule to get out and help bait one more time before I head into the woods on the last week of August to try my hand at bear...

Maine Black Bear

There is nothing easy about baiting bears.

By Erin M | Aug 8, 2014 | 6 Comments | 3 min read

On left, unopened sweets. On right, the goodies ready to be put out. I was lucky that it was only 73 degrees out! I would have melted after we headed to the first bait site. I carried buckets filled with bait and some secret ingredients to keep the bears coming back again and again. While I was glad to not be carrying the bucket with the cut up dead beaver, I was reminded of my position down wind of it after every few steps. Making a bait barrel While I support bear hunting as it is now in Maine, I did not know a lot about it and felt that if I was going to support this fight, I should know what I was talking...

Maine Black Bear

Bye, bye comfort zone. Hello black bears.

By Erin M | Jul 22, 2014 | 3 Comments | 2 min read

Copyright Darrold Door. Picture found at: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/hunting_trapping/hunting/bear.htm Bear hunting. Just those two words can bring out some very strong emotion amongst hunters and non-hunters. I would tell you to vote NO on1 and I could give you a long list of reasons why but if you are reading this, chances are I am preaching to the choir when it comes to understanding why hunting is necessary to keep animal populations healthy. I have never gone bear hunting. I have really never had an interest. My friend Robin is an incredible outdoor woman who has been bear hunting for the past three years. I have...

Wildlife Conservation

Of Place

By Erin M | Jul 16, 2014 | 0 Comments | 2 min read

My Sky Condo A recent piece in "Trout" by Tom Reed talked about place and what it means to have that one place where you can retreat to and forget all of your worries. It got me thinking about my place. Tom writes, "it is your place. We all have them. Places of heart home, places where we feel centered and right in the world... At that moment when you were there, you were all there." When I was little, I would sit by the stream heading out from the pond behind our house. I could sit and just listen to the birds, the stream gurgle over the rocks and watch the clouds bounce across the blue sky. It was peaceful and calming. When I hunt now,...

Ready or not, we are taking over the industry.

By Erin M | Jul 1, 2014 | 1 Comment | 4 min read

The following is an article that will be published in the Northwoods Sporting Journal in the August issue. Women are on the move! We are taking over the woods, fields and waterways to hunt, hike and fish. And we are doing it more often than men. An article posted in June on Ammoland’sShooting Sporting News, states that “the most recent U.S Census found that there are 13.7 million hunters in the Nation – 11 percent of them are women.” Slowing but consistently, women are picking up guns and rods and heading outside. We are getting into hunting and fishing and taking it seriously; it is becoming more than...

Fish On!

By Erin M | Jun 18, 2014 | 0 Comments | 3 min read

I am afraid that I could really get addicted to fishing. The only thing that is really stopping me are those images of fishing hooks embedded in fingers, thumbs, hands etc. and realizing that that could be me. I shutter! But when Al took me out fishing on the Big Lake, I could see myself really getting into fishing. The weather was perfect and I was eager to see if I could really land a fish. I had struck outturkey hunting so I was hopeful that my luck would change. One of the streams leading into the lake. Al and I met up at 8:30 and headed out. It was perfect weather, sun and a little wind. As...

Adventures in the Woods

Chet’s Camps in Grand Lake Stream

By Erin M | Jun 12, 2014 | 2 Comments | 2 min read

Two days before our arrival, Sue from Chet's Camps called to see what we needed and what they could have ready for us. How would we like the beds made up? Did we need a pack n play? a highchair? They were so accommodating and helpful - even before we left home, that we knew this would be a great trip. Dawn breaking over the Big Lake in Grant Lake Stream. Al and Sue Laplate own the camps and have been providing a place to people from all over the world to come and fish the lakes known for some of the world's best landlocked salmon. It was dreary during the whole six-hour drive up but it was better to be driving in the...

Adventures in the Woods Uncategorized

Sneak Peak…

By Erin M | Jun 10, 2014 | 0 Comments | 1 min read

I have about five blogs that I need to finish and post but here is a sneak peak of one of them. I am flirting with the idea of into fishing so we headed to Grand Lake Stream to see if I could land some of the world renounced land-locked salmon there. This is the view from our cabin!

Adventures in the Woods Uncategorized

For Military Appreciation Month – House in the Woods

By Erin M | May 30, 2014 | 1 Comment | 4 min read

Visiting a cemetery days after Memorial Day was surprisingly emotional for me. As I pushed my almost 1-year old in his stroller past the rows of stones, I was touched by the number of those sites that had American flags next to them. I thought about those who had given their lives for the freedoms that my son will enjoy. I also started thinking about an incredible family that I met at a Sportsmans show earlier this spring. Paul and Dee House turned their tragedy into something that I want to support and tell you about: There is some notoriety that you don't want to have. If you Google "Lee, Maine" you will find...

Wildlife Conservation

A little nostalgia to make you smile

By Erin M | May 23, 2014 | 0 Comments | 3 min read

A little while ago, I wrote about George Smith's book, "A Life Lived Outdoors." At the time, I had not finished the book. Now that I have I want to share more of my thoughts. If you love the outdoors and have hunting and fishing stories of your own, you will immediately connect with George and his retelling of those days in the woods. There is an immediate smile that comes across your face as you read about camp and the sounds, smells and feel of being in a small building surrounded by the Maine North Woods. I couldn't help but be jealous of George's ability to leave the hussle and bussle of daily life to retreat...

Adventures in the Woods Maine Outdoors Uncategorized

Birds swimming in junk

By Erin M | May 21, 2014 | 1 Comment | 1 min read

There are few places were I live that are open and green. There are pockets of city forests or walking trails but there are no real places to get out and explore the woods and ponds. I forget that until I happen to see ducks or geese swimming in these ponds along side fast-food containers, rusty, broken hockey goals, empty plastic water bottles and plastic bags from department stores. For a city full of people who claim to be passionate about wildlife, this speaks...

Scat and Tracks

One road and SO many signs!

By Erin M | May 19, 2014 | 0 Comments | 1 min read

In search of our turkeys, we walked down this camp road. It was around noon and there were some great spots to sit and call from along the way. Right from the start we knew this was an animal haven! The tracks and scat were all over the place. Some of the tracks actually surprised us. A fresh bear track. Check out those claws. Two bear tracks. A better view of the palm of the paw. It was like Grand Central Station for turkey up and down both sides of the road. Turkey tracks and turkey scat. While we did not see any turkey that day, Brian did call in five Toms the next day. The great thing about...

The beating of the drum

By Erin M | May 14, 2014 | 5 Comments | 6 min read

I have been thinking about it since Friday. The gobbling that just got closer and closer, seeing the quick movement in the dense trees and brush just in front of me, that black band across the top of those dark brown feathers and his white head stretching above the blow downs to find that purring hen that he was after. I could hear the drumming and strutting as he got closer. Finally, there he was in front of me. He stepped out, his long neck leading his puffed out body into the slight clearing... The field where we started calling. Dad and I woke up a little before 2:30am in order to have breakfast and meet...

Prologue: I should have listened to myself

By Erin M | May 5, 2014 | 3 Comments | 1 min read

On Thursday night, before our big outing with Brian, Dad and I sighted in our new shotgun. We paced out 30 yards and started shooting at our make-shift turkey heads. Dad shooting at 30 yards. Dad's pattern. My pattern. My comment to Dad after I took two shots at this piece of paper: "As long as a turkey comes in from my left, I should be in good shape." Oh the irony! Dad and I were confident that as long as a turkey was within 30 yards, we would be in good shape. I worked on setting the bead in the middle of the gun so that it would not pull to the left. It was a new gun for us and long - 28 inches but...

Turkey Season 2.0

By Erin M | May 1, 2014 | 1 Comment | 3 min read

Here we go! Turkey season has kicked off in Maine and as Dad and I are getting ready to head out with my friend Brian, I can not help but think of where we werea year ago. I wanted to shoot a turkey while I was pregnant so that I could say that I got both a deer and turkey while waddling around in the woods. It didn't happen but Dad and I learned a lot about this new critter that we were hunting, which is why I asked Brian to take us out for a day. We need to learn how close they need to be to us in order to take a successful shot and we need to learn how to get them to come to us. We were successful last year in having...

Ugly girls need not apply

By Erin M | Apr 29, 2014 | 11 Comments | 4 min read

I hate to burst your bubble folks, but its more likely than not that you will never see me on the cover of any hunting magazine for three reasons, 1. I just don't look that good in camo 2. I would refuse to wear anything pink or have anything within the shot be pink and 3. if I were ever asked a question about my looks vs my hunting abilities, my comment would not be fit to print. I was excited when I got the May issue of Field and Stream. Finally! There was a woman on the cover. I flipped through the pages to find the article. I flipped. I flipped. And when I got to the end of the magazine, I went...

Hunting in Maine Maine Black Bear

Care about deer? Vote to hunt bear!

By Erin M | Apr 21, 2014 | 0 Comments | 4 min read

My 10-pointer shot on Nov 25th 2011. The closer we get to November, the more I am concerned about what life will be like for my beloved White-tailed deer. In 2007-2008, we had a harsh winter with a lot of snow followed by massive flooding in the northern part of the State. Since that time, the overall deer herd has been struggling to get back to the numbers we once knew. Guides and older hunters talk about the days when you would see deer all the time and Maine was known for its 'Big Buck hunting.' While, I will always love to tell the story of shooting my 10-point buck, if we really want to rebuild our deer population...

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