Maine Hunting Articles and Blog • Page 15 of 49 • And A Strong Cup of Coffee

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 it...

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 back...

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 and...

Welcome Spring!

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

After snowstorms in March and rain, Saturday was one of the nicest days we have had in a long time. We eagerly got outside and went for a walk. Baby fell asleep in the jogger, wrapped in a blanket with the sun on him and the wind in his face... it made me jealous. The dog got to take a splash in the run off - which she was ecstatic about and promptly dove in face first to the cold, cold water. And on our way back, I saw this feather wound around the branch of a bush on the side of the road. I didnt know what it was until I posted it on Twitter and Jeff said it was a turkey feather. A great sign because turkey...

The magic of a hunting book

By Erin M | Apr 9, 2014 | 1 Comment | 4 min read

A few weeks ago, my great-uncle Donald sent me this book because he had been reading my articles in the Northwoods Sporting Journal and thought I would enjoy this find. While this is not super old, it is older than me and it was great to read through the book and "learn" how to hunt, fish, hike, camp etc. The great thing about being an outdoors-woman right now, is the openness and excitement that I have found with other writers and outdoor-men in my life. In order for us to evolve and become more interested in getting outdoors, it takes someone who is willing to teach us. I hope that when Uncle Donald sent this to me, he saw...

Taking turkey hunting to the next level?

By Erin M | Apr 1, 2014 | 4 Comments | 1 min read

As I was driving to work today I had a thought; one of my biggest issues with transitioning to turkey hunting is the idea of aiming at the head and hoping enough pellets are close enough together to kill the bird. What if I learned to bow hunt for turkey? That would give me one arrow to aim (like one bullet) and I would have one target to hit instead of aiming in a general spot. For those of you avid turkey hunters, what is your thought on this? I would not be able to do this until next year, but it is a tempting thought. Will it work?

Here a tree stand, there a tree stand, everywhere a tree stand!

By Erin M | Mar 31, 2014 | 1 Comment | 1 min read

While out on our snowmobile ride, we went down a stretch of powerline that was peppered with deer stands. I envision something like the Dunkin Donuts/snowplow commercial where one deer steps out and there are at least three hunters ready to take aim. I am glad that we hunt on private land! Here are the photos. Which one would YOU want to hunt from?

Final ride of the season

By Erin M | Mar 26, 2014 | 0 Comments | 2 min read

Getting ready to ride A couple weekends ago, Dad, Hubby and I went snowmobiling. It was warm, sunny and the snow was pretty soft. While winter has no desire to leave Maine, this was probably the last ride of the year due to our weekends being booked. Dad's goal for all trips, anywhere and any time of year is to see deer. I regularly get reports about how many he is seeing and where. So we headed out with the goal of getting some fresh air and seeing deer. "If I don't move, they won't see me" And without fail, Dad found us a deer. You probably can't see it very well in that cluster of trees, but you can make out...

A clothing revolution

By Erin M | Mar 23, 2014 | 2 Comments | 2 min read

I have blogged before about women's hunting clothes, or the lack thereof. This year, as I prepare to take on turkey season, goose season and my beloved deer season, I am starting to really look at what I wear and what I need to stay warm and mobile. I'm a still hunter. I find a spot and sit. I have also been given fair warning by Dad that come November, I should assume that I will be pulling 5-6 hour stints in one spot. Last year, with my layers (three on bottom and seven!! on top), it was tough to get my gun nestled into the crook of my shoulder and have control. I realized that I needed better, thinner...

A must read!

By Erin M | Mar 16, 2014 | 0 Comments | 1 min read

If you have ever wondered what life in the Maine outdoors is like, you need to read my friend George Smith's book "A Life Lived Outdoors". It is a compilation of stories and articles that he has written over the years, so you don't need to rush through the book to get to the end of the story. This a wonderful book that allows you to read a story and set the book down and think about what you have read. I am currently dreaming about what my future camp should be like and what it will smell and feel like to step outside early on a summer morning with a cup of coffee. I am only a few stories in, but I have found myself smiling and...

Sportsman’s Shows

By Erin M | Mar 8, 2014 | 1 Comment | 1 min read

There is something awesome about attending Sportsman's shows. You get to be surrounded by people who care about the outdoors as much as you do. I had the opportunity to talk with some great people doing amazing things here in Maine when it comes to the outdoors. A few of those companies, I plan to write future blogs about. It is a guaranteed to put you in a great mood when you surround yourself with awesome people. I can't wait to share with you some of these folks and their stories.

Calling BS

By Erin M | Mar 6, 2014 | 3 Comments | 3 min read

After I posted my blog on cyber bullying and outdoors-women, I sent versions out to be published elsewhere. One place did and it got some great coverage. The other place did not. The reasoning, "MY wife has hunted with men for years and has never run into this sort of thing. I have learned not to put much stock in the spewings that come from the cyber world." Upset with that response, I headed to Facebook to see what the topics were on some of the hunting groups that I follow. One had a picture of a woman with the caption, "Honey, I decided to sell those old guns and knifes you have laying around the...

Do Outdoor Women need to toughen up?

By Erin M | Feb 25, 2014 | 12 Comments | 4 min read

I hope you get shot out in the forest and wolves gnaw on your dying corpse…..WHILE YOU’RE STILL ALIVE I’d like to rip off your f*$%ing head and pour gunpowder down your f*$%ing throat and light it on fire Only c*%t’s shoot animals and take pleasure in it. I hope you die a horrible painful death As I began to look at how female hunters were being bullied, I had to ask myself if it was because we were easy targets as women or if we needed to just toughen up a little. Once I started asking my fellow female hunters about their experiences, the things that they sent to me as examples of what they deal with daily made me sick to my stomach....

Trading my rifle for a muzzle loader

By Erin M | Feb 10, 2014 | 4 Comments | 2 min read

No, not really! I love my rifle but I am on a mission this year to try new things and expand my hunting repertoire. Up first, muzzle loading. My Uncle brought his Wolf Magnum 50 caliber gun to the house at Christmas (we celebrate all holidays by shooting guns) for us to try out. Dad and I had never tried muzzle loading before so we need a tutorial on how to load and unload the gun. 50 and 75 grain black powder pellets Learning how to load the gun. I always make Dad shoot first Uncle Jim and I before my first shot It was a great gun to shoot and I really felt comfortable with it after the first shot. ...

Wanted: Mr. Sportsman

By Erin M | Feb 6, 2014 | 14 Comments | 3 min read

A friend of mine sent me this link and asked what I thought about it. I had seen it before and was honest when I told him how degrading I felt it was. Not only was the title of the "Miss Maine Sportsman" application in pink* but the questions were incredibly insulting to those of us that are fighting to be taken seriously among our male counterparts. Questions like, "Do you clean your own kills/catches?" would never be asked if it were Mr. Maine Sportsman. It would be assumed that yes, of course men clean what they kill. Why is that assumption not made of us outdoor women? Another question, "Do cook [sic] what...

Knowing what creatures are around us.

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

Deer tracks in the snow. Coyote. Sadly, these are two of about two million that we saw on our walk. Rabbit tracks Partridge Wing! There were partridge tracks nearby but I couldnt get a good picture.

Tracking a blood trail

By Erin M | Jan 30, 2014 | 3 Comments | 1 min read

While we were on our walk and looking for sheds, we can onto a deer trail that had some blood! The hunter in all three of us kicked into high gear and we started walking slowly, hunched over like a detective with a magnifying glass looking for clues. The first blood spot we noticed. A close up of the first spot we noticed. Maybe a cut above the hoof? If we had had enough time, we would have back tracked to see if there was more blood in the opposite direction than the one we traveled. We could not find many more drops between steps and once we got to the stream, we decided to just keep going and head back. Just...

In search of sheds

By Erin M | Jan 27, 2014 | 2 Comments | 2 min read

Dad, Hubby and I set off to see if we could find some sheds. Dad has found them before but I really wanted to see what sort of bucks lived through the season. On Saturday, with a light snow falling, we took to the woods. A very active deer trail Dad had been out doing some cutting and had found a rib cage (sorry that I forgot to take a photo of that!) but he was not sure if it was a coyote or a fawn. He also found a strip of hide. Frozen deer hide We headed towards my tree seat to hop on some deer trails in search of sheds but also, to check out the improved shooting lanes that Dad cut for me. I have already...

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