And A Strong Cup of Coffee
Hunting Blog

When I was 25, I flew into Albuquerque, rented a car and drove for two weeks. I sketched out my route and made sure to hit as many National Parks as possible. I went to Grand Canyon National Park, Zion, the Canyonlands, and Arches (I was there a few months before the big arch fell!). It was breath taking! I would hike and just stop in awe of what an amazing resource we have in our National Parks. Standing in these places and seeing the grandeur of the Parks made me so grateful to live in a country that preserves and protects places like this. I live in Maine and have Acadia National Park in my backyard. I worked on Mount Desert Island...

Just out in the Bangor Daily - LePage signs bills to rebuild deer herd Kevin Bennett | BDN White-tailed deer bound across a field in Orono in October 2010. By GLENN ADAMS, The Associated Press Posted May 23, 2012, at 12:08 p.m. Print this E-mail this Facebook this Tweet this AUGUSTA, Maine — With hopes of rebuilding a deer herd that’s shrunk in parts of Maine to worrisome levels, Gov. Paul LePage has signed new legislation that implements multipronged strategies laid out in a bill that passed last year. The new laws, signed Monday by LePage, are aimed principally at two areas: restoring all-important deer yards that help the animals...

I found a blog post via Twitter from the US Sportsman's Alliance and US Sportsman's Alliance Foundation about the possibility of getting fired for hunting in other States and the legality of the whole ridiculous situation. The gist of the story is this: The Commish in California went to Idaho and shot a legal Mountain Lion. In California, that's illegal. When he got back, activism groups called for his resignation. As a result, there is all sorts of legislation being proposed that would prevent this kind of potential prosecution from happening. I know many of you out there hunt in different State. Do you hunt any wildlife in these States...

Throughout my life thus far, I have been the kid who looks at the sun and gets a severe sun burn. I walks outside in the spring and comes back in looking like I have chicken pox. I can bathe in deet (or any other "repellant") and easily get 20 bug bites. I look like an idiot when I am outside in the summertime; at a friend's house, out by the fire, I am in jeans, sneakers, wool socks, long-sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, hat and covered in bug dope. And I will have 15 bug bites all over me the next day. I have heard it all: "You're just so sweet" (I'm not), "They like your blood type" (My blood is just as good as anyone else's!) and a bevy of...

It was a fantastic Maine spring weekend. A little chilly and windy Saturday morning, but the sun was out and we were outside. Fresh air and sunshine will cure what ails ya! We had a mini lawn sale in the morning, then in the afternoon, Hubby and I went on a adventure with Dad. We had important business in the woods... namely, how our hunting spots are looking and if there was any sign deer out and about. We checked out the Sky Condo and then Dad took us to a new spot that he has added to our list of places to hunt. A friend of his owns the land and Dad has been wanting to hunt on it for a few years now, but I was the stick in the mud and...

A friend of mine in DC occasionally sends me (or Tweets at me) articles that he wants my opinion on. Yesterday, it was an op-ed piece from the New York Times titled, "I Hunt, but the N.R.A. Isn’t for Me" by Lily Raff McCaulou. My buddy wanted to know, as a "lady hunter" what I thought about this. And I am curious what YOUR opinion is... are you a card carrying member of the NRA? As I read the op-ed, I agreed with many of her points, For hunters like me, hunting isn’t ultimately about the gun. It’s about wildlife and the land that sustains it and I’m a hunter and a sportswoman. I own guns, but not for self-defense but I also have to...

After talking about it for a few weeks, I actually took my antlers back to my house and boiled them. It was a nice, sunny day. I had my grill going and everything was working well. The wind put out the burner a couple of times, but I re-lit it. However, when I ran out of propane, I was forced to bring it inside. With the windows and door open, I boiled this thing. I added water every 30-60 minutes to keep it boiling. Hour after hour. I thing the entire project took me about 8 hours. But when it was done, this is what I had. Its funny to look at the antlers now and see how uneven they are.I think the lines are the coolest thing. They are...

Rabid Outdoorsman and I are now members of BOW (Becoming an Outdoor Woman) in Maine. Rabid has been to one meeting and I will be attending my first at the end of June. The plan was to meet at a local watering hole and discuss how we can bring our time and talent to this organization and make it rock. Originally there was going to be 3 of us in this "meeting" but it turned into just me and Rabid so he suggested I meet him and we go fishing. I was coming from work, in amazing heels and dress clothes. Rabid didn't think pumps would be a good choice for fishing in April but I tried to convince him otherwise. However, like a good Maine girl,...

Feels like its been a while since I posted anything on here... this is what I have been up to: 1. Conferences 2. Work (we had an amazing 1 day fundraiser then blew our $$ goals out of the water. True stat: per capita, Maine is one of the most generous States when it comes to charitable donations.) 3. Spring cleaning 4. BOSTON MARATHON!!! This is my beautiful friend Lissa. She and I started school together when we were 3. She met my hubby when they were in college and she introduced us. She is also 1 of the 3 people that witnessed and signed the paperwork when I got married. She is amazing. And yesterday, in 90+ heat (some reports said...

I came across this cool Q&A on Mike Hanback's website, that talks about bucks holding onto their antlers longer in the winter and what that means for the next season. Hopefully, with the mild, (MILD, no-snow, 80-degrees-in-March) winter we just ended, the deer herd had a nice, relaxing season and can get bigger and grow better antlers for this fall. But, who knows what this summer could be like... Thoughts? Do you agree with...

In Charles Schultz's 1965 classic A Charlie Brown Christmas, Lucy asks for one thing for Christmas... Lucy Van Pelt: I know how you feel about all this Christmas business, getting depressed and all that. It happens to me every year. I never get what I really want. I always get a lot of stupid toys or a bicycle or clothes or something like that. Charlie Brown: What is it you want? Lucy Van Pelt: Real estate. On Friday, Dad bought my tree. The tree that I shot my deer from this past season. It had been on private land at the start of the season, became public land when CMP acquired the land in order to extend their powerlines through Maine...

If all goes well, there will be an exciting new post this weekend. Anyone want to take a guess as to what it could be? Hint: hunting related

This Sunday is Maine Maple Sunday! In 2011, Maine produced 360,000 gallons of maple syrup. In order to get 1 gallon of syrup, you need an average of anywhere between 34-42 gallons of sap depending on the concentration of sugar. For Hubby's birthday, we headed to a friend's house where he has about 5 taps going during the season. This is his set up - metal taps, plastic hoses into 5 gallon buckets. We then headed to Brian's nephew's sugar house. This place was built in 1954 and there is a small camp right next to the sugar house where they use to sleep while collecting the sap all spring. Brian's nephew has 700 taps. I tried to get a good...

This weekend, Hubby got his first real hunting gun. Its a Winchester 270 with a Bushnell 9 power scope. Last year, he was hunting with a borrowed 12-guage. So, with the weather being incredibly nice, and it being DAD's bday(!!!) we headed to the back yard to start sighting in the gun. First Hubby shot. He took two shots into an empty plastic jug that was propped up on the wood pile at about 60 yards. One shot was a little high and to the left. The other was about 2 inches to the right. Then Dad decided he needed to try and turned to hubby and said "Lets see if it's the gun or you" and chuckled as he took two shots. Dad's a cool lefty!!!...

This past week, Inland Fisheries and Wildlife released the numbers for the 2011 deer season. It is a perfect pick up point for the rest of my interview with Chandler Woodcock, Commissioner of IFW. How were the deer & moose numbers compared to 2010? Overall, about average. The numbers are down a bit but I think that is because of the animals adapting. You can't hunt moose from your truck anymore and expect to be successful. You need to actually get out and hunt; move around a little bit. Animals adapt and somehow they know when the seasons is so they travel. If you are not there when they are moving, you will miss them. The deer numbers...