And A Strong Cup of Coffee
Hunting Blog

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...

Chandler Woodcock was sworn in as Commissioner as Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W)a little over a year ago. I sat down with him last week and talked about his life as an outdoorsman and what he hopes to bring to IFW in the years to come. This is the first part of our conversation: How did you get into hunting/fishing? My grandfather. He was an outdoorsman. My father was not a big fan of the outdoors, so I looked to my grandfather. I started fishing when I was probably 3 years old. I think I started hunting when I was 8. It becomes a part of you; being outside in the woods. It’s a way to relax and unwind and it sticks with you. Folks...

Perfect timing. As I am writing up Mr. Woodcock's answer to my question about the mild winter, I see this link pop up on my Twitter feed about exactly that topic. Lets consider this a little homework for those of you who are going to read my interview with the Commissioner. Part 2 will be posted maybe Sunday (hubby's birthday) or Monday.

There is nothing better than swapping hunting stories with another hunter. It’s a part of the Maine (and hunting) culture that connects one generation to another. A story can bond people, no matter how diverse their backgrounds are. I don’t know of any other culture in which I could strike up a conversation with someone twice my age from the backwoods of Maine and the next day compare riffles with a business owner who travels around the world. I am under 30 and female. And because I hunt, I am a part of a tradition that transcends sociopolitical, economic and physical boundaries. I belong to a club that lets anyone join and listens...

I priced out having someone else mount my antlers for me and decided that Dad and I can handle it. We are independent like that. So on Saturday, we cut off the antlers to my deer to begin making the mount for them. Leah had no idea what this was, but she was willing to go nose to nose with it. Then, Dad moved it and she took off running. Silly dog. Dad's telling me to stop taking pictures and help hold the head. You can see my tree seat on the left. Action shot. One handed! and taken 3 months to the day that I shot him. We each held up our antlers, mine from last year (we remeasured and they have a 13.25 inch spread) and Dad's from the...

Kim sent me more photos from my ice fishing adventure a couple weekends ago. Me and Kim Duckman and Ryan with a nice pike Playing cribbage Vose family

Before I arrived on the pond, Duckman had caught a 6.5 pound pike. I thought it was a huge fish and my dog had no idea what it was and kept coming over to smell it. All I could envision was her grabbing the thing and running. And then dropping it down a hole. Then I would owe Duckman more than I do (Leah thought she could help herself to some chowder). As Leah ran around, she found a dead bait fish and became intrigued. She would put the thing in her mouth, tail hanging out, run a little and then drop it. She had no idea what to do with the fish, what it was or what she should be doing with it. The last thing I wanted was for her to...

On Sunday, I went ice fishing. I had never, ever been fishing before (unless you count the time I caught 13 sunfish when I was maybe 10) and had a vague idea of what to expect. I relied on this to shed some light on what to expect. I was at the pond at 6:45am, trying not to be the late kid and I brought my dog. The hubby was supposed to come but got the flu so the dog and I fled. I had dressed a little warmer than if I was going to go sit in a tree for 6 hours waiting for Bambi, but not by much. I used it as an opportunity to test some new layers I bought a month ago. Rabid had given me directions (not quite accurate, but not to worry,...

Im heading out on the ice this weekend with Rabid Outdoorsman and Downeast Duck Hunter. I have never been ice fishing before and after watching the videos on DH's website... I can only imagine what it will be like. Wish me luck!

I want to get this bad boy mounted. Just the antlers though. My home is not ready for deer heads just yet and I just decided I wanted to save the antlers beyond just keeping them downstairs or in the barn, which is where my little spike-horn's spikes are and all of Dad's antlers. Anyways, I made up my mind late and the head has been hanging out in the barn with misc critters since Nov 25th. So - friends and followers... where do I go? what can I do? I saw Rick's post. Should I make it my weekend...

I was the 26th person to buy a chance in the permit lottery this year/today (they went on sale less than an hour ago I would guess). The cost has gone up, $12 to $15 and there is now an option to NOT be entered, but to get a bonus point for this year instead. Last year, 50,000 people entered the 2011 lottery for a shot at the 3,862 permits that were available. I will know on Saturday June 24 if Dad and I will be headed out into the wild country to (attempt) to bag us a moose. It didnt work out the last time. This is last year's moose that my best friend's Dad got in the...

For some crazy reason, I actually thought I would have a problem finding ways to keep the conversation about hunting going throughout the winter. So far, I have been lucky with all of the things happening... such as this story about a Texas breeder who smuggled in many deer, including 2 monster bucks, and risked the lives of the entire deer population in Texas. I had to laugh at the names of these monster bucks "Barry" aka "Fat Boy" and "Hit Man" aka "Silver Storm" For one thing, who names their deer? And why not tag them and refer to them as #123 and #456. It seems to silly to me. But, its a huge 2+ billion dollar industry that could...

Sunday night on 60 Minutes, Lara Logan did a story on big game hunting in Texas. The tag line for the article was "Can hunting endangered animals save the species?" and it interviewed Charly Seale who "is a fourth generation rancher and the executive director of the Exotic Wildlife Association based here in the heart of the Texas hill country. It's his job to represent the interests of some 5,000 exotic ranchers across North America." As I watched this show, I was torn. I love the idea of working to raise awareness of the threat of extinction for these animals. I love the idea of being able to give the species an opportunity to thrive in...

We met this little guy the year before (fall 2009). He is one of the triplets that we saw and watched play. It was my first experience just sitting and watching deer that were within 25 feet of me (I was in the Sky Condo looking down). We didnt see him this year, unless he is the monster 8 pointer or the 10 pointer (

Over the weekend, I finally cracked into the trailcam and got the photos of the deer off it, or at least copied/emailed to myself. Here is the deer that Dad was looking for. There is no solid, solid proof that it was taken this season, so a little piece of us is holding out...

A few weeks ago (Jan 12), I posted the beginning of a sentence here as well as on my personal Facebook page. The sentence started: "Women Hunters..." The following are the responses that I got on FB. The picture is of me and my best friend Jodie who is also a hunter. 1. rock! 2. should bring me some meat... 3. Turn me on. (earned 1 like) 4. can climb my tree stand anytime ! 5. Are awesome! 6. ...are probably not vegetarians (earned 1 like) 7. Get bigger animals than boys do. (earned 1 like) 8. SUCK!!!! Lmao. But I love you!!!! 9. are the same as men hunters ‎10. . . .are a better shot 🙂 11. have pet squirrels. 12. aim to please 13....

2.4 BILLION dollars comes into Maine thanks to folks like you and me. I contribute directly to the 200 million that is brought in every year in connection with deer hunting. In this article, Bob Humprey gives an over view of impact that our hunting and fishing industry has on the economic health of the State. Each year, I have paid $27 to renew my hunting license. This gives me the right to shoot a buck, of any size, during the season. If I want to put in to get a doe permit, its a free process but its a lottery, so no guarantee. Then, assuming you shoot a deer, you pay $5 to tag it. They take your name, license number, where you shot...