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 another example of something unexpected and interesting you find in the...
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 been told that I will be spending a lot of time in my tree seat next fall, so Dad wanted to make...
This is what 7* looks like 7 degrees. 7 flippin degrees is what the thermometer read when we headed outside on Friday morning. I was as bundled up as possible with hand and toe warmers. Hubby headed to the Sky Condo with instructions to start walking around 7:30am. Dad dropped me off at our newest tree seat and he took off to make a loop around me. The plan was for Hubby to come from the right, Dad from the left and me, in the middle, shooting any deer that happened to get jumped. If it had antlers, it was going down. When it is this cold, I go into owl mode where I really don't move much more than my eyes. Plus, I had on so many layers, I could barely move. Ready for this: 3 pairs of socks...
Dad has hunted on the land that houses the Sky Condo for the better part of his life. About six years ago, we built the SC and started hunting there full time. At that time, there were no other hunters near by. A few years ago, a hunter bought a bordering piece of property, re-did the old camp that was there and brought his buddies along. We haven't had a lot of incidents with them (trespassing last year, putting pink ribbon on my tree seat and lying to us when we asked them what they shot - a search through the list at the tagging station said an 8-point buck). Two years ago, Dad bought a piece of land that is separated from the Sky Condo property by a powerline and a driveway that is privately owned by...
I was so worried about my son waking up in the middle of the night and subsequently waking up my parents, that I barely slept. This was our first overnight and every little whimper had me ready to jump out of bed and make him a bottle. When I got up at 4:30 it seemed as though I had just gone to bed. But it was opening day and there were deer to find! Dad and I had looked over the memory cards from our cameras the night before. Dad asked me to keep track of how many bucks I saw in the photos. One spike, one crotch horn, another spike, a small six (maybe) pointer, two more crotch horns, a NICE, wide six-pointer and a bunch of does. More does. The same does. Turkeys. Grass. Grass. A coyote (boo!) and then... a perfect, beautiful, thick...
I recently sat down with Kyle Ravana, the state’s deer biologist, to talk about what his goals are for the deer herd, what challenges he sees ahead and he answers the question: “Would you rather have a warm winter that is easy on deer or a harsh winter that kills off a lot of deer ticks?” Maine Biologist, Kyle Ravana You took over this position in February. What are your goals for your first year on the job? I really want to get familiar with the job, the materials that we have and the current deer data. I’m diving into the management systems that we have and looking at what our strengths and weaknesses are. I have been researching how other states work with their deer herds and what works or doesn’t work for them in terms of...
This little story has been locked away since last season. I was sworn not to share it. It was a story I was willing to lock away forever. But, when Dad told a few people, it was like getting the ok to share it. Dad and I were in the Sky Condo the weekend before the last week of deer season. It was about 3:30 pm and we were waiting to see if any deer would come in. To look out from the SC, the left front corner has canvas around it to help cut the wind down. It can also cut down on a clear view of the woods from that direction but move about 6 inches to the right, and that small piece of woods is visible again. That is where I was sitting; about 6 inches to Dad's right. We heard a noise...
A guy who works for my Dad put up a camera on some land that we own. These are a some of the best pics that he had! I would love to have two 10pt sets on my wall =) With photos like these, how can you not want to head into the woods now?!? Com'on deer season!!!
Photos from our 2 (out of 3) working trail cameras! Only one chip/camera has a working date and time stamp, but we are getting pictures so we will take what we can get =) Come on deer season!!!
