We can not hunt in Maine on Sundays but that doesnt mean we can not enjoy the wildlife! This doe was enjoying the grass when we caught a glimpse of her. Maybe that means there is a buck or two around.
We kicked off the new season on Saturday and it could not have been a better morning. The moon was out, the stars were bright and there was just a slight chill in the air. It was 24 degrees. After last year's last minute switch in sitting spots and my success, I let Hubby pick where he wanted to sit. He wanted the Sky Condo and I took T3. As the three of us walked along the path into the woods, the silence was broken by a single howl. It was loud and close. Sound travels Dad said but we all knew that the coyote was close. He was probably in the woods between us and T3. Luckily, it was just one coyote (only one was howling.) We split from Hubby and headed directly towards T3 as another howl came....
How does the saying go? Good fences make good neighbors? If that's the case, what do posted signs make? Two posted signs and a property marker tied onto the tree After a few incidents last year, Dad and I spent Saturday putting up posted signs around the piece of property. It is kinda of sad to think about the changes over the past few years and how it used to not be an issue: people knew who owned what pieces of land and who hunted on them. There was a respect for owners and when they said no to hunting, it was respected. Last year, I was yelled at while sitting in my tree seat, we had people walking along the edge of our property and our neighbor had hunters that he did not know, sit in his blind and...
You be the judge. For reference, the whole pile is about 5 inches across and Dad said that its about 4 days old. It's filled with apples and seeds.
I bought into the Hollywood version of trapping. I sat on my couch in my warm house and watched the guys on Mountain Men check their traps and through ‘that could be fun.’ I watched as they put their traps out, checked them the next day, skinned an animals and did it all over again the next day. Through the wonders of editing, it looked so simple to be a trapper. I had a couple of friends who offered to take me out when I told them I had an interest in learning, but they wanted me to take the Trappers Ed class beforehand so I could legally handle the traps. There were six of us in the initial class in Sidney. Most were there to make trapping their hobby and pick up some extra income in the off months of...
With these deer around, I may want to get my sleeping bag and heater ready for deer season! What do you guys think? Is it too early for these big guys to be going around to their scrapes? This guy is back in the pattern of stopping by twice a night to check things out.
In the Northern Maine woods, down a long dirt road surrounded by a beaver bog and thick, dense forests there was a small cabin without electricity, a phone or any sort of cell service. In that cabin, five outdoors women sat with their guns ready to kill Maine black bears. The swollen stream flowed past us at bear camp. The rain would start and stop during my time at camp and we would hold out breathe to find out if we would go out and hunt again or if we would be rained out and the bears that we came to hunt will continue to roam the woods and fields. Five of us were at bear camp and while we lead very different lives, our love of the outdoors and desire to hunt black bear have brought us together for these few days. ...
When Staci and I headed to our last spot to fish, we flushed two birds from the trees. Initially, I could not tell if they were hawks, turkeys or what... it wasn't until they landed on a tree across the stream from us that we could see them! Young Great Horned Owls! We are assuming that they are this year's chicks since they look big but do not have the classic tuffs on the top of their heads. Any bird experts out there who can confirm?
My parents have had a snowshoe hare around the house for a few months. Typically, we see one and within a week it is gone (via interaction with a vehicle) but recently, there were two and then three. All of the adults and kids were outside playing and those hare would race across the back lawn, run along the edge of the garden and at one point, one of them ran along the edge of the house. They were cute at first but they are getting a little too comfortable around humans. Maybe they will head somewhere else this fall... or maybe their lack of caution will result in more car altercations and less human ones. Life with wild critters is never...
