Here is how we got to this point. The two men did not seem to see is and Tim and I tried not to give ourselves away but we were on the edge of the field. Tim tried calling the land owner because the property was posted and he was supposed to be the only one hunting. No answer. We stood there and listened as the two men began calling and waiting for a response. They were much closer to those two birds who had just been calling back with us. One gobble and those guys would be headed into the woods. Luckily, those stubborn birds kept quiet. But the idea of hunters in the area made us question our decision to move on from a spot that we knew had active birds. Tim placing decoys in the field So we...
As you know, Dad and I saw way more deer than turkey when we attempted to turkey hunt for the third spring season in a row. It is still a little surreal to think about because our first turkey season ended two weeks before I had O. My schedule was so busy that I had to cancel a turkey hunt with David Hodgkins of Blackfalcon Custom Calls and reworked my schedule to get a half day hunt in with Tim Cote of Cote and Son's Guide Service. I met Tim at 4am and we headed to a spot where he had been the night before. He knew that there were toms around and he knew which spots they would be in. It was a perfect set up. Come on turkeys! We sat just over a little knoll with a couple of chairs and bushes helping to keep us...
Dad and I were making our normal trip to check the trail cameras. We pulled out of the driveway and drove 1/2 mile up the road. I was looking for the snowshoe hares since they have a tendency of playing in traffic when Dad slowed the car down, moose! Maine moose heading across the field I got my camera out as Dad brought the car to a stop. "I bet he is headed over to the mountain." The moose was headed in the direction of the land where we had seen the moose tracks the day before. Maine Moose In order to get a few more pictures, Dad pulled the car into a roadway along the edge of the field and slowly stopped. The moose stared at us for a few seconds and kept walking. He never changed his pace or his direction....
I was thrilled to see these pictures on the camera. I dont think I have ever seen a fawn this little in the pictures. We had three of them, but he was in a hurry so this is the least blurry one. I can not wait to see if there are more pictures when we pull the card next time. Doe and new fawn run across the field And even though we saw the rafter of turkeys, it is nice to see the hen with such a healthy group of babies. Hen with 10 poults It will be great to see them grow over the next few months. Hopefully they can do that without any interference from this. Otherwise, Dad and I will have to take care of...
Slowly but surely, I am going to learn how to fly fish! There is a blog coming (along with a couple turkey blogs) but until I can sit down and publish them... enjoy the view from the river. We arrived about an hour after they released the water. A little...
When some blogs just talked about opening day of fishing season, Robin Follette and I LIVED it! I drove four hours north the day before to hang out with Robin and go on a few adventures (those posts are coming, but here is a sneak peek). The biggest was to stand in the Stream in Grand Lake Stream on opening day and try our hand at fly fishing. We didn't really care about catching a fish but we were excited to see the groups of people that would be there and the excitement surrounding the beginning of fishing season. We met up with Brian Donaghy of Epic Adventures to help us with gear and guidance. When we pulled into the parkinglot, we saw Brian and only 4 or 5 other vehicles. This was not the crowded fishing...
The forecast calls for 20-25 inches coming my way this weekend. That storm will mean that we have seen almost 6 feet of snow in the past 3 weeks. It has snowed about every other day. I think everyone who pays attention to the deer herd is watching and hoping that the lack of snow early on in the winter allowed for the deer to store up more fat and get more food to be able to survive 6 feet of snow in such a short time. Dad and I checked on 'our deer' while our snowmobiling Last spring the turkey season was eliminated from Northern Maine because of the snow fall amounts and concern over the breeding success rates. Living in a state that can get slammed by Mother Nature, keeps you on your toes. We obsess over...
I got my skull back from Lori and Jim at New Frontier Taxidermy! They are incredible. Not only are they tanning my bear hide but they saved my skull. Saved it! A look into my bear's mouth One of the things that I did not want to tell people was that when my bear was getting cut up at the butcher's, his skull was cut. I knew it was bad and the look on my guide's face was a give away for how bad it may be. But, I had my bear head, hide and an extra bag with the back part of his skull in it that I took up to New Frontier Taxidermy for Lori and Jim. I lied to people when they asked me about it and hoped against hope that Lori and Jim could but it back together. I wanted a complete skull and...
It rained. Rained hard and the wind blew. It was anything but ideal for finding moose in the Maine woods. But Brian, Jenn and I knew that the weather was going to be clear and with some rain gear, we were off for an adventures. Last year, I was spoiled; beautiful calm weather and moose first thing in the morning. This year, our normal 4:30am start was pushed back to 10am. About an hour after we left, we were winding down dirt roads heading further into the woods. We pulled into an old skidder road, grabbed our cameras and were off. The sun had finally come out but the wind was still whipping through the trees and causing bursts of leaves to drop from their branches. Brian calling for moose We...
