Deer season is approaching and it's almost time for Dad and I get our tree seats up. Blake Anderson at Huntertreestands.com offers this advice for the best places and types of tree stands to use to ensure you land that buck! Thanks Blake! The Sky Condo that Dad and I built. Optimized Tree-Stand Placement There are a lot of elements during hunting that are often out of your control, which can ultimately lead to an unsuccessful hunt. However if you optimize those components that are within your control, then you can quickly turn a disappointment into a great victory. Tree stand placement is one of those key rudimentary elements that will decide whether or not you end up empty handed, and there is more to it than just finding a...
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!!!
Three years ago, Dad and I headed into the woods to get a moose. I took a week off from work and we were rocked and ready. Zone 17. In hindsight, I can see why Rick wanted to trade permits for that zone. Throughout the week, we saw one dead moose and a spot where one was gutted. That was it. It was the second time Dad had been drawn and the first time he didn't come home with some meat. At the start of the 2012 moose season, it was projected that 75,000 moose were roaming the woods. In my interview with Commissioner Woodcock, he spoke about the changes that were taking place this season that would allow more people to get their permit who had not. This past fall, my brother in law (BIL) who is a biologist for the State of Maine was...
A few weeks ago, I sat down with the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Chandler Woodcock to talk about the increase in moose and doe permits across the State and what it means for sportswomen (and men) this upcoming hunting season. Q: The number of moose permits has been released for 2013 and they have increased since last year (from 3,725 to 4155). What's changed? A: Our biologist, Lee Kantar has been working tirelessly to get an accurate moose count. He has gone up in a helicopter and used some new technology to get accurate numbers of moose around Maine. The majority of the increases will be seen north of Bangor and we looked at each WMD individually to make sure we are carefully monitoring the...
As a 30 year-old woman, it is hard to figure out where I belong in the overall hunting world so that I am taken seriously. Women, and my demographic specifically, are the fastest growing demographic in the hunting world right now. I have been hunting for 10 years and write a few different outdoor blogs about my experiences and in order to keep up with what is happening across the state, I belong to organizations that promote hunting and the outdoors. One of those organizations is the Sportman's Alliance of Maine (SAM). I have been a member for about a year now. Their mission states that: The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine is Maine’s largest sportsman’s organization with 10,000 members and a headquarters in Augusta, ME. SAM is considered...
This year, Dad and I decided that we would sit out of the moose lotto. It made sense. In 2010, when Dad was picked, we spent a solid 8 hours a day riding the roads in his truck looking for moose, walking around in the woods calling for moose and seeing a lot of hunters and only 1 dead cow. Since we know the time commitment that we are looking at if we get picked, and with me nursing a 4 month old come October, we decided to not apply for a permit. But, with the new Maine Moose Lotto revamped from what it was in 2011, Dad and I could still get points for applying and ensure our names were not entered to be drawn for permits. For each year that you apply and you do not get a permit, you gain a point. I am up to 5 points right now. The...
On Christmas Eve, we told my parents. To say Dad was shocked is an understatement. This is the last entry for what it was like to be pregnant during hunting season. It is pretty surreal to think about the next hunting season and the fact that come November (or opening day), I will have a 5 month old. WOW!!!
I wrote this post for my blog with a local newspaper. I was hoping it would generate some conversation, but instead of talking about guns, the comments were more about Liberals vs everyone else. One guy actually commented that "Liberals will never understand." But... I am a liberal. I am a little too liberal some days and with some issues. Without trying to, he proved my point that there will never be considerate, thoughtful conversation about guns because we so quickly jump to conclusions. Here is the post, and if you click on the title, it will take you to the blog page over at Thoughts From a Tree Stand. Just because I have a gun, does not mean I am the bad guy. Posted on February 1, 2013 My Twitter feed is filled with posts and...
It is official; we are having a boy! I have always been the one in the family to say that I was going to have a boy, years before now. My cousin and sister both have girls so he will be the first boy in our family. Hubby and I could not be happier! But, there is a part of me that wonders how this is going to go. The idea of potty training and puberty scare me, but the weird thing is that my son will probably have no idea what it is like to not be taken seriously as a hunter. The struggles that myself and other women have gone through to "prove" that we deserve to be in the woods along side men will be something my son will not have to deal with...it will just be assumed; born into a hunting family, seen as a hunter. In August, I wrote...
