For three days leading up to my turkey hunt, I woke up and looked at the clock to figure out how much earlier I would need to wake up to be at Staci's house on time. Aside from ticks, the worst part of turkey hunting is the early start time. The day of my hunt arrived and armed with my coffee, I drove to Staci's house to find some turkeys. Her husband, John, agreed to be our designated turkey caller. Deer ran through the woods off to our right and a partridge drummed continuously as we walked to our first spot. The world was waking up all around us but there were no turkeys to answer our calls, so we moved. I spotted the first birds of the morning, a tom fanned out with three hens (or two hens and a jake) so we...
My friend George Smith publicly announced that he had been diagnosed with ALS early this year. When he told me in late last summer, I was shocked and saddened. I can't imagine the Maine outdoors without George in it.
Yearlings run. That was the caution that Randy Cross told Staci (MyMainelyGirlAdventures) and me as we met with the Maine bear crew to prepare to head into the woods. This particular den that we were going to had a 16 year old sow, who had had four cubs with her last year when they checked her den. There was the potential for four yearlings plus Mama in the den. I was a little giddy with the idea of so many bears! It is easy to brag about the bear crew. Aside from their decades of experience working with Maine’s bear population, they are a study in how team should work. They know their strengths and weaknesses and support one another to ensure that they have a plan and back up plans for every den...
All over social media, there were posts about the rut; has it started in your area? have you seen any chasing? how do you know? what's the moon phase? As much as I would have loved to have had some concrete answer to those questions, I had never seen proof that the rut was on. Until that second week in November. Hubs was out hunting on the 10th and I was in charge of the kids and making our way up to my parent's house to hunt on the 11th. It was windy and cold and I had opted to stay in and not hunt that evening, but wait until the next day. I was holding the baby and watching the leaves blow across the lawn when I saw a doe emerge from the bushes around the pond (see down pointing arrow.) She paused and...
If you do not follow me on Facebook, then you don't know that Dad totally schooled us in how to shoot a big buck. Did some scouting, brought his gun, right place, right time, incredible buck! (Mom's flip phone doesn't take great pictures) So, that leaves Hubs (who has a doe permit) and I (who does not) to attempt to get a shot at one of these big bucks! The competition is on!
How do you create outdoor kids? You have them grow up experiencing outdoor adventures like it is a normal part of life. Over the summer, as I was on maternity leave, I was determined not to let the nice weather slip away without getting some fun, outdoor adventures in. Staci from MyMainelyGirlAdventures took me to one of her favorite fishing spots. I loaded up the baby, my waders (which I fit back into!) and into the water we went. We didn't catch any fish, but we did have a few bites. I had the most action on my fly line that I have ever had! Could have been the flies we put on or, maybe, this baby will be my good luck charm! The weather was perfect and we got to enjoy a few hours in the water wetting our...
Trail cameras are addicting. You buy one, get some pictures then decide that you should have another one at a certain intersection and the next thing you know, you are like us and have almost 10 out in the woods, trying to pattern your deer. That excitement of pulling those memory cards quickly vanishes when you see things that don’t belong on your property. In the past couple of months, we have had lots of activity on the trail cameras; a car driving around in the newly planted clover and a man walking through a highly traveled deer intersection. Both men had to make an effort to get where they were; this was not just an 'oops, I took a wrong turn.' We had posted signs up already and clearly that was not enough...
I blame my friend Steve. I cautiously agreed to go with him and learn how to hunt them so that I could have some first-hand experience when I write. I would have never guessed that in agreeing to go with him, I would now look at August in a whole new way; it’s bear season! There are roughly 10,000 of us who buy our bear permits every year. Compared to the 180,000+ deer hunters and we basically have the woods to ourselves to hunt bear. Guess what non-bear hunters? You are missing out on one of the most exciting hunts you could possibly go on! And that should change. Why would you want to hunt bears? Easiest reason is management and keeping the population in check with the biological and social...
I am not sure if the target in the backyard has made the deer around here more relaxed or not, but for this fawn, it wasn't sure what to make of this thing that looks like a deer but doesn't move. If this target can fool these deer, I am wondering if we could use it as a decoy during hunting season... that is something that I will need to research! Either way, the doe and the fawn both look incredibly healthy! Always a good sign for the deer...
