Writing Contest Writing Contest

(Continued from page 14) certain lake.

In this case, the isotope levels did not match Like Powell, but rather reflected the levels in Quail Creek Reservoir, about 180 miles west, where witnesses saw the two men fishing in the days just before the Lake Powell tournament.

The men were fined $3,000; they are required to perform community service; and they lost their fishing and hunting licenses. —

Sandhill Cranes –

Maine’s Next Gamebird? by Dr. Birney Dibble

Special to The Maine Sportsman

Sandhill cranes continue to be rare spring and fall migrant visitors to the State of Maine. In 2000, the late ornithologist Scott Melvin confirmed that a pair had successfully nested in the extensive marshes at the southern end of Messalonskee Lake in Belgrade. There have been sandhill cranes there virtually every year since then.

Now, 20 years since the first confirmed nesting, there are probably at least 10 or 12 breeding pairs in the state, ranging from Fryeburg in the west to Corinna and Plymouth in the east.

It is rather amazing how the birds

Sandhill Crane on her nest in a hayfield in the early spring. Photos by Dan Dugan

Meanwhile, other Sandhill Cranes practice their dance moves. can keep such a low profile during the breeding season. Along with the ones in Belgrade, birds have also been seen at Smithfield and on Torsey Pond in Kents Hill.

A little research suggests that these birds may have recently broken off from a population of 30,000 – 60,000 birds known as the Eastern Flyway Population. An offshoot of this group first showed up in New Jersey, moved into New England and now breed in Maine.

Farmers, landowners and conservationists have worked together to help these birds make a fairly strong come back after being nearly extirpated by the 1930s.

With the number of sandhills increasing in Maine each year and the increasing number of states allowing hunting*, it’s reasonable for us who have considered them non-game all our lives, to ask why anyone would want to hunt them. The answer is simply: for the same reasons you hunt any other animal. Plus – a very big plus – they are, according to a Manitoba rancher friend of mine, by far the tastiest and tenderest bird he has ever eaten! *Editor’s note: Hunting seasons for sandhill cranes are now held annually in portions of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Nebraska is the only Central Flyway state that does not offer a sandhill crane sport hunting season —

Maine Deer Hunters

Facebook Group Plans

“Biggest Deer” Contest

In cooperation with The Maine Sportsman, Maine Deer Hunters is holding a Biggest Deer contest.

(Continued on next page)

Almanac (Continued from page 15)

The contest is open to anyone, resident and non-resident, holding a Maine hunting license and who is a member of the Maine Deer Hunters Facebook Group prior to the beginning of whichever season their deer was taken in.

Hunters will post a photo of the deer along with a picture of the weigh station’s official weight slip. Photos must be submitted to the Facebook page administrator no later than 11:59 pm on December 13. • 1st Place - Two-year subscription, or an extension to an existing subscription, to The Maine Sportsman magazine, and a hand-made wooden plaque from group member Randy Gray • 2nd Place – One-year subscription to Sportsman, and a hand-made wooden plaque from member Randy Gray • 3rd Place – One-year subscription to Sportsman

Questions? Contact Maine Deer Hunters page administrator Rusty Daley at Rusty.W.Daley@roadrunner.com —

The Ancient Origins of

White-tailed Deer by Nicholas Lund

Outreach Director; Maine Audubon

Special to the Maine Sportsman

Millions of years ago, before Maine was Maine, deer weren’t deer. Paleontologists and evolutionary biologists studying the origins of life are working to trace modern White-tails back to their ancestors in the age of the dinosaurs.

70 Million Years Ago

The earliest ancestors of modern deer wouldn’t have looked like much mounted on your cabin wall. The earliest mammals rose up alongside the earliest reptiles, and they both have a shared ancestor in the fin-backed lizard-looking Dimetrodon. But once reptiles took over – dinosaurs, that is – the mammals had to run for their lives. Mammals spent millions of years as small, scurrying creatures hiding mostly underground and coming out at night to eat insects.

It wasn’t perhaps the most noble existence, but all the hiding the early mammals were doing ended up being helpful. Hiding in underground burrows, early mammals were given some protection from the massive asteroid impact and fallout that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Emerging from their burrows in the aftermath, mammals found themselves in a world free of predators and ready for the taking.

50 Million Years Ago

With the dinosaurs out of the way, the mammals radiated – that is, rapidly evolved into many new forms to exploit empty ecological niches. The terrestrial mega-predator niche once filled by Tyrannosaurus was taken over by creodonts like Hyaenadon, and the saber-toothed cats. Bats evolved to hunt aerial insects (joining in the air the few dinosaurs that survived the asteroid: the birds). Herbivores evolved, too, including giant ground sloths, mastodons and

The massive Megaloceros deer. Credit: Mid Louth Independent (Ireland)

As for many herbivores, evolving strategies to avoid predators is needed to survive. For Diacodexis and its relatives, known as the Artiodactyls, the key defense was speed. To get faster, Artiodactyls evolved to stand on their toes instead of flat-footed, and their limbs became long, strong, and flexible. Toenails evolved into hooves, for protection while running on hard surfaces and for defense.

5 Million Years Ago

The fast-running Artiodactyls were an evolutionary success, and the group radiated into many different species, including pigs, giraffes, horses, and cattle. Some of Artiodactyls returned to seas long free from giant predatory reptiles and eventually became whales and dolphins.

Others, eventually, became deer.

(Continued on next page)

(Continued from page 16) One of the unique evolutionary adaptations found in the Cervidae, the family that includes deer, moose, elk, and others, is antlers. Many Artiodactyls have bony horns of some kind – think of boar tusks, narwhal tusks, or gazelle horns – but only deer and their relatives grow and lose theirs every year. The rapid growth of deer antlers each year makes them the fastest-growing type of bone known to science.

Why go through all the trouble of growing antlers just to lose them? First, the reason male deer grow antlers, as hunters know, is to impress females. Sexual selection drives a lot of weird animal evolution, from bright and showy bird feathers to the booming calls of frogs. Large antlers allow male deer to show females who is the biggest and strongest, and thus most worthy of their attention. But antlers are heavy, and make it hard to walk through the forest, and so once the breeding season is over and the deer no longer need to prove their dominance, antlers can be dropped.

Perhaps the largest set of antlers in history belonged to Megaloceros, also known as the “Irish Elk” (even though it was not exclusively Irish and was a huge deer, not an

A fin-backed Dimetrodon -- ancestor of both mammals and reptiles. elk), which sported racks more than 11 feet across weighing more than 100 pounds. Our human ancestors made sure they found a stud in the cave wall before mounting a rack like that.

11,000 Years Ago

The last glaciers left Maine about 11,000 years ago, part of the end of the most recent Ice Age. Tundra vegetation crept into the state, and was eventually replaced by boreal forest and hardwood forests as the climate continued to warm. White-tailed Deer, the living descendants of more than 70 million years of mammal evolution, followed the forests into what is now Maine, and they’ll be there waiting for you this season. ¶

Relaxing by the Campfire

Regular photo contributor Jonathan Wheaton (right) and his father Sparky Wheaton kick back after a long day in the north woods at Baker Lake, northwest of Chesuncook. Jonathan used a Canon 5D Mark VI camera with a 16-35 f2.8 lens and a Vanguard tripod, leaving the shutter open for 13 seconds to capture the spark trails and stars.

November 2020 Sunrise/Sunset Portland, ME DATE RISE SET DATE RISE SET 1* Sun 6:16 4:32 16 Mon 6:35 4:16 2 Mon 6:17 4:31 17 Tue 6:36 4:15 3 Tue 6:18 4:30 18 Wed 6:38 4:14 4 Wed 6:20 4:29 19 Thu 6:39 4:13 5 Thu 6:21 4:27 20 Fri 6:40 4:12 6 Fri 6:22 4:26 21 Sat 6:41 4:12 7 Sat 6:23 4:25 22 Sun 6:43 4:11 8 Sun 6:25 4:24 23 Mon 6:44 4:10 9 Mon 6:26 4:23 24 Tue 6:45 4:10 10 Tue 6:27 4:22 25 Wed 6:46 4:09 11 Wed 6:29 4:20 26 Thu 6:47 4:09 12 Thu 6:30 4:19 27 Fri 6:49 4:08 13 Fri 6:31 4:18 28 Sat 6:50 4:08 14 Sat 6:33 4:17 29 Sun 6:51 4:07 15 Sun 6:34 4:16 30 Mon 6:52 4:07

November 2020 Tides Portland, ME

DATE

1* 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon

HIGH AM PM 12:13 11:19 11:51 — 12:24 12:24 1:00 12:59 1:39 1:38 2:23 2:24 3:12 3:17 4:07 4:15 5:05 5:17 6:03 6:21 7:01 7:23 7:55 8:21 8:46 9:16 9:36 10:10 10:25 11:04 11:16 11:57 — 12:07 12:50 12:59 1:45 1:54 2:44 2:54 3:45 3:56 4:46 5:00 5:46 6:02 6:43 7:02 7:34 7:56 8:20 8:44 9:00 9:28 9:38 10:09 10:14 10:48 10:49 11:25

LOW AM PM 5:07 5:34 5:40 6:09 6:13 6:45 6:49 7:23 7:29 8:06 8:14 8:54 9:04 9:47 10:01 10:43 11:02 11:42 — 12:05 12:41 1:09 1:37 2:08 2:30 3:03 3:21 3:55 4:11 4:48 5:01 5:40 5:52 6:33 6:44 7:26 7:39 8:23 8:37 9:23 9:40 10:24 10:45 11:25 11:50 — 12:23 12:53 1:18 1:49 2:05 2:37 2:47 3:20 3:25 3:59 4:01 4:35 4:36 5:11

2020 Maine Sportsman Opinion Poll

1. Have you hunted with non-lead ammo? YES _________ NO __________ 2. Should Maine establish a spring bear hunt to help reduce the bear population? YES _________ NO __________ 3. Should the applications filed by landowners for preference in any-deer permit drawings be open to public inspection? YES _________ NO __________ 4. Have you removed all lead sinkers and lead split shot from your freshwater tackle boxes? YES _________ NO __________ 5. Did you hunt coyotes within the past year? YES _________ NO __________ 6. Because of Covid-related restrictions, did you hunt and fish close to home more frequently than usual this year? YES _________ NO __________ 7. Virtually all of Maine’s navigable rivers and streams have been channelized, bulldozed, dynamited, straightened, or otherwise altered to facilitate driving of logs, which ended in 1976. Should the state initiate a program to restore our rivers to provide better habitat for fish and wildlife? YES _________ NO __________ 8. Did you hunt with a crossbow within the past 12 months? YES _________ NO __________ 9. Did you hunt with a muzzleloader within the past 12 months? YES _________ NO __________ 10. It is unlawful to hunt in Maine with an autoloading rifle with a magazine with the capacity of more than five cartridges. Should it be unlawful to possess an autoloading rifle with a magazine having a capacity of more than five cartridges? YES _________ NO __________ 11. Do you believe global warming is caused by human activity on Earth? YES _________ NO __________ 12. Do you believe global warming is a real environmental threat? YES _________ NO __________ 13. Should DIF&W establish a program to improve spawning habitat for trout and salmon? YES _________ NO __________ 14. Should ice fishing be allowed on some salmon and trout waters now closed each winter, if anglers are required to use only artificial lures? YES _________ NO __________ 15. Did you hunt or fish outside of the state of Maine in the past 12 months? YES _________ NO __________ 16. Has the turkey population expanded to the point that the state should end the seasonal tag limits for the spring season, and allow the taking of one tom turkey each day? YES _________ NO __________ 17. Is the dumping of household goods and tires causing landowners to post their property? YES _________ NO __________ 18. Should buyers of auto and truck tires pay a returnable deposit, as we do on beverage bottles, which we would get back when we returned the used tires? YES _________ NO __________ 19. Pike are an exotic invasive species that has the potential to wreak havoc with our native trout and salmon. Should anglers be required to kill any pike that are caught? YES _________ NO __________ 20. Would you support a proposal to expand the instant background check of purchasers of firearms to include sales between private parties? YES _________ NO __________ 21. Should income from bear bait hunting sites leased by landowners be taxed, with the revenue going to DIF&W? YES _________ NO __________ 22. Should a system be developed to allow an any-deer permit to be used in more than one Wildlife Management District? YES _________ NO __________ 23. Do you believe DIF&W wardens are spread too thin to deter poachers? YES _________ NO __________ www.MaineSportsman.com 24. When wardens spend time on search and rescue activities unrelated to fish or game activities, should the state’s General Fund pay for their time? YES _________ NO __________ 25. Do you approve of DIF&W’s current practice of stocking brook trout in marginal, put-and-take waters where these fish cannot survive warm summer water? YES _________ NO __________ 26. Did you spend time fly-casting in the past 12 months? YES _________ NO __________ 27. Should mechanized gold mining in Maine rivers and streams be ended, to protect trout and salmon spawning areas? YES _________ NO __________ 28. Only 3% of all bears killed each year are harvested by trapping. To remove an emotional issue from future bear hunting debates, should the state end the recreational trapping of bears? YES _________ NO __________ 29. Should municipalities that regulate bow hunting in the expanded season zones be barred from charging fees for permits? YES _________ NO __________ 30. Should landlocked salmon be managed to promote larger fish? YES _________ NO __________ 31. Should DIF&W regulate winter-feeding of deer? YES _________ NO __________ 32. Should nonresidents be permitted to hunt deer on opening day of the firearms season? YES _________ NO __________ 33. Were you checked by a game warden within the last 12 months? YES _________ NO __________ 34. Should hunting with crossbows be allowed wherever hunters can use regular bows, as is now the case with hunters 65 and older? YES _________ NO __________ 35. Do you believe many hunters in Maine tag deer they didn’t shoot? YES _________ NO __________ 36. Should the owners of land with conservation easements be required to post online maps showing the land and the location of the public’s right of access? YES _________ NO __________ 37. Should Maine’s law permitting children of any age to hunt under supervision, be modified to establish a minimum hunting age? YES _________ NO __________ 38. Should a system of tagging turkeys by telephone or online replace tagging stations? YES _________ NO __________ 39. Should the price of a Maine hunting license include the right to hunt all game animals (except moose) without additional fees? YES _________ NO __________ 40. Have you (or has anyone you know) seen a cougar in Maine? If you answered “Yes,” write will@mainesportsman.com and tell us about it. YES _________ NO __________ 41. Please write in any question you’d like to have us ask in our reader poll next year: __________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION! Mail your responses to: The Maine Sportsman 183 State Street, Suite 101, Augusta ME 04330 You may also answer the poll questions online at www.mainesportsman.com/resources We’ll tally up the results and print them in a future issue. If you have an opinion on a topic not covered above, describe it on a separate sheet and include it with your poll results, or email our Editor, will@mainesportsman.com Name (Optional): _____________________________________________ Address (Optional): ___________________________________________ City, State, Zip: ______________________________________________ Email (Optional): ______________________________________________

Show Respect to Landowners Who Allow Access to Their Properties

On Sunday September 13, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Maine Forest Service hosted a “Landowner Appreciation and Clean Up Day.”

Landowner Appreciation Day is a time when sportsmen pick up trash dumped on private land, and I hope you participated.

This is an important annual event to let landowners know we appreciate access to and use of their property. And I encourage you to pick up litter year-round, to help private landowners.

Of course, if you enjoy the outdoors, I hope you appreciate landowners every day.

We are Fortunate to Have Access to Land

We are very lucky in Maine to be able to access all private land that is not posted. And even though we can do that, I encourage you to find out whose land you are using, and thank them. And don’t assume you can’t access posted land. Ask that landowner for permission, and you might be surprised when you gain access.

We are also lucky to have a lot of land trusts that protect our best lands and make them accessible to us.

Linda and I donated our woodlot to the Kennebec Land Trust, and they’ve done a I developed great relationships with the owners of my favorite private lands.

Abuse of Land

Leads to “Access

By Permission

Only” Signs

And it is very important that you re-

The author recommends that hunters and anglers ask permission to access land, even if the property is not posted. He says that by asking permission, he developed great relationships with the owners of areas he liked to hunt and fish.

land without permission. That would be so disappointing for Mainers. But there have been bills at the Legislature that would have required permission to access private lands. Thankfully, those bills had little support.

We do have a very bad problem in Maine,

with people who throw their trash out their car windows onto private land. I used to pick up that trash, and walking a quarter mile

Each year on Landowner Apprecia- ... are trucked to the dump in a joint tion Day, piles of trash like this, left on effort by volunteers, Maine’s DIF&W private land ... and the Maine Forest Service. great job building spect that land, and this. trails there. And our don’t damage it or We also saw two library put up a sto- leave trash there. I got hunters hunting right ry time walk for kids so tired of picking up through our back yard. on the woodlot, using trash left in the woods That was another reaone of Lynn Plourde’s behind our house by son I posted our land. wonderful children’s anglers, I posted “Ac- Those hunters were books. cess by Permission out-of-staters who

Anglers have no Only” signs. simply stopped and legal access to many They would even entered our woods of the waters we en- throw trash in my with no idea that our joy fishing. I always brook. One day, I found house was ahead. Yes, asked for permission my fire pit full of beer hunters must know to access my favorite cans. This spot is pop- the area before enterfishing spots, and was ular with anglers, and ing the woods. never denied. I think it’s especially important for hunters and anglers to get permission, even if the land is not posted. By asking permission, I gave permission to everyone who asked, requesting only that they not leave trash. And I haven’t had any trash there since I did Important to Respect Others’ Lands There are states where you are unable to access any private from my house to my woodlot, I’d fill one big bag with garbage and one with beer bottles and cans.

It’s disgusting what people toss out of their cars, sometimes throwing their trash right on our front lawn. Recently, someone threw their used tissue on our lawn. Disgusting.

So ask permission to hunt and fish whenever possible, and treat the land with respect. It’s the least we can do to show our appreciation to those land. ¶

who let us use their

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Maine Wildlife: Whitetailed Deer

by Tom Seymour

It took me years to realize that my relationship with whitetailed deer differs from the average person’s. I live with deer in every sense of the word.

Deer frequent my yard and garden and even come to within feet of where I sleep, munching on my daylilies and garden phlox. In fact they munch on everything, including peas, squash vines and even green beans.

My only recourse is an electric fence. That does the job, but it makes it difficult to mow the lawn and even to go in and out of the yard. The fence also keeps other nuisance critters away. One year after my sweet corn had fully ripened, I picked every ear, and since that was the last crop to harvest, I turned off the electric fence.

The next morning, all the cornstalks were flat on the ground. Raccoons that had been waiting to get at my corn wasted no time in destroying my crop. But there was no crop – only bare stalks. I laughed out loud to think that for once, I had outsmarted the masked bandits.

Deer Gone

Besides doing my best to thwart flower-and-vegetable-eating deer, I also hunt deer. This calls for a different approach. Instead of devising ways to keep deer away and drive them off, November sees me welcoming deer and hoping they will come as near to my home as they did during the summer.

But somehow that seldom happens. It’s as if someone has flipped a switch and alerted every deer in the area that the time has come to abandon human habitations and head for the deeper woods. The change is clear, concise and dramatic.

Many hunters, unlike me, don’t live in constant contact with deer. Instead, they must drive to find deer habitat. It also means that unlike me, most hunters don’t go through much of the year disliking deer and seeking to keep them away.

My situation gives me a wholly

different perspective on my ungulate neighbors. Familiarity, while not really breeding contempt, makes deer less majestic and less noble in my eyes.

Tough Critters

Property damage aside, whitetailed deer have some admirable traits. They can turn on a dime, even while running at full tilt. They can jump higher than we might imagine, and they can recover from injuries and continue on as usual.

Here’s something that always confounded me – How can deer run through thick brush, the way they do, and not get stabbed by snags and sharp twigs? The answer, which I only recently learned, is that they don’t. Deer do get stabbed and even worse, sticks often become embedded under their skin, and yet the animals go on living with foreign objects in their bodies.

Naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton once wrote about deer meat cutters finding large pieces of wood in deers’ bodies. One hunter found a fir branch more than ½-inch thick and over one foot long, embedded in his deer’s body. This stick had entered between the ribs on the right side, narrowly missed the right lung, pierced the diaphragm near the liver and came to rest on the underside of the backbone.

And yet, the wound healed on the outside and inside, and the stick was coated with a skin-like covering. The animal was fat and healthy, and the meat tasted as good as that from any other deer.

Plain Sight

Deer have the ability to hide in plain sight, often near busy roads or other well-traveled places. This past summer, while I was driving down the dirt road where I live, a deer ran across the road, jumped over some bushes and then disappeared.

The ground behind the bushes was open, so it was unlikely that the deer had gone too far. I stopped my car next to where the deer had vanished from sight. Then the deer, which had been hiding behind the bushes, got up and ran off. This made me wonder if those roadside bushes were one of this deer’s regular hiding places. The answer wasn’t long in coming.

Less than a week later, a deer crossed the road ahead of me and vanished in the same place as before. It was undoubtedly the same deer. This time, instead of stopping, I drove slowly past the hiding place, looking intently for any sign of the deer.

Then I saw a patch of brown. No one would have noticed this unless they had been looking hard. So this was a regular hiding place for this deer. I assume that it will protect that deer this hunting season. What hunter would begin looking for a deer within feet of a road?

Clever Tricks

Deer will often lie, hidden, and allow a hunter to pass within feet, without bolting. This has happened to me.

Other times, deer will pass by a hunter only a stone’s throw away, all the while hidden by thick brush. I once pursued a doe and a buck in a fir thicket. While the animals were close enough to smell, the buck never presented a shot.

I rate deer as the most canny animals in the Maine woods.

Calling and Rattling for Deer

by Blaine Cardilli

I remember first experimenting with calling on a cold November morning 20 years ago. I’d been overlooking a huge blueberry field from my hunting chair and was stationed just inside the wood line.

After three long hours with nothing to show for it but hunger pangs, I was at the point of wondering whether or not I should stick it out or go get breakfast. Not wanting to quit, I decided to reach for the calls.

I started with a snort-wheeze and some grunts before breaking into a light rattling session, which lasted roughly 15 seconds. With my trusty .270 lying across my lap, I made the dumbest rookie mistake ever – I enjoyed a glorious “arms-abovemy-head” full-body stretch, while still sitting down.

Instantly, I caught movement to my left and slowly turned, arms still outstretched over my head. I was shocked to see a buck glaring at me. The sixpoint was motionless, staring me in the face, having emerged from

The author using an adjustable grunt call (left) and a rattle bag (right). The grunt call is used for buck grunts, buck roars, and estrus bleats, which the author follows quickly with the rattle bag, which simulates a mock fight in heavy brush. the corner of the field as I slowly brought my wheeled back into the not 60 yards from me. arms down, grabbed woods. Lessons Learned I won’t bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say it was a grueling 30 seconds my rifle and began to raise it, all the while continuing our staring contest, before the buck snorted and The point of this story? Calling and rattling not only worked – it produced results almost instantly, and al-

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though not necessarily the norm, it made me realize that as soon as you start calling, you become the hunted!

That was more than two decades ago, and after 20 years of calling here in Maine, I’ve discovered that success depends on key variables. Let’s take a look at several.

Buck-to-Doe Ratios

Most hunters believe that if you have more does than bucks, you’ll experience less success with calling, the theory being that with enough does to go around, there’s no (Continued on next page)

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Calling and Rattling

(Continued from page 21) need for bucks to fight My Most over them. Propo- Successful Strategy nents of this concept Most hunters know also believe the oppo- that mornings and site – that calling will evenings are prime be very productive if times to rattle and call, there are more bucks and it gets better the than does, since bucks closer you get to peak will fight for those rut. I’ve experienced does that come into phenomenal responsheat, and so you may es from early October get them to respond right through the end better to calls. of firearms season in

During a recent November. Q&A session, Maine My calls of choice deer biologist Nathan include a rattle bag, Bieber told me that snort-wheeze, and an sex ratios are often adjustable grunt call. misused and misun- Now, there’s nothing derstood. There are a wrong with a can-call lot of reasons for this, for estrus bleats. I just he said, such the ten- prefer doing all my doe dency to count fawns bleats on the adjustas does, the fact that able call. That way, I does may be more vis- can vary the calls back ible than bucks, folks and forth and add the “counting” does that right amount of infleccome to feeders, and tion. does being more social I always start with much of the year. a few tending grunts,

Bottom line? Don’t inter-mixed with esworry too much about trus bleats, then I “skewed ratios” – if wait a few moments, you’ve got deer in your just to test the area. area, go ahead and Sometimes, if a buck is call. I’ve experienced a bedded nearby, it may lot of success without stand and give itself even knowing these away by taking a few numbers. steps. Case in point: the encounter with the six-point at the start of this article!

If nothing happens, I’ll make a few more estrus bleats followed quickly by a few buck “roars.” These are grunts made by blowing more air through the call, and I can get the classic sounds of a buck that is extremely aroused and agitated – on the edge of being enraged. Once I roar a few times, I get right into rattling.

Rattle Bag vs. Antlers

Having experimented over the years with both, I prefer a rattle bag, and here’s why. Antlers produce a crisp, clear tinkling of “tine-on-tine,” but a rattle bag produces additional sound above and beyond the tines.

From a distance, a rattle bag sounds more like a shoving match and seems to utilize the sound of brush breaking as well as antlers coming together. The areas I hunt are quite brushy, and simply put, it sounds more realistic. Plus, it

The author harvested this nice 5-pointer after calling it in to 50 yards. The previous day he had used a bonus doe tag, rattling in a mature doe to 28 yards. has produced far more state. Don’t be afraid responses for me. to give it a try. Use of Scents The chances for success are improved with the use of scents. Taking a scent-free shower before heading Blaine Cardilli can be reached at indianwd@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter, @RedneckPreachr. out, washing and drying my hunting clothes in “Fresh Earth,” and trying to dress at the truck, all help keep my human scent down. Once at my set-up, I put scent rags out all around me. The scent depends on the phase of the rut. I once did a typical calling session and had a small buck walk right in and put his nose against the rag. I shot him 30 steps from the stand. Calling works just as well in Maine as Editor’s note: Blaine Cardilli has filmed a video especially for Maine Sportsman readers to illustrate the various deer calls and rattles described in this article. Find the video on our Facebook page, or on our website, www. MaineSportsman. com, by clicking on the “Blog” button at the top of our home page. ¶ it does in any other

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John Taught Me the Importance of Scouting by Nate Grove

I lost an old friend this year, and that makes my excitement and anticipation about deer season a little different. My friend John was a true Mainer for all of his 81 years. An avid deer hunter and outdoorsman, he was full of knowledge and happily passed it along to anyone who would listen.

On one of those occasions, he changed my hunting life. I had returned to camp after dark, not having seen or heard any trace of a deer, and was feeling a bit pessimistic. John said, “Look – it’s not that complicated. Find their tracks, find their poop [he didn’t say poop], set up a stand and get a deer!”

It was classic John – straight to the point, with a dash of salty language for flavor. * * *

I mostly hunt smaller wood lots in southern NH, near where I live. No matter the season, I walk the woods, fields and streams with a deer hunter’s eye, on the watch for tracks that reveal heavily traveled lanes, deer nuggets that can show me feed areas, and likely spots to set my stand. What John was really driving at was the importance of preparation, and I prepare every time I’m out.

I spend time in March and April before green-up, noting specific areas and spots on the map app on my phone. It is important to note, however, that a hunter who needs to begin their preparation in the fall can still have success. Woods, and deer habits change all the time, and even last-minute scouting can help successful hunters adapt while hanging on to basic methods that work.

For instance, until recently I had a honey hole, but a timber operation required that I move. It was great fun finding the next promising spots where I can connect my timing with the movements of a nice fat deer for the freezer. So my advice is to get out as soon

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as you can, find their tracks, find their poop, and consider setting up at heavily traveled intersections.

Bow hunting extends my deer season, and I spend time out back honing my craft. I shoot all the time, and what makes this necessary activity even more fun is having friends who also love the sport. * * *

John also reminded me about the im-

portance of focusing on the job at hand. Up at deer camp, my father and I spent part of one trying out a .45 Colt service sidearm. I had never shot one, and my dad hadn’t since his army days, so we were pretty excited.

We took an old board and nailed it between two beech saplings, paced off 20 yards and had at it. We each emptied a clip, noting that the board seemed to be weathering our lead storm pretty well.

When we walked up to check it, the board was clean, but both saplings were torn to pieces.

John came over from the camp, looked at those saplings and then at us, and walked away grumbling, “I thought this was supposed to me a deer camp, not a logging camp.” (“Scouting” continued on page 25)

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“Chunk” Earned Me My First Biggest Bucks Patch

by Michael J. DeRespino, Sr. – Charleston, ME

I grew up in Northern Maine. My parents operated a sporting camp. My dad was always busy during deer season, so I was not able to hunt very much. Every year, some of the hunters would bring me along for a few days, but I never had the opportunity to shoot a deer. After high school, I served in the Army for 4 years. I returned to Maine, went to college, got married, and started a family and a career. I didn’t start hunting again until I was in my early 30s.

Now, I am 53 and I’ve had 3 successful years of deer hunting. On the last day of the rifle season in 2003, I shot a 7-pointer that weighed 182 lbs. The last day of muzzleloader season in 2014, I got a 9-pointer that weighted 168. In 2019, I got “Chunk.”

Dry Spell

In the last 5 years, I spent a lot of time pre-season trying to find the best spot to hunt. In 2018, I planted a food plot, tried to

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pattern the deer, and put out trail cameras. I got pictures of several does, but only one picture of a small spike horn buck. Each year, I would see the same rub line coming in and out of a swamp. Many times, I would hear or jump a deer in that area, but never actually saw whether it was a buck or not. I ended each season discouraged – much effort with no results.

In 2019, I decided to keep it simple. A week before opening day, I put my tree stand in my truck, drove out to the edge of a field, and put up my stand 10 yards from my truck. I was able to see the edge of a beaver flow 50 yards from the swamp where I had seen the rubs.

On opening day, I got in the stand (a 150-yard walk from my house) an hour before legal shooting time. A doe came out behind me at first light, saw me up in the stand, turned around, and trotted off. I spent about 2 hours in the stand, and then went

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home for the rest of the day.

Overcast and Drizzly

The following Tuesday, I hurried home from work and was back in the stand by 3:30. It was drizzling lightly and overcast, with mild temperatures. At 4:30, I decided to get down and check the field before legal shooting ended at 4:49. In the past, I’ve made the mistake of standing up and getting out of my tree stand without looking around first. On more than one occasion, I have seen deer running away as I came down the ladder.

As I stood up, I looked all around me. The area in front of me was dark, but I saw a slight movement. I

(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from page 24) later that the 1st shot ture of the buck on a brought my binoculars up, but did not see anything. Three seconds later, a deer was standing beside me at 10 yards. In that moment, I saw antlers, took my Remington 7600 .308 off safe, put the crosshairs behind its shoulder, and fired. The buck turned and ran in front of my tree stand toward the direction it had come. I fired again, and the big deer fell 20 yards in front of me. It was dead within minutes. I found out was through its heart. It all happened so fast that I didn’t have time to be nervous. I could see the white of its belly in front of me, but had no idea how big it might be. I have heard and read stories about deer who have been given nicknames. Maybe due to a picture on a trail cam, an encounter, or a physical attribute, such as Scar Face, Droopy, Whitey or Dozer. I had never seen this deer before, nor had I gotten a pictrail camera. Big Deer As I slowly walked up to the downed buck, I looked down at its square-shaped body and thought, “Chunk!” It was getting dark, so I dragged the heavy animal the short distance to the field. It was only 15 yards, but it just about did me in. I headed home and called my family to give them the news. We all came back with my truck and I realized we were going to need some help. I called my neighbor, retired Game Warden Mike Morrison. He came, and we loaded Chunk onto Mike’s Jeep and brought the animal to Worster’s Custom Meat Cutting. They weighed the deer before gutting, and it “Chunk” -- 243 pounds weighed 277 pounds – 243 after field dressing. What a season – short and sweet. Thank you to Mike Morrison, Worster’s, and landowner Chris Almy. Deer of a lifetime! ¶

Scouting By 7:00 I was convinced there wasn’t a deer within a mile of my lo(Continued from page 23) cation, and that’s when it happened – Refocusing the crack of a twig alerted me to the

I took my cue and got “refocused.” presence of a beautiful brown forkhorn.

I spent the rest of the day looking at He stuck his nose into the air, scenta particular area for tracks and poop. checked the scene, then swiveled his

Finding a promising spot, I set up a head left and right looking things over. stand 30 feet up a tree. His vitals were covered by a tree, and

John told me he thought it was a bit as I waited, I can honestly say I wasn’t high. “If you fall,” he said, “we won’t be cold anymore. He stepped out, I pulled calling a helicopter – we’ll be calling a the trigger and he piled up at 30 yards. hearse.” I was undeterred. Preparation had done it!

The next morning I was up at 3:30, out the door at 4:00 and in my stand at 5:00. My preparations included knowI later learned that John and my dad were having coffee at that moment, and that John had predicted, “He’s goPreparation earned Nate Grove this nice forkhorn. ing how I would tip-toe to the spot ing to get a deer today.” I guess he no- John in our lives. They teach us a lot without crossing a deer trail or making ticed what I had done and knew my and provide great friendship along the much noise, while also avoiding being chances of success were good. way. I certainly can never again look upwind of likely deer territory. When I returned with the deer, I at a beech sapling without smiling to

It was frigid – not quite 10 degrees think he was even more pleased and myself. I will always remember him as above zero – and by 6:00 I was cold. By excited than my father. He kept admir- I walk through the woods, scouting. 6:30 I was shivering and by 6:45 I was ing it, and he must have said 50 times, It’s time to get moving – there are cursing the weather, John and deer hunting in general. “Geez, Nathan, that’s a nice deer!” but with some salty language added. If we’re lucky, we have people like good memories to be made. ¶ Sportsman Quotable by George Smith

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Shooting Deer in Thick Cover

As the saying goes, “If I had a nickel for every time that … [fill in the blank].” Well, I might not get rich, but I’d have several nickels saved up for all the deer I’ve passed shots on.

Most shots were passed because deer were in very thick cover, I couldn’t see antlers well enough, or just couldn’t get a clear shot at the vitals. I’ve also taken shots too quickly. Unfortunately, the results were less than desired when I did.

There are situations where one hunter would pass a shot, and another would glad-

Every hunter knows the maxim, “Always know your target.” According to the author, that includes making sure the buck you’re aiming at is the “right” buck.

ly take the shot. Take trackers in the big woods, for instance. Many of us have seen the awesome videos of the Benoit family, the Berniers, or Hal Blood, jumping a big buck they’d tracked all day. The buck jumps out of its bed, and these stealthy hunters let the lead fly! Sometimes the shots are at the back of a deer or the side of a deer. There’s often a lot of brush or branches in the way, but these guys try to get a bullet or two into the animal before losing sight of it.

Watching a skilled shooter pump the action of a Remington 7600 at a buck hastily leaving its bed, running through blowdowns and fir branches, has always fascinated me. How did they know the deer was a “shooter”? Well, the obvious answer is, they were on the track, because the size indicated it was an animal worth following.

Many trackers I know don’t care as much about the inches of antler on a buck’s head, as they do about the size of the body or the maturity of the animal. I’ve no doubt there have been deer shot by trackers that did not live up to the size of the track, once they’d been dispatched.

Avoid the Disappointment of “Ground

Shrinkage”

Disappointment is a strong word to

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use when describing a harvested deer that doesn’t meet expectations. I’m always happy when I make a great shot on a deer and render it to my freezer. However, thickracked, long-tined, wide-antlered old bucks make me much happier than walking up on a gorgeous two or three year old buck with a 100”-130” rack that will never reach its potential because I pulled the trigger too soon.

My most recent “disappointment” came last year on November 18th. On November 13th, I tore a muscle in my back. I was literally bedridden for four days during my favorite time of year. I was going crazy and needed to get into the woods. The weather was perfect for an all-day sit, in a spot I’d wanted to hunt since 2017 but

(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from page 26) never had the chance. To say I was excited to get back in the woods would be an understatement.

An hour before sunrise, I hobbled slowly through the woods to a spot does were using to get to thick bedding cover. Where there are does in late November, the bucks will follow.

By 9 a.m., I’d already had eight does and fawns walk by me. I knew it was just a matter of time before a buck would follow.

My excitement was really building after the 15th antlerless deer of the morning walked by at 10:00 am. At 10:45 am, I caught movement to my east, the exact place all the does had come from. I immediately saw the rack and recognized the buck.

This buck was 100% a shooter. He was old and big-bodied, and had a massive, dark rack. I’d seen this buck a few times over the last few years, but never during hunting season. I was shocked to see him walking toward me, and the adrenaline began pulsing through my veins. The buck walked toward me, but was more than 100 yards away. I was only seeing bits and pieces of him through the binoculars because the cover was so thick.

Lost Sight of the Buck

When the heavy bodied buck disappeared behind some blowdowns, I lowered the binoculars to see if he was walking toward an opening. I needed a window. Unfortunately, I completely lost track of the deer at that point. He’d been traveling toward me, from right to left. For two or three minutes, I couldn’t see him. I figured he’d moved into the heavy cover, perhaps to bed for the day.

As I brought the binoculars back to my eyes, I caught movement to my left. A deer was moving right to left, on the same line as the old buck. I lowered the binoculars and slowly raised my rifle. The deer was 70 yards away, walking on the edge of the thick cover. As he moved from behind the tree, I saw the dark rack, assumed it was the same buck, found his sweet spot and pulled the trigger. I never saw him fall or heard him run.

Waiting 25 minutes, I began sneaking toward the last spot I’d seen the old deer. As I approached, the big buck jumped up, about 40 yards to my right, well away from where I’d shot. I brought the gun to my shoulder, found him in the scope and never got the shot off ... good thing!

As I walked over to where I’d shot, there

From the Hills of West Virginia If you’re fortunate enough to be in an area that holds a lot of deer and also features thick brush, it’s a challenge to recognize one buck from another. Credit: Michael Furtman/North American Whitetail was a buck laying on fication as “a shooter” best of you. It’s not all the ground. In my ex- isn’t 100% possible. about the kill … right? citement, I confused a younger 2-3-year-old We all hunt in part because of the adrena- ¶ buck with the older line. Don’t let it get the buck, simply because I quit paying attention and assumed. Over the last 23 years, evTAXIS RIVER OUTFITTERS www.taxisriveroutfitters.com ery time I’ve shot a younger buck, it was simply hunter error and a failure to pay close attention.

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November Brings Out the Deer Rifle

The fall of the year encompasses all sorts of hunting, but just as October is most identified with upland bird hunting, the month of November captures visions of deer hunting. No matter what else is going on across the Pine Tree State (including elections on the first Tuesday), hunters and non-hunters think of November and associate it with deer hunting.

Thoughts of deer hunting often blend into thoughts about the firearms that are so integral to the season. To many, the term “deer rifle” is synonymous with any rifle more powerful than a .22 rimfire “plinker” and a rifle somewhat less powerful than an elephant gun. Reality is just a bit more complicated, as any hunter knows well.

In Maine and throughout much of eastern North America, deer hunters most often choose a rifle designed for .30-caliber cartridges, or very close to .30-caliber.

Will any of the newer calibers challenge the supremacy of the .30-30, .30-’06, or .308? There’s a lot of buzz about up-and-coming, slightly smaller but powerful variations, including the .260 Remington, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmoor, and the extremely popular 7mm-08 Remington built on a necked down .308 case.

A deer rifle may wait all year for a shot in the November woods. Whether an heirloom or a fancy new sporter, they are made for taking deer. Photo: J.C. Allard Since the advent of Winchester. that nip at the heels of smokeless propellants Newer cartridg- the “big three” popular in the 1890s, shoot- es such as the .300 choices. Some of these ers far and away pre- Winchester Magnum, may prove the evenferred that particular .300 Winchester Short tual replacements for bore size, no matter Magnum, .300 ACC the aging .30-30. .30the rifle’s other design Blackout, .30 Thomp- ’06, and .308. features. Beginning 125 years ago with the .30-30 Winchester, the popularity of that caliber has never waned. Progressing first to the .30-40 Krag, then adding the .30-’06 Springfield, the .300 Savage, and in 1952 the .308 son/Center, and .300 Ruger Compact Magnum, among others, continue to flirt with the .30-inch bore diameter. Despite their age, the .30-30, .30-’06, and the .308 remain the most popular deer hunting cartridges in this area. Deviations larger and smaller than the seemingly-magic .30 inches produce some fine deer rifle options Stepping Up Launched in 1902, the .32 Winchester Special enjoyed many years of success for lever-action shooters who wanted something a bit larger than .30-caliber. Fading fast, it remains one of the few successful 8mm cartridges in America. A generation or two ago, a lot of Maine deer became

venison thanks to the .32 Special.

Perhaps the most efficient cartridge ever designed is the venerable .35 Whelen. Accurate and powerful, the .35 Whelen enjoyed some local popularity both before and after World War II. However, most consider it better suited to moose and heavy bear hunting rather than deer hunting.

Likewise, cartridges such as the .338 Winchester and the .340 Weatherby Magnum garner great success among large game hunters, but these cartridges are unnecessarily potent for white-tail deer. The near obsolete .348 Winchester, .358 Winchester, and .350 Remington Magnum fall into this same category.

The 19th century .45-70 Government cartridge has taken deer in Maine and enjoyed a bit of a renaissance in the Marlin Model 1895 and “Guide Gun.” But it, too, offers more than is needed by most deer hunters, and it is only available in a few platforms.

Perhaps the most successful deer cartridge larger than .30-caliber is the 1906-vintage .35 Remington. Of moderate recoil, it is far more powerful than the .30-30 and has been improved in recent years with Hornady’s “LEVERevolution”

(Continued from page 28) ammunition developments, using copper alloy slugs that have pointed tips that are soft and flexible, permitting a flatter trajectory than flat-nose slugs while still allowing safe loading into tubular magazines.

Stepping Down

Charles Newton designed the first successful smaller-than-.30-caliber deer cartridge in the .250-3000 Savage. In 1925 Winchester came out with the .270 Winchester and hit the big time. The .270 is still a top seller, and at any given moment could challenge the .30-30, .30-’06, or .308 for the #2 spot in the Maine popularity polls. Slightly under .30-caliber, it makes a dynamic all-around hunting cartridge.

So, too, does the .280 Remington, introduced in 1957 to compete with the .270. Other great deer cartridges in this class include the .243 Winchester, .257 Roberts, .257 Weatherby Magnum, and .25-06 Remington. All offer lighter recoil effects while retaining enough knockdown power for medium-size game such as deer. A more potent option would be the 7mm Remington Magnum.

Coming on strong are some smaller cartridges that now seem trendsetting. These include the .260 Remington, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmoor, and the extremely popular 7mm-08 Remington built on a necked down .308 case.

Around since 1980, the 7mm-08 captured market share and ran with it. Ballistically similar to the 1963 .284 Winchester, the 7mm-08 earns more converts every hunting season.

Looking ahead a generation, any of these roughly .25-caliber cartridges could displace the current most popular choices. The .308 stands as the youngest of the top four sellers at just shy of 70 years old. How long will younger shooters keep investing in their grandparent’s cartridges?

In any case – old, new, or somewhere in between – suitable calibers for deer hunting bring a lot of joy to households across Maine. Whether it comes as a handy lever-action, a precision-crafted bolt- action, slide-action, semiautomatic or single-shot, a deer rifle means just one thing in the month of November. ¶

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Tracking Tips

by Hal Blood

Assessing Snow

Conditions

There are many things to consider when assessing snow conditions. Snow takes on many forms. It can be anything from a damp quiet snow to a hard-crusted snow, and everything in between. The type of snow will determine how I hunt the track.

For example, if the snow is damp and quiet, I am more likely to stay right in the track, as I feel confident I can get close to the buck without being heard and kill him in his bed or as he jumps up to leave it.

The master tracker leads readers through the tactics of pursuing a big buck from start to finish, including determining the size of the deer from its tracks, estimating the age of the track, deciding whether to track quickly or slowly, and what to do if you jump the deer from its bed.

On the other hand, if the snow is noisy, I try to sound like a deer walking and try to call him out to me when I feel I am close to him.

The condition of the snow can also change during the day, requiring that I change tactics accordingly.

Judging a Mature

Buck Track

A mature buck’s track looks different than other deer tracks. First and most obvious is the size. Most mature bucks in the northern boreal forests will have a toe print that is 2-1/2 to 3 inches wide, by 3 inches long. A print that’s 4 inches long was made by a real monster.

There are some huge does in the Big Woods as well, with toe prints almost as big. The way to determine if you are looking at a buck track is by the dewclaws. A mature buck will have dewclaws about an inch in width, and they will be wider than the toe prints and set back behind them 2-3 inches (see photo, next page).

The older a buck gets, the farther the dewclaws will be set back. When you see a track with dewclaws set way back, it’s guaranteed you’re on the track of a good mature whitetail buck.

Aging a Track

Aging a track can be a science all its own.

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55 Oak Street, N. Waterboro, ME 04061 207-205-5917 • Email: breadertrees@yahoo.com www.readerforestmanagement.com • Like us on Facebook You have to consider the temperature and snowfall for the previous 24 hours. Obviously if it is snowing or recently stopped snowing, it will be easy to determine the age of a track. If the snow has been on the ground for a while, temperature plays the biggest role in determining the age of the track.

Basically, as soon as a track is made, it starts to change. It will either melt if it’s warm or freeze if it’s cold. Either way, the crisp edge of the track will start to round over within an hour.

Feeling the snow on the inside edge of a track is the best way to determine if the track is newly made. If the snow is still loose and not set up, the track is less than an hour old.

The best way to get good at aging track is to practice at home by making your own tracks in the snow and then checking them every hour to see how they change. If you do this enough in different temperatures, you will get good at aging tracks.

Catching Up to a Buck

More often than not, you will find a buck’s track in the morning. Unless you have determined the track to be less than an hour old, move along on the track at a fast walk. When a buck is traveling at his normal pace, he is traveling faster than a per(Continued on next page)

(Continued from page 30) son walks. The buck might be miles from where you picked up his track. If you don’t cover some ground, you will never catch up to the buck unless he beds down or gets hung up with a doe.

I have found that most hunters follow a track too slowly as though the buck is just ahead of them, and they never come close to catching up to the buck. Move fast until you catch up to your buck, and you’ll have the rest of the day to hunt him.

Interpreting What a

Buck is Doing

It is important to know what a buck is doing. This will determine how to hunt the track. A buck that is moving in a fairly straight line with a long stride is on a mission and checking his area. I will be moving along fast so I can catch up to him.

On the other hand, when a buck starts to zig-zag, he is either searching for a doe he knows is in the area, or he’s starting to feed. This is the time to slow down and try to figure out what he is doing.

If the buck gets with a doe and I see running tracks that zigzag around, he is chasing her. That doe is coming into estrus and has got his attention. This is the time to slow down and start looking everywhere, as they may be close.

If you know what your buck is doing, you will increase your chances of getting a shot at him.

When Will He Bed Down?

Knowing when a buck is bedded gives you the best opportunity to kill him. A buck most often will give you indications he is ready to lay down. The best indication is when he starts to feed. Sometimes it’s only a twig nipped here or there, while other times they will really pack it in. When I see where a buck is feeding a lot, I start looking for a place he might be bedded.

Other things bucks have a habit of doing just before they bed is rubbing their antlers or making a scrape, or doing both. When I see a combination of a buck feeding and then rubbing, I am almost sure he’s bedded nearby.

Where Will He

Be Bedded?

Bucks typically seek out secure areas to bed where they feel safe from any predators. They might bed in a thick swamp or on high ridge. Bucks will often cross an opening, and then lay down on the other side.

Another thing they will do quite often is to make an abrupt turn and head uphill or into a thicket.

One thing is almost certain though – a buck will be watching his backtrack, and as soon as he spots anything coming on his trail, he will slip out his escape route.

Closing In on a

Bedded Buck

Closing in on a bedded buck takes patience as well as skill. If a buck is in an area that is thick or the snow conditions are quiet, I stay on his track and move slowly, scouring the woods for the slightest piece of the buck. I move in slow motion, placing each step down without making the slightest noise. I lean forward and look around every tree and bush

A track that’s 4 inches long, with wide dewclaw prints far behind the toe print, was made by a monster deer. Hal Blood photo before taking the next step.

I might spot only an antler tip or speck of brown. My goal is to shoot the buck in his bed or at the least get a running shot if he jumps.

I believe killing a buck this way is the greatest achievement a hunter can accomplish.

Catching Him Looking

Catching him looking is a technique I use to catch a buck in his bed when he has the advantage of seeing a long way on his backtrack in open woods.

Once I think I have a buck’s bedding spot figured out, I make a downwind circle of the area. If the buck’s track does not leave the circle, I have narrowed his bedding spot down.

I now go to the back of the circle and slowly still-hunt in a zig-zag fashion, scouring every inch of cover looking for the bedded buck. By doing this, I am trying to sneak up behind the bedded buck and shoot him as he watches his backtrack or get close enough for a running shot if he jumps.

Being Prepared to Shoot

When tracking a buck, you have to be prepared to shoot instantly and at any time. To do this you have to be familiar with your gun, so it has become an extension of your arms. You must be able to shoot accurately in a split second, as that may be all the time you have.

To do this, you must learn to carry your gun in a way that allows you to shoulder it in a split second. You also must know every vital shot on a buck at every angle.

A tracking gun must be fast and light, with a safety that is easy to remove. You must also be proficient at hitting moving targets. Many times that is the only shot you may get at that oncein-a-lifetime buck. The only way to prepare for this kind of shooting is to practice, practice, practice.

If You Jump a Buck

When I’m tracking a buck and jump him without getting a shot, I do not go after him immediately. Generally, a spooked buck does not know what it was that he heard or saw.

A buck will typically run off a ways until he feels he is no longer in danger, and then stop and wait to see if he is being followed. If you go after him immediately, the buck will see you and run off again – and this time, it may be for a long distance.

When I spook a buck, I sit down and wait a half-hour. The buck will stand there and wait for awhile, and when nothing comes on his track he will relax and go about his business. Sometimes this means he will lie back down, and other times he will stay up and start making his rounds again. In either case he is not expecting danger, and it will be easier to get another chance at him.

Proper Clothing for Tracking

When tracking a buck, you have to be properly dressed to be successful. A buck is going to take you to places you would never go otherwise, from the top of a mountain to the thickest bogs. You will most likely be wet from sweat or snow or both.

For this reason, I firmly believe wool is the only material to wear. It keeps you warm and quiet, even when it’s wet. Select wool clothing without any lining, as a lining holds in your body heat and makes you sweat.

In most any weather, all I wear is long underwear with wool pants a shirt and jacket. I wear light wool gloves, and carry a spare pair. On my feet I wear a sock liner and one heavy pair of wool socks, and 18” uninsulated rubber boots. Rubber boots are quiet, and they keep your feet dry, no matter how much water you walk through.

The End Game

Tracking bucks in the Big Woods is and extreme sport by any measure. You have to take yourself beyond what most hunters think is tough hunting. You will be tired, wet, and cold, and you must repeat the process every day. If you persist through all of it, you will find success and the reward that comes with it. ¶

Marinated, Grilled Venison Heart

This venison recipe features Mexican Oregano from The Spice House. It’s earthier than the domestic version, and more pungent in flavor and scent. Does it really make a difference? Yes!

Want to try it for yourself? I will send the first 19 people FREE Mexican

Ingredients:

• 1 medium deer heart (or elk, moose or beef heart) • 2 tablespoons olive oil • 1 tablespoon White Balsamic Vinegar (ore red/white wine vinegar) • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce • 1 tablespoon dried Mexican Oregano* (or oregano) • ½ teaspoon Smoked Sea Salt • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper • 1 tablespoon ghee** *TheSpiceHouse.com **Ghee (or grapeseed oil) tolerates high heat without burning.

Directions:

Trim heart, and cut into chunks.

In large glass bowl with tight cover, combine all ingredients except ghee. Lightly massage marinade into meat, and marinate for 24 hours.

Preheat grill to medium-high. I use my cast-iron insert. When pan is hot, drop in ghee. Add heart and stir; close cover and cook 2-5 minutes, stirring periodically to get a slight crisp on.

Step into your kitchen and make an easy, delicious, smooth, sweet and spicy dessert! I offered to create a recipe for Dana’s big Pig Roast – he owns Maine Beast Feast. He handed me a bottle of Razzberry Chipotle Sauce, and here’s the result!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups graham crackers, ground • 1 tablespoon sugar • 9 tablespoons butter, melted • 16 ounces cream cheese, softened (or goat cheese) • ½ cup vanilla sugar • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract • 1 cup heavy cream Oregano when you email me at blackflystew@gmail.com, and you’ll be able to taste the difference. All I ask is that you let me know when you make this recipe and what you think.

Regarding the venison heart – during

berry Chipotle Sauce Directions:

In small bowl, combine graham crackers, sugar and melted butter until it resembles wet sand.

Line a mini muffin pan with muffin liners. Place 1 ½ tablespoons into the bottom of each liner and press down to form a crust.

Whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form. In a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract and fold in whipped cream until fully combined. a “Wild Game Happy Hour” at our house, it was preferred, earning 5 votes out of 6, over other wild dishes that included Moose Tongue Pate, Beaver and Boar Summer Sausage, and Chocolate Espresso Braised Bear.

ENJOY! And for dessert...

No Bake Beastie Razzberry Chipotle Mini-Cheesecakes

1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste 1 bottle Maine Beast Feast Razz-

Enjoy, and Bon Appetit!

Top muffin crusts with 3 tablespoons of filling. Refrigerate for 4 hours to set.

Top with 1 tablespoon of Maine

Beast Feast Razzberry Chipotle Sauce.

Wardens Urge Early–Season Snowmobilers: “Be Careful Out There”

With November’s arrival, Maine’s snowmobilers are anxiously watching daily weather report in hopes that a big snowfall is in the forecast, preferably one that will “stick” to the ground all winter.

We may get lucky this year and we may not, but sooner or later the prayers of riders statewide will be answered, and it will be time to hit the trails once again.

There is no logical reason for anyone to have a serious accident while snowmobiling this winter, yet it seems to happen every year. I’m sure Maine’s game wardens, sheriffs, marine patrol, EMTs and other rescue personnel join me in hoping that this will be a safe year for Maine snowmobilers.

There are two critical components to safe riding: 1) avoiding danger in the first place; and 2) having the presence of mind – and the necessary gear and clothing – to deal with serious situations

by Steve Carpenteri

that arise unexpectedly.

Be Prepared

According to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, accidents and injuries can result from improper or imprudent use of snowmobiles, but with preparation and practice, riders can safely develop and improve their operating skills.

For starters, carefully read and follow the instructions and warnings contained in the snowmobile’s own-

For a safer ride, consider traveling with a group of equally-experienced operators on known trails. Photo courtesy Ski Doo er’s manual. Snowmo- knows the machine betbiles handle different- ter than anyone else. ly from other vehicles, and the manufacturer (Continued on next page)

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Always wear an approved helmet and eye protection. Observe all state and local laws. Respect the rights of others. Ride within your capabilities. Allow extra time and plenty of distance for maneuvering. Do not perform stunts. ©2014 Yamaha Motor Corp, U.S.A. All rights reserved.

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Snowmobiling in Maine

(Continued from page 33)

Keep an Eye on Crossing on

Young Riders Ice Poses Special

It’s especially im- Concerns portant to supervise When it comes to and mentor young snowmobiling on lakes riders, teaching them and rivers, the safest skills and technique, rule is to not to cross but also setting a good on ice at all, since doexample by using good ing so puts you at risk judgment and making of breaking through. proper decisions. Many of Maine’s

Maine law antici- lakes and ponds only pates that some very have a thin ice covyoung kids will be op- er, and ice conditions erating machines – a vary greatly throughrider younger than 10 out the state. This is can’t operate a snow- especially true early in mobile on public land the season – while ice unless under the visu- conditions may be safe al and voice supervi- in some spots, they can sion of someone 21 or be dangerously thin in older, and a rider must others. be at least 14 years old Wardens caution to cross a public road. snowmobilers to nev-

However, in this er guess the thickness writer’s opinion, any of the ice – stop and rider 16 or younger check the ice in several should be under adult different places, using guidance, given the an auger to make test speed and power of holes. Make several many of today’s ma- test holes, beginning chines. near shore, and conBefore You Head Out Always conduct a pre-ride safety checklist. This includes not only inspecting the mechanical condition of the machine, but also conducting an inventory of gear you are bringing along, such as spare parts, survival gear and personal items needed for safety and comfort. Riders should also leave a trip plan with a responsible adult, listing the destination, travel time, contact information and anything else that could assist in finding a ridtinuing as you go out. Check the ice with a partner, so if something does happen, someone will be there to help you. If you are going it alone, wear a lifejacket. If ice at the shoreline is cracked or squishy, stay off. Watch out for thin or honeycombed ice. Dark snow and dark ice are also signs of weak spots. Avoid areas with currents, around bridges and pressure ridges. Wind and currents can break ice even in the middle of a lake or pond. er who does not show If You Break up at their destination Through the Ice within a reasonable Inevitably, some time after they were folks will break scheduled to do so. through the ice, and for them, purchasing (Continued on next page)

(Continued from page 34) a buoyant snowmobile suit could be a life-saving decision. A helmet and snowmobile suit, even if they are non-buoyant, may keep a rider afloat for several minutes.

Don’t panic and don’t try to climb out immediately, because you will probably break the ice around you again. Lay both arms on the unbroken ice, and kick hard. This will help lift your body onto the ice.

Some snowmobilers (as well as ice-fishermen) wear two “ice claws” connected by a cord looped loosely over their shoulders under their jacket. These can be storebought or handmade, retractable or fixed.

These picks allow the user to get a firm grip on the slippery surface of the ice. The person in the water takes one of these small ice picks in each hand, reaches out onto the ice, sticks the sharp metal pointed ends into the ice surface, and pulls himself or herself to safety.

Once on the ice, roll on your side – don’t attempt to stand up and walk to safety, until you know you’re on solid ice.

Assisting Others

To help someone who has fallen through the ice, lie down flat on the ice and reach with a branch, plank or rope.

If you’ve got a number of rescuers, form a human chain – lying down. Don’t stand up, because this concentrates all of your weight in a small area, and, as the person in the water has already discovered, the ice is too thin.

After securing the victim, wiggle backward to solid ice.

Folks snowmobiling on the ice should ensure they can call for assistance, by carrying their cell phones in sealed plastic bags. Add the appropriate emergency numbers (game warden, sheriff or local fire department) to the phone’s call list, so you don’t waste valuable time dialing critical numbers.

So have fun snowmobiling this winter, but please – be careful out there! ¶

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Always wear an approved helmet and eye protection. Observe all state and local laws. Respect the rights of others. Ride within your capabilities. Allow extra time and plenty of distance for maneuvering. Do not perform stunts. ©2014 Yamaha Motor Corp, U.S.A. All rights reserved.© 2016 Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. All rights reserved.

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