Northwoods Sporting Journal, Jan 2024

Me & Joe Leave Ice Shack, Expect It To Float!

January 2024

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County Grand Slam - Erin Argraves

* Crappie Fever * Targeting Togue * Deer Season Snapshots * Camps, Cottages & Land For Sale

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January 2024

By Erin Argraves

This year ’s grand slam started with my bear.

I harvested a nice sow on a bait on September 6th. I shot it with a .300 win mag.

I was sitting in a ground blind with my husband as we watched the bear come in. The bear was harvested

Northwoods Sporting Journal

My Grand Slam

three week span. I harvested my beautiful bull on Monday, September 25th, by 7 a.m.. It was so exciting. We set up the call and immediately had two cows come and check us out.

They wandered off and we walked up over the hill to where they had been and

Once I found him in the scope again he had stood up and was broadside so I took the shot right then. He never stepped and went down right there.

Having both my husband and daughters with me for the hunt made it even more amazing. in Mapleton and tagged at Washburn Trailside in Washburn.

Next up was my moose. Being a high school teacher in Aroostook County means that our students are out for three weeks for harvest break. Kids help the farmers by working the potato harvest and I was lucky enough for my moose week to fall in that

Page 3

heard the bull grunt to our left in an old clear cut. So we walked up further and spotted the two cows on either side of the old cutting and searched for the bull. I spotted his paddles in the middle of the cut when he turned his head. They were bright red in the sunshine.

I found him in the scope and my husband was looking through the binoculars

and I said that yes, that was the moose I wanted. I had no shot (he was laying down) and I lost him in the scope after looking at him

stepped and went down right there. Having both my husband and daughters with me for the hunt made it even more amazing. I

Gateway Variety in Ashland. I once again used the .300 win mag. My moose weighed in at 786lbs with a 47” spread straight across.

My third leg was the deer. I got my buck with a crossbow on October 5th.

My husband and I were actually out looking for turkeys that night. The game camera went off in the field behind our house with a nice little 4 point so we decided to go back home and check it out. By the time we got there he was gone of course. We walked around our woods and field out back and then headed back to the truck. As we rounded the corner, almost back to the truck I spotted a deer standing next to the woods. We ranged him at The author with one of her 18 yards and I fired the Grand Slam critters. crossbow with a through with just my eyes. Once can’t express the excite- and through shot hitting I found him in the scope ment and range of emotions heart and lungs. It turned again he had stood up and I feel about that morning. out to be an 8 pointer that was broadside so I took the It was absolutely incred- we had on camera earlier shot right then. He never ible. I tagged my moose at (Grand Slam cont. pg 31)

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On The Cover

Me & Joe Leave Ice Shack, Expect It To Float - Pg 16 County Grand Slam - Pg 3 Crappie Fever - Pg 57 Targeting Togue - Pg 34 Deer Season Snapshots - Pg 14 Camps, Cottages and Land for Sale - Pg 68-70

Contents

3. My Grand Slam - Erin Argraves 5. Northwoods Sketchbook - Mark McCollough 6. Women In The Woods - Erin Merrill 7. From Craig Pond - Bob Mercer 9. Marsh Island Chronicles - Matthew Dunlap 10. A Hiker’s Life - Carey Kish 11. The Singing Maine Guide - Randy Spencer 13. The Northwoods Bowhunter - Brian Smith 14. Outdoors In Maine - V. Paul Reynolds 15. Warden’s Words - Kale O’Leary 16. The Adventures Of Me & Joe - Bob Cram 17. The Trail Rider - Dan Wilson 18. Outdoor Sporting Library - Jeremiah Wood 20. Aroostook Woods & Water - Mike Maynard 21. On The Ridge - Joe Judd 24. The Gun Cabinet - John Floyd 26. Kineo Currents - Suzanne AuClair 27. On The Prowl - Justin Merrill 28. Just Fishing - Bob Leeman 30. The Bird Perch - Karen Holmes 32. Muzzleloading Afield - Al Raychard 33. Guns & Ammo: A Guide’s Perspective - Tom Kelly 34. The Maine Woods - Matt LaRoche 36. View From The River - Laurie Chandler 37. The Back Shelf - John O. Cartier 38. Maine Outdoor Adventure - Rich Yvon 39. Old Tales From The Maine Woods - Steve Pinkham 40. On Point - Paul Fuller 41. Best Bassin’ - Bill Decoteau 42. The Buck Hunter - Hal Blood 43. Northwoods Voyager - Gil Gilpatrick 44. Proper Use Of Lights While Hunting Coyote/Fox 45. Tales Of A Maine Woodsman - Joel Tripp 46. Slipstream - Scott Biron 47. Green Mountain Report - Bradley Carleton 48. Vermont Ramblings - Dennis Jensen 49. Outdoors In Vermont - Gary Moore 50. Maple Country Outdoors - Ben Wilcox 52. Maine Tails - Jonah Paris 53. Against The Current - Bob Romano 54. The Alberta Moose - Jerry Evans 55. Basics Of Survival - Joe Frazier 56. Question Of The Month - Meghan 57. South Of The Kennebec - Stu Bristol 58. Cookin’ With New England’s WildCheff - Denny Corriveau 59. Cracker Barrel - Homer Spit 62. New Hampshire Outdoors - Peter St. James 63. A Deer Hunter Hits Paydirt - Sam Allen 64. Bucks & Boat Shoes - Calvin Wirfel

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

The Sportin’ Journal The Outdoor Paper For “Maine Folks”

The Northwoods Sporting Journal is the Northeast’s most comprewww.sportingjournal.com hensive and readable monthly outdoor Main Office Phone: (207) 732-4880 publication. Published at the trailhead E-mail: info@sportingjournal.com Fax: (207)732-4970 of Maine’s sprawling North Woods, the Vol 31 Issue 1 is published monthly by Northwoods Publications, 57 Old County Rd. North, W. Enfield, ME 04493 Sporting Journal prides itself on being Periodical Postage Paid at W. Enfield, ME. and additional mailing offices. an independent voice for the region’s The Northwoods Sporting Journal (ISSN#1548-193X) Postmaster: outdoor community for more than 28 Send address changes to: years. Some of our writers are seasoned Northwoods Sporting Journal, PO Box 195, W. Enfield, ME 04493 and specialized outdoors people who Northwoods Publishing Group will share their know-how and insights; Victor Morin - Susan Morin - Diane Reynolds - V. Paul Reynolds some of our contributors are simply Publishers - Victor Morin Jr. - V. Paul Reynolds lifelong outdoor people with interest- Editor - V. Paul Reynolds Assistant Editor - Josh Reynolds ing stories to tell.

Associate Editor - Donna Veino Our aim every month is to capture Graphic Arts Manager - Gayleen Cummings the essence of Northern New England’s Subscription/Distribution Manager - Alicia Cram Manager - Annette Boobar remarkable outdoor heritage by stirring Operations Webmaster - V. Paul Reynolds memories, portraying outdoor humor, Sales Department; Victor Morin,Thomas Schmidt, Paul Hatin, and sharing experiences and outdoor Traci Grant, Michael Georgia and Mike Brown Regional Advertising Manager - Jim Thorne knowledge. We also keep our readers The Northwoods Sporting Journal invites submissions of photographs up to date with late-breaking outdoor and articles about the Maine outdoors.

Manuscripts should be sent with a self-addressed envelope to: news and hard-hitting editorials about NORTHWOODS SPORTING JOURNAL fish and wildlife issues.

P.O. BOX 195, W. ENFIELD, MAINE 04493 Anyone who loves to hunt and The Northwoods Sporting Journal accepts no responsibility for fish, or simply finds the Great Outdoors unsolicited photos or manuscripts. Photos submitted without a stamped, self-addressed envelope will not be returned. a treasured place, is more than likely to find some special connections amid All rights reserved, 2024. Written permission must be obtained from the Northwoods the pages of the Northwoods Sporting Sporting Journal to reprint any part of this publication. Any errors or omissions in ads or editorial matter will be corrected in the next issue of NWSJ. Journal.

The views and opinions expressed by our monthly columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

The Alberta Moose - Pg 54 Jerry Evans

Question Of The Month - Pg 56 Meghan

The Maine Woods - Pg 34 Matt LaRoche

The Northwoods Bowhunter - Pg 13 Brian Smith

Other Great Stories & Information 8. Editorial/Letters 12. Outdoor News 68. Real Estate

Cover Photo:

By Ron Argraves

January 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 5

It’s Raining Acorns!

The oaks, hickories, beech, and walnuts outdid themselves last fall. The autumn breeze brought hundreds of red oak acorns raining down on my truck and driveway. Even the white pines outdid their normal cone production.

Months after an avalanche of nuts, they still crunch underfoot on driveways, sidewalks, and roadways, and shoot like marbles out of the snowblower. In the woods, the fat-cheeked chipmunks, plump turkeys, and chubby deer ate their fill from the cornucopia, yet the ground under many hardwoods is still covered in untouched nuts. If the snow is not too deep or crusted, wildlife will have plenty of food for the winter.

Last fall will go down as a record mast year in parts of the Northeast. In Maryland and Washington D.C. area and northward oaks have been dropping acorns like gangbusters. Connecticut monitors white and red oak production at several sites.

The state reports an average white oak acorn crop for the first time since 2016 and a bumper red oak acorn crop. New Hampshire and Massachusetts documented a bumper crop of acorns.

Maine does not monitor mast production, but a bumper crop of acorns was reported by foresters throughout the state.

Hard mast was not abundant everywhere or for every species. Vermont reported poor acorn production. The American Chestnut Foundation cited a reduced chestnut

crop. The reason was a warm spring that enticed the chestnut trees to leaf out early followed by a late frost on May 18. Chestnuts are produced on the new growth nipped by the frost.

We all know that the output of tree nuts varies from year to year, but what made last fall so spectacular throughout much of the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and Great Lake States?

Both the red and white oak

tion.

Tree scientists agree that mast years, in part, are triggered by tree stress.

Trees hedge their bets and produce more seeds if they are being attacked by insects or disease and could die. Oaks in Maine were stressed from destructive insects, including browntail moth, winter moth, and gypsy moth. Beeches were attacked by the new beech leaf disease. The wet sum-

by Mark McCollough, Hampden, ME synchronous seed production of individual trees or across an entire region.

Sometimes the summer growing season two years previous can set the stage for a fantastic acorn year.

This is especially true of the red oak family because their acorns take two years to develop.

We all know that the output of tree nuts varies from year to year, but what made last fall so spectacular throughout much of the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and Great Lake States? groups species are well known

to synchronize and produce bumper crops every two to five years. Red oak production of acorns is off the charts in some areas.

How did millions of oak trees decide they would all outdo themselves in the fall of 2023?

Scientists are stumped why nut-bearing trees produce more acorns one year than the next. It takes a lot of energy for a tree to add wood and grow in height. Producing copious amounts of energy-rich acorns comes at an energy cost to the tree – more acorns, less growth. Mast trees may only outperform every few years to balance growth and seed produc-

mer may have triggered additional stress.

But why was there a large mast crop over such a large geographic area? It is possible that the oaks schemed together to launch last fall’s avalanche of acorns. The Wall Street Journal quotes Bruce Wood, a retired research horticulturist from the USDA Agricultural Research Service, who believes that trees synchronize their seed production via volatile chemicals released from their foliage.

We also are now learning that trees communicate via fungal networks linking their roots. Nut trees may be saying to each other, “this is going to be a big mast year.”

But the real trigger for wide geographic synchrony is likely the weather, Wood said. A hot, dry, sunny growing summer in the previous growing season followed by a warm late winter and an early spring correlates with the

Northwoods Sketchbook

Achooo! Perfect pollinating conditions may have something to do with a big mast year. A warm, dry spring is conducive to a tree producing lots of pollen. Avoiding spring frosts during the critical flowering and pollination period is the recipe for optimal germination.

Likely, it was a combination of factors, some set-in motion a year or two ago that produced the great mast crop of 2023.

Wildlife greatly benefits from a big mast year.

An oak tree in its prime (50-70 years old) can produce a bumper crop of 10,000 acorns. That’s a lot of calories served up to wildlife (and people who gather walnuts and hickory nuts.) At least 90 species of birds, mammals, and insects gather to eat the bounty. Think beyond the usual culprits of bears, grouse, deer, turkeys, and squirrels. The feast includes blue and gray jays, wood ducks, white-footed and deer mice, chipmunks, woodpeckers, red-backed voles, raccoons, foxes,

and the filbert weevil. This insect leaves the characteristic emergence hole in predated acorns. Sparrows and juncos have been gathering at my driveway to eat fragments of acorns crunched daily by our car tires.

Trees have a collective intelligence. Big mast years usually follow several years of minimal production. The populations of seed predators drop during the lean years. This ensures that in a big mast year, there are too many nuts for the animals to eat them all. In other words, they overwhelm the predators ensuring that there will be lots of oak, pine, and hickory seedlings sprouting next spring.

The effects of this big mast year will ripple through wildlife populations for several years.

While deer hunting last November, I observed many immature gray squirrels and chipmunks. The bounty provided the ideal condition for second and third litters last summer.

Fat white-footed mice are procreating, which will in turn host greater populations of deer ticks in the spring. Hawks, owls, weasels, pine marten, fishers, and other predators will have lots of rodents to eat this winter and will produce more young.

Mark McCollough gathered over 1000 acorns to plant next spring near his home in Hampden. He can be contacted at markmccollough25@gmail.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 6

Women In The Woods

by Erin Merrill, Portland, ME During deer season, I skim the hunting Facebook groups for photos of amazing deer. I love the photos of successful female hunters. I love the photos of incredible deer that are what (almost) every hunter’s dreams of taking. This past season, I found a female

to be in the right place at the right time. “It was a great year to practice still hunting,” Erin exclaimed, “It was a really cool experience to get more familiar with the woods around our house.”

Last August while looking at trail camera

January 2024

The Dream Buck her second deer. It was a perfect hunting day. “I heard a noise,” Erin said, “and two does ran at me.

They were so close that I actually jumped and threw my arms up.” Her heart was racing but she regained her composure and walked more before meeting up with her husband and father-in-law. It was about 9 a.m. at this point and they

shot to be about 50 yards.

As Erin and her husband approached the deer, they realized that it has been the deer that they first

of us could only dream about tagging, her next goal is to join the Big Buck Club. I can’t wait until I get another message from her

She didn’t get too far before she saw movement.

“My eye was drawn to movement so I stopped and lifted the gun and got him in the scope.” There were two trees between Erin and the buck. hunter, with an incredible buck and a fantastic name!

Erin McGraw grew up fishing and did not really start deer hunting until just a few years ago. She shot her first deer, a spikehorn in 2019 but took a year off with the birth of a baby. In 2021, Erin and her husband hunted but were never able

pictures, Erin and her husband got the first look at this buck. “I didn’t know what a drop-tine was,” Erin laughed, “I just knew it was a big buck.”

As the season got underway, Erin, along with her husband and father-inlaw, headed into the woods with the hopes of getting

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wanted to head in for a little bit but Erin was determined to stay in the woods.

Her father-in-law headed in one direction and her husband started following her through the woods. She didn’t get too far before she saw movement. “My eye was drawn to movement so I stopped and lifted the gun and got him in the scope.” There were two trees between Erin and the buck. “I got the gun up, saw his head and then the fact that he had antlers. The deer stepped just right so I could take a perfect shoulder shot and he piled right up.”

She heard her husband cheer from behind her. “I didn’t know it was that buck. But, I absolutely got buck fever and started shaking.” They ranged the

Erin McGraw with her dream buck. saw in August. Finally, they could see just how impressive of a buck he was; double drop-tines!

The buck dressed at 154 lbs. with an impressive 12 points, including the two drop tines. “I wasn’t sure about getting him mounted but I had a lot of taxidermists reach out to me,” Erin said, “so we decided to go ahead and do it.

He is an once-in-a-lifetime buck.”

Now that Erin has tagged a buck that so many

saying that she has done just that!

Erin is a member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association, Outdoor Writers Association of America and the New England Outdoor Writers Association. She is a senior writer for Drury Outdoors’ DeerCast. You can read about Erin’s adventures and contact her at www.andastrongcupofcoffee.com

Happy New Year!

2024!!!

January 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Perspectives

The beginning of January signals the end of one year, the beginning of the next and a time to look back down the trail.

We began taking trips for the purpose of introducing our grandchildren to camping. In this age of rampant technology, we

Dressing in a tent without something solid to help keep one’s balance, was a problem.

Teaching outdoor skills will not abate. Skills such as cooking over coals, not flames and learning knot tying are important.

The most important knots

on the Maine woods. The more time I spent alone, the less I wanted to do and the lazier I got. There were very few folks my age who wanted to go brook fishing on a regular basis. Standing waist deep in a river, even a slow moving one, seemed daunting and dangerous.

The regular out of doors activities I used to enjoy

Page 7

From Craig Pond

by Bob Mercer, Bucksport, ME

I worked hard, but nothing seemed to help. I was outside with a nice group of guys, feeling much better but my game was terrible.

Then, I had an epiphany, I stopped trying to play like

we have learned about ourselves and ways to improve in a way that makes life more meaningful and enjoyable.

Happy New Year to all and I hope we all find

We will continue to go to The Eddy, because our oldest son is a raft and fishing guide who lives there in the summer and it’s an opportunity to visit him, get the kids rafting and do a little fishing.

wanted the grandchildren to learn skills related to tenting, open fires, and spending time in the woods with no cell service or internet. Our first trip, we took seven grandchildren canoeing to First Debsconeag Lake, and set up our tents in a beautiful beachside campsite. We cooked over an open fire, swam, fished, canoed, swatted bugs, played games, laughed and enjoyed time together.

Our oldest son and his wife went along on the trip. It was an experience that we will never forget!

Later on we moved to Big Eddy on the Penobscot River, we moved because of our age. Big Eddy was a good compromise because we could still teach camping skills, tying knots, flying tarps in case of rain, cooking over an open fire and the necessities associated with camping. We have enjoyed several wonderful years tenting at The Eddy. This year we realized that age had caught up with us again and perhaps next year we would rent a cabin.

are the square knot, bowline, clove hitch and taut line hitch. The trick will be to not lose the teaching, as we make way for our personal comfort in a cabin.

We will continue to go to The Eddy, because our oldest son is a raft and fishing guide who lives there in the summer and it’s an opportunity to visit him, get the kids rafting and do a little fishing.

A few years back, I had a conversation about retirement with a friend.

He told me:”The secret to retirement is to cultivate a group of guys to do stuff with beginning about five years before you retire. If you don’t, you will spend a lot of time alone”. Problem was I had been retired two years when he told me that.

Later when checking how another friend was doing after his wife had passed, he replied, “I am OK. The key is not sitting home, but getting out among people”.

I had to make a change.

I was spending a great deal of time alone reading books with an emphasis

now seemed difficult and/ or there were no “buddies” to go with.

I decided to return to playing golf as a way to get out with people. When I looked into playing, it was hard to justify the expense.

I overcame that by taking a part time job in the club house, which made playing a job benefit. After a ten year lay-off from golf, I could no longer play well.

I used to be reasonably good but now I was awful.

I used to and accepted playing the way I could now.

I began getting better and started enjoying playing again. Is it possible that this is a good metaphor for other aspects of the aging process? Should we not worry about doing things the way we used and simply enjoy doing things the way we are capable of doing them now?

As one year ends and another begins I hope we all can look back on things

peace, happiness and learn something new in the year ahead.

Bob was an avid outdoorsman and former registered Maine Guide. He writes from the shores of Craig Pond where he and his wife raised three children who blessed them with ten wonderful grandchildren. Bob may be reached at Craigponder@myfairpoint.net

Page 8

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Assault Weapons Emboldened by the horrific mass shooting in Lewiston by a deeply troubled man, the anti-gun proponents are once again in an exploitation mode. And, more than likely, the average nonpolitical person in Maine is paying attention like never before. The newspapers’ editorial pages are rampant with the old post-shootings refrain: “ban assault weapons” and “ban high capacity magazines.”

Lets face it, the Lewiston mass killings were our worst nightmare, and the scars and horror of the day will linger long, not only for the family survivors of those shot down by a madman, but for all of us Mainers who never imagined in our wildest dreams that this could happen so close to home.

To be blunt, the Lewiston tragedy is, politically speaking, low hanging fruit for the anti-gun exponents. Those of us who value the Second Amendment and our right to bear arms for hunting and self defense need to face facts. We are most likely deal-

GPS To The Editor What in the world does Suzanne Auclair mean by saying GPS doesn’t

ing with a game changer.

As we have witnessed with other issues that are emotionally charged, feelings trump logic.

Nonetheless, the facts need to be included in the conversation. When letter writers clamor for a ban of all “assault weapons” do they know specifically what they are agitating for?

During the 10 year ban of assault weapons in this country, the Federal Government defined an assault weapon as a semi-automatic gun with a detachable clip or magazine. My 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun, or semi-automatic hunting rifle would conform to this criteria, would it not?

The NRA defines an assault weapon as any firearm used in an assault. A 2018 study by the Rand Corporation found that this country’s 10-year ban of assault weapons and high capacity magazines had negligible effect on reducing violent crime or mass shootings.

A number of pro-gun hunters that we

work in the north woods?

GPS literally means GLOBAL positioning system! It works anywhere in the world!

Kevin Cassidy

have talked with are reluctantly concluding that maybe it is time to ban high capacity magazines, that they are the singular culprit. Yet a 1997 study by the Department of Justice found that few high capacity magazines were actually used in mass shootings, and that a deranged individual with a pocketful of five round clips (hunting rifle) can sustain a field of fire not much different from a shooter with a high capacity magazine.

Human nature being what it is, especially in a Constitutional Republic like ours, we look to elected officials to impose a quick fix, to make us comfortable again, to stop this social madness by legislative fiat, at the state or national level.

It is a complex issue rooted in, not only Constitutional freedoms and the right of due process, but rampant mental health issues, Red Flag laws, and flaws in law enforcement itself.

--VPR

Good Buddies!

Eight Year old Bode Cummings harvested this nice 147lb., 4 pointer from his family’s property. He hunted with his father Bruce Cummings.

November 22nd.

Eight year old Leo Dube harvested this nice 140lb., 8 pointer with his great grandfather Leo Dube’s 300 savage. Hunted on his dad’s friend Clint’s land. Taken on Thanksgiving day.

January 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Way Home

Why do I hunt? For some reason, that question is never more meaningful than after I get the critter I’m after. Success in hunting, while not materially related to filling a tag, can nonetheless feel a bit surreal when it happens. After all the scouting, preparation, practice at the range, shopping for improved equipment, arranging gear and actually going out into the field for days, weeks, and even years which find us coming up empty, we get lulled into a state where success in hunting is found in the experience, and the denouement of the moment comes only in daydreams.

Then, like a clap of thunder, we’re standing over a fresh kill, marveling; did that really just happen?

It is the epic song of the unsuccessful hunter that we “just like getting into the woods” or “just being out there.” I’ve said many times how little I care about shooting another deer—I’ve shot plenty.

But it’s always fun to try again, and along the way, taking the time to visit with hunting buddies and family members. I love returning to my favorite haunts, seeing what’s changed and what remains the same. As hunters, we always return home when we step into the woods.

Hunting, fishing, trapping, and all the subplots that are built into those hours, are actions that bestow a sort of cosmic baptism. Everything that really doesn’t matter is washed away by the gentle wind in the boughs over our heads as we contemplate the eddies in the bend of a meandering brook or as we peer deep into the woods in the

pre-dawn hours, listening with our eyes and seeing with our ears.

This year, as I wrote earlier in this space, I wanted to not only make the time to get out into the woods, I wanted to do it right. I wanted to assemble my gear well in advance from a thoughtful checklist I would carefully consider.

I would not allow the priorities of others to trespass on my hunting days

could I slid five cartridges of Barnes 180-grain .30’06 into the magazine of my Weatherby Vanguard bolt-action rifle, clicked on the safety, and took a deep breath. A light wind rattled the stubborn leaves of nearby birch trees, and sighed among the sleeping beech and maples along the low ridge in front of me, where I had seen a group of deer meandering during the turkey season. I had

Page 9

Marsh Island Chronicles

by Matthew Dunlap, Old Town, ME far more noisily than I intended, I snapped off the safety.

He looked up, again trying to make out what I was. I made a slow fist, and—POW!!!

He dropped where he stood.

I would not allow the priorities of others to trespass on my hunting days mid-morning or anytime I would otherwise be in the woods. I would let the experience wash away the stress of modern, everyday life. mid-morning or anytime I would otherwise be in the woods. I would let the experience wash away the stress of modern, everyday life.

Mostly, I was faithful to the plan. Early-season weather reports weren’t terribly promising for Opening Day with projected temperatures in the mid-70’s, so I decided to pass up the first morning.

A week later, the day was mine.

Dear reader, I did not completely plan ahead, nor did I compile a list of necessary gear. The night before, however, I was able to find everything and assemble it. Getting up early, allowing myself the extra time to have a cup or two of coffee, and then getting into the woods early enough to “let things settle down”, however, were benchmarks I was able to meet. And good thing.

The legal hunting day on November 4th began at 6:47 in the morning. I was completely set up by 6:30, and as the witching hour approached, as quietly as I

decided to set up there, figuring that if any animal has the habits of routine like a middle-aged man like me, it’s a deer.

I sat there and let the hunt in. The light wind became incredibly present. A rustling of leaves to my right—and I looked up, knowing how a deceitful wind can play mean tricks; but no—what was that? I’ve been tricked by plenty of two-hundredpound squirrels. Ignore it, I almost thought aloud.

There’s something about a deer trotting through the woods, though, that doesn’t sound like anything else. I turned, and as I moved, I snapped a small branch—and everything stopped. Moving as little as possible, I glanced at my watch; 6:50 in the morning—three minutes in. I could see the deer.

He could see me, too; but he wasn’t sure what I was. He stood, staring. At length, he put his nose to the ground, pawed a bit, and then took the opportunity to mark his scrape.

I brought the rifle up, and

The next couple of hours, in my memory, are a bit of a blur; from field dressing, the drag (this is what they mean when they say the work starts after the shot), loading the small four-point buck into the truck, the trip to the tagging station and hanging it in the garage. Just like that, as easy as hunting experts describe.

I had more tags. I had another permit for an adjacent zone, and because I had taken a buck, I could go back to the first zone and try for a doe. I kept all my gear handy for the opportunity to go out again.

Something, though, told

me no. Really, one deer for my family is enough, and I didn’t want to sand down the experience of my success on that morning with a string of emptiness.

I wanted to remember those moments and turn them over and again in my mind.

After all, I don’t hunt for meat. That is more easily obtainable in too many other ways to count. What I found that morning was what we all hunt for—the moment, when everything comes together, and is immune to revision or secondguessing.

Success is not the only reason why I hunt. If it were, I’d have given up years ago; but success is what keeps me coming back, one more time, and one more, just like coming home.

Matt Dunlap is a sportsman from Old Town and is a periodic co-host on Maine Outdoors, heard statewide every Sunday night at 7:00 pm on WVOM 103.9 FM, WVQM 101.3 FM, and WRKD 95.1 FM in Rockland.

Bingham

Page 10

“A Hiker’s Life”

Northwoods Sporting Journal

By Carey Kish, Mt. Desert Island, ME The Schoodic Peninsula is a remarkable landscape of dense spruce forests, jack pine woodlands, shrubby heaths, cobble beaches, granite headlands, deep harbors and rugged islands. Bounded

by Frenchman Bay to the west, Gouldsboro Bay to

dinary Schoodic District of Acadia National Park, the only mainland chunk of the park, while Gouldsboro takes in the lands on both sides of U.S. Route 1, stretching from the center of the peninsula north toward Tunk Lake.

The “quiet side” of

January 2024

Hiking On the Quiet Side

donor, Schoodic still sees a fraction of the visitors that overwhelm the park proper on MDI. Once you’ve enjoyed the park’s network of meandering trails and bike paths, ambled in awe over the wave-splashed pink granite at Schoodic Point, checked out the cool log and stone visitor information center and poked around the campground,

Back at the trailhead, keep your pack on and continue immediately south on the Salt Marsh Trail, which tracks through a portion of the 623-acre Gouldsboro Bay Division of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The 1.6-

the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, this is the largest conservation property in town. Two miles of pond shorefront are protected plus good chunks of forested wetlands and shrub wetlands. A sweet 2-mile loop trail gets you around

mile out-and-back hike leads to several lookout points with views over the tidal flats to West Bay. Next up, make your way to Corea Heath Preserve, a 600-acre parcel of wetlands and bog that serves as a key conservation link between the Grand Marsh and more of the heathlands owned by MCINWR. FBC aptly describes this special place as “a quiet haven for wildlife and the people who walk there,” and the 1.2-mile loop hike is one to be savored indeed.

Trundle on to Forbes Pond Preserve, a sprawling 980 acres that encompass the pristine 192-acre Forbes Pond. Owned by

to see it all.

Your final stop should be Taft Point Preserve.

Here, FBC’s 68 acres showcase a half-mile of frontage on Flanders Bay and a spectacular vista ranging from the mountain peaks of Acadia National Park on MDI to Schoodic Mountain in the Donnell Pond Public Lands. Three trails—Flanders Bay, Beach and Jones Cove—combine for 2 miles of delightful walking.

Whew! Five preserves and just shy of 8 ½ miles of hiking. Well done! Now, with any luck, you’ll catch a nice sunset on the slow road toward home.

Once you’ve enjoyed the park’s network of meandering trails and bike paths, ambled in awe over the wave-splashed pink granite at Schoodic Point, checked out the cool log and stone visitor information center and poked around the campground, you might be wondering what else is there to see and do over this way. the east and the Gulf of Maine along its southern margin, the peninsula is a true natural gem of Maine’s bold Downeast coastline.

Two towns make up the Schoodic Peninsula.

Winter Harbor encompasses the southern reaches, which feature the extraor-

Acadia National Park is considered by most to be the west side of Mount Desert Island, but that label might be better applied to Schoodic. Despite having attracted increased attention when it expanded to 3,450 acres in 2015 thanks to a generous anonymous

Coastal

wiscassetspeedway.com

you might be wondering what else is there to see and do over this way.

Quite a lot as it turns out, and that’s where Gouldsboro comes into play.

Thanks to the Frenchman Bay Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, there are footpaths aplenty in the town of Gouldsboro, more than enough to keep hikers busy for a solid day.

Begin your Gouldsboro hiking adventure at FBC’s Frances B. Wood Preserve, 438 acres just inland from West Bay. A 1.6-mile loop wends along the edge of a beaver pond, then gently rises through the hush of the thick hillside woods beyond.

Have a Safe & Happy New Year!

Carey Kish of Mount Desert Island, ME is the author of Beer Hiking New England, AMC’s Best Day Hikes Along the Maine Coast, and the AMC Maine Mountain Guide. Catch up with him (maybe) at maineoutdoors@aol.com, on Facebook, and on Instagram @careykish

January 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The New Predator

Solar farms have sprung up in Maine like mushrooms after a ream of rain. They claim to provide cleaner and more renewable sources of energy. And that may well be true up to a point, but in this column, I’d like to look at the environment that they inevitably change, especially with respect to whitetail deer.

As an example, I’m using my own wintering habitat in Holden, ME where hundreds of acres have been repurposed for solar farms in just the past year. Most of this land was already open pasture, but some had to be clear cut.

Every one of these sites has been home and habitat to a healthy herd of deer.

One of them, crossing over into the Brewer side, is part of the expanded archery season lands where archery hunters have been able to secure tags from their town hall and then help thin out the overabundance of deer in this area. Acre upon acre of solar panels have drastically changed that now, introducing a conflict between progress and conservation.

If anyone doubts that solar farms can disrupt the whitetail deer population, they have only to look here for evidence. Each of these sites now stands on ground that was part of the local deer herd’s movements, feeding habits, shelter, and in some cases wintering.

In those areas where clear cutting preceded the installations, cover, so important in the lives of whitetails was either disrupted or totally removed. Naturally, deer would then seek new areas with cover and forage, but what if the affected lands were bordered by highways, neighborhoods,

or even more solar farms?

Migration routes are thus cut off by these formidable barriers, and that’s when we begin to see an increase in disputes between deer and vehicles.

Some solar enthusiasts love to suggest that the rows of panels create new grazing opportunities. One might reasonably ask, how many years after such a dramatic disruption would this phenomenon kick in?

If, on the other hand, solar companies were to take it upon themselves to do plantings of vegetation and cover hospitable to the deer herd’s needs, that might do some good. Research on this has shown this to be the exception rather than the rule.

There must be an approach that does not set wildlife management against renewable energy development. Habitat enhancements as mentioned above would be a place to start. Also, strategic planning around site selection might steer construction away from heavy concentrations of deer to ground that is less than ideal for whitetail, but still workable for solar panels.

In some states, wildlife corridors and green spaces have worked to reduce the impact of development on wildlife. Do solar farm developers seek out the input of these conservationists before plunging ahead with installations such as they’ve done locally? Is an environmental impact paper published in each case before construction begins? Hard to find if so.

The argument that we need solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources because the planet is in

trouble should not mean that we are then justified in wreaking havoc upon the environment. As an example, when we clear cut lands to erect solar panels, we’ve just gotten rid of a carbon-absorbing forest in order to combat carbon emissions! Doesn’t this smack a little of one step

Page 11

The Singing Maine Guide

by Randy Spencer, Grand Lake Stream, ME

year, there are the expected variabilities due to mast crops, amounts of rain, and other mitigating factors.

But nothing like this. In the same year as three local solar farms have sprung up,

like a long shot and we don’t have enough history to go on to make a prediction. The industry is too new. Whitetails are resilient, but also fragile. Going forward, is it too much to

If anyone doubts that solar farms can disrupt the whitetail deer population, they have only to look here for evidence.

Each of these sites now stands on ground that was part of the local deer herd’s movements, feeding habits, shelter, and in some cases wintering. forward, two steps back?

In the local area I’ve cited, an unofficial survey of people who love to watch deer in a region where they’ve abounded revealed a shocking result.

The neighborhoods of this community are suddenly seeing few, or no deer at all. It’s true that year to

deer sign, movements, and habits have suddenly disappeared, or else become invisible.

Is it just episodic?

Will whitetails recover from the shock of so much habitat loss and learn workarounds that bring them back into their home territories? That outcome feels

ask that solar farms take both into account fully?

Randy Spencer is a working author and guide.

All of his award-winning books are available on Amazon. Reach Randy at randy31@earthlink. net or www.randyspencer. com

22 Peck Farm Road, Winthrop, ME

207-377-2711

Open 8-5:30 Monday-Saturday, 9-2 Sunday

We Buy, Sell & Trade

NOW AN AUTHORIZED

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 12

January 2024

Outdoor News - January 2024 Edited by V. Paul Reynolds

January. For ice fishermen, this is the best month to fish landlocked salmon. Early March is nicer, but the action is generally slower. Liberalized togue limits on many waters make for extra opportunity. As you make your plans to fish, don’t forget to check out the names and locations of the many statewide bait dealers listed this month in the Journal. Maine in January can be harsh, but for those willing to be bold with the cold there is much to do in the outdoors. Snowsledders and cross country skiers will be busy enjoying some of the best trails in the country. Our snowmobile trail system stretches from Kittery to Fort Kent and provides incomparable snowsled opportunities.

The toughest among us will keep on hunting: rabbits, coyotes and sea ducks.

Meanwhile, some of us will hunker down near a warm stove, dream of spring and tie up some dry flies with an eye to warmer days.

However you get through Maine in January, all of us at the Northwoods Sporting Journal wish you a peaceful and prosperous New Year!

New Listings

Eight new species were added to Maine’s Endangered and Threatened Species list, including five birds, one bat, one bee, and a beetle. Two of these species, the saltmarsh sparrow and Ashtons cuckoo bumble bee, are listed as Endangered, and the other six as Threatened. These additions, approved by the Maine Legislature, became official on October 25, 90

days after the end of the last legislative session.

“Maine is known for its abundance of wildlife, but some species of wildlife are in danger of disappearing from Maines landscape,” said Commissioner Judy Camuso of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The addition of these species to the states endangered and threatened list will provide additional protections which will aid in their recovery.

Four of these additions to the list are threatened by climate change. The Saltmarsh Sparrow (Endangered) breeds in coastal saltmarshes of south-central Maine where nests are vulnerable to flooding during high tides associated with sea level rise.

Similarly, the Margined Tiger Beetle (Threatened) relies on a small number of saltmarsh-sand dune areas that are threatened by rising seas and associated storm surge. The Bicknells Thrush (Threatened) and Blackpoll Warbler (Threatened) occupy high-elevation spruce-fir forests of central and western Maine, habitats that are predicted to retract to higher elevations, or disappear altogether.

As with many bat species across North America, the Tri-colored Bat (Threatened) has declined as a result of white-nose syndrome, a devastating disease that has caused declines of over 90% in Maines hibernating bat species. The Ashtons Cuckoo Bumble Bee (Endangered) was thought to be extirpated from Maine following widespread bumble

bee population declines in the early 2000s. However, a single population of the species was recently found during the Maine Bumble Bee Atlas in northern Aroostook County.

Two birds that eat flying insects, the Cliff Swallow (Threatened) and Bank Swallow (Threatened), have declined by >95% over the past fifty years, due to loss of habitat and declining insect populations.

There are fifty-seven species that are now either listed as state Threatened or Endangered in Maine. This status affords extra protections under the Maine Endangered Species Act, which prohibits collection from the wild, take (killing), harassment (injury or significant disruption of natural behavior), and other harmful activities that might cause extirpation.

Additionally, Maines Endangered and Threatened species are prioritized for increased survey, research, and recovery efforts by the Department and our conservation partners.

The Maine Endangered and Threatened Species Listing Handbook (PDF) covers all aspects of the Department’s Endangered Species Listing process, including both regulatory and policy level components. The Maine Endangered Species Act [MESA] statutorily establishes the categories of “endangered” and “threatened” species. Species are added to, or deleted from, these categories via recommendations by the Commissioner of MDIFW to the Legislature, and ultimately, approval by the Legisla-

Wheaton Land Trust

ture. Other administrative categories (special concern and extirpated) are established by policy, not by regulation, and are used for planning and informational purposes; they do not have the legal weight of the first two categories.

By rule, the Department must review all species under its authority once every eight years to determine which species qualify for listing. During this comprehensive review, Department biologists, guided by the Maine Endangered and Threatened Species Listing Handbook compile a list of likely candidates for listing and distributes it to species specialists in Maine and elsewhere. Based on input from these specialists, the Department may revise the list before presenting it to the public at public

The Woodie Wheaton Land Trust proudly announces two significant milestones in its ongoing commitment to conservation and environmental stewardship. The acquisition of the Monument One property, coupled with the renaming of 4,652 acres of the St. Croix Watershed Headwaters forest, mark a momentous achievement in preserving vital natural landscapes and honoring a distinguished advocate for environmental conservation. The Monument One property, a 421-acre tract nestled along the international border with New Brunswick, Canada, now stands under the custodianship of the Woodie Wheaton Land Trust. This acquisition expands the Trust’s efforts to safeguard critical sections of Monu-

hearings. Ultimately, the Department submits its final recommendation to the Legislature for their approval. The last comprehensive review was in 2022, with the Legislature approving the recommendations of the Commissioner (effective October 25, 2023).

ment Brook and Clark Brook, crucial habitats for a diverse array of wildlife including moose, deer, and rare bird species. Simultaneously, the Woodie Wheaton Land Trust also announces the renaming of these expansive woodlands within the St. Croix water(News cont. pg 29)

January 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Wild and Wonderful Whitetail Week

The 2023 deer season started off slow for my wife Joyce and me. I bowhunted at every opportunity in October but only saw does,

tures dropped and the bigger bucks began to chase does. Just after daylight on November 14th, we heard a shot about a half mile away

at 200 yards. I glassed the buck and saw that it was a tall eight point I wanted to shoot. I cranked my Leupold scope to eight power and got a good rest for a shot. I had previously ranged a pine tree at 182 yards and saw that he was going to step out from

Page 13

The Northwoods Bowhunter

by Brian Smith, Machiasport, ME excellent lean protein and a European mount.

Two days later on a very windy November 17th, Joyce went to her stand at dawn. After 45 minutes a doe came by grazing then went on her way. Ten

in hot pursuit. Joyce began to bleat and briefly stopped him but before she could stop shaking enough to pull the trigger, he bolted out of sight. She tried calling him back to no avail so she went home for breakfast and a

Two days later on a very windy November 17th, Joyce went to her stand at dawn. After 45 minutes a doe came by grazing then went on her way. Ten minutes later she returned and the excitement began.

The author with his buck. fawns and a bobcat crouch followed by two more shots while watching a spike 10 minutes later. We found chase does for several min- out that two of our neighutes. On the last morning bors had both missed nice before the rifle season I bucks chasing does at 150 spied a seven pointer at 200 and 300 yards.

The following mornyards working the edge of a field. I tried both grunts ing, November 15th, it was and doe bleats causing 19 degrees when I got him to look my way but to my stand before dayhe only came to 150 yards. light knowing that this was Rifle season began and we magic time! At 7:34 a.m. saw does, fawns and a few I spied antler tips moving small bucks. It was fun to through some tall weeds watch the smaller bucks chase does and Joyce photographed one small buck doing the “Flehman” or lip curl trying to scent a receptive doe.

The flocks of turkeys provided amusing entertainment as well. She also videoed a couple young bucks that were sparring.

Finally the rut kicked in hard at the start of the third week, when the tempera-

behind it. When he cleared the evergreen, I put the crosshairs just behind the shoulder and squeezed the trigger on my Browning X-Bolt Speed. At the bullet impact he shuddered then ran and staggered with tail down for eighty yards before crashing into some alders. Joyce heard the shot and texted that she was on her way to help. I was able to drive my pickup close to the buck, but buried the front wheels in wet hole. My friend Harry came over to pull me out and help us load the buck.

After tagging, photos and field dressing, we went to Pineo’s Hardware to register and weigh him for the annual Big Buck Contest.

He tipped the scales at 182.4 lbs, and will provide

Portland

minutes later she returned and the excitement began.

Loons began calling and two chattering bald eagles began flying around and perched in the trees over her head. The doe went into the timber and a fat button buck came by. Shortly after he left she heard a doe bleat followed by antler rattling a few minutes later. It wasn’t long before the doe came running out with a big buck

break until the afternoon.

She returned to the stand at 2:00 p.m. hoping the pair would come back. At 4:00 p.m. the same doe walked out to graze but kept looking behind her.

Joyce expected the buck to follow and got ready. A big buck stepped out to graze while following the doe.

Joyce made a soft bleat and he walked right toward (Whitetail cont. pg 25)

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All patterns reprinted from “Trolling Flies for Trout & Salmon” by Dick Stewart and Bob Leeman.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 14

Outdoors In Maine

by V. Paul Reynolds, Ellsworth, ME My deer season started this fall in late September during the expanded bow season. As amazing as it seems to me, this was nearly my 70th year in the Maine deer woods!

Imagine. During this long stretch, only one season was sacrificed when I was serving in the U.S. Navy during November of 1964.

Looking back, I recall as a younger man, in a moment of rare reflection during a deer vigil on a cold stump, telling myself that, because deer hunting has been such a passion for me, that, indeed, my life was apparently measured in just how many deer seasons might be left to enjoy.

Perhaps this explains why I hunted so many hours and so doggedly this season, an old man clinging to the annual November cycle in the Maine deer woods. And you want to know something remarkable? That special expecta-

tion and anticipation that is at the very core of deer hunting is for me still as keen as ever, not only for me but for my wife Diane, who shared the deer woods with me often this fall.

As you know, if you are a deer hunter who sits in a tree stand, or hunkers up against a pine tree in the

January 2024

Deer Season Snapshots

yards, checked me out and then executed a quick one eighty.

In another treestand encounter, a doe with yearlings, warned me early from the alder tangles with an incessant round of blowing like I had never experienced. She and her youngsters finally broke out of the brush where I least expected, once gain behind me. No chance for an ethical shot.

As fate would have it, my dispatched buck was down in a classic deer woods hellhole, a softwood thicket peppered with criss-crossing deadfall. What lay ahead was anything but a short drag. shadows with a thermos of hot coffee, it is largely a waiting game. But if you put in your time, there will be those thrilling moments, adrenaline peaks, when a deer jumps amid the beech trees and waves good bye with a white flagging tail.

All told, between bow season and November gun season, I saw 12 deer in WMA 26, mostly does with young ones in tow.

One late afternoon I sat in a canvas bag chair facing a known deer crossing. There was a stiff wind at my back and my ears were covered with a watch cap and a hood. Yep, three deer came crunching toward my position from my rear. They put on the brakes as I turned my head. There was eye contact, but no shots taken.

During bow season, with ten minutes of shooting light left, I elected to climb down from the tree stand for a much needed stretch. Murphy’s law. As soon as my feet hit the ground, three deer heading my way saw me at 50

Then on Veteran’s day, a cold and windy Saturday, this meat hunter had a shot at a love sick, singleminded buck. It was my 13th deer sighting and one shot from my .270 closed the deal. To be honest, it was a young buck and at this point in the season I was not about to let him grow larger antlers, urgings from Maine Fish and Wildlife notwithstanding.

As fate would have it, my dispatched buck was down in a classic deer woods hellhole, a softwood thicket peppered with crisscrossing deadfall. What lay ahead was anything but a short drag. Half way through the grunting, panting drag, I ran out of steam. “Paul,” Diane said,”You are too old to be doing that!” To which I replied,”No kidding, I have been telling myself that for the past hour.”

Texting messages to friends for assistance bore no fruit. (They were all hunting). However, a close friend, Jim Leighton, who

“Hey, Bill, I could really use some help dragging this thing. I’m in a real boghole, blow downs everywhere.” (Photo by Diane Reynolds) was not hunting, took pity and summoned his grandson, Dillon Leighton, who came to the rescue. Between the two of us we finally extracted my buck.

Over the years you learn that in deer hunting it is partly being in the right place at the right time and partly making wise choices. The wise choices are most likely to get you that deer. This fall, despite my many years of experience in the deer woods, a number of mistakes spoiled my shot opportunities.

On stand, just before I bagged the buck, two does bounded into the thicket when I stood for a stretch.

Reasoning that perhaps a buck might be on the does’ scent, I decided to sit tight.

As luck would have it, that proved to be the right choice.

The deer were plentiful this year in my neck

of the woods. I anticipate next year and hope for the chance to get out there once again in the deer woods in 2024. If it is not to be, Fred Benton’s prayer from the Bittersweet Mountains will be on my lips, “Thank you, Lord, for all that you have given me as a hunter.”

The author is editor of the “Northwoods Sporting Journal.” He is also a Maine guide and host of a weekly radio program — “Maine Outdoors” — heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on “The Voice of Maine News - Talk Network.” He has authored three books; online purchase information is available at www. maineoutdoorpublications. com. or www.sportingjournal.com. Contact email: vpaulr@tds.net

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Page 15

Wildlife Investigations It always amazes me how fast the seasons seem to come and go. Before you know it in Maine, the warm summer days that never seem to end begin to fade into the crisp harvest moon nights and a new palette of vibrant fall colors. The perpetual change always comes, and with it comes the busy fall time for a Maine Warden. The fall of 2023 was an exceptionally busy fall for me, as I wrapped up a moose investigation that took a full year to solve with the help of DNA. After that major investigation, information and cases continued to come in steadily that took weeks and months of effort to “connect the dots” and solve these crimes. Many of the cases from 2023 will be stories I will write about in the coming months.

I recently sat down at my computer after the busy hunting season to begin preparing for a new class that I will be teaching at the University of Maine at Fort Kent this spring called “Wildlife Investigations”.

For three years, I have taught a ten-week course at the University covering all things search and rescue. An interesting topic, worthy of the 30 hours of instruction and practical work we conduct with the students, but I have always wanted to do more with wildlife crime investigations, the part of my job that gives me the most satisfaction and a uniquely rewarding feeling. These cases and the investigations and techniques that solve them are the stories that I will tell my grandkids someday when I reflect on my life as a Game Warden.

I began by putting my thoughts down onto paper in regard to what makes a wildlife crime investigation unique. For starters, time is rarely on the side of the investigating Warden.

In Aroostook County, a Warden covers an average of 12 townships, with some

animal is not in great condition. This brought me to the first obvious adversary to a Warden’s investigation. The elements. We all know that animals live outdoors, so subsequently, when an animal is poached or it’s carcass is left in the woods, it is immediately

Evidence from a 2018 moose investigation that took several weeks of effort to solve. districts larger than others. subject to a variety of exBeing in the right place ternal factors that are workat the right time when a ing against us. Being out violation occurs is a rarity in the direct sun or warm and just doesn’t happen as temperatures, expedites the often as we would all like. natural process of decomWe often rely on the public position and it becomes a calling in a dead animal race against the clock to that they have located, and gather whatever evidence more times than not, the we can. In contrast, a police

Warden’s Words

by Game Warden Kale O’Leary, Ashland, ME detective investigating a homicide, where 95% of these crimes occur inside a climate controlled residence, does not contend as much with these curveballs from mother nature.

Predation is another factor working against us.

The natural cycle of life whenever an animal expires in the woods starts almost instantaneously.

Blow flies are usually the first creatures to locate a dead animal and quickly begin eating and laying their larvae, which soon turn into millions of hungry maggots that can make quick work of the organic tissue and potential evidence. Another insect that does damage on our crime scene are the various types of flesh-eating beetles that appear out of seemingly nowhere to assist in the process of decomposition.

A host of avian preda-

tors are usually the second group of fauna to locate a carcass and can consume a surprising amount of meat in a short amount of time.

These birds range from ravens and crows to Bald Eagles. If a day or more has passed before we locate a carcass, you can almost guarantee that a wily coyote has located the kill and has likely carried off his fair share of our evidence.

The last part of a wildlife investigation that is always a challenge, is the lack of witnesses. Again, if a police detective is investigating a homicide which occurred in a residential neighborhood, he or she usually has many witnesses that may have heard or seen something. Oh, you saw a white car leaving the location of the murder soon after you heard a gunshot?

That gives a strong lead to (Wildlife cont. pg 35)

HELP US FIND

The elusive Northwoods Sporting Journal’s moose Marty.

He has wandered into the northwoods.

Find Marty somewhere in the Northwoods Sporting Journal (Hint: he will be located in one of our ads) Send us the page number he’s on and you could be a WINNER! Win a FREE Northwoods Sporting Journal Marty Hat. We will draw one winner from all correct entries submitted each month. We will announce the winner in the next issue.

PLEASE MAIL THIS FORM TO: Northwoods Sporting Journal P.O. Box 195, West Enfield, ME 04493

Shown actual size

Terry Flannagan

Name

(Marty was found on pg 52)

Address City

Marty

State

Phone I found Marty on page

Zip

Entries must be postmarked by 1/15/24 to be eligible for this issue.

PLEASE SLOW DOWN SPEED IS DANGEROUS RIDE RIGHT RIDE SAFE RIDE SOBER

Be Aware of Shared Trails Watch Out for Groomers, Return Like you Left,

Alive!

Page 16

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Adventures of Me and Joe

by Bob Cram, (Alias T.J. Coongate) Medway, ME

‘I hate this!”

Joe looked up from where he was trying to clean driving snow out of an ice fishing hole. I shivered and slapped my hands against my shoulders, trying to beat some warmth into the frigid fish. My teeth chattered as I repeated myself.

I said I hate this! Ice fishing is supposed to be fun. Who can have fun standing out on the ice when it’s ten below zero and a 50 mile an hour wind is driving loose snow through your skin?”

Joe straightened and laid the trap he was tending on the ice. He looked over to where Condon Fishbane and Gasper Gooch were just white silhouettes in the driving snow, miserably watching their traps.

“An’ we ain’t ketchin’ a durn thing, either.” Joe hunched closer to me, his eyebrows and the edge of dark hair escaping from under his hood coated in white. “Maybe we orta call it quits for today.”

I shivered violently in agreement. “You start gathering our traps and I’ll tell Condon and Gasper.”

An hour later we were gathering in the living room

of my Uncle Arnold’s rambling old farmhouse, stripping off sodden layers of clothing and hanging them on wires above the big ramdown heater to dry out.”

“I don’t know about (gasp) you guys,” Gasper said as he held his white-bloched hands over the top of the big wood heater. “But it seems to me (gasp) the winters are gettin’ worse than they used to be. Time was I thought nothin’ of standin’ on the ice all day fishin’. Now (gasp) I’m freezin’ to death every time I go out.”

“What you boys need is an ice shack.” Uncle Arnold came through from the kitchen with a chunk of dry beech stove wood in either hand. He bent and opened the end door on the ramdown and tossed the blocks into the glowing coals. Slamming the door closed, he wiped his hands on the legs of his green wool pants.

“An ice shack is the onliest way to go. Put a little heater in ‘er an’ a few holes in the floor to fish through, an’ you get’ er made. Fish all day long in comfert. Let the wind blow!”

“Thats a great idea,

January 2024

The Ice Shack

“An ice shack is the easiest way to go. Put a little heater in ‘er an’ a few holes in the floor to fish through an ‘you got’ er made. Fish all day long in comfort.

Let the wind blow!”

Uncle Arnold,” I agreed, “but where can kids our age come up with the money for an ice shack?”

“Make yer own!” Uncle Arnold’s long, wrinkled face took on a thoughtful look. “Come to think on it, I ain’t ever gonna be usin’ that ol’ chicken coop out back agin”. Wouldn’t take much ter clean ‘er out an’ make ‘er inter a first class fishin’ shack.”

“What?” Joe immediately brightened as he hung up a pair of red wool socks.

“You mean, we kin just take the coop an’ use it?”

“Sure, glad ter git rid of it,” Uncle Arnold said. He frowned slightly. “Course, it’s a mite heavy...”

“Oh, that don’t...uh...

If you just can’t get enough of reading our Me & Joe Adventures, check out the All Outdoor section of our new Northwoods Sporting Journal website:www.sportingjournal.com You’ll find an ample supply of Me & Joe stories to keep you checking for a long time.

matter,” Condon chimed in enthusiastically. “It ain’t that big an’ we’re real... uh...strong.” He bent a thick arm demonstration.

Over the course of the next week the four of us set about converting the old chicken coop into a first class ice shack. The first thing we had to do was shovel and sweep out all the old chicken droppings.

Then we set about chinking up gaps in the board walls and putting a new coat of tarred paper on the slanting roof.

The little building was only 8 feet by 12, but by the time we had it cleaned out, it seemed like a mansion to us. Under Uncle Arnold’s supervision, we cut four holes near the center of the

room and made removable covers for them. We had wanted to cut the holes near the walls, but Uncle Arnold talked us out of it.

“That would be too hard,” he said mysteriously, “an’, anyway, you want ‘um near the center where it’s warmer.”

We b u i l t f o l d i n g bunks along the walls, a folding table near the front window, and Uncle Arnold let us use his old tin heater for warmth. By Saturday, we had a first class ice fishing shack. The only problem was how to get it down to The Lake Where The Woman Drowned.

“It’s....uh....all down hill,” Condon said confidently. “We should orta (Me & Joe cont. pg 19)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Page 17

Obstacles in Your Path

A crisp winter wind blows through the fields, snowflakes swirling about, and the night sky is clear as can be. The constellation Orion takes center stage, stars twinkling brightly.

The beginning of a new year, full of possibilities.

I think I enjoy night

guidance.

The old wood trails throughout our property are where my dad, nephews, and I like to ride most, exploring the countryside and woods. More often I find myself riding with a chainsaw on back because inevitably there will be a

you. The chainsaw maintenance is simple, only needing a charge, occasional blade sharpening, and some bar and chain lubricant. I have a carrying case with a shoulder strap, much like a gym bag, making bringing along the chainsaw a breeze.

Because my snowmobile has a 2-up seat, there is a backrest and two armrests

“The Trail Rider”

by Dan Wilson, Bowdoinham, ME Similar to life, these obstacles can be hard to overcome, and sometimes you may need to ask for help.

If you ever find yourself, or a loved one, down, experiencing mental healthrelated distress, or having

with how to solve a problem, and helps move those obstacles from your path.

From taking apart a tractor, hauling logs selectively cut through a thick forest, to getting something unstuck, he’ll find a way. I strive to

The old wood trails throughout our property are where my dad, nephews, and I like to ride most, exploring the countryside and woods. More often I find myself riding with a chainsaw on back because inevitably there will be a tree that has blown over, blocking one of our paths.

rides just as much as day rides on the snowmobile.

Both can be equally cold, but in different ways. During the day, the potential for a warm moment in the sun as the rays shine on my face, makes me smile, a break from the long winter months in Maine. At night, my eyes are wide open, taking in whatever I can see, with moonlight reflecting off the snow or my headlights illuminating my path.

Just after winter storms, lots of snow or strong winds, it’s a good time to inspect the trails you use. Many local snowmobile clubs are good about posting ride conditions and communicating when it is OK to ride.

These clubs work hard to maintain trails, clear fallen down trees, and groom the trails. This makes for a smoother, and safer ride, so please adhere to local

tree that has blown over, blocking one of our paths.

Carrying a chainsaw can be a challenge on a snowmobile designed for touring instead of utility, but I think I’ve found a good method.

Last year for my birthday, my father gave me a battery powered chainsaw.

It is adequately powerful and is easy to pack with

that provide ample spots to hitch onto so I can secure the chainsaw to the seat.

If I have a passenger, we might bring along a sleigh or start up the old long track Arctic Cat Super Jag utility snowmobile to ride instead. Having another pair of hands is always helpful, especially when moving trees out of the way or helping if you get stuck in deep snow or on a patch of ice.

Obstacles pose challenges that hinder progress on the trail. Some debris you can just ride over, but others take a little more care and effort to pass.

thoughts of suicide, help is just a text or phone call away, dialing the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988.

I’ve learned a lot of great life lessons from my dad, who always amazes me with what can be accomplished by slowing down. He thinks the situation through, gets creative

have this level of Yankee ingenuity, and I probably don’t say it enough, but thank you, Dad, for showing me the way.

Daniel Wilson works in healthcare and enjoys time outside in nature with his family.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 18

The Last Gentleman Adventurer

Outdoor Sporting Library

by Jeremiah Wood, Ashland, ME

There wasn’t much opportunity for a poor, fatherless sixteen year old boy in 1930’s England.

After seeing a film about life in the Arctic, Edward Beauclerk Maurice signed up to join the Hudson’s Bay

stationed at the settlement of Pangnirtung on northern Canada’s Baffin Island.

The company boat visited each of the remote trading posts just once a year. They unloaded all the supplies needed for

ing to lose and a desire to make the best of northern life. His early lessons came from the post manager, a heavy drinking Scotsman with a common law native wife, a competent and hardworking assistant, and two young Eskimos who

The Inuit of Baffin Island had lived in the area for at least 3,000 years. They lived in snow houses in winter and tents in summer. They traveled with the seasons, following concentrations of caribou, fish, walrus and seal.

Company as an apprentice clerk in the northern trading posts of Canada.

The HBC’s men were known as the “Gentleman Adventurers” and they traded goods – guns, ammo, tobacco, flour, salt, tea - for furs harvested by native hunters at various remote outposts. Still just a kid, Maurice was first

trade, loaded up furs from the previous year’s trading and swapped out post employees and mail. For those running the post, it was the height of remoteness. One boat a year. Mail once a year. Supplies once a year.

No doctors. No two-way radio. Just the one boat.

Young Maurice had few other options, noth-

worked for the company.

An early assessment of Maurice would have found him unfit for outdoor life, but he took on the challenge with enthusiasm, and despite several early brushes with death on the trail, slowly became a skilled hunter and trapper.

The Inuit of Baffin Island had lived in the area

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panded their diet beyond meat, fish and fat. Very successful hunters could even purchase a few items considered luxuries among their peers. Conversely, trade made many of them dependent on the post and its credit, particularly when hard times hit.

As he for at least 3,000 years.

They lived in snow houses advanced in experience, in winter and tents in sum- Maurice was transferred mer. They traveled with to other settlements, and the seasons, following con- eventually ran a remote centrations of caribou, fish, post on his own, at Ward walrus and seal. Food and Inlet in Frobisher Bay. Alskins for clothing were though many of his countheir primary pursuits, but trymen told him not to get after trading posts became too close with the Inuit, he established, trapping took disregarded the advice with on a greater importance in an empathetic curiosity and friendliness to those around their activities.

The fur trade provided him – so much so that he the Inuit opportunity to pur- became fluent in the Inuit chase items that improved language. Customers soon their standard of living, became companions, and allowing them to move be- through hunting expediyond basic survival. They tions, building projects and could purchase firearms, recreational activities, they which greatly improved built a tight community.

It was a time of rapid their effectiveness as hunters. Basic food staples ex- (Adventurer cont. pg 31)

January 2024

Me & Joe

Northwoods Sporting Journal

eled holes through the ice tin heater sent out waves of under the camp set with welcome wood heat.

(Cont. from pg 16) hand lines and baited with With the coming of shiners, we build the first March, the days stretched be able to...uh...push an’ slide it down on this ice fire in the little tin heater longer and the sun grew and sat at the table while warmer. “We got to think an’ snow.”

We all went out on the shack slowly warmed about gittin’ the shack the uphill side of the shack up. Uncle Arnolld sat with towed off’n the ice,” Joe and prepared to push, Un- us, looking around and said one exceptionally mild cle Arnold watched our smiling at the way we’d day. “I hate to, though. It’s preparations and ventured fixed up the inside of the been great havin’ a place of structure. our own to meet and spend a comment.

T h e n o n e o f t h e time in.”

“Don’t think yer gonlines quivered and Gasper I turned and looked na be able to move ‘er that way. Tol’ yer she’s purty Hooch gave out a glad cry at the shack thoughtfully, as he pulled a fat 20-inch as we headed for shore. heavy.”

Condon just grinned. pickeral through a hole “You know,” I said slowly.

He put one big shoul- and watched it flop around “Maybe we don’t have to der against the wall and on the floor. Several others move the shack.”

“Whadday mean?” heaved. The shack didn’t followed in short order and in no time at all, the shack Joe asked sarcastically. even budge. The rest of us joined in and we all gave a was alive with the heart- “You jist wanna ler ‘er float mighty heave on the count warming smell of frying away in the spring?”

“You know those big of three. The windowpanes pickerel fillets.

“Yer know,” Uncle cedar logs Hobie Woodlot in the shack didn’t even Arnold said with a loud left laying after he cut that jiggle.

“I never...” Condon belch. “This here turn’t out bottom land below his panted, “seen no...uh... ter be one o’ my better ide- place?” ars. Pass me another one o’ “Oh yeah,” Gasper shack is heavy!”

“What we gonna do them fillets, there Joseph.” nodded. “Hobie said he As the winter went wasen’t gonna (gasp) do now?” Joe asked, leaning on, the little chicken coop/ anythin’ with ‘um, just against the wall.

U n c l e A r n o l d turned ice fishing shack leave ‘um layin’.”

“Well, why don’t we scratched his head. “Tell became a magnet for most yer what. Go on over to El- of Mooseleuk’s younger tow some of those logs don Chugs’s place an’ have crowd. Many a pickerel over here and slide them him come over with his and white perch, and even a under the shack. Those little bulldozer. Ol’ Eldon trout ot two, came through logs are bone dry. We could owe’s me a favor or two. the floor of the shack. And spike the shack to the logs We’ll git him ter tow the many a pleasant evening and, when the ice goes out, shack down onto the ice.” was spent caught up in the we’d have a floating camp.

Most such tasks never excitement of root beer Sort of like a houseboat.”

“Yeah!” Joes face go smoothly but this time and cards, while the fishing lines twitched and the brightened.

“That’s a great the move went off without a hitch. In no time our ice shack was sitting pretty out on Horseshoe Cove on the Lake Where The Woman Drowned and Eldon Chug was chugging back up to town.

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Page 19

idea! We could anchor it right here in the cove and fish through the floor just like now. Or we could fish out the windows.”

“An’ we could...uh... even go swimmin’ right out the dorr!” Condon agreed enthusiatically.

It took nearly a week of tugging and pulling on ropes to get the logs to the ice. Then it took more time to cut them to length with Uncle Arnold’s old crosscut saw, but finally

we had four big logs under the shack, framing the underside of the walls and spike to the floor stringers.

By the time we were done, the ice was thinning noticeably and venturing out to the shack was becoming a dangerous proposition.

“We can leave ‘er for now.” Joe said proudly as we stood on shore, admiring our handiwork. “In another week, the ice will be mostly gone. We jist wanna (Me & Joe cont. pg 23)

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Page 20

Aroostook Woods & Water

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Suffering for Memories

by Mike Maynard, Perham, ME I love January! I love bad weather! I love that perpetual, never-ending grayness and the bleak outlook conveyed by the thermometer every time I look at it. It’s January, kids! Every day feels like I’m living through the same weather that sunk the Edmund Fitzgerald. Actually, if we had half a brain between us, you and I, we would be at this very moment, down in the Keys somewhere. Ferried around some nameless atoll on a flats boat, throwing flies the size of small children to tarpon. Maybe after a light shore-lunch of deconstructed bruschetta and blackened mahi-mahi bites, washed down with a couple of cachaca cocktails, we could go off in search of some bonefish? Yes, I’d like that, please! Have any of you ever really looked

closely at a bonefish crab pattern? I mean, they’re all fuzz, foam and feathers; it makes me think that’s what Muppet spawn probably looks like.

Sadly, we are not in the Keys. The lack of discretionary funds deemed necessary to facilitate such an adventure, are nowhere to be found; the family mini-van needs a wheel bearing and the oil tank is lower than you’d like it. No, we’re stuck on a frozen lake in some forgotten corner (is there another kind?) of Aroostook County, bravely doing our best to stave off imminent frostbite, all in the name of jigging up a handful of doinky white perch. For our repast, it won’t be deconstructed bruschetta; we will be gnawing on still frozen red hot dogs that never got quite warmed

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through on that pathetic, wind-blown fire we tried to make. Your cachaca cocktail is a thermos of coffee gone cold hours ago. And that little flask of bourbon you brought to liven up the coffee? It slipped out

‘Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad!’

And when they say, ‘mad’, they don’t mean angry. No, they mean stark raving crazy. So appropriate, don’t you think? At this point you need to be smart; go home!

take your mind off dropping a priceless Christmas present to the bottom of the lake. Maybe, as you try and drive while gnoshing on fake sushi, you can start to rationalize away the pain. Tell yourself, enough

Sadly, we are not in the Keys. The lack of discretionary funds deemed necessary to facilitate such an adventure, are nowhere to be found; the family mini-van needs a wheel bearing and the oil tank is lower than you’d like it. No, we’re stuck on a frozen lake in some forgotten corner (is there another kind?) of Aroostook County... of your pocket as you were skimming that last hole, and now lies at the bottom of the lake. You remember that flask, it’s the one the kids saved all their allowance money for. They gave it to you for Christmas.

Way to go, dad.

There’s a wonderful old saying (pulled from the age of the classics), and coined specifically with the ice fisherman in mind:

To ease the pain of being humiliated by Mother Nature, again, you could indulge yourself and stop for a couple of gas station burritos in Ashland, mmmm!

I know it isn’t blackened mahi-mahi, but if you stop at Hannaford’s in Caribou on the way home you can buy yourself some of that great fake sushi they sell.

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times, that your betters down in the Keys don’t know what they’re missing and you might even start to believe it. By the time you pull into your yard it might even be true.

But the truth is, if we only hunted, fished, or paddled on those rare bluebird days, we would only make it out once or twice a season. And, we sure wouldn’t have a damn thing to talk about when we went to camp the next time, would we! We go out in all weathers because this is just what we do, it’s in our collective DNA. We don’t know any better (well, yes, we do; but that certainly isn’t going to stop us). The (Memories cont. pg 35)

January 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Ridge Resolutions

At last, 2024 is here!

And from where I roost, it’s not a moment too soon.

But really, in any given year the first of January is just like any other day, so when it comes to setting New Year’s resolutions and working toward new goals, it really doesn’t make much sense to wait for a turn of the calendar to get started. Especially in times

1. I resolve - to stop experimenting with scents while I’m in the house, because this just isn’t working out. Now, I hardly ever experiment with that stuff indoors. But sometimes a little can go a long way, and the scent bombs I was, carefully, trying out this past deer season didn’t go over well with my wife.

So, this is my number one

cake, or Christmas cookies into the woods with me. I mean, I keep everything on the porch in carbon-lined bags out of the way, but every so often something gets left out of the bag, or the drawstrings aren’t drawn tight enough, and then BAM … it happens.

I’m just saying there must be a way to fix this, and I resolve to work toward that

I like to start every New Year with a new set of resolutions.

Just four or five well intended items are all I usually dare to come up with! And yup, you guessed it, I’m about to share them with you right now!

like these, when just when you wonder if can get any worse, somehow, it does.

Well, maybe not exactly, but you get my meaning.

A year passes by so swiftly and suddenly, you’re into a new one! It’s a consistent dilemma that introduces new topics for discussion as we leave the old behind and bring in the new. And then comes the resolutions, a historic ritual of the passage of time. In other words, they come with the territory! We make them every year, we do our best to keep them (or at least we convince ourselves of such) and at year’s end, we make new ones while hoping we’ll do a better job than we did with last year’s, still unresolved, resolutions. Whew, makes me dizzy just thinking about it!

I like to start every New Year with a new set of resolutions. Just four or five well intended items are all I usually dare to come up with! And yup, you guessed it, I’m about to share them with you right now! So, sit back and relax with this ridge runner as I reveal my New Year’s resolutions for 2024.

resolution for the coming year. And Linda, if you’re reading this, I promise to try and keep this one.

2. I resolve, still talking about scent, to try and help Linda have a better understanding of why it’s important to keep her baked goods out of areas where my hunting clothes live. This is an extremely critical resolution as it causes severe family strife when my hunting clothes end up carrying the scent of pumpkin pie, cherry coffee

end in 2024. OK, honey?

3. I resolve - to stop buying new equipment in 2024. One might ask, after almost 50 years of serious hunting, what else could you possibly need? Well, there’s always something else to get into if you really put your mind to it, and I’m always finding ways to do it. But the funny thing is, when the seasons roll around, I’m always using the same old stuff that I’ve relied on for decades. So, in 2024, I will attempt to

Page 21

On The Ridge

by Joe Judd Shelburne, MA purchase no new hunting equipment…which might be a hard one to keep!

4. I resolve - that if by chance I don’t keep resolution No. 3, to be more judicious in trying out any new equipment that I’m not supposed to be purchasing, but may purchase, in 2024.

I always hate testing out new equipment right before the season starts. You’re always rushed, and it never

goes well. Of course, this is a big “if,” because I probably won’t purchase any new equipment in 2024… right?

5. And finally, let’s resolve to continue to pray for peace, everywhere.

Let’s resolve to keep ourselves, our families, and each other safe. Let’s resolve to thank a police officer, a firefighter, a doctor, (Ridge cont. pg 35)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 22

January 2024

Sporting Journal Alumni Pass in December Two former longtime contributors to the Northwoods Sporting Journal died in December.

Charles “Charlie” Reitze, Sr. passed away on Dec, 5, 2023 at the age of 75. For many years, Reitze wrote a monthly column in the Sporting Journal about survival. An Army veteran who served in Vietnam in the Tet Offensive, Reitze was born in Portland and lived in the Millinocket area. He was over the years employed as a long haul truck driver and construction worker. He was an avid fisherman and hiker. He wrote two books including “Grampa Charlie’s Side Splittin’ Fireside Stories.” He is survived by his wife Judyth and five children. Reitze will receive military honors at the Maine Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery in Augusta.

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Me & Joe

(Cont. from pg 19) be sure to be around when it finally goes, so we kin take a canoe out an’ anchor the shack solid so it don’t float away.”

As it happened, the ice didn’t begin to clear the lake for almost two more weeks. We’d been watching ice conditions closely, one or more of us going down to the lake every day to monitor the ice melt.

Finally, on a warm morning in April, we gathered on the shore to watch the great event; the official launching of our houseboat. A small group of our friends gathered with us, those who had enjoyed the hospitality of the ice shack throughout the winter.

Our special guest was Uncle Arnold. After all, it was his idea for an ice shack in the first place and without his donation of the old hen house, we’d have spent the winter on the open ice, shivering and freezing the same as usual.

We hadn’t told Uncle Arnold about the boathouse feature of our creation. We wanted it to be a surprise.

And, I have to admit, we had a desire to make an adult proud of our actions, to see that we could create something great without the need of parental supervision.

“Oh,” Uncle Arnold said in mild surprise as we arrived on the shoreline. “I see you didn’t git yer ice shack off yet. Better git a move on or you’ll lose ‘er.

That ice looks like she’s ‘bout ter dissolve.”

Joe grinned. “We’re not gonna take her off, Uncle Arnold.”

“Oh.” The old man seemed slightly disappointed. “Well, guess you

Northwoods Sporting Journal got yer use out of ‘er this winter. Lot o’ trouble gittin’ an ice shack off’n a lake.”

“No, Uncle Arnold,” Joe’s grin widened, “that’s not it.”

My smile was as wide as Joe’s. “See what you’re looking at isn’t an ice shack any longer, Uncle Arnold.”

‘It ain’t?” the old man asked, mystified.

“Nope!” Gasper chimed in. “It’s a genyoo-wine class ‘A’ (gasp) houseboat!”

Uncle Arnold lookled less than impressed.

“Houseboat?” You fellers ain’t thinkin’ o’ floatin’ that chicken coop, are yer?”

“We sure are! It’ll be...uh...a great floating clubhouse come summer!”

Condon said happily.

Suddenly, the ice under the shack gave a loud crack. The dark, thin ice began to slowly settle as water poured up from beneath and spread over the surface. Already holes were open near the shack and now their area spread as the old ice began to dissolve.

“See them big logs under the shack, Uncle Arnold?” Joe continued.

“Thought them was blockin’,” Uncle Arnold said.

“No, them are some of the big, dry cedar logs Hobie Woodlot had left over after his cuttin’. We jacked up the shack an’ hooked ‘um underneath.

Should be enough ter float a raft of anvils!”

Uncle Arnold watched as the shack started to settle. “How many o’ them logs you got under there?”

“Four,” I said. “One big one underneath each wall, and they’re spiked to the floor stringers.”

Uncle arnold slowly began to shake his head again.

“What’ wrong?” Joe asked, starting to get annoyed with the old man’s negative attitude.

“Ain’t gonna be enough,” Uncle Arnold said sadly. He looked around at us. “Guess I don’t really need that ol’ heater. You boys got anythin’ in there you jist can’t live without?

No? Good thing.”

Another loud crack rippled across the surface of the lake and suddenly, the entire section of rotten ice under the shack began to settle.

“There she goes!”

Gasper cried. For a minute the shack seemed to stabilize. The big logs were nearly awash, but the shack itself sat well above the water. Then, majestically, and maintaining a longitudinal stability that the Titanic would have envied, the shack sank slowly straight down into the dark water like a tired elevator heading for a basement floor.

A cloud of bursting bubles and a few items of floating debris were all that marred the dark surface to indicate anything had ever been there.

“Yep,” Uncle Arnold said softly. “There she goes.”

It was a solemn group that clumped up the road toward town.

“I don’e understand it!” Joe finally spurted. “We thought them logs was big enough to float a truck!”

“Well,” Uncle Arnold said mildly. “I told yer that chicken coup was pretty heavy.”

“Yes, you did,” I agreed. “But there’s heave and then there’s heavy. I just can’t believe a little building that size could be that weighty.”

“Well, see, it ain’t jist the little buildin’, Uncle Arnold said carefully. “See,

Page 23

when I build thet coop, she was pretty light. Sometimes, in a high wind, she’d shiver an’ shift a mite. Upset the hens sonethin’ awful they’d go off their layin’.

“Then, lemme see, it was that hurrycane blew through ‘bout ‘53 or ‘54.

Tipped thet coop right on it’ side. They was hens all over the yard.”

“I’ll fix that, I sez to myself. So what I done was....” We all leaned in to hear the rest.

“What I done was, I boxed in the first two, three feet o’ thet floor all the way arount inside walls. Then I poures they space solid full o’ good Dragon cement an’ boarded ‘er over.”

We stood with our mouths hanging open. Uncle Arnold looked at us a little nervously. He started to walk again up the hill. “ A n y w a y, y o u ’ l l rec’lect I did tell you boys on a couple occasions that thet shack was pretty heavy.”

“Yeah, you...uh...did,” Condon agreed. “But now, we got no...uh...houseboat an’ we don’t even got...uh... no ice shack.”

“Well,” Uncle Arnold said thoughtfully as he limped along. “You could always take that ol’ tool

shed.” He warmed to his subject as we tagged along.

“Yep, that tool shed out back o’ my house is ‘bout the right size. I kin jist move the few tools in there inter the barn.”

“This tool shed,” I said gently. “It isn’t one of the heavy ones, is it?”

“Oh, no,” Uncle Arnold returned confidently.

“She might be a little heavy, but nothin’ some big cedar logs couldn’t handle.”

“No cement, or anvils, or anythin’ in the floors or walls or somethin’?” Joe asked sarcastically.

“Nope, Narry a thing.”

Uncle Arnold returned.

As we reached the edge of town our mood started to lighten. At least we would have a new building to use, one that would serve as both ice shack and houseboat. All it would take was a great deal of work.

As the rest of the guys chattered about what they’d do with the new building. I noticed that Arnold seemed to be muttering under his breath. I leaned close to hear what he was saying. “’Course, thet is the buildin’,” he said thoughtfully, “where I lost the dynamite...”

Greenville

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 24

The Gun Cabinet

by John Floyd, Webster Plantation, ME Along with your hands, your feet are usually the most susceptible to cold weather. If your feet aren’t warm, you will never be comfortable; no matter how many layers of the best hunting clothing you can buy are worn. And if you have had a cold weather injury such as frostbite in the past like me, you know

The boots The most recommended brands, in no particular order, were Muck, LaCrosse, Baffin and my favorite – the U.S. military surplus extreme cold temperature boots; also known as the Mickey Mouse and Bunny boots.

According to my respondents, each brand and

Best Boots for Winter Warmth

ture military surplus boots have a staid following and a proven track record, however they require the right socks to prevent feet from sweating and a proliferation of imitation knock offs can make it a challenge to ensure you are getting authentic boots.

need. Terrain, mobility and weather all affect the type of boot you’ll need. You may find you’ll end up with several pairs of boots suited to specific tasks. I’ve yet to

January 2024

Wearing proper socks goes a long way in keeping your feet warm and dry. Wool is the best choice by far; you’ll need to experiment though to find the right

One size doesn’t fit all What seems to be the most difficult aspect in de-

The most recommended brands, in no particular order, were Muck, LaCrosse, Baffin and my favorite – the U.S. military surplus extreme cold temperature boots; also known as the Mickey Mouse and Bunny boots. you can hardly ever keep your feet warm from deer season through coyote season – otherwise known as November through March.

I recently asked some clients from across the country how they keep their feet warm and to name their favorite winter boot. These are hunters, ice fisherman and trappers for the most part, and if anyone knows about cold feet it is this crowd. While there were varied opinions on brand, most agreed on certain features.

design has its own drawbacks. The Muck Artic Pro has a loyal following, but detractors complain of durability – especially with neoprene tearing and sole separation issues. LaCrosse is another big favorite but rubber cracking and declining quality came up several times in the debate. Baffin Trapper boots were well recommended for severe sub-zero temps, but again, some folks were critical of them for being too bulky and don’t recommend them if you walk long distances.

The extreme cold tempera-

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ciding on a pair of boots is the walking versus sitting conundrum. Still hunting or walking in to a tree stand that is located deep in the woods calls for a boot that can breathe so your feet don’t sweat. Same goes for a stroll through the woods looking for antler sheds.

When you stay moving, your feet stay warmer.

Conversely, sitting in a blind or standing on ice all day while ice fishing requires a boot that keeps the cold out and the heat in.

Lack of motion in these instances causes circulation to slow and feet to cool.

The consensus is that the type of activity you are engaging in will dictate the type of footgear you’ll

Clients agree the right boot for the right task will ensure warm feet on cold days. weight so you don’t cause overheating and thereby, sweating.

Felt liners provide an additional barrier to keep the warmth in and the cold out. Look for a pair of boots with removable felt liners. You should remove them daily to dry out any moisture accumulated during wear.

Individually packaged foot and hand warmers have become very popular.

Wool, Felt, and One placed under the arch Warmers One recurring theme, of the foot and one placed and one I very much agree at the toes will provide with, is what goes on your comfort on the coldest feet before the boots do. days. This works especially well when you are stationary. find a single perfect solution for all activities I’m engaged in over the colder months: stand hunting, still hunting, ice fishing, predator hunting, snowshoeing and the list goes on.

While I don’t know if we will ever see the perfect universal winter boot for the outdoorsman, there are some things that just about everyone agreed on.

A word about Thinsulate Thins ulate is the brand name of a synthetic insulating material developed by 3M. Its primary use is in clothing and is rated by grams; the higher (Boots cont. pg 31)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Whitetail (Cont. from pg 13) her stopping face on at 50 yards. The doe, not wanting to share his attention, decided to move along.

When he turned to follow the doe, Joyce squeezed

the trigger on her Kimber Hunter Pro in 6.5 Creedmoor. He crashed through the trees and fell 80 yards away. I heard the shot so knew when she called that she got her buck. Her 129 grain Hornady bullet had cut the top of the heart off.

The nine point weighed

165.3 lbs, the first time one of her bucks weighed less than mine! Thanks to Harry for his help with the bucks and congratulations on his buck.

Brian Smith is a retired Maine State Police Detective and Firearms

Page 25

Instructor. He has harvested 58 deer in 8 states with bow, rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader. He serves on the Sportsmans Alliance of Maine ILA and Maine Bowhunters Association Boards and can be reached at bowhunter@mgemaine. com

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 26

Kineo Currents

by Suzanne AuClair, Rockwood, ME 2023 marked some excellent adventures for me. I hope that everyone reading the Northwoods Journal right now will find time to make their own excellent adventures in 2024.

I’m already planning on it.

One of my first trips in a

a quick ride. So, every river in every season is different.

The big question is: if I could only go on one again, which would it be?

That’s hard to say because both offer completely different experiences. The St. John River has some

January 2024

St. John or Allagash?

strong men; without them I would have had a hard time climbing the steep, slippery banks with gear, and the trip would have been all together different. On the other hand, the Allagash Waterway has many feeders gushing into the main stem, and the water level takes longer to change.

When we were there, the effects of Hurricane Lee were felt. We had to get off

The Allagash Waterway is varied, with alternating days of lakes and river, meandering calm waters and rippling whitewater. But the St. John is maybe becoming more remote, with fewer visitors than the Allagash. long time was going down the St. John River. That was a May trip, which is about the only time to go because, otherwise, chances are the water level will be too low and walking your canoe and gear, at least part of the time, will be high. The last trip I made was down the Allagash in mid and late September. This was a beautiful time of year to go, and last fall, the water was unusually high, making for

unique challenges. There’s a small window of opportunity, very early in the year, to make the most of it. It’s a wide, shallow river, and you feel that, especially without a good spring melt or plenty of rain. Also, most all the camp sites are up steep banks. So at the end of a long day of paddling, unloading heavy gear and moving it all to the top of a hill is just part of the deal. We had some

the river because the water level on the last stretch surpassed 8,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) and management closes its use once it reaches that level of sheer force. My friend and I wanted to complete the journey, so had to wait nearly two weeks before the water level was down enough to go back. The levels would have changed much more quickly on the St. John, as it did when

we were there. Though we were dealing with low water in the beginning, an overnight rain made a huge difference, adding inches to the water for the next morning’s paddle. But a dry day would turn it the other way, too. Gains and losses, gains and losses.

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For the St. John, we put in at Baker Lake. In mid-May that far north, the ice is barely out and be prepared for any sort of weather, including ice, snow, thunderstorms, driving rain or howling cold wind. We had it all. And I was glad for it. We spent one full day in a hard headwind, battling whitecaps, biting wind, and driving rain. For hours I wasn’t sure we were making any progress and that we were pretty well just treading the same spot. But a glance at the shore every once in a while, gave me heart to keep digging. We were moving, however slowly, because I wasn’t seeing the same bush. These conditions dictate the rhythm of the trip, no matter what river you are on.

On the Allagash, we didn’t need the rain, but got it anyway. For mid-September, it was unexpectedly hot and humid. We and (Allagash cont. pg 39)

January 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 27

Coyotes Mating Season

I know you hunt deer!

This means you most likely have noticed a surge of coyote activity around your deer hunting locations during the October and November months.

We mustn’t be blinded to

while mousing around.

These coyotes were hunting alone but were also interested in finding companionship if the opportunity presented itself. In addition to these awesome experiences while out hunt-

about an hour before dark I listened to a lonely male coyote howling. He would bark a couple times then let out one long contact lonely howl. Maybe five or eight minutes later he’d do it again. This male coyote howled a total of three or four times before the woods went dead silent the rest of the evening. Since I

On The Prowl

by Justin Merrill, Cherryfield, ME

a future companion for hopeful copulation come late January or sometime in February or March. Since coyotes are monogamous they will only copulate with one mate and remain

rolls around coyotes that are two years old and older very well may be copulating. The monogamous mating pair will stick together right straight through the birth of anywhere from

I lost count how many times, while deer hunting, that I’ve walked in on a lonely female coyote sounding off contact howls while mousing around. These coyotes were hunting alone but were also interested in finding companionship if the opportunity presented itself.

the mere fact that other wild critters are getting ready to breed close to the same time period as the deer rut. Obviously the coyotes don’t mate in November. What is happening though around this time period is that of courtship between male and female coyotes that hooked up for the duration of the winter months. If a coyote that’s at least two years old or older doesn’t have a companion yet they will search for a mate throughout the fall and early winter months leading up to the four to six week long mating season.

Preparing for the winter mating ritual puts a booster pack of sorts on them pesky coyotes’ backs forcing them to be extra active in and around our favorite deer hunting locations.

I lost count how many times, while deer hunting, that I’ve walked in on a lonely female coyote sounding off contact howls

ing deer I also have heard many male coyotes barking and letting out several lonely contact howls. I hear this often in October and early November. On one particular occasion while perched in one of my deer hunting stands in late October

left and went home once it became dark out there’s no telling if the coyote ever howled again in that location. A couple days later I pulled the SD Card from my trail camera near that stand location and I had a picture of this large lonely male coyote walking by during morning hunting hours. If I had been in the stand that morning early enough I might have been able to shoot this coyote.

This huge coyote had been actively seeking out

in the mating pairs through the duration of birth and pup rearing. It’s not uncommon for deer hunters to see two coyotes hunting together during October, November and December.

What they are witnessing is the mating pair of coyotes going to get the groceries together – how romantic!

Coyotes typically have to be two years old before being able to reproduce. By the time February

four to seven pups by late April or early May. Pups aren’t weaned until about eight weeks old. At this time the female coyote often gets a break from the den and gets to go hunt for food while the male coyote stays with the pups. It’s usually around this time in spring that many folks mistake the serenade of one adult male coyote and several pups as a big pack (Coyote cont. pg 45)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 28

“Just Fishing”

by Bob Leeman, Bangor, ME Some readers will recall, for sure, “borrowing” Dad’s classic bamboo flyrod to go fishing. During the 1920’s and 30’s, these glorious, willowy wands were cherished by own-

Shortly thereafter, a welcome bamboo flyrod hit the market. These were constructed of split bamboo, and mostly made-up of a China import, according to knowledgeable sources.

January 2024

Back to Bamboo

on Park Street, in Bangor, Maine. It was here where “locals” could purchase a delicate, cherished, locally constructed bamboo fishing rod with distinction and abilities.

Both Thomas Rods and other big names in the expanding trade were sought after for not only a delicate flycasting imple-

at the top of the list, but accuracy and presentation of an imitation fly creation should be expected first.

However, distance casting can be attained by bamboo rods constructed for just that.

Lest we not forget, Maine’s own: The Thomas Flyrod Company, located on Park Street, in Bangor, Maine.

It was here where “locals” could purchase a delicate, cherished, locally constructed bamboo fishing rod with distinction and abilities. ers over the old, Bristol, telescopic steel wannabees.

The Granger, too, was another awkward flycasting stick that felt more like a staff than a fly fishing tool.

Then, somewhere in the 1920’s, or thereabouts, the hardwood poles came along. These too were difficult as well to lay out a cast imitation fly to the water.

Several connoisseurs immediately entered the new cane constructed fly casting rod business. These early entrees included such names as Gillum, Payne, or later, Leonard, E.C. Powell, R.F. Winston, Orvis, and Scott, to name a few.

Lest we not forget, Maine’s own: The Thomas Flyrod Company, located

ment, but an instrument, you might say, that “fit the sport more satisfying than before”. That’s for sure!

Even today, these sensitive tools in the game are not only admired for ability, but also for distance, presentation, and feel, if you will. Some would agree that distance flycasting should not be

For the most part, “feel” or admiration, and pride of ownership top the list. And, it continues that way even today!

Let us not forget about those inexpensive bamboocane imports, such as Phillipson and Granger, that flooded the fly fishing market in yesteryears. Some

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came even in hardwood boxes, while others arrived to dealers in individual bags and cases that are more presentable to the trade. Most of the big names in early constructing of cane flyrods were fairly expensive, to say the least.

And still, many of these, if in fine to excellent condition, demand historic respect, and are treasured by owners. It seems the smaller and lighter models solicit higher market values.

It’s not hard to believe that even in this day and age of graphite and boron, and other high tech materials, that many fly fishing enthusiasts are returning to yesteryear (from an old western movie) for that feisty feeling and enthusiasm of just owning and using one…

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January 2024

News

(Cont. from pg 12) shed as the Dale Wheaton Headwaters Forest.

This request was brought to the WWLT Board by the esteemed Sam Shine

Foundation, in honor of Dale’s significant efforts in conserving this region, and passed by unanimous board vote. Dale Wheaton, the son of Woodie Wheaton (the Land Trust’s namesake) embodies a legacy of environmental stewardship and dedication to conservation. Throughout his life, Dale Wheaton has made profound contributions to environmental advocacy and conservation in the Chiputneticook Lakes region and throughout Maine and New Brunswick. As a Registered Maine Guide and founding member, as well as past president of

Northwoods Sporting Journal

the WWLT, Dale’s commitment to preserving the region’s natural heritage has been unwavering.

Alongside his wife Jana, Dale owned Wheaton’s Lodge for 34 years and held leadership positions in organizations such as the Maine Sporting Camp Association, the Congress of Lake Associations, and the St. Croix International Waterway Commission. Additionally, Dale’s tenure as an associate professor of economics at the University of Maine further reflects his multifaceted dedication to environmental education and sustainable practices. The dedication of almost 4,600 acres in the St. Croix watershed as the Dale Wheaton Headwaters Forest serves as a testament to Dale’s lifelong commitment to environmental advocacy,

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Page 29

Milford Man Drowns

A Milford Man drowned in early December after breaking through the ice on Quakish Lake in T3 Indian Purchase Township.

Walter Demmons, age 62 of Milford, and a friend

on Quakish Lake at about 9:30 a.m. when they heard the ice crack. The two ice fisherman spread out in an attempt to not break through, but the ice broke, and both fell into the water about 75 yards from shore.

The two were communicating with each other

were preparing to ice fish on Quakish Lake. The two of them were checking the ice thickness by drilling holes through the ice

as they tried to get out of the water and back onto the ice, but Demmons suddenly said he was not going to (News cont. pg 37)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 30

January 2024

The Great Renaming

The Bird Perch

lin’s Gulls; Lincoln’s Sparrow and Nelson’s Sharpby Karen Holmes, tailed Sparrow. Also these Cooper, ME may be changed; Brewer’s The American Orni- after individuals. Past or- Blackbird, Cooper’s Hawk, thologists Union merged nithologists liked to name Baird’s Sandpiper, Swainwith the Cooper Ornitho- species after each other or son’s Thrush, Forster’s logical Society and is now friends or patrons.I perused Tern.

I also used my Nacalled the American Orni- my own Maine Audubon tional Audubon Society’s thological Society(AOS). yearly bird list to see how

throated Blue Warblers or Orange-crowned Kinglets.

These changes could be due to plumage variations, differences in songs, DNA, and the amount of hybrid-

So changes to bird lists will not be a fast process.

Some species could be split into separate species such as Rufous-sided Towhee now being both the Spotted

ization between closely related species.

AOS always has extreme and in depth knowledge when responding to detailed proposals from various taxonomic experts.

Towhee of the west and the Eastern Towhee of the east.

Some birders celebrate such splits because it adds species to their lifelists!

How the names will be changed will be an interesting and complex process. Will birds named after locations be changed such as Philadelphia vireo, Baltimore Oriole, Sandhill Crane, Virginia Rail, Hudsonian Godwit, Iceland Gull, etc.? Will cute nicknames be used such as bluebill for scaups, sawbills for mergansers, butter butts for yellow-rumped warblers? Examine bird names in field guides to see yourself why these will be many complicated changes! McCowan’s Longpurs will be changed because McCowan was a past slave owner. To keep up with changes you might try to get this summer’s copy of the nature journal The Auk. AOS said that in the future they also may ask for public involvement and maybe you could help rename birds!

It was decided that birds will not be named after individuals. Past ornithologists liked to name species after each other or friends or patrons. I perused my own Maine Audubon yearly bird list to see how many birds will have their names changed.

It is “the keeper of the checklist” which most birders use to keep a record of birds they see. This can be yearly and also life lists. In the future the naming and organizing of lists will be changed.

It was decided that birds will not be named

many birds will have their names changed. Some examples are Audubon, Cory’s and Manx Shearwaters; Wilson’s and Leach’s Storm-Petrels;Wilson’s S n i p e , Wi l s o n ’s P l o ver, Wilson’s Warbler and Wilson’s Phalarope; Bonaparte’s and Frank-

Sibley Guide to Birds because this contained birds outside Maine. I found at least 60 species! The names will be changed to convey something about the birds themselves. Some bird names already provide clues about their physical appearance such as Black-

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January 2024

Adventurer

Boots

(Cont. from pg 18)

(Cont. from pg 24)

change for the Inuit people, and it wasn’t all for the better. These were times of great tragedy as well.

Even an early trip to bring food and rescue a tribe of starving families, several of whom died, wasn’t enough to prepare Maurice for what came later. A disease hit the natives of Ward Inlet one year, bringing absolute devastation. Looking back, it was almost certainly tuberculosis, but there were no doctors, no treatment protocols, and no understanding of the disease. Just Maurice and his limited supply of pain killers and cough medicines. He did his best to comfort the suffering and keep everyone’s spirits up, but before it was over, twenty percent of the population had died. Worse yet, more than 40 percent of the adult male hunters had died.

It was in this crisis that Maurice became a true hunter. He led expeditions for caribou, seals, and even a whale. He teamed up with two Inuit women to run a trapline to provide much needed income, opened his home to others when heat was scarce, and became a leader that held the community together. And perhaps he grew too close to them, because when the boat came that summer, it was hard to go.

Edward Beauclerk Maurice left the Arctic to serve in World War II and never returned. His book, “The Last Gentleman Adventurer” was published shortly after his death in 2003.

the gram weight the higher the insulating factor.

Most folks, when discussing their boot choices, almost always noted the Thinsulate rating of their boots. The ratings ranged from 600 grams to 2000 grams, highlighting the differences between rubber and leather boots. On average, those who chose rubber boots had lower Thinsulate weights and the leather boot crowd had the highest counts. This is likely due to the breathability differences in rubber and leather.

After tallying responses, the cumulative advice is this: Fit the boot to the task. Wear wool socks. Use felt soles and liners where you can and

J e re m i a h c a n b e reached at jrodwood@ gmail.com.

remember to air them out daily. If you move a lot over dry terrain to a fixed location, a pair of leather boots with between 1000 – 2000 grams of Thinsulate may be your best choice.

If your operational area is wet or you stand on ice a lot, rubber style boots may be the way to go.

Last but not least, you can never go wrong with having a few foot warmer packs on hand – just in case.

John Floyd is a Registered Maine Guide, an NRA Certified Instructor and is the owner of Tucker Ridge Outdoors in Webster Plantation, Maine. He is also an active member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association. Reach him at john@tuckerridge. me or on Facebook @ tuckerridgeoutdoors

Page 31

in the field I was Grand Slam turkeys headed to. So off we went.

I harvested my hen about five minutes later in my work/school clothes. I got my hen with a 12 gauge shotgun in Mapleton. My very first turkey ever!

(Cont. from pg 3) in the year. My first buck ever!

The final part was the turkey. I harvested my turkey on October 16th.

I was done school for the day and in between running one daughter to the barn for riding lessons and picking the other up from basketball practice. I decided to take a look in some fields on the same road that my husband’s business is on when a customer showed up and told us there were

Erin Argraves is a high school biology teacher at Presque Isle High School. She lives in Mapleton. She and her husband have two daughters ages 12 and 10 who are becoming accomplished hunters as well. I have only been hunting for about 12 years.

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Page 32

Muzzleloading Afield

by Al Raychard, Lyman, ME

There’s all kinds of partners, from golf partners to business partners. For various reasons some are short lived, but the best ones last a life time, or at least the better part of one’s life. When a partnership lasts decades, through good times and bad, easy

that keep the relationship alive, fresh and flourishing.

I’ve hunted and fished for as long as I can remember starting out as a kid, but when I met Diane she knew little about either. She’s mentioned in passing a little about fishing and trying archery with former beaus

traveled to Labrador to fly fish for brook trout on our honeymoon! Like me, fly fishing is now one of her outdoor passions. After she killed her first bear on a trip across the border in New Brunswick she can’t get enough of it. She killed her second in Quebec and has been on bear hunts with me in Idaho. And she looks forward to the fall deer seasons as much as I do. She

Most partners have a lot in common, interests that keep the relationship alive, fresh and flourishing. I’ve hunted and fished for as long as I can remember starting out as a kid, but when I met Diane she knew little about either. times and hard, when partners stick together despite whatever life throws their way it’s something special.

Something to be cherished because, unfortunately, it is increasingly rare in this day and age. My partner through the better part of my life has been my wife, Diane.

Most partners have a lot in common, interests

but never got into them seriously. The opposite was true with me. Hunting for whatever and wherever and fishing, especially fly fishing, was part of my DNA by the time we got together and my passions for both were not about to change.

What’s a guy to do?

It wasn’t long after we met before Diane was fly fishing. We actually

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killed her first years ago. I have yet to convince her to get into hunting turkeys but I see the day coming. Perhaps this spring. Last fall, Diane was the only women on our moose hunting trip.

We saw moose but came home empty but throughout the week Diane got up before the sun each day and jumped right in with as much enthusiasm as the boys. She wants to enter the moose draw this year.

I really don’t know how it all started but some-

Partners how, somewhere along the line I’ve found myself living with a hunting and fishing monster. And I really don’t know how partnerships are supposed to work. All I know is this partnership works. In the woods or in the water or out it just keeps clicking

January 2024

better half. I really don’t care. To each their own. I just consider myself a fortunate man, grateful I am matched with a partner who not only understands my passions but shares them as well.

The only other thing I can say is, I hope the rest of

The authors hunting partner glassing for moose. and getting better, deeper and more appreciated. Diane retires next December and we hope to combine traveling with hunting and fishing. I’m not a man to wish time away, time is too precious at this time in life but I can hardly wait.

I don’t know how other men feel about hunting, fishing and enjoying their outdoor passions with their

you guys are that fortunate.

Al Raychard and his wife Diane live on 43 +/acres in Lyman, Maine that offers good deer and turkey hunting opportunities they enjoy. If the property had a trout stream it would be true paradise. Al can be reached at alraychard@ sacoriver.net.

Send Us Your Favorite Game and Fish Recipes!

Most outdoor folks like to eat what they bring home from the woods or the waters. And you like to cook it yourself, too right? So what is your favorite culinary lashup with fish or fowl? The Northwoods Sporting Journal would like to know. And we invite you to help us share your proud concoction with all of our readers. Our Northwoods Sporting Journal website:www.sportingjournal.com has a new addition: Outdoor Connections, which includes “Sporting Journal’s Top Shelf Game & Fish Recipes.” It has become a popular spot for visitors to find some great outdoor recipes, not from TV cooks, but from folks like you who live it.

Email us your favorite outdoor recipe to editor, V. Paul Reynolds, at vpaulr@tds.net. We won’t send you any money, or give you a new boat and motor, but we will list your recipe with all the others, along with your name.

If your recipe catches on and goes viral, we’ll figure out some kind of reward - say a new fry pan, a crockpot, or maybe a dutch oven?

So get crackin’...

January 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal Guns & Ammo:

Innovations for 2023

The year 2023 has given hunters and shooters a boat load of creative new products. Some of the new and improved products are subtle and some are quite unique. Here are a few I have picked out that got my

dresses this critical feature.

It’s called the Hodag Hemp Scent System. The system comes with a 6 foot untreated natural hemp rope and an 8 oz. bottle of all season scent. Here is how it works. Hang the rope

Page 33

A Guide’s Perspective

as 200 gr. soft point CoreLokt. I can see this round being a good choice for whitetail, black bear and even moose at the moderate to short ranges that we encounter these animals in the thick cover of the northeast. The ballistics speak for themselves.

by Tom Kelly, Orient, ME of the other accessories I wrote about. That is if you can afford it in this challenging economy. Please remember to include a young person or new shoot-

He is a retired police officer as well as a retired manager from two major firearms manufacturers.

He is an NRA Certified Instructor as well as a Hunter

The .360 Buck-Hammer by Remington ammunition is another straight wall cartridge originally designed for those states that require such ammo. The ballistics, however, make it a good choice for the Northwoods. It competes and passes the .350 legend and the .30/30.

attention. The first product is a new take on nontoxic copper ammo. Fiocchi ammunition company has introduced loaded ammo with a polymer tip copper bullet. The polymer tip serves to assist the expansion by pushing back into the hollow point cavity. The copper bullet is also cut to facilitate the bullet to peel back into 3 sharp petals that cut while expanding. This action performs similar to a mechanical broadhead, except it is all one piece. This bullet also has a groove around the projectile to reduce copper fouling in the barrel. These rounds boast full weight retention and deep penetration. The calibers initially offered are in popular calibers .243, .300 Win Mag, .30/06, .308 Win, 7 mm Mag, 7 mm/08, 6.5 Creedmore, and .270 Win. More info is available at Fiocchi.com Most serious deer hunters have created mock scrapes to attempt to attract bucks. The part of the process frequently missed is the overhead licking branch. This product ad-

over a mock scrape and fray one end of the rope 5 or 6 inches up. Then put tape or a zip-tie just above the fray to keep it from fraying more. Then apply the scent to the frayed end.

Deer will lick and chew on this simulated licking branch just like a real licking branch. The hemp holds the scent and is long lasting. The 6-foot rope will last for many hunts.

This idea closes the loop for realistic mock scrapes.

Great idea. More info can be obtained at Hodagoutdoors.com The .360 Buck-Hammer by Remington ammunition is another straight wall cartridge originally designed for those states that require such ammo.

The ballistics, however, make it a good choice for the Northwoods. It competes and passes the .350 legend and the .30/30. It is available in a 180 gr. soft point Core-Lokt as well

180 Core-Lokt Muzzle Velocity Yards 2399 Muzzle Energy Yards 2300 Drop at Muzzle Yards -3.4

er/hunter in your outdoor 100 adventures. Our future depends on it.

1948 Tom is a Registered 100 Maine Guide. He is the 1517 owner/operator of Sham100 rock Outfitters in Orient Maine with his wife Ellie.

In Comparison: .30/30 170 gr Core-Lokt Muzzle Velocity 100 Yards 2200 1894 Muzzle Energy 100 Yards 1827 1354 Drop at Muzzle 100 Yards -4 With these things in mind, there may be a future for this round. It will depend greatly on the popularity of the rifles it is offered in. I can say, in my personal opinion this would be a good choice for a youth rifle. The recoil is very mild. This may also offer an excuse to purchase a new gun or at least some

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(See page 47)

Safety Instructor in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. You can reach Tom at Shamrock Outfitters (207) 694-2473. Please visit our Facebook Page: Shamrock Outfitters and Properties and come visit us on East Grand Lake.

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Looking for a guide or outfitter? Want to list your camp with a realtor? Looking for a hunting regulation in your state? Lodging in the North Woods? A fish stocking list? Wondering about sunset time on opening day? Or you simply need a new recipe for venison, moose or bear?

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Page 34

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

The Maine Targeting Togue a piece of cut lakes. I have had one of the skin removed – that’s my Woods Ibaittry toadding the hook if I don’t best ice fishing days of my job. She then cuts the fillets Matt LaRoche, Shirley, ME

Pulling a big togue up onto the ice can be a thrilling moment for any hardwater angler. I had one of those occasions last winter while fishing on one of the Allagash headwater lakes.

It was during a February ice fishing trip and

as it flopped onto the ice.

I have caught a lot of togue in my lifetime but catching a big one while jigging never gets old. It was very exciting!

I couldn’t wait to show the fish and tell my story to my fishing buddies that

have any luck.

Keep trying different spots if you don’t have any hits. Sometimes moving a mere 20 feet will produce fish and trying different (Photo by Scott Russell)

I have caught a lot of togue in my lifetime, but catching a big one while jigging never gets old. It was very exciting! we were not having much action on our tip-ups. I was determined to catch a togue, so I pulled one of my traps, drilled a hole out in deeper water and started jigging. After about a half hour of jigging and my third hole, I hooked into a good one. I could tell it was a nice togue because it didn’t come up right awayit just stayed on the bottom wagging his head back and forth. After a while I brought him up under the ice only to have the fish run out line two more times when I tried to bring it up the hole. That fish looked as big as a small submarine when it swam by the hole!

Eventually, I prevailed and the fish fell off the hook just

were playing cribbage in the camp.

If you want to catch a big togue the first rule of thumb is that you have to fish where there is a good population of lakers. In the Northwoods of Maine I would recommend places like: Moosehead, Lobster and the Allagash headwater lakes. These lakes all have plenty of deep water with healthy populations of native lake trout.

I have had good luck fishing in about 30 -35 feet of water using a 2-ounce silver Swedish Pimple lure.

I will usually start fishing the lure (jigging it up and down) without baiting the hook. I think the lure has better action without bait.

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spots will keep you out there fishing. I had a friend who liked to fish Lobster Lake. He would pretty much jig all day taking a break only for lunch and coffee. He would move a few feet once in a while and almost always jig-up a nice togue before the end of the day. Once you find a spot where you have some luck mark that location on your GPS if you have one.

Allagash Lake has the best population of togue of all the Allagash headwater

into cubes the size of sea scallops. These are dipped in pancake batter and then deep fried in vegetable oil.

These are so good! One of my friends used to give me his togue because he didn’t like them. After we fed him a plate of deep fried togue nuggets, he stopped giving me his togue.

The ice is not always safe at the beginning of ice fishing season. The Allagash Wilderness Waterway will have the ice conditions posted on the waterway conditions and alerts page at: www.maine.gov/allagash. I like to have at least 6 inches of ice before heading out onto any frozen lake. It is good practice to leave a trip itinerary with someone at home just in case one of the rangers or If you do fish Alla- wardens has to come lookgash Lake this winter- the ing for you. fisheries biologists would Keep those lines like to thin-out the togue population there in hopes tight! of that lake producing bigMatt LaRoche is a ger fish in the future. Take a couple home to eat - they retired Superintendent of the Allagash Wilderness make great table fare.

We like togue. My Waterway, owner of Maine wife will usually stuff the Woods Guide Service and fish with onions, lemons an avid outdoorsman. He slices and garlic. She then can be reached at 207wraps the fish in tin foil 695-2877 or at matt.laand cooks it on low heat roche2877@gmail.com on the gas grill. We like the . See www.mainewoodsbigger fish filleted with the guide.com

life fishing the inlet cove in the northeast corner of the lake. Three of us jigged over 30 togue in one afternoon fishing near the island on the west shore.

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Our message gets where we want it to go! ~ Al Elkin, General Appliance in Brewer, Maine

January 2024

Wildlife (Cont. from pg 15) begin investigating. A Warden usually has no witnesses, other than perhaps other moose who unfortunately never provide us with very accurate descriptions of the guy who just shot and left their buddy.

Wardens have to be creative, outside of the box thinkers who are willing to go the extra mile and never give up on these types of investigations. I often tell young Wardens that the difference between a good Warden and a great Warden are those that don’t ever give up on investigating a case. It may take a month, six months or over a year, but the tenacity and mindset of not giving up on these cases hold the intentional violators accountable and

Northwoods Sporting Journal protect our resources for future generations.

Kale O’Leary is a Maine Game Warden who covers the Oxbow/Masardis district in central Aroostook county. He has been a Game Warden since 2016 and lives in Ashland, Maine.

Memories (Cont. from pg 20) heart wants what it wants.

You have to suffer for your passions. Love without the weight of pain, guilt, and remorse (frostbitten fingers and dropping newly minted family heirlooms into a lake qualifies) is no love at all. If the stories told around the fire at camp next spring didn’t ring with all the hallmarks of futility and self-inflicted disaster, why even go to camp at all?

If every trip out on the ice were wonderfully successful, it would immediately become a tale of blandness and never-ending sameness. Your exploits would become worthy of a TV show on the Magnolia network; you could get Maine Cabin Masters to come out and rebuild your bob house for you. I sometimes feel a twinge of regret and selfrecrimination for not doing enough in my earlier life to be able to afford to ignore the slings and arrows of an Aroostook County winter and simply jet off to the Keys every time the mercury tanked. But then I am reminded just how much I love living here, in all weather. Sure, I bitch and whine; …so do you, but most of us just wear our hearts on our sleeves and do it all over again the following weekend. If we’re

Page 35

lucky enough (I am) we have wives who share this demented life philosophy.

It turns out, I will never be one of those ‘snowbirds’ who migrates south for the winter, even if I could afford the shore lunches pulled straight from the pages of ‘Better Boats and Mangrove Flats’.

Nope. Stay home, go out on the ice in really lousy weather and make some memories.

hope that the world will soon become a safer place to live.

Personally, I can’t wait to get this 2024 party started! Thanks to everyone who has supported the Northwoods Journal, and this column, over the past year. Here’s hoping that this coming New Year will be the greatest ever, for everyone, as we continue to make more memories than ever before, “On the Ridge”!

Mike Maynard lives in Perham, Maine. He can be Joe Judd is a lifelong reached at perhamtrout@ hunter and sportsman. He gmail.com is an outdoor writer, seminar speaker, member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association, and a 2019 inductee into the (Cont. from pg 21) N.E. Turkey Hunting Hall a nurse, a first responder, of Fame. Joe is also on the or a grocery store clerk for Quaker Boy Game Calls all that they do for us. And and Bass Pro Shops/Calet’s resolve to continue to bela’s Regional Pro-Staff.

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Page 36

Northwoods Sporting Journal

View From The River

by Laurie Chandler Bremen, ME You don’t always know what will make your day. Often, I find that it is something both unexpected and even tiny in the big picture of life. This morning, I was driving along in the chilly bright-promising sunrise part of the day.

Suddenly, I realized that beyond the wooded roadside was a mountain range where none had been be-

Before long, it had soared far higher and fractured into ordinary layers of water vapor. But I had had my time in the mountain valley, and it stayed with me throughout what turned out to be a challenging day.

This moment started me thinking about the importance of such small things, especially those we find in the natural world.

Counting the Small Things

Some small things are literally tiny—miniature wonders—the stuff that appears when we look closely. We’ve all marveled at the first newborn leaves of spring. How pure their shade of green, and unblemished their untouched

time at Big Moose Pond was a profusion of tiny orange mushrooms. They were everywhere, in pretty clumps, tucked into little nooks along the trail.

Or have you ever seen British soldier lichen (Cladonia cristatella)? They are

perfection. Hemlock cones or the tiniest wisp of a feather, an infinitesimal seashell or the tracks of a white-footed mouse crossing virgin snow from the shelter of one log to another.

This past summer was rainy, ideal for mushrooms.

Everywhere in the Maine woods there was an abundance of fungal growth, in all sizes, shapes, and colors. A highlight of my

striking—tiny but vibrant spots of color down low near the forest floor. Their ranks of light green infantry, each with its red cap, are unmistakable, standing straight on a piece of old, weathered wood.

Small things don’t have to be alive. Take the underwater patterns of sand in the shallows of a wild northern lake. Shaped by the action of waves, ripples form, curving in perfect

This moment started me thinking about the importance of such small things, especially those we find in the natural world. Though ephemeral or perhaps only amazing to me, they have great value in changing my outlook and lifting my spirits.

fore.

Of course, there weren’t mountain peaks, not really, but the view gave that impression—a high and distant wall along the horizon, undulating like the ridgeline of some magnificent range. Its color was the hue of “purple mountains majesties,” topped with snowy white. The light of the new day gave it subtle variation, like hazy forested slopes.

As I went on, the bank of clouds—for that is what it was—grew and changed.

Though ephemeral or perhaps only amazing to me, they have great value in changing my outlook and lifting my spirits.

In his book, My First Summer in the Sierra, John Muir expressed a similar sentiment. “The natural and common,” he wrote, “is more truly marvelous and mysterious than the so-called supernatural. Indeed most of the miracles we hear of are infinitely less wonderful than the commonest of natural phenomena, when fairly seen.”

Caribou Area

January 2024

synchrony. Or the beauty of pebbles on a beach. They are polished and gleaming, at their most brilliant when wet. Unexpected greens and pinks appear among a thousand shades of white and gray. Here and there, a few are decorated with perfect stripes. I sift them through my hands, choose my favorites, think of one day going pebble hunting with my little granddaughter.

In the heart of winter, these little unexpected discoveries mean even more. Go out for a winter hike with the mission of discovery. Writers must do this, and artists, too. See the sparkle of glitter on snow with new eyes. Count the shades of green that linger, even in January. Before you know it, you will have been snowshoeing for an hour and won’t even be cold.

Your mind will be happy and your heart warm.

Laurie Apgar Chandler is the author of Through Woods & Waters, which provides an adventurous look at Maine’s Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, and Upwards, the story of her 2015 solo self-propelled thru-paddle of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail.

For more information or to purchase the books, visit www.laurieachandler.com

January 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Venison Marinade:

Republished from “Best Venison Ever” by John O. Cartier Marinade for Large Roasts: ½ cup dry red wine ½ cup cider vinegar ¼ cup vegetable oil 2 bay leaves 1 crushed clove garlic 2 slices onion A dash of hot pepper sauce Tomato Juice Marinade: ½ teaspoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce ½ pint tomato juice 2 small onions, diced Tomato-Beer Marinade: 1 bottle of beer, small 1 cup tomato juice 1 medium onion, fine-

ly chopped 6 drops hot pepper sauce ¼ tablespoon celery salt Dash of garlic powder Lemon-Garlic Marinade ½ cup lemon juice ½ cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves 1 teaspoon mustard The last one is a cooked marinade. Combine all ingredients and heat until bubbly. Cool to room temperature before using.

Use the same procedure with any marinade when treating any flat meat.

Place the food into the plas-

News

season ice conditions can be treacherous. For more information regarding Ice safety, Please visit Winter Ice Safety Tips at https:// www.maine.gov/ifw/fishing-boating/fishing/icesafety-tips.html ### -Mark Latti

(Cont. from pg 29) make it and his friend saw him submerge beneath the water surface, and never come back up. The friend was able to eventually get out of the water and call 911.

Game Wardens, The Millinocket Fire Department and the Brownville Fire Department all responded to the scene, and Warden Bob Johansen and the Brownville Fire Department were able to use an Ice Rescue Raft to retrieve Demmons from the water, who was then transported to Lamson Funeral Home in Millinocket.

His friend was transported to Millinocket Regional Hospital by Millinocket Rescue and was treated for hypothermia and released.

Game Wardens are urging caution to anyone venturing out on the ice, and reminding everyone to check ice conditions frequently if you are heading out onto the ice. Early

Shooting Ranges Closed

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department says its Hammond Cove public shooting range in Hartland and the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area public shooting range in Ferdinand will close December 14.

“We want to thank all of the people who have supported the operation of the two ranges in Windsor and Essex Counties which are essential to hunter skill development and the safe use of firearms,” said Alison Thomas, Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s director of outreach. “Both ranges will close for the winter and reopen next spring.”

tic bag in level position.

Pour on enough marinade to cover top side. Rub in.

Turn meat over and repeat.

Seal bag. Turn occasionally during marinating period because this helps keep the juices in best contact with the meat. Roasts are best marinated in glass bowls. Rub in marinade.

Remove the meat from bag and wipe off any excess marinade when ready to cook. This eliminates too much marinade taste on the surface. Cook with the same techniques you would use for unmarinated meat. Do not reuse marinades because of possible bacteria associated with raw meat.

During my marinade discussions with various game cooks, one theme came up several times.

These folks claim that most commercial marinades aren’t suitable for venison because they don’t contain burgundy or juniper berries. I don’t subscribe to that theory, but if it sounds good to you go with ½ cup burgundy and 3 crushed juniper berries when you mix your next batch of

Page 37

THE BACK SHELF

From the files of the Northwoods Sporting Journal The best hunting and fishing columns going back 25 years!

By their very nature backshelf articles, resurrected from our archives, may contain information or facts that have been altered or changed by the passage of time.

marinade.

Try the following marinade as a special for venison only. I got the recipe—and a sample—from Ed Potkey. He said it does a poor job on beef because of a different texture of meat. It did a great job on the kabobs I made from a mule deer buck Ed shot in New Mexico. ½ cup cooking oil ½ cup soy sauce ¼ cup sherry 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 ¼ tablespoons brown sugar 1 ¼ teaspoons dry mustard 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 tablespoon crushed ginger or ½ teaspoon powdered ginger Mix well and use with 4 to 5 pounds of venison.

Marinate overnight. Ed said to use Kikkoman soy sauce if you can get it. He also said to cut the ingredients in half if you are going to cook enough meat for only 2 or 3 servings.

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Page 38

Maine Outdoor Adventure Every Maine winter can be considered unique.

The weather has become more and more unpredictable, and every year ice conditions can vary drastically. Typically, February, and March, are the two best months for fishing large, glacial lakes. Why? The northern Lakes of Maine are so expensive, that winds stubbornly keep ice from forming, resulting in a late freeze-up. There are certainly other factors such as springs, rivers, currents, snow cover, and, of course, the obvious air temperatures. My personal, favorite time of year to ice fish, has always been in March due to warmer sunny days and the safety of the thickness of ice that has been forming all winter along. Nothing beats being able to fish on a calm, cloudy, mild March Day! Gearing up on togue and salmon trap fishing is a fun way to discover distance and varying water depth. Fishing big glacial lakes, always have the potential of hooking into huge fish. Lake trout are one of the main, oldest living,

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Rich Yvon, Bradford, ME largest inland, freshwater species. For this reason, having adequate equipment is essential. Outfitting with larger 43-inch traps and 4-inch spools, allows an angler to work with plenty of line and afford excellent visibility. Ice Fishing line comes in many fashions.

First, having a minimum of 20-pound line is essential. It is easy to handle and will hold up to cold

Ice Fishing Tips and Strategies

powered aerator can keep your bay alive for long periods. Adding duct tape to the Styrofoam can prolong the life of your bucket!

Tip*: Always use live bait, which is harvested at its source, and is permitted by law, for the water you are fishing.

Checking the ice...

You are about to step out, onto the ice, but you see no signs of previous activity, now what? The only

in mind that the shoreline typically freezes first on a lake or pond, soice can get thinner as you venture away from the shore. Study the ice color, clarity, and conditions.

An approximate guide for blue, black, or clear ice...

2 inches or less stay off the ice.

4 inches of ice-fishing/ice-skating 5 inches of ice snow-

Lakers, make great fish fries! All fish in general, taste much better fresh. This is true, especially for lake trout.

Once frozen, these fish do not do well in flavor or texture.

Every year lake, trout, and salmon can be found in camp kitchens across the frozen lake. temperatures. In addition to way to check the ice is to mobile, or ATV your fishing gear, personal make test holes with your 8 to 12 inches small effects are essential! Also, auger or spud bar. Keep cars are poor pick up a good pair of sunglasses can help see those flags on a lake that has lots of glare!

Jig fishing, is very productive, giving a lifeflashing action in the water of wary Lake Trout.

Jigging can get you into some fast action using a medium, heavy jig rod, and 12-pound test ice fishing line.

Tip*: A Styrofoam ice bucket with a battery-

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January 2024

Erik Soderholm from Stamford, CT and Burlington, Maine checks out his Sporting Journal in front of our office in Enfield, Maine.

12 to 15 inches size truck Note* White ice or snow ice is about half as strong as new clear ice .

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Lakers, make great fish fries! All fish in general, taste much better fresh.

This is true, especially for lake trout. Once frozen, these fish do not do well in flavor or texture. Every year lake, trout, and salmon can be found in camp kitchens across the frozen lake.

So before you write off these wild, native trout, give it a chance and cook a fresh one for a shore lunch!

If you would like more information on Maine hunting or ice, fly/spin fishing techniques/strategies for bass, pike, salmon, and trout, please feel to reach out to me. I’m always happy to share my knowledge and experience to anyone, for a better day of field! On the water lessons and hunting lessons are offered by Rich at https://twinmapleoutdoors.com/contact-us/ .

As always, remember to take a young person hunting or fishing to keep our outdoor heritage alive and well! In addition, please support your local tackle shops and small businesses!

Rich is a full time Registered Master Maine Master Guide. He owns and operates Twin Maple Outdoors guide service and sporting lodge located in Bradford, Maine. For more information about the Maine outdoors, please contact Rich at:Call: 207907-9151 Email: info@ Twinmapleoutdoors.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Uncle Amos’ Story

The following camp tale comes from The Knockabout Club in the Woods, by Charles Asbury Stephens, about the adventures of a group of six boys, published in 1883.

Uncle Amos’ story occurred while logging on the Allagash.

“During the second week an odd piece of mischief was done. Going out to grind the axes one morning, it was found that grease had been turned on the grindstone. In the “fire-bed” there was set an old pan of grease, with a swab with which the men greased their moccasins. This grease had been poured on the stone, completely encrusting it.

It took half the forenoon to scour the grease from the

grindstone, thus causing loss of time and annoyance. Sweetser, the boss, could not find out who had caused all this trouble, even after strict inquiry. The men all declared that they knew nothing about it, so Sweetser told them that whoever did it, if found out, would have his time “cut” to offset the loss He lay down as usual, but kept awake. There was no sign of mischief, and the stone was not touched.

The next night it was also undisturbed. By the third night Sweetser had grown very sleepy from his vigils.

A little after midnight he was roused by one of the men getting up from off the bunk. Creeping out quietly, Sweetser collared him in the very act of greasing

the stone — it was Peter Lougee, and the boss gave him a sound cuffing and shaking, and sent him back to the bunk.

At breakfast in the morning, Peter was greeted with a roar of mockery. But he protested that he knew nothing of the trick, and that he must have done it in his sleep. On being seriously questioned by Sweetser, he grinned, and said he did not know when he did it. The boss did not believe this statement. There really was not a better chopper in the gang than Peter, and the boss did not like to lose him.

While he thought it over, a bright idea popped into his head. They had brought the axes, “peevies,” warping-lines, etc.,

Allagash

checked the numbers, nor do I want to. Not everyone likes cold, wet weather and all the kids are back in school, so these offsummer seasons are good for the hearty minded.

I had no expectations for each day and that was probably a good place to start. Then, each day is new and counts just for itself, and whatever happens, happens. On both the St. John and Allagash, because of harsh conditions, we were unable to complete the journey all at one time.

So, the St. John or the Allagash? My heart is on the Allagash. But the St. John, because it is more remote, has its charms.

(Cont. from pg 26) our gear were soaking wet most of the time, but we also had a couple of good drying days, too. Unlike the St. John, the campsites are mostly an easy walk off the river. The Allagash Waterway is varied, with alternating days of lakes and river, meandering calm waters and rippling whitewater. But the St. John is maybe becoming more remote, with fewer visitors than the Allagash. I haven’t

Suzanne AuClair lives near Rockwood. She has been writing about the Moosehead Lake region for 28 years and produced the state anthology, “The Origin, Formation & History of Maine’s Inland Fisheries Division.” She is an award-winning member of the New England Outdoor Writers Assn.

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Page 39

Old Tales from the Maine Woods

by Steve Pinkham Quincy, MA

up the river in a great chest, such as lumbermen call a “ wangan.” It was six or seven feet long by four wide, and perhaps three feet in height.

That night, at about” turning-in “ time, Sweetser had the wangan brought into the shanty. He threw in a coverlet, and turning to Peter, bade him get into it, adding that in future he might consider it as his bunk, one from which he would not be able to get out in his sleep and trouble other people.

But this in no way suited Peter, who refused to sleep in the chest, and, resisting stubbornly, was caught hold of by several of the men, and put in despite his struggling and kicking.

The lid was shut down and hasped. He howled at them through the hole, and they

threw cold water in his face through it, till he was glad to lie down and remain quiet.

In the morning he was let out. Though rather close, it was by no means an uncomfortable place in which to sleep. After this, as regularly as night came, Peter slept in his box, but almost always had to be put into it by main force, or at least sharply ordered to get in. It was, “Here, you prowling dog, be getting into that wangan!” and not unfrequently he would have to be “wet down” before he would quietly go to sleep.

Steve is an avid hiker, paddler and historian, having collected over 30,000 Maine Woods articles to date.

Old Tales of the Maine Woods Steve Pinkham Maine Woods Historian, Author and Storyteller

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In my December column, I wrote how poor the ruffed grouse population was this past hunting season. I also mentioned that there was an abundance of woodcock throughout Maine and New Hampshire. Most input I received

On Point

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Paul Fuller, Durham, N.H. riod also. There was never a break in the weather for the broods to grow and remain healthy.

With the above conditions in mind, I’ve been asked several times why were there so many woodcock this year. Weren’t they

January 2024

The Grouse Shortage

person I’ve ever met.

Here’s a synopsis of what I learned. The woodcock and grouse peak hatch is at different times. The peak hatching period for the woodcock is three to four weeks earlier than the grouse peak hatch. In fact I’ve had friends who have found woodcock nests on top of snow. According to Andy, the hen woodcock

heart of the 2023 spring rain in northern Maine.

Even if the hen tried to re-nest, she still had rain.

According to Andy, the chicks must grow or they die. They most likely died

always been a glass half full person rather than a glass half empty. I should also mention that grouse numbers in New England weren’t necessarily bad throughout the area. Af-

So, Mother Nature both gives and takes away. She gave us an outstanding woodcock season and a not so great grouse season in Northern Maine and New Hampshire.

Susan and I saw enough mature grouse this season to provide a decent breeding season in 2024. from hunters and observers, blamed the scarcity of grouse on the cold rain during the nesting and hatch season for grouse.

One long-time resident of Allagash, Maine, told me that during prime hatching time, there was non-stop cold rain. Which killed the chicks. He then said that if the grouse tried to rebreed, which is often the case, it rained during that hatch pe-

affected by the same weather conditions? I didn’t have a solid, take to the bank, answer. So, I went to couple of sources who know much more about the biology of the American woodcock and the ruffed grouse. One was Andy Weik who for many years was the Northeast bird biologist for the Ruffed Grouse Society.

Andy knows grouse and woodcock as well as any 910 Exeter Rd, Corinna

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She wants her chicks to have a good start. I’ve seen woodcock return to New Hampshire, from their Southern winter homes, in late February and early March. The males start their courting ritual almost immediately. That means the nesting period (19-22 days) could easily be in late March and early April.

And, that means the woodcock clutch would have been old enough to survive the May-June rain.

Now, we’ll look at the ruffed grouse. If the woodcock nest in April, that means the grouse nests in May. The clutch usually hatches in 23-26 days. That puts the hatch right in the

Dena delivers a grouse to her Master, Susan Fuller. from both starvation and exposure.

So, Mother Nature both gives and takes away.

She gave us an outstanding woodcock season and a not so great grouse season in Northern Maine and New Hampshire. Susan and I saw enough mature grouse this season to provide a decent breeding season in 2024. Your author has

ter our hunt in the North Maine Woods, we went south to Tim Pond Camps in Eustis, Maine. Although not like 2020, grouse numbers weren’t too bad at Tim Pond Camps. I think 2024 will be better in the Northeast.

So where was there good grouse hunting in the United States this past fall?

(Shortage cont. pg 43)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Salty Prey on the Fly

Rewinding my memory clock back ten years, I recall meeting one of the most pleasant, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and likeable young bass anglers. At the time this young man was pursuing his college degree in Marine Biology at the University of Maine.

Our connection involved the University of Maine’s FLW College Circuit Fishing Team. As the class-

water fishing with a variety of techniques, including… ’Chasing the Salty Prey on the Fly’.

After graduating in 2017 from the University of Maine, my energetic young friend quickly utilized his Marine Biology Degree, as he entered the worldwide fishing industry.

With his passionate eyes fixed on the preservation of fisheries, and developing Client Adam Sweet lands Florida Snook (Photo by Capt. Cody Rubner High Roller Guide Service)

room coordinator for The Bass University, I invited the University of Maine’s FLW College Fishing Team to join us at one of our TBU Educational Two-Day Seminars.

This in turn spawned one of my most treasured friendships. During the following years, we spent time fishing together for bass in Maine. However, I quickly learned, how talented and devoted this young man was. Not only to freshwater fishing, but also his passion for salt-

Staff anglers who mentored me along the path of my dreams to be where I am today.” (www.highrollerguideservice.com) High Roller Guide Service is marketed as “Light Tackle and Fly”.

Captain Cody Rubner explains, “I primarily utilize spin rods, and Fly Tackle.

However, the final decision is decided by an angler’s capabilities and their preference. For example, I am just as elated staying within the rivers, assisting an an-

Page 41

Best Bassin’

by Bill Decoteau, Hampden, MA the St Lucie Inlet and flow into the Atlantic Ocean.

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Clients will certainly enjoy the comfort of cruising in High Roller’s 23foot center console Pathfinder 2300, powered by a Yamaha 250. Capable of floating in 2-feet of water for fishing the flats or running 20 miles offshore for deep water pelagic species.

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After graduating in 2017 from the University of Maine, my energetic young friend quickly utilized his Marine Biology Degree, as he entered the worldwide fishing industry.

water policies on land, he never wavered from pursuing his dream.

Meet Captain Cody Rubner, owner/operator of High Roller Guide Service, based in Stuart, Florida. “It was a tremendous blessing when I connected with Costa Sunglasses managing the Costa Pro Program.

I found myself surrounded with the very best tournament anglers and boat captains around the world!

It was Costa Sunglasses that brought me to Florida, and all their worldwide Pro

gler how to cast a fly rod and watching them catch their first fish on a fly! Or, if the client is interested in the offshore pursuit of Sailfish, we take the 20-minute run and that is what we target.”

High Roller Guide Service location and fishery is exceptionally unique and very special. “Our fishery is a 12-month each year calendar. With a wide variety of species evolving every 3-4 weeks. Having the Gulf Stream close to shore allows for quick access to deep water to target pelagic fish. While the ‘Crossroads/Confluence’ of the St. Lucie River and the Indian River meet at

Crevalle, Pompano, Bonefish, Sailfish, Tuna, MahiMahi Spring - Snook, Jack Crevalle, Tarpon, Permit Summer - False Albacore, Sailfish, Snook, Jack Crevalle Tarpon, MahiMahi Fall - Tarpon, Jack Crevalle, Tuna, Snook When it comes to providing equipment, Captain Rubner is adamant to utilize only the best. “All of my rods, reels, line, and baits have been rigged specifically for the species we will be targeting on each Guide trip. It’s imperative to me that each Guide Trip is prepared for making lifelong positive memories

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Making of a Buck Hunter

The Buck Hunter

by Hal Blood, Moose River, ME Deer seasons have come to a close and winter has settled in over the north country. The end of deer season is always bittersweet. There are many memories and stories to share for months to come.

Dyed in the wool deer hunters know that deer season comes to slow every year and ends too quickly.

really nice racks this year and hunters had a hard time passing them up.

At the lodge our hunters shot a lot of 2 ½ year old buck with nice six-to-eightpoint racks, which weighed 150 to 170 pounds. The easy winters of the past few years have really made a big difference in not only the number of deer in the

Rylan got out and loaded his gun and spotted one of the does standing about 50 yards away. One shot put her down where she stood. Rylan and I had been making plans for tracking last season and he told me after he shot his doe, not to worry, he wouldn’t shoot a buck from the road. I was pretty impressed with that thinking coming from a fourteen-year-old.

Since Rylan is homeschooled, we could juggle

I was blessed with a nice Maine buck as well as a nice Adirondack buck, but the highlight of my hunting season was my grandson Rylan shooting his first buck. And making it even more special was that he tracked him down himself, with me following behind.

I’ve learned to enjoy every day of the season and don’t wish any of the days away.

From what I’ve seen, it appears that Maine hunters had a very successful season with a lot of nice bucks taken. Here in Jackman, there were 209 deer tagged.

This was down from 250 in 2022, but still almost double the previous 10 years. There were 15 bucks that dressed out over 200 pounds, with the heaviest weighing in at 242 pounds.

The big buck kill was down some, but not that there was a lack of them in the woods. My opinion is that the younger buck sported

January 2024

area, but the quality of the bucks. Congratulations to all of you who punched your tag and those of you who put in the effort.

I was blessed with a nice Maine buck as well as a nice Adirondack buck, but the highlight of my hunting season was my grandson Rylan shooting his first buck. And making it even more special was that he tracked him down himself, with me following behind. Rylan had shot a doe on youth day while doing a combination bird and deer hunt. They spotted a couple of does bounding up a hardwood ridge.

some days in for deer hunting. After the first week of the season when I only got him out once, we had a dry spell for snow. We got a few dustings of snow in the high country that we got out to give it a try.

Finally, by Thanksgiving week the weather forecast showed snow coming for Wednesday. I told Rylan to get caught up on schoolwork so we could get after the bucks in the snow. We woke up Wednesday morning to a couple inches of snow and it was still coming down. I knew it might be hard to find a track in those conditions, but we

were going to give it a good effort. We went to a spot where we could make a circle that was about 2 miles by 2 miles. We were about a mile into the morning when we cut a track

out of the spruces, he was headed right to a signpost area I knew of. As he went by the signposts, he crossed paths with an old toe-dragging buck. The old bucks track had no snow in it, and I figured it to be about an hour old.

I told Rylan that the buck was headed to a good area to get a chance at him.

There were a lot of spruce k n o b s w ith good openings between them. I knew he would be searching for does and might get distracted. The buck searched every nob until finally finding a group of The author with his grandson does in some and his buck.

with no snow in it. We soon learned the small buck had already seen us and ran off.

Rylan wasn’t going to be too fussy about the size of a buck, so we headed out after him.

He crossed a stream and headed up into some green bluffs, where he found a doe. He chased her off the bluff and then continued on looking for another one. He swung back to the stream and followed it for a while in the thick alders. After a while, we could see that we had caught up and spooked him. He headed up a ridge and into the spruce. We went slow, hoping to either get a look at him or he would get into more open country. When he broke

steep thick knobs. The tracks were fresh, including the bucks.

I showed Rylan how to circle the knobs to find his track coming out. When we circled the first knob, we found his track coming out with a doe and another smaller buck. I knew then that we had a good chance of getting one of them. I told Rylan to go slow, look into the open before stepping out and go one step at a time uphill. It was getting towards noon when Rylan said he was getting hungry, and we should have a sandwich. I said: this is not the time for a sandwich, we were going to see a buck.

About two to three hundred yards further as Rylan was (Hunter cont. pg 67)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Living the Retired Life

Some things about life’s changes are difficult to handle and require some thought. This happened to Dot and I a few years ago when we decided that the best thing for us to do was to move closer to our children. This was a huge decision because it meant we would be leaving the land we had lived on for over 50 years.

We spent a lot of time in the car with our daughter and son-in-law looking at prospective places. I remember that a lot of them I would dismiss without ever getting out of the car, for various reasons. When we were looking at condos I noticed one that backed up to woods. That caught my attention and eventually we decided it was the place for us to settle down for the next phase of our lives.

As it all turned out our timing was just about right.

By the time we were pretty

well settled in to our new home Covid 19 hit and we were near our relatives for the help we would need to get through it all.

During Covid I was delighted that I had the woods virtually out our back door.

I could freely walk the trails and enjoy the woods without fear of disease, and had the added bonus of sighting deer from time to time.

too long in the freezer.

Anyway, my drawing away from the hunt did not dampen my love for deer and my continued thrill at seeing them. My dog, Sukey is my partner on my jaunts in the woods and as such he helps by being my early warning system.

This warning is important because at my age I need to keep my eyes mostly on the trail in front of me to avoid

Paul and Susan, his wife, are hosts of the Bird Dogs Afield TV show. All past episodes are available on their website: www.birddogsafield.com. Contact: paul@birddogsafield.com

by Gil Gilpatrick, Brunswick, ME and was almost constantly tugging me along as he pulled on his leash. It turned out he was correct when we saw two deer moving away from us. A little further on we spotted three more. There were more deer sightings that day, but I don’t know if

I think I surprised myself a couple of years before our move when I decided I no longer wanted to deer hunt. I am not sure of the total reason for this decision, but part of it was that Dot and I could not use the deer and some was going to waste after too long in the freezer.

I think I surprised myself a couple of years before our move when I decided I no longer wanted to deer hunt. I am not sure of the total reason for this decision, but part of it was that Dot and I could not use the deer and some was going to waste after

tripping over a root, or whatever. Much different from the old days when I could walk along scanning the woods around me.

On a recent walk I knew right away that we were going to see something because Sukey was excited right from the start

Shortage (Cont. from pg 40) I recently spoke with Jerry Havel at Pineridge Grouse Camps in Minnesota. Jerry reported that they had an outstanding year. He reported that the other Great Lakes States (Wisconsin and Michigan) were also very good.

Susan and I are already planning our 2024 New England grouse hunts…you should too.

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Page 43

they were new ones or some of the five already mentioned.

Another thing I enjoy about our walks is the wondering about the signs of old-time activities. I have written before about the signs of logging in the past, but there are signs of military activity, since we are on a retired naval base.

The navy took over the area in the 1940’s, during World War II. One of the areas I walk passes some

large holes in the ground.

Someone mentioned they might be foxholes. I knew they were too large for that, but I think they might have been defensive gun emplacements. Don’t know.

I will continue my wandering and wondering.

It keeps both my body and my mind working!

Gil Gilpatrick is a Master Maine Guide, and is the first living recipient of the Legendary Maine Guide award. He is a life member of the Maine Professional Guides Association, a founding member of the Maine Wilderness Guides Organization, and served as a member of the Advisory Board for the Licensing of Guides from 1996 to 2010. He is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association and is the author of seven outdoorrelated books. Contact him at Gil@GilGilpatrick.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 44

Hunting the eastern coyote can be quite challenging. Since they are mostly nocturnal, one advantage is to target them at night. Utilizing lights can be very successful if done correctly.

When hunting for coyotes at night some hunt-

Proper Use Of Lights While Hunting Coyotes/Fox Some lights that are sold as scanning lights use high output LED’s with smooth reflector housings and/or a magnifying spherical glass lens to concentrate the focus of the beam. While this may show eyes over in the next county, it may also have the undesirable result

will do this at surprisingly long distances. I prefer using a headlamp for scanning over a handheld scan light because it gives me hands free capability. The Night Eyes Headlamps are designed specifically to pick up predator’s eyes well over 300 yards when

mounted light will positively identify any predator at distances out to 350 yards. Because the coyote has been conditioned with the less-brilliant scanning light, the brighter shooting light does not immediately trigger the animal’s photo-

January 2024

once he has been spotted.

The light beam acts as concealment for the hunter and if done correctly you will be invisible to the coyote.

For those who do not want to take your hand off your weapon to reach up and turn off your headlamp

A Night Eyes GL-350 gun mounted light will positively identify any predator at distances out to 350 yards. Because the coyote has been conditioned with the less-brilliant scanning light, the brighter shooting light does not immediately trigger the animal’s photo-phobia (aversion to light), thus keeping it in range longer. ers just use their bright red gun light to scan for eyes. However, a light that is made specifically for scanning would be a much better choice. All scanning lights are not created equal. It is a common misconception that brighter is always better however, that is not the case when scanning for predators.

of “burning” the eyes and spooking the predator.

The objective of a scanning light is to continuously scan the area you are calling. The most common method of calling is imitating the sound of an injured rabbit while scanning and looking for the reflection of approaching eyes. A lowerintensity diffused red beam

set at only 30% brightness.

The light has also been designed to minimize the odds of spooking the predator. The orange peel reflector housing fragments and diffuses the light beam and the fully adjustable brightness control lets the hunter dial up as little or as much of this diffuse light as desired. Keeping this minimal amount of red diffused light on the coyote conditions the predator to the light as it continues to approach. The coyote gets use to the scan light beam and when the coyote is within shooting range (I prefer around 100 yards or so), the hunter can switch on a brighter gun mounted light for positive identification and the shot.

A Night Eyes GL-350 gun

phobia (aversion to light), thus keeping it in range longer.

I am often asked if it is better to turn off the scanning light once the gun light is on the animal.

Basically, it comes down to preference but because I am using a headlamp rather than a handheld light, I can easily reach up and turn the headlamp off once the gun light has been turned on. It is important to make sure the gun light has been turned on first prior to turning the headlamp off. You never want to leave the coyote in total darkness

Night Eyes now offers a wireless remote controlled headlamp options.

The goal is not just seeing the coyote’s eyes but to get them in close.

Overpowering them with too much scanning light is not the way to do this. I guess you could compare scanning with a shooting light to hunting squirrels with a deer rifle. Sure, on occasion it might work but there are better choices.

Save the brighter shooting lights for positive target identification and the kill shot.

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January 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Crosscut Saw

In the days before the chainsaw (first commercially available in the 1930s) the crosscut was high tech in the wood cutting world. Compared to an axe the crosscut was fast, stumps could be kept low and directional felling techniques improved with the crosscut. The downside, crosscuts were expensive, easily bent by a wayward tree and far more difficult to sharpen. As a result, the crosscut was treated with respect and care was taken to keep it out of harm’s way.

Years ago, I was hunting in the saddleback hills of Baldwin and as usual I became distracted by the trees. Occupational hazard of a forester. Some of the more accessible land had been cleared for fields and pasture in the 1700s and early 1800s but all of it had reverted to trees as the farms were abandoned.

Timber harvesting is stan-

dard procedure in this area and all of the lots had been cut within the last 50 years and many within the last 25.

On the backside of a ridge I found a ten acre pocket of large timber which had not been cut since before World War II. Curious, as only a forester can be about trees, I abandoned the hunt and started scouting to determine why these trees had been left behind. Running the boundary lines didn’t help. These trees were part of a larger lot and the rest had been cut within the last ten years.

Working along the foot of a low ridge I found evidence of a log brow and landing where logs had been yarded and rolled onto a log scoot.

Following the remains of the scoot trail I found a narrow ledge no more than six feet wide leading out of this grove and over the ridge. The ledge was not wide enough for a skidder

but just sufficient for a team and scoot. It was mostly solid rock so carving a wider road for the skidder was not an option.

Satisfied I had solved the mystery I resumed the hunt. Halfway back down the road I stopped to answer the call of nature. Looking down, my eye noticed a round piece of rusty metal

Coyotes

old juvenile coyotes that they disperse out into the world to establish their own home ranges and find their own mates.

I’m constantly hearing about the surge of coyote sightings during the November deer hunt.

Shortly before writing this article a friend of mine shared a story with me regarding his wife and a coyote. He told me that his wife was sitting overlooking a heavily traveled deer run when a big coyote came trotting on by and not a deer. It was not the giant eight point buck she was

hoping for. Unfortunately she did not get off a shot.

That big adult coyote lived to see another day and go on to find a mate for the winter mating season.

(Cont. from pg 27) of adult coyotes. When all along it’s just been the father coyote teaching the pups all the different vocalizations. In addition to learning how to howl the pups are also getting an education on how to hunt for food nearby the den site.

They do not go far from the den site until about eight or nine weeks old. The parent coyotes never let the pups stray too far out of sight early on in life. It’s not until the pups are eight month

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Page 45

Tales Of A Maine Woodsman

by Joel F. Tripp Limington, ME

bent, not worn out, lost beside the scoot trail and not recovered. My first thought is that somebody caught hell. My guess; the scoot is loaded, binders on, axes and wangan wedged

the team put away the saw is suddenly missed. The next day a search is made in vain.

How does this story end? Why was this expensive tool not found? These

Here is a mystery, a complete crosscut saw, not bent, not worn out, lost beside the scoot trail and not recovered. My first thought is that somebody caught hell. My guess; the scoot is loaded, binders on, axes and wangan wedged onto the load, crosscut laid on top but not tied. beside the trail. Finishing the business I was then about I parked the Remington and investigated the metal object. What I found was a complete crosscut saw well rusted but still intact. The handle socket had caught my eye, the handles themselves long since having rotted away.

Here is a mystery; a complete crosscut saw, not

Justin has access to over 30,000 acres of prime deer, bear, coyote and turkey hunting habitat. He

onto the load, crosscut laid on top but not tied. The team is started Nip, Tuck, get up, gee Tuck, hup, hup.

Halfway up the hill a bump in the trail gives the scoot a tilt to the downhill side.

The saw slips off the load and into the snow like a knife. Nobody sees or hears anything. Back at the farm with the scoot pulled up beside the woodpile and

are the questions I ponder as I roam the woods and my attention wanders from the task at hand. The odds of us knowing the real story are slim but the story is there, waiting to be written.

Joel F. Tripp is a Maine Woodsman and Master Blacksmith who has never cut a tree with a crosscut saw. For more inis the author of the two formation go to; trippsend. books, “WILD MAINE com OUTDOORS – Hunting Tactics, Tricks & Secrets”, and “THE SIT SPOT – TRIPP’S END Discovering the Forest Near You”. He is the owner BLACKSMITH SHOP of the YouTube channel, Est. 1991 “SPIKES and GILLS”. You www.trippsend.com may learn more at www. wildmaineoutdoors.com MADE IN

MAINE

Quality, Hand-Forged Cooking Equipment Joel Tripp, Blacksmith www.etsy.com/shop/TrippHammerForge

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 46

Slipstream

By Scott Biron, New London, NH I do a great deal of fly tying instruction each year.

Most of it is done here in New England but every month or so I do a presentation internationally which is a lot of fun. Interacting with a wide range of tyers really opens many different avenues of learning. Some of the international tyers have tips and techniques that I’ve incorporated in

you skimp on the any one of the big 3 you will face countless problems. The steel the vise is made with is very important. Lower end vises often use steel that over time burnishes where the hook is held and results in the hooks slipping in the jaws.

However, price drives most of the vise purchases for tyers. I use this com-

January 2024

Getting the Fly Tying Bug

are times these vises have been damaged and you will not know it until you have already purchased it.

If you are serious about fly tying you should figure on spending $280350 on a vise. That will get you a quality vise that should last you a lifetime.

The frustration come from understanding all the upgrades. This is where knowing what your tying goals are really can be helpful. When you stand in a fly tying shop with

it. Honestly, I never felt I would switch from the vise I had been using for such a long time. It did not take me long to realize that the TRV was much more than I expected.

Most of the flies I tie are trolling streamers and the TRV has 3 grooves in the jaw that holds these long hooks solidly in place.

This single feature was a major upgrade on my pre-

The TRV is not an entry level vise when I recommend those to my students it’s the HMH Spartan. HMH makes all their vises in Maine. If you take a class from me, I often have an extra TRV with me and if you’re looking at upgrading your vise I let you use one in class.

I’d say many students end up purchasing one the next week.

vious vise because the long hooks would not stay solid in the jaws. Along with the TRVs solid holding power for the big streamer hooks it will also hold smaller sized hooks when I’m tying dry flies.

The TRV is the first vise HMH has made with a True Inline Rotary Action. This means the hook shank can be aligned with the axis of rotation of the vise, allowing materials to be held while the hook is rotated. The jaws are cast out of tool steel and everything else is stainless steel or brass. It comes with a powder coated base or a c-clamp, I use a c-clamp 90% of the time.

I’m proud to say my vise is made in Maine by HMH.

In my fly tying classes the students all get to tie on HMH Spartan Vises and use HMH tools. These are excellent vises and for many of these students will be the vise they go out and purchase. my tying skills.

It never fails that one of the questions that comes up 99% of the time is “what vise do you tie on and recommend”. It’s fly tying season so I figured this would be an appropriate time to answer the question. The best way to begin is where most people’s second question ends up and that is PRICE. Fly tyers all know the 3 most important things they use are and in this order: 1. Vise 2. Scissors 3. Hooks. You can have the best materials but if

parison when discussing vises and people tell me it’s helpful. Vises are like cars…..a vise is to hold hooks securely to tie flies and cars are to get you from one point to another. What you add to the car or vise for options will drive the price up.

In the November issue of the Journal, I wrote about fly tying kits. In a nutshell the vise is often the weakest part of the kit. You also don’t want to buy a used vise unless you can inspect it. Many times, a used vise will be fine but there

20 vises in front of you it will not be an intimidating moment.

In my fly tying classes the students all get to tie on HMH Spartan Vises and use HMH tools. These are excellent vises and for many of these students will be the vise they go out and purchase. Today I use and HMH TRV, the TRV stands for true rotary vise. This vise was designed and is made by HMH owner Jon Larrabee. Jon came to me a few years ago and put one of the TRVs in front of me asking me to try

Scott Biron cut his teeth learning to tie flies and fly fish back in the1960s in the North County of New Hampshire. He has fished many of the streams north of Route 26 in NH and his favorite the Androscoggin River. He is a Master Artist in the NH Traditional Arts Program and instructs fly tying both nationally and internationally. He is on the Ambassador Pro Team for HMH Vises and Partridge of Redditch. Ewing has come out with a signature series line of feathers under Scott’s name.

Don't Forget!

The cold is hard on our pets too!

Make sure they have plenty of water and a warm place to be.

January 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Staying Safe While Sporting

As I walk out onto the first ice of the year, my thoughts are mixed with the anticipation of a better year, offering me more time in the woods and on the water and fewer of the harsh lessons I learned last year. 2023 was a year that

think we are, nature throws us curveballs that cannot be learned any other way than through some degree of suffering. If we’re lucky, our dunking in a swamp will remind us to never step into the bow of a canoe, even when hanging on to

is perhaps victory enough.

I have been hunting Lake Champlain for 39 years now and can name ten men, all of whom were well respected as outdoorsmen and duck hunters, who have lost their lives because of one little thing that they hadn’t predicted as a possible risk. It has taught me humility, and I hope that you, my dear reader, might take this one

Page 47

Green Mountain Report

by Bradley Carleton, Charlotte, VT

about deer hunting, and when I ran into him at a physical therapy session, he told me that he learned a humbling lesson that he hopes many of us might take to heart as we head into the field; never be too confident. Always, before every step, think about the

be returning this year from Friday, January 19 – Sunday, January 21. A lot of your favorite outdoor celebrities will be returning to share their knowledge, tips and strategies at numerous seminars. And, if they’ll have me back, we’ll do another Water-

I have been hunting Lake Champlain for 39 years now and can name ten men, all of whom were well respected as outdoorsmen and duck hunters, who have lost their lives because of one little thing that they hadn’t predicted as a possible risk.

caused me to reflect on the true meaning of what we love and why we do it. If my focus was solely on filling a bag limit on ducks or geese, it would have been recorded as a losing year.

If I look at the year from lessons learned, I am simply glad to be alive. Duck season taught me that no matter how much experience or how “expert” we

the ladder of the blind. And driving a boat around in circles to break ice to create a hole for the decoys can, and may, send a sharp shard through even the toughest hull. And when we watch a boat go down, this whole adage of “a good captain goes down with his ship” is rubbish. The only thing that matters is that we survive, and that to live another day,

kernel of advice to heart.

Almost nothing can be predicted when taking the risks we do to pursue our passion. My dear friend, Peter Bodette, one of the most respected deer hunters I have known, even with all his experience and wisdom, could never have considered that a minor inconvenience like pushing some pine boughs out of the way as he ascended his treestand, could land him on his back from 18 feet up.

I have always admired Pete for his depth of knowledge

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Of course, all the big names will be in the spotlight. Big names like Hal Blood, my long-time buddy and super talented call maker, Ken Hammel, the generous Bob Howe, Joe Judd and one of my personal favorites, Capt.’ Matt Trombley of (Sporting cont. pg 51)

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risks and be conscious of the value of your life and the impact it might have on those you love. With this lesson I will proceed more cautiously onto this first ice. For those of my readers that are in their first ten years of hunting or ice fishing, please stay humble and accept that no buck/ perch/pike or other trophy is more valuable than your own life.

With that, let’s look at a few reasons to celebrate the season. The Yankee Sportsman’s Classic will

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 48

Vermont Ramblings

by Dennis Jensen, Vermont In the earlier days, our biggest concern was punching our tag - that is getting a good buck or a legal doe on the ground.

Then came the hard part: gutting the deer and then what was often a long drag because, back in the day, we learned that the deeper we went into the woods,

chunk of wood, tie the rope to the length of wood and, in that way, I could haul the buck out, with both arms behind my back and the buck coming along nicely, the head and horns lifted just so.

But on that day, after going about 300 yards with the buck, a rifle and

A Long Drag

Jamuary 2024

the years, I have helped my boys grow as hunters.

Now, they are returning the favor.

The photo that goes with this piece tells the story. While we have a fall muzzleloader hunt here in Vermont, it is a very short season, only four days.

The season always falls so that it includes the last Saturday and Sunday of October.

And let me tell you, it

But on that day, after going about 300 yards with the buck, a rifle and a backpack, it was clear that I would have to go back to camp and get one of the guys to help the old man drag out his buck. the better were our chances of getting our venison for the year.

Then, about five or six years ago, I shot a good buck up in New York, in St. Lawrence County. It was a mature 7-pointer that dressed out at 168 pounds.

After I gutted the buck, I did what I have always done, pulled both front legs up near the antlers, then tied the legs and antlers together with my dragging rope. Then I would find a good, thick 12-inch-long

a backpack, it was clear that I would have to go back to camp and get one of the guys to help the old man drag out his buck. As it turned out, two of my fellow hunters were back in camp and, well before noon, we had that deer hanging from the buck pole.

Of course, it goes without saying that asking for any help in the deer hunting process is somewhat of a blow to the ego but it is also true that, over

was a near disaster when the season rolled around, just last October. The first day, Thursday, sunrise saw a low temperature of 54 degrees. This was the first time in my more than five decades of deer hunting that, on that first morning of the season, I sat until 11:30 a.m. and never heard a single gunshot! Things got even worse the next two days with temperatures hitting 70 degrees. I never even went afield.

Then, on the fourth

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Daniel Jensen, left, and Matthew Jensen drag a doe from the woods for their father. The author shot the doe on the last day of the 2023 October muzzleloader hunt. As we age, we must often count on our family members or friends in order to continue the pastime that we so love. (Photo by Dennis Jensen) and last day, I rose to see the thermometer at 39 degrees. I set out for a nearby ground blind, was in place by 7 a.m. and shot a good mature doe at 7:30 a.m.

Meanwhile, I had to wait around, after field dressing the doe, until after 11 a.m. when two of my sons showed up to help the drag.

Thanks, guys. Oh, and by the way, I never heard another shot that entire morning, as well.

While I will not get to see the kill figures for some weeks, it is clear that the fall muzzleloader season kill will be way down. And this much is pretty clear: I got mighty lucky that last morning.

Dennis Jensen is a freelance writer whose work appears in three New England publications. Contact him at d.jensen62@ yahoo.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Page 49

Aldo Leopold The Hunter

Outdoors In Vermont

To Aldo Leopold, hunting was not an abomination, nor an inconsistency. He found it a way for active participation in the drama of life, to be conducted in an ecologically balanced and civil manner.

As I write this a few days before Thanksgiving we are just six weeks from the start of the second half of the biennium for the Vermont legislature.

Once again sportsmen and women and the Department of Fish and Wildlife will be working hard to stop ever growing attempts to limit hunting and trapping.

As the percentage of the population that hunts or traps dwindles, the fight becomes ever more difficult.

Aldo Leopold is the darling of environmentalists and he deserves to be as he is universally recognized as the father of the modern conservation movement. What many who quote him so freely often choose to ignore is that he was an avid hunter and saw hunting as one of many wildlife management tools.

His daughter, Nina

by Gary W. Moore, Bradford, VT

Leopold Bradley, gave a talk entitled, “How Hunting affected Aldo Leopold’s Thinking and His Commitment to a Land Ethic” at the annual conference of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. She had some interesting things to say about her dad which I think worth recounting in these times when so many are trying to eliminate or severely restrict hunting.

“I don’t need to tell you that in this day and age hunting and hunters often get a bad rap. City folk, vegetarians and environmentalists are assumed to be anti-hunting. However, to Aldo Leopold that was not true. To him, hunting was an expression of love for the natural world; you might even say it initiated a kind of bonding with the land.”

Much of the talk was based on the many letters Aldo wrote home while he was attending school in the east, first at Lawrenceville and then at Yale. One letter written to his father in 1905 clearly shows how much he missed home and hunting.

“The old gun adds a

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real sense of companionship to my room when I am studying, even when it is stowed away out of sight in the drawer. Whenever I handle the trusty weapon a score of olden memories come gently back, and once more, I see waving reeds of the marshes with a

who revere Leopold, yet today as well. argue that hunting should be banned could have heard his daughter when she said, “To Aldo Leopold hunting Syndicated columnist was not an abomination, Gary W. Moore is a life nor an inconsistency. He long resident of Vermont and a former CommisTo Aldo Leopold hunting was not an sioner of Fish and Game. abomination, nor an inconsistency. He His latest book, Four Seafound it a way for active participation in son in Vermont, is availthe drama of life, to be conducted in an able at many bookstores ecologically balanced and civil manner. and sporting goods shop or from him directly. He swift phalanx of waterfowl found it a way for active may be reached by e-mail in the sky above. Or again participation in the drama at gwmoore1946@icloud. the reeds are gaunt and dry of life, to be conducted in com or at Box 454, Bradand shaken by the wind, an ecologically balanced ford, VT 05033. the first white mist of snow and civil manner. eddies down in silence, half “ W h a t L e o p o l d ’s veiling the low flying line hunting attitudes, both as a of big gray mallards, which young man and as a mature pass by with a measured man, have to say to us in swish of strong pinions and 1995 I am not quite sure.

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Page 50

Maple Country Outdoors

Last month I took you all through the first half of my 2018 dream season.

Little did I know the second half of the story would be better than the first.

Upon returning to VT from Ohio, I had a fair amount of work and family time to catch up on and didn’t get out for more than a few short hunts. I woke November 16 to about 4” of heavy wet snow and it was still coming down. After getting the kids to daycare I jumped in the plow truck and cleared the sugarwoods driveways. Around 10:30 AM the snow stopped and I headed to the woods.

A total of about 8” of snow had fallen and I decided to hunt a far knob of the sugarwoods that I hadn’t hunted for a few years. One side of the knob is wide open hardwoods,

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

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while the other is a mess of blowdowns. As soon as I got to the top of the knob I cut a track with about 4” of snow in it. I began following in the direction I wanted to head not knowing yet if I was headed forwards or backwards on the track.

Very soon I saw where the deer had stopped and worked a licking branch, but had not opened up the scrape underneath. I had a feeling that I was headed backwards on the track but kept following it in the direction I was going.

The track began curling around the knob and I was becoming more convinced it was going the other way.

As I made my way around the knob I saw the flash of two deer way down the hill in the blowdowns. I also noticed antler marks in the snow where the buck had fed on a fern and decided it was time to get serious about this deer. When the deer short stepped up a steep bank I confirmed I

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was going the wrong way, however at this point the track had turned back the direction I had come just on the far side of the small knob. Knowing there were deer down below me, I continued backwards on the track until I cut the smoking fresh track of my buck headed downhill in the direction I had seen the deer earlier. I began creeping down the track super slow. It was not long before I spotted him about 120 yards below facing almost directly away, but looking backwards over his shoulder up the steep hill at me. I slowly raised the gun while cranking up my scope to 8 power and shot. He immediately disappeared down over the hill.

When I got down to exactly where I thought the deer was standing, I found a good track and followed it for about 150 yards with no blood nor hair. I figured I had missed and was about to take off on that track when I decided to head back up and double check.

I paralleled the shelf and couldn’t believe it when I found a second set of tracks and hair on the ground.

100 yards later I found my buck, a mature heavy horned 6 point weighing

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(See pg 47)

Part 2

184 pounds.

A few weeks later, the Vermont Muzzleloader season opened and I had another buck tag. My buddy William and I decided to head up into the big mountains on the last Friday of the season, December 7. I

January 2024

moved its head just enough to see the tine was the G2 and attached to a heavy main beam. I fired and William followed up as the deer lunged forward and all we saw was a huge rack as the deer struggled out of its bed. The giant racked

The author with the Backwards Buck, a mature VT Buck killed tracking. had hunted this area in the past and knew it held some nice bucks. We headed up high on the mountain after getting cut off on a buck track down low. The snow was really deep that year and I knew of a hemlock ridge that would probably have some deer on it. As we still hunted our way across the steep open hardwoods I noticed something far below us that looked like it could be a deer. Sure enough it was a bedded deer with its head behind a large tree. Soon we could see a single tine, but nothing else. We were quite sure it was a big buck based on the length and where the tine was in relation to its body. I decided we needed to get closer and we snuck to about 100 yards without the deer knowing we were there. We got settled and waited. Finally the deer

buck only made it 3 yards and went down. The buck turned out to be a beautiful 8 point that only weighed 145 pounds that late in the year. Four years later it is still our largest racked VT deer, and I’ve been unable to put together another season quite so successful.

Ben Wilcox is owner of Maple Country Anglers, located in Northwest Vermont. He is a current member of the USA Fly Fishing Team. He is a registered Maine Guide and graduate of the University of Maine.

He also owns a large Maple Sugaring Business, Amber Ridge Maple. These occupations allow him to be in the woods or water nearly every day of the year. He can be reached at maplecountryanglers@ gmail.com

January 2024

Sporting

(Cont. from pg 47) Third Alarm Charters, will be sharing their stories and knowledge in the very popular seminars. As of this writing, the schedule is still filling up and promises to deliver a great time.

Tickets are available for a paltry $13 for adults, $5 for children 3-12 years old, and under 3 years old will still be free. Check out the updated website at https:// www.yankeeclassic.net/.

The results of the November 30 VT F&W Board of Director’s Meeting have not been released as of this. The meeting was concerning a bill, Act 159, Best Management Practices for Trapping.

Its purpose was to present some changes requested by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) and their objections to the furbearers Section 44 “Proposed Revisions to Furbearer Species Rule 11.30.23,” which states among many proposed changes, Section 3.6 and 4.20 – control of dogs: LCAR objected to sections 3.6 and 4.20 of the final proposed rules related to control of dogs while hunting coyotes. The Department recommends including tones in the definition of training/control collars. The recommended language with changes are as follows: 3.19 “Training/ control” collar is any family of collars that deliver audible tones and electrical stimulation of varying intensity and duration to the neck of a dog via a radio-controlled electronic device incorporated into the collar. The Department has also recommended the following language regarding encouraging hunters to

Northwoods Sporting Journal

request landowner permission to hunt coyotes with dogs. This language is in response to the Memorandum by legislative counsel.

“4.20.7 A person hunting coyotes with dogs shall not release the dogs on land posted in accordance with Title 10 V.S.A. § 5201, without the written permission of the landowner. In addition, a person hunting coyotes with the aid of dogs

is encouraged to seek landowner permission before releasing dogs or entering land that is not posted in accordance with Title 10 V.S.A. § 5201. Hunter education shall include the recommendation that persons hunting coyotes with dogs seek landowner permission prior to pursing coyotes with dogs.” This is all coming on the heels of a vocal minority of non-

hunters that are lobbying for representation on the Board of Directors to be a part of the creation of hunting and fishing seasons, bag limits, etc. Their position is that there are more Vermont residents that enjoy the outdoors in a “non-consumptive” manner than hunters and fishermen, thus they believe that they should have a voice (not necessarily

Page 51

science-based) to govern the resources of the VT F&W department. Keep your eye on this folks, and when it’s time to speak up, please speak loudly and with respectful conviction.

Bradley Carleton is the founder and Director of Sacred Hunter.org which teaches the public respect and empathy through hunting, fishing and foraging.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 52

Maine Tails

Hardwater Togue Jiggin’

new year, a chubby four pounder, was lying beside

By Jonah Paris, my boot.

Scarborough, ME Togue, or lake trout, Several years ago, my looked around the bay and are a native species that dewife and I were ice fishing commented: “Everyone mand respect. Togue thrive on Sebago Lake during the out here is hunched over, only in Maine’s cleanest, last Saturday of January. squinting at little screens, coldest, and deepest lakes.

Lower Bay had locked and jigging miniature rods. They live for decades and

Togue gear differs widely from standard panfish gear, so leave the perch and crappie rods at home. A togue “stick” should have a decent backbone, but not be too stiff. Despite relatively aggressive and competitive feeding habits, many bites are subtle. up a few days prior, and an eager weekend crowd was out in full force. I was marking steady on the fish finder, and fish appeared interested in my jig, but not committed. Ashley

It’s like you are all playing a video game.” I acknowledged that her observation was strikingly accurate, and then proceeded to set the hook. A short time later, my first togue of the

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grow large. Waters dotted across the state are home to togue of leviathan proportions; these char of the abyss are seldom landed, and more often than not, play the role of heartbreaker in hardwater escapades.

They are responsible for bent hooks, broken leaders, stripped spools, and snapped rods. But even an average-sized togue, those making the general length limit of 18 inches, offer the winter angler a sporty head-shaking fight on a jig stick. Additionally, fresh togue filets are the key ingredient to the finest fish burgers.

Togue can be notoriously moody. Their willingness to bite can depend upon the time of day, barometric pressure, water clarity, bait availability, and the temperature of the coffee in your thermos. On Saturday, togue might eagerly crush any bait or lure within sight. On Sunday, they might trigger a cursing tantrum as they repeatedly chase a lure up and down in the water column and refuse to hit. Resting a motionless jig on bottom and “dead-sticking” can result in a bite when nothing else will. And just when

are subtle. Longer jig rods are preferred as they offer the angler more leverage during the fight. I employ 38-inch rods for togue, rated for 6-10 lb. line, with 2500 spinning reels. Braided line (12-20 lb. test) is a necessity.

Braid allows for unmatched sensitivity and solid hooksets in water often exceeding 100 feet.

The author jigged up his limit A sonar maof togue. chine, either a fish (Photo courtesy of Jonah Paris) finder or flasher unit, is a crucial tool for this method of fishing. The machine functions as your eyes beneath the ice by allowing you to read the fish and alter your jigging method in real time. Staying mobile is key to efficiently working an area, and anglers should avoid jigging a hole for an extended period if they are not marking bait or fish.

This well-fed togue hit a ⅜ oz.

Hardwater bucktail tipped with a shiner. togue lures can (Photo courtesy of Jonah Paris) generally be broyou think you finally have them figured out, a skunking at the lake will keep you humble.

Togue gear differs widely from standard panfish gear, so leave the perch and crappie rods at home. A togue “stick” should have a decent backbone, but not be too stiff. Despite relatively aggressive and competitive feeding habits, many bites

ken down into three categories: soft plastics, spoons, and jigs. All have their place in my tackle box, but bucktail jigs remain most valuable to me season after season. I own a collection of bucktails ranging from ⅛ oz. to 3 oz., but I have found that ⅜ oz. is ideal for most togue waters. I have successfully fished (Jiggin cont. pg 66)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

A Two-Hearted Tradition

Western Maine is a land of deep forests, mysterious bogs, and wide lakes.

Its rivers are unrestrained, as wild as the moose along their shores, with rapids willing to sweep an unsuspecting angler off his or her feet and moods that change as quickly as a salmon slips a hook. Dark pools hold char, commonly known as brook trout, called speckled

something intangible, but enduring. For this is a region steeped in sporting history. A tradition of selfreliance, yet one willing to offer a helping-hand, rooted in hook and bullet.

A tradition handed down from guide to sport and from father to son, generation after generation.

It has been more than forty years since my wife

partments to keep other fly-fishing essentials.

It didn’t take long for me to dial the number and within a few minutes I was speaking with Andy Mitchell, founder of J.A. Henry Rod & Reel Co. (His company is named after his two sons, Jack and Andrew, and the family’s yellow Lab, Henry.) Andy explained how he handcrafts each case in his shop located in Cannonsburg, Michigan.

The case is named after his

Page 53

Against The Current

by Bob Romano, Rangeley, ME two-weight matched with a reel and line to complement the fast action of the rod.

After three years and multiple prototypes, the Michigan woodworker feels he’s perfected a carbon fiber blank weighing only 2.8 ounces. Andy says, “He can’t think of anything better than chasing brook trout with an ultra-light fly rod?”

case is quite sturdy, meant to travel into those wild places preferred by brook trout.

What appeals to me most is the top of the fly rod case. Andy can burn a design of your choice to create a personalized heirloom to be proudly handed down through the generations.

In my case, I chose an en-

It has been more than forty years since my wife and I purchased a camp overlooking a quiet cove where each spring loons return to raise their young. During that time, I’ve grown to appreciate this tradition. Perhaps that is why my eye was drawn to an advertisement for The Two-Hearted Fly-Rod Case found while I perused Trout Magazine. trout or squaretails by oldtimers, fish so large they’ll steal an angler’s breath away.

Palm-sized brook trout, as bright as a handful of marbles and as pugnacious as a prize-fighter, can be found in smaller streams.

Native to the region, these trout are the progeny of fish found by the ancestors of the Wabanaki when they followed the woolly mammoths across what the Paleolithic people called the “Land of the Dawn.”

Wading through the free-running rivers and paddling across the windswept lakes. I’ve discovered something more,

and I purchased a camp overlooking a quiet cove where each spring loons return to raise their young.

During that time, I’ve grown to appreciate this tradition. Perhaps that is why my eye was drawn to an advertisement for The Two-Hearted Fly-Rod Case found while I perused Trout Magazine.

Painted with an antique black paint and revarnished, this wooden case was advertised to contain either a two-weight 7 ½’ graphite fly rod, a reel loaded with a double taper line, and a pearl maple fly box. The ad also stated the box had additional com-

RIVER FLOWERS - by Robert J. Romano, Jr. "Lyrical, poignant, and sometimes fantastical angling tales from the Maine woods and beyond, written in the great storytelling tradition of Sparse Gray Hackle and Robert Traver..."Stephen Sautner, author of A Cast in the Woods and Fish On. Fish Off.

FOR A LIMITED TIME: readers of Northwoods Sporting Journal can obtain an autographed copy, with free shipping and a five-dollar discount from the retail price of $25.00. Send your check in the amount of $20.00 made payable to West River Media to Andora and Romano, 15 Essex Rd., Suite 406, Paramus N.J. 07652. For more information go to forgottentrout.com

favorite stream–The TwoHearted River, which is located in the State’s Upper Peninsula, country similar in many respects, with that of western Maine.

Although it was the craftmanship of the case that caught my eye, Andy explained, the rod it houses was designed specifically for targeting brook trout in streams and small rivers.

Having built rods for more than twenty years, he decided to design his own fly rod–a seven-foot, six inch,

But back to that wooden case! Handcrafted from solid white pine salvaged and planned from a nineteenth-century barn, it measures 27.5″L x 9.75”w x 3.5″h and weighs 11.8 lbs, including the rod, reel and maple fly box. The interior contains beveled compartments with hardware including non-mortise hinges. The leather handles are handmade and secured with antique trunk handle caps. Although truly a sporting work of art, the

graving of the Magalloway River watershed stretching through the Parmachenee Tract not far from where my cabin is located.

Whether you’re a veteran of Upper Dam, Maine or Michigan’s Fox River, or anywhere in between, I encourage you to check out Andy’s website jahenryusa. com for not only his rods, reels, and the Two Hearted Fly Rod Case, but other items handcrafted by this angling artisan.

Get Hooked on the Sporting Journal! www.sportingjournal.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 54

January 2024

The Alberta Moose

By Jerry Evans

One Sunday evening about 23 years ago I was listening to the “Maine Outdoors” radio show with Wiggie Robinson and V. Paul Reynolds on WVOM – The Voice of Maine.

Something happened during the show that would change the course of my life and has so to this day.

V. Paul and Wiggie were

9/11, we said goodbye to our friends and Maine, and returned to the West.

BTW- WVOM was a station that I bought in 1996 when it was known as “Sunny 103.” I owned and operated it from 1996 to 2000 and thanks to all of the Mainers that listened, we became The Voice of Maine and I think, made

in Alaska but this was my first successful hunt for moose. T.H.A. is one of the best outfitters that I’ve hunted with. Both of the guides in camp – John and Yves - father and son, made for a great experience and 100% success for both hunters in camp that week.

After John called in a moose for another

the moose was doing but John knew exactly what was happening and at that point said “Let’s go get him.”

We started crossing the bog straight toward the

the sound every hunter wants to hear...thump! I was already getting another round in the chamber and the moose was still walking...Another thump...But the moose was still walk-

moose. John was slowly waving his homemade paddle with me right behind him. The moose stopped at 275 yards and that was about as close as he was going to come. Putting my gun on shooting sticks and watching the crosshair through my scope like it was a fish on a hook, it took a couple of minutes for me to calm my nerves and breathing. Eventually, I told John I could put one through its shoulder but he said “Just wait and let it turn broadside.”

Was it 30 seconds or was it longer? I can’t remember but the moose did turn and started walking to its left and gave me a perfect broadside shot. Then

ing! A third round and... click. The round didn’t chamber. At the next shot the moose dropped in its tracks. I don’t know if my smile was as big as John’s but it’s burned in my memory along with every minute that morning that led up to watching the moose drop.

The average size of moose in the area is 30” – 45”. This one measured 48 ½”. After removing the head, skinning it and making it ready for the processor and taxidermist it weighed 675 lbs! Processing a moose after killing one is no joke. That really is when the work begins and I don’t think I’d con(Moose cont. pg 62)

After John called in a moose for another hunter from Tennessee Tuesday night, we went out Wednesday morning.

Within about 30 minutes John called this one out of the timber at about 800 yards. talking about the opportunity to hunt wild turkey. Wild Maine turkeys were extirpated in the early 1800s. Thanks to hunters and their conservation efforts, wild turkeys can now be hunted in every state except Alaska.

I remember saying to my sons – “What would you guys think about hunting turkeys?” The answer was a resounding -Yes! We were able to hunt turkeys for a couple of years before moving from Maine.

With several changes in our family’s life, including

a difference in many lives during the Ice Storm of 1998. Different topic for another time – maybe.

If I’m lucky I get to meet up with V. Paul and Diane in the Florida Keys every few years. Those visits and the Northwoods Sporting Journal keeps me connected to Maine.

Attached is a picture of a moose taken October 4th in Alberta, Canada, about 90 minutes N/W of Calgary with Trophy Hunters Alberta (T.H.A.). I had hunted north of Edmonton several years ago and also

hunter from Tennessee Tuesday night, we went out Wednesday morning.

Within about 30 minutes John called this one out of the timber at about 800 yards. It weaved in and out of some thick willows and at one point started back into the timber. John’s moose call is different than any I’ve heard before and within 3-4 minutes he had the moose crossing the bog coming straight toward us.

It stopped to roll its head back and forth to show off it’s paddles at about 450 yards. I had no idea what

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 55

Winter Survival

Basics Of Survival

by Joe Frazier, Bangor, ME

Survival during the winter depends a lot on the situation you find yourself in. The first thing to check is to make sure you are safe. Avalanche, tree falling, ice breaking under you; these are problems you need to address first.

If you have a cell phone, GPS, or any way to call for help do it as soon as you are safe. Rescue is usually hours away so get them moving as soon as you can.

Let whoever you call know exactly where you are, any injuries, what happened to get you stranded, if you have survival gear, and how fast you need rescue.

If there is a medical emergency search crews will move heaven and earth to try to get to you day or night. If you have survival gear and you are in good shape, let them know so they don’t put rescue crews at unnecessary risk.

Next is the weather.

If it is windy your clothes should protect you. If it is rain, sleet, wet snow; anything that will soak your clothes, shelter is the priority. A tent, a tarp, lean to, stay in your vehicle, anything for you to get shelter and stay dry. Exposure is a danger you need to take seriously. Even at 30 or 40 degrees above zero, hypothermia is an extreme threat.

If it is not rainy or wet, your first priority should be fire, not shelter.

Here in New England in the winter darkness drops fast and early. You should find a good spot to camp as early as you can. Clear an area for your fire, the less snow the better. Then gather as much wood as you could possibly use, pile it right next to your fire pit area.

Then grab at least one or possibly two more piles that size and bring them close as well.

Get a fire going to help keep you warm and give you light. Lay a few small logs down on the packed snow or the ground and build your fire on top of them. That will keep your wood dry until the fire is established. If you have wood and even small dead trees that you have gathered, you can process them by firelight. You don’t want to walk around in the

woods after dark looking for wood, it is too dangerous.

Once you get the fire going and some wood pro-

on the back of the head can be used for breaking up ice to melt or break through ice for fishing. That way you don’t dull or chip the blade. Standing on snow or ice when using an axe is a recipe for disaster. Set up your wood so you can split while on your knees instead.

All the usual summer survival warnings still

Get a fire going to help keep you warm and give you light.

Lay a few small logs down on the packed snow or the ground and build your fire on top of them. That will keep your wood dry until the fire is established.

cessed you can set up your shelter. If you are using a tarp and setting up a lean to, you want to be about three feet away from the fire depending on how big the fire is. Be sure you keep your blanket or sleeping bag dry. Always carry survival gear. Putting up a primitive shelter takes many hours of work, a tarp shelter takes a couple minutes. Primitive shelters are for when you have no other option.

Once you have your fire established, shelter set up, and some wood processed; you should work on food and drink.

Bangor 72 Target Industrial Circle, Suite 1 • Bangor Maine 04401 Tel: 207-941-1920 • 800-941-1920 (ME) • Fax; 207-947-7578

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You should melt ice if you can find some instead of snow. Snow has so much air in it your cook pot can scorch before the snow melts. If you have any water, put a small amount in the pot to help with melting. If you don’t have water, pack the snow into tight snowballs and melt.

Always boil or filter melt water, assume it is con-

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taminated.

You should keep hot chocolate mix, instant Oatmeal, dry soup mix, anything you just need water for. JELLO makes a good hot drink, sounds strange but try it.

Your first pot of water you heat should be for you.

Your second pot should be for your hot water bottle to put in your sleeping bag.

A small folding saw is extremely handy to cut firewood. Another great option for winter is a fireman’s axe or hatchet. The blade can be used for cutting and splitting, the pick

apply in winter. Leave detailed notes where you will be, when you should be back, when to call for help, etc.

The best way to determine what you need for a winter survival kit is to try the gear. Do an overnight stay in your backyard. You will learn what works and what doesn’t and you have the safety of your house if things go south.

Joe is a Husband, Father, Author, and Marine. Joefrazier193@ gmail.com

DISTRIBUTOR NEEDED!

The Northwoods Sporting Journal is looking for a part-time distributor for the Southern Maine area. Applicant must have personal transportation and will be responsible for delivering the Northwoods Sporting Journal to stores in Southern Maine on a monthly basis. For more details contact Alicia at 207-732-4880 or Email: info@sportingjournal.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 56

January 2024

January Question Of The Month

By Meghan

I received a call in early September at work. “You applied for a moose permit, we’ve drawn you for an alternate pick.” I quickly got to work planning, hoping to find someone to guide and a place to stay or camp near the permit location. A friend reached out to my Facebook plea.

Her partner Aaron wanted to help us out.

The opening day was here. After a four mile hike into our moosey spot in the pouring rain my fiancé, and second shooter hit a bull, but the rain made tracking impossible. The day ended in failure. I had tried for a second shot, but the uncertainty of there being a

All of This for Tag Soup?

his antler bedded down in the swamp grass and we all got really good footage of him standing broadside.

His lucky day. We found

first time out. The crest into the first cut led us to a small spike bull. Pass. We still had three days to hunt and the bigger bulls were

The next skidder trail crossing the rain started. I set down my gun against a small softwood tree at the edge of the trail, and stepped underneath a larger softwood next to Phil to get my waterproof jacket on. The thought of not getting a moose crossed my mind. second bull and being too short to see over the black spruce didn’t make it happen. Day two continued with more rain, a tracking dog and grid searching.

The walk into the impact area led us right into our hit bulls big brother. I spotted

no other signs of the hit bull. The third day we stayed in the area hoping to find the bull or maybe his big brother. We found neither. Day four came around and we were sick of the area. We went to an area we had scouted the

in the back of my mind.

That evening we had another small bull come in.

We decided that night we wouldn’t leave bulls to find bulls and would return to the first area.

The fifth day four a.m. came early. We had gotten

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT!

Where do you read your copy of the Sporting Journal? At camp, in the boat, at the ice shack? We’d love to see a photo of you with your copy of the Journal at an unusual place. If we like it, we will publish it in the Journal. If we select your best shot for publication, we’ll send you an exclusive Sporting Journal hat created just for the occasion. Send your Jpeg photo and a short blurb to vpaulr@tds.net.

Please include your contact information, too. www.sportingjournal.com

into a good routine at this point. We got to our parking spot and onto the all too familiar snowmobile trail.

On the hike up I decided to write this story to share.

It was quiet in the woods, minus the constant noise of the log job across the swamp. We re-enacted the walk to the swamp when we missed that moose. I peered into the bedding area. I didn’t see anything.

We continued right through the middle and down lower through bedding areas. The next skidder trail crossing the rain started. I set down my gun against a small softwood tree at the edge of the trail, and stepped underneath a larger softwood next to Phil to get my waterproof jacket on.

The thought of not getting a moose crossed my mind. This was a once in a lifetime experience, and I couldn’t imagine getting tag soup on this one.

Phil grabbed an apple and stepped back into the skidder trail to talk to Aaron.

The apple dropped and his gun came up. “Pst pst pst! moose, grab your gun.” In my head I was like yeah

right. Also, my gun was ten feet behind me leaned up against that tree. I ran to my gun. I could see his antler on the left. I pulled up. He was in my sights.

I found the antler, then his long face. I brought the site down to his chest.

BANG! I chambered another round. “And just like that it’s over!” Aaron said.

“He dropped, he dropped!”

Both Aaron and Phil said.

“Really? Are you sure?”

I was ready for a follow up shot. He was done. No follow up shot needed. We waited to make sure he was done breathing and watched the beast go still.

We got him cleaned out. We had to roll over the 700lb animal to get to both sides. No cell service when we need it most. We try to get cell texts out to dad, to the horse puller, or possibly getting a skidder.

We began our climb back out of the woods. Finally got some news; The horse pullers wouldn’t be able to get to us until the morning, but the skidder was available. We drove over to the other ridge where the log job was. The skidder made easy work of getting the bull out of the swamp.

We used two climbing ropes to reach the bull from the skidder’s dry location.

Pretty soon we were out and the bull was loaded on the trailer. We missed the check in slot so we had to wait until the morning.

The next morning we drove through island pond with our bull in tow. Our final weigh in was 765lbs with a 44” spread. We had done it. Not only had we been successful in the lottery, but we made the once in a lifetime bull a success.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Page 57

Crappie Fever If you think catching black crappies is for kids, you may want to take another look. More than just a handful of registered Maine guides have tapped into what I call, “Crappie Fever.”

More than once I bumped into huge schools of crappies feeding just under the surface on zoo plankton.

Late in the summer those schools of crappie yielded some of what southerners call “slabs” in the two-

Other guides are following suit and our regular trout and salmon anglers armed with a fly rod or ultra-light spinning tackle are eager to climb on board.

Southerners, it seems, use tiny minnows hung under a bobber and, from shore, use a long cane pole.

My gang enjoys what I have perfected in the way of lures and tackle. A 5-foot or smaller Ugly Stick rod with an ultra-light reel and

South Of the Kennebec

by Stu Bristol, Lyman, ME I enjoy tying my own jigs and customers usually go home with a sampling to use on their home waters.

The plastic jigs will also work but I have a rule to never leave fish to find fish or never to change lures when what I am using is working.

I have found that on

ous blowdowns and brush piles but the best place for fast action is in the open water on a calm day.

Look for tiny dimples in the water as you would for slurping trout. On some waters the field of dimples could stretch to 200 feet in diameter. Start at the edges and drift into the school so

It didn’t take me long to fine tune my guided offerings and branch out to other bodies of water. Maine, it seems, has dozens of lakes and ponds that offer slab sized crappies and plenty of them.

After years of chasing cold water trout and salmon, I was kind of nudged into offering crappie fishing trips when one of my regulars from south of the Mason Dixon line hired me for a three-day black crappie trip to Sabattus Pond just north of Lewiston.

I was already guiding the lake for big bass and even bigger northern pike.

pound and heavier range.

It didn’t take me long to fine tune my guided offerings and branch out to other bodies of water.

Maine, it seems, has dozens of lakes and ponds that offer slab sized crappies and plenty of them. An average morning of guided crappie fishing yielded two dozen or more of fine eating fillets.

2-4-pound test line makes the tug on the line more enjoyable. Of course, flyrods are also on board but for novice to intermediate anglers the spinning rod/ reel combo is easily managed without much tending by the guide.

It’s easy to run out of small minnows in a hurry when a big school of crappies is found so I have resorted to using tiny chenille jigs in sizes ranging from 1/32 oz to 1/8-ounce in a variety of brilliant colors.

different bodies of water, the fish are partial to one color of offering, and that can change by the day.

Bright pink, followed by yellow and chartreuse are always top producers. On the fly rod I have found any terrestrial works well, especially tiny popping bugs in bright yellow or red.

Finding crappie multiple hotspots is the domain of the Maine guide. We each have our honey holes in each body of water. Of course, there are the obvi-

as not to make them sound or dive. There is usually a light breeze even on calm water. Use it to your advantage. Cut the motor and slowly drift over the school.

Crappies are much the same as smallmouth bass in the way they attack a lure.

The strike is usually on the drop followed by a slight vertical jigging action.

In winter the crappie schools will seek deeper holes where the water tem(Crappie cont. pg 66)

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Page 58

Cookin’ With New England’s WildCheff

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Denny Corriveau, Kennebunkport, ME

Life is like a box of chocolates, and you never know what you’re going to get.

With every year that passes, we experience events that are expected as well as unexpected. Some of these happenings bring

my season in Maine, preparing for the season with friends and family. Some light scouting to familiar areas, and strategic placement of cell game cameras were part of the mix – hoping that evidence of game movement would spur me

A Year of Reflection

to the Midwest to hunt agricultural farmland with my close friend Craig.

After a two-day 27hour drive, my road weary body arrived around 2 p.m. on opening day. As usual, almost immediately, my friend asked me why I didn’t have my hunting clothes on yet. This has become a ritual whenever I visit. If there is a season open, he will be ready as

The does started to take off and without hesitation I pulled up and placed a shot on the ole boy and he turned and leaped just out of sight. We pursued and in short order we found him down for the count. you joy, while others bring about great sadness.

I was pleasantly surprised with one such circumstance that was extremely positive. As with every hunting season, we anticipate great things and go into it with a positive expectancy.

This past year I started

on to commit to certain areas.

I had the opportunity to share time here in Maine with fellow NEOWA members and my brother-in-law who helped usher me into my passion for hunting some 40+ years ago.

The opportunity opened up for me to travel

January 2024

soon as I arrive.

We immediately departed his farm and headed a mile up the road, walking across a milo field to a double tree stand that awaited us. It was in a wooded draw in between two crop fields.

There was a deep creek bed in front of us where the big bucks travel unnoticed, and

we observed a number of rubs in front of us on the edge.

After sitting for two hours, Craig felt that we should walk to the edge of the crop field to check out the other end of the draw where the edge met a wheat field.

I waited on the edge so Craig could take a peek into the wheat field to see if the deer were feeding there.

He spotted two does who caught a glimpse of him and they ran towards the draw. We then slowly entered the draw and crossed the creek bed arriving at a single ladder stand that was nestled in between three crop fields.

I began to think – wow, this is an amazing spot for a stand, and as we started to pass the stand, we heard what sounded like buck grunting. A couple more steps and there he was, a mature five-year-old buck walking towards us at 20 yards with two does, grunting as he walked.

The does started to take off and without hesitation I pulled up and placed a shot on the ole boy and he turned and leaped just out of sight. We pursued and in short order we found him down for the count.

Checking him out, he was well over 200 pounds and a massive 7 pointer.

This all transpired within 2 1/2 hours of my arrival.

I named him “Roman” as he had that mature look to him.

These trips to the Midwest always bring joy to my hunting passion.

After returning from my trip, I enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving, and then I received a call that I did not want to get. One of my

closest friends of over 40 years was brought to the ICU and was told there was nothing they could do for him.

Being kept alive by pressured oxygen and kept comfortable by pain meds, he was given a gift that most don’t get. The oxygen kept him alive long enough for us to visit him. Me and his family brought him many of his favorite foods.

He enjoyed my Roman deer jerky, lobster and other treats while reminiscing about treasured memories we shared. He experienced love, laughter and moments of closure with all of us that day. Warren was unhooked from the hospital oxygen the next day and then moved to a hospice where he succumbed to congestive heart failure.

I considered him a friend that I met at the age of 15, and over the years he became a brother to me both in life and in the woods with the many hunting adventures we shared. He was a huge supporter of WildCheff, and the recipient of many of my special meals made with wild game.

As I reflect on this past year, I am truly grateful for all of you that have touched my life and continue to share this passion that we have for the outdoors.

I dedicate this past season and this recipe to my friend Warren. May you rest in peace.

WildCheff’s Corned Venison Heart This recipe is for Warren, who always asked me to bring him my big game hearts.

(Reflection cont. pg 66)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Ice Fishing Hot Spots

Page 59

Cracker Barrel

From Fisheries Re- bow trout are also a good P o n d ( G e o r g e t o w n ) , source Supervisor Jim early season species, but Pinkham Pond (Alna), they also tend to persist Caesar Pond (Bowdoin), Pellerin

by Homer Spit longer into the season than Jamies Pond (Manchesfor. Upper Spectacle Pond Where to fish in Jan- either brook trout or salm- ter), and Minnehonk Lake Scoville in Township 19, Upper uary: For the earlier part on. Some good waters for (Mount Vernon). Even Where to fish in Jan- Morrison Pond in Great of the season, December rainbows include: Stanley some of the Region’s moderate to larger sized uary: January 1st is always Pond, and Williams Pond through mid-January, an- Pond (Hiram), Kennebunk glers should target small- Pond (Kennebunk), Crystal waters like Lake George an exciting day for Maine in Township 28 are all new er-medium sized waters Lake (Gray), Middle/Up- (Canaan), Hermon Pond ice anglers, as it marks the brook trout programs that (<1,000 acres). Waters in per Range Ponds (Poland), (Hermon), Salmon Lake unofficial start to ice fish- are small, remote waters. this category generally and Worthley Pond (Peru). (Belgrade), McGrath Pond ing season. Although you These new trout waters (Belgrade), Maranacook may find some December should provide January have safer ice, and in this Lake (Winthrop), Alford ice, January is typically anglers with fish between part of the state many of the Belgrade Lakes Lake (Hope), and Upper the month where ice starts 10 and 16 inches. All these larger waters like ThompRegion Narrows Pond (Winthrop) setting up on larger water remote waters require a son Lake, Kezar Lake, provide surprisingly high bodies in the Downeast little bit of extra effort to Great East Lake, etc. don’t January trout catch rates when region and opportunity is get to but could be very fully set-up with ice until From Fisheries Refished close to shore with abundant and diverse. rewarding. the second or third week If you are looking in January. Sebago is typiThere’s been very little fishing ice fishing activity so far in forward to the chance of cally our last lake to get ice catching salmon and lake and it often does not fully the Moosehead Lake Region. We’ll need some cold, calm set-up, although areas like nights for the ice to set up. So, stay on the small ponds for trout this January, I would Jordan Bay and the Station now. Waters like Mountain View (Fitzgerald) Pd, Sawyer Pd, suggest a few of the classic Downeast waters. West typically have fishable ice Prong Pd, Branns Mill Pd, and Snow’s Pd will be the first to Musquash Lake in Talfor a good portion of the have sufficient ice. madge (salmon, lake trout), season.

Brook trout and/or source Biologist Wes Ashe worms/small baitfish in If you are looking for Cathance Lake in Cooper salmon are great early seaWith only a handful of no more than a few feet of something a little differ- (salmon), Green Lake in son species to target. Check days left in 2023, it’s now water. ent than your go-to lakes Ellsworth (salmon, lake the annual stocking report time to venture down in the and ponds this January, trout), Eagle Lake in Bar online for fall brook trout cobweb-filled basement to the Downeast region has Harbor (salmon, lake trout) Grand Lake Region stockings to narrow down tune up the auger, change several new ice fishing are some of the most reliyour list of places to try, the hooks on your trusty opportunities that may be able salmon and/or lake January these fall stockings are traps, and track down the (Hot Spots cont. pg 60) From Fisheries Re- just what you are looking numerous throughout the aging DeLorme to select a region and there is sure to water for January 1st – the source Technician Jake be a few waters close to traditional start of the ice home. Some good bets for fishing season. early season salmon in the region include: Mousam Where to fish in Lake (Shapleigh), Moose January: For fast action, Pond (Bridgton), Kezar early season trout fishing Lake (Lovell), Keoka Lake in central/Midcoast Maine, 233 Main Street (Waterford), and Bryant we recommend Halfmoon West Paris, ME 04289 Pond (Woodstock). Rain- Pond (Prospect), Charles (207) 291-5655 vaultgunsmithing.com Tues - Fri 9-5, Sat 9-12

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Hot Spots

(Cont. from pg 59) trout fisheries we have in the region. Waters like Pleasant River Lake in Beddington, Mopang Lake in Devereaux Township, Bog Lake in Northfield, Nash’s Lake in Calais, Toddy Pond in Orland, and Spring River Lake in Township 10-SD are all popular waters that anglers regularly catch warmwater species like perch and pickerel, but also catch coldwater species like brook trout and splake. Pleasant River Lake and Toddy Pond are also great places to bring kids because you never know what might come up through the hole.

salmon bite the best before the sun rises over the trees and it would be a bummer to miss it. Also, don’t be afraid to be mobile. If the fishing is slow at your initial spot (or depths) go and change up your location.

It can be tough to pack up and move, but you may just stumble into a hot spot. Being complacent could just ensure you’re in for a slow day of fishing.

Reminders: When the calendar flips to January 1 it doesn’t guarantee ice will be safe everywhere.

Here Downeast, we have coastal waters that could still have thin ice well into January. Take extra safety measures and be sure to check the ice thickness as you make your way to your Fishing tips: Be the spot. Lastly, always be sure first on the lake. Well, to check the Maine fishing maybe you don’t need to laws before you head out. be the first, but making sure you get on your faRANGELEY vorite lake early could be the difference in catching LAKES REGION a few more fish. For instance, a bright sunny day January may not be the best day to From Fisheries Retarget salmon, but I have source Technician Tyler seen (and experienced) the Grant

Northwoods Sporting Journal Where to fish in January: After a warm start to the fall, temperatures have finally cooled off and ice is forming in the Western Maine mountains. There is some snow in the forecast, and it is time to get out ice fishing.

Wentworth Pond, or Ironbound Pond depending on where you’re from, in Solon is a good bet for opening day ice. Access is easy via the Hole in the Wall Road and then the West Shore Road. There is an MDIFW launch at the end of the road that can provide a good place to park and access the water. This 213-acre, 48-foot-deep pond is stocked with 500 brook trout in the spring and 400 in the fall and 400 splake in the fall giving anglers the opportunity to catch an assortment of excellent coldwater sportfish.

This year it also received 30 adult retired broodstock brown trout as well. At over 18” long, one of these brown trout would create a lasting memory. It is also well known for large white perch and smallmouth bass.

For anglers with kids, there are a couple of great options with fast fishing and easy access. Tibbetts

January 2024

Pond in Concord TWP is a kids-fishing-only water with two easy access points off rt 16. The access point at the north of the pond is much less steep and is a good place to bring smaller kids. Brook trout are stocked in the spring and the fall to provide plenty of action. Haley Pond in Rangeley is another great place to bring kids. This 170-acre, 23-foot-deep pond is stocked with brook trout in the spring and the fall and is easily accessed from several locations in Rangeley off rt 4. Harvey Pond is an often-overlooked kids only ice fishing water right off Rt 4 in Madrid, near Smalls Falls. It is stocked with brook trout in the spring and the fall and provides an excellent fishery. All three of these waters are good bets to have decent ice on opening day. Always test the ice for yourself.

Anglers looking to get off the beaten path and have a pond to themselves might consider Austin Pond in Bald Mountain Twp. This 684-acre, 34-foot-deep pond will require a long walk or a snowmobile ride along the Austin Pond Road from the Deadwater

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Road off Rt 16. Anglers willing to make the trek will find a healthy stocked brook trout fishery, and a wild salmon fishery that produces moderately sized but fat fish. Austin Pond was opened to ice fishing in 2022, so the ice fishing season is still quite new.

If you do make the trek, take a moment to tell your local biologist about your fishing trip.

Moosehead Region January From Fisheries Resource Supervisor Tim Obrey There’s been very little fishing ice fishing activity so far in the Moosehead Lake Region. We’ll need some cold, calm nights for the ice to set up. So, stay on the small ponds for now.

Waters like Mountain View (Fitzgerald) Pd, Sawyer Pd, Prong Pd, Branns Mill Pd, and Snow’s Pd will be the first to have sufficient ice.

They are all stocked late in the fall, so the fish are there.

Big Wood Pd in Jackman is a larger body of water, but it seems to freeze earlier than most mid-sized lakes.

Big Wood offers some fast early-season action for splake, brook trout, and the occasional salmon. It’s located in downtown Jackman, so access is easy. It’s going to be a while yet for Moosehead and other large lakes. A few of the coves on Moosehead caught last week and held tight during those very windy days.

But they are probably not safe. As I write, there is a significant rain event in the forecast. This will soak down through the foot or more of snow, and it will delay freezing. Let’s hope for some colder weather on the backside of the storm (Hot Spots cont. pg 61)

January 2024

Hot Spots

(Cont. from pg 60) to tighten up the lakes in the area. In the meantime, check your leaders, start your auger, and prep your gear for the upcoming hardwater season.

The extended warm weather has put us behind schedule with ice formation in the Moosehead Lake Region. Some of the smaller ponds have a little ice but caution is required. Mountain View Pond, Prong Pond, Brann’s Mill Pond, and Sawyer Pond are some early season favorites. These ponds were all stocked in the fall with yearling brook trout that generally range from 12-14 inches. A few older fish are occasionally mixed in to sweeten the pot. The lack of snow in the roads will help anglers fishing Prong Pond and Mountain View Pond. Anglers can currently drive on the access roads to the boat launches on these ponds.

As always, check the ice before venturing too far on the ice this time of year. It’s not worth a cold bath for a fish and better conditions will be here soon.

Penobscot Region January From Fisheries Resource Supervisor Kevin Dunham Where to fish in January: For many winter anglers January 1 is the long-

Northwoods Sporting Journal awaited “official” opening of a new ice fishing season.

For some, the start of a new year brings anticipation of fun-filled days on the ice with friends and family enjoying the great Maine outdoors. Others may look forward to spending some solitary days on the ice, relishing the opportunity to slow-down and recharge after a long, hectic year.

However you choose to kick off 2023, may the year ahead bring you happiness, good health, ice-free holes, and tight lines.

A few possible waters to fish in January include Hay Lake (T6 R8 WELS,) which typically has adequate ice come January.

Hay Lake is stocked with brook trout and landlocked salmon each fall to enhance anglers’ opportunity to catch one of these coldwater salmonids. Another water, which we believe to be underutilized during the ice fishing season, is Lunksoos Lake in T4 R7 WELS, this waterbody is not the easiest to access during the winter, but those that make the trip are often rewarded with brook trout in the 12”-14” range and no crowds. A third possible water to fish this winter is actually a new opportunity for most in 2023. Little Round Pond in Lincoln has had a special regulation in the past which designated the pond as a “special opportunity water” from December 1 to April 30 for use by persons under 16 years of age or those holding an

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eligible complimentary fishing license. Information we’ve gathered from winter creel surveys indicated Little Round Pond was not being utilized during the December through April timeframe. As a result, we implemented a regulation change that takes effect beginning January 1, 2023 which will open Little Round Pond as a year-round angling opportunity for all anglers.

A great “new” fishing opportunity close to the town of Lincoln.

Cross Lake, T17R5 – a large shallow lake with brook trout, salmon, smelt and several species of nonsport fish In addition, I want to highlight those waters that will be newly open to ice fishing in 2023. Those waters are: Durepo Lake (Limestone), Trafton Lake (Limestone), and Monson Pond (Fort Fairfield).

These three waters open January 1st to ice fishing.

Reminder: Early season live bait availability is oftentimes an issue. While bait dealers work hard to January have inventory for anglers From Fisheries Re- by opening day, supply of source Supervisor Frank live bait can be limited.

Frost Anglers should plan ahead Where to fish in Jan- by contacting dealers or uary: Smaller lakes and make plans to catch their ponds have up to seven own bait. inches of ice currently but ice thickness varies considDecember erably due to warm weather From Fisheries Reand high river flows. Safe source Supervisor Frank ice is unlikely to form the Frost last half of December due Places to fish in Deto forecasts of above aver- cember: A few small ponds age temperatures. We are are beginning to freeze in expecting safe ice to exist far northern Maine, but only on smaller, shallower recent rainstorms are keepwaters and coves of larger ing any significant ice from lakes by January 1st. With forming at this point. There this in mind, here are a few are a few flowing waters waters that should have open right now (mentioned safe ice on January 1st: in an earlier fishing report), Portage Lake, Portage however, flows are too high – a large shallow lake with to fish safely at this time. If brook trout, salmon, smelt the recent warm weather and several species of non- continues its march toward sport fish the holidays at the end of Drews Lake, Linneus the month, there could be – a large shallow lake with some open water chances brown trout, splake and for those diehards who did several species of non- not pack away their wadsport fish ing gear.

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Some early season opportunity, assuming safe ice forms in the near future, include: Mud Pond (Linneus), Arnold Brook Lake (Presque Isle), or Dickwood Lake (Eagle Lake). These waters are stocked multiple times a year to provide fast fishing for brook trout.

Other opportunities in Aroostook County this time of year are rainbow smelt waters that oftentimes form safe ice in December. Scopan Lake (T11R4), Little Machias Lake (Nashville Plt.), and Portage Lake (Portage) all have strong smelt populations that can be a reliable source of live bait or food fish alike. Safe ice in the early season can sometimes only be found on shallow coves so be sure to check ice thickness before you venture out.

Reminder: We have a large number of rule changes that will be going into effect on January 1, 2023, and nearly all of those are liberalizations on length and harvest limits.

In addition, three of those changes involve opening small waters to ice fishing for the first time.Those waters are: Durepo Lake (Limestone), Trafton Lake (Limestone), and Monson Pond (Fort Fairfield).

These three waters open January 1st to ice fishing.

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Page 62

New Hampshire Outdoors

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

Fish Reg Changes

addendum.

Option B. 1 fish at 28” to 31” with 2022 seasons (all modes).

Option C. 1 fish at 28” to 31” with 2022 seasons for private vessel/shore anglers; 1 fish at 28” to 33” with 2022 seasons for the for-hire mode.

Option D. 1 fish at 30” to 33” with 2022 seasons (all modes).

Option E. 1 fish at 30” to 33” with 2022 seasons for private vessel/shore anglers; 1 fish at 28” 33”

Hampshire. Among the informational points disseminated were : Predation of deer is done mostly by coyotes with some by bobcat and bear. With respect to fawn survival, coyotes caused 68% of predation and 52% of mortalities. The presentation also said that predator removal needs to be intense and prolonged to have any impact and that coyotes have a physiological response (not behavioral) after reduction.

A physiological response is

Moose

reaching the water nearby and it died quickly. With the snow capped Canadian Rockies nearby, beautiful fall colors from the poplar and vegetation in the bog surrounding us...October 4, 2023 is a day I will always remember.

THA – Trophy Hunters Alberta is a 2nd generation family owned business. Tyler is the owner and runs a great operation.

He’ll help make things go as smooth as possible getting into Canada with your firearm and has exclusive outfitter rights to many of Alberta’s best hunting zones. Unlike Alaska, the

research study on Fishers in the state. They will be

by Peter St. James, live capturing fishers in Warner, N.H. the SE, SW and Northern Yeah, January is the and activities. We’ll hear White Mountains from first page on the new cal- more about their findings January through March. endars. But to me, it’s more and recommendations in They will affix satellitethan that, it’s a state of the coming months. In linked GPS collars on those mind. The hunting and partnership with the Atlancaptured and then released. fishing images of last year tic States Marine Fisheries They hope to maintain a are still fresh in our minds Commission (ASFMC), study population of one and there haven’t been any the New Hampshire Fish hundred over four years. new memories yet to cloud and Game Department Along the way they’ll learn our vision of those great (NHFG) held a hybrid about mortality, activities, (or not-so-great) days. And public hearing on Striped ranges, distribution and now with the holidays in Bass Draft Addendum II abundance. And no, they’re the rear view mirror, Janu- to Amendment 7. That not called Fisher cats. The ary is a chance to retreat, New Hampshire Fisher As 2023 was wrapping up state and federal agencies recover and reconsider the Cats are a Double-A basewere busy holding hearings on issues that will impact the seasons to come. Sitting by ball affiliate of the Toronto outdoor communities this year. the woodstove with some Blue Jays. coffee pouring over topo amendment considers man- with 2022 seasons for the when the body alters itself Coyotes, stripers, maps, trail cam pics and agement measures intended for-hire mode. physically to adapt to its fishers, maps, trail cam pics fish survey maps are Janu- to reduce fishing mortality I’m sure we’ll be hear- surroundings in an attempt and planning. See? There’s ary activities worth doing. to the target level in 2024. ing more about this in the to regulate the internal plenty to keep you busy in As 2023 was wrap- The Ocean Recreational near future. But one of measurements. A behav- January! ping up state and federal Fishery Options are : those options will be in be ioral response on the other agencies were busy holdOption A. Status Quo: in place before you head hand is when the organism ing hearings on issues that 1 fish at 28” to less than out striper fishing this year. does something outside the Peter St. James is a will impact the outdoor 35” with 2017 seasons (all There were also a cou- body in response to the con- member of the New Engcommunities this year. The modes). This option allows ple of interesting presenta- ditions surrounding them. land Outdoor Writers AsNH Fish and Game Com- for the continuation of the tions at the Fish and Game Now that’s interesting. sociation, Outdoor Writers mission held a series of existing Addendum VI CE Commission meetings. One It looks like the Uni- Association of America public meeting to discuss plans. Status quo has little had to do with the Status, versity of New Hampshire and is a licensed NH Fishupcoming changes to NH to no probability of achiev- Impact and Ecology of and NH Fish and Game ing Guide. Reach him at : Fish and Game policies ing the objective of this Eastern Coyotes in New are joining forces to do a stjames.peter@gmail.com

(Cont. from pg 54) sider doing it alone.

I was shooting a Howa 1500 chambered for the 6.5 PRC with a Hornady 143 grain ELD bullet. There are some that would consider that to be too small of a caliber for moose. My first shot was a double lung shot. My guide thought the second shot was in the back hip and the 3rd shot was close to perfect – near the first but a little lower.

It would have expired after the first shot but we avoided the possibility of it

hunt prices are reasonable and getting your meat back home is affordable.

Funny how just a few words – a conversation - on the radio can change and make such a difference in people’s lives. Both of my sons, Henry and Will, are avid hunters to this day.

It’s a father’s life highlight to be able to hunt with them. Thank you V. Paul and when you see Wiggie again – tell him Jerry, said “thank you.”

Jerry Evans, a former Maine broadcaster, lives and works in Nevada.

January 2024

By Sam Allen

Saturday November 4, 2023 I had gone deeper into an area of woods where I hadn’t been before and the deer sign was great.

I had been just still hunting finding fresh scrapes and letting out a soft grunt at each scrape I had found.

I had been messaging a friend of mine here and there through the morning showing him the sign I was finding. It wasn’t minutes later, I heard a buck come crashing through the thickets. I could just see the tops of some trees shaking from him thrashing them with his antlers.

He stepped out into the opening and before I got the sights on him he stepped behind a big pine tree. He was massive. He kept playing peek-a-boo with me around the tree.

He was sticking his nose in the air sniffing and licking trying to get a scent of what was grunting. I could have

Northwoods Sporting Journal

A Deer Hunter Hits Paydirt shot him in the neck but I assumed surely he would eventually step out and give me the shot I wanted.

Instead he went behind the pine and laid down. I took a few steps to my right to get a good position. I tried grunting again to try and

entice him to stand up. He wouldn’t, he just laid there and looked straight at me.

I was aiming a little high trying not to hit a boulder in between us. I

fired a round out of my single shot .308. The buck took off and that was the last time I saw that deer.

I looked and looked and looked and had my friend Tyler come in and help me look for this buck. Not one stitch of blood or hair.

A f ter two or three hours of looking we deemed it a clean miss and zig zagged our way out of there. A clean miss is a win in my book because that means I didn’t wound and lose him.

So fast forward to next S a t u r d a y, Novemb e r 11 t h .

I couldn’t wait to get back in the same area in hopes of catching up with that buck again. I tried sitting in a tree stand for a while but I only could sit 30 minutes because I couldn’t

wait to get heading that way. Started my still hunt back into this new area.

I had told my friend Tyler that I was headed back in to hopefully redeem myself from last weekend. A couple hours go by working myself down a pretty steep hill when near the bottom I caught some movement.

Finding a good opening I see a bear! It looked to be shooter size (150lbs) and

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he would be loading up his wheeler and be on his way to help. I got off the phone with him and I walked up to the bear in absolute disbelief at what I was looking at. I immediately called Tyler back to let him know that I shot this bear on top a big buck that he was in the process of covering up to hide.

Tyler said to take a lot of pictures and to leave it as it was so he could see

I got off the phone with him and I walked up to the bear in absolute disbelief at what I was looking at. it appeared to be pawing at the ground. I love bear meat but I didn’t have the time this year to bait bears.

So, I got him in the cross hairs and pulled the trigger.

The .308 dropped him right where he was standing. I give him a few minute and messaged my friend Tyler again letting him know that I had shot a bear. Tyler being surprised, he gave me a call and let me know that

it himself. He had asked how big the bear was and I had said it was a fairly good sized bear. After taking a few minutes to soak in what was going on, I made the long hike back to the car to head home and grab the trailer and load the wheeler, some straps, and a chainsaw. I called a couple others who I knew (Paydirt cont. pg 68)

Page 64 By: Calvin Wirfel

“That should be it,” George said, as he heaved his duffle bag, adorned with bright red letters reading ‘Dickinson College Soccer’ into the back of the car.

“Double check you got your license,” I reminded him, careful to open my wallet and make sure I had my own. It was there, that glossy yellow paper, my golden ticket.

We hopped in the car.

My 2007 Subaru Impreza was wedged between two Range Rovers, both with Connecticut plates. It was a balmy fall day, uncharacteristic for late November in Pennsylvania. The sun radiated through the leafless trees and reflected bright off the limestone dormitories.

“I guess this is why you are the only person at this school with cammo seat covers,” George ribbed me with a wry smile.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Bucks and Boat Shoes “You’re about to find out,” I said with a dash of sarcasm. “Let’s just hope things go better than last year.” I put the car in gear, and we were on our way.

I met George during college orientation. It was my first time away from home in the truest sense.

Until that point, I had lived my entire life in the same place. In a small, former steel town along the Appalachian Mountains of Western Pennsylvania. For better and for worse, it was all I knew.

At first blush, my new classmates seemed so different. Through nestled in the heart of Central Pennsylvania, a place not unlike where I grew up, Dickinson College may as well have been in the suburbs of New York or New Jersey, with a dash of granola more at home in

Hanover, New Hampshire than Hanover, Pennsylvania. My classmates said they were from places like NOVA, meaning ‘Northern Virginia,’ though for a month I thought they meant Villanova, Pennsylvania.

When I met George,

and grass-stained Asics.

But nonetheless, within a couple of weeks we hit it off.

A few hours later we exited the turnpike and headed north up state route 869, almost back in Cambria County. “You ever seen this before?” I nettled

January 2024

up primarily in the suburbs, George appreciated the outdoors in an uncommon way. He hadn’t spent any time in a deer blind but had a bevy of stories about sailing through the Chesapeake–manning the ropes with his dad at the helm–and making camp-

The previous year, George had asked me to come along. Though he had been shooting several times, he was entirely green when it came to hunting. It just wasn’t something many people did in the Philadelphia suburbs.

him, pointing to a brood of chickens pecking in someone’s yard, “bet they Illustration by John Ford don’t allow that in your he was wearing a green neighborhood.”

“Damn right they Patagonia fleece, clean don’t,” he said, giving me pressed khaki pants, and leather boat shoes. I hadn’t a quick jab to the arm. We got the memo to dress well both laughed.

We had more in comand was sporting my finest light-wash Wranglers, a mon that I had initially Pittsburgh Pirates t-shirt, thought. Despite growing

fires in the woods outside Vienna, where his family lived for several years. He even loaned me his copy of Into Thin Air, my first Krakauer book.

We also enjoyed fitness, and spent three mornings a week for four years, rain, snow, but rarely shine, working out with the other (Shoes cont. pg 65)

Northwoods Sporting Journal Offers A FREE DIGITAL COPY to All Active Duty Military Personnel Worldwide!

E CTIV A O Y ET FRE ILITAR M

In these troubled and divisive times for our country, we at the Northwoods Sporting Journal remain proud to be Americans. We still stand for the National Anthem and thank our lucky stars that we live in the land of the free.

And we still salute our military men and women, who have served and continue to serve their country, here at home and in faraway lands. To them we owe our gratitude and appreciation for what they do, and for safeguarding our American way of life, which we value deeply.

As a way of saying thank you, we make the digital versions of the Northwoods Sporting Journal past and current - available online to service people around the world. If you have a loved one or friend now serving on active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, or anywhere else, please let them know that they have free access to our digital magazines at: www.sportingjournal.com

January 2024

Shoes

(Cont. from pg 64) ROTC cadets. I taught George how to lift weights and he taught me how to run fast (or at least faster).

And while I may have had the edge in book smarts, George was miles ahead of me in common sense.

The previous year, George had asked me to come along. Though he had been shooting several times, he was entirely green when it came to hunting.

It just wasn’t something many people did in the Philadelphia suburbs. Just like people from my town didn’t (and still don’t) play lacrosse or shop at Whole Foods. This isn’t to say that one is better than the other, just different.

I was grateful to take George. He was the first person I met in college to show any interest in hunting. The only other time the subject was brought up was during in-class debates over veganism. I wanted him to enjoy it and did my best to show him the ropes.

The first step was completing his hunter’s safety course. “I have to take a class for this?!”

George asked, “I thought you could just go hunting.” Thankfully, for his sake, times had changed since I took my hunters safety course a decade prior. Rather than spend evenings crowded into the local sportsman’s club, George took the course from the comfort of our college library. While our collogues were reading Toni Morrison and Virginia Woolf, George was learning how to field dress a dear. Had anyone looked at his laptop, they would have been rather confused, and perhaps a little concerned.

George passed, and

Northwoods Sporting Journal after a late-night trip to Wal-Mart, was a licensed hunter. But like I told him, there is a reason they call it hunting, not getting. That first year I took George to the family farm was the worst hunting weather in recent memory. I can handle the cold, and am no stranger to the rain, but both? No thanks. That year, the temperature didn’t break 35, the sun never shone, and the rain didn’t ease up for even a moment.

The cherry on top was a stiff wind that blew the rain near horizontal, soaking our faces and making it all but impossible to keep our scopes clean. To his credit, George took it in stride. He didn’t complain about the cold, even if his chattering teeth betrayed him. “You see anything?” I asked as we walked back to the truck, our heads down against the wind.

“Just a few squirrels and a stray cat,” he replied, but without a hint of bitterness. By any metric, it had been a rough day of hunting.

That’s why I was surprised when George asked me to go again the following fall. “I want to give it another shot,” he said.

We went through our gear the morning of the hunt. Like the previous year, I found some clothes for George, a mishmash of my dad and my former wares. As a courtesy, I gave him my newer jacket, not wanting to leave him with nothing but secondstring gear. I even set him up with my favorite deer rifle, my Savage Model 116 stainless, chambered in the quintessential white tail round, the .270.

Despite our optimism, it was cold and rainy yet again. On our drive to the farm, my heart sank as

I watched the half-frozen droplets of rain melt on the windshield. As we prattled down the winding roads–covered in a slurry of muck, snow, and ice–I tried to convince myself that this wouldn’t be a repeat of last year. Nonetheless, George was in good spirits. “Here we go again,” he joked, nudging me in the elbow and flashing a grin through the darkness.

“Yep, here we go again.” I was happy he was enjoying himself but remained skeptical.

When we got to the farm the rain was coming down in sheets and water rushed along the edges of the fields like miniature rivers. After sloshing through the muddy slush, we were up in our stands before daybreak. The sky gradually brightened, turning from a murky gray to a dull, off-white overcast.

The rain eased and a thick white fog took its place.

Anything further than 50 yards was cloaked in an impenetrable mist. There was a denseness to the air, like your hand would get wet by merely waiving it around. I knew there was no getting dry.

The day unfolded slowly and without success. No matter how hard I willed it, the deer never emerged from the fog. Sitting in my damp clothes, I could feel the cold seeping through my layers, burrowing into me. My gloves were all but saturated from wiping down my scope and icy water gnawed at my hands. Though I couldn’t see him, I knew George was faring no better. He was 200 yards away, separated by a thick mess of undergrowth and a longabandoned apple orchard.

‘How long do you want to sit, I think my toes are

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numb,’ he texted, in an uncharacteristic admission of discomfort.

‘Let’s try and make it until 11:30,’ I replied, speaking as much to myself as to him.

I put my phone away and let the time pass. I looked at the fog, thinking about how many deer were lurking just beyond my reach. The cold was getting deeper now, and I too began to lose feeling in my toes. The only sound was the croaking of a raven perched overhead.

At 11:30, I breathed a sigh of relief, grateful to walk around and warm up.

I slung my rifle over my shoulder, grabbed my thermos of coffee and trekked up the hill. I emerged into a barren corn field, where George was waiting.

“How are you doing man?” I asked, knowing the answer already from his pale complexion and purple lips. His pants were dark, still wet from the morning rain.

“I’m alright, it’s just a little slow,” he replied, his hands trembling as I handed him the thermos.

“I’m sure things will pick up,” I reassured him, hoping this was true. We exchanged a few more words, joked about the party we missed the night before, then went back to

our stands.

The day dragged on. With the sun hidden, there was no way to tell the passage of time. The world around us was in stasis, the overcast sky never breaking, the shadows never shifting, and the temperature never changing. Though warmed temporarily from our mid-day rendezvous, I once again felt the dampness of my clothes against my skin, sapping away my remaining hope for a successful day. I couldn’t help but think about eating breakfast at the cafeteria after a hard winter workout. About fried eggs, home fries, and a piping hot cup of coffee.

About what our friends might be doing. About the eight of us crowding into our tiny living room to watch college football.

About the cozy leather booths at our favorite bar, the Gingerbread Man. But despite this, I was grateful to be there. School had left meager time for hunting, and I had learned to savor whatever I could get.

I texted George every hour or so. ‘You see anything?’ Invariably the answer was ‘Not yet.’ Despite hunters in the woods, the weather had the deer bedded down, and they weren’t budging. To make matters (Shoes cont. pg 67)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

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Jiggin (Cont. from pg 52) this size jig down to 140 feet. I have also observed that jigs with a single hook result in better hooksets, more fish landed, and safer releases than those with treble stingers.

Match your jig profile to the primary local forage species. A dense, thick tied bucktail will imitate alewives and perch, while a sparsely tied jig will resemble a smelt. Jig color is a secondary consideration, however solid white, white and pink, white and purple, chartreuse, and glow in the dark are all top choices.

I always tip jigs with bait, often shiners or strips of sucker meat. Smelt are another good option. However, I am convinced that jig action, profile, and the scent of “meat” on the jig (in that order) triggers the bite more than the specific type of bait itself. A few winters ago, I fileted a togue from a DownEast lake and found the stomach

packed full of crayfish. Another hardwater togue from Sebago had a stomach full of soft plastic bass baits. In most waters where togue live, they are a top predator, and thus opportunistic feeders.

When the deep waters freeze this winter, charge up the sonar machine and tie on a bucktail. A jumbo togue might be waiting to tangle with you - and if so, I look forward to hearing the tale.

A four-season outdoorsman, Jonah lives in Ellsworth, ME with his wife Ashley, and beagle, Aurora. Jonah can be reached at jonaheparis@gmail.com

Crappie (Cont. from pg 57) perature is higher. A good through-the-ice fish finder will help in your search.

It is not uncommon for a two-person client team to boat over forty fish in a day. With that in

mind, I have graduated to a battery converter and an electric fillet knife. Despite what some think, there are very few bones in a crappie, just the rib cage. I cut diagonally behind the pectoral fin, then turn the knife flat and run down the spine all the way to the tail. Flop and do the same to side two then cut out the rig cage.

Maine law requires you keep one side of the skin on fish until cooked so don’t cut the fillets on the water.

Crappies are considered to have delicate flesh so I recommend using a fine flour coating. I find that Autrey’s Seafood flour found at Walmart works great. Two crappie fillets with a dab of tarter sauce and maybe a slice of cheddar cheese on a hamburger bun makes a great shore lunch.

Stu Bristol is a Master Maine Hunting, Fishing & Tidewater Guide and Outdoor writer. He operates Orion Guide Service out of Lyman, Maine. His outdoor

features have been published nationwide for more than 60 years. Contact is sjbristol@roadrunner.com or www.deadlyimpostergamecalls.com.

Reflection (Cont. from pg 58) Venison heart is a dense muscle. I like to leave it in the corning mixture for at least five days to ensure complete cure penetration.

The Brine: 2 quarts of water 1/2 C of WildCheff Farmhouse Brine 1/2 C of organic sugar 3 bay leaves 1/2 oz. of Instacure # 1 Prepping the Heart Trim most of the external fat and silver-skin from the hearts.

Directions Mix all brine ingredients and heat in a medium saucepan to a light simmer.

Continue simmering for a full 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and slide the

January 2024 pot and set aside. Whisk in 3 cups of ice cubes to allow the brine to cool.

Place the heart in a gallon freezer zip lock and pour over the cooled brine liquid so it completely covers the heart. You might need to leave it in the refrigerator for at least five days.

After the brining process time is complete, drain off brine and pat dry the heart with paper towels.

Rinse the heart under cold water and smoke at 250 degrees for three to four hours in your smoker.

To serve, slice the heart thinly.

Serving suggestions: Slice it thin and serve it on a cracker, maybe with a thin slice of your favorite cheese or a roasted pepper slice, as an appetizer, or pile it high on a sandwich.

Either way, corned venison heart is delicious. If you have any leftovers, try dicing them up and sauteing them with diced potatoes, onions, and dried cranberries for a breakfast hash.

For a bit of extra moisture and to get a more pastrami like texture, you can steam the hearts for a few minutes before slicing.

WildCheff - Denny Corriveau is award-winning National Game Chef, Metis Native Chef, and the Founder of the Free-Range Culinary Institute, the only national wildgame cooking school in the country. You can learn more @ www. wildcheff.com or visit him on Instagram @ thewildcheff or Facebook at @ WildCheff

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TODAY! (SEE PAGE 49)

January 2024

Shoes (Cont. from pg 65) worse, the wind picked up as we neared evening. I felt the tree sway and gripped my rifle tight, trying to relieve the numbness from my fingers.

George texted me again, ‘Let’s go for a walk, meet me in the field.’ Though normally a dedicated still hunter, I was down the tree before I could text him back.

For the second time that day I made my way up the hill and met George in the field. This time was different. His head was down, and his hands were plunged deep in his pockets. I noticed the magazine was missing from his rifle.

He looked up and managed to smile through a shiver.

“Still a little slow today,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

“I don’t know man, do you want to call it? I might be done.” The fickleness of both the weather and the deer had corroded his willpower. I could hardly blame him. He had endured miserable conditions for two years only to get skunked both times.

Just then, something over George’s shoulder caught my eye, “George, turn around!”

I saw them, 6 black silhouettes charging across the horizon, getting larger with each bound. Their pace waned as they crested the hill. “Get your gun,” I whispered. George slung his rifle off his shoulder, jammed the magazine back in, worked the bolt, and got on the scope.

“Can I shoot?” he asked.

“If you have a shot, take it.”

The deer jogged closer and at 50 yards froze stiff as

a board, staring directly at us, their ears perked high.

BOOM. I heard George’s rifle go off beside me. The deer scattered like glass hitting the floor, with one racing ahead of the others, likely hit I thought.

Another stopped to look back at 75 yards, BOOM, I squeezed the trigger, and it was off to the races.

George turned to me.

The color in his face had returned and he was grinning for the first time since that morning, “did that just happen?”

“I think it did.”

We found the deer quickly, both lying along the edge of the field not a stone’s throw apart. “Now for the fun part,” I said dryly, reaching for my skinning knife. To my surprise, George was anxious to help, holding up a leg so I could work unobstructed.

That night we fried up thin slices of preacher’s

Page 67

see anything as I was lower down, so I took another step up. Just as I did, I spotted a buck’s face looking at us. I bleated, hoping to keep the buck there. Just then Rylan touched off his 760 pump and the buck dropped in his tracks. The .300 Savage had done its job.

I don’t really know who was more excited, me or Rylan. All I know is that it was a proud Papa moment when we walked up to his beautiful 7 pointer.

As it turned out, Rylan had shot the smaller buck, but didn’t care. He knew this buck was the one God Calvin Wifel lives in wanted him to have. We did our hugs and celebration Summerhill, PA and then I said: now we can have a sandwich. We got a fire going and toasted our (Cont. from pg 42) sandwiches while reliving creeping slowly up a hill the hunt. Nothing is any in an old skidder trail, I better than that! saw him tense up and start up with his gun. I couldn’t meat and recounted the day. We went on and on about how lucky we were to have taken a break when we did. About how we were in the right place at the right time. About the irony of success striking just as we were about to throw in the towel.

All the while, I thought about hunting, about friendship, and about the dance the two did. I thought about the presumptions we all make and how they so often aren’t true.

And above all else, I was glad I brought my friend with boat shoes hunting.

Hunter

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 68

Paydirt

belief and Tyler said “that ain’t no average sized bear Holy … After all of us took our share of photos we began to make a plan on calling a Game Warden about the deer and to get the bear out of there. We carefully inspected the deer looking for a bullet hole wondering if maybe it was the deer I had shot at the weekend before. But didn’t find a hole anywhere and the deer seemed too fresh to have been dead a week.

I had asked the fellas if we could leave the bear whole because they are normally weighed live weight and the boys dis-

(Cont. from pg 63) were in the area that would be willing to help drag the bear out.

On my way back in I picked up my friend Mark and met Tyler and his cousin Wade waiting for us. We made the long walk back into where the bear and deer were and the boys just a bitchin’ about how far out in the woods we were. We finally got to the big bank and made it to the bottom to where the bear and deer were.

The boys were in dis-

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agreed and said to clean the bear out right there.

The bear is big. So I had a brand new knife where you can switch the blades out when they get dull I can put a new one in. And I just so happened to not have any extras with me which was no big deal. I didn’t even break through the skin on the bear and the blade snaps... and no one else brought a knife with them except for Wade.

Wade happened to have a box cutter with him that he recently was cutting ice and water shield with.

And that’s how I ended up cleaning the bear out was with a box cutter. It was unbelievable but we got it done.

We barely got the bear into the jet sled and made the miserable drag up the big hill. Once we got to the top we all agreed to zigzag the four wheeler down into where we were. So I made the long walk back to the

wheeler and zig zagged my way back into to the fellas.

While I was doing that the boys had managed to drag the bear another 100 yards or so. It was a huge relief to the fellas to see the wheeler. It was a good easy drag from there to truck a mile or so back. We loaded it up and headed to the tagging station. Their winch wasn’t working so we couldn’t weigh it. I called a game warden and he met me at my house.

He checked the buck over and said he couldn’t find any bullet hole. The back leg was broken and missing some of the hind end. He said the bear might have actually killed this deer. Because bears usually start with the hind end. He could have been walking around with a broken leg and the bear grabbed him.

He said the deer had only been dead a few days. The game warden said it’s quite the story and he’s never

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He gave me a tag for the buck.

After that we headed to another tagging station just to get it weighed up.

Little did I know I had shot a 332lb dressed black bear on top of an absolute stud of a buck. I took the bear and the deer head over to Sam Cassida at Cassida’s Taxidermy. We decided on a half mount of the bear on top of a dirt pile with the deer head poking out of the pile. Just how it was when I saw the bear.

The chances of a hunter seeing a bear when hunting from a stand is slim, but it does happen sometimes.

The chances of a hunter walking up to one in the woods is very rare because they are very smart animals that don’t want to be seen. I think this guy let his guard down thinking he’s the biggest baddest one in that area. This hunt of a lifetime isn’t something you can do again. It was just pure luck and being at the right place at the right time.

That just goes to show that if you put the time in the woods eventually you will have some good memories and stories to tell.

Sam Allen lives in Sedgewick.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

January 2024

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Page 69

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 70

January 2024

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