Northwoods Sporting Journal, Nov. 2020

Joe Comes Under The Thrall Of A Cult November 2020

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November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 3

November Grouse Great!

Late season grouse hunting can be very productive. Although October provides us with the beauty of fall, it’s not necessarily the best time to hunt grouse. If the ground is fairly snow free, November can be an exceptional time to pursue the “King”.

What makes Novem-

food tray is much smaller than October. In October, there is still a great deal of green remaining. Grouse will eat hundreds of different green plants which are found throughout the forest floor. Freezing temperatures will slowly eliminate the green plants as a food source. This process forces

most exciting part of hunting upland birds is the dog work. Nothing can give a hunter more pride than walking up on a dog on point, flushing the bird and connecting with an on-the-wing shot. That’s the perfect scenario that we all hope for. However, once the birds have gone to the trees to “bud”, that scenario becomes more difficult. For this type of

Every late season hunter has seen birds eating buds in these trees.

Often, you’ll see as many as a dozen birds in one tree.

The late Wilmot “Wiggie” Robinson and his gun dog with a late grouse. ber an ideal time to hunt the birds to congregate the ruffed grouse? There more in areas that still are a few reasons to be in have food. When hunting the woods in November. in October, you should be First, the leaves are all watching for grouse food gone which makes shoot- that will be available during much easier. In early ing late season.

October, you’ll be more Examples of late sealikely to hear a grouse flush son food are high bush than actually see a grouse. cranberries, mountain ash, In November, you’ll have grapes, nuts (acorn, hicka much better target. Of ory and beech), rose hips course, the smart ruffed and apples. And of course, grouse will still play their the food that gives all wingame of flushing with ter long…the buds of the cover between you and aspen, black cherry and the bird, however, your apple trees. Every late seachances of a clean shot at son hunter has seen birds a departing bird are better eating buds in these trees. in November.

Often, you’ll see as many Another reason for as a dozen birds in one tree. hunting in November is the For your author, the

On Point

by Paul Fuller, Durham, N.H. most often to be in a thick stand of conifer trees. You can walk within a few feet of the birds and they’ll stay tight in those conifers. A dog with a good nose will scent those birds and give you a heads up that they’re there. Rattle the branches a few times and the birds will take flight. Have a hunting partner on the other side of the conifer stand at the most likely exit path of the birds.

Late season bird hunt-

ing means a few changes from the warm October temperatures. Dress for colder weather and make sure your dog doesn’t get cold. And, keep listening to weather reports. You don’t want to get caught in a snow storm in the back woods. Good luck and have fun.

Paul and Susan, his wife, host the Bird Dogs Afield TV show. Contact: paul@birddogsafield.com

hunting, I have friends who switch from pointing dogs to flushing dogs. Flushing dogs will stand below the tree and bark at the birds until they fly. The hunter then has a shot at a flying 1681 Bennoch Rd, Old Town, ME bird. Snow also creates the East Off I-95 Exit 197 same situation. The birds are in the trees.

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On The Cover

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Joe Comes Under The Thrall Of A Cult - Pg 6 Best Maine Deer Guns - V. Paul Reynolds - 14 Mountain Men - Pg 18 Forgotten Flies - Pg 46 November Grouse Great - Pg 3 Lever Guns For Deer - Pg 16 The Hinckley Buck - Pg 28 Camps, Cottages and Land for Sale - Pg 66

Contents

3. On Point - Paul Fuller 5. The Fur Shed - Blake Dougherty 6. The Adventures Of Me & Joe - Bob Cram 9. Marsh Island Chronicles - Matthew Dunlap 10. “A Hiker’s Life” - Carey Kish 11. Women In The Woods - Erin Merrill 12. The Bird Perch - Karen Holmes 14. Outdoors In Maine - V. Paul Reynolds 16. The Gun Cabinet - John Floyd 17. What’s in Your Woods - Bud Utecht 18. Outdoor Sporting Library - Jeremiah Wood 19. Warden’s Words - Game Warden Kale O’Leary 20. Aroostook Woods & Water - Mike Maynard 22. Post-Script From Pocasset - Josh Reynolds 23. Mass Wanderings - David Willette 24. Question Of The Month - Richard Hardwood 25. Maine Outdoor Adventure - Rich Yvon 29. The Trail Rider - Rod Fraser 31. “Just Fishing” - Bob Leeman 32. The Singing Maine Guide - Randy Spencer 33. Guns & Ammo: A Guide’s Perspective - Tom Kelly 35. Maine Tails - Jonah Paris 36. Northwoods Sketchbook - Mark McCollough 38. On The Prowl - Justin Merrill 39. Old Tales From The Maine Woods - Steve Pinkham 40. The Allagash - Matt LaRoche 42. SAM - David Trahan 43. The Back Shelf - Hal Blood 44. Native Fish Talk - Bob Mallard 46. Fly Fishing - Joe Bertolaccini 47. Northwoods Voyager - Gil Gilpatrick 48. South Of The Kennebec - Stu Bristol 49. Cookin’ With New England’s WildCheff - Denny Corriveau 50. Vermont Ramblings - Dennis Jensen 52. Outdoors In Vermont - Gary W. Moore 53. Green Mountain Report - Bradley Carleton 54. The Tyer’s Corner - Hugh Kelly 55. Ramblings From T8-R9 - Benjamin Rioux 56. Muzzleloading Afield - Al Raychard 62. New Hampshire Outdoors - Peter St. James 63. Best Bassin’ - Bill Decoteau 64. Malarkey Cabin Chronicles - Ray Dillon 65. Kineo Currents - Suzanne AuClair

Other Great Stories & Information

The Sportin’ Journal

November 2020

The Outdoor Paper For “Maine Folks” The Northwoods Sporting Journal is the Northeast’s most comprehensive and readable monthly outdoor publication. Published at the trailhead of Maine’s sprawling North Woods, the Sporting Journal prides itself on being an independent voice for the region’s outdoor community for more than 27 years. Some of our writers are seasoned and specialized outdoors people who will share their know-how and insights; some of our contributors are simply lifelong outdoor people with interesting stories to tell.

Our aim every month is to capture the essence of Northern New England’s remarkable outdoor heritage by stirring memories, portraying outdoor humor, and sharing experiences and outdoor knowledge.

We also keep our readers up to date with late-breaking outdoor news and hard-hitting editorials about fish and wildlife issues.

Anyone who loves to hunt and fish, or simply finds the Great Outdoors a treasured place, is more than likely to find some special connections amid the pages of the Northwoods Sporting Journal.

www.sportingjournal.com

Main Office Phone: (207) 732-4880 E-mail: info@sportingjournal.com Fax: (207)732-4970 Vol 27 Issue 11 is published monthly by Northwoods Publications, 57 Old County Rd. North, W. Enfield, ME 04493 Periodical Postage Paid at W. Enfield, ME. and additional mailing offices.

The Northwoods Sporting Journal (ISSN#1548-193X) Postmaster: Send address changes to: Northwoods Sporting Journal, PO Box 195, W. Enfield, ME 04493 Northwoods Publishing Group Victor Morin - Susan Morin - Diane Reynolds - V. Paul Reynolds Publishers - Victor Morin Jr. - V. Paul Reynolds Editor - V. Paul Reynolds Director of Marketing - Victor Morin Assistant Editor - Josh Reynolds Associate Editor - Donna Veino Graphic Arts Manager - Gayleen Cummings Subscription/Distribution Manager - Alicia Cram Operations Manager - Annette Boobar Webmaster - V. Paul Reynolds General Sales Manager - Victor Morin Jr. Sales Department; Thomas Schmidt, Paul Hatin & Michael Georgia Regional Advertising Manager - Jim Thorne The Northwoods Sporting Journal invites submissions of photographs and articles about the Maine outdoors.

Manuscripts should be sent with a self-addressed envelope to: NORTHWOODS SPORTING JOURNAL P.O. BOX 195, W. ENFIELD, MAINE 04493 The Northwoods Sporting Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited photos or manuscripts. Photos submitted without a stamped, self-addressed envelope will not be returned.

All rights reserved, 2020. Written permission must be obtained from the Northwoods 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. The views and opinions expressed by our monthly columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

What’s In Your Woods - Pg 17

By Bud Utecht Women In The Woods - Pg 11

By Erin Merrill

8. Editorial/Letters 13. Outdoor News 37. Crossword Puzzle 41. Trading Post 45. Carroll’s Corner - Carroll Ware 66. Real Estate

Cover Photo: Nice Deer

by Tom Kirkland

Outdoors In Vermont - Pg 52

By Gary Moore

Question Of The Month - Pg 24

By Richard Hardwood

November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Trapping Scents-Part 2

Lures Lures are intended to do exactly that, lure an animal to the area of your set. This may be to get them to work a bait hole, investigate a flat set or enter a cage trap. There are several categories of lures: gland lure, food lures, curiosity lures & long distance call lures.

ver meat for its base.

Curiosity lures can be anything that peaks an animals interest. Possibly something completely foreign to the intended species. Beaver tail oil, catnip oil, tonquin musk or mink glands are some examples.

Call lures are designed to pull an animal a few feet to your set to investigate

Reuswaat, Carmens, Lenons, Blackie’s, Grawes and many other brand of lures are available.

Urine Few attractants peak a predators curiosity like urine. A predator’s nature is to protect its territory, so when it smells the scent of a competing animal it feels

Page 5

The Fur Shed

by Blake Dougherty, Suffield, CT normal for urine to have an ammonia smell to it after sitting awhile. That smell will quickly dissipate at the set or when uncapped and allowed to breath for a few hours. As far a color goes,

indicator that bacteria has been introduced and has started to destroy the urine.

This may be due to poor collection methods and allowing fecal matter to be collected with the urine.

As far as which urine to use it’s generally accepted that in most parts of the country, coyotes are at the top of the food chain. Bobcats come next, then gray foxes, then red foxes. compelled to investigate.

Urine’s are very effective at dirt hole sets, flat sets and of course, scent post sets.

Urine used alone is effective but used in conjunction with a gland lure, food lure or bait it can be part of a deadly combination.

When purchasing urine seek out a high quality product. It’s perfectly A nice bobcat taken with coyote gland lure and red fox urine.

G l a n d l u r e s a r e whatever elements you made from animal parts incorporated to convince such as anal glands, hock said animal to work your glands, foot pads, meta- set. They typically utilize tarsal glands, etc. and are skunk essence to get a intended to either spark predators attention. They a territorial or sexual re- are usually loud smelling sponse. They are as simple and used well during cold as straight glands or mixed weather. Beaver castor is with any number of addi- usually classified as a call tives to achieve a multi- lure as well.

While it’s not imposlayered product. Beaver castor while glandular, sible to formulate your tends to land in the call lure own lures at home there is definitely a learning category.

Food lures are used to curve. Trial and error is appeal to an animal’s ap- a big part of lure making petite and hunger response. and many a trapper has Bases for these lures usu- gone nearly insane trying ally are something that an to get things right. As with animal would want to eat bait makers there are many and are often compliment- fine lure makers to choose ed with secondary scents. from. Along with those For instance a predator companies mentioned in food lure may use muskrat, the bait making discusmouse, woodchuck or bea- sion last month, Dobbins,

urine color varies widely based on diet, collection method and animal. The color of urine isn’t usually a good gauge of quality.

Good quality urine can be light, dark or anywhere in the middle. Urine may get darker over time but it does not impact its effectiveness.

If urine has a strong sewage smell it’s usually a good

Urine with a sewage smell should be discarded.

Storing urine is best done in a cool, dark place.

Temperature is less of a factor in destroying urine than light. Light breaks down urine. Urine should always be stored for long periods in darkness and when possible, in a cool (Scents cont. pg 21)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Adventures of Me and Joe

November 2020

Joe’s Cult Conversion

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

Of all the rough times me and Joe had during our growing up years, the worst had to do with the Chimers. It was Irmalene Ravitch’s fault, really, but it couldn’t have happened if Joe hadn’t had a predisposition toward the really weird. And Irmalene had a point.

The Chimers were what today would be called a cult. They lived in a circle of small cabins in the woods on a backwater of the Little Salt Pork River.

Their leader was a heavy, hulking man named Sherbert Lunge and he ruled the small, closed society with an iron hand. And head. Lunge had been severely wounded during the closing days of World War II, the hood of a Jeep he was checking the oil on having dropped suddenly. Surgeons had closed the massive head wound with a steel plate grafting skin over the metal.

Not long afterward, Lunge had claimed to be receiving mental images from a mysterious being called Tinkle, who felt that Lunge wasn’t eating enough Lima beans. A medical discharge

had seemed preferable to a Section 8.

For years Lunge had traveled the country as an itinerant preacher, extolling the virtues of poverty, abstinence and Lima beans.

By the early 1960s he had developed a tiny cult following, mostly young college girls of good family, and brought them to the wilds of northern Maine to remove them from the distractions and temptations of a modern world lacking n morals and vegetable protein.

Me and Joe had never paid much attention to the Chimers. They appeared only rarely on the streets of Mooseleuk, marching in a slow line to The Mechantile to pick up the occasional shipment of Lima beans. Each girl was dressed exactly like the next, in a shapeless brown sack dress, moccasins on their feet. Each held a pair of wind chimes in one hand and struck it softly every fifth or sixth step with a small pestle. This, Condon Fishbane once confided, was in deference to the god Tinkle. One of the girls had told him that the ringing

It seemed that he had, indeed, come under the thrall of the cult. Drastic measures were called for. of the chimes was to keep thoughts of Tinkle firmly in one’s mind.

The problem for me and Joe began one afternoon when we were helping Irmalene Ravitch get in the last of her father’s wood. Although the elder Ravitch was one of the wealthiest men in town, he still preferred to burn wood in the winter. Irmalene, his only child and apple of his eye, was a college junior

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.

and one of the most independent-minded women I’d ever encountered. She also had the build of a centerfold and Joe had once had such a crush on her that it had taken some drastic measures on Irmalene’s part to shock him out of it.

Now, as we sweated away on an unseasonably warm December day, I could see the glazed look coming over Joe’s eyes once again. Irmalene had shed her flannel shirt in the warm temperatures and exertion, and was clad from the waist up only in a skimpy halter. The last of the wood was about all piled in the shed when she happened to glance at Joe and catch him staring at her, dog-eyed, with his mouth hanging slightly open. She looked down at her front, where perspiration had molded the thin

cloth to her skin, and then back at Joe. Maybe it was the heat; maybe it was the idea of being ogled by young boys one too many times, but Irmalene eyed Joe with a disgusted look and her sarcastic tone cut right through the fog of his infatuation.

“Darn it, Joe, you act like you’ve never seen a woman before. If you’re going to have that dazed look all the time and want to gawk at women, why don’t you go join the Chimers? Maybe a good dose of Lima beans will cure what ails you!”

Joe started as if slapped. A rose flush crept up his neck and an indignant scowl instantly replaced the dazed look.

“Well, if you don’t…you shouldn’t…,” he stuttered (Me & Joe cont. pg 7)

November 2020

Me & Joe

(Cont. from pg 6) angrily. Dropping the stick of beech he was holding, he assumed an air of wounded dignity. “Well…if that’s how you feel, maybe I jest will! You kin git in yer own dang wood!” With that, he turned on his heel and stalked off toward home.

All the anger went out of Irmalene immediately and she watched Joe’s retreating back with concern.

“Maybe I was too sharp,” she said uncertainly. “But darn it! A girl can get tired of boys staring at her like she’s a hunk of meat.”

“Uh, yeah…” I cleared my throat, trying not to notice the abundance of bare skin of the distinctly feminine form beside me.

“I can see how that could be. Look, Irmalene, don’t worry about Joe. He’ll be over it by morning.”

But he wasn’t. I didn’t see Joe the next day, or the day after that. It was nearly a week later that Gasper Gootch and I were coming back from rabbit hunting and I happened to mention Joe. Gasper looked concerned.

“Ya know, (gasp) Condon mentioned he’d seen Joe (gasp) hangin’ around the Chimers’ place (gasp). What you s’pose (gasp) he’d be doin’ out there?”

I stopped, as a feeling of foreboding came over me. “I don’t know,” I replied grimly, “but I’m gonna find out.”

That afternoon I hiked out to the Chimers’ encampment. I was feeling a little nervous since I’d never been there and didn’t know what to expect. Six small log cabins were place in a circle in a tiny clearing. In the open

Northwoods Sporting Journal area in the center hung a large set of chimes with a four-foot length of rock maple, worn smooth from much handling, standing beside them. A large kettle steamed over a campfire near the chimes and a sackcloth-clad figure squatted beside it, back toward me.

“Say,” I said nervously, stepping into the clearing. “Can you tell me where I can find…” I jerked in astonishment as a figure stood and turned and realized that it was Joe. “Welcome, brother,” he intoned dreamily.

“Peace be on yer.”

I tried to find my voice. “What…”

“S’cuse me, brother,” Joe broke in in a soft monotone. “I got ta summon the breth’ren, uh, that is, sister’en, fer afternoon sustenance.” Turning, he picked up the rock maple stick and struck the chimes three times. From the circle of cabins, 12 of the most beautiful girls I had ever laid eyes on came slowly over to the fire, holding out bowls. I stared for a moment, then turned to Joe and began again.

“Look, Joe…” “Shssst!” Joe said solemnly. He lifted his eyes heavenward. “The Master approacheth!” I glanced upward, but saw only blue sky. Then a movement caught my eye. Turning my head, I saw a heavy, ponderous man stalking slowly through the circle of girls. He came up to stand beside Joe and stared at me with the wild eyes of a zealot. A thin line of scar tissue stretched from over his left eye up into the edge of his scraggly hair.

“And who,” the man intoned ominously, “might this be?”

Joe gazed up at the

man in obvious adoration.

“This h’yers a feller from my former life, Master Lunge,” he said humbly.

Sherbert Lunge stared at me for a long moment.

Then he laid a hand on Joe’s shoulder. “This wayward youth,” he droned solemnly, “has chosen to forsake his former sinful ways and follow me. He shall become my good right hand and I shall teach him the way to Tinkle.”

I glanced at Joe for some hint that this was all an act, but he was nodding in fervent agreement.

“You are welcome to share our humble feast, Lunge continued, ominously: “and afterward you must leave, never to return.”

“Shore!” Joe waxed suddenly enthusiastic, dipping a ladle into the steaming pot and bringing up a nauseatingly green

mixture. “Have some O’ this delectable Lima bean soup!”

“Uh, no thanks. Guess I’ll be leaving now…” I swallowed the bile that had risen in my throat, turned and beat a hasty retreat.”

For several days I moped around, trying to decide what to do. Joe remained at the Chimers camp. Watching from the surrounding woods, I saw him following Lunge around, tending fires and cooking Lima beans, usually aided by one or more of the girls. It seemed that he had, indeed, come under the thrall of the cult. Drastic measures were called for. I went to see Irmalene.

“Are you kidding me?!” She demanded, hands on her shapely hips.

“I thought that Lunge was over in Vermont somewhere!” She stalked over and grabbed a sweater off

Page 7 the front porch, then headed for the road out of town.

I ran to catch up.

“That weirdo came around my college, trying to recruit followers a while back,” Irmalene muttered angrily as I led her through the woods toward the Chimers’ encampment.

“We ran him off in short order. I can’t believe Joe took what I said seriously enough to make him run off and join that bunch of loonies!”

We stepped out into the clearing just as the Chimers were gathering for lunch. Joe was dishing out soup to the surrounding girls while Sherbert Lunge stood by importantly. He scowled blackly as we approached.

“See here,” he growled in disapproval. “I thought I told you never to return? And who have you (Me & Joe cont. pg 30)

Page 8

Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Lead Ammunition: Facts or Fiction?

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has jumped on the no-lead-bullets bandwagon.

In a recent press release, MDIF&W urged in the strongest terms for Maine hunters to buy and use copper bullets and say goodbye to lead bullets forever. The state of California, which doesn’t appear to do much of anything right these days, has been the national leader in lead-bullet bans. A survey after the fact in that state indicated that, seven years after the ban the condor’s population decline was traced to industrial pollution, not hunters and lead bullets.

The Maine Department’s entreaty to hunters and recreational shooters to rethink their purchase of lead ammo falls short because of its lack of scientific data and somewhat sweeping generalizations.

“There are serious health and environmental risks with lead-based ammunition,” asserts MDIF&W. So far the only study that I can find of big-game consumption by humans of lead-killed game was a North Dakota analysis of families that regularly consume wild game. The sample revealed

Deer Hunter’s Logbook To the Editor: Mr. Reynolds, I just purchased two of your great books, “Backtrack” and “ A Maine Deer Hunter’s Log Book” Vol 2 and am trying to find your first book “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Log Book” Vol 1. Can I purchase Vol 1 from you?

Your books are great!

Tony Ostrowski Editor’s note: Thanks, Tony. The first volume of Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook is no longer in print.

that the North Dakotans had far lower levels of lead in their systems than the average American population!

The Department further declared that there is “a movement among hunters to use lead alternatives.” Really? Who are they?

Californians who must do so by law?

Granted, the national ban of the use of lead shot by duck hunters made sense.

There was compelling scientific data to support it. The robust resurrection of Bald Eagle populations nationwide may be attributable in part to this lead shot ban. But there is not an automatic extrapolation to support lead bans in big game hunting-different critters, different habitat.

The National Rifle Association( NRA) is dead set against the no-lead bullets push and, in fact, believes that underneath it all is a piece- meal assault on guns and hunting.

It writes: “The use of traditional (lead) ammunition is currently under attack by many anti-hunting groups whose ultimate goal is to ban hunting. Traditional ammunition does not and has not negatively impacted wildlife populations in North America and is far more effective and affordable for

But the current version, Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook, Vol. II includes all of the chapters from Vol. I, plus much, much more.

Raychard on Muzzleloaders To the Editor: I always enjoy when the NSJ shows up. Recently the discussions on mountain lion have been enlightening. 70 years ago my grandfather saw one at V. Pauls old stomping ground at Narraguagus Lake, and a friend saw one within a mile of the same location last year. My

grandfather was a consummate woodsman and knew what he saw, the other guy had virtually no woods knowledge but described a very large, “khaki” cat with a tail nearly as long as its body. Interesting...

I love hunting partridge. It has been over ten years since I have carried anything except a 12 ga.

Thompson Center New Englander or a custom 20 ga. flintlock fowler. When I got the Oct. NSJ and saw an article by Al Raychard entitled Grouse: More Than Just A Hunt, I was hopeful that he might entertain and maybe educate me on

American hunters.”

The NRA further believes that “A decrease in the purchase of traditional ammunition would adversely affect conservation funding. Hunters and target shooters are the largest supporters of wildlife conservation through excise taxes levied on ammunition, firearms and hunting equipment.”

Like so many other movements today that are more emotionally based than scientific, the move to abandon lead ammunition has all the earmarks of a rush to judgment. The jury is still out.

Where does the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM) come down on this issue?

SAM’s executive director, David Trahan, says, “We oppose any position but a personal choice. We oppose any attempt to make lead illegal for hunting. We are not neutral and I have clearly stated that position with the Mills administration.”

Copper bullets will kill game, presumably just as effectively, and shoot holes in targets. They do cost more and you can buy them now at most ammo dealers, we are told. As a hunter and a range shooter, it’s your call.

- VPR

some aspect of partridge hunting with a muzzleloader. Despite the column heading Muzzleloading Afield, there was only one extremely fleeting off hand mention of a muzzleloader in the last paragraph. As a matter of fact, if memory serves me, for a little while now Al has been writing on a number of subjects except muzzleloading. How disappointing.

With his wealth of knowledge, and knowing that many older muzzleloaders have no choke, it would be nice to see something like what happens when paper shot cups

(or some other means) are used to tighten a pattern.

Or maybe, with the State of Maine pushing for nonlead projectiles, an article on recommended shot sizes, where to get, and how to load bismuth shot. Just a thought.

Again, NSJ is a great publication, but it seems like Al has gone astray.

Everett Leland

Mr. Spencer’s Complaints To the Editor: In last month’s North(Letters cont. pg 27)

November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Moose Track Stew

Some years back at the state Employee of the Year event at the Blaine House, Maine’s official residence of the Governor, I was chatting with Lee Kantar, who was the state’s chief deer biologist.

The previous few winters had been challenging, and

September moose season.

There are a lot of moose in northern Maine, and in WMD 1 in particular, where nearly one-fifth of all permits for the moose hunt were issued this year.

So, we started out by getting a little cocky. “Yup, we’ll probably tag out early the first day,” I assured Emily, who, never having been on a moose hunt before, had little else to go on. Even my more experienced moose hunting friends in the Old Town area marveled. “Let me know if you haven’t tagged out by Tuesday,” one said. “I have a friend who’s a guide and The author’s daughter who knows Emily in moose country. the area pretty the number of any-deer well.” permits available were I felt the same way way down—much to the on my own moose hunt chagrin of many sports- in 2008. Hunting a bull men. “People don’t realize in Jackman seemed like it how little control over the would child’s play—until deer population we have,” it wasn’t. I finally took a Kantar told me over a cup medium-sized bull on Friof coffee. “We keep an eye day morning after some of on the population, and we the hardest hunting I’d ever make our recommenda- engaged in. tions. We don’t raise deer.

But that memory was We just issue the permits.” completely erased by the Even when the per- sparkling zone 1 bull permit system works for the mit. Of course we’d see a sportsman, that’s only the ton of moose! It would be beginning of the story, a simple, rational process and that’s where we were of picking one. this year on Marsh Island.

We arrived in Fort My hunting partner and Kent in the late afternoon daughter Emily was drawn the Saturday before the for a coveted bull permit season started (Monday, in Wildlife Management September 28th) at Camel District (WMD) 1 for the Brook Camps. The folks

there are wonderful (they told us to be watchful of moose on the way in— “There’s a lot of them around”), and the accommodations are top-rate, by the way. We got dinner in Fort Kent and got to bed early in anticipation of a full day of scouting.

After registering for our North Maine Woods pass, we took a gazetteer and covered the area from Allagash to the Michaud Farm Road, and then north past Jones Pond. For our

Page 9

Marsh Island Chronicles

by Matthew Dunlap, Old Town, ME to camp, we talked with other hunters. They all had that same faraway look in their eyes. “What’d you see,” they said more than inquired. Not a thing, we reported. “Well, that makes me feel better,” reported one hunter. “We didn’t see anything yesterday, either.”

The temperature on

But that memory was completely erased by the sparkling zone 1 bull permit. Of course we’d see a ton of moose! It would be a simple, rational process of picking one. other New England readers, that’s an area that you could probably easily lose Rhode Island in. We checked recent choppings and logging roads, stopped here and there and tried our calls.

When we got back

the thermometer registered 82 degrees.

My friends, for us, that was the story of the hunt.

We seemed to cover every wood cut from Daaquam to Estcourt Station, and never saw a single moose. We stopped and called, but we

may as well have been trying to call in cape buffalo.

Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Finally, our early enthusiasm came back to demand payment. Assuming an early tag, Emily allowed that she had made some academic commitments at school. We had to go home halfway through the week.

“Well, that’s that,” I said.

“You’re not going to school to perfect your shot placement. If it’s time to go, it’s time to go.”

Ruefully, we packed up, and made the trek back to Old Town. The word we had was that our neighbors around the area were having mixed success. Some tagged out later in the week; others never saw more than we did.

We always say that’s (Stew cont. pg 21)

Page 10

Northwoods Sporting Journal

“A Hiker’s Life”

by Carey Kish, Mt. Desert Island, ME Editor’s note: Carey Kish is a two-time Appalachian Trail thru-hiker and recently completed the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail through California, Oregon and Washington.

Shenandoah National Park protects 79,600 acres along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains between the Shenandoah Valley to the west and the foothills of the Virginia Piedmont to the east. The Appalachian Trail follows in close proximity to Skyline Drive, the park’s popular tourist road.

Most weary thruhikers, on the trail since Georgia, find the weeklong, 105-mile traverse of the park to be rather luxurious, with mild terrain and easy access to hiker amenities like snack bars and restaurants, grocery stores, campgrounds with hot showers and laundry, and even a pub.

Grand views from Blackrock, Hightop, Stony Man Mountain, the Little Stony Man Cliffs and Mary’s Rock were scenic highlights, while several encounters with bears provided an uncommon measure of excitement.

The day after watching a large male wallow in the jewelweed at close

range for a half-hour, I came upon a bear cub in a tree to the left of the trail.

Not thinking, I reached for my camera, but was startled by the mother bear in the thick undergrowth immediately to my right.

Heart pounding, I quickly backed up the trail out of

Civil War Landmarks On The AT

The trail follows the Virginia-West Virginia state line before descending to the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers at Harpers Ferry, the psychological midpoint for thru-hikers. Best known for abolitionist John Brown’s pre-Civil War raid on the federal arsenal, most of the town is within Harpers Ferry National Historic

Not thinking, I reached for my camera, but was startled by the mother bear in the thick undergrowth immediately to my right. harm’s way, talking nice to the big bruin all the while until she rambled by.

Between Front Royal and Ashby Gap, what was a long and dangerous road walk on my 1977 trek is now a pleasant hike through woods and meadows. It was along here that I briefly met ultramarathon runner Scott Jurek, who went on to break the Appalachian Trail speed record.

Beyond, a 13-mile stretch of trail called the Roller Coaster takes hikers on a wild ride over steep, tightly spaced ascents and descents. Somewhere amid the huffing and puffing I crossed the 1,000-mile mark, and was happy to hole up and celebrate that evening at Bears Den hostel, a historic stone mansion.

November 2020

Park.

The headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the organization dedicated to conservation and management of the trail, is located here.

I stopped in to register as northbound hiker No. 694 for the year, as well as get my Polaroid taken. It was an emotional moment that connected the dots between 1977 and 2015, and when I stepped back outside, tears of happiness were flowing down my cheeks.

Out of Harpers Ferry and now in Maryland, I followed the towpath of the old Chesapeake & Ohio Canal before climbing to the heights of Weverton Cliffs for a last look over the Potomac.

Some thru-hikers take on the “Maryland Chal-

Carey “Beerman” Kish at the headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia; rich in Civil War history, the town is the psychological halfway point of the AT. lenge” and attempt to hike I reached Pen Mar all 40 miles of the state in Park on a glorious Sunday 24 hours. I was content to afternoon to find a pavilsaunter along the beautiful ion packed with dancers ridges of South Mountain swinging to live big band State Park, the 13,000-acre music. The festive scene preserve that extends from spilled out onto the expanthe Potomac to Pennsylva- sive lawn, where picnickers nia, taking 2-1/2 days and were sitting down to large enjoying every step. spreads.

History abounds on I must have looked South Mountain. Many hungry, because soon I was clashes between Union invited to enjoy a heaping and Confederate armies plate of grilled goodies. occurred on its flanks, at This after I had just ordered Crampton Gap, Fox Gap, a large pizza from town for Turners Gap and others. delivery to the park. I ate it The first monument to all without a problem.

George Washington, a milk At sunset, I sidled bottle-shaped stone tower, out of the park and across was erected by Boonsboro the Mason-Dixon Line citizens in 1827. into Pennsylvania to find a campsite. Six states down, eight to go.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Page 11

One Big Community

I am technically an adult-onset hunter. I started when I was twenty after watching Dad hunt every fall and deciding that I wanted to see what it was all about – and that killing your own meat was not a bad thing. If you had asked me (or dad) to imagine what the next decade and a half would be like, I guarantee you neither of us would have pictured this!

As I write this, I have just hung up the phone with Taylor and Mark Drury.

Throughout deer season, I will be writing up all of the Drury family hunts that will be featured on DeerCast (make sure you have the app or the website bookmarked!) I am also going to continue interviewing hunters from across the country and Canada that have taken amazing deer.

Just like last year when I got to feature Wayne Bernier from Allagash Adventures after he dropped his amazing 200 lb, 20 point buck with a 31 inch spread!

The fact that I get to do this blows my mind. I get to share a mutual love and excitement over hunting with so many people and no matter what our politics are or what our family looks like, we are connected by our drive to put meat on the table, protect our management practices and collect stories of our hunts to share.

Our community is like one big family. Sometimes we fight among ourselves, but when push comes to shove, I would like to think that every deer hunter would support every bird hunter and every bear hunter would support every

fly fisherman and every coyote trapper would support every moose hunter.

No matter what, we are a community of passionate outdoor folks that care about the wildlife that we hunt and fish and trap.

This year has been like no other and yet the one thing that we can all look forward to is our desire to get into the woods

Women In The Woods

by Erin Merrill, Portland, ME and waters and enjoy hunting season, scouting trips and the changing seasons.

I can not wait to get into my tree stand and take those first few minutes to relax and listen to the woods around me. My son will be

Wayne Bernier and his 20-point, 200 lb Maine buck.

coming out into the woods with us for the first time and I hope that the deer are moving.

May we all have an enjoyable hunting season that results in great stories and meat in the freezer!

Erin is a member of the OWAA and the New England Outdoor Writers Association. She is a senior writer for Drury Outdoors’ DeerCast and is the President and co-Founder of the non-profit group Women of the Maine Outdoors.

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Sporting Journal Northwoods

Loon Chick Survival Rates

The Bird Perch

by Karen Holmes, Cooper, ME Every July I coordinate the Annual Maine Loon Count for Washington County, Maine. The counts of adults and chicks are sent to me by August 1st. This summer showed me the dangers Common Loons have to deal with during the breeding season, usually from late May to early August.

There were sightings of chicks and they disappeared just before the count on July 18th all over Washington County. Nests were seen but were destroyed or abandoned. It will be interesting to see if similar events were reported from all over Maine. There are many conditions impacting nesting loons. Careless

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disposal of monofilament fishing lines can entangle adults and chicks. Boaters and jet skiers who ignore the no-wake laws within 200 feet of shorelines cause water surge over nests and

It is a sad fact too that sometimes if there are high numbers of non-breeding adult loons on one water body, they will aggressively attack parent loons and even kill their chicks. chicks.

Habitat degradation from pollution can reduce water clarity so much that adults cannot easily see their fish prey when they deep dive. They may fail to adequately feed their chicks. Snapping turtles, northern pike can grab the swimming chicks from below while ravens and eagles can seize them from above. Skunks, raccoons, foxes, otters, and minks can raid the nests and eat the eggs. It is a sad fact too that sometimes if there are high

numbers of non-breeding adult loons on one water body, they will aggressively attack parent loons and even kill their chicks.

is non-degradable and especially toxic in water. The burning of fossil fuels puts it into the air and then it sinks down into the bottom

Nesting loon. Wakes from boats and jet skis too close to shore can wipe out nesting loons.

From my own records at Cathance Lake I have found that when there is a high number of chicks seen during the count, there are lower numbers of adult loons. Also a few years ago at Cathance Lake a pair of chicks were seen with their parents. But one appeared weaker and soon disappeared, while the other survived. I did some research and still wonder if mercury poisoning was a possible cause. Mercury

sediments of water bodies.

Loons can ingest it when they deep dive and put sediments into their gizzards for digestion. Mercury can become lipophilic, settling into fatty tissue and bones.

It also can cross the blood brain barrier as a neurotoxin.

Normal behavior could be impacted so that parent loons may not raise or protect their chicks like they should. A female with (Loon cont. pg 41)

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November 2020

Page 13

Outdoor News - November 2020 Edited by V. Paul Reynolds November. Dwindling daylight, frosty mornings, acorns bouncing on the camp’s tin roof, clear vistas across the hard wood ridges. For the deer hunter, this is the best time of the year, period!

Rifle season for deer is upon us. Thousands of hunters from all over New England and beyond will take to the woods in search of their prize - a whitetailed deer.

Our senses, overloaded as November approaches, tell us that this is the time to fill the freezer and prepare for winter. Though the law book dictates when we can hunt, without it we would still know. Following the path laid before us, we will continue the tradition, providing food for our families and solace for our souls. Not even Covid-19 changes the hunter’s heritage.

with landowners. Please remember to respect the land and property owner’s rights to privacy and safety on all lands open to pheasant hunting and stocking.

The full list of towns to be stocked (including road names) can be seen on the Fish and Game website at http://www.huntnh. com/hunting/pheasant. html; printed lists are also available at Fish and Game headquarters and regional offices.

Body Recovered on Pleasant Mountain.

September 26, at approximately 5:00 p.m., the body of Samuel Kern, 29 of Portland, Maine, was found by a K9 team from the Maine Search and Rescue Dogs (MESARD) approximately 2/3 of a mile from where Kern’s vehicle was located at the Fire Warden’s trailhead on Pleasant

New Hampshire’s hunting season for pheasant got underway on October 1 and continues through December 31. This fall, 11,495 adult ring-necked pheasants will be stocked in all 10 counties with an average of 140 pheasants per site.

(Photo by V. Paul Reynolds)

New Hampshire Pheasant Season

The pheasant program relies heavily upon cooperative relationships

Mountain.

Kern had told family he had planned to do some camping and left for his trip on Friday, September

derived population objectives.

“Maine is known for moose,” said Lee Kantar, IFW’s moose biologist.

“And we manage the moose population by adjusting the number of permits issued to provide opportunities for both hunting and viewing.”

Last year, 1,948 hunters, or 69% of the permitted hunters, harvested a moose.

The 69% success rate is in stark contrast to bear, turkey or deer hunting, where success rates range historically from 18 to 30 percent.

Moose hunting in Maine continues to be extremely popular, with over 59,000 hunters applying to the moose lottery for a chance to hunt moose.

With dry conditions this year, moose hunters may want to adjust their tactics.

“With the drier conditions and a later start to the September moose season, hunters are likely to have better sighting conditions Maine’s 40th in the woods, and moose Moose Hunt are likely to be found closer The Maine moose to water sources,” said season continues through Kantar. Kantar also noted the fall and is divided into four segments which also includes the weeks of October 12-17 in the northern two thirds of the state, October 26-31 in northern and eastern Maine, and November 2-28 in central Maine. In all, 3,135 permits were issued to hunt moose in Maine this year.

Regulated hunting seasons are how the department manages Maine’s moose population. The that hunters may want to number of permits issued take advantage of cooler for each moose hunting weather in the morning, district varies depending on since temperatures are supmoose population density posed to be mild in the in the district and publicly beginning of the week.

18. After having no contact with Kern for several days, his family reported him missing on Wednesday, September 23. His vehicle was found that afternoon and search efforts began that evening by family and friends. The search was enhanced and managed by the Maine Warden Service later Wednesday evening and continued until the body was located. Kern’s death is not considered suspicious. An examination of the body will take place by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner.

The Maine Warden Service would like to thank the Denmark and Bridgton Fire Departments, Bridgton Police Department, the many volunteers and teams with the Maine Association for Search and Rescue and the Maine Search and Rescue Dogs as well as other community volunteers for their efforts and assistance in this three-day search.

All successful moose hunters are required to register their moose at the nearest tagging station. At these stations, IFW wildlife biologists collect data that provides insight into moose population health. A tooth is removed in order to determine the age of the moose.

Antler spread (width) is measured on bulls. Ticks are counted on four different areas of the moose to compare numbers to years past. In later weeks, moose hunters who shoot a female moose are required to bring the ovaries, which are later examined to determine reproductive success.

This biological data is combined with data from the ongoing moose GPS collar study, as well as the aerial moose population and composition surveys to give biologists a clearer picture of the health and status of Maine’s moose herd.

The Department is in the midst of the seventh year of Maine Moose Study which is providing important insight into factors impacting moose

reproduction and survival.

The research focuses on moose calves and adult female moose in a study area in northern Maine east (News cont. pg 58)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 14

Outdoors In Maine

by V. Paul Reynolds, Ellsworth, ME Recently on my statewide Sunday night talk radio program, Maine Outdoors (on the Blueberry Broadcasting Network), I chatted by phone with John Floyd. He is a guide-

for deer hunting the Maine woods?”

If you are a serious deer hunter, the answer is on the tip of your tongue.

Of course, your deer rifle is the best Maine deer gun,

November 2020

Best Maine Deer Guns

why a particular deer rifle deserved top billing.

Gun writer Floyd prefaced his list of gun choices with this observation. After all is said and done, and you compare, say a Winchester lever action .30-.30 with a .44 Ruger carbine, nothing trumps shot placement.

For any deer hunter, shot

Gun writer Floyd prefaced his list of gun choices with this observation. After all is said and done, and you compare, say a Winchester lever action .30-.30 with a .44 Ruger carbine, nothing trumps shot placement.

For any deer hunter, shot placement is what brings home the venison and the assurance of an ethical shot at Maine’s wariest big game animal.

outfitter and gun writer for the Northwoods Sporting Journal.

Floyd had agreed in advance to focus his comments on one of the most hotly discussed topics, guaranteed to get the conversation revving at any Maine deer camp: “What is the best all-around rifle

period! Otherwise, why would you have it?

To my delight, the telephone bank at the radio station lit up like the Christmas tree at Times Square. Lots of opinions were expressed, and many comments were supported by some compelling and well-thought out reasons

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placement is what brings home the venison and the assurance of an ethical shot at Maine’s wariest big game animal.

When you talk deer guns there are two facets involved: 1) calibers and 2) style of gun and gun brands. Like many Maine deer hunters, Floyd has two go-to deer guns, a lever action .30-30 “brush gun” and a bolt action .30-06 for the open spaces and long shots.

As you might guess there is a closer consensus as to the best calibers rather than style or brands of guns. Few of the callers disagreed with the experts, who rate best deer calibers in this order: 1) 30-06 2) .308 3) .270.

Call it anecdotal evidence, but it was clear from the calls that, while it may not rate as the “best Maine deer” gun,” the Winchester lever action 30-30 certainly begets the most loyalty. If you stood up at a deer camp and just insisted that it deserved a place at the first position on any deer hunter’s gun rack, you would

(Photo by V. Paul Reynolds) get little push back, if any.

Floyd urges new deer hunters shopping for the right gun to find one that has a recoil that is not personally uncomfortable, uses ammunition that is commonplace and not hard to find, and is not too heavy and pleasing to look at as well.

My favorite deer guns are a Marlin lever action in .35 Remington and a Ruger One in .270. If forced to pick one of these as my sole deer gun, it would be the Marlin hands down. Diane uses the Marlin during deer season, so I don’t get to carry it much. She likes it.

The gun is practical, functional and packs a punch.

She has used it successfully on deer, elk, bear and even moose. The perfect Maine brush gun, in my view.

The Ruger One? Yep, it’s a breech-style single shot rifle. I like its lines, sim-

plicity, and the idea that I only get one shot, so I’d better make it count.

We’ll have to talk deer guns again on Maine Outdoors. Clearly, Mainers deeply appreciate and know their deer guns intimately and love to join in when the conversation shifts to best Maine deer guns.

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 at www.sportingjournal.com. Contact email is: vpaulr@tds.net

November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 16

Lever Guns for Deer

The Gun Cabinet

by John Floyd, Webster Plantation, ME When most folks think of lever action rifles, the first thing that comes to mind are cowboys and spaghetti westerns. Annie Oakley made the repeater famous while performing with Buffalo Bill all over the world and im-

ket for lever gun hunting enthusiasts.

I have always been a lever gun guy. Why? I’m glad you asked. I simply love a fast pointing, light gun that enables quick follow up shots in the thick cover I typically hunt in.

The biggest drawback in the past when hunting with a lever gun has been ammunition. Most guns used a tubular magazine which meant having to load only round or flat nosed bullets like the .3030 Win and .45-70 Govt.

That meant decreased ballistic performance and decreased velocity. Spitzer type bullets with pointed

The biggest drawback in the past when hunting with a lever gun has been ammunition. Most guns used a tubular magazine which meant having to load only round or flat nosed bullets like the .30-30 Win and .45-70 Govt. ages of John Wayne and Chuck Connors wielding their trusty Winchesters are certainly ingrained in my memory. Lever guns gained in popularity among American deer hunters through the 60’s and 70’s before falling off in later decades. But that was then.

Lever guns are making a big comeback, with manufacturers upping their game to rekindle the niche mar-

While I admit to having to sacrificed a little accuracy, at the range I use my lever guns it isn’t a problem. If I want to reach out and touch that whitetail at 200 yards or better, I’ll be using a bolt action gun. But, the truth is there isn’t much terrain like that where I hunt deer so the lever is my go to rifle most of the time. And you can’t beat the versatility of modern lever action guns.

ends couldn’t be safely loaded bullet to primer in the magazine for obvious safety concerns. Most of the prolific deer hunting cartridges such as the .3006 Spfld, .308 Win and more all use Spitzer type bullets in the cartridge; so fans of those rounds didn’t have much use for lever actions. That’s all changed.

If you are a fan of the tubular magazine, side loading gate type of lever action such as a Marlin 336, Hornady’s LEVERevolution ammunition line (hornady.com/ammunition) has effectively transformed the way you can hunt. With patented Flex Tip technology, the traditional round and flat nosed cartridges

“The author and a lever gun buck”. perform like Spitzer-nosed getting on target with a rounds. These cartridges lever gun even quicker. can increase velocity up to Long gone are the days of 250 feet per second; that is being stuck with a buckan amazing gain in a tradi- horn style sight and limited tional lever gun round! optic choices. My favorite For those who still system is the Lever Rail prefer traditional bolt or Ghost Ring WS package by pump action calibers like XS Sights (xssights.com). the .30-06, the Browning This set up removes factory BLR rifle is for you. The buckhorn sights and replacBLR utilizes a detachable es them with a Picatinny box magazine, rendering rail flush mounted to the the nose to tail concern receiver, allowing a variof loading pointed bullets ety of optics and positions. null and void. The BLR The factory iron sights are also boasts fifteen different replaced by a white striped chamberings, including the front ramp sight and a fully .243 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, adjustable rear aperture .270 Win, .308 Win, .30-06 Ghost Ring, allowing for Spfld, 7mm-08 Rem and a great field of view and more. quick target acquisition.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Good Photos Worth the Wait

Some stories simply end, while others drag on endlessly. A few may produce an ending with a twist, and further down the road, produce another ending.

This type of story happened last September when I talked Katy into tagging along on a remote hike to check

a few cameras. On a crisp fall day we set out with our three furry family members on another adventure great north woods.

After checking on several cameras, we came to one on the edge of a large cut track of land. This was an entanglement of raspberries with many blow downs underneath, which are not visible until you are in the thick of it. The camera placed there captured some great pictures especially the one of a bear standing on its hind legs looking over the bushes.

When we arrived at this spot, I asked Katy to stay behind while I checked the last camera. She gave me ‘that look’. I said, “Nothing in the Maine woods will harm you”, hand her my iPad for entertainment, and off I venture to capture the last of our photos for the day. I took two of the dogs and left her with Tess, the aging Jack Russell.

The camera is kinda miserable to approach, however I get great pictures on it most of the time, so it must stay. Always scanning for new camera placement opportunities,

I noticed a stand of woods that needed to be looked at more closely. Of course, I tell myself…this will only take a few extra minutes (Katy is back on a mossy stump waiting patiently, I have to remind myself).

I look the area over and place a camera. We were

all thirsty so I drank some of my water and gave the rest to the dogs. Then who shows up? Tess, the 15 year old matriarch. Panting and proud, I knew she needed water but I didn’t have any left. I gather her up in my arms and head away from Katy in order to get to the woods where she can walk and maybe find a water hole. Good thinking Bud… we hit water right away and the area was mired in mud and moose tracks.

Perfect spot for a camera that I didn’t have with me.

I mark the spot on my GPS and head back toward Katy.

While on the way back Cedes, our middle child furry friend, jumps a grouse that flew up into a tree right above her. I was enjoying watching them when the unmistakable crashing of a moose took me by surprise. It also made me realize I needed to get back to Katy.

I finally arrived with three very happy pups and Katy was frantic. She was telling me to check the camera again, where I asked to her to patiently wait. While Katy was soaking up a Zen moment in the old growth, she also heard the crashing and saw trees parting as a nice bull came running directly at her. In her eyes it was charging. She sprang up from the mossy stump, threw her pack, and ran behind a tree only to peak out to see this bull, dead in his tracks, looking right at her.

The bull then turned and ran in the other direction.

So here is where the story ends, sort of, until I return to the spot later that fall and place a camera. I check it over the winter,

Page 17

What's In Your Woods

by Bud Utecht, Dedham, ME

nothing great. I check it early summer, nothing great.

And then while checking it one year later, jackpot!

Most of the water in the area had dried up and here was a supply that brought animals I’ve never seen

a bit, before one backed down. The photos were endless.

Though, the final result will be about a months’ worth pictures, it was well worth waiting a year.

Again, some photos are

While Katy was soaking up a Zen moment in the old growth, she also heard the crashing and saw trees parting as a nice bull came running directly at her. in this area. There were even animals you wouldn’t expect to see at a muddy water hole. Fisher, marten, pileated woodpecker, and goshawk. Nonetheless, the moose took center stage, with a bull coming in and laying down and a cow behind him. They didn’t pay any attention to each other which was quite odd. Two bulls then came in at the same time, posturing for

worth the wait.

Bud Utecht is a Register Maine Guide, sporting camp owner, Browning trail camera dealer, and consultant. His trail cameras are strategically placed throughout the Maine Woods. Feel free to email Bud for trail camera tips or to discuss what’s in your woods. bud@whatsin-

yourwoods.com

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.

Shown actual size

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

Zenas Brown

Name

(Marty was found on pg 15)

Address City

Marty

State

Phone I found Marty on page

Zip

Entries must be postmarked by 11/9/20 to be eligible for this issue.

Bud Utecht Registered Maine Guide

Trail Camera Consultant (207) 404-1442

bud@whatsinyourwoods.com

Page 18 Northwoods Sporting Journal

Outdoor Sporting Library

by Jeremiah Wood, Ashland, ME

They say the country makes the man. The tougher the country, the tougher – and usually more interesting – the man. Not everyone was up for settling the remote and rugged country in Wyoming

ming game warden Jay Lawson cataloged the lives of some of the most notable pioneers of the West, folks who braved the wilderness and harsh weather, hunted for food, trapped fur for income, ran guiding and

November 2020

Men to Match Our Mountains

established homesteads and towns, and ran cattle on the open range. They were coming of age at a time when the land was being fenced in, big game populations were starting to recover from overharvest, and the land was still vast and unoccupied, with plenty of beautiful valley bottoms open for staking.

The generation that was born around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s took part in a special time in the settling of that country. Their parents’ generation had fought off Indians, established homesteads and towns, and ran cattle on the open range.

during the turn of the last century, but those who did had a few things in common. They were adventure seekers, weren’t afraid to risk life and limb, and most didn’t really have a whole lot to lose.

In “Men to Match our Mountains”, retired Wyo-

outfitting businesses, and established homesteads in the state’s early days.

The generation that was born around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s took part in a special time in the settling of that country. Their parents’ generation had fought off Indians,

Many of these early pioneers were cowboys for the big ranch outfits and quite a few ran the rodeo circuit in their younger years. Almost all left home at a very young age to find work. Most served in the military during World War I, probably none came

back the same. All kept a few horses to travel in the mountains and pack deer and elk out. They’d build cabins and small shelters

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They were cowboys, loggers, outfitters, guides, artists, wardens, biologists, and some were women who were tougher than most men. As he spent time among these people in the course of his travels throughout Wyoming, Lawson realized these were special people whose stories should be told, as most were quite old and didn’t have much time left to share them. Jay began to interview these folks, get their stories down on paper, and eventually compiled them into a book.

“Men to Match our Mountains” was published in 2007, and features 27 legendary characters who embodied the true pioneer spirit of Wyoming. I don’t believe any of them are still with us, but thanks to Jay Lawson’s efforts, their legacy is.

November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 19

The Lost Hunter

Since 1880, the citizens of the “Pine Tree State” have placed their trust in the Maine Warden Service to find all those who become lost in the woods and waters of Maine. Written into law, the Maine Warden Service is the primary authority on

woods today, as you will eventually come out onto the next road and know that there is usually another one not too far away.

The Warden Service has adapted to the times and uses the latest technologies to assist in large scale search and rescue

many searches and our pilots are a tremendous resource in searching from the air and guiding game wardens to locate lost persons.

The November firearm season is traditionally our busiest time of year for search and rescues in

It was bitterly cold, but a bright, full moon aided the search as I could see a long distance in both directions.

I knew the cold air and the river would carry my voice and I began shouting for the hunter.

all lost persons and search and rescue missions statewide. As Game Wardens, we take great pride in our level of competency and effectiveness in bringing people home safely to their love ones.

A lot has changed over the last half-century in Northern Maine, as roads and cutting operations have changed the landscape of the North Maine Woods from a vast, untouched wilderness, to a modern-day industrial working forest with miles and miles of interconnected road systems.

GPS technologies have also advanced the modern hunter to a point where map and compass skills seem to be as ancient and foreign as the art of sword fighting! It is not such a daunting and insurmountable task to track a buck in the

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This includes our mapping teams, using the latest GPS systems and technologies to plot and plan systematic search grids and areas already searched. Our respected K-9 teams are trained in a variety of scent searches and account for many successful finds each year. The aviation division is called on each year for

the North Maine Woods.

This is time of year when hunters from around the country have come to the fabled North Woods in pursuit of game. Even the best woodsman can sometimes become disoriented in the North Woods, even in areas that he or she may be familiar with. Tunnel vision of focusing on that big buck track and following him on his terrain can quickly turn a hunter around.

Oh Tha nksgiving night of last year, I was

Warden’s Words

by Game Warden Kale O’Leary, Ashland, ME just sitting down to begin eating some turkey with family when I received a call of a lost hunter on the Aroostook River in Ashland. Whenever these calls come in, time is of the essence and that plate of turkey and mashed potatoes had to be re-heated well after midnight. I responded to the “point last scene”, a search and rescue term

used by game wardens as our starting point for our search efforts. The hunter was supposed to return by dark and was several hours overdue. It was an extremely cold and windy night, with windchill factors hovering just above zero. Game Wardens Dave Milligan, Sergeant Durward Humphrey and I, met (Hunter cont. pg 28)

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Page 20

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Aroostook Woods & Water

November 2020

Opening Day: Pumped, Baby!

seasons to reminisce over these days. A storehouse of memories that we use to

by Mike Maynard, irritate the younger hunters Perham, ME who come with us now.

We regale them with tales I don’t get quite the baby. We may bitch a little of the days of yore around same rush that I used to. more but dammit, we come the supper table at camp Oh, it’s still there all right, by those scars honestly. and they accuse us of the but it’s been tempered by Every blowdown that cut greatest sin they can think age and the fact that I’m of: being old guys. being held together by duct Deer season brings energy, it brings excitement, Deer season brings tape, bailing twine, and …it brings hope. I don’t think any other opener carries the energy, it brings excitetitanium. My excitement excitement that deer season does. ment, …it brings hope. is now colored around the edges with the bittersweet us up or laid us down, ev- on the young; I don’t think want to hear from that same I don’t think any other understanding that there ery missed opportunity. It’s it’s wasted so much as it pirate when he’s approach- opener carries the exciteare more opening days the opportunities not taken makes me jealous. Old ing 60. Pirates got nothing ment that deer season does.

Maybe the day the Red Sox behind me than there are in that need the longest time joints hurt in the wee hours on deer hunters. front of me. It’s my opinion to heal; those are the ones before dawn as you try and I appreciate the fact pitchers and catchers report that, like a fine wine, we that haunt. limber up for that walk into that I have so many won- to spring training?

Preparing for deer old dudes just get better, There’s a certain your stand as a bracing derful (and infuriating) past season never seems to stop.

It’s a subtle constant all year long. Sometimes it’s just a tug at the back of your brain, other times, the urge to medicate some portion of this whitetail www.harrysmotorsportsonline.com disease grabs you by the harrys_motorsports@yahoo.com shirt and shakes you like Toll Free 877-353-7635 207-764-7180 a dog worrying a dead Fax: 764-2316 woodchuck. Your wife will 640 Main Street Presque Isle, ME tell you to seek therapy; she may not be far off.

By May, I’m out back with a bow anticipating another archery season and trying to turn those winEngineered Roof and Floor Trusses ter rusted skills back into lethal muscle memory. A couple of years ago I had 504 Station Road, Easton, ME 04740 shoulder issues bad enough (207) 488-7740 info@CountyTruss.com for me to leave the bow for a season. I ` Sidewalk Cafe Premium Coppers Lounge Breakfast ~ Lunch ~ Dinner inlostthethecase next two archery Lodging seasons to a long surgery 350 Main Street Presque Isle, ME 04769 and an even longer rehab.

The withdrawal pangs were brutal, I can’t imagine how I survived. This year, my bow will once again go with me into the woods.

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little breeze comes wafting down out of the north at 100mph. Shaving with 50 grit sandpaper must feel a little like this.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Scents

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Post-Script Deer Hunting Fumbles off rubbing my feet. you out of trouble and its camp to wipe it down.

From Pocasset boots When I cycled the All of a sudden, a herd of those two things that my

by Josh Reynolds, Wayne, ME

Except for the 4 years I spent on active duty in the Army, I’ve spent at least a few days in the woods, in Maine every fall, hunting deer. It began in 1982 when I was 10 years old. In all that time, I’ve definitely had my share of fumbles.

Every one was a learning experience, so here’s some of best…or worst.

Cold Feet: I think I was born with cold feet. It is my nemesis. Too many years locked in plastic ski

boots has taken its toll, but my frozen toes go all the way back to my first years in the deer woods. I’ll never forget the time I had perched myself on a cedar blowdown, at the edge of a swamp, looking up into a hardwood ridge. It was a perfect spot to sit on a frigid November morning.

Before long, my toes got so bad that I had to resort to taking my boots off. I had laid my 30/30 next to me on the blow down and had the

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does came blasting down the ridge at me. I stood up, in my socks and reached for the gun that was just out of reach.

There I stood. A Mexican standoff with one hand on the gun and about a dozen eyeballs staring at me at point blank range.

I could have spit on the lead doe. You know how this ends. I made a final move for the gun and they all took off up the ridge. In all the commotion, I just couldn’t pick out one to shoot at. A hard lesson for an eager adolescent.

Gun management: Muzzle discipline is perhaps the most important thing any young hunter has to learn. That, and treat that gun as if its always loaded.

Those two things will keep

father taught us well. I never have a gun in my hand when I’m not thinking those two thoughts. However, that doesn’t mean that I have avoided doing something stupid. I have

pump to open the breach, a round comes flying out of the chamber and lands on the floor as all my hunting brothers look on in dismay and disgust. I remember trying to downplay it at the

In all the commotion, I just couldn’t pick out one to shoot at. A hard lesson for an eager adolescent. inadvertently fired a round into the dirt while ejecting shells from my Marlin 35, only once, but once was bad enough. I was wearing big, bulky gloves and my glove caught the trigger just as I was cycling the lever. Dumb. I have brought a loaded gun into camp. Upon returning to camp from a morning spent trudging through the soaking rain, I brought my Remington 7600 30.06 into

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time out of embarrassment.

Upon reflection, I realized it was a serious safety breach.

Weapon malfunction: Broken firing pin – yup. Jammed semi-auto -yup. Muzzloader misfire – twice. All of these have happened with a deer in the sights.

Range Errors: My freshman year in high school, we moved to a new house surrounded by big fields and lots of deer – paradise. I spent many evenings that November sitting in a blind in one of those fields. The trouble was, the long shot out of that blind, to the corner of the field was damn near 200 yards. Had I ever fired my gun that far to see how much the bullet dropped or if I could even hit a target at that range? No. I’ll blame the old man for that one.

You’d think he would have seen the set up and said, “Hey son, you think you can hit anything at the end of this field.” Another big miss when “The Hartford Elk” came knocking and I clean missed.

When I moved to Vermont in 2002, I took up bow hunting. I started hunting from a ground blind in a friend’s field. Judging bow shooting distances in (Fumbles cont. pg 23)

November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 23

The Full Monty: Bow, Shotgun, Muzzleloader

It’s the best of times and it’s the worst of times.

That’s the way that I describe deer hunting in Massachusetts. This year, bow season everywhere except the very eastern part of the state opened on October 19th and runs until November 28th. That’s a good, long season that encompasses the pre-rut, the rut and possibly post rut.

It’s when bucks are most vulnerable and when does are actively feeding. It is by far my favorite time to hunt, there’s also a decent chance for snow.

I treat the bow season like it’s a marathon, starting slowly, trying to figure out deer patterns, playing the weather and the wind, so as not to burn out my stands before the hunting gets really good in early to mid-November. But that’s not as easy as it sounds.

Early Deer

I’ve always felt that my best chance of shooting any deer is the first time that I hunt that stand. I have a half dozen lock-on stands in place. Some of which are way up on a mountainside,

Fumbles (Cont. from pg 22)

and take a good hour long, tough hike to get too. I’m not as young as I used to be and I haven’t even seen some of these stands in a few years. Most of the time nowadays I use my climbing stand and woodlot hunt.

With the climber I find that I can get higher in the tree and feel safer too. It also prevents anyone from seeing where I hunt as I always pull out my climber every day.

When I finally get good deer sightings on my cameras is when I apply the full court press and hunt all day, (wind direction permitting). This too is getting more difficult. Even though with age I’m getting more patient, with age also comes discomfort and with discomfort comes movement and with movement comes fewer deer sightings. With bow season I’ve always had the philosophy that it’s not how you start but how you finish.

The shotgun season for deer opens this year on November 30th and runs until December 12th. The shotgun season is the complete opposite of the bow yards.

I wish I could say that in nearly 40 years of hunting, those are all my fumbles. Not even close, but they are definitely the ones most remembered.

Here’s to a fumble free season!

an open field is tough. Did I have a range finder? No. Did I go put up some sort of range markers? Well, after missing two deer in as many days (shooting at deer 40 yards out using your 20 yard pin will do Josh Reynolds is the that) I smartened up and assistant editor of The put arrows in the ground Journal. He can be reached to mark off 20, 30 and 40 at jreyn207@gmail.com

season. It is a sprint from a half hour before sunrise to noon the second day. That first morning though, can be pretty exciting as deer are moving everywhere, especially to thick cover.

Fortunately, there’s not half the hunters that there used to be. Back in the day it was a madhouse out there.

Mass Wanderings

by David Willette, N. Adams, MA I truly love opening day, as it can be over quick, I just wish that my chances of scoring didn’t drop off so drastically after a few short hours.

Muzzle-loader season starts on December 14th and runs until January 2nd. This can be a fun

While I truly love opening day, as it can be over quick, I just wish that my chances of scoring didn’t drop off so drastically after a few short hours.

There were so many shots fired that you didn’t think that there were that many deer in the woods, and you could always tell what guys had the doe permits as they always shot first. Nearly 70% of the total gun season kill are killed before noon on the second day and I’ll bet that 75% of those deer are killed before noon on the first day.

Going Nocturnal

But the real problem with that kind of pressure is that the deer instantly become nocturnal. After the first day, I’m no longer getting any daytime pictures of deer. None, all the deer movement is after dark and this makes the deer hunting tough as you need to have guys moving deer and with fewer guys in the woods, well you know the outcome. Plus, its cold. I can remember a few days when the wind-chill was below zero. Last year we had over 20” of snow for opening day and it was still snowing hard into the next day. While

handle pressure. If you hunt them a little too hard, then they just move out to another area and if nobody bothers them then they’ll just stay there. If there’s snow and I’m going into an area for the first time but I see old boot tracks, then I turn around and hunt somewhere else.

All in all, though, the states deer herd is in pretty good shape with a good percentage of deer in each age class. The bow season is getting to be the most popular as two years in a row the bow kill was larger than the gun kill and there are some nice bucks to be found.

time to hunt as the deer seem initially a little more relaxed than they were during shotgun season, but they can be harder to find, especially if there isn’t any snow. But once you find them, you usually find a bunch because they may be David Willette is the starting to yard up. Just be- author of “Coyote Wars”. cause they’re more relaxed, He can be contacted at coydoesn’t mean that they’ll otewasr@gmail.com

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Question Of The Month November 2020

By Richard Hardwood My relationship with Don and Louise at # 9 Lake Outfitters goes back to the Yankee Sportsman show in Essex, VT in January 2017. My wife and I had been considering a bear hunt for a while, however I really wanted to do some homework before we committed to move forward. I had a bad experience on a previous bear hunt back in the early 80’s – simply put our experiences didn’t

Three Times a Charm?

week, was my wife Sandy harvesting a nice bear the last evening weighing in at 187 Lbs. I was so excited for her; more so than I think she was… It was a long night as I had to skin and quarter the bear and pack in coolers, as we had to check out the next morning.

We re-booked for the same week for 2018. I believe Don and Louise

Don arrived a few minutes later, we examined the arrow, which was covered with blood and looked for sign of a blood trail.

come close to the outfitter’s claimed expectations.

After much dialogue back and forth with Don and Louise, I booked with # 9 Lake Outfitters for the second September hunt that year. My wife and I spent that summer preparing for the hunt, as we wanted to harvest a bear with a crossbow. The summer seemed to pass quickly and before we knew, it was time for us to head to Maine for our hunt.

Typically, Don and Louise take 10 hunters per week, and they were at capacity for this year’s hunt.

All were a great group of folks; most were from Alabama and Massachusetts.

The first night, 6 hunters harvested their bear which was really encouraging.

Everyone saw bear that night except for me. As the week progressed, everyone had sighting of bear, however I had not which Don struggled as to why?

He moved me to several different stands, but it just wasn’t meant to be for me to see a bear on this hunt.

The excitement for the

have a fair amount of rebooking from the same clients due to their hunting experiences, good food and hospitality. As the week played out, several bears were harvested and everyone had seen bear, with one exception me….

Don was really getting stressed, concerned why I hadn’t seen a bear. We tried switching stands, did a couple morning watches even an all day watch the last day. No bear sighting.

As with any hunt there are no guarantees and I truly was part of that of that percentage factor. If there is a lesson here, it’s persistence and we re-booked for next year’s opening week hunt.

As 2019 played out, Don and Louise notified us that we would have to take a rain check for the 2019 season due to some health and personal issues they were going through.

Time seems to slip away faster than we think, and the 2020 season was upon us. It was a busy summer for us, and we didn’t get much time for practice with our crossbows. Once you

get comfortable with your weapon it’s like riding a bicycle, it comes back to you instinctively.

We always take a couple days to break up our trip, as it’s a 9-hour drive straight from our home to Bridgewater, Maine. When we arrived and got settled, we met the rest of the group in camp for the week. Majority of them were from Connecticut and Vermont.

The author and Mike Czesnowski with their big bears, both over 500 lbs.

We all had to adjust the post COVID protocols, was awkward at times, but we made do.

As our first night was approaching, I know Don was stressing on what stand he was going to put me on, knowing my luck in past years. I really was indifferent as to what stand I sat in as it really comes down to a crap shoot. Having a shot opportunity at a bear must come naturally and I was ready to just let things happen as they may. Don

decided on placing me in a stand location at the Anderson Farm in Littleton, I immediately recognized this location as I had helped Don bait this sight in years past. I remember a occassion when we pushed a bear out of this site when we baited it a couple years ago.

Rick Wotton recently joined Don’s team. He’s been a licensed Maine guide for some time and recently retired from Smith & Wesson. Rick dropped me

The author’s 517 lb Maine Black Bear taken with a crossbow, a new state record with crossbow. off at the Anderson Farm stand at about 1:45PM for my first watch. Both Rick and Don had shared that the site had been hit hard and they had camera photos of several different bear. I was full of anticipation of what the evening would bring. As I settled in for the evening watch, there was a slight SW wind present, however it was in my favor as it was blowing in my face out towards the cut oat field. The terrain I was hunting was a deep cedar swamp surrounded by oat fields. A portion of the field behind me was cut with the remaining still standing oats.

For nearly 6 hours, I didn’t see much of anything except for an occasional white-headed gray bird that would visit the barrel and steal a donut. As light was starting to fade, I caught a glimpse of black that seemed out of place in the brush. Focusing on it, I saw movement which I knew right away was a (Question cont. pg 34)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Kids in the Outdoors

As an advocate of the outdoors, I would love everyone to have the opportunity to go outside and get away from all those all too consuming electronics… Kids are of course our future and to keep the outdoor sports alive and well, starts with our future conservationist, kiddos!

The joy in having a youngster catch fish or participate

the fact it was a special day between my Dad and me, that’s all and that simple.

This summer I had a déjà vu with my own 15-yearold daughter.

I have two girls of my own, a 12 and an 15 year old. My 15 year old has always shown a passion for fishing and is eager to go anytime, anywhere. My 12 year old however, is

daughter I have ever had.

Driving home that day, we both were tired, happy and feeling very content. What really caught me off guard is what she said to me in front of my 15- yearold a couple of days later.

She said, “Daddy, I don’t care for fishing that much” me; “ I thought you had a blast and enjoyed fishing?”

Amanda then said, “I had

Page 25

Maine Outdoor Adventure

enjoy the area! If you run into a Maine guide don’t be afraid to ask for some pointers or tips. They are generally more than happy to help people out who enjoy the sport, especially kids!

by Rich Yvon, Bradford, ME owners. Spending time outdoors can make some of the best memories. So what are you waiting for? Get out and take a youngster along for the ride today, it could change their life forever leaving everlasting positive

We spent the day on the water laughing, joking and telling stories. I have to admit, it was one of the best days together with my daughter I have ever had.

The author’s daughter, Amanda.

(Photo by Rich Yvon.) in the outdoors is a reward that is priceless for both child and mentor. A simple walk in nature to appreciate trees, squirrels or even frogs, is all that’s needed to get kids outside and aware of the natural world we live in.

Getting Started... fishing with a kid can be simple, fun and inexpensive!

What I tell adults in general is that children, more importantly, want your undivided attention when you have your fishing adventure. Catching lots of fish is always fun but not a necessary element in making a positive, memorable experience for a youngster. I can remember like it was yesterday when my own Dad took me fishing.

It’s a funny thing because what sticks out in my mind was the car ride. I believe what we caught were some blue gill. It didn’t matter what size, how many fish or anything like that. It was

very different and always wants to do whatever my 15- year- old and I do! So this year I asked my youngest…”Want to go fishing?”

She replied, YES!! Smiling at me whole-heartedly. So we both headed out on our special day and honestly I thought to myself, this girl loves to go fishing!

We spent the day on the water laughing, joking and telling stories. I have to admit, it was one of the best days together with my

a great time… it’s because I just like spending time with you.”

Talk about having the tables turn… I will never forget the special day as long as I live.

Kids are only young once so spend time with a kid! Take a Kid fishing!

Where to go?

In Maine and many other states, boat launch areas have been transformed into park like settings that include not only launching a boat but also swimming, fishing and picnicking!

Usually, there is always room for fishers alongside the launch as well. These areas are multi use to be shared with the general public. Common courtesy goes both ways so all can

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Rich also guides hunting and recreation adventures.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 26

Pumped

(Cont. ftom pg 20) like doing a years’ worth of homework and getting your setup right, getting your stand or blind in the perfect spot, having that deer walk

into range… magical.

I try to think about the shot afterward and it’s always the same: I can barely remember the act of drawing the bow and there’s never a memory of the release; all of sud-

den the arrow is simply gone, the deer is down, and you’re left feeling a little amazed that the whole process works as well as it does. If you’re a passionate bow hunter you already know how invaluable 3D

shooting is to maintaining form and function.

Every Sunday, somewhere in New England, there is a 3D shoot taking place.

You make new friends; you learn something new every week; …whether you want

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to or not.

By August, the deer rifles have all been taken out and checked and rechecked. New scopes attached or maybe a new peep sight. New rounds have been bought and fired, and then fired some more. Arrows bought and fletched, new strings and cables for your bow this year, perhaps? Broadheads are sharpened, the day pack recharged; the favorite knife gets a new edge.

Topo maps are marked with new locations. Stands and blinds are all brushed in.

Everything is ready... or is it? Quick, start over!

I’m pumped. I’m excited. A new deer season is here and the possibilities are limitless. It’s a brave new world. Get out in the woods and make some memories.

Mike Maynard is a part time farmer, grandfather of several and an incorrigible water logged stream rat, and briar scarred covert crawler. He lives in Perham, Maine and can be reached at: perhamtrout@gmail.com

Deer

(Cont. from pg 16) ments in lever gun technology, the versatility and comfort of a lever action carbine is hard to beat in the thick timber and brush.

When speed and follow up are crucial in the deer woods I hunt, I’ll grab my lever guns every time.

John is a Registered Maine Guide, an NRA Certified Instructor and is the owner of Tucker Ridge Outdoors in Webster Plantation, Maine. He also works as an outdoors writer and can be reached at john@ tuckerridge.me or on Facebook @writerjohnfloyd

November 2020

Letters

(Cont. from pg 8) woods Sporting Journal, a regular columnist, Randy Spencer, wrote a column titled “Sorry, we’re open” regarding a trip he recently took to a “wilderness campground” in the Maine woods. Mr. Spencer’s first complaint is that upon arrival at the campground, he discovers that between the cabin he has rented and the lake, “there was an RV park”. Mr. Spencer makes note that nowhere on the campground’s website did he find such a picture that would suggest that he would have this for a view.

Mr. Spencer did not happen to mention that most campers are on wheels and the view he experienced may not be the same view the next time he were to visit.

Mr. Spencer also fails to mention that most of those camper owners have paid for either the total season or at the very least a partial season. This is what makes up the Wilderness Campground owners bread and butter for income. a long weekend or even a week stay, while very important, is only a small part of what makes ends meet.

The second complaint Mr. Spencer registered was the lack of running water inside the cabin, yet just outside was a hose and spigot that provided running water, while the generator was on. At this point, I feel the desire to reiterate that this is a log cabin at a wilderness campground in the Maine woods. Mr. Spencer makes note that he is used to living a lifestyle that does not require all the amenities of the front country to be happy. If this is the case, I wonder why it is then that Mr. Spencer, a “Practicing

Northwoods Sporting Journal Maine Guide”, would find it necessary to utilize his column in the NWSJ to speak poorly about a business that utilizes the same great outdoors that his industry does. Would it not have been much simpler to fill a couple of pots of water while the generator was running and have them in reserve for when it was not running and rest easy all day long?

The third complaint Mr. Spencer registers is without a doubt, in my opinion, the most egregious to be making as one points a finger in this situation. why, you might ask? It involves being safe on the water. Renting a boat from the location one is staying at is never a bad thing.

It saves wear and tear on your own equipment on the rough roads that Mr. Spencer spoke about earlier in the article and it puts an extra dollar or two in the pocket of the outfitter. Being a “Practicing Maine Guide”, Mr. Spencer knows that canoes do not make money sitting still on a trailer.

The problem is that Mr. Spencer makes note that all he and his wife are supplied with for personal flotation devices are two

warn looking “wearables”.

Mr. Spencer claims that they appear incapable of being able to “float themselves”. Mr. Spencer then goes on to make note of the boat’s 9.9 horse motor and how it would “take all day to cross the lake and back”.

The problem lies is this simple fact and in this fact alone...Mr. Spencer and Mr. Spencer alone was responsible for deeming that watercraft safe for operation and its personal flotation devices sufficient and legal for use. I am an avid outdoorsman and a former backcountry instructor. I do not have all the answers to life’s persistent questions, I do not have the experience that much older Maine Guides have. But I do know that if i am leaving home and i plan to be on the water, I pack my own, properly fitting and in good working order, PFD. Why Mr. Spencer, “a Practicing Maine Guide” would rather badmouth a Wilderness Campground for having a lackluster inventory of PFD’s (which I am sure they are tired of having to replace due to sticky fingers) as opposed to simply chalking this particular trip up to things

Page 27

yet to be learned (even for the well seasoned outdoorsman) is beyond me.

It occurs to me that the outdoor sporting industry has enough enemies and hills to climb in its hunting and fishing future.

If a perfect view, indoor plumbing, proper flotation, a faster boat and electricity without interruption is what you require for a weekend getaway, perhaps, Mr. Spencer, a

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Page 28

Hunter

(Cont. from pg 19) with the other hunters in the party and collected as much information as we could. We learned that the lost hunter was dressed for walking, and not for spending a night in the woods as he was wearing blue jeans and a light jacket. There was over two feet of snow on the ground at the time, which made walking difficult but tracking easier. Just like tracking a big buck, I set off by myself on the hunter’s tracks.

After a mile or two of tracking the hunter, I came out on the frozen Aroostook River. It was

bitterly cold, but a bright, full moon aided the search as I could see a long distance in both directions. I knew the cold air and the river would carry my voice and I began shouting for the hunter. In the swirling winds I heard the faint echo of a response. The wind can play tricks on you, but I felt confident that I had a good compass bearing on the voice in the darkness.

I recalled a quote from a veteran game warden when asked if he was ever scared when walking out in the woods at dark. The game warden calmly replied back “Sir, we are the things that go bump in the night”.

I followed my com-

November 2020

Maine’s Biggest Buck

pass bearing through the thick softwood cover near the river and the steep, uneven terrain until I smelled wood smoke. The hunter had luckily brought fire making equipment and had made a small fire to stay warm and thaw his frozen, stiff jeans. A long walk back out of the woods concluded this search and the hunter was met by his appreciative family and friends. It is always great when these missions end successfully. It was a late Thanksgiving night, but Maine’s record buck was taken in 1955 and everyone had lots to be field-dressed at 355 lbs! Known as the “Hinckley Buck,” thankful for as we returned this state whitetail record still stands, 65 years later. home.

Read about that memorable day near Fletcher Mountain on the Northwoods Sporting Journal’s new website: www.sportingjournal.com. Click on “Hunting.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 29

Pre-season Maintenance Time

me fill up fast with preseason work.

Your snowmobile owner’s manual will have both a maintenance section and a pre-ride inspection section for you to use as a reference and guide. I recommend reading these sections to familiarize yourself with everything that you should be checking. If

The Trail Rider

by Rod Fraser, Hyde Park, MA are working properly. If you have a Ride Light signaling system, make sure that is operating properly and replace the backup battery if needed.

Make sure you check

minimum thickness that you should check. Consult your owner’s manual for this information and if you are nearing minimum thickness, I would recommend putting a new belt

When checking your suspension, make sure bogey wheels freely rotate and do not feel like they are grinding at all. If they feel like they are not easily rotating freely, order replacements, and change them out. you do not have a copy of your sled’s owners manual, check online. I have a hard copy but have also downloaded my owner’s manual to my computer from the Polaris website. This article touches on some of the key Get your sleds ready with some preseason items to check but is not maintenance. It won’t be long now. an exhaustive checklist so I have to admit that I mechanical, I recommend again, consult your manual. am already getting the itch using the dealership.

There are a number to get my sled out for a ride.

If you want your lo- of maintenance items that After the year of COVID, cal dealer to do the work, are very easy to do such as self-quarantine, working call NOW if you haven’t checking your headlights from home and no travel- already. The dealers around and taillights to ensure they ing, I am ready to break free and ride my machine without being hassled by the man! But before we get out on the trails, we should all do our preseason maintenance. Having a sled breakdown on the trails is not a way to enjoy your riding season.

Whether you do the maintenance yourself or have it done by a snowmobile mechanic at your local shop, it pays, in the long run, to get it done. I usually alternate doing it myself some years and if I am just too busy, dropping my Switchback off at my local snowmobile dealership for preseason maintenance.

This year, I am opting to have the dealership do the maintenance. If you are not

and top off all fluids including the coolant, chaincase oil, brake fluid, injection oil, and engine oil. If you are unsure how to check these, consult your owners manual.

Check your clutch and belt. The clutch should be clean. The belt has a

on. Changing the belt now sure beats changing it out on the trail.

Look over your engine and exhaust to make sure everything looks good and there are no broken or loose mounting brackets or bolts.

(Time cont. pg 47)

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Page 30

Me & Joe

(Cont. from pg 7) brought with you…” The scowl began to turn into a lecherous smile as he took in Irmalene’s trim figure.

“Someone who knows a crackpot when she smells one,” Irmalene shot back, nose wrinkling in disgust.

Instantly, Lunge’s threatening demeanor returned

and he took a step forward.

Irmalene ignored him and turned toward Joe. “What in the world are you doing with these idiots?” A mutter of disapproval came from the pack of girls but Joe just smiled rapturously.

“You just fail ta see the true light, Irmalene,” he crooned in a singsong voice. “The Master is

Central Maine Region

showin’ me the true way.

I’m home at last!”

Lunge stepped between them. “This has gone on long enough,” he growled.

“Joe, ring the chimes!

We will go to our cabins.

When we come out, I expect you to be gone!”

Joe lifted the rock maple club, but Irmalene moved even faster. Snatching the club from Joe’s hand, she swung on Lunge.

“I’ll ring your chimes, you faker!” In a vicious

overhand arc, she brought the hardwood stick down on Sherbert Lunge’s head.

A loud “gong!” sounded, as the club came in contact with the metal plate. The Master sat down abruptly.

I stared at the scene in consternation. Glancing at Joe, I saw the same rapturous look was still on his face, but as his eye caught mine I was astounded to see his left eyelid close and then open in a slow wink.

Irmaline was standing over Sherbert Lunge, the

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“We’re taking Joe out of here,” she spat at him.

Looking at the cowed girls she continued. “And if I were you, I’d quit playing wood nymphs and get back to school where you belong. And as for you,” she turned again to Lunge, whose eyes seemed to have lost their wild look. “If I ever catch you fooling around with any of my friends again, I’ll make your head ring so often it’ll sound like a wind chime in a hurricane! Come on Joe!” She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him off toward the trail to town.

I followed slowly after.

Behind us, I could hear Sherbert Lunge saying in a tentative voice: “Where am I? Who are you young ladies and why are you dressed like that? And what is that disgusting smell coming from this pot?”

Irmalene was stalking along beside Joe, pulling him by the hand. “Honestly, Joe,” She was saying crossly, “you take things so seriously. I’m taking you home and you’re getting out of that silly gettup!”

“Yes, Irmalene.” Joe looked surreptitiously over his shoulder at me, grinning widely.”

“I don’t know if I dare go back to college or not. I’d have to hire you a keeper. You two are coming over to the house when we get back and we’ll get some partridge stew into you.

It’ll take a week to clear out those Lima beans.”

“Yes, Irmalene…”

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November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Ode to Roger, the Artful Dodger

than a dozen or so salmon of ten pound each anyway, hung-up vertically on meat hooks, no less! Holy mackeral! I couldn’t believe it!

But there they were! Wow! Then Harold began to tell me about the “catch-in” of these “blacks” –just out back and up river. This was the first time I’d ever heard

I left the store and went up the street to get a room at Ma Sawyer’s, got a bite to eat, and hustled back down to the store-only to learn that Harold couldn’t go fishing that night, but his brother, Roger, was going to take me up the river instead.

Roger Wakefield with two landlocked salmon.

(Photo by Bob Leeman) It’s funny how I hap- began to exclaim about pened to meet Roger. I was the fantastic fly casting for about this “special season” peddling cigarettes and Atlantic salmon right out on “kypes” returning to sea tobacco for an out-of-state behind the market. A peek in the spring, after migratcompany and was calling out the back window, and ing to spawn the previous on retail stores and outlets there, sure enough, was the fall season.

Downeast along Route 1 at Pleasant River!

Black salmon, so the time, in the early 1960s.

It was the month of called, begin their journey That particular day, I May and the fish were biin spring, as adults, and enstopped in a grocery store, tin’! Of course, I began to which had a long sign wonder what the heck he posted outside that said was chatting about. Come “WAKEFIELD’S MAR- to find out, he was excited KET”. The proprietor, about the “special season” Harold Wakefield, was a for black salmon heading peach of a guy, as most back to sea. Then he comDowneasters are, and quite menced to take me to his an outdoorsman and fisher- store walk-in meat cooler man. I learned this shortly in the back of the store, after I nearly had set up one where he showed me more of my displays prominently on his counter.

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“Just Fishing”

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This unusual spring “fly fishing only” special

season lasted only a few years in this Downeast river named the Pleasant, and it was more than a pleasant time of early spring fishing for many flyrodders that came from far off places to try their luck.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Singing Maine Guide

by Randy Spencer, Grand Lake Stream, ME Yo u ’ r e t r u d g i n g through the woods, front loaded and top heavy with a rifle you’re carrying at port arms. Unbeknown to you, the heel of your left boot pins down a spruce twig, the other end of which catches the toe of your right boot when you

the day, and possibly for the season? Probably. Do you need help? Got your cell phone? Is there any signal? Did you tell someone where you’d be hunting before you left? These are the moments when our unpreparedness comes home to roost. In a split

Buddy Up

the fall will occur because of the lack of a safety harness. A likely and common occurrence here is that one leg goes through the ladder because of a slippery step, you reach to grab something and miss, then finally fall from the stand but not before breaking your leg in the rungs of the ladder.

Great stuff, eh? All this talk of tragedy as we prepare to enter our sanctuaries of fall can really

I would submit, that besides letting someone know our intended whereabouts for a day of hunting, that we should buddy up for the installation of deer stands. Putting them up, after all, is far more dangerous than sitting in one.

go to step forward. Buddy, you’re going down! At one time or another, it happens to all of us who log miles in the fall woods each year.

If you’re lucky, you have a soft landing on a cushion of sphagnum moss. If you’re not so lucky, you go down on your shoulder or elbow on a rock outcropping that sends a sharp-edged bolt of pain rifling through your body.

Are you hurt? Do you know in that instant whether your hunt can continue or whether it has ended for

second, with a seemingly inconsequential misstep, you can really get into a lot of trouble in the woods.

Then, there’s the various types of deer stands and the perils that each individual one brings. Whatever those perils are, they end in a fall. You could argue that once in a while someone who is wearing a safety harness has put it on wrong and, having fallen, is hopelessly suspended in mid air with no means of getting down. It has happened. But more likely,

throw a monkey wrench into our feelings of anticipation. So why bring it up?

I’ll tell you why…

In my line of work, most of my friends and acquaintances are sportsman of one stripe or another.

Some are waterfowlers who love nothing more than sitting in a blind behind several rafts of decoys before first light. Other’s live for chasing the varying hare behind beagles in the fall and late winter when there’s a snow cover and it’s quiet enough to hear every bay as the dog brings the rabbit full circle for a shot. I’ve got more

and more turkey hunting chums these days as those populations explode all over Maine. And there’s a legion of upland bird hunters and deer hunters whom I call friends.

Among them, there have been tragedies and close calls, incidents and accidents that one can only hope to learn from. One guy is blind today because during a turkey hunt, his chum unknowingly fired a load of #6 shot in his direction. He happened to be looking right into the line of fire and lost his sight because of it. Though he’s been forgiven many times over, his companion will live with this for the rest of his life. As if the point needed any further proving, not long after that horrible event, another fellow I know swung on a partridge only to see his son, walking closer than he was

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November 2020

supposed to, hit the deck and narrowly miss being blinded or killed himself.

In anguish, he put the gun away and didn’t hunt for the rest of that season.

We all champion the buddy system for certain outdoor activities, like snowmobiling for example.

I would submit, that besides letting someone know our intended whereabouts for a day of hunting, that we should buddy up for the installation of deer stands.

Putting them up, after all, is far more dangerous than sitting in one. If you’ve got a buddy spotting you, or holding the rope, or handing you things, the chances of misadventure are vastly reduced.

In my circles of aging outdoorsmen, new dangers present themselves that were never dreamed of when joints were limber and movements agile. One of these–falling asleep on the deer stand–and both funny and treacherous.

Simply attach the body harness to the overhead loop tied around the tree, and go ahead and have a nap. You may be surprised by what you see when you wake up, provided you haven’t put the whole township on alert with loud snoring.

Bottom line: please be careful! Safety first.

Buddy up. And look out for each other. The quality, and longevity of your outdoor life is at stake.

November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal Guns & Ammo:

Best Bear Guns

As I write this, the baiting season for bear is at the end. It has been a fantastic year. My clients/ guests never disappoint with a very interesting mix of guns and calibers. I will list them below. I will also focus on the bullet performance of a few of them. I am thrilled to say that there were no lost bears. I am also thrilled to report that our helper/associate, Evan, has turned into a blood hound of a tracker. High praise for a 16 year -old.

Here is the list of calibers. .280 Remington .450 Bushmaster 12 gauge shotgun(2) .30/30 Winchester(2) .30/60 Springfield(2) .308 Winchester(2) .44 Magnum .375 Winchester As many of you may remember, I do a necropsy on every bear to determine the caliber/bullet performance. I would like to focus on the 3 following calibers/gauges: 1. The .280 Remington. You may recall, I prefer a .30 cal. minimum for bear over bait. However, that is a suggestion and some folks are most comfortable with their favorite rifle. In this case, the hunter was very experienced and competent with this rifle. He put one round into the lungs and far shoulder. He was able to follow up with a second round at a hard quartering away angle, putting a

second hole through the lungs and back hip. Neither of the rounds exited the animal, one fragmented in the lungs, the other was mushroomed to about .45 caliber found in the fat on the back. Fortunately, this animal died next to the bait barrel. There were no exit holes and no blood trail.

The rounds were 165 gr.

Corloct, traveling at 2820 fps with 2913 ft. lbs of energy.

2. The next was a 12 gauge Federal 2 ¾” rifled slug from a steep angle.

The hunter made a high shoulder shot with a quartering toward body angle.

The 437 gr slug damaged the spine causing a big hole in the shoulder blade with an exit low in the rib cage. There was massive bleeding, liquified lungs and the bear never took a step. Great performance.

The Federal Power Shock 2 ¾” slug was traveling at 1610 fps and 2518 ft lbs of energy. What a sledgehammer.

3. The next highlighted caliber is the .450 Bushmaster. This is the first opportunity I have had to examine the actual terminal performance of this round.

The round my guest was using was a Hornady 250 gr. FTX round. The shot resulted in a dead bear within 20 yards. The performance was, however, the opposite of what would be optimal for a bear cartridge. The

projectile has a polymer tip, but is essentially a hollow point. The entry wound was very large and good shot placement destroyed both lungs. My concern with this performance was that the exit wound was very small and looks like it was made by the bullet core. Optimal performance would have been a .45 caliber entry and a large exit wound after controlled expansion.

Page 33

A Guide’s Perspective

by Tom Kelly, Orient, ME

coil and great bear hunting ballistics. Hornady 250 gr.

FTX 2200 fps and 2686 ft lbs of energy. We now only need a controlled expansion bear bullet. I hope the ammo manufacturers are listening. I would like to thank some folks for our very successful

at Seider’s Variety Store in Hodgdon for checking in our bears. Reliability is vital for checking stations.

These two establishments do what they say and deliver excellent service.

Please remember, take your family hunting and fishing and come see us at

Great performance. The Federal Power Shock 2 ¾” slug was traveling at 1610 fps and 2518 ft lbs of energy. What a sledgehammer.

In my humble opinion, this could be achieved with a well constructed 250 to 300 gr. jacketed softpoint with a large flat meplat to facilitate controlled expansion. I am currently working with this same hunter to come up with exactly this combo. I know, I know, the bear was dead within 20 yards. However, the blood trail was not what you would have expected from a double lung pass through. If the shot was less than perfect, we could have lost the bear in the swamp.

I really like this caliber. It is versatile and can be used in multiple rifle platforms.

It has very reasonable re-

bear season. Thank you Wilderness Freaks for the best attractant scents on the market. Thank you to Double Tracks Bear Bait in Masardis Maine for great bear bait. Thanks to Evan Cruz and Bob Draper as well as my lovely wife, Ellie. This success would not be possible without you. I must also thank my clients/ guests for their enthusiasms and patience. You are what makes it worthwhile.

I also was fortunate to meet the new owners of Mac’s Trading Post in Houlton while checking in bears.

They are very accommodating and pleasant folks.

Thanks also to the folks

the lake.

Tom is a Registered Maine Guide. He is the owner/operator of Shamrock Outfitters in Orient Maine with his wife Ellie.

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 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.

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT!

At camp, this guy and his gundog - after a morning of chasing pa’tridge - found a comfy place to spend some time with their favorite read, the Northwoods Sporting Journal.

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

Page 34

Question

(Cont. from pg 24) bear. As it walked up out of the brush, I said to my self this is defiantly a shooter, and when it exposed its entire body, I knew it was a big bear. It had to walk about 20 yards toward the bait barrel before I had a shot opportunity. He took his time approaching the barrel, and finally offered me a shot which I took at 25 yards. The shot was a complete pass-through as I watched my lighted nock land about 20 feet opposite of where he stood. He made a loud huff and whirled around running directly away from me bearing to the left of where he first come from.

I was totally stoked as I nervously texted my guide Rick. When he arrived, I shared the details of my shot and were I had last seen him. Don arrived a few minutes later, we examined the arrow, which was covered with blood and looked for sign of a blood trail. We found a few drops of blood however it

Northwoods Sporting Journal

wasn’t enough to continue following right away, so we opted to back out and give the situation more time.

As it turned out one of the other hunters (Mike Czesnowski) had just texted Don saying he had just shot a big bear. After his guide (Bob) texted Don sharing that they need more help as he confirmed it was too much bear for three men to recover from the woods.

We all collectively went to help Don and Bob extract this bear to transport it the weighing/reporting station.

Retrieving this bear was quite a process, one that I have never witnessed in my hunting career. The bear was mammoth in size, it was decided that we would have to use a technique used in extracting moose.

Essentially, we had to cut a swath in the woods large enough to get a large ice fishing sled through, attaching a block & tackle pulley on one truck, and tying a one-inch rope to another truck to pull. As the truck pulled the sled, we all helped steer it through the twisted trail eventu-

ally getting it to an area to load. It took eight men to lift and load this bear on Don’s Tacoma truck.

Everyone discussed what this bear might weigh, all we did know for sure it was the biggest bear that Don and Louise had ever witnessed taken at camp in over the past twelve years.

Mike’s bear weighed in live weight at 545 lbs., dressed weight 494 lbs. Everyone was elated and happy for Mike as it was a real trophy.

When we finished and got back to the lodge it was 10:30 p.m.

Don and Rick and I felt we had given my bear 3 plus hours and decided to go back out to my stand and resume looking for it.

We picked up the blood trail where we left it and searched another 30 minutes for blood. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any more blood sign, so we opted to come back in the morning when it was light and continue the search.

It was 12:30 when we got back to the lodge, and Don wasn’t very optimistic in recovering my bear.

He shared that he’s never found a bear the following day if it wasn’t recovered the night of the kill. As a bowhunter, I always err on the side of optimism.

Having reviewed the film footage of my Tacacam, the shot placement appeared to be a lethal liver hit. Several of the hunters in camp agreed with me after viewing the footage.

The plan was all the hunters in camp offered to help look and recover my bear in the morning. I was totally grateful for everyone collectively willing to help with the search the next day. It was going to be a sleepless night for me, having to wrestle with this situation on my mind.

The next morning, we all left at about 8:30 a.m. to go look for the bear.

Collectively, we all anticipated that this bear was hit through the liver and due to the excessive fat, the arrow entry most likely closed at entry and exit of the bear, thus bleeding internally. We all spaced ourselves approximated 30 yards apart and walked in the direction of where we thought the bear may have fled. It was very thick as the woods and overgrowth made it difficult to see very far. After about 30 minutes one of the hunters (Charlie Duffy) yelled “hey guys, I found the bear”. Hearing that brought so much relief and stress off my shoulders.

After three years, I finally have harvested a bear. I had no clue initially what kind of bear he was until I put my eyes on him for the first time. He was enormous, and everyone having insight as to what a 500 lb. bear looks like from the evening before, knew this bear was going to similar in weight to Mike’s bear.

We used the same extracting process as we did to recover Mike’s bear the previous evening. When we got him the to the edge of the oat field, the farmer of Anderson Farms (Dan Corie) met with us to congratulate me on the harvest.

He shared that he had sighting of him as bear’s do considerable crop damage foraging on the oats. We took him to Henderson & Son’s to report the harvest and get an official weigh-in.

My bear tipped the scales at 517 Lbs. live weight and 474 Lbs. dressed. To say that I was excited would be an understatement, I still pinch myself to confirm this experience was reality. Later that day one of the hunters in our group

November 2020 (Ray) shared “I think you may have broken the current Maine record for black bear with a crossbow”. After reviewing the recorded records online, it appears he was correct. It showed the current record for black bear harvested in Maine with a crossbow at 432.2 lbs. taken in 2010 by Marc Caplan in Ornville, Maine.

I contacted the Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife the following day to inquire about the process to report a potential record black bear harvest. Two game wardens, officers O’leary and Mathews met with me and Rick at Henderson & Sons that afternoon to speak with me and witness the bear. Officer O’Leary gave me a contact at their headquarters in Augusta to contact for next steps in the process.

In closing, I can’t say enough about # 9 Lake Outfitters, they work hard to at least get you an opportunity for a potential bear harvest. They are great people, speak straight and provide outstanding hospitality and good eats.

Accommodations are comfortable and clean, which is indicative of why we re-booked with them again for a 4th time. You may not harvest a bear on your first hunt, however I’m a firm believer in persistence and keeping faith. Harvesting a bear was my only goal, harvesting a potential Maine record is certainly an unexpected bonus. In keeping with the theme of my story, hunting is unpredictable and there’s several factors that must align for a successful outcome.

For me 3 times is a Charm!

Richard Harwood lives in Peru, New York.

November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Up **** Creek, With A Paddle

As we hauled the canoe down the bank, a hare, his breakfast rudely interrupted, came crashing out of a blackberry thicket. Hare season was now open, but I looked

ing stretch of water, which snakes through the farm country of Central Maine.

The sun was just starting to break the treeline in a pinkish hue when we slid the canoe into the creek

ing to the anticipation.

After feasting in the apple orchards and squash fields all night, the deer would now be returning to the woods. They would digest their meals and

As we neared a sharp bend in the creek, a late woodcock whistled overhead, and the wind suddenly shifted to the east. It was then that we smelled it. Pungent and musky, the reek of a rutting buck was unmistakable. down to remind myself that I was carrying a .30-06 rifle and not my old, rusty 12 gauge; I figured that a 180 grain Remington CoreLokt round might be a bit too much for the bunny. It was early in the third week of the 2018 deer season and my buddy, Sully, and I were preparing to float a promis-

somewhere west of I-95.

We had packed thermoses of coffee, an ample supply of LaBree’s donuts, safety gear, a spare paddle, a fresh box of ammo, our rifles, and high hopes. Several deer had daringly sprinted across the road in front of my truck during the drive in that morning, only add-

snooze, allowing the morning sun to warm their hides.

Then they would likely bed down with their backs facing the creek, since predators rarely come from the water. And that’s exactly how our plan would all come together - we would silently float up to an unsuspecting, big-racked

Page 35

Maine Tails

By Jonah Paris, Scarborough, ME buck. I could already hear the sizzle of venison steaks and onions frying in butter.

By eight o’clock, we had jumped a flock of mallards and a pair of mergansers, then proceeded to anger the resident beaver family with our encroachment. As a school of suckers raced out from the shallows, a partridge flushed from a fallen birch tree.

A short distance downstream, we drifted by a lethargic snapping turtle - one of those prehistoric beasts that looks like it could effortlessly swallow a small child. As the sun rose higher, the crows croaked and cawed at us,

announcing our presence to the world. It puzzles me how disruptive one can be in nature while trying to remain invisible.

Despite no deer sightings, sign was abundant.

Tracks of all sizes littered the muddy banks and crisscrossed the sandbars - from the little heart-shaped prints of the does and yearlings, to the big, nearly square ones of the mature bucks.

From the canoe, we could pick out the occasional rubline winding through the dense alders and the beaten paths left in the cattails.

At one point, I needed to stretch my legs and hopped (Paddle cont. pg 39)

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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

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 36

November 2020

Northwoods Deer Huntin’ Yarns than skill. My Dad that 99 percent of a deer they were successful, or Sketchbook luck often said that the secret to

by Mark McCollough, Hampden, ME

Tales of deer hunting success and failures will be told, embellished, and retold at hunting camps across New England this autumn. We will recollect hunting days of yore. The missed shots. Dragging a buck off the back side

patch or dragging a gourd or some edible roots out of the woods. We can envision animated hunters through the ages, some draped in bison or bear skins, reenacting their hunts in front of the campfire. Were these theatrical performances to

success at deer hunting was “being at the right place at the right time.” We hunters have our superstitions and secret rituals that we dare not tell anyone. Like wearing the same lucky hunting hat for decades.

Using Grandpa’s wellworn rifle that killed the buck that hangs over the mantle. Putting a special

hunting day is spent in a monotonous psychological condition. In an ice-cold rain and soaked to the skin hunting can be more about endurance than the thrill of the chase. But ah that one percent, at the pinnacle of the hunt when a buck

not. I learned their morals and hunting values. Why didn’t they shoot at the running buck? How did they successfully track of the mortally wounded deer at night? How did the buck behave when it caught the scent of Uncle Bill? Why

There I was, sitting on the granite boulder in McRae’s swamp. You know the one. Where Uncle Don shot that 8-point buck. When I heard a stick snap, and this deer come sneakin’ along through the cedars…

of the mountain. Retelling tales about our hunting companions, uncles, grandfathers, fathers, that have gone to the happy hunting grounds. A dram or two of “snakebite” will awaken stories that were long forgotten, and we will spin yarns long into night.

Who can sleep anyway on the eve of the first day of deer season?

I reckon hunters have been telling stories since hunting began. After all, it would be difficult to tell a captivating story about sneaking up on a blueberry

entertain, relive the thrill of the hunt, teach young hunters, or to impress the cave ladies? Or maybe a little of all these things?

Spinning a good yarn is an appreciated skill.

Hunting tales were retold in the flickering shadows of the campfire to honor the wild and free spirits of the mammoths, aurochs, and reindeer they hunted. Most hunters today continue to show great admiration and reverence for the deer they hunt. Dyed-in-the-wool hunters will acknowledge that success is as much

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bullet in the chamber of the rifle. Dobbing blood on the nose of a first-time hunter and cutting his or her shirttail off after they miss their first deer. I like the idea that hunting is steeped in tradition and mystery, luck and superstition.

It’s OK to stretch the truth…a bit anyway. Some aboriginal hunting cultures wove fiction into their tales lest they offend the spirits of the animals they hunted. Early humans knew things about animals and their spirits that we’ve long forgotten. Many cultures believed that honoring their quarry in story would guarantee hunting luck for the next day. Some even had a secret hunting language to guarantee magical luck during the hunt. The hunting gods and animal spirits determined whether a hunter would be successful or starve. We modern hunters still have our secret language as well; special names given to our rifles, traditional hunting grounds, and ancient stags that escape the nimrods season after season.

Hunting stories have always entertained. I admit

These big Maine bucks are the stuff of tall tales, especially at deer camp. unexpectedly materializes out of nowhere. That’s what we live for and will provide fodder for a new hunting tale. We formulate the telling of a new saga with every heavy step of the long drag back to camp.

How will I set the scene?

What great obstacles did I overcome? What lessons did I learn to teach the new hunters at camp? We can’t wait for the end of the day when the time is just right, after the table is cleared, dishes washed, and our favorite Scotch in hand, when the tales of the day will flow like pure poetry.

Hunting tales are a way to learn about hunting. As a novice hunter, I felt privileged to be let into the secret fraternity of the elders at hunting camp. Their stories were meant for me as much as to rekindle the bonds of hunting camp. I learned why

did Granddad stop still hunting and begin tracking as soon as the snow began to accumulate?

But nowadays, we shy from telling our deer hunting fables in front of our non-hunting friends, who feign boredom or ascribe boorishness to the ardent storyteller. Hunting tales are best appreciated among friends (and maybe immediate family) who understand why we wake at an ungodly hour and shiver in a deer stand until long after the sun sets. By the end of the deer season, we are as exhausted as the rut-ragged bucks that we chased.

Our desire to tell a good hunting story is an instinct that goes back to the dawn of humanity.

Looking back on all the hunting stories I heard and told, I realize that there is (Yarns cont. pg 59)

November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 37 in Maine 16 Quebec/Maine river 17 Bird hunter’s assistant

Dominic Allot of the United Kingdom has discovered Maine smallmouth bass and pike fishing, and hopes to take up residence in Maine. He lives in Hudson and fished alot with his father as a child in the UK. This smallie from the Penobscot tipped the scales at almost 7 lbs! The state smallmouth record is 8 lbs.

Across 1 Baxter State Park mountain 3 Baker ---, Saint John River 4 Dover-Foxcroft county

Down 1 White --- Mountain Trail, Greenville 2 Type of bluebird 3 Flashlight energy sources vital in camps 5 Fishing and camping pond aka Lake Winnecook 6 Pygmy ---, like a mole 8 Can mean you’re going to get wet out there 9 Fishing tool 10 Goose --- Mountain 12 Labrador ---, peatland herb which some drink 14 --- squirrel 7 Duck, or down?

8 Poisonous swamp-dwell- 15 Penobscot pond sounds like it could be boiled ing tree (Answers on pg 41) 11 The wild variety is often sown 13 One of about 24 billion

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 38

On The Prowl

November 2020

Friend’s First Bow Deer

with his bow I knew we had to trek a few hundred

by Justin Merrill, yards to set up among a Cherryfield, ME large blow-down overlookAmid all of this cra- studying the travel patterns ing a river crossing. On the ziness surrounding the and now have a pretty good walk in he’s whispering to epidemic, a reprieve does handle on where the deer me, “how much further? I exist. Get together with a will be at any given time thought we were just going friend and go hunting to of the day. I guaranteed to a blind not far away. I get away from it all. All the Thunder a deer sighting. can’t go far”. I assured him city smog and chaos of the I was quite confident. On it’s not much farther. Upon world does not exist in the On the drive to the hunting spot, secluded forest. One aspect sort of jokingly, I told Thunder that of hunting that stands out he was going to harvest his first deer beyond the shooting of any animal so happens to be the with a bow. It was going to happen, bonding among friends.

I told him.

For Thunder Flick Jr. and I, it did not matter if we the drive to the hunting arriving at the large white shot a deer on opening day. spot, sort of jokingly, I told pine tree that fell down The ability to enjoy God’s Thunder that he was going during a bad ice storm we country with a good friend to harvest his first deer with got all settled in to wait. was all that mattered on a bow. It was going to hap- Thunder told me that his the day of Thunder’s first pen, I told him. All joking feet were numb. I told him, Maine Expanded Archery aside I am ecstatic at how “it will be all worth it. Trust Season bow hunt for deer. our hunt turned out. One me”!

That cell phone alarm that will forever be etched The five years I have went off way too early. It in the brain. bowhunted here the resiA little back story dent deer almost always was tempting to roll over and go back to sleep – you about Thunder: Many years show up at this location know the feeling. Not hav- ago he had gotten hit and somewhere between 9:00 ing much of a choice I had run over by a car as a young and 10:00 o’clock in the to get up to get ready to go man. Now at thirty two morning. It doesn’t matmeet Thunder. The Maine years old he has several ter which wind direction.

Expanded Archery Zone I physical complications. They will arrive from any chose to take Thunder to He can’t walk far into the direction. It’s a really good has plenty of deer. I hunted woods. Really wanting spot. Thunder got seated there for over five years Thunder to shoot a deer on the fallen popular tree

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and I got the cameras ready and nestled into the blowdown. I always stay standing here so I can watch all directions and especially the river crossing below the ridge. We had a couple hours to wait before the deer showed up.

Thunder turned to me and said, “Did you hear that”? I responded, “No! What was it”? He said,“I heard splashing in the river below to our right”. I quickly told him to stand up and get ready.

The first deer I spotted actually wasn’t the physical deer but its silhouette from the sun casting a shadow. A second deer appeared and Thunder still couldn’t see the deer. It wasn’t until the third deer crossed the river that he whispered loudly, “I see it, I see it”! The deer train didn’t stop at three but a whopping five deer.

That’s a lot to see in one sit in Maine. The deer worked their way up the side of the ridge to our right. Once they got behind us and far away I took out the deer call to imitate a lost fawn

and then a doe answering back with short bleats. It worked to perfection. A couple minutes after calling to them here they come.

I whispered to Thunder, “draw your bow now, draw now”! So the deer don’t catch your movements”.

The big doe came into view at twelve yards. Three more steps into Thunder’s shooting lane and he let her have it. Perfect shot, perfect hunt and perfect friendship.

Gotta love it! Thunder harvested a deer with his bow for the first time. We captured it all on video.

The memories we shared will be with us forever and a day.

Justin has over 25 years of bowhunting experience. He is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association (NEOWA) and has authored two books. He is the owner of the web based digital TV show, “SPIKES and GILLS”. You may learn more by visiting, www. wildmaineoutdoors.com

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Old Rabbit Gambit

Page 39

Old Tales from the Maine Woods

This story, by an anonymous author, who went by the initials H. W. L., was first published in the Bangor Commercial, then republished in the Maine Sportsman in May of 1896.

“We were all seated one night in the big Houston Ponds camp a few miles from Katahdin Iron Works, after having eaten a hearty supper of broiled venison, topped off with “flapjacks” and maple syrup. Some of the men offered several ways to snare rabbits, then one of the guides, who sat over on a pile of wood behind the stove, offered a method we tried one winter when I was in the woods.”

“It was over of over in the East Branch region, and I was one of a crew of 50 men cutting spruce for a Bangor lumberman. You know, they always have beans in a lumber camp three or four times a week.

When it isn’t beans, it is beef, and after having this bill of fare for weeks one gets tired of it.

“The ‘deacon seat’ was well occupied one night after supper. Some of the men were whittling and two or three were gathering around the big box stove making axe handles. One of the men said ‘I’ll tell you boys, how we can get enough rabbits to-night for a stew to-morrow noon, for all hands.’ The night was bitter cold and everybody laughed at the idea of catching the little stub-tails fellows in such weather.

“If anybody will go with me,’ he declared, ‘I’ll show them how the trick is done.’

“I was always a great lover of rabbit stew, and was all the one in the crowd who volunteered to after this small game with him. We each took axes and started. It was about 8 o’clock when we shut the

camp door behind us. We went down into the swamp about a mile from the camp and my companion said: ‘Now you take the butt end of your axe and dig away the snow to the depth of ten or twelve inches and I will go and get some wood for the fire.

‘I could not see what early use a fire would be in getting rabbits, but I

ie’ along, together with his sled. We went by way of the swamp where the night before the fire had been started, and when we arrived there you never saw such a sight in your life, as greeted us. There was

attracted by the big fire, all ran to it to get warm. Of course, as the fire burned down it melted the snow and with the mercury several notches below zero the water froze. The rabbits, as they seated on their

fixed the snow as ordered, digging the place eight or ten feet across. Soon my companion came back and we started an immense fire.

We piled our wood and old dry brush so that when we left the scene the flames were leaping high in the air.

“In the morning when we went to our work my companion took the ‘cook-

twenty-five rabbits sitting straight up around the fire.

The cookie carried all of them to the camp and that night, when we all sat down to eat, the bill of fare was a delicious rabbit stew.”

“How did you get so many?” asked one of the party. “Well, it was in this way. You see the night was cold and the rabbits,

haunches froze with it, and all we had to do was to knock them over with a stick. I tell you it was the greatest way to kill rabbits I ever saw.

Paddle

the odor had slammed into our nostrils, I had been the designated shooter for the past half hour. When hunting by canoe, whether for waterfowl or big game, our rule to ensure safety is only one loaded gun at a time always held by the person in the bow. I turned around to glance at Sully. He nodded, dipped the paddle in water, and we silently continued our approach; it was still my turn to shoot. As we rounded the corner, my rifle was already approaching my shoulder, but I was waiting to identify both a deer body and horns before I clicked off the safety.

There, a mere 25 yards ahead, it stood high on the bank overlooking the creek, old and gray from many seasons of braving the harsh Maine ele-

ments. To this day, it was the most decrepit privy I have ever laid eyes on. The stench, to our most sincere disappointment, really wasn’t our trophy rutting buck afterall. Despite a few miles left to paddle, our hunt was as good as over upon discovering the backwoods outhouse. We really were up **** creek! Our howling laughter ensured an empty freezer, and my sizzling venison steaks and onions would have to wait.

T h i s N o v e m b e r, watch the sun wake up the

woods, share some laughs with your hunting buddies, and shoot straight; deer season is for making memories.

(Cont. from pg 35) out of the canoe to creep around a stand of oaks. I was greeted by mounds of fallen acorns, along with several prominent scrapes.

There was no doubt about it - we were deep in buck country, miles downstream from the closest road, and things were looking good.

Sully and I both had a vision of paddling a two hundred pounder back to the truck.

As we neared a sharp bend in the creek, a late woodcock whistled overhead, and the wind suddenly shifted to the east. It was then that we smelled it. Pungent and musky, the reek of a rutting buck was unmistakable. When

by Steve Pinkham Quincy, MA

“In the morning when we went to our work my companion took the ‘cookie’ along, together with his sled. We went by way of the swamp where the night before the fire had been started, and when we arrived there you never saw such a sight in your life, as greeted us.

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Steve is an avid hiker, paddler and historian, having collected over 25,000 Maine Woods articles to date.

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Page 40

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Allagash

AWW Superintendent, Matt LaRoche, ME I did not grow up in a hunting family, so I had to hone my hunting skills on my own and by reading books and magazines.

I made lots of mistakes in those early years and failed to cash in on my opportunities on a regular basis. I

I got older, my brother Mark and I wanted to learn how to hunt. The extent of our hunting training was following dad around in the woods for a couple of hours, watching him miss a pheasant and him handing Mark the shotgun and say-

November 2020

My First Buck

whitetails were a little too difficult for either of us to bag. I can remember coming home from school all excited about the grouse I had seen the day before and planning how I would get that bird today. I never did shoot that bird, but I had a great time trying!

Fast forward a few years. While at UMaine, I secured a paid internship with North Maine Woods

back when there were a lot of deer in the big woods.

We hunted at Churchill Depot when I worked there as a ranger. There were deer trails worn right down to mineral soil down along the river back then, and we didn’t know enough to sit still and watch one of those paths.

from experience that often times the deer would come out of the woods in the opposite direction as the hunter went in and cross the road.

I stood there looking up the road, thinking about what I was going to do next when a nice fat crotch horn buck came to the side of the

My father was a great dad, but he was more interested in teaching us about baseball than hunting and fishing. As a kid, I excelled in baseball, but as I got older, my brother Mark and I wanted to learn how to hunt. didn’t shoot my first deer until I was 24 years old, but once I shot my first deer, I became a pretty good hunter and shot a deer every year for quite a few years in a row.

My father was a great dad, but he was more interested in teaching us about baseball than hunting and fishing. As a kid, I excelled in baseball, but as

ing, “Don’t shoot anything you’re not going to eat.”

Mark and I followed each other around behind our house in southern Maine, taking turns using that old 12-gauge single shot. It was education through trial and error. I did manage to shoot a nice big cock pheasant that year, but those flighty ruffed grouse and wily

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in the Town of Allagash. I got college credit for time worked and didn’t have to take calculus. What a deal! The ruffed grouse of Maine’s Northwoods seemed to be a totally different bird than those that lived behind my house growing up. The birds that lived behind my house seemed to spook when you closed the door, and these northern Maine birds would sit on the side of a gravel road and let you shoot them. What a difference a couple of hundred miles makes!

I couldn’t wait to tell my brother about these partridges that you could actually bag. Mark came up bird hunting that fall, and it has been an annual tradition ever since.

Mark and I hunted deer in northern Maine

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There are grouse. Then there are grouse. The southern variety in Maine spook like a Florida bonefish beneath the shadow of a false cast.

(Photo by Matt LaRoche) One bit of advice that road and stopped. I made a I would give a novice hunt- well-placed shot right beer is- find a well-used deer hind the forward shoulder. trail then sit and watch that The buck turned and ran trail from a good vantage about 50 yards back from point with some cover for a where he had just come and couple of hours in the early was laying there dead when morning and late afternoon. I got to him.

Fast forward a couple I eviscerated the deer, more years. I had been took the heart, and went hunting with some of my back to camp. I had only buddies for almost a week been gone for about 15 minat Churchill. It was the utes, so my wife thought I first year of bucks only. I had forgotten something. had seen several does that When I showed her the week but no bucks. The deer’s heart, she gave me guys had all gone home on a big hug, and there was Friday, so I decided to sleep harmony in the home for in on Saturday morning. I the rest of that fall. got up, had a nice breakfast and leisurely packed my Matt LaRoche is Sugear, and headed across the perintendent of the Alladam to hunt the west side gash Wilderness Waterway, of the river. When I got to a Registered Maine Guide my hunting spot, someone and an avid outdoorsman. had parked their truck right He can be reached at 207where I had planned to go 695-2169 or at matt.lainto the woods. I knew roche@maine.gov

November 2020

Loon

(Cont. from pg 12) elevated mercury levels can also transfer them within the eggs and to the embryonic chicks. They can die within the egg or are born very weak and suffering from a fatal infection called omphalitis. Mercury poisoning can happen over years while lead poisoning from ingestion is known as a much faster cause of loon mortality. Lead from shotgun shells and fishing sinkers is swallowed along with pebbles from bottom

Northwoods Sporting Journal sediments. Lead toxic levels often circulate through the body very quickly causing breakdown of red blood cells, kidney failure, lethargy and nervous system malfunctioning. Loons and other water birds can even become more susceptible to diseases, botulism and parasite infestations.

The Maine Annual Loon Count provides data to see if the loon population is increasing, decreasing or remaining stable. Loons are long-lived birds and are “bioindicator” species.

They are vulnerable to

toxic chemicals accumulating over the years in their bodies. The count results can signal if there exists possible environmental problems. I hopefully will continue to participate in this important event and continue to learn about these beautiful birds and how to protect them. We need to care so that future generations of people can see and hear them all over Maine. Maine Audubon will publicize the 2020 Loon Count results probably in late October or early November. Were

nests more productive this year? Did low water levels make some nest sites inaccessible and force adults to move to new and more productive sites? Was there a higher mortality rate for chicks and nests this year?

Since 1983 the Maine Annual Loon Count has been an invaluable source of information for wildlife professionals, government officials, and citizens.

Page 41 educator and believes that it is important to share her love of nature with others.

She tries to be a participant in as many citizen scientist projects as possible. But she makes time to go hunting and fishing in beautiful Down East Maine too!

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 42

SAM News

by David Trahan, “Executive Director” In what can only be described as the ugliest and most divisive Senate race in the history of Maine politics, Republican Senator Susan Collins is having her whole public career redefined by hostile partisans from California and New York determined to disparage and mislead voters on her record. They are doing so for only one purpose:

and respected conservation leaders in this nation and in our state’s history.

As a senior member of Congress and next in line to Chair the powerful Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins is best positioned to deliver key funding for wildlife habitat protection, public access to federal lands and investments in fresh and

Senator Collins:Leader in Conservation

to work with her fellow Senators, regardless of party affiliation (voted the most bi-partisan Senator in Congress 7 years in a row), she has positioned herself to be one of the most powerful and influential policymakers in America.

Throughout her career we have been extremely lucky that conservation is one of her passions.

Truth be told, nearly

As a senior member of Congress and next in line to Chair the powerful Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins is best positioned to deliver key funding for wildlife habitat protection, public access to federal lands and investments in fresh and saltwater fisheries. power. They appear willing to spend a hundred million dollars in Maine to win a majority in the U.S. Senate where these faceless, nameless individuals believe they will wield more power with a Democratic majority. This may be good for them in the short term, but it is horrible for Mainers and nothing short of a travesty and an injustice to the stellar career and record of Senator Collins.

If these carpetbaggers are allowed to go unchallenged, our state could lose one of the most influential

saltwater fisheries.

We have been spoiled

by Senator Collins’ national political influence and when she is gone, whether this November or when she retires, we will miss her passion for the Maine environment and her fair and common-sense approach to lawmaking. Maine is just a tiny state compared to most states and cities around the country; for example, our state has 1.3 million people, the City of Phoenix, Arizona has a population of 1.6 million.

Through her willingness

November 2020

tives and was signed into law in 2019. The bill supports habitat protections, fisheries and all forms of recreation.

And there is more: In 2006, Senator Collins helped convince President Bush to include funding in his budget to restore the Penobscot River system. The Penobscot River Restoration Project is one of the most important environmental projects in the state’s history, and as a result thousands of miles along the Penobscot and its tributaries are now reopened for 12 native species of sea run fish.

every recent, major conserHatchery Funding vation project in the state Finally, in fiscal year has her fingerprints on it.

2020, Senator Collins To name a few: helped secure funding, (nearly $100 million) for Outdoors Art Senator Collins co- our national fish hatchersponsored the Great Ameri- ies to support recreational can Outdoors Act, and anglers and their commuthe bill became law in nities.

Senator Collins’ Con2020. The bill provides servation Work has Not stable on-going funding for the Land and Water Gone Unnoticed. A few Conservation Fund at $900 conservation honors inmillion a year. She also clude: In 2019, Senator Colco-sponsored S. 47, a comlins received the Congresprehensive conservation and lands bill that included sional Champion of 2019 many sportsmen’s initia- Award from ConservAmer-

ica and was given for leadership in Conservation and clean energy initiatives.

In 2013, Senator Collins received the Maine Nature Conservancy Champion of Nature Award for her work conserving Maine’s lands and waters.

In 2011, Senator Collins received the Bruce F. Vento Public Service Award, the National Park Trust award for commitment to environment and service, skill and innovation in support of our public lands.

Downeast Lakes Conservation Award honored her for her work securing $6 million for the West Grand Lake Community Forest.

Friend of Outdoor Industry Award - Senator Collins received this award for her work in support of the outdoor recreational community.

Northeast Director’s Conservation Award - In 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service presented Senator Collins this award for her work promoting the recovery of the Atlantic Salmon.

Senator Collins has earned her reputation as a passionate advocate for Maine’s unique natural resources. She is a reasonable and powerful voice for preserving Maine’s Outdoor culture and diverse natural resources. She deserves our respect and thanks, not just from her supporters, but her opponents as well.

David Trahan is executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM).

Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Decline of Woodsmanship

By Hal Blood

Last month I wrote about the lack of navigation skills that keeps a lot of hunters from venturing into the Big Woods.

sion. When I first started guiding in the early nineties, the majority of the hunters had a pretty good knowledge of woods skills.

N o w, v e r y few of them do and the ones that do are the older hunters. As I said in my last column, I’m amazed

As I said in my last column, I’m amazed at how many hunters today can’t even use a compass. That is why very few hunters venture more than a quarter of a mile from a road.

Well, I’m afraid to say that I think woodsmanship skills are becoming a thing of the past for most hunters as well. It seems as though there is a whole generation of new hunters who do not know many of these skills. In the past hunting was a rite of passage that was taken more seriously than it is today.

In the past a young hunter was taken afield usually by their father, grandfather or maybe an uncle or friend of the family. Not to slight the women that hunt but back then women hunters were few and far between.

Young hunters were taught about the woods and the animals in it. Nowadays it seems as though the kids are more interested in watching hunting on television and DVDs. It’s sad to say but lot of adults also seem to be more interested in watching hunting shows than getting out in the woods and honing their skills. I guided hunters for over twenty-five years now and witnessed that progres-

at how many hunters today can’t even use a compass.

That is why very few hunters venture more than a quarter of a mile from a road.

Compass

When I was a kid, a compass was one of the best gifts we could receive. We cherished our compasses and practiced with them any chance we might get. We also learned that the sun came up in the east and set in the west and made an arc to the south during the day. Sounds

simple, but I bet half the hunters I ask which way is north on a bright sunny day will have no clue. Today hunters seem to want to do things the easiest way possible, so they buy a GPS and still don’t know how to read a compass. I trust my compass but there is no way that I trust a GPS. I’ve used one enough to know that the readings are not accurate at times.

One of the most important woodsmanship skills is fire building and yet very few hunters know how to get a fire going in the rain. Having a fire could mean life or death in the woods so every hunter should know how to make one. I started rabbit hunting with my grandfather when I was ten years old.

I remember a lot of cold days, when I would start 3 or 4 fires just to warm my hands up. We always had a fire to toast our sandwich on at lunch time. My grandfather taught me to get the fine dead spruce limbs and crush them in a ball before trying to light them. We didn’t have Bic lighters back then, so everything was done with wooden matches. I always managed to get a fire going no matter

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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.

how wet the woods were.

Another skill that hunters are losing is being a part of the woods and blending in. To many hunters just walk though the woods randomly with no consideration of how much noise they are making or if they are using cover available. They do not know where to step to be quiet. I go out of my way to walk in spruce needles instead of crunching leaves and announcing my presence to the whole woods.

Sights And Sounds

The woods are full of sights and sounds but it doesn’t matter if you won’t open you’re eyes and ears to them. After wondering for years why a hunter couldn’t see what I was pointing out, I finally figured out how to explain it. I think most hunters see the woods as two dimensional instead of three

dimensional. It’s like they are looking at a picture, instead of a video. Everything appears to them as flat and therefore the same.

I think that’s why those same people get turned around or lost so easily.

Every sound in the woods was made by something and means something. If you learn how to identify these sounds and what made them, you are going to have the edge that might make the difference on seeing game and not. A lot of things make a stick snap but, each snap will have a different tone. Animals make all kinds of sounds and for different reasons.

Learning to identify these sounds is an important woodsmanship skill.

Hal is an Author, Master Maine guide, and can be contacted through his website at: bigwoodsbucks.com

Greenville

Page 44

Native Fish Talk

by Bob Mallard, Skowhegan, ME In the late 1990s, the rare Arctic charr of Big Reed Pond in northern Piscataquis County, one of only twelve populations re-

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Big Reed Pond: Rushing Change

to declare victory, was concerned about genetic diversity, and feared IFW would roll back the protective regulations. “[Big Reed Pond] (owner of outback cabins on the pond) chemically looks good, but we need reclaimed Big Reed Pond to wait a few more years to try to restore the Arctic before we claim victory…

[Mallard] worries about charr.

According to data obtained from IFW, other than the representative of a state agency that was “in favor of the fishing rule changes being proposed by IF&W,” no one who wrote in specifically supported the proposed changes for Big Reed Pond. maining in the Contiguous United States, collapsed under the weight of highly invasive nonnative smelt.

After four years of trying to obtain enough Arctic charr to try to preserve the unique strain, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) was only able to capture 14 fish, proving just how close we came to losing this rare population.

November 2020

While it appears we may have dodged a bullet in regard to Big Reed Pond, and Wadleigh Pond, an Arctic charr water reclaimed in 2013 due to invasive smelt, the situation at Bald Mountain Pond which is infested with nonnative smelt and lake trout looks grim, and the charr will likely be lost.

Sadly Prophetic I was recently inRighting a Wrong terviewed for an article In 2011, IFW with on Arctic charr in Maine support from The Nature magazine. One of several Conservancy (owner of quoted, my position was the land surrounding the more pessimistic than othpond) and Bradford Camps ers. I felt it was too early

the resilience of Big Reed’s limited gene pool and the state’s historical eagerness to roll back restrictions (such as bans on trolling, harvesting, and use of live bait)” -Maine magazine

A rare Maine Arctic charr. (Bob Mallard) Wronging a Right In August, IFW released a 163-page regulation change proposal. As part of it, they are proposing that the FFO and C&R restrictions be replaced with ALO and a 2-fish limit on Big Reed Pond.

Unlike FFO, ALO allows treble hooks, multihook lures and flies, troll-

Big Reed Pond. (Bob Mallard) ing, and synthetic bait. and would be reflective of Treble hooks increase the success of this valuable tissue damage, multiple restoration effort.” hooks cause eye and gill Do we really know injuries, and bait fishing, things are back to where of any type, comes with a they were pre smelt in30% or higher incidental festation? Was the data mortality rate. complete and accurate? Is IFW states the charr the data current? And the population is “fully re- emphasis should be on the covered to levels docu- long-term protecting of the mented prior to smelt in- resource, not reflecting on troduction.” They also say, the success of the restora“Now that the restoration tion. is complete, this proposal would realign the regula- How Did We Get Here? tory structure to that which The proposal to (Change cont. pg 45) was in place prior to 2010

Outback camp on Big Reed Pond.

(Bob Mallard)

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Change (Cont. from pg 44) change the regulations on Big Reed Pond was listed as a “Public Request.”

When I asked, IFW said it came from Bradford Camps. They reiterated it at a subsequent Advisory Council meeting.

For and Against According to data obtained from IFW, other than the representative of a state agency that was “in favor of the fishing rule changes being proposed by IF&W,” no one who wrote

Northwoods Sporting Journal in specifically supported the proposed changes for Big Reed Pond.

Conversely, a guide opposed the proposed tackle changes, and Native Fish Coalition, Trout Unlimited, activist Gary Corson (who first discovered the Big Reed pond smelt,) and Libby Camps, arguably the most respected Sporting Camp in Maine, opposed both the tackle and bag changes.

Referring to a recent Arctic Charr working group, Libby stated “what came out of that is that we have a very fragile and rare resource and we need to

protect it first and foremost and worry about angling opportunities second. This rule change seems to be exactly opposite that putting angling first and not worrying about the resource. ” At a time when Maine should be doing everything possible to preserve rare Artic charr, replacing FFO and C&R with ALO and 2-fish on a recently restored, and almost lost, population is not bestpractice. Wouldn’t it make more sense to leave the regulations alone to protect the resource and allow

Page 45

it to reach its full poten- Member for Native Fish tial?

Coalition. Look for his books 50 Best Places Fly BOB MALLARD has Fishing the Northeast and fly fished for forty years. 25 Best Towns Fly FishHe is a former fly shop ing for Trout (Stonefly owner, Registered Maine Press,) and his most recent, Fishing Guide, and com- Squaretail: The Definimercial fly designer. Bob tive Guide to Brook Trout is a blogger, writer, and and Where to Find Them author. He is also a native (Stackpole Books.) Bob fish advocate and found- can be reached at www. ing member, Executive BobMallard.com or info@ Director, and Maine Board bobmallard.com

Carroll’s Corner Hunting Stories

I first walked in the woods with my Father the fall that I was three. Since that day many years ago, it has not been lost on me that being a hunter, in any concept, has been a great source of sometimes very funny stories. In no particular order, here are a few of those moments that it has been my privilege to share.

One bluebird day in October, Lila, a dear friend and I were sitting in a duck blind, set up in an estuary of the Penobscot River. There was not a cloud to be seen, temperature in the forties and far too nice a day to be duck hunting. At one point in the morning, after have been set up at daylight and seeing zero ducks, Lila piped up and said, “ there’s a black duck flying right on the water near the far shore.” Neither I nor our companion could see it but she kept insisting that it was right down on the water, flying from left to right. We still couldn’t see the duck and when I turned to look at her, I realized that, hanging from the bill of her camo cap, was a tiny black spider! I nudged our friend and finally said, “Lila, check the bill of your cap.” She finally figured it out, but it was very quiet from her side of the blind for the remainder of the morning!

For several years Lila and I were the General Managers at Bosebuck Mountain Camps, on Azicohos Lake. On a November day, she and I needed to run to Rangeley for supplies. Given that it was deer season, we were traveling in our hunting clothes and with rifles. I had just completed 5 days of guiding a group of deer hunters who were a bit “challenging.” I was exhausted and asked her to drive us into town. With my deer rifle in my lap, we headed for the big city of Rangeley. About half of the way out the thirteen-mile drive to Route 16, I was sound asleep. Deciding that this was far too good a chance to pass up, she, all of a sudden, put the brakes on and started yelling, “right there, right there”, and pointing into the woods! Coming from a sound sleep, I jumped out of the truck, frantically grabbing for ammunition and saying, “where the hell is he,” and spilling shells on the ground. After the gales of laughter (her, not me) subsided, I was forced to admit that I had gotten got!

I was guiding caribou hunters in Quebec once and as we left for the day, one hunter announced that he needed to visit the outhouse before we left. I told him to take his gun as a caribou could go by at any time. Sure enough, as the rest of us watched from a distance, a magnificent bull caribou walked within 20 years of the outhouse. Suddenly, the outhouse door banged open and out jumps my hunter, with his pants around his ankles, and immediately shot the bull! Sad, but no pictures!

Next month…..My annual Christmas wish.

Carroll M. Ware is a Master Maine Guide, holder of forty-eight world fly-fishing records and a two-time Maine Professional fly-casting champion.

Page 46

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Fly Fishing

November 2020

Forgotten Flies

by Joe Bertolaccini, Orrington, ME As a beginning fly tyer back in 1950, there were no instructional classes such as we have today.

For those who wanted to learn, the only information available was from a two or three page pamphlet that

first fly we would start with is the old and almost forgotten wet fly. At the time, it was probably the easiest for These are the old standards with wet flies. (Photo by Joe Bertolacinni) a beginner to tie as well as realizing that just about all black flies). fly patterns. When tying to fish. You didn’t have to of my fly-fishing was done Hook – Standard wet fly, the wing, it’s important be a good fly caster to have with wet flies. size 8 to 18. to use the pinch method There is no good rea- Thread – Black 6/0. success with a wet fly since for the first several thread Tail - Black hackle fibers. wraps so as not to crush You didn’t have to be a good fly caster to have Body – Fine black che- or cause it to be cocked to success with a wet fly since all you had to do was strip line nille or dubbing. one side of the hook. This Throat – Black hackle method involves bringing off the reel and let the current take it downstream to fibers. the thread up and catchlikely fish holding areas.

Wing - Dark slate duck or ing it between your thumb was included in a fly tying all you had to do was strip son why they can’t be as goose quill. and forefinger forming a kit, or several publications line off the reel and let the productive as they once slack loop in the thread on and books such as Herter’s current take it downstream were and possibly even top of the hook and then Dark Cahill “Professional Fly Tying to likely fish holding areas. more so since knowledge Hook – Standard wet fly, tightening it with a slow Manual”, True Magazine’s With the advent of many of fly-fishing has signifidownward pull on the other size 10.

“Guide to Trout Flies” new materials, patterns and cantly improved. With that, side of the hook It is esThread – Black 6/0. which preceded the “Noll techniques over the years, let’s take a look at several Tail – Brown hackle fi- sential during this process Guide to Trout Flies” and the wet fly was made just classic wet fly patterns that to keep a firm grip on the bers.

Ray Bergman’s classic about obsolete. Looking are easy to tie and to fish Body – Gray wool or dub- wings with the thumb and “Trout.” back however, I had ample and have withstood the bing. forefinger of your materiAs a general rule, the success with those “oldies” test of time, particularly reThroat – Brown hackle als hand. If the wings are flecting their success with fibers. slightly cocked to one side, (Birds cont. pg ??) brook trout.

Wing – Barred lemon they can be teased back wood duck flank or dyed with your fingers. If the •Tango Yankee LLC is the first exclusively internet auction company wings become separated, Gray Hackle mallard fibers. in the country specializing in firearms, militaria and shooting sports Hook – Standard wet fly, Strip off a bunch and even crushed or otherwise misrelated items. shaped, new quill sections size 10 to 16. the tips before tying on.

• Fully licensed and insured, we commonly get our consignors more will need to be prepared Thread – Black 6/0. money than live auction houses, dealers or private sales can and Tail – Red hackle fibers.

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Don Bastian, well Body – Peacock herl. most of us is preparing Collar – Soft grizzly and tying on wet fly quill known lecturer, fly tyhackle. wings. Cut a strip from ing instructor, author of For Your Firearms and Related items the matched left and right “Favorite Fishing Flies •We do this on a commission basis so there is no risk or outlay of funds quills of a duck or goose – 1892” and three DVDs Coachman by you and we handle all the details such as: transport, cleaning, phoHook – Standard wet fly, wing (about ¼ inch wide can provide additional intography, research, writing, public contact, invoicing, packing, shipping for a size ten fly). The fin- formation and dressings size 8 to 16. and all required legalities. ished length of each strip on his website; donbastianThread – Black 6/0.

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Throat – Brown hackle by side so that the natural We’d be happy to send you a packet of information that includes concave curves of each fibers. letters of recommendation, examples of our work and details of the Joe has enjoyed fly Wing – White duck or are together, resulting in process. the appearance of a single fishing for over 65 years. goose quill.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Deer Hunting Memories

As the fall deer hunting season approaches I can’t help but think back on the many, many Novembers that have passed and how important they were to me. During my six years in the military Dot and I were stationed in Germany for nearly four of those years.

The hunting in that country was more involved than I wanted to get into so I waited patiently until we returned to the States to go to the deer woods. When we finally got to the good old USA I found, to my dismay, that my new orders were to send us to the state of Washington. I couldn’t have been stationed any farther from Maine and still be in country! So, it was bye-bye to a hunt in Maine. I did get to deer hunt on the base at Fort Lewis and managed to shoot a prong-horn buck.

The first day out! So, no deer hunting for another

year. I did get an elk permit in Washington, but no luck there. I came across several cows, but it was bulls only.

When we finally got out of the service and returned to Maine for good I finally was able to get out into the deer woods that I remembered so fondly.

Some of the most memorable of those times involved the camp in northern Maine where Dick and

Time

feel like they are not easily rotating freely, order replacements, and change them out. These are items that do degrade and need to be replaced periodically.

Check the carbide skags underneath the skis for excessive wear. If they are excessively worn, you will not have adequate steering control on the trails. The rule of thumb is to replace skags when worn to half their original diameter.

If your snowmobile has been sitting for over a year or has been sitting with no fuel stabilizer in the gas, I recommend changing out the gas in the tank. The ethanol E15/E10 gasoline can absorb water which will cause you prob-

(Cont. from pg 29) All of the grease fittings need to be greased.

This is easily done yourself with a grease gun and the proper grease. I recommend using the grease specifically designated for snowmobiles and not any substitute. Snowmobile grease is designed for low temperatures. Here is a quick tip; if you are doing this on a warm day and the grease is very runny, put the grease tube in the freezer for an hour before greasing.

When checking your suspension, make sure bogey wheels freely rotate and do not feel like they are grinding at all. If they

go alone, but Dot was adamant that I shouldn’t. She announced that she would go with me. She was not well equipped in those early days and footwear for a hike in to camp would certainly require boots which she didn’t have. We had a pair of Bean boots that had belonged to my father who had very small feet for a man. It turned out the boots were not small enough for

Page 47

Northwoods Voyager

by Gil Gilpatrick, Skowhegan, ME went down immediately.

I waited a short time and then started walking toward where it went down.

I couldn’t see it but I knew it was still there. To my surprise it jumped up and ran off a few yards and then went down again. I

It turned out the boots were not small enough for Dot’s feet and the blisters she got from that hike into camp made me feel very guilty for causing her all that pain.

I managed to obtain a lease on an old abandoned trappers’ cabin. Dick and I both anxiously waited all week for Friday to roll around when we could pack up and head to camp for the weekend of hunting. I am sure Dot remembers the weekend that Dick couldn’t go because of his commitment as Athletic Director at school. I was determined to

could see it clearly this time so I decided to put it down for good and aimed at the head. I don’t know if the deer moved as I shot or if my aim was off, but long story short, I shot the jaw off the deer. It was the ugliest looking thing ever to hang on our game pole, and I have been reminded of it many, many times ever since.

Well, these are just some of the deer hunting lems later.

Inspect your shock memories of about 70 or absorbers and track ten- so years of deer hunting, sion. While inspecting your mostly in Maine. They are track, check every single track stud, if you have them, to make sure they are not bent, loose, or missing.

A loose stud can punch a hole in your heat exchanger, so definitely check that closely.

Dot’s feet and the blisters she got from that hike into camp made me feel very guilty for causing her all that pain.

One fall at camp an incident happened that made me the butt of camp deer hunt jokes for decades to come. I was sitting on a stump when a deer walked by at a distance of 30 or 40 yards. I shot and the deer

Ride safe, ride right!

Rod Fraser is an avid outdoorsman and twentyyear Navy veteran. Originally from Maine and living in Massachusetts, Rod has written extensively about snowmobiling. visit his website at www.roderickfraser.com

precious memories to me and perhaps I will share some more with you in the future. In the meantime, enjoy this year’s hunt! It’s an easy way to social distance and have a good time doing it.

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

Page 48

Northwoods Sporting Journal

South Of the Kennebec

November 2020

Southern Maine Scouting

As for the quality of of Augusta. There simshow putting down southern Maine. “The land down hunting in the southern ply are not enough forest your way is all posted.” three counties, I’d put deer, similarities to Jackman and

by Stu Bristol, They claim, which is much bear and wild turkey right Moosehead Lake to “track” Lyman, ME father than the truth than up there on par with central big bucks.

As long as I’ve been been dubbed, “the Banana they realize. “If you want a and northern big deer you need to head Maine. Grouse coming to Maine, long Belt”. before I moved here from If you live or hunt in north.” Another myth, but h u n t i n g a n d Vermont in 1979, there has the “Banana Belt you love down here in the south we rabbit are on been three distinctly dif- to stand on a Maine Turn- love to hear that hunters are the bottom end ferent names for portions pike overpass and watch As for the quality of hunting in of the state. The “County,” the droves of non-resident or Aroostook County has hunters whizz by, headed the southern three counties, I’d always been considered for the other two parts of put deer, bear and wild turkey a state in itself; Central Maine. Little do they realright up there on par with Maine was always that ize that they screamed past central and northern Maine. portion of the state above some of the most producof the scale, but the Kennebec River and tive hunting parcels open staying away.

Railroad, just south of the to all who care to seek Southern Maine hunt- we can’t have “County” and southern them out. ing land can be catego- it all.

Things I also love to listen to rized three ways; open to Maine where I live (the you won’t be Jerry Couture of Waterboro bottom three counties) has Mainers at the sportsman’s the public, posted against able to accomwith fine southern Maine 200 hunting and trespassing by pounder – Stu Bristol photo non-resident transplants plish in southand posted land owned by ern Maine include hunting That doesn’t mean big Handcrafted By Christopher Augustus locals that simply want to on miles of unbroken wil- bucks don’t exist down this know who is on their land derness. I’ve never been way, not by a long shot. and how courteous they able to hunt like Larry The living quarters and Benoit or Hal Blood south travel habits of dominant are.

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November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Count Your Blessings

With all that of the craziness that we have all experienced this year, we should take a few minutes to reflect and count our blessings.

November has ushered in the crisp air, and our beloved deer hunting season.

One thing that I am personally grateful for is the privilege that we have to enjoy time in the outdoors.

With all that has transpired, I believe that this year in particular brings special meaning to many of us. Those of us that are sportsmen and outdoorswomen share one thing in common; our love and appreciation for activities that allow us to clear our head, breathe fresh air, get some much needed exercise, and soak up nature, with no distractions.

The peace that the outdoor lifestyle brings to us is the greatest gift we could ever experience. I often refer to it as an opportunity for “Communing with our Creator.” I often sit in the woods during hunting season reflecting on life, all that I have been blessed with, and take the time to speak with the One

who created it all.

A couple of months ago I was in a major car accident and had an individual rear-end me at 65+ miles per hour. A month and a half later, my father and his wife had a person run a stop sign at 50 mph and hit their vehicle and total their vehicle, leaving my step-mom with a broken sternum.

In both cases, we sustained injuries, but we all

The older I get, the more I understand that life is a precious gift and every day brings us an opportunity to give thanks. If you wake up to live another day, make the most of it.

Spend time with your family in the outdoors. It will free you from all the noise the world delivers, and it will replace it with harmony, peace and serenity.

November is the time of year when we gather at

November is the time of year when we gather at deer camp, share stories, relive memorable hunts, and sit around the campfire or light the woodstove, while we deepen the connection with our brethren. survived. I am so thankful that my parents and I are still here to continue our journey.

The month following my accident I was blessed to be able to hunt with a close Warden friend of mine who baited a site and set up a stand for me so I could successfully harvest a bear. I’m humbled and thankful to have such a kindred friend that set aside his own hunting ambitions, and put the work in so I could enjoy my love of hunting.

deer camp, share stories, relive memorable hunts, and sit around the campfire or light the woodstove, while we deepen the connection with our brethren.

It’s the time of year that leads up to Thanksgiving, when we adorn our table with food, family and friends that we are thankful for.

If you are fortunate enough to have wild game on-hand for your Thanksgiving feast, count it as a blessing.

Utilizing our natural

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 49

Cookin’ With New England’s WildCheff

by Denny Corriveau, Kennebunkport, ME

resources to provide food so it is lightly browned on for our table is a blessing both sides. Removed from unto itself. stove.

Pre-heat oven to 350 Wild Turkey in Cider degrees.

Sauce Place turkey breast in Ingredients center of Dutch oven.

1 wild turkey breast On each side of the 1 large Vidalia onion, breast, add quartered onpeeled and quartered ions, followed by carrots 4-5 carrots, peeled and cut and then topped with the into 2” pieces green beans.

1/2 lb. of fresh green beans Pour wine over the top WildCheff Tuscan Blend of everything, followed by seasoning the cider.

WildCheff Sagemary Sea Place lid on Dutch Salt oven, place into the preheated oven and cook for Roasted Garlic Powder one hour.

2 C of Riesling Wine Remove from oven 3 C of Apple Cider and place on stove.

Directions In a large pot, melt 4 On a large cutting tablespoons of butter over board, coat wild turkey medium heat. Once butter breast with olive oil, and is completely melted, add then season both sides with 4 tablespoons of flour to the sagemary salt, garlic pot and whisk flour with and Tuscan seasoning. melted butter. The flour In a large Dutch oven, will cook quickly and look heat 3-4 tablespoons of a tannish color. olive oil over medium high Using pot holders, heat. strain the cooking cider Once oil is heated, liquid from the Dutch oven add turkey breast to pot and into the pot with the roux. sear the breast on both sides (Blessings cont. pg 57)

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Page 50

Vermont Ramblings

by Dennis Jensen, Vermont

Load up the pickup truck. Get the firewood ready. Tell the wife — or the husband — that you’ll be back home in about a week. It’s November. We’re headed for deer camp and the opening day of buck season.

There was a time, of

we really don’t have the time to prepare and cook something for dinner.

Somebody will get the job of keeping that old wood stove going and that means keeping a good supply of wood in the box across from the stove. The stove will be down to coals

November 2020

Best Time of the Year

becomes moot after one of us bags the first buck in camp. When he does, he has the honor of first kill and the burden of camp director, which means that he is no longer hunting — he’s punched his tag — and so will take on most or practically all of the camp chores, mostly keeping the stove going, keeping the wood supply in camp, doing the dishes and what-

we all head out, with the guys all going to tree stands or ground blinds that have served us — some of us for decades — a good way into the woods.

Some of us are get-

Of course, camp cannot take place without some practical joker. Bob is probably the best joker in the bunch. One year we were hunting in a stretch of woods separated by

Some of us are getting a little older. That one tree stand, out in the little clear cut about a half-mile from camp, is still mine but I think that, in the next year or two, I might hand that bad boy over to some lucky, younger member in camp. course, when it would be hard to fall asleep on the night before opening day.

But now, with advancing age, I know I’ll slip away into la-la land within a minute or less.

There will be a halfdozen of us in camp, including brothers, kids and even grandpa. Everybody brings along frozen dishes because, well, after a day out in the woods and a long trek back to camp,

by about 3 a.m. and, as tradition holds, it will be the coldest of the hunter who will rise and feed the old stove.

We have our favorite cook, of course, and he’ll be sure to place the frozen contents of venison chili into a big pot and leave it on the wood stove to simmer throughout the day. And then there are the dishes and pots and pans.

But much of this work

ever else might come up.

I know. It sounds a little tough, especially for someone who has excelled in camp. But, as they say, “Them’s the rules,” and those rules have stuck for more than three decades.

Just to be safe, we have two clocks set, with the alarms going off at 5 a.m. I’ll make the coffee the old way, with a percolator, a huge percolator at that.

After coffee and breakfast,

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A seven-point buck, shot by the author, ready to be dragged back to camp. Deer camp is a place of memories and camaraderie, unmatched at any other time of the year.

(Photo by Dennis Jensen) ting a little older. That one only three or four hundred tree stand, out in the little yards. I heard his 30-30 clear cut about a half-mile bark a few mornings after from camp, is still mine we arrived and was hoping but I think that, in the next that he connected. year or two, I might hand Maybe an hour later, that bad boy over to some I could see his blaze orlucky, younger member ange hat and vest coming in camp. Not to brag, but through the woods, alone.

I have killed some good As he approached me in bucks in that tree stand my tree stand, he held up over the years.

(Best Time cont. pg 68)

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November 2020

Dodger

(Cont. from pg 31) writer at the time, me being a kind of guy that doesn’t mind flicking a fly for the finned things, on occasion.

It wasn’t long before we set up a date to go fishingactually as soon as Harold closed up the store at six o’clock.

I left the store and went up the street to get a room at Ma Sawyer’s, got a bite to eat, and hustled back down to the store---only to learn that Harold couldn’t go fishing that night, but his brother, Roger, was going to take me up the river instead.

Well, that was the

Northwoods Sporting Journal

beginning of a long and wonderful relationship of fishing and trapping with my longtime friend. For more than forty years!

I recall one day on the Pleasant River fishing for slinks, Roger and I caught and released fifteen fish.

Some of those Atlantics may have weighed well over twelve pounds.

“The Great Whoop” One time early in our acquaintance, we were off to fish the Pleasant River’s salmon on a particular evening after work while heading out the woods trail upriver, Roger let out one of his whoops: YAAA….

HOOOOO…!!! It was so

loud the birds left the trees all around in great flocks as it echoed through the valley below.

It kind of startled me at first. But, knowing Rog just for a little while, you’d kind of expect something like that! I asked him what made him let loose in that fashion, and he told me: “He just felt like letting out a great big holler---it was so good to be outdoors and going fishing!”

In the book, “Pleasant River” by Dave Rex Coman, a friend of Roger when he guided at times with no charge, that : “WHOOP”, as he described it thusly: “From far up on the ridge, there suddenly same a star-

tling whoop---not so much a war whoop as a shout of exultation that echoed back and forth between the hills and finally died away, leaving a silence that seemed even deeper than before.”

A stranger would wonder, I thought, at how to account for this strange outburst.

But, to those of us who knew it well, it could only be---Roger’s.

His own explanation to Professor Dale was: “Can’t help it, Doc. It’s so good to be here, alive, and along the river and everything. It just comes out that way---all at once. Can’t hold it in, that’s all.”

Page 51

You can read more about “Roger—the Artful Dodger” in my book “Salesman Angler”.

Bob Leeman is a Master Maine Guide, outdoor writer, naturalist, book author, and a co-host of the MAINE OUTDOORS radio program on Sunday evenings from 7-8 p.m. His three books are all available, in a soft cover only, at several bookstores and fly shops, or directly from him. For more information on his books, please call 207-573-1468.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 52

Outdoors In Vermont

by Gary W. Moore, Bradford, VT

There are still plenty of deer and the normal influx of hunters from out of state is expected beginning November 14 when the rifle season opens, but changes to the regulations will require some planning

agement is as much art as science. Wildlife are not like cattle where the farmer has them all contained, can have an accurate count and can selectively breed for the desired traits.

To better inform hunt-

November 2020

Deer Hunting: Law Changes

the department’s research and reasoning behind the changes.

“Now is the time most Vermont deer hunters are making plans for deer hunting,” said Wildlife Program Manager Adam Miller, “and there are many changes this year. Some relate to buck hunting, bag limits, an expanded archery season, and allowing hunters of

short term, participation in this season may counteract declining youth season participation and stabilize the harvest, but it is not expected to result in in-

the archery season on October 1.”

Miller is correct about the difficulty in understanding all the changes.

Although I followed their

Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department recently launched a new webpage to provide information and answer questions about changes to deer hunting regulations.

on the part of hunters.

During the first part of the year Fish & Wildlife held many public meetings and hearings before making several changes to the regulations involving deer hunting. Some of those changes will take time to get used to and to see if they need to be tweaked.

Remember that game man-

ers of what is different this year, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department recently launched a new webpage to provide information and answer questions about changes to deer hunting regulations. The webpage has a FrequentlyAsked-Question section, video series, maps, calendars, PDF quick guide, and

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all ages to use a crossbow, just to name a few. We are also very excited to offer Vermont’s first ever novice deer hunting weekend.”

New this year is a Novice Season will essentially allow new adult hunters to hunt during youth season for one year. Fish and Wildlife predicts it to attract 200 to 300 new hunters each year and to have no impact on the deer harvest.

To qualify as a Novice, a hunter must be too old to hunt during the youth season and have purchased their first hunting license in the past 12 months. In the

Frank Easton took this nice buck in Corinth last year. creased hunting activity or development carefully over an increased harvest during the preceding months, I this weekend. have had to read the final I was surprised to results several times to be learn that youth season sure I will be legal when tag sales have declined by hunting this fall. about 200 tags per year Anyone planning to over the past 10 years. hunt deer in Vermont this Miller added, “We fall is encouraged to visit understand navigating this the new webpage to examount of new material can plore the materials that be challenging, so we’ve break down the new regulacreated a comprehensive tions and changes: webpage that outlines evhttps://vtfishandwilderything hunters need to life.com/2020-deer-huntknow going into the deer ing-regulation-changes. seasons, which begin with (Changes cont. pg 67)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Times with Dad Remembered

Little did I know 46 years ago, as a heavy metal listening lonely and angry teenager that I would be blessed to experience so much joy from one simple decision – to allow my father to take me deer hunting where he, as a poor coal

than enough – we never had enough for him to take time away with me. I hated money because it took my father away from me. So, when he asked me to go with him on an adventure to his hometown, I was excited beyond words. We

Steve Osborne of Williston on ATV and Chris Thayer of Charlotte. miner’s son, learned how to packed our suitcases and hunt in central PA. My fa- planned on leaving for the ther and I did not get along seven-hour drive to the well. I hated his music and tiny town of Grampian, that he was always busy PA. That night a monster working on some deal to snowstorm blew in and make a bundle of money. started piling up in small It seemed to me that no drifts around the basematter how much of it we ment windows. I awoke had – and we had more my father from his sleep

Greg & his staff at Vermont Field Sports say the Vermont Deer season is upon us, and they are dragging out the handguns, $avings on black powder long guns, and ammo.

and said “Dad, we better get going now, it’s really coming down and if we’re gonna get there we best get started now.” He groaned and said “Ok”. We drove through the night through the biggest snowstorm I had ever seen. We stopped at a truck stop and got a big meal in the middle of the

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by Bradley Carleton, Charlotte, VT

Earl Scruggs and some new guy named Willie Nelson.

I laid in the back of the station wagon rolled up like a tamale in a sleeping bag and laughing to myself at my old man. When we Yellow lights shone from the jammed the Oldsmobile windows and I could hear raucous Vista Cruiser into a snowlaughter from within. When the drift, it came to a stop in door opened the pungent aroma of front of an old cabin in the woods. Yellow lights shone woodsmoke and whiskey flowed out from the windows and I over the stone steps. could hear raucous laughter night and I was shocked He had the window rolled from within. When the door to see everyone wearing down and was singing out opened the pungent aroma fluorescent orange. I no loud to the original Hank of woodsmoke and whislonger felt lonely. Finally, Williams, Lester Flatt and (Dad cont. pg 59) I fit in! Blasting through LaCroix the snowdrifts on Interstate 80, I thought my Dad Muzzleloader was either a hero or a total Supply Shop nut. Nothing was going to

stop us from our hunt! We plowed through foot-deep snow passing 18 wheelers. I didn’t even mind his music. He was listening to a station in Wheeling WV.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Tyer’s Corner

by Hugh Kelly, Detroit, ME

This month’s fly is the Brassie. This little gem is a midge/caddis larvae imitation that works well in most waters and is known to pull trout and landlocked salmon other flies aren’t working so well on. This fly is elegantly simple and easy to tie. Thin copper wire and peacock herl is all you need and you can use different colors of wire to boot. The original was

with copper colored wire so start there.

Recipe for the Brassie Thread - light colored Hook - Standard hook, size 14 or smaller, specialty hooks optional Body - Copper wire Thorax - Peacock herl This fly can be tied on the curved larvae hooks that are available but if all you have are standard hooks, they work fine. This

The Brassie

fly is meant to be small however, so use a small hook and thin wire. If you choose to use salvaged wire from an electronic coil, you should coat the body with head cement to delay tarnish forming on the body. The spools of wire you buy in a fly shop are already coated and the fly will last longer. If you want a bead head version of this fly, start by putting the bead on the hook. Tie the wire on and wrap the thread back to the bend of the hook.

Wrap your thread back to a point just behind the eye and use the thread to build a slightly tapered body. Wrap the wire forward to create a segmented effect and notice that the wire rides up on the tapered thread hump you created. Tie off the wire and tie in a peacock herl. A few wraps and tie off with a small head. Go

easy on the head cement here, you don’t want the peacock herl to soak up some cement and become matted. It’s very easy to use too much cement on a tiny fly.

That’s all there is to this very effective little

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midge. If the fish aren’t hitting your standard offerings, try this one. It sinks quickly, imitates insects that the fish are used to seeing and are a staple in their diet.

Hugh Kelly has fly fished and tied his own flies for over 40 years. He and his family live in Detroit where he ties flies, drinks Moxie and plans fishing trips. He can be reached at hkellymaine@gmail.com and writes a fly tying blog at puckerbrushflies.com

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Page 55

First Trapped Bear

Ramblings From T8-R9

By Dan Rogalski Editor’s note: Ben Rioux took the month off.

This column is written by a client at Libby Camps.

I never thought too much about bear hunting.

I had eaten it as a child but had no memories. I did

professionally and when I was coming back home with the meat I accidentally drove over a bear.

Since at that point I knew little about bear, I brought the salvaged sow back to the butcher who

best places to hunt bear.

There are bears where I live in NH, but they haven’t been overly plentiful until just the last few years. Instead, I focused on Maine.

I made up an outfitter spreadsheet with each camp’s assets and par-

by Benjamin Rioux, Millinocket Lake, ME 2015 bear hunt. I didn’t do well. I wounded a bear and spent the next several days trying to find it with no luck. I came back early the next year and helped the

allows two bear: one with a weapon, and one by trapping. I spent a lot of time building an effective pipe style snare trap only to have the MDIFW prohibit

If you ever want to get your heart checked out, try shooting a trapped bear on an 8 ft tether who wants to eat you before you can get a good placement on your shot. ticulars. It boiled down to a choice between 2 lodges that offer 6 day hunts. Most only offer 5. I made a few phone calls to see about openings and ended up at Libby Camps for the Dan’s bear at the bait site.

(Photo by Dan Rogalski)

primary bear guide Chuck Dionne with his site setups and baiting regimen. Still no luck.

At the same time I also got the bug to try to trap a bear since Maine

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derful job, and because of the way the bear had been killed, he gleaned virtually all of the available meat. I couldn’t believe how good it tasted to me!

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 56

Muzzleloading Afield

by Al Raychard, Lyman, ME

For most deer hunters, November is the month they live for. It’s the firearms deer season! Some 200,000 or so hunters will head to their favorite hotspot this month in hopes

whatever the reason it just hasn’t happened.

As this is written there’s still a couple weeks left in archery season so maybe things will change.

If not, there’s always the

November 2020

Deer Hunter’s Time

hunters in the woods moving deer, the rut reaching a peak and an Any-Deer Permit in my pack you’d think my chances during the firearms are pretty good.

Ah, November! But let’s look at some figures.

In 2018 Maine hunters tagged 32,451 deer according to figures avail-

As we all know the total deer kill varies from year-to-year and the take in November varies accordingly but year after year more deer are tagged during Maine general firearms season than all other season combined. So things are looking up.

of filling their tags. As of this writing in mid-October I am one of the vast majority who has yet to put venison in the freezer.

Wrong place, wrong timing, a descent crop of hard mast in my area this year so deer just weren’t moving;

gun season this month.

If not then there’s a last chance with a muzzleloader. With some 79 days of hunting opportunity stretched over five seasons in this state, 25 days during November alone, with high deer numbers, more

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able from MDIFW, the highest total since 2002.

Of that total 27,245 deer were taken during the November firearms season.

Last year, in 2019, the take dropped some 12.7 percent to 28,323. Of that total 24,184 deer were taken in firearms season. As we all know the total deer kill varies from year-to-year and the take in November varies accordingly but year after year more deer are tagged during Maine general firearms season than all other season combined. So things are looking up.

Some years the total

Despite having an Any-Deer Permit the author has yet to fill his tag but still has hope. take is higher than the past, isn’t any other state. Put some years lower but over- any spin on it you like but all, on average, 15-to-17 to say the least deer hunting percent of us will be suc- here is tough, but it makes cessful in tagging a deer, for great rewards when a roughly 20 percent of those tag is filled and venison is of us holding an Any-Deer in the freezer. I don’t think Permit. Those successful I would want it any other percentage rates are not way. It’s what makes getoverly encouraging. The ting out of a warm bed in success rate in a number the morning and heading of states is impressively out before day break, often higher. I have hunted a times in less than welcomnumber of them. But Maine ing weather worthwhile.

If bagging a deer here was easy it wouldn’t be half as enjoyable.

So, as November arrives there’s still hope for this hunter. You as well if still facing the challenge so don’t give up the ship just yet. Statistically November is the month when the chances of success FORT KENT POWERSPORTS are highest. As season’s Sales • Service • Parts • Sportswear Sales • Service • Parts • Sportswear end I hope to be among those successful 15-to-17 percent. I won’t count my chickens before they hatch, but if not I’ll give it a final go in muzzleloader season.

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November 2020

Scouting

(Cont. from pg 48) when it comes to gaining access to private, posted land other than plain courtesy and showing respect for their rights.

When I prospect for new hunting land I usually wear street clothes rather than hunting garb, and whenever possible I bring the wife or kids.

Landowners find this approach much less threatening and are much more open and approachable.

Once they know I’m not a bloodthirsty killer who may leave their land in a wreck, I gain access. Not always and when they say a polite no, I thank them politely.

Deer hunting is not the only fall sport in southern Maine, wild turkey hunting is the best in the

Northwoods Sporting Journal Northeast. Hunters are allowed five wild turkeys, either sex, in the fall and may hunt from half hour before sunrise to half hour after sunset. The season runs from September 14 through November 7.

Don’t rule out the possibility of carrying a shotgun with improved cylinder choke and turkey loads and deer slugs during that week of season overlap.

Southern Maine also features miles of AT and snowmobile trails making it easy for hunters to navigate unfamiliar forests.

Many 200 pound bucks have been taken by hunters walking these trails, or better yet, walking a few hundred yards off the trail and setting up in a wooded marsh or dense softwood cover.

Scouting the southern Maine cover is easy and

enjoyable. During October you can scout while hunting wild turkey or grouse and gray squirrel. Grouse populations may not be the same as up on the Golden Road but hunters, on a good day can take a limit.

Don’t overlook the new found abundance of black bears in the southern counties. This year has witnessed the greatest increase in black bear sightings in southern Maine in years.

In this era of Covid-19, hunting southern Maine may be just the right solution to your need to stay close while keeping your distance. We have plenty of food and lodging choices at reasonable prices this fall.

Stu Bristol is a Master Maine Hunting, Fishing and Tidewater Guide, outdoor writer and custom

game call maker. He operates Orion Guide Service out of southern Maine. His outdoor features have been published nationwide for more than 50 years. Stu was recently inducted into the New England Wild Turkey Hunting Hall of Fame.

Visit his website at www. deadlyimpostergamecalls. com

Page 57 and slice. Place on center of a serving platter. Place veggies on each side (like when you cooked it).

Drizzle cider sauce over the sliced turkey and reserve some for a gravy bowl. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Denny Corriveau is Award-Winning Celebrity Game Chef, Iron Chef, and the Founder of the Free Range Culinary Institute, (Cont. from pg 49) the only national wild game Set Dutch oven aside cooking school in the counand turn up pot with the try. As a Wild Game Evancider to medium high, gelist and trendsetter for whisking the roux into wild game culinary arts the cider sauce so that it is Denny is a nationally noted thoroughly mixed with no authority regarding his lumps. “best practice” methodolContinue to whisk ogy regarding the culinary until sauce starts to thicken side of wild game. You can into a cider gravy. learn more @ www.wildTo serve, place tur- cheff.com or visit him on key on large cutting board Instagram @ thewildcheff

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 58

Bear (Cont. from pg 55) changing the trapping laws to allow tube or pipe style traps but with provisions to ensure that lynx would not be trapped. I attended two of those meetings and listened to a lot a very good ideas. I also saw some examples of well- built traps that complied with the lynx exclusion provisions and got to thinking that I could build a similar trap myself.

I fired up the lathe and milling machine and fabricated what I thought was the ultimate in a pipe trap. A spring loaded snare was fired when the bear stuck its paw down into the pipe the required 12 inches. At that depth I had a hair trigger that was hold-

ing 4 rods on the outside of the trap. The rods were on die springs and were set to push an outside collar (positioned just under the snare) up and off of the pipe. When this happened the bear would be mine.

One of the lynx avoidance features required a 30 -pound weight to be over the opening of the pipe trap. I wanted something that would easily move. A basketball filled with heavy aggregate concrete weighs well in excess of 30 lbs.

Add an eye ring and you have an automatic donut holder.

I spent almost two straight months in 2019 trying to trap a bear. I got skunked again, but after I explained my trap workings to a lot of folks I got constructive criticism from

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Over the winter I made some further alterations. I set the trap at 10:30 a.m on Sept. 20 (first day of ME trap season) and according to my game camera I had a bear in it just after noon. He had hiked the basketball quite a shot into the woods, but obviously didn’t get the gist of the game I was playing.

If you ever want to get your heart checked out, try shooting a trapped bear on an 8 ft tether who wants to eat you before you can get a good placement on your shot. Wow! I am an old man now and have done and seen a lot of things. This is right up there as being one of the most exciting.

News

(Cont. from pg 13) of the Allagash River and another study area located west of Moosehead Lake.

A new adaptive study area was recently added in western Aroostook county. Over the past seven years, the department has captured, collared and tracked over 500

moose, providing unique insight into moose survival and reproduction.

Divers Recover Body of Missing York Woman

Earlier this fall divers from the Maine State Police/Maine Marine Patrol dive team recovered the body of 31-year old Caitlin Giunta of York, Maine in Flagstaff Lake.

Divers were focusing on an area that Maine Warden Service side scan sonar

operators identified a likely target approximately 500’ from shore in about 22’ of water. Game Wardens worked together with their counterparts in Maine State Police and Marine Patrol in a joint diving effort to search a relatively large area of Flagstaff Lake.

The Maine Warden Service and other emergency response agencies had been searching in the

November 2020 woods and waters in and around Flagstaff Lake since Giunta and two others capsized their canoe. Giunta was canoeing with her boyfriend Ned Roche and her brother, Kyle Giunta. The three were motoring across Flagstaff Lake from an island back to the campsite they were staying at when their canoe capsized due to rough lake conditions and heavy wind. Overall, searchers canvassed over 4 miles of shoreline and over 350 acres of water.

In addition to dive operations, the Maine Warden Service was assisted by search teams from the Maine Association for Search and Rescue who continued to search the wooded inland areas, as well as Maine Forest Service, US Border Patrol, Maine Association for Search and Rescue Dogs, New Portland Fire Department and North Star Ambulance Service. Giunta was transported to Smart and Edwards Funeral Home in Skowhegan.

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Dad

(Cont. from pg 53) key flowed out over the stone steps. A loud bawdy voice called out “C’mon in boys! We’re glad you could make it!” I knew in that moment that my life’s path would be determined by my love for the life of a hunter. Well, dear reader, I’ve gotta pack the truck now and I’ll see you next month! I have got my own camp now and it is calling my name. On the mantle above the woodstove sits my father’s ashes. As I open the front door it starts to snow.

This year, volunteer hunters are collecting blood samples from the grouse they harvest for inclusion in the multi-state West Nile virus research being conducted by the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia.

The goal of this research is to estimate regional population-level patterns in West Nile virus infection rates and to inform the implementation of effective conservation strategies for the species. “Hunters collected 30 usable grouse blood samples from 11 Vermont counties in 2019,” said State Wildlife Biologist Chris Bernier with VT F&W. “Preliminary results indicate a 16.7 percent positivity rate in the sampled grouse with flavivirus (the family of viruses that includes West Nile virus) antibodies detected in samples from Addison, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, and Windsor counties.” Bernier emphasized that these results are not an indication of human risk for West Nile Virus.

Vermont hunters are reminded to use regional big game reporting sta-

Northwoods Sporting Journal

tions this fall as they have in past years, according to the VT F&W. Hunters are required to take the deer, bear, and wild turkeys they harvest to a local big game reporting station within 48 hours. Deer and bear must be field-dressed prior to reporting, and a hunter must take a warden to the kill site of a deer or bear if requested by a warden.

The hunter must also collect and submit a pre-molar tooth from the bear at the time the bear is reported or within 30 days. Envelopes for submitting teeth are available at all big game reporting stations.

The department also urges all hunters to tag their harvested game immediately and wear a face covering and practice social distancing when visiting the reporting station. A list of big game reporting stations is listed under “Hunt” on the left side of Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s website (www.vtfishandwildlife. com) home page.

Bradley Carleton is the founder and Executive Director of www.sacredhunter.org which teaches the public respect and empathy through hunting and fishing.

Page 59

Yarns

(Cont. from pg 36) far more to the narrative than a simple story of a deer hunt. These stories convey our beliefs about the value of wilderness and open spaces, respect and reverence for the quarry, and how the experience of hunting is far greater than the killing.

So weave your epic and romantic sagas, whether tragedies or comedies. If your story exaggerates the truth a bit, all the better, especially if it teaches a

valuable lesson about the hunt. That’s what keeps your rapt audience guessing what is wisdom and what if foolishness. But above all, make sure that your spellbound listeners understand the sense of the deep gratitude that you feel about the privilege to hunt the white-tailed deer. Go tell a good story!

Mark McCollough will be concocting new hunting stories from his home in Hampden, Maine.

He can be reached at markmccollough25@gmail.com

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

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Prepare for Luck

New Hampshire Outdoors

by Peter St. James, Warner, N.H. There was a very cheesy movie by Steven Segal back in the 90’s.

(OK, it can be argued, “Is there any such thing as a non-cheesy Steven Segal movie”?) But anyway,

resulted in the extended shelf life of milk and other foods. So, even though a C-list actor and a worldclass microbiologist used the phrase before you, it still applies to all of us that

“Chance favors the prepared mind”.

– Louis Pasteur in the movie one of the bad guys uttered the line, “Chance favors the prepared mind”. That phrase was originally spoken by Louis Pasteur, who developed the process that

November 2020

head out hunting.

We all know that much of deer hunting is luck. Being in the right place at the right time is something that can’t always be guaranteed.

But, to Pasteur’s point, we

can be ready when chance does come around and provide us with an opportunity.

Walking quietly, not having your rifle always slung over your shoulder, not smelling like cigarettes or the bisquits and gravy you had at the restaurant on your way into the woods and always looking ahead and around you, not just at the ground. Plus, there are the obvious things like having your rifle or muzzleloader dialed in so that you know that you’ll be able to hit something when you see it.

How many times have we heard stories about scopes that were “off”? Being sighted in, tightening the screws on the mounts, hav-

Former Sporting Journal blackpowder writer Ray Hamilton had a full day in the turkey woods. He bagged two toms for the price of one. Bird one was taken with his muzzleloader and bird two was taken with his Mossberg 12 gauge.

ing plenty of clean ammo that fits the firearm and knowing how the pull feels on the trigger are all things that should have been done weeks or months ago. The bottom line is that when you hit the woods, you don’t want to have to think about anything else but hunting. If you can’t do something about “it” at that moment, then put it out of your mind and deal with it later. That’s all part of the “prepared mind” thing.

Muzzleloader season opens on Saturday, October 31st and runs for ten days through November 10 th. Coincidentally, the Hunter’s Moon will occur on October 31st at 10:51 A.M. As it’ll be the second full Moon in October, it is also officially called a Blue Moon. So now comes that age-old argument about how a full moon affects deer movement. Is there less movement at dawn and dusk and more during the mid-day? That’s where practical experience and personal observations come into the “prepared mind” equation.

Plus, add to the full moon question the fact that Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday, November 1st so the clocks get set back an hour. (Never easy is it?)

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There was a bill introduced in the US Senate back in September by Florida Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, that would eliminate changing the clocks back (and spring ahead in March) which would be one less worry for the country and a needed boost during the COVID pandemic. Whether or not this bill ever sees the light of day (pun intended) remains to be seen? Senator Rubio said, “More daylight in the after-school hours is critical to helping families and children endure this challenging school year.” It makes sense to me…which means that it’ll probably go nowhere!

Wednesday, November 11 th (Veteran’s Day) marks the opening of regular rifle season which will be open through Sunday, December 6th. It does close one week early in WMU A. Now, it’s time to put all that pre-season scouting, practice at the range, pouring over maps, getting signed permission slips (and your license), walking to get into shape and clearing all your days off, into play. New Hampshire deer biologists say that it should a good deer season. Here’s hoping that we’ll be able to prove them right. Good luck to all of us and don’t forget to vote!

Peter St. James, host of the award-winning NH Wake-Up Show on 107.7FM in Concord, is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association, Outdoor Writers Association of America and is a licensed NH Fishing Guide. Reach him at : stjames.peter@gmail.com

November 2020

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Team Hildenbrand Junior Champions

Over the many years I have been involved in the sport of bass fishing I have been blessed to meet some of the most wonderful anglers in the world.

always a welcome subject when meeting with Marc and his two sons Caleb and Cameron.

One of the unique tournament requirements

Youth Director. Assisting the New York TBF Youth members how to become better anglers and individuals. Including the maintenance and respect of your equipment. Like the time Marc assisted his son Caleb installing power pole units on their bass boat.

Many bass anglers attain product sponsorship,

Best Bassin’

by Bill Decoteau, Hampden, MA of fishing unknown lakes.

With support from his dad Marc, Caleb spent every day preparing for the Junior Bassmaster Championship in Sodus Bay, NY, which was an individual event not a team event. With only one bass in his livewell, Caleb followed his dad’s teaching, every ounce is

Marc Hildenbrand is more than just an excellent father teaching his sons how to bass fish... Marc is The BASS Federation Youth Director.

(l) Caleb Hildenbrand and (R) brother Cameron Hildenbrand win 2020 New York State TBF Junior Team Championship (Courtesy of Caleb Hildenbrand Fishing) Whether its competiting in bass tournaments, working in sponsor booths during sportsmen shows, sharing bass fishing techniques and tactics in seminars or emceeing The Bass University weekend educational seminar programs, my greatest joy has always been watching the growth of parents getting their children involved in fishing.

Although, I can’t remember when or where I first met New York Fire Fighter Marc Hildenbrand and his son Caleb? I do know our friendship developed around our love for fishing! Since then, our friendship has grown. Yes, that enticing allure to cast a line or just talk about the art of bass fishing is

within the TBF (The Bass Federation) Youth format, consist of the Volunteer Boat Captains. These are older bass anglers who have volunteered to allow two youth anglers to compete in the tournament events from their bass boats. The Volunteer Boat Captain runs the outboard motor chauffeuring the youth anglers to wherever they want to fish. While, the youth anglers decided where to target bass, they also run the trolling motor and monitor the electronics in pursuit of a winning limit.

Marc Hildenbrand is more than just an excellent father teaching his sons how to bass fish... Marc is The BASS Federation

and Caleb Hildenbrand’s Facebook Page “Caleb Hildenbrand Fishing” is an excellent example of what sponsored angler’s need to do to promote and support their sponsorship. Being an Ambassador for sponsorship is indeed much more than winning bass tournaments! A visit to Caleb’s Facebook page and you’ll have the opportunity to read reviews, watch videos, scan through photos, read about community activities and of course learn of upcoming events or read the results of older events.

Now, if this sounds like a lot of work? You’re correct it is! However, with the right attitude and inspirational encouragement from family and friends...Well, it becomes an enjoyable passion, and the rewards can be even sweeter.

Having returned in July from competing in the TBF World Championship, where Caleb and his partner Dante McClinchey finished 4th in their Division and 9th overall. This in turn encouraged Caleb to expand his knowledge

Page 63

important and weighed in his only fish. Caleb placed 2nd and the Top-Two Anglers qualified for the National Championship in Tennessee as a Team.

Recently, both Caleb and his younger brother Cameron experienced the reward of hard work, dedication along with consistent commitment to developing their angling skills!

Caleb is no stranger to angling success, with only three years as a member of the Legacy Jr. Bass Club Caleb won back-to-back “Angler of the Year” titles in 2015 and 2016!

Fast-forward to September 2020 and the New York State Championship Tournaments titles on Great Sacandaga Lake for both the Junior High School Division and the High School Division. With the ability to compete in both divisions Caleb joined his partner brother Cameron competing on Saturday in the Junior Division, and winning the Junior Division with 10.9 lbs. Then on Sunday Caleb and his High School partner Taylor Mar-

cel managed to edge out the competition winning the High School Division with 10.11 lbs.

With the ending of the 2020 New York State Tournament Championships Caleb Hildenbrand qualified for three NYS Championship Titles in less than one-month and earned a trip the Bassmaster National Championship in Tennessee. Plus, Caleb and his brother Cameron were crowned New York TBF Junior High State Champions.

And yes, the young sponsored angler shared all of his gratitude and appreciation to everyone who supported him throughout the competitive tournament season as a true Professional Angler! Follow Caleb Hildenbrand on Facebook @ ‘Caleb Hildenbrand Fishing’ and be sure to send Caleb an email as well at calebhildenbrandfishing@gmail.com God Bless and Best Bassin’

Billy “Hawkeye” Decoteau is an outdoor journalist with a strong passion for pursuing the Black Bass. His activities include; emceeing The Bass University weekend educational seminar programs, as well as emceeing benefit tournaments such as Maine’s Annual May Special Olympics Team Tournament, Fishing For Freedom, and working with the USO.

Page 64

Malarkey Cabin Chronicles

Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Tracking Snow Delivers Deer

a promise of overnight snow in the forecast so there was lots of exciteby Ray Dillon, Keswick Ridge, N.B. ment at the dinner table at It is always a building hard on Monday and Tues- the lodge. Amidst heaping of excitement for the deer day, covering lots of snow mounds of mashed potatoes hunter when the weather covered frozen ground that and gravy, squash, turnips forecast calls for fresh snow crunched underfoot. There and carrots and heaping during the last few days of were lots of old tracks piles of chicken with cold

hunters and were veterans of many white tail hunts, but had never experienced one in New Brunswick.

After hunting our

areas and the woods were vast with lots of places for deer to hide in. The rut was increasing in intensity but not at its peak as yet and

Wet snow flakes were already falling as they entered the lodge for the night and no one needed to be called twice for breakfast the next morning. We ate a hearty breakfast and headed for our hunting areas. their deer hunt, especially when those hunters haven’t filled their tags yet. This was the case several years ago when we had a couple of guys in camp from Connecticutt. They had hunted

on the snow mixed with fresher ones, but save for a couple of tails hurrying away over the next rise, they weren’t encountering the animals.

Tuesday evening saw

drinks and hot coffee was a healthy dose of deer hunting tales, speculation and questions about the morrow’s hunt. Gene Remick and Dave Williams were dyed in the wool white tail

Gene Remick’s big New Brunswick buck. eastern Boreal forests for a couple of days, they realized just how tough the deer hunting could be. The terrain was thick in many

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the hunters were thankful that we would be getting some fresh snow on the older tracked up blanket of (Tracking cont. pg 66)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Dams: Not All Bad

There’s been a movement over the past 15 years or so to remove dams in Maine rivers. The idea is to restore the natural environment to what it was before industry took them over in the 1800s and to allow sea-run fish that make their yearly trip up rivers the chance to follow their ancient ritual.

This is a great sound bite, but in this day and age, not all dams are bad.

The problem is we live in a completely different world than we did 200 and more years ago. When a dam is removed today, it puts at risk some of the last best places left of our inland freshwater fisheries, like, for example, our wild, native brook trout.

Thriving Trout

ailing sea fishes.

Take for example the Atlantic salmon. Every year it is reported with great fanfare that a few hundred have traveled up as far as the Milford dam on the Penobscot River.

In late 2019, the Bangor Daily reported 1200 had returned. This is good news, but it strikes me as strange when an absolutely stellar fish like the great Atlantic salmon, that used to run by the hundreds of thousands up the river to spawn, are now counted singly and have to be preciously handled in order for them to make it back to the ocean, and likely will never return to spawn again. In 2018, a marine biologist pointed to one particular salmon, saying that this one was unusual because it was able to “head into the open ocean twice and return to the river successfully. He’s definitely a survivor.” This isn’t great. It is heartbreaking. The heroic return of one fish!

to be protected now, before they, too, go the way of the Atlantic salmon. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates it will take some 75 years for a recovery plan for Atlantic salmon to work within the Gulf of Maine.

Maine, sadly, is the last stronghold for wild brook

Page 65

Kineo Currents

by Suzanne AuClair, Rockwood, ME some lakes are artificially improved, stocked beyond recognition, or where there are no big river systems. He said Maine has everything,

The entire life of the Atlantic salmon is a true force of nature, a spectacular miracle of wonder. It is one exciting fish. But then, so are Maine’s speckled trout. trout from its past habitat along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. The entire life of the Atlantic salmon is a true force of nature, a spectacular miracle of wonder. It is one exciting fish. But then, so are Maine’s speckled trout.

My late husband Roger surveyed many of northern Maine’s inland waters in the 1950s and ’60s. At the end of his life, he said he was most proud of how different Maine is from other states. The geography, the climate, and the sheer amount of available waters in many different areas of the state, unlike mid-western states, where

from high elevations down to the salt water, with moderate to cold climate that has served the native, wild fish well. In 2016, he called one of the biggest challenges today the spread of non-native fish throughout the state. He believed the role of resource management is to hold waters to the highest standards and to guard the natural reproduction of wild, native fish.

It is a very complicated business. Restoring sea-run fishes is a multimillion dollar, 200-year old year problem that, if policy-makers allow, risks ruining Maine’s thriving inland fisheries.

Just as the collapse of

Because of our remote area here in northwestern Maine, we have been able to enjoy truly thriving trout, without too much complication. It is a stellar calling card for the State of Maine, right up there with moose, blueberries, and lobster.

Wild Brook Trout But if dams come down It seems to me the without strong manage- successful survival of ment tools built into place Maine’s wild brook trout for inland protection, non- deserves all the push it can native, invasive fish, like At long last, revived from the archives of the once-authoritative books on New pike, have the potential to England streamer flies and how to use them: Trolling Flies for Trout & spread into essential inland Salmon, by Dick Stewart and Bob Leeman. waters. Sea-run fish have their own long-standing Trolling Flies for Trout and Salmon was first published in 1982 and again in 1992. There were 350 signed Limited Edition hardcover copies and several problems that have evthousand hard and soft cover copies sold out with the two printings. Many fly tyers view this book as an up-to-date version of new and available streamer fly erything to do with ocean patterns and crave to have it in their library. Used copies have been selling on and commercial uses and AmazonBooks.com for the last few years with a price tag up to $300.00 for each copy! There are 125 pages with 32 color plates of more than 90 classic nothing to do with inland streamer flies and tying recipes from a Winnipesaukee Smelt to a Barney Google and a Rangeley Centennial. Leeman and Stewart also share with readers many fisheries. In some places, tips and tactics for trolling streamer flies for trout and salmon throughout New the trade-off is too great. A England.

“This wonderful fishing book is the gospel when it comes to first line of duty ought to be streamer flies and trolling tactics. A Classic! protecting the best of what - V. Paul Reynolds, Editor, Northwoods Sporting Journal $21.95 we have right now, and Send a check for $2 .95 SRVWDJH along with this ad, to: Bob not come at the very costly Leeman, 22 Alan-A-Dale Rd., Brewer, ME 04412. (Price covers shipping and expense of hopefully, but handling).

Maine Outdoor Publications uncertainly, bringing back

many sea fish comes with its own set of environmental, economic, systemic and social problems, so it would be for the inland future. As policies are set that necessarily involve both sea and fresh water resource leaders, it makes sense to see that no harm comes to northern Maine’s prized trout, before they go the way of points south and be irretrievably lost.

In this century, sometimes dams work for fish instead of against them.

Suzanne AuClair lives in Rockwood. She has been writing about the Moosehead Lake Region for 25 years. She is an award winning member of the New England Outdoor Writers Assn. and produced Maine’s first anthology “The Origin, Formation & History of Maine’s Inland Fisheries Division.”

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Page 66

Tracking (Cont. from pg 64)

crunchy stuff. Surrounded in our dining hall by trophy buck mounts and other wilderness animals, they were inspired. They left our dining hall and walked back to our lodge eager for morning to come.

Wet snow flakes were already falling as they entered the lodge for the night and no one needed to be called twice for breakfast the next morning. We ate a hearty breakfast and headed for our hunting areas.

We could see various deer tracks on the new blanket of snow as we drove into the high country. My son Terry was riding with me and Dave and Gene followed in their 4x4. We passed through valleys and

Northwoods Sporting Journal

cedar swamps and finally entered a transition area that held softwood stands and swept up into hardwood ridges. Terry and I gave them compass directions and descriptions of the woods we had already pre -scouted and away they went My son and I took a drive into some other areas to see what was moving and while doing so encountered several does and smaller bucks. It was a beautiful morning in the woods and we could see that the deer were travelling that day. The snow had stopped early on but the sky remained overcast and threatening. We drove a loop and headed back to where our hunters were.

Around eleven o’clock, Dave came up out of some bottom land and a swamp,

wet and tired from the morning efforts.

Gene had headed into the hardwood ridge and around ten a.m., Dave had heard a shot from the ridge.

We didn’t have radios with us, but not long after we caught a glimpse of an orange cap and vest and we saw that it was Gene. The deer here in New Brunswick are usually a good body weight so he needed some help dragging the big nine point buck out.

We followed him back to the kill site and with the extra muscle power, soon had the big animal back at the trucks.

Gene told us that he had been covering a few steps at a time scanning for fresh tracks and movement in the hardwoods ahead of him when he glimpsed a flash of brown on the white

background on the ridge to his left approximately forty yards ahead. He stopped and raised his rifle. KaBang! The shot echoed off the ridge and back down into the mixed growth and the valley. The buck crumpled in the snow and lay still. Gene had made a good shot and dispatched the animal instantly and as he closed the distance to where it had fallen, he discovered that the buck had been trailing several other deer.

The big nine pointer field dressed in at two hundred and nine pounds and, although it had been rutting for a couple of weeks, was still fat and in good physical shape. It

November 2020 would make for fine dining.

We congratulated Gene and took some pictures and as we drove homeward, his buddy Dave almost had a shot at another big-racked buck that crossed the road in front of us. Thanks guys for a great day and the memories!

Ray Dillon is an Outdoor writer, bestselling book author, Professional Guide and owns/operates Malarkey Cabin Guiding Service in New Brunswick, Canada. To book a trophy Big Game or Uplands Bird hunt with him, go to www. malarkeycabin.com phone 506-363-2839 or e-mail rdillon@rogers.com

CALL TODAY TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SPOT 732-4880

Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020

Changes

(Cont. from pg 52) Although not a change, it is important to remember that using any type of natural deer urinebased or deer body fluid attractant scents is prohibited in the state because of the CWD threat.

Baiting or feeding deer is prohibited at all times in Vermont so don’t.

Wardens are following up on the tips about baiting and will be prosecuting violators.

You must have landowner permission to erect a tree stand, cut or remove trees or other plants, or to cut limbs on private lands. All stands, including ground blinds, must be marked with the owner’s name and address. On state lands, it is illegal to place nails or other hardware into trees or to build permanent structures.

Some things will change but others will not. The tradition of going to camp with family and friends continues as one generation mentors another in what it means to be in camp, eating well and making memories that last a lifetime.

Once red was the color of choice to remain safe but now it is hunter orange and that has led to far less accidents making deer hunting much safer. Another factor is mandatory hunter education which has been in effect for years.

Whatever you do, know and follow the law, respect the landowners and leave no trace. Hunting should be enjoyable.

Relax and appreciate being outside in nature. Bagging a buck is great but not a necessity to have a good hunt.

Good luck.

Gary W. Moore is a life long resident of Vermont and a former Commissioner of Fish and Game.

He may be reached by email at gwmoore1946@ myfairpoint.net or at Box 454, Bradford, VT 05033.

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Page 67

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Diverse land with SOLD& Salt Marsh Creek Bragdon Brook running through the lot. Over 900' of frontage on Weeks Mills Rd. $299k or only $441 per acre.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 68

Best Time (Cont. from pg 50) his hands, all covered in blood. So, I said, what did you get? He looked at me with a smile and said, “A SELLERS LANE

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4-pointer.” He let that sink in for a few moments and then added: “On one side.”

He had taken a really nice 9-pointer and, because it was a big, heavy buck he needed my help to drag the deer back to camp. I gladly

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obliged.

In the end, deer camp is more than a place where old friends and family gather to hunt deer. It is a place of camaraderie, of memories made and memories to come. It is a place of genSELLERS LANE

BUYERS ROAD

November 2020

erations, where older deer hunters tell stories (most of them true) of hunts past and where younger hunters get to learn a thing or two about the great pastime.

It is the best week of

the year.

Dennis Jensen is the outdoor editor of the Rutland Herald and Barre Times Argus and a freelance writer. Contact him at d.jensen62@yahoo.com

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MLS#1455174 Fishermen take note. Well maintained property at Kennebago and your key to the area! On leased land with access to the Kennebago River and Kennebago Lake. Propety is gated. $119,000 NEW PRICE MLS#1450299 Classic farmhouse on two acres. Full foundation, close to Oquossoc village and Rangeley Lake boat launch. $119,900

LAND VALUES UNDER $40,000.

MLS#1324211 Privacy. views of Dodge Pond and mountains, 1.96 acres and 340 feet of frontage on Ralmar Road. Some clearing and birches! Potential to create 2 lots. $37,500.

MLS#1440445 Level .9 acre lot, close to the Mingo golf course, and walking trails. Sunny, open lot with drilled well. Wooded on sidelines for privacy. $39,000.

MLS#1244261 Direct sled trail access. Level 2.37 acre lot, nicely wooded, on the cul de sac, at Deer Meadow Rd. Off Quimby Pond Rd, $39,000.

MLS#1426492 Wooded lot in Rangeley Plantation off Birdseye Rd, with LOW taxes, snowmobile/ITS access nearby. Close to Rangeley State Park and private marina. Driveway and building lot in place, need clearing. $39,500.

MLS#1089308 Wooded lot, 1.8 acres in Dallas Plantation, near Saddleback Lake on Dallas Hill Rd. Potential views of Saddleback, close to Saddleback and downtown Rangeley. $39,500.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

November 2020 SELLERS LANE

REAL ESTATE

BUYERS ROAD

Page 69 SELLERS LANE

BUYERS ROAD

P.O. Box 628 Main Street Machias, ME 04654

SUNRISE REALTY

Office Tel. & Fax: (207) 255-3039 Email: anitaj@midmaine.com Website: www.sunlist.com Anita Johnson

CHERRYFIELD: Enjoy sunsets from this westerly facing home w/views of Tunk Mountain. Sits on 37 acres of Oak forest accessed by a private road just 3 miles from town center. 4 bdrms, updated shower, kitchen w/view of the mountains. Good size family rm. Wood stove & hearth in living rm and a forced hot air gas furnace for heat. Another large building across driveway formally an active boarding and grooming business.

Open studio/living area above. Indoor agility area and a 110 x 50 ft fenced in training yd. Pond on property, fish.This is a excellent spot. Super price for a great property. $300,000.00 WHITNEYVILLE: This is a nice little camp where you can go and just relax. Camp sits surrounded by trees and has a nice driveway already in. Close to Six Mile Lake and about 10 minutes from Machias. There is a dug well, which hasn’t been used for several years so would need to be cleaned.

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Email: cwa@cwalakestreet.com Grand Falls- This cabin was landed on this lot two years ago and ready to finish off and use. This 41 acre lot sits high on a hill with great views on Lord Brook Rd. ATV and snowsled from this location. Take a look. $79,000 Springfield- Come take a look at this property set up for year around, off grid living on Clearcut Lodge Rd. Well, Septic, Solar, Generator, propane and wood heat, garden areas, a chicken coop all make this ready for life off the grid. $77,000 Lakeville- Gorgeous waterfront lot with a nice wide driveway.

Clearing has been done to open up breath taking views of Duck Lake. Electricity is nearby. Nice frontage. LOW TAXES. Wonderful spot to build your dream home. $89,000

Lincoln- Nice lakefront lot that has electricity being installed on the road. There is a new driveway with a large gravel pad on Caribou Pond. Enjoy all that this lakefront property has to offer. $69,000 Lincoln- Easy access to this Lakefront lot on Caribou Pond. Electricity is being installed to subdivision. This lot is a must see. $69,000 Lakeville- Outstanding lot on Lower Sysladobsis Lake. Lots of recreational opportunities on this property. Fishing, boating, snowmobiling & ATVing. Brook Trout & Salmon are just a few. $82,500 Molunkus TWP- Lot located 22 miles from Lincoln is a must see. With 230 feet of water frontage & 1.2 acres this lot offers lots of opportunities. Mattaseunk Lake is 576+- acres.

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CRYSTAL: 100 Acres large deer population and other wildlife. Will divide off a piece, perfect for your needs. Large brook on property. $49,900.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 70 SELLERS LANE

November 2020 SELLERS LANE

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Commercial

1-800-696-2235 56 Liberty Drive, Hermon www.overheaddoorofbangor.com

Judd Goodwin Well Co

"We Do It Right The First Time"

Complete Well & Pump

Installation, Service and Repair Residential • Commercial Camps • Cottages

P.O. Box 17 Greenville, ME 04441 Office: 207-695-3645 Cell: 207-280-0923 goodwinjudd@yahoo.com www.juddgoodwinwell.com Member Maine Groundwater Association

Professional application equipment - Training Available - Quality Discounts

SAND BLASTING SAND • Crushed Glass Grit • Black Beauty • Glass Beads PALLET PRICING !!

$189.99-$352.99