and a strong cup of coffee

There is no snow on the ground and the temperatures have been in the 50s instead of the teens or 20s.  As a result, our deer herd is having a great time getting lots of food without the worry of snow, freezing temps or that coyote that is (still) around. Dad still has the trail cameras out and we are getting some encouraging pictures.  I didn't bother copying the ones of the coyote, but he is still around and solo. But these are always good to see and it means that we will need to change things up for next season if we are going to outwit this deer.  I believe he is about 3.5 or 4.5 years old and knows how to avoid hunters. I can NOT get over the size of his neck! And the next generation of big bucks: From the side, his antlers looked like they are slicked back instead of standing upright.  Hopefully he makes it through the winter.

Mentally, I am not ready to hunt with a bow.  I am confident in my rifle to know that I can drop a deer dead in its tracks.  I have seen the damage that my 150 (or 180) grain bullet can do to the inside of a deer and I am comfortable with that because I know that the deer did not know what hit it when I squeeze the trigger. Maybe that sort of shot is possible with a bow but from what I have seen on tv and with other hunters posting on social media, it is more likely that the deer will run off and die, assuming that it is a good shot. I have also seen far more bow hunters talk and post about how they have lost a deer than my fellow rifle hunters.  That is the last thing I want to happen! After this season and talking with Dad about all of the deer he started seeing when rifle season ended, and he was out muzzleloading, it made me really think about getting a bow and trying to get into the woods before everyone else does (including me) with their rifles. If I make arc...

The last few days of hunting season were eventful in the wrong ways.   Just to the right of the stick is a deer track in the leaves.  In order for my mom to prepare and cook what she needed to for Thanksgiving dinner, I stayed home to watch O while Dad and Hubby went out for a few hours. In the afternoon, Hubby stayed home while O took a nap and Dad and I went out.  The woods were quiet and calm. We didn't even see a squirrel.  Thanksgiving night, O got sick; throwing up sick, which for a two year old is a scary thing. We made the decision to not hunt on Friday morning in case he still didnt feel good.  I have been criticized in the past by readers who think that in order to be a good, qualified hunter, you need to prioritize hunting above all else. I willingly stayed home to take care of my son.  No rack of antlers is worth the comfort of your kid. None. It might make me a 'bad' hunter but it also makes me a great mom.  Friday afterno...

I am a proud member of the Orange army.   I never really thought about it until I became more involved with the online hunting groups.  So many of my buddies on social media have posted  over the past couple of weeks about trying to get a deer and getting out of the woods before the orange army comes in. There are trail cam pics being posted with spike horns or crotch horns with a note about the likelihood of the deer being shot by the orange army. Allow me to tell you what this proud member does when she puts on her orange.  She is looking for food to feed her family.  She proudly carries her rifle into the woods and knows that with one well placed shot, she can drop a deer dead in its tracks.  She is able to put on that orange and spend time with her Dad in the woods.  She can sit in the stands that they built and watch fawns and their mothers interact.  She is a hunter and proud of it.

This is how hunting is supposed to be! Cold in the morning with a solid front on the ground.  Noisy but not enough to give your cover away. And sun. I love the sun. I sat in the Sky Condo, Hubby was in T3 and Dad decided that since time is ticking, he would walk.  The plan was for him to walk the piece by T3 in hopes of jumping something towards Hubby.  Then, the guys would head my way and split up.  Dad would head east and loop around to my treeseat.  Hubby would make a loop west then swing east and come out at my treeseat.  When I saw Hubby at the foot plot, I was supposed to head immediately to my treeseat.  I was excited about this plan because I had not sat in my treeseat all season and I missed being more outside and exposed than in the bigger stands. There was a little windy but nothing that would keep the sound of steps hidden.  I bleated the minute I could see color.  I waited a few minutes and bleated again.  I hear...

I had called Dad mid-week to check in and he told me that we had a big buck by the Sky Condo One of the 8's? I eagerly asked No. Bigger If I could have driven up that night, I would have.  But I had to wait until Friday to put the memory cards into the computer and look at what Dad was talking about.  This is, BY FAR, the thickest deer we have ever seen on the camera.  He is clearly all rutted up because he has no neck!  It also looks like his E2 is broken on his right side.  He was on the camera a handful of times over the past week. I am ready to put in some time Wed, Thursday, Friday and Saturday in hopes that one of us will get a crack at this big guy. 

I hate coyotes.  They just freak me out especially when you can hear them but not see them.  On opening day of the 2015 deer season, we heard one howling especially close to where we were headed.  Over the summer, there had been a trail camera photo here or there but it had been quiet until that morning. Then, Dad handed my the memory cards to review before we went into the woods last weekend. As if gloating, here are a few highlights: He actually lays down!  All in all, he spent about one hour in front of this camera.  He was on the camera more than any other bucks were and I am sure the does are not happy about this. I talked to a friend of mine who traps and he has offered me a couple of his traps to see if I can get this guy and help the deer herd.  He is the reason that I won't sure the doe with the fawn - I need to keep the good moms around so more fawns can survive. We will see how this goes, but between trapping and maybe so...

We can not hunt in Maine on Sundays but that doesnt mean we can not enjoy the wildlife!  This doe was enjoying the grass when we caught a glimpse of her.  Maybe that means there is a buck or two around.

Lori let me know last week that my bear was done and I could come get him!  When we dropped him off a year ago, there were a lot of problems, namely his head being cut in half.  But, when all was said and done Jim and Lori did the following: 1. Piece the skull back together. 2. Remove the bald patch in the center of his back that the bear got when he was being hauled off the mountain. 3. All paws were removed and turned 180 degrees because the pelt was not cut right when it was butchered. 4. Flaps of skin above his shoulders were removed and sewn back onto his sides were they belonged. 5. All of the normal taxidermy stuff like preparing and working with the pelt, getting the fake head to go into the rug and felting the bottom. Needless to say, they went WAY above and beyond in order for me to have a quality rug from my remarkable hunt.   I don't care where you are in Maine, if you can get there, go to New Frontier Taxidermy and get your animals done right. ...

We kicked off the new season on Saturday and it could not have been a better morning.  The moon was out, the stars were bright and there was just a slight chill in the air.  It was 24 degrees. After last year's last minute switch in sitting spots and my success , I let Hubby pick where he wanted to sit.  He wanted the Sky Condo and I took T3.  As the three of us walked along the path into the woods, the silence was broken by a single howl. It was loud and close. Sound travels Dad said but we all knew that the coyote was close.  He was probably in the woods between us and T3. Luckily, it was just one coyote (only one was howling.)  We split from Hubby and headed directly towards T3 as another howl came.  We were walking directly towards the coyote. I kept thinking about the deer and how they were probably moving away from the coyote and further away from us and T3.  As we came to a field, the coyote howled again but he was further away at the o...

I recently wrote an article for The Liberty Project on the right to hunt and the legislative bill in Wisconsin that would prohibit people (anti-hunters) from harassing hunters on public land. Check out the article here and let me know what your thoughts are!

Bear season officially ends this week for me (Nov 28 for those who wish to still hunt them) I went out a couple of times and while this happened , I did not fill my tag this year. Luckily, I have a decent amount of bear meat left from last season so I will be in good shape for a bear roast when its -10 and snowing. Again, I helped Steve with a couple of bait sites and I wanted to post what our sites looked like.  He knows I took these pictures, so while I won't tell you where they are or what sort of secret ingredients we used, I can show you the basic set up. Anatomy of a bait site (from left to right): 1. Deer hind quarter tied to a tree 2. Milk crate with sweets 3. 55 gallon drum filled with assorted donuts 4. Milk crate with disgusting beaver parts Over the course of the season, we had bears who preferred the sweets and those who preferred checking out the meats.  When you think about it, bears eat some pretty gross stuff but boy is bear meat delicious! Next...

I was ready! Everything was packed and the sun was out.  I drove down to meet up with Steve and we were going turkey hunting.  Well, I was.  He had already tagged out and was sharing his blind with me. We made our way through the trees and towards the blind on the edge of the field.  The turkeys were already there picking at the food in the field.  It was the first time I had ever hunting agricultural land and the first time hunting turkey in the fall. We wanted to make sure that we were not seen, so we crawled our way into the blind and set up the chairs, my steady stick and gear.  We watched the birds eating, unaware that we were there.  For the next hour, we watched and hoped that they would get close enough to shoot.  They didn't but instead went into the woods just out of range from us.  We could hear the leaves crunch under them. Having worked the night shift, Steve left me in the blind and headed back to the truck to take a n...

How does the saying go? Good fences make good neighbors?  If that's the case, what do posted signs make? Two posted signs and a property marker tied onto the tree After a few incidents last year, Dad and I spent Saturday putting up posted signs around the piece of property.  It is kinda of sad to think about the changes over the past few years and how it used to not be an issue: people knew who owned what pieces of land and who hunted on them.  There was a respect for owners and when they said no to hunting, it was respected.  Last year, I was yelled at while sitting in my tree seat, we had people walking along the edge of our property and our neighbor had hunters that he did not know, sit in his blind and hunt.  There is a total disrespect for land owner rights and what they say is and is not ok on their property. Sadly, as a result, we posted the land.  As did our property neighbors.  We have worked hard to build up the habitat, keep ou...

You be the judge. For reference, the whole pile is about 5 inches across and Dad said that its about 4 days old. It's filled with apples and seeds.

If you have been a dedicated reader, you know that we have built a new treehouse for the 2015 season.  If you are a new reader, do a quick search for T3 and you can see what we have done so far (and why.) When the weather is cool with lots of sun, it's hard to be anywhere but outside.  Since rifle season opens in a couple of weeks, Dad, Hubby and I took to the woods to get things set up and ready for the Oct 31 start. We hauled carpet, plywood, tar paper, canvas and a chair down to T3 to add the finishing touches.  We also brought a limber to get those little branches out of the way of the shooting lanes.  On the floor, we put two layers of the tar paper then the plywood.  The canvas was turned into a gun rent out the front and the carpet was put on the wall behind me to keep out the cold and help to keep me hidden. The shooting lane that you can see behind me is where I shot my deer last year.  With the sun shining in on the stand and the lanes b...

I bought into the Hollywood version of trapping.   I sat on my couch in my warm house and watched the guys on Mountain Men check their traps and through ‘that could be fun.’ I watched as they put their traps out, checked them the next day, skinned an animals and did it all over again the next day.   Through the wonders of editing, it looked so simple to be a trapper.   I had a couple of friends who offered to take me out when I told them I had an interest in learning, but they wanted me to take the Trappers Ed class beforehand so I could legally handle the traps. There were six of us in the initial class in Sidney.   Most were there to make trapping their hobby and pick up some extra income in the off months of winter.   I was there so that I could learn and write about it.   Just like bear hunting, I believe that if you want to write about it, you should try it and have some firsthand knowledge.   That first night was filled with...