and a strong cup of coffee

Finally, after the cold winter it is time to be back in the woods.   I am eager to shake off the winter and get back into the sunshine, nicer temperatures and even play in the mud a little bit. This year spring means turkey hunting, fishing and looking for some sheds on the hunting property.    This will be my third turkey hunting season and I am hoping that the third time is the charm.   The first year, we called one tom and three jakes in but didn’t bring any meat home.   Last year, I went out with a guide and blew my shot by sitting in a spot that prevented me from shooting to my right.   I did get to see the tom drumming and strutting right towards me but I couldn’t finish the job.   This year will be different; I have all of my camo ready including gloves that I purchased this year, a ThermaCELL ready to go and a few different places and people that I will be going out with in hopes of bringing home one (or maybe two if I am really lucky) turk...

No matter what animal I hunt, I always come back to deer.  Hunting predators like bear and coyote are great and I'm eager to check off turkey and moose but I plan my vacations around deer season.  After getting yelled at last season, we decided to build a permanent structure a little further into woods and close to the same property line.  It was hard to visualize what it would look like and Dad had great plans for our third permanent deer stand.  He built it in the barn and we tested out sizes, wall height and visibility.  We were going to put it up in late January but time got away from us and February hit bringing about five feet of snow in four weeks.   So instead, Dad used the snowmobile to bring pieces of the stand over to our build spot. T3 before the roof Then, a couple of weeks ago, Dad started building. He needed help with the roof so Hubby, Dad and I took the snowmobiles over and lifting it into place.  The stand is a little ...

So we made it to King's den .  Now the fun starts. Once King was sedated and out, Jake and Mitch got ready to pull the cubs out.  We stood closer to where they were in a semi-circle and watched.  Lisa explained what was happening and the fact that this was more than likely, the first time the cubs had ever seen day light. Mitch taking the first cub out of the den. Mitch put the first cub against his chest and let go.  The cub stuck to the wool jacket with it's claws, like Velcro.  Jake handed him the second cub  and Lisa stepped in to help.  As Jake got King ready to come out of the den, Mitch tagged the cubs in each ear, weighed and measured them and described them for Lisa to write down. Lisa and Mitch holding the cubs. Mitch weighing the cub as Jake begins to get King out of the den. Cub tagged 501: male, 5 1/2lbs, white blaze on chest Cub tagged 502: female, 5 lbs, small white patches on chest, larger patch on right side. Onc...

Mount Katahdin from Route 11 in Maine. I had been awake for five hours when we pulled into the IFW office in Ashland at 8am.  It was deceivingly beautiful out with the bright sun and deep blue sky but the wind kept the temperatures close to single digits.  Still, we knew once we were in the woods, we wouldn't be thinking about the temps. Our group was fortunate enough to be going out with bear biologists Mitch Jackman, Jake Feener and one of the most well known biologists, Lisa Bates.  It was a 17 mile truck ride into the woods from the office followed by a two mile bushwacking snowmobile ride to the den.  This particular den had been marked in January when the biologists had shown up expecting to see mom and two yearlings.  Instead, they heard cub cries and immediately left to come back in March.  The bear, named King, is seven years old.  Her mom BB (for Bartlett Bear) had been denning in this same area until she was harvested during the hunt...

I was cleaning up pictures and came across these two from a few years ago.  The smell was horrible but after a while I got used to it.  I don't know if it was the (lack of) quality pot that I used or the fact that I did this on my grill and then stove when I ran out of propane, but I had to throw it all away when I was done.  At least I got a cool mount!

It is always fun to see a Bald Eagle, especially when you least expect it.  I found this bird sitting in a tree, being carefully watched by two crows. It was a cold morning - around 5 degrees, so when I rolled my window down the heat from inside the car escaped and created a blurry look to the pictures.  I wasn't willing to get out of the car in case the bird flew.

We had just gotten back from snowmobiling when Dad said that there was a turkey outside.  We watched as more and more birds flew down and started pecking at the dirt spots on the ground.  At their closest, they were about 10 feet from the back steps.  I kept waiting for one to land on the snowmobile, but none did. We counted 14 in all.  The spent about an hour pecking at the dirt and roaming around the yard.  From there, they headed onto the mountain.  A few of them stayed near a water spot for the rest of the afternoon.  I am not sure if they were enjoying the block from the wind or if they were actually spending that much time pecking and drinking.  Either way, they were around and in no hurry. I am hoping that this flock hangs around until the spring season.  I want to get a turkey this year!