and a strong cup of coffee

All over social media, there were posts about the rut; has it started in your area? have you seen any chasing? how do you know? what's the moon phase?  As much as I would have loved to have had some concrete answer to those questions, I had never seen proof that the rut was on.  Until that second week in November. Hubs was out hunting on the 10th and I was in charge of the kids and making our way up to my parent's house to hunt on the 11th.  It was windy and cold and I had opted to stay in and not hunt that evening, but wait until the next day.  I was holding the baby and watching the leaves blow across the lawn when I saw a doe emerge from the bushes around the pond (see down pointing arrow.)  She paused and then ran across the lawn, tail down.  I assumed that she wanted to get back into cover with the weather being what it was.  Seconds behind her was another deer.  I assumed that it was her fawn from the spring, until I saw the shine of sma...

As I climbed into the Sky Condo to start the 2017 hunting season, the top step broke off from the tree sending a chuck of wood to the ground and leaving the bulk of the rung hanging down to the next step. I lifted my gun off my shoulder and slid it onto the floor of the Sky Condo and them threw my backpack up.  I got myself into the stand and looked down at the damage.  We were going to have to replace a few rungs before the following week.  And my silent entry into the woods was anything but.   I sat there for a couple of hours and then headed for my stand in the woods to see if anything was walking through.  I was cautious walking in and looked for any sign of brown.  I made it around the corner when I heard that tell-tale sound of a deer blowing.  I watched as two flags ran from under my stand, away from me and into the ticker woods.  My cover was blown but I had hoped that the deer would head towards the stand that Hubs was in since...

If you do not follow me on Facebook , then you don't know that Dad totally schooled us in how to shoot a big buck.  Did some scouting, brought his gun, right place, right time, incredible buck! (Mom's flip phone doesn't take great pictures) So, that leaves Hubs (who has a doe permit) and I (who does not) to attempt to get a shot at one of these big bucks!  The competition is on!

How do you create outdoor kids?  You have them grow up experiencing outdoor adventures like it is a normal part of life. Over the summer, as I was on maternity leave, I was determined not to let the nice weather slip away without getting some fun, outdoor adventures in.  Staci from MyMainelyGirlAdventures took me to one of her favorite fishing spots.  I loaded up the baby, my waders (which I fit back into!) and into the water we went. We didn't catch any fish, but we did have a few bites.  I had the most action on my fly line that I have ever had!  Could have been the flies we put on or, maybe, this baby will be my good luck charm! The weather was perfect and we got to enjoy a few hours in the water wetting our lines and catching up.  What better way to enjoy my maternity leave?

Trail cameras are addicting. You buy one, get some pictures then decide that you should have another one at a certain intersection and the next thing you know, you are like us and have almost 10 out in the woods, trying to pattern your deer.   That excitement of pulling those memory cards quickly vanishes when you see things that don’t belong on your property.   In the past couple of months, we have had lots of activity on the trail cameras; a car driving around in the newly planted clover and a man walking through a highly traveled deer intersection.  Both men had to make an effort to get where they were; this was not just an 'oops, I took a wrong turn.'  We had posted signs up already and clearly that was not enough of a deterrent to keep them away. This is when it pays to be friends with police officers.  I sent pictures of the car to a friend, who came back within minutes with the name of the car's owner.  I did the same thing with the p...

I blame my friend Steve.   I cautiously agreed to go with him and learn how to hunt them so that I could have some first-hand experience when I write.   I would have never guessed that in agreeing to go with him, I would now look at August in a whole new way; it’s bear season! There are roughly 10,000 of us who buy our bear permits every year.   Compared to the 180,000+ deer hunters and we basically have the woods to ourselves to hunt bear. Guess what non-bear hunters?   You are missing out on one of the most exciting hunts you could possibly go on! And that should change.   Why would you want to hunt bears? Easiest reason is management and keeping the population in check with the biological and social carrying capacities across our state.   None of us want to see bears or any animal, reach the point where disease and over-population cause major issues. Hunting helps to put a dent in a growing bear population and with no other predators, i...

I am not sure if the target in the backyard has made the deer around here more relaxed or not, but for this fawn, it wasn't sure what to make of this thing that looks like a deer but doesn't move.  If this target can fool these deer, I am wondering if we could use it as a decoy during hunting season... that is something that I will need to research! Either way, the doe and the fawn both look incredibly healthy!  Always a good sign for the deer herd.

A few weeks ago, my kiddo was handed a piece of paper from his teacher.  I was standing next to him as she told him that when he and his family go for walks in the woods, we could look for some of these animal tracks. My first thought was that it was odd to see "cow" listed there since you don't typically find cows in the woods.  As I skimmed down through the sheet, I was mortified. When I got home, I made an "x" next to all of the animals/tracks that do NOT live in Maine. To me, this is just laziness. There is no moose or white tailed deer listed on here.  No black bear or turkey.  Even if you had no idea about the outdoors and the animals who live in your home state, you still know that the four animals that I just mentioned, are found in the woods.  A quick scan of this sheet SHOULD be a red flag since we don't have badgers here or mule deer.  Maine is not the prairie. As kids get further and further away from knowing the animals that live in th...

This past fall, my routine became almost comical.   I would leave my backpack on the ground, climb into my treestand, get settled and unbutton my wool pants. Four years ago, I wore base layers with monkey-thumbs to hide the Queeze-Away bands that I wore around my wrists.   I never got sick, but those early morning breakfasts and treks to the Sky Condo were a little more challenging when I was trying to hide a pregnancy.   Dad makes sure that I am always secure and comfortable when I am sitting 10-16 feet up in my treestands but if he knew I was pregnant, I was not sure how far off the ground he would allow me to be. So, I kept my first pregnancy a secret during the entire season. I hunted, hiked and pulled the same 10 hour days with Dad that we always did.   I would fall asleep right after dinner, but the fresh air and adventure of being in the woods kept me going.    Hubby shot his first buck ever that season; a small crotch horn and for me, t...