and a strong cup of coffee

A few years ago, I decided to collect skulls and furs from the animals that I killed or trapped.   It was partly selfish to be able to highlight the hunts that I have been on but it was also in an attempt to educate my kids about the animals that we eat and interact with here in Maine. My first skull was my bear’s and even though there were a lot of issues with it (cut into pieces and put back together), it was great to see what was under the fur of the animal that I killed and ate.   My son loved touching the teeth and seeing the ridge where the two halves of the skull were fused together.   The bear rug is thick and soft and it’s my son’s favorite spot for reading/listening to books on tape.   Since that bear, my collection has grown to include a coyote (my daughter’s favorite), beaver, bobcat and deer skull. Each skull is displayed on a bookshelf that my Grampa made. It helps to highlight the size variables of each skull but also different types of teeth...

While I have been away, I have been busy advancing my hunting plans for this fall.  And joining new, exciting projects.  One of those is DeerCast, an app created by the folks at Drury Outdoors to give hunters the best tools available to identify peak times to be in the woods and when the deer will be moving.  I have had the chance to interview hunters who have used the app and have taken some impressive deer! There are a handful of us writing articles, the entire Drury family contributes and instead of waiting a year for footage to come out on television, you can see the videos almost as they happen.  Some impressive deer are being taken this year and DeerCast is free! So far, more than 218,000 people have downloaded the app... of course I want you to download it to read my articles but try it out and see if it works for you.  Let me know!