Conservation organizations need your help NOW

As we plan for 2021, we know that we will not be attending sportsman’s shows. We won’t be able to catch up with fellow hunters, trappers and anglers and we won’t be spending money on all of those raffle tickets. And that is hurting hunting organizations – a lot.

Many outfitters and organizations rely on the foot traffic that these shows provide to help get reach more people which helps to draw more donations. Businesses rely on shoppers to buy the cast iron, jackets, wooden carvings, jerky and more but we will not there to make those purchases next year.

And while everyone is still feeling the pinch of the pandemic and a changing world, we need to make sure that these organizations have what they need to continue with their mission because it is so important to the hunting and outdoor world.

Some of the organizations that could use your support:

I would be remiss if I didn't start off with my organization. A couple of friends and I started Women of the Maine Outdoors with the hope of helping women and girls achieve their outdoor ambitions without worrying about a cost.

Across the world, there are stories of hunters, nonhunters, conservationists, anti-hunters and everyone else in between who loves the outdoors. Blood Origins in a project started by my friend Robbie Kroger with the intention of proving that we are all fighting for the same thing and that our stories connect us more than we realize. Blood Origins has a goal of getting people to donate 1 cup of coffee a month (think $5-$10 each month) to help support the vital storytelling that they are doing. I encourage you to join me in supporting them!

Since the 2014 referendum, the Maine Wildlife Conservation Council has continued to raise money for the war chest to ensure that when the next threat to hunting/trapping/hunting with dogs comes along, there is money to start a campaign immediately and spread the message of how important scientifically-proven management is.

Maine Trappers Association: Trapping is always on the brink of being threatened and we need more trappers to help educate the public on the importance it plays as a management tool. Supporting the MTA and considering becoming a trapper and/or teaching trapper’s education through Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, will help to ensure the organization stays strong.

Maine Sporting Dog Association: I had two successful bear hunts thanks to guides using dogs. I have written about the awe that comes from watching these dogs work and appreciating them after that bear is on the ground. The MSDA is a critical part of how we manage bears, bobcat, and coyotes and if you have ever bird hunted with dogs, you should be supporting them.

There are so many other organizations that rely on the support of people attending the shows each year. Since we will go another year without gathering and seeing one another, you may want to connect with these organizations on social media, join their memberships and sign up for their newsletters. And, if you are able, please consider making a donation. They will be so grateful.

Taking Turkeys to Texas

There are a few less turkeys in Maine to hunt this year. A few months ago, Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife in partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation , captured and released more than 50 birds into East Texas with the hope of rebuilding their population. “Eastern turkeys are where the restocking efforts originally began,” explained Shawn Roberts, Director of Field Operations for the National Wild Turkey Federation, “We tried in the 1920’s but it didn’t work. We tried pen-raised birds and that didn’t work either. The only thing that was successful was to trap birds and relocate them to good habitat.” “We started this current effort in the early ‘80s and we had to begin looking outside the state to see if we could get them moved in. We didn’t want to violate The Lacey Act so we had to come up with a way to compensate the states that were giving up a resource either by trading other wildlife or paying them monetarily,” said Roberts. Texas is on the very edge o

Utilizing technology to make you more aware

Staci and I were roaming around the woods on a piece of property that she knew. It was snowing and we were chasing deer tracks to see if we could find some early sheds. It was a perfect day to be out in the woods and we were relaxed and not really paying attention to where we were going. We knew the border of the property and we knew that if we walked long enough we would hit roads or the bog and find our way back. We got to a point where we thought we knew where we were but we were not sure. Staci got out her compass to take a waypoint to make sure we were going in the right direction to get back to the truck. I took out my phone and turned on OnX. Within seconds we knew where we were, where the property borders were in relation to us and we could watch the dot (that represented us) on the map move as we walked out of the woods and got closer to the truck. In another adventure, my son and I headed out on a shed hunting mission. When we got into the woods, I turned on the tracker

Where are the women?

This week, my interview with Steve at The Maine Outdoorsman went live. Steve said yesterday 200 people hit his site viewing over 500 pages. That is a lot of people reading about little ole me and hunting. Why? When I think of women who are in the general public's eye and hunt, I can think of 2 - Country singer Miranda Lambert and Sarah Palin. Why only two? Why is the female hunter such a fascinating thing? (I should probably note that I do not have cable so any and all female hunters on the hunting stations are lost to me. I'll keep it to the general public because that's what I am familiar with.) People/media were fascinated by the fact that they could get footage of Palin and her gun, shooting (and gutting) animals but I feel like the nostalgia would be lost if they had the same footage of McCain. Lambert and her hubby Blake Shelton tweet photos of their kills, and comment on what/where they are hunting. I only know this because I follow both. That's it.

and a strong cup of coffee

Search This Blog