and a strong cup of coffee

The forecast calls for 20-25 inches coming my way this weekend.  That storm will mean that we have seen almost 6 feet of snow in the past 3 weeks.  It has snowed about every other day.  I think everyone who pays attention to the deer herd is watching and hoping that the lack of snow early on in the winter allowed for the deer to store up more fat and get more food to be able to survive 6 feet of snow in such a short time. Dad and I checked on 'our deer' while our snowmobiling Last spring the turkey season was eliminated from Northern Maine because of the snow fall amounts and concern over the breeding success rates. Living in a state that can get slammed by Mother Nature, keeps you on your toes.  We obsess over survival rates, impact of snow and ice and habits stability.  Who knows how much snow we will really get and how these animals are getting by.  Fingers crossed. Until then, I am grateful that I live with a couple of boys who love to shovel...

It was cold, but the sun was out and Dad, Hubby and I were eager to go into the woods to look at where T3 will be set up, bring in a couple of tree stands and I wanted to look for sheds. The recent dusting of snow helped to see any new deer tracks.  It also helped to see the main trails and activity of the deer herd.  There were a lot of spots that looked like this.  The deer have been on an acorn frenzy and since there is not a lot of snow, they can still paw at the ground and leaves to find them.  Deer paw for acorns buried along the leaves and snow. I tracked a couple of deer from the Sky Condo as we made our way to my treeseat where I shot my deer this year .  It is always amazing and kind of frustrating to see how close the deer are around you and yet, you don't see them during the season.  But, it is also good to see that there are SO many deer around where we hunt.  Some of the trails amazed me.  They were like super highways throu...