and a strong cup of coffee

Hello to all of my non-hunting friends ! I am writing this letter to you because I want to encourage you to become educated on one very important topic that you will be seeing and hearing more about.  It is the issue of bear hunting in Maine.  In the upcoming months, there will be a lot of political spin on the bear issue in Maine.  I want you to feel as though you are getting a real picture of what the issue is before you cast that ballot next November.  Am I biased?  Yes.  I do not bear hunt but I know enough about it to have a very strong opinion about this issue.  I am hoping that as my friend, you will grant me a few minutes to hear me out on the issue. First, when you are hunting, there is no guarantee that you will shoot the animal that you are after.  No matter what you do.  When it comes to bear hunting, Maine is the only state that allows three different types of hunting; hounds ( you must train dogs to find and ...

Dads play an important role in getting the next generation of hunters interested and out in the woods.  It takes almost as much skill to get the kids out there as it does to make that shot and harvest an animal.  There is the concern over getting cold, keeping their attention and talking about what it means to kill (and then eat) an animal. In honor of Father's Day and all of the great outdoor Dads,  I thought that it would be perfect to hear how Bryan includes his sons with his hunting and the excitement they had this past deer season when the boys were with Bryan as he shot his first buck. I have interviewed Bryan before about hunting, fishing and getting his kids involved from an early age but his dedication and his son's trust in letting Dad drag them out of bed at 4:30am is impressive. I talked to Bryan when he shot this impressive deer after Thanksgiving. Q: Congratulations on an impressive deer!  How many days did it take to be in the right spot at t...

I am getting spoiled. Actually Dad and I both are. I am afraid to write this for what it might mean for next year, but I will; Dad and I have not had to follow a blood trail in a long time. Three years ago, Dad dropped this guy (below) on opening day. Last year, I dropped this one: and this year, I dropped him right at the base of the Sky Condo: We are getting spoiled but really, I have a great teacher who has taught me where to shoot a deer for the quickest, least painful death. And it has worked out well. This year, we spotted the buck coming to eat grass early in the day. He walked out from the upper right corner of this photo and headed down almost to where the camera is and then started to walk back and eat on the clump of brown grass when I shot him (you can see him laying there post gutting and see the brown grass just to the left). It was a good shot because it dropped him but in my mind it was a bad shot because it was SO LOW! I shot him right in the heart. If you...

We called it a season yesterday at noon. It was an overall warm season this year, I was bummed not to have snow to hunt in. The season flew by and I can not believe that it is already over! Here is a quick recap of what we saw: A group of 20 turkeys around all season A group of 2 does and 2 fawns around the Sky Condo 3 single does in the woods 5 partridge 3 coyotes (shutter) 3 ticks (shutter and start scratching) and 1 buck

Clothes are out, licenses and ready to go, guns are sighted in and a game plan is on deck. In about 11 hours, we will be heading into the woods and into our Sky Condo. Dad and I jumped three deer today walking in to move branches AND, when we grabbed the cameras and checked photos, we say a ton of does, one coyote and a NICE looking buck all in front of the Sky Condo! I wish all of my fellow hunters good luck tomorrow!!! See you Monday with an update!

I remember slapping my Dad's leg because I could see him coming down the hill and was so excited. I remember Dad telling me to get into position and he helped me pull my mitten/gloves off. I knew where the target spot was and I knew not to lift my head after I shot. I remember asking Dad if I could shoot him and getting the go ahead. I remember his front leg snapping up and him running. I asked Dad if I had shot him and he chuckled, patted me on the back and said I had. It was November 17th. I will never forget it. Where we were, what we did and how excited I was to get my first deer. He weighed in at 111lbs. The biologist at the tagging station took a tooth and I think some blood. He estimated that he was about 2 years old. When I stopped by my parent's house this weekend, I found this: My Dad had had the small spikes mounted for me! I had no idea he was doing this and I can not tell you how much it means to me that he did. I think we will do the same thing wi...

So, I do have 3 more blogs to write about Becoming an Outdoors Woman. They are already drafted and the photos are ready to go. But, I got distracted. Last fall, my friends invited Hubby and I to their house. We headed to a local fair and then Jason convinced us that it would be really fun to pick tomatoes from the garden and then make tomato sauce. Apparently, I would be one of the kids painting the fence in Tom Sawyer . This year, I went out and bought all of the attachments I would need for my KitchenAid and set about making my own tomato sauce. For the record, I hate tomatoes, so wrap your brain around that! But, I am a sucker for good, homemade stuff. And harvest season. And getting an amazing deal on tomatoes from a great local farmer. As a result, instead of blogging and posting, I did this: When all was said and done, I had 8 pints of corn and 6 quarts of tomato sauce. I am SO ready for the snow to fly - I am like a squirrel collecting nuts =)