and a strong cup of coffee

Trail Cam photo.  I wish I had been able to take a shot at him. There are islands off the coast of Maine that have had to eradicate their deer population for the health of the people who live there.  There have also been controlled hunts to help with deer and tick issues that wreck havoc on the health of people in the area. On Mount Desert Island, the issue of a deer hunt is going to be on the ballot this fall . The guidelines are pretty simple.   For the first two to four years, hunters who own property can set up tree stands or ground blinds and hunt from them.  They can have friends and family do the same with permission, on that same property.  Using common sense, there will be an appropriate amount of space between these stationary hunting spots.  Firearms and bows can be used.  If the proposal passes, the hunt will last anywhere from 2-4 weeks.  After this trial period, hunting would only be allowed in October and hunters could only u...

Three years ago, Dad and I headed into the woods to get a moose. I took a week off from work and we were rocked and ready. Zone 17. In hindsight, I can see why Rick wanted to trade permits for that zone. Throughout the week, we saw one dead moose and a spot where one was gutted. That was it. It was the second time Dad had been drawn and the first time he didn't come home with some meat. At the start of the 2012 moose season, it was projected that 75,000 moose were roaming the woods. In my interview with Commissioner Woodcock, he spoke about the changes that were taking place this season that would allow more people to get their permit who had not. This past fall, my brother in law (BIL) who is a biologist for the State of Maine was gracious enough to let me tag along to see what he does and why it is important to the overall health of the moose herd in Maine. We headed to a tagging moose station in Roxbury, Maine for the October hunt. Maine biologists play a key rol...

When Maine's Governor LePage signed new legislation that gave Inland Fisheries and Wildlife an additional $100,000 for their predator control program, I wanted to follow up with Mr. Woodcock on how this money will truly impact the program and the State. How do you see this additional money helping IFW this year? We had a plan to target critical deer yards around the State (These are in areas D, E, F, G, C) . This additional money will help us by providing another funding source. There are 10 locations covering about 1000 acres that are our top priority. With this additional funding, we are able to increase our efforts without worrying about stretching the budget too thin. We can expand the number of people who can participate and regulate the hours put into this. It really needs to be an ongoing effort in order to sustain itself. Last year, we started the program in November and with the additional funds, we can start it this year around September 1st. It is only one y...