Tag Archives: hunting

Veterans, House in the Woods, and a Camp on a Lake

Partridge, ruffed grouse

About six years ago George and Terry Gallagher drove to Lee and knocked on a door. That knock helped improve many lives. The Gallaghers were looking for someone to share their beautiful camp on Upper Sysladobsis (Dobsis) lake in Lakeville Plantation. They were specifically hoping to open their camp and hearts to veterans. At House […]

The weather was lousy on opening day of turkey season but that didn’t stop me

It was raining hard at 2 am and pouring by 3:30 am. Howling wind kept me awake most of the night. It was opening day of the spring turkey hunt. “I’d be happy to just go for a ride and stay dry and see what happens,” I offered. Steve, my husband, didn’t answer me. We […]

Turkey season opens Monday and I won’t be hunting here

Eastern Wild Turkey (hen)

We’ve been scouting turkeys for more than a week now and haven’t found anything close to home to pursue when the season opens Monday morning. We’ve seen two lone hens, always in the same spot so they’re most likely on nests, jakes and a tom. The jakes and tom are in an area we can’t […]

Lifetime licenses are an investment in the future

Lifetime hunting and fishing licenses.

Lauren Cormier blogs over at Oh, Honestly!  She’s guest blogging with me today after purchasing lifetime hunting and fishing licenses for her sons (Her daughter isn’t quite two yet but will have hers in plenty of time.). Thanks, Lauren! I love to hear about kids who love the outdoors. By Lauren Cormier I grew up […]

Traits of the squirrel dogs known as Mountain Feist

Mountain Feist with squirrels

Today’s installment mention two things that caught my eye – Mountain Feist can be used for hunting upland game birds, and they catch squirrels. Red squirrels cause problems for us on a regular basis. The first installment is here. There are numerous strains and bloodlines within the Mountain Feist breed umbrella. A variety usually comes […]

So, you want to get into squirrel dogs? Mountain Feist are addicting

Gray's Barefoot Nelly, Mountan Feist

Late last fall my daughter Taylor told me someone at Unity College has a breed of dog called Mountain Feist. Squirrel dogs. I had no idea such a breed existed. Hunting squirrels with dogs never occurred to me. I thought you walked through the woods hoping to find squirrels. When I started looking for information […]

Maine Bear Hunting Referendum: hunting with Bob Tigro

This is an incredible story. Refill your coffee and get comfortable. You’ll be drawn in quickly. This is Bob Tigro’s story of bear and coyote hunting at Oxbow Lodge in Oxbow. What do coyotes have to do with hunting bears with bait, snares and hounds? If it weren’t for bear hunting Bob wouldn’t have made […]

Maine Bear Hunting Referendum: Thoughts from an out-of-stater

Pat Rayta and his Maine black bear taken in 2005.

I met Pat Rayta online in a group devoted to saving Maine’s proven hunting methods. It’s a big group, more than 1,300 men and women who love the outdoors, understand or are learning about hunting as a means of conversation, and who are passionate about keeping Maine’s bear population healthy. It didn’t take long to […]

After the ice storm

This is what my corner of northern Washington County looks like after the ice storm, and before yesterday’s snowfall. These are the most recent photos I have. We lost WiFi during the storm so I’m using the limited service on cell phone’s hotspot. It’s going to be a while before the ice melts from the […]

What’s in your hunting pack for deer season?

I took my first hunter safety class some time around 1974. One of the things that really stuck with me in that first class was what to take in the woods with me. The only backpack I had at the time was meant for school. The list changed little between 1974 and when I first […]

Janet Abrahamson of Thorndike got her moose

Janet Abrahamson's Bull Moose

The parking lot of Waite General Store was so full I had to park on the side of the road. Janet Abrahamson and Charlie Bryant were there to register Janet’s moose. A crowd gathered around the Weight General scale, and I arrived just in time to see the big bull being lowered onto the trailer. […]

My no-bear bear baiting experience

That’s right…no bear. There’s a bear or two around but they aren’t coming to the barrel. We set up the tree stand and barrel on July 27, the first day baiting was allowed. Taylor held the ladder in place while Steve climbed to the top to secure the seat to the tree. He trimmed a […]

A cow moose walks into a bear baiting station…

This cow moose strolled through the bait station at 5 pm Friday. She looked at the barrel for 20 seconds before moving on. She’s the only thing on the game cam; even the raccoon hasn’t been back. The moose has been walking up and down the road. She’s bigger than I guessed from her tracks. […]

Bear Baiting: a little discouraged

As of yesterday (Monday) afternoon there hasn’t been a bear at my bait barrel. I’ve changed bait from meat and sweet goat chow to doughnuts. The doughnuts did get the attention of one critter on the first night. I was excited for a split second when I saw the tipped barrel and a log on […]

Bear Baiting: tending the bait

Tending the barrel has been quick and easy. I park at the bottom of the hill at the washout and walk a quarter-mile to the barrel. I enjoy the daily trip. I make noise going in to help prevent meeting up with bears at the site. With If I have someone with me, we talk. […]

Bear Baiting: The barrel

I’m using an old plastic 50 gallon barrel the girls had for barrel racing as my bait barrel. Steve cut a hole in it with the chainsaw. The size of the hole isn’t particularly important to me. I’ve seen large holes bears can stick their heads into and small holes they have to reach into […]

Don’t store bear bait in the… (reader shared story)

Bear fur

Steve’s putting together a tree stand for the bear bait site. I’m getting the game cameras’ batteries replaced, cards formatted and inserted, and a little bait together. A cortisone shot in my injured, arthritic knee on Thursday is working nicely today so rolling the barrel up hill won’t be so bad. I need to figure […]