Archive for October, 2007
Posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Hard to believe it’s deer season already with moose season just ending and temperatures above normal. One good point to mention is the fact that Daylight Savings Time ends November 4 where once again we set clocks back one hour. This is a week later than normal, enabling weary eyed hunters extra hours of sleep and perhaps an extra hour after work to enjoy hunting for the elusive white-tailed deer.
The first day of deer season was wet and windy for northern Maine, keeping the deer registration numbers lower than normal. For those hunters always trying to outsmart white-tailed deer, the normal rut primarily falls around the third week in November, and that makes the last week of deer season the prime time to hunt this year. The downfall of this year’s early season may be limited snow fall thus decreasing the hunters chance of finding deer sign so scouting and doing your homework will be critical.
Maine wildlife biologists will be busy collecting deer samples over the next 4 weeks to test for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) as well as collecting deer biological data to evaluate condition of deer. CWD is a fatal disease of the nervous system of deer, elk, and moose. The disease belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).
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Tags: Aroostook County Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
This past Saturday was a long one. Up early to greet the ’07 deer firearms residents-only Saturday; then closing it out by staying up late to watch our Red Sox take a commanding 3-0 lead in the World Series. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday!
In this part of the state, the rain kicked in around the start of legal hunting time and stayed with us throughout the day, with the winds whipping up in the afternoon. A long wet day in the field that may translate into a low kill for the first day. I’m sure many, like myself, may have only hunted a portion of the day, and returned home a bit on the soaked and wet side. Or as was the case with a friend of mine when asked if he “killed anything” today, his response was, “hard to kill anything from a Lazyboy”! So yes, effort may have been down for this wet and windy start, but there are still plenty of days to come for this season. Once again, wildlife biologist, and contractors will be collected biological data on harvested whitetails, and also collecting samples as part of our ongoing CWD monitoring program.
While collecting the above-mentioned deer data will be the priority for the month of November, Region F has plenty of other initiatives ongoing as well. Recently moose biologist Kim Morris and I met with a Lincoln-based group that is very concerned about the number of moose/vehicle collisions, particularly in this part of the state. Discussions regarding opening up Marsh Island to bow hunting continue as well. We are also providing input into the transmission line corridor that will be part of the Stetson Mt. windpower facility to name just a few other initiatives. We continue to work away at several projects on some of our wildlife management areas (WMAs).
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Tags: Penobscot Valley Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Biologist’s do all kinds of unusual jobs; I remember when Dave Knupp walked the Realty Road (a major haul road for loggers up north) with a stick of bamboo and a mirror attached to the end. When asked by a trucker just what he was doing, he had a ready explanation, “Looking in robin’s nests.” He, or whoever he worked for, was trying to determine whether the gunk being sprayed to control spruce budworm had a detrimental effect on other life forms.
This year I find myself once again asking hunters whether they’d like to part with their deer head. We find mostly just the locals are willing. This creates a problem, because it makes it difficult for us to get enough from the area north of Greenville.
We will extract parts from the heads for testing for CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease); specifically the opex & retropharygeal lymph nodes. These will eventually be examined in a commercial lab. Results will be available next spring.
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Tags: Moosehead Region Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
If you have spent time in the Rangeley area during the past few weeks, you may have noticed new signs posted around town, which read: “Feeding Deer: More Harm Than Good.” These signs were displayed around town in order to make residents and visitors of Rangeley aware of some dangers associated with feeding deer. The intention is to help people make an informed decision about whether or not to feed deer this winter, not to prohibit the practice of feeding. The creation of the signs was a collaborative effort among several different organizations, but the concept and bulk of the work has been fostered by the Rangeley Region Guides and Sportsman’s Association (RRGSA).
Development of the signs began early last summer, when Mac Dudley, a board member of the RRGSA, approached the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) regional wildlife biologists in Strong inquiring about what the RRGSA could do to benefit deer in the area. Initially, the RRGSA were interested in finding more information about supplemental winter feeding of deer, but ultimately formed a committee to look at several key issues associated with deer in the area. The group did their homework and invited a variety of speakers to present information about the topic. Over time, the RRGSA accumulated a large body of information about the deer and winter feeding.
Feeding wildlife is a controversial topic, and people are motivated to feed wild animals for a variety of different reasons. However, feeding wild animals does not come without consequences, and this is particularly true for white-tailed deer. Many well-intentioned people falsely believe that deer populations are limited by the amount of food that is available in the winter. Therefore if they provide “supplemental” food, the deer will be more likely to survive. Unfortunately, winter survival is a much more complicated issue. White-tailed deer living in Maine are at the edge of their species range, and have adapted to the harsh winters by conserving as much energy as possible. They do this by seeking shelter in “deer yards” and by reducing their metabolic rate and daily activities. Research has shown that the availability of winter shelter is the most critical factor to a deer’s survival in Maine. One of the dangers of feeding deer is over-browsing of the natural vegetation around the feeding site, which can actually affect the long-term viability of this critical winter shelter. This inadvertent consequence of feeding can have a long-term effect on the local deer population.
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Tags: Western Mountains Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Wildlife is a product of the land, and the richer the quality of the land, the greater number of animals and species present. Wildlife production is the same as gardening; the yield can vary greatly from similar sized plots of land. There are a few other variables thrown into the mix, carrying capacity, biological breeding potential, climate, etc., to name a few.
Basic productivity from the soil up can readily be observed in various ways. One of the most striking is newly exposed soil along the edges of woods roads and what plants pioneer and take hold; grasses and clover or sweet fern, for example.
Consider Ruffed grouse … the production from similar blocks of land with similar tree species and stocking densities, although the stand age may be different, varies greatly from one end of the state to the other. Climate and especially weather conditions at critical times of the year can be the make or break factor (winter severity and nesting season especially). Usually we think of winters and deep snow as being hard on wildlife, and for many species it is. But snow accumulations can actually enhance grouse survival, as the bird has evolved the ability to dive and burrow into the snow for protection from the elements. The type of snow cover is actually more of a concern; deep powder being the best and a hard crust the worst. Because much of the grouse’s food in winter consists of buds located in the crowns of trees, the ability to forage for food is not affected by deep snow.
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Tags: Downeast Hunting Report • Categories: General
