Aroostook County Hunting Report: October 25, 2007

Saturday, October 20, was youth deer hunting day. It provided a great opportunity for Regional Biologists to interact and talk with hunters as well as collect deer biological information on northern Maine’s deer herd. This special deer hunt for junior hunting license holders (ages 10-15 years) is very popular in Aroostook County and we see a lot of young hunters taking advantage of this hunting opportunity.

Northern Maine had unusually warm temperatures with very heavy rain and wind last Saturday morning . Generally, this is not the best of deer hunting conditions, but many hunters did report seeing deer, and a few youth hunters were successful in tagging one. I checked a couple of nice bucks at Northstar Variety in New Sweden, the largest a 9 pointer weighing 148 pounds field dressed. Regardless of the outcome, everyone seemed to be enjoying this hunting opportunity and the camaraderie of being outdoors together. Certainly, a successful deer hunt shouldn’t be measured solely on whether a deer is harvested, but as a great opportunity to get out with young hunters and educate them on hunting safety, outdoor skills, hunting laws and etiquette. Most importantly, this is a chance to spend some valuable time with a young relative or friend.

Hunters are now reporting fewer bear sightings. We still have a high bear population in northern Maine but because fall bear foods, particularly beechnuts, are not abundant, bears have started to den early. Because of this behavior November deer hunters will have very few opportunities to harvest a bear.

The warm weather this fall seems to have delayed some of the fall flights for migratory waterfowl. I’m still seeing many wood ducks along the Aroostook River which is late in the season for this early migratory duck. I was also on Hodgdon Mill Pond within the Lt. Gordon Manuel Wildlife Management Area last week and observed numerous flocks of waterfowl, the most common species being black ducks and mallards. When it comes to waterfowl hunting in northern Maine there are lots of places to go and generally very light hunting pressure.