Archive for November, 2007
Posted on Thursday, November 8th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Regional wildlife staff spent most of last week collecting deer samples for Chronic Wasting disease testing. Most deer hunters in northern Maine will cut-up their own deer rather than take the deer to a local meat cutter. Because there are only a few meat lockers in Aroostook County, obtaining information on Chronic Wasting disease requires a lot of time on the phone and extensive travel to pick-up deer heads from local residences. We really appreciate the assistance we get from local deer hunters, taxidermists, deer hunting guides, and many others who have helped us in collecting these deer samples.
Generally during the early part of the deer hunting season we see a lot of yearling bucks while collecting deer biological samples. This deer season has been no exception with many spikehorn and 4 pointers being harvested in the first week of deer season. Most of these early season deer are harvested in some of the large fields in Aroostook County.
At the Dickwood Lake WMA in Eagle Lake we are now working with the local snowmobile club, Eagle Lake Winter Riders, and the Town of Eagle Lake to re-route ITS 85, a major snowsled trail between Portage, Eagle Lake, and Fort Kent. For many years this trail has followed old logging roads on the Dickwood WMA; however, loss of landowner permission outside the wildlife management area has required the local snowmobile club to relocate a large section of trail. Given the many miles of old logging roads in the area this seems like a simple matter, but there are many issues that must be resolved before ground work begins. For example, the first step is to find a trail or old road that will tie-in with existing trails and does not go through special or significant wildlife habitats. Other issues that had to be discussed and resolved include: trail width, trees to be harvested, removal of brush, filling holes, bulldozing, and equipment needs and size. For example, a big bulldozer would certainly do the job, but once the snow leaves in the spring we will have a lot of exposed soil, upturned tree roots, water erosion and an ugly scar on the landscape. The trick is to get the job done in a manner that effectively meets the needs of snowsled riders but doesn’t have major impacts on other natural resources in the area.
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Tags: Aroostook County Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, November 8th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Overall, the first week of firearms season for deer was a good one, except for the windy, rainy conditions on both Saturdays. At least the second Saturday had decent hunting conditions for half the day until the monsoon moved in! Hunting conditions through much of last week were good to very good with mostly light winds, clear skies, and cooler temperatures.
So far this year I have taken biological data from just over 100 deer, here’s the breakdown from this week’s samples: 19 were adult males (2 ˝ years and older),
38 were yearling males (1 ˝ years old), and 4 male fawns were sampled (6 months old).
On the female side of the harvest, 30 were adults, 3 were female yearlings, and 6 were female fawns. This is typically what we see for the buck harvest early in the season with twice as many yearlings taken than adults. A number of hunters I’ve spoken with mentioned that the bucks are getting smaller, but what they really are observing is a function of age. Most of the smaller bucks that are harvested are yearlings sporting their first set of antlers. Some are spikes or 4 pointers, but I have seen some yearlings with up to 7 or 8 points. Mature, adult bucks do not reach their full potential for body size and antler growth until they are at least 4 ˝ years old. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that those larger bucks are out there and before you squeeze the trigger on that crotch horn you may want to reconsider your options.
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Tags: Penobscot Valley Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, November 8th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Although we have a cookbook for much of our work, occasionally you get to improvise. From time to time when freeze up is approaching in the fall, we have had to trap and transplant some beaver whose dam building threatens someone’s road use/access/leach field or what not. (Much of this work is now done by animal control “agents.”) To satisfy both trappers and other segments of the public we were, at that time, asked to deal with those situations without immediately dispatching the beavers. Somewhere I heard that some genius damage control agent had moved such nuisance beavers into old/dead flowages & provided them with a foodpile, in order that he could trap them again when the open season rolled around a few weeks later. Once when a landowner in Abbot wanted to “restore” a duck marsh, I tried it myself. And it worked. I checked the next spring, the beavers had stayed put. How much of a foodpile does a beaver need? Based on work done in Michigan, not much. A loose pile, 7 ft x 7 ft x 2 ft, should be enough for the whole winter for one. Popple, which is their favorite food, can be easily had. Beaver tend not to move when freezing temperatures approach. When ice forms they’re locked out.
Tags: Moosehead Region Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, November 8th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
While some biologists and lots of game wardens worked this weekend, checking deer and hunters respectively, I continued to toil installing clapboards on a new garage. This gave me lots of time to think about deer hunting, especially since it was occurring all around me, even within sight of where I was working. It crossed my mind that golf and deer hunting have many things in common.
Both rely on personal integrity to follow rules for the benefit of fellow participants. Many of the decisions facing golfers and deer hunters can be answered by asking yourself; “I know its legal but is it right”? Unlike other major sports, golfers keep their own scores, are expected to follow the rules, often while out of sight of tournament officials. Former PGA standout Raymond Floyd lost a major tournament because he recorded an extra stroke when his club head touched the ball during a practice swing while he was out of bounds in the woods. This was unknown to everyone but himself. For us duffers, every round involves decisions as to when there is a safe distance between you and the next golfer, before you decide to hit. Golfers share a course with many others just like hunters share the woods with other hunters, as well as property owners. The quality of experience in both pursuits relies heavily on the behavior of fellow participants.
Individual decisions made by deer hunters affects safety, future land access, and the conservation of wildlife. Being 100% certain of both your target and any human activity or dwelling within the line of fire or beyond is a personal responsibility. While the law covers distances from roads and dwellings, it is the responsibility of the hunter to fire or not fire in a safe general direction. Or to hunt or not hunt with a rifle near homes even though it is possible to stay just beyond the minimum legal distance.
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Tags: Western Mountains Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, November 8th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
A few days ago, when I took off my uniform at the end of the workday, I found two ticks crawling around on my undershirt. One tick was about 2/3 the size of the other. The smaller was almost all black and the larger was reddish with a black disk on its back. I pulled out the handy “Tick ID Wallet Card” that I got from the Lyme Disease Foundation (www.lyme.org). The card has life-size pictures of deer ticks (the ticks that may carry Lyme disease) and enlarged, full color pictures of other ticks that you may find. The card is part of a tick removal kit that you can order from the website. It includes the tick ID card, a magnifying glass, tweezers, alcohol swabs and other information. As I suspected, both of the insects crawling around on my shirt were deer ticks. The larger, more colorful tick was a female and the smaller was a male. I have no idea how these ticks got inside my shirt, which was tucked into my pants since early in the morning. I guess I’ll never know where they came from and that’s part of the point of the story. These days, we have to be vigilant about ticks or run the risk of contracting Lyme disease or other tick borne ailments.
The very next morning, right after telling a friend about the ticks I found in my shirt, I looked down and found a fully engorged deer tick on the kitchen floor, right where my dog was scratching a few minutes before. The truth is, I’ve stopped counting the deer ticks I’ve found this year, mostly on my dogs and cats and fortunately, mostly before they’ve embedded themselves in their skin. Humans, dogs and cats can all catch Lyme disease, so keep a watchful eye for signs of the disease, which include fatigue and painful joints and muscles.
Lyme disease has been spreading rapidly since its first detection around Lyme, Connecticut in 1975, but unfortunately information about the disease seems to be spreading more slowly than the disease itself. For example, when I went to the doctor to be tested for Lyme disease in 2006 after finding an engorged deer tick under my arm, I was told that there haven’t been any cases of Lyme disease in Washington County, so its unlikely that I could have it. Although as of 2006 there were no confirmed cases in Washington County, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/ddc/lyme_disease.htm), 14 of Maine’s 16 counties had confirmed Lyme disease cases. Hancock County had 6 confirmed cases in 2006, while York County had 133 cases. There is no reason to doubt the possibility of being infected with Lyme disease anywhere in Maine. Furthermore, some experts think that only a third of actual Lyme disease cases are ever properly diagnosed. To make matters worse, the longer a person harbors the disease, the more damaging and more difficult it is to eradicate. Early and aggressive treatment with antibiotics, along with complimentary therapies (diet changes as well as nutritional supplements and stress reduction techniques to bolster the immune system), seems to offer the best way to treat the disease.
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Tags: Downeast Hunting Report • Categories: General
