Posted on Friday, December 7th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
I was reflecting the other day on how blessed I am to have been born and raised in the USA. I have been fortunate enough to travel the world, and this perspective comes naturally after spending considerable time in various countries, some which are rife with poverty, corruption and despotism. I was thinking how the world would be a much better place if it had more deer hunters. When I mentioned this to my best friend Rick, he busted out laughing and accused me of being off of my meds. I allowed that the world doesn’t need more dead deer, it needs more of the qualities that most deer hunters embrace. That caught his attention, and he waited for my explanation.
Deer hunters are by their very nature self-reliant. They generally are an independent lot, not inclined to wait for someone else to get the job done for them. They generally don’t mind being alone and are not afraid to take out across the landscape no matter the terrain or weather, trusting implicitly in their own abilities and judgment. They are used to providing for their friends and family, and bringing home a winter supply of meat is the natural extension of their self-reliance. Who doubts the world could use more self-reliance?
Deer hunters are the embodiment of patience. The sport teaches them the ability to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset. They persevere calmly when faced with the difficult and uncomfortable conditions often experienced while deer hunting. Hours of sitting and waiting are passed without complaint. Quiet reflections, while waiting and watching, are a deer hunter’s hallmark. Think the world could use a little more patience?
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Tags: Central Maine Hunting Report • Categories: Hunting Reports
Posted on Friday, December 7th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
We are currently in the midst of the statewide trapping season. The beaver trapping season began this week in WMD 15 around Fryeburg and will open on December 15 in WMD’s 20-24. High precipitation during October and November has elicited many calls to the regional office with concern of flooding from beaver flowages. Once the trapping season opens, these issues can be addressed through recreational trapping. Prior to this, we work with our Animal Damage Control agents to modify the flowage level or trap and relocate individual beaver.
The beaver is a significant player in the natural and cultural history of North America. The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony had established a profitable fur trade with Indians in Maine, via the Kennebec River, in the 17th century. Beaver pelts were a major export to England at this time. Later, in the 1800′s, the market for beaver fur encouraged the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the quest for the Northwest Passage and European settlement of the present-day western United States. These trappers were frontiersman such as John Colter, or part of the elite French-Canadian Voyageurs, who plied the waters from Montreal to Winnipeg with a canoe full of furs. Today’s trappers play an important role in wildlife management through a regulated trapping season. Trapping allows us to reach a compromise between the creation of high value wetlands for a variety of species and human tolerance of beaver and the flowages that can result in property or road damage. Trapping also provides unique insight into the daily habitats of wildlife that are best understood in the woods and waters where they live.
The expanded archery season for deer continues in parts of Region A, and in Wells, there is a special archery hunt to reduce the deer population in the Wells Reserve. This is a collaborative effort between IFW, The Town of Wells, Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, Rachel Carson NWR and the Maine Bowhunters Association.
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Tags: Southwestern Maine Hunting Report • Categories: Hunting Reports
Posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
This Month: Time to Lay Back, Or Go Full Throttle?
When snow falls in the dark, festive month, it divides the state’s outdoor-sports crowd into two camps. One group looks at December as the busy man’s month, but the other approaches late fall and early winter as a time of lethargy and meditation.
For hard chargers, ice fishing kicks off for everything but salmonids and bass as soon as ponds and lakes freeze, and smelters begin as soon as ice freezes on coastal rivers. A handful of folks hit select rivers and one stream as well as tidal water to cast, and surprisingly, fly rodders make up 98 percent of this group.
After the first layer of snow covers the landscape, rabbit hunters, wild-canine shooters and bobcat enthusiasts hit the woods with a vengeance, and often, spruce-and-fir thickets are tunneled fairylands.
If fishing and hunting for smaller critters isn’t enough, muzzleloaders after deer have a delightful month for hunting, particularly in the bottom third of the state where snow conditions and temperatures strike us as perfect for chasing whitetails.
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Tags: December 2007 Issue • Categories: Almanac
