November 2009 Almanac
This month: November Is Deer Month … But
November in Maine begins with colorful foliage, but soon, leaves fall and woods turn bare and brown before snow flies. In such a drab backdrop, outsiders to the state might think folks would hate the month, but one crowd that numbers around 170,000 lives for November – deer hunters.
It’s a way of life in Maine, and it intrigues non-residents and transplants to hear a salutation in business spots such as restaurants, gas stations and the like when folks run into one another and pop the question, “Didja’ git ya’ deer yet?”
To a Maine native, such a question seems as normal as saying “hi” in summer or “Merry Christmas” in December.
As big as deer hunting may be in Maine this month, lots of folks in the bottom of the state – about 10,000 – live for the second half of the split waterfowl season. Novice duck hunters from the first season don’t get out much in November’s cold, so solitude and shooters who don’t sky-bust become more of the norm.
In recent years, a small but dedicated group of fly rodders are getting out hard in November, and judging from photos on the Net, they’re learning how to catch fish on flies – often egg imitations. But Buggers, Picket Pins, Hare’s Ears, Pheasant Tails and similar choices, often weighted, work just fine, thank you. Each year, Net fish photos get more impressive and numerous.
Serious photographers get out now, targeting wildlife and scenic mood shots, the latter often dark, somber images that touch the soul.
If photographers running around now might seem odd, another group gets out often before winter cold and ice stops them – bicyclists. Any day the sun shines unseasonably warm, roads with breakdown lanes spawn a bunch of folks in colorful clothing, pounding the pedals.
In this same vein, canoeists and kayakers brave the cold water now, which reminds me of Michigan oil-painter Heiner C. Hertling. On his old television show on the Creative channel, he often painted in the winter, and when his target included a river, viewers often saw canoeists and kayakers passing by the snowy bank where Hertling was painting his scene.
If nature cooperates, and it often doesn’t, smelters can get onto coastal streams and rivers before New Year’s Day and catch a mess of these tasty, anadromous fish, running upstream to spawn.
Speaking of fishing the salt, The Maine Sportsman’s columnist Tom Seymour often targets harbor pollock this month. He just fishes off docks and gets plenty of fish for the frying pan.
Bobcat hunting kicks off Dec. 1, a sport whose few participants can be described with a three-digit figure – maybe. Those that chase bobcats with hounds, though, live for the sport.
The trapping season starts this month as most furbearers become legal to trap. This group must really be dedicated – buying all the equipment, caring for it, scouting new ground and learning about wildlife.
Nights are starting to get plenty long, and with this truth, leisurely meals with fruits from the forest increase. Folks want to enjoy a nice dish of venison or ducks and make a festive occasion out of the feast.
~ TIPS OF THE MONTH ~
-Scraping to Silence
Have you ever stood near a game trail, expecting deer to cross to the west only to have one approach on the east side, forcing you to turn? Often, shifting feet makes noise in leaves, so careful hunters scrape away leaves, twigs and sticks down to the soft earth so they can turn silently. Little tips like this make the difference between winter venison or none.
-Noisy Material
When deer hunters wear dungarees and nylon hunter-orange vests, really common in this state, they are really saving a lot of whitetails because these materials make so much noise that they alert nearby deer.
Even when hunters walk on soft moss or needles, the legs brushing together make enough of a sound for deer to hear the swishing scrape 100 yards away. When a hunter spots a deer and slowly raises the rifle to shoot, the arms brushing against a nylon vest also alert the game to the hunter’s presence.
It makes sense to wear soft wool or synthetic materials such as Polar Fleece that are as silent as a wafting summer breeze. So, instead of making due with regular casual clothing, hunters should spend the money that allows them to be silent in the woods.
-Big Fry Pans!
Few families are large enough to eat one deer at a sitting, so hunters freeze large portions of a whitetail to preserve the meat for later use. However, freezing meat causes excess water as steaks and stew meats cook. Water runs from the venison, so the cuts stew instead of fry – unappetizing.
A solution to this problem makes sense. Buy a large, 12-inch skillet rounded slightly in the middle so the water can run to the edges as the meat browns in the pan’s middle. A company makes such a product and calls it “Texas Skillet.” This writer bought one at Walmart several years ago.
~ WHERE THE ACTION IS ~
-Surprising Deer-Hunter’s Paradise
The forests in parts of York, Cumberland and Oxford counties hold dense concentrations of deer and as surprising as it may seem, this region has lots and lots of land open to hunting.
This surprises folks, particularly from Northern Maine, because they view this southerly region as developed with wall-to-wall suburbs – simply untrue. This country north of Shapleigh has some of the best woods and water in the state, and insiders who know this region call it the best Maine has to offer hunters and anglers.
Check out Maps 2, 4, 10 and 11 on DeLorme’s The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer (MAG), find Denmark at the top of Map 4, B-2 and spiral out far enough to include Acton, Casco and Stoneham. The secondary roads in this entire area shout “deer country.” Folks can practically take a pin and poke it anywhere in the imaginary circle and hunt there – successfully!
~ NEWS & TIDBITS ~
-Deer Forecast Dismal
Lee Kantar, deer biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIF&W), is predicting a dismal deer harvest for 2009 – maybe the worst in 30 years. The reason for the drop goes back to the bad winters we’ve experienced two years in a row, killing a goodly chunk of the whitetail herd. We’ll need mild winters to build the population back up.
DIF&W whitetail predictions have been woefully inaccurate in the last 10 years, though, so folks can take it for what it’s worth. Such inaccurate figures pose quite a change from the mid-1980s through most of the 1990s when the Department was so accurate with deer-harvest figures that people were saying our wildlife biologists would have been burned as warlocks or witches 300 years ago for being so uncannily precise with their estimated kills year after year.
-Most Inclement Months
In the North Country each month, December, June and July see more inclement weather than any other month, but in the South Country, the rainiest time comes in May. Who’d have guessed this last one? We look at March and April as having more inclement weather.
-Eastern Hophornbeam Making Comeback
In the 1600s through the 1800s, Mainers heavily harvested eastern hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) because of its very close-grained, heavy, exceptionally strong and exceedingly hard wood. When a woodland wanderer passes a hophornbeam sapling and grabs the trunk, it feels as hard as iron. In fact, folks called it “iron wood.” When well-seasoned, this wood made excellent trip stakes on log-hauling wagons, wagon tongues, yokes, barn stanchions, wood-plane shoes and even firewood, just to name a few options. Woodcutters cut it so heavily that it became quite uncommon in our forests, but these days, it’s really making a comeback in Maine and grows everywhere.
-Black Locust Everywhere
Black locust grows far and wide in Maine but is not indigenous to the state. The heavy, close-grained wood proves durable when in contact with soil and water so builders and farmers use it for boat planks and fence posts. In the past, it made excellent pegs for glass insulators.
-Maine Bicycling Highly Touted
The League of American Bicyclists (LAB) recently ranked Maine number three as the most bike-friendly state in the nation, basing the evaluation on a 75-item survey that included legislation, education, policies and programs, infrastructure, evaluation and planning, all aimed at making the Pine Tree State a special place to pedal. Maine fell behind Washington and Wisconsin, and four through 10 went to Oregon, Minnesota, Iowa, Arizona, New Hampshire, Delaware and New Jersey. Five of those last seven states have something in common with Maine – lots of transplants. Folks moving to other states are often looking for the good life, so they take up life-recreation skills in a big way.
-Wasp and Bee Threat
How serious are wasp or bee stings? In the U.S., 40 to 50 people die per year from stings. In comparison in this country, sharks kill nearly one person annually, dogs account for 25 deaths per year (figures from period between 2001 and 2007) and lightening causes nearly 40 mortalities each year.
-AK-47 vs. Maine Deer Rifle
Year after year in The Maine Sportsman’s big bucks, moose and bear surveys, the .30-’06 Springfield and .308 Winchester accounted for more than 50 percent of the game animals shot, a statistic consistent with national manufacturers’ sales records of ammunition.
With a 150-grain projectile at the muzzle, a .30-’06 Springfield generates 2,990 feet per second and 2,980 energy foot pounds and a .308 Winchester 2,770 feet per second and 2,560 energy foot pounds. The 7.62x39mm Russian caliber in an AK-47 turns out a muzzle velocity of 2,330 feet per second and 1,722 energy foot pounds – considerably less velocity and energy than a typical deer rifle.
Deer rifles and the assault-style AK-47 have identical actions in semi-automatic, so a logical person might begin to wonder why all the hoopla about banning assault-style weapons, particularly when considering FBI statistics show criminals use AK-47 assault-style rifles in less than 1 percent of violent crimes in this country.
-U.S. Big Carbon-Dioxide Producer
Connie Hedegaard, Denmark’s Environment Minister, claims that the United States emits twice as much carbon dioxide per capita as Denmark without gaining anything in quality of life. Her country would like to see our country and rapidly developing ones such as India and China to be more active in reducing carbon-dioxide emissions.
-Bluefin Worth What?
In sashimi-loving Japan, one 1,000-pound bluefin tuna can be worth tens of thousands of dollars, explaining why bluefin populations in the Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean are in trouble.
~BIRD OF THE MONTH~
-Deer Hunters See This Bird Often
The merry, curious red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) accompanies flocks of black-capped chickadees in November, a familiar sight for deer hunters or hikers poking around coniferous or mixed-growth forests.
Ornithologists tell us that nuthatches – both red- and white-breasted species – hang around chickadees because they recognize Maine’s state bird has developed and honed an excellent warning system for detecting approaching predators. Yeah…wow! This symbiotic relationship impresses this writer, too.
“Red-breasted” refers to the rusty-colored underpart of the bird, a throwback term to ancient England when dyes were inadequate so red garments were more brownish or red-mahogany than scarlet. The red breast on this nuthatch is really pale, too, and in fact, Peterson calls it “washed.”
A red-breasted nuthatch has a bluish-gray back and black line through the eyes with a white stripe above the eye, which Sibley calls a long “eyebrow.” The male has a black cap and the female the same gray cap as her back color, so gender identification takes but a casual glance.
~ DO YOU KNOW? ~
-Ducks That Produce Fewer Eggs
Most duck species lay eight to 12 eggs, a fairly large number for a bird, suggesting high mortality of broods. Do you know which duck species lay fewer eggs, one of them an endangered species?
~ BOOK CORNER ~
-Bicycling Guidebooks Popular These Days
When driving along Central Maine highways with breakdown lanes such as Routes 3, 27, 17 and 201, drivers can see multiple bicycles with riders dressed in colorful garb on any day and might occasionally spot a peloton at times. Breakdown lanes get bicyclists safely out of main driver lanes – an ever so popular amenity for the cycling crowd – explaining the popularity of these state roads.
The number of bicyclists surely illustrates the growing popularity of a sport that offers superb aerobic and anaerobic exercise, perfect for folks who like to hunt and fish and need to strengthen their legs and lungs.
In fact, bicyclists in Maine now outnumber licensed bow hunters, waterfowlers, bear hunters or squirrel hunters by far, quite the statistic for a sport that attracted few participants 30 years ago. Now it annually generates $70 million into our economy.
This month’s book review caters to this state’s cyclists – Howard Stone’s 25 Bicycle Tours in Maine (A Backcountry Guide, Woodstock, Vermont). As the title suggests, the author highlights rides across this state’s paved highways, or more specifically in four regions, including “The Southern Coast, The Midcoast Region, the Down East Coast and Inland Maine.”
Stone obviously did all 25 trips and has detailed information that he has updated twice. Some suggestions cover areas with which this book reviewer has intimate familiarity, but the ideas help me plot out a course that had never occurred to me before.
Pemaquid Point offers a good example of a place I have visited dozens of times but never thought to bicycle until now, thanks to Stone’s directions for what struck me as a fun ride.
The “The Southern Coast” section had one loop in York, Eliot and Kittery that interested me – rather surprising. Inland York County has plenty to offer, but coastal York County has about as much appeal as a debate between a right winger and a left winger, both shouting at the same time and neither one listening. However, Stone’s description of this ride intrigued me enough to make it a future spot to bicycle – and soon.
The book, published in 1986, costs $16.95 in the U.S. and $24.99 in Canada. The only downside is that was last updated in its third printing in 1998, but the 11-year-old information works for this reviewer.
My copy looks worn and beaten, too, from all the use I have given it over the years, so this review covers a book that I have not only read but studied like a college textbook.
Another similar book, Melissa Kim’s Foghorn Outdoors New England Biking (Avalon Travel Publishing, Berkley, California – $17.95) has roads and woodland trails in all six New England states – 100 suggestions in all. The Maine section has some excellent choices, including one ride in my neck of the woods – the Belgrade Lakes Region.
Two features in Kim’s work will become a standard in bicycling books of the future. 1) This author rates the rides one through five with five being the toughest, and also, 2) she tells the reader how many feet in elevation they’ll climb throughout the trip – both fascinating to a serious bicyclist. In the latter case, each hill and mountain gets added together for an end result.
Avalon Travel also publishes Rick Steves’ books, arguably the world’s most famous travel writer and television personality, considering the number of his published books and television channel in which he appears. So, Kim’s book sells with good company.
One feature of Kim’s Foghorn Outdoors New England Biking really fascinated me. The three northern New England states covered paved roads quite heavily, but the three southern states were mostly mountain bike trails. I’m not sure what that says – even after reading the book. I missed an explanation. (Ken Allen)
~ INNOCENT BYSTANDER ~
-Don’t Let It Bother You
Many years ago, I was teaching a sophomore English class filled with deer hunters, and one November morning, the group tried to play one of their favorite games – getting me to talk about deer hunting in class rather than teach my planned lesson. That day, the topic was indefinite pronouns.
Shortly after I had taken attendance, one of the students raised his hand and then asked what I thought of a .30-30 Winchester for deer, knowing that I favored more powerful calibers such as a .30-’06 Springfield, .308 Winchester and 7mm Remington Magnum. He and several of his fellow students figured his question would get me going and eat up a good part of a 50-minute class.
“I think it’s an excellent caliber,” I began and paused for effect while enjoying the look of consternation on their faces. They were wondering why I had anything good to say about this old caliber, and they could see a long discussion on deer cartridges evaporating.
I finished by saying, “…For women, children and wimpy men.”
Instantly, I could hear 12 to 15 breaths being sucked in as a dozen hands shot into the air.
This anecdote offers a valuable lesson, but before getting to it, allow me to belabor the point just a tad with a slightly different angle on the same theme:
An acquaintance once asked me if I had heard from a particular woman lately.
“Why, yes,” I lied. “She called me just yesterday.”
“Did she say anything about me?” he asked, trying to be casual but failing.
“As a matter of fact, she did. She asked if I had ever seen you in Bermuda shorts.”
“What! …Bermuda shorts! Why?”
“I don’t know ‘why’. She just asked the question with no explanation.”
“What’d you say?”
“I just told her I had never seen you in shorts and that ended that part of the conversation about you.”
This fellow couldn’t let it go and was asking about the tone in her voice when mentioning “Bermuda shorts” and had I forgotten any minor points. Oh, Lordy, he was like a brown trout that had just taken a sloppily presented dry fly. …Just too easy.
The lesson?
When one person can get one person or a whole group going so easily, the plagued ones need to lighten up. When folks feel so threatened about a point that any fool can get them into a froth so easily, they need to rethink their philosophy or get a grip of their imaginary security blanket and allow others to have differing opinions. And, the more unreasonable the opinion, the less it should bother the opposition. Just take it for what it’s worth and don’t let it bother you.
If the whole world approached life with such a casual attitude, then the two party system or war might disappear overnight. (Ken Allen)
Next month: Dark, Cold, Festive Month Offers Plenty
December, that dark, cold, festive month, offers plenty to the outdoors crowd – everything from deer hunting to snowmobiling to mood photography to fly-fishing with jillions of stops between.
Where do we start?
Well, deer hunting seems like a grand place. Folks who have not shot a deer yet can continue hunting these critters with black-powder firearms that load from the front, a delightful time to pursue whitetails. Cold weather has usually arrived and in at least the North Country, snow is a gimme’. The season lasts two weeks in much of Maine but just one week in parts of the state with a sparse deer herd. Details are in the law booklet.
Open-water fishing continues, but for some reason, most folks are fly-fishing. Go figure. Places such as Cobbossee Stream around Collins Mills draw a crowd at times, too, particularly when temperatures rise to unseasonably warm levels.
As soon as snow flies, rabbit hunters with merry beagles get out, and speaking of dogs, bird hunters with feather finders pound bird covers this month, particularly before snow falls – but the white stuff stops no one with a grouse hunt on their mind.
Fox and coyote calling, often over bait, start in earnest now as folks take up dawn and evening vigils where wild canines roam. This sport offers top excitement for serious hunters who generate a little success.
Some folks like photography this month because they’ve been working so hard at fishing and hunting for 11 months that time off from blood sports feels restful.
December offers photographers two great choices, too:
1) Before snow flies, the drab shades of browns, grays, yellows and blue-green conifers create a great backdrop for mood shots, particularly with all that texture from dead pine needles, dying grasses, old shingles, rock walls and the like.
2) After snow flies, scenic images become a no brainer. Who can miss creating an exciting photo when snow covers trees and the landscape, particularly before water freezes and deep blue lies in the background?
Gray squirrels, raccoons and more small game attract hunters to the woods as waterfowl draws them to marshes and coastal hotspots. All have their followers, even opossum, which may have two people hunting them.
Meanwhile, as soon as ice freezes safe enough to hold folks, ice fishers can go forth and drill holes. Game-fish season doesn’t open until Jan. 1, though.
In the North Country, snowmobiling takes off this month, and in places such as Rangeley, Jackman, Millinocket and Patten, weekend visitors need lodging reservations after plenty of snow falls. These rural hamlets fill up with the sledding crowd – a huge sport these days.
~ ANSWERS TO “DO YOU KNOW?” ~
-The Eggs Know
Ruffed grouse lay a dozen or more eggs and have a high mortality with chicks, but woodcock lay four eggs on average and have a much lower mortality, nature’s way of protecting the resource. Most ornithologists agree that the number of eggs on average dictates survival odds.
Ducks such as wood ducks lay nine to 12 eggs, green-winged teal 10 to 12, blue-winged teal nine to 12, cinnamon teal nine to 12, American black duck nine to 12, mottled duck nine to 13 and mallard eight to 10.
However, northern pintails produce six to nine eggs and the endangered Harlequin six to eight, suggesting these birds have a high survival rate compared to common species. Extreme, man-made habitat changes have stressed pintails and Harlequins, though, so fewer eggs gives them a distinct disadvantage.
