Posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
October! It’s a fantastic time of year to enjoy the outdoors whether you hunt, fish, trap, view wildlife or just look at the beautiful scenery. If you’re a hunter, there are almost limitless ways to participate in some type of hunting activity. Upland bird hunters should find above average numbers of Ruffed grouse. Reports from the northern portions of our region, which is primarily industrial forestland, indicate birds are showing up in solid numbers. My hunting activities in bird coverts in the southern portions of the region have also yielded many more flushes than the last couple of years. On Saturday, hunting an old reverting field, I had over 20 flushes on grouse! I was slightly concerned over the number of woodcock flushes that I was having until I went goose hunting in a cornfield early one morning. While setting-up decoys there were numerous woodcock flushing, flying around and even singing their “peenting” mating call. The very dry conditions that we have been having may be forcing woodcock into slightly wetter areas than the traditional upland coverts that they normally occupy. My recommendation is that until we receive some beneficial rains try hunting wetter areas at lower elevations near water (alder thickets) during your next trip because the birds appear to be quite abundant.
Waterfowl hunting is another intriguing option in October. In the early part of the season, there are good opportunities to harvest wood ducks and teal both blue and green- winged before these early migrants head south. There are also plenty of resident Black ducks and Mallards available for this early part of the season. As the season progresses and migrants arrive, Ring-necked ducks, Black ducks, and Common goldeneyes become more prevalent. As I had mentioned earlier, a couple of us hunted a cornfield for Canada geese early one morning and the action was quite fast. We had several flocks come to our decoys and observed hundreds of other birds looking for places to feed. We took our limit of two birds each before 7:00 am!
Hunters will have an opportunity to harvest a Wild turkey this fall. Only a small portion of Region F lies within the fall turkey hunting zones (northeast portion of District 17), but the warm, dry conditions this spring have produced a bumper crop of poults throughout the Region. In District 17, the archery season for turkeys runs from Oct. 6th through Oct. 20th and the shotgun season runs from Oct. 13th through Oct. 19th.
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Tags: Penobscot Valley Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
The September moose season dominated last week’s hunting activity throughout the northern portion of Region F with WMDs 4, 5, 6, 11, and 19 keeping some of our 10 moose check stations busy. With very little exception, all of the tagging stations were reporting lower numbers of moose. Very warm temperatures certainly may be to blame with moose perhaps not moving about as much in the heat and humidity. Still, some nice bulls were reported with the Springfield General Store tagging a bull that dressed out at 1,080 pounds, and a few other that came thru up north in the 900 pound class.
Hunting really kicks into high gear beginning Monday. Partridge, gray squirrel, snowshoe hare, raccoon, woodcock, and duck hunting all began with the regular statewide bow season for deer having begun last Thursday September 27. Reports from the field suggest a better year for our ground nesters. Several grouse and turkey broods were reported suggesting a good nesting year. Grouse of late have started to show up in my travels, and we have observed several turkey broods; usually a couple of hens with several poults that are getting some size to them. The regular duck season begins today. I have heard several flocks of geese migrating through along the Penobscot River and by moonlight as well. Water levels are not as high as they were last fall, which hopefully will keep ducks from spreading out as much as they were able to last fall. Keep in mind too that this is the “off year” for beechnuts, and acorns do not seem to be plentiful at all, at least where I have been. However the wild apple trees are loaded this year.
It’s also just a great time to be out of doors, no gun needed. Days are still warm and comfortable, and with the foliage hitting it’s peak in the northern half of the state, it’s a great time to get out for a walk or a late season paddle. Consider visiting any of our wildlife management areas (wma’s) throughout the state. In Region F, enjoyable paddling can be had on several of the management areas including the Francis Dunn WMA located up in T6 R7 WELS and including Sawtelle Deadwater, or perhaps the Dwinal Pond WMA located in Winn and Lee, or along Madagodus Stream, part of which is included in the Madagodus Stream WMA. The “Godus”, empties into the Mattawamkeag River just upriver from Kingman. This stretch of the “Keag” is largely slow, quiet waters perfect for a relaxing day of paddling. Get out and enjoy.
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Tags: Penobscot Valley Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 by Maine Sportsman
National Wild Turkey Federation Super Fund Project at Page Farm Parcel
Wild Turkey habitat management is a popular activity for landowners in this region of the state. Recognizing the winter bottleneck for wild turkeys at the edge of their known range, landowners in this region of the state of Maine have turned to conservation organizations like the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Regional Wildlife Biologists of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, (MDIFW), for technical advise to enhance their property for wild turkeys.
The Maine Chapter of the National Wild turkey Federation has spent over $63,000 on habitat improvements in the state of Maine. These projects have consisted of:
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Tags: Penobscot Valley Hunting Report • Categories: General
