Posts Tagged ‘Western Mountains Hunting Report’
Posted on Friday, November 16th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
This week brought a dusting of snow and colder temperatures to the high elevations north of Rangeley to the delight of many deer hunters and skiers. The colder temperatures and the shortening days are coinciding perfectly to make an early rut very possible within the next week. We received a report of an estrus doe shot in the Eustis area and observed several large swollen bucks in the Rangeley region. We observed a few bucks in the 225+ pound range taken near Weld and Rangeley. Overall hunting pressure increased as the week drew to a close, mainly due to the rain earlier in the week. We have also seen increasing number of non-resident hunters enjoying the break in the weather the past few days. Keep in mind November is also a great time to hunt upland game such as ruffed grouse, woodcock and snowshoe hare. The snowshoe hare are starting to turn white, making them easier to pick out against the forest floor.
The conclusion of Daylight Savings Time effectively marks the end of sitting on the deer stand after work for many people around the state. It also translates into high hunting pressure on the last three Saturdays of the regular firearms season. This increased pressure when combined with the rut can benefit hunters that sit near clearings or twitch roads, as a preoccupied deer is more likely to be moving through the woods. And with increased hunters in the woods, especially on these last few Saturdays, we need to make sure of our targets and respect the landowner’s property.
Hunters who have already tagged deer within the Region D are encouraged to help the Wildlife division in our collections of biological and CWD samples. We are in need of more samples from Magalloway and Coplin Plantation, Rangeley, Kingfield, the Andover area and Peru, Lexington, The Forks and Moscow. If you happen to kill deer from these areas give us a call at the Strong office at 778-3324.
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Tags: Western Mountains 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 Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
If you have spent time in the Rangeley area during the past few weeks, you may have noticed new signs posted around town, which read: “Feeding Deer: More Harm Than Good.” These signs were displayed around town in order to make residents and visitors of Rangeley aware of some dangers associated with feeding deer. The intention is to help people make an informed decision about whether or not to feed deer this winter, not to prohibit the practice of feeding. The creation of the signs was a collaborative effort among several different organizations, but the concept and bulk of the work has been fostered by the Rangeley Region Guides and Sportsman’s Association (RRGSA).
Development of the signs began early last summer, when Mac Dudley, a board member of the RRGSA, approached the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) regional wildlife biologists in Strong inquiring about what the RRGSA could do to benefit deer in the area. Initially, the RRGSA were interested in finding more information about supplemental winter feeding of deer, but ultimately formed a committee to look at several key issues associated with deer in the area. The group did their homework and invited a variety of speakers to present information about the topic. Over time, the RRGSA accumulated a large body of information about the deer and winter feeding.
Feeding wildlife is a controversial topic, and people are motivated to feed wild animals for a variety of different reasons. However, feeding wild animals does not come without consequences, and this is particularly true for white-tailed deer. Many well-intentioned people falsely believe that deer populations are limited by the amount of food that is available in the winter. Therefore if they provide “supplemental” food, the deer will be more likely to survive. Unfortunately, winter survival is a much more complicated issue. White-tailed deer living in Maine are at the edge of their species range, and have adapted to the harsh winters by conserving as much energy as possible. They do this by seeking shelter in “deer yards” and by reducing their metabolic rate and daily activities. Research has shown that the availability of winter shelter is the most critical factor to a deer’s survival in Maine. One of the dangers of feeding deer is over-browsing of the natural vegetation around the feeding site, which can actually affect the long-term viability of this critical winter shelter. This inadvertent consequence of feeding can have a long-term effect on the local deer population.
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Tags: Western Mountains Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Several experiences over the past week reminded me that both people and wildlife alike are busy getting ready for winter. At home I’ve been working steady to get a garage and breezeway sided and shingled before the snow flies. Next on the list is to gather up a load of firewood from my woodlot for my brother.
Two calls were received this week relative to recent beaver activity causing road problems and access to camps and agricultural fields. Every year we see a spike in this activity as beaver work overtime to impound water, to access and store more food for the coming winter months. Beaver are active all winter but remain in their lodges or swimming under the ice to access the feed piles they created in the summer and fall. Unfortunately, these nuisance activities coincide when biologists and wardens are very busy with the start of several hunting and trapping seasons.
I had my own mini nuisance wildlife problem this weekend while I was putting cedar clapboards on a new garage. While on a ladder, thousands of ladybugs swarmed around me, getting in my hair, ears, and behind my glasses. I vaguely recalled from Entomology 101 that they were predatory so I couldn’t understand why they were so interested in the very wall that I was trying to clapboard. So I called an expert.
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Tags: Western Mountains Hunting Report • Categories: General
Posted on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
The October portion of the 2007 Maine moose hunt ended this past Saturday. Once again, we had registration stations in Rangeley, Eustis, Solon, and Andover. This year we added a station in Strong for the convenience of people hunting in the southern portion of Wildlife Management District (WMD) 7. The addition of a fifth station will also accommodate moose hunters in 2008 when WMD 16 (includes Farmington) is opened.
Biologists from Region A (Gray), B (Sidney), D (Strong), and Bangor (Resource Assessment Section) aided in the collection of biological data again this year. I was able to visit each of the stations for the first time. When I arrived at the Eustis station on Wednesday, District Game Warden Blaine Holding introduced me to a father, daughter, and step-mother moose hunting group who were registering a second moose. Both women drew permits, one for WMD 7 and the other for WMD 8. Dad was the sub-permittee for both. Here is their story.
Dawn Hatch and Frank Guptill of Friendship, Maine were hunting with Frank’s daughter Jennifer. Jennifer took an adult bull in Adamstown Township (just west of Rangeley) the day before and Frank was there weighing and registering a second bull which he took off the Gold Brook Road north of Eustis that morning. Frank has been applying for a moose permit every year, but has never drawn one. Either the person drawing the permit, or the designated sub-permittee, which Frank was, can shoot the moose. They must hunt together. Dawn drew her first permit this year after applying for 10 straight years. Jennifer drew her first permit after applying for five years. The lesson is: if you aren’t lucky enough to draw a permit, be close to someone who is.
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Tags: Western Mountains Hunting Report • Categories: General
