NAFA Fur Auction

The NAFA fur auction just concluded and the clearances as well as the prices were above anticipated levels!  This is great for all of the trappers who got their fur in on time.  I completely forgot about the drop off date, so hopefully the prices will hold for the next auction!  This is definitely a boost for a struggling fur market.

NAFA Auction Report

7th Annual Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby

Just a friendly reminder to everyone that the 7th annual Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby is this weekend.  I will be on the ice and I look forward to seeing you out there.  Check out the link below for details.

Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby

Ice Fishing

Let the hard water exploration begin!  January 1^st marked the opening of ice fishing in my neck of the woods.  The ice conditions were sketchy at best on opening day, so I had focused my attention on finding moose antlers (to no avail if you haven’t read my previous post).  By the second weekend I had confidence that the ice thickness was sufficient to plan an expedition.  I made arrangements to go with a couple of friends to a favored location on Long Lake.  Arriving before daylight, we had all of gear lugged onto the ice and were getting the auger warmed up as daybreak struck.  Making quick work of drilling 15 holes, we proceeded to start setting our tip-ups or “flags” as they are frequently called.  After setting roughly ¾ of our tip-ups, we were rewarded with a flag.  For anyone who doesn’t ice fish, this means that a fish has taken line, and triggered the flag to go up.  As I approached, my friend had already set the hook and almost had the fish to the hole.  The fish was a good one, a salmon probably around 3 pounds.  The lake has a one fish limit over 16”, so we opted to release the fish and hope for a bigger one.  Not removing the fish from the water (a key to successful release of a fish in the winter), we snipped the hook off close to the mouth and sent the fat, silver-sided beauty back down the hole.  We re-baited that tip-up and finished setting the rest of our flags before settling down to wait.  Luckily we hadn’t waited long when the action started.  It was non-stop, with the salmon offering us little rest before chasing yet another flag across the barren ice.  The fishing was the best I have ever seen, with a total of 19 salmon being caught!  The largest was a beautiful 25” female that weighed in just shy of 5 ½ pounds.  The second largest was a ridiculously fat 22” female that weighed in over 4 ½ pounds!  That was truly a “football fish”.  We had seven others that were in the 2 ½ to 3 ½ pound range, and 10 fish that were from 11-15” and in the neighborhood of 1 pound.  The majority of these fish were released, with us keeping only the two largest, so there should be lots of fish to grow for next year.  All in all everyone I talk to says the lake has been extremely slow, but for some reason we hit it just right that day, and reaped the benefits of a great day on the ice!

Moose Antler Hunting

It is the time of year when the ungulate residents of Northern Maine begin shedding the excess bony weight on top of their heads that we refer to lovingly as “sheds”.  Due to the diminished deer herd, I am predominately talking about moose antlers.  I have had “shed fever” for over a month now, but despite my best efforts and hundreds of miles riding snow covered roads I have not a single piece of bone to show for it.  The moose antlers have been dropping, as several people I know have been finding a few antlers, but all in all I have found the results to be very poor.  I think one of the primary factors is the sheer amount of people out looking for the antlers.  In the past there were always a few people that went out and scoured their favorite roads, but there was lots of opportunity to find a road that not a soul had traveled for at least a couple weeks.  On my most recent excursions I was struggling to find a road that hadn’t been drove on in the last week.  I will continue the hunt, but I am afraid my results will be limited by snow depth soon.  Below are a couple of pictures from other “shed hunters” in my area.  Take note of the one showing an antler hung up in a tree.  This was the first time I had ever seen that happen!  If you would like to book your own moose antler hunt, there are a couple of local guides that I recommend for your chance at success: Allagash Guide Service and The Legend Guide Service.  See the page of recommended guides for links to their websites.

I'm Back!

I apologize to all of my readers for my extended holiday hiatus!  Despite my lack of an on-line presence, I have been out in the outdoors a lot trying to succeed in something to give everyone good new about.  Christmas treated me very well, with lots of new gear to try out and write reviews about.  I will be adding another page with my personal opinions on gear that I use.  I have a wireless electronic caller by Johnny Stewart, a tote sled by Viking, two Wii games by Cabelas, a Wii game by Rapala, a slew of new lures by Rapala and a variety of other products that I will inform people of what I think about them.  Stay Tuned!

Coyote Baiting

Just as a heads up to anyone out there that is planning on baiting coyotes, make sure you check out the new laws released by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.  The biggest change to take note of is that before you place a bait, you must have landowner permission and all baits must be labeled.  Check it out at the link below and lets go get some coyotes!
New Laws

Recap of 2011 Deer Season

I just wanted to give everyone a little bit of a recap of the 2011 deer hunting season.  I was discouraged to say the least, as the state of our deer herd is dismal at best.  Between me and some of my friends, we had logged hundreds and hundreds of hours riding the logging roads in the North Maine Woods.  All of our efforts had been rewarded with very few deer sightings.  The sightings that we did have were localized, further hammering home the fact that the residual deer are in small pockets.  This is unfortunate when it comes to looking at hunting impact on the bucks, because even though the area is vast, all of the hunting pressure is localized on where the deer are spotted, and in turn pressure small areas intensely.  One of the other discouraging factors for deer hunting in Maine is the extremely deficient buck to doe ratio.  I have heard estimates ranging all across the board, but a number that seems to make sense to me is in the ball park of 1 buck for every 10 does.  This number is not based on any kind of survey or scientific element, just purely observations over time.  That does not take into account the mature versus immature bucks, but that is a whole other topic. 

            All in all, I went into the season with a dismal approach, but was successful on my mission.  Several of my other friends were also successful, which was the purpose of this post before I started rambling about the state of the deer herd.  Anyway, check out the pictures and associated stories below.

Bud Soucy managed to shoot a whitetail in one of the more interesting stories I have ever heard:

Bud spotted the buck quietly moving through the freshly harvested softwood tops, as it headed towards the nearby pond.  Quickly retrieving his rifle from the pickup, he picked a skid trail which paralleled the last direction he saw the buck headed in.  As he anxiously advanced along, he saw no movement and heard nothing stir.  Finally, he reached the shore of the small pond and started to skirt the edge towards where he guessed the deer would be.  As a neared a point of land that protruded into the pond, he glanced out across the pond, and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the deer’s head and antlers swimming across the pond.  He knew that there would only be a few moments after the deer emerged from the water, before it disappeared into the wall of regenerating trees on the far shore.  Bud settled onto his knee, bracing the rifle, intent on the spot that the deer would be ashore.  As the buck reached dry ground, he stopped for an instant and glanced backwards.  That was all the time Bud needed and he fired.  The deer bolted into the dense growth, and was no longer visible.  Now came the painstakingly slow drive around to the other side of the pond, and the hunt for the blood trail.  After several minutes of intense searching, Bud noticed a small speck of blood, and slowly worked into the cedar stand.  He hadn’t gone far when he noticed the buck in his bed.  A great buck, weighing 165 lbs. and sporting a wide 6 point rack.

A pair of deer harvested by father and son team Ked and Bryce Coffin:

 Details are vague as to the secret location, but it is within the North Maine Woods.  Both deer were the result of a week of hard work and persistence.  Ked’s buck weighed in close to 190lbs. with a beautiful 9 point rack, and Bryce’s deer was around 170lbs. with a 7 point rack.  Well done by both!

Nick Pelletier was so discouraged by the state of the deer herd, he planned a hunt into the Midwest, with a combination deer and elk hunt.  He was unsuccessful with the elk tag, but was completely rejuvenated by the approximately 1200 deer his party saw on their trip.  He had his sights set on a mule deer, and passed on several very nice whitetails to accomplish his goal.  After a two mile stalk and 275 yard shot, his dream was now a reality, with a beautiful 3 X 4 mulie.

Matt Deprey also managed to shoot a whitetail at the end of the season.  It was quite a unique situation, as the buck was making a rub on a small sapling when he saw him.  You can see the sapling in the background.  This was a 150lb. 6 point buck.

All across the board, the deer harvests were way down, with a few very nice bucks being harvested, but the numbers of hunters out there versus the harvested deer was quite poor.  Bud Soucy even managed to win the buck pool at Quigley's Outdoors with his 165 lb. deer, which years of go would have been surpassed for sure.  Until next year the 200+ pound deer will have to be in my dreams!