Deer Hunting 2018

For those of you who follow along regularly, you might recall a post about my goals for 2017.  For those who don't remember, feel free to take a second to catch up here:

2017 Goals

Essentially I exceeded my expectations and checked off three of the 4 goals:

1. Shoot a Tom Turkey

2. Catch a Muskie over 20 pounds

3. Trap a Bear over 200 pounds

However I fell short on the fourth goal of:

4.  Shoot a Buck over 200 pounds

I decided that I was going to focus most of my efforts on this singular goal in 2018 and saved up vacation time, finished as many projects as possible and generally tried to prepare for the month of November.

The season started slow, the trail cameras showed little for promising bucks, with one potential contender that I was hopeful for, getting shot on opening day by another hunter.  I scoured country, logged many miles whether in the pickup or wearing out the boot leather.  After two weeks of hunting I was feeling quite discouraged and had only seen three does for my efforts.  Then, I decided to stop exploring so much country and focus more on known areas that have more concentrated deer.  With snow coming early here in the north country deer were moving into what I call the transition areas and I started seeing multiple deer a day and my hopes were rejuvenated.  After seeing close to 60 deer, messing up on a buck, watching a deer get shot right in front of me and putting in over 80 hours, I set the rifle in the cabinet tired, forlorn and disappointed.  After resting for a day(No Sunday hunting in Maine), I decided I wasn't ready to throw in the towel yet and bought my muzzleloader stamp.  The six day season is short, but my hopes were high and on day two I was really close to getting a shot on a smaller buck.  Finally after 90 hours logged, I caught a break when a once in a lifetime buck slipped up and gave me a glimpse of him.  After watching a doe acting funny I kept glancing behind her and then all I saw was a huge chocolate rack looking at me.  Everything in me wanted to shoot, but I did not have a safe shot, so I watched as he melted into the dark timber.  A short track job later I caught up with him and six does and his mind was preoccupied long enough for me to get a good shot on him.  When I got to him, the 8 point chocolate colored rack contrasted against the white snowy backdrop and I was in complete disbelief.  I closed my eyes to picture what my dream buck would look like, then reopened them and he was laying at my feet.  As I hoisted him into the pickup, I was quite sure he would break the 200 pound mark, making him a Maine "Big Buck", and sure enough when the scales settled, the gentlemen at the tagging station announced 222 pounds and I don't think you could have slapped the grin off my face.  We put a tape to his antlers and he green scored right around 150" as an eight pointer.  I believe he should at least be in the high 140's after drying, which means he should make MASTC as well. 

Goal number 4 is now complete and in remarkable fashion.  I realize that a buck like this is probably a once in a lifetime accomplishment, but here's to hoping someday it might happen again.

Stay tuned as we do some hardwater exploration and now it is time to come up with our next set of goals to work towards!  Feel free to share your goals or successes with us!

Trapping 2018

The 2018 season was certainly not one for the record books.  It started off with a tough bear bait season.  I didn't have a bear that I was willing to target come to the bait frequently enough to set a snare, meanwhile I imagine I was feeding every raccoon in Aroostook county!  So while I did not trap a bear this year, I did trap several raccoons when the season finally opened.  I also got the kids out helping to trap some nuisance beaver and even a nuisance fisher.  We also managed to pick up a few bonus muskrats, so while the numbers were not impressive the memories we made were for a lifetime!

Muskie Derby 2018

The muskie derby this year was certainly interesting as lots of rain fell right before the start of the festivities and water that was barely accessible by canoe a week before became accessible by anything and everything up to and including a small party boat!  Even with our fishing hole at times looking more like a marina than a river, we still managed to find a few fish in the dirty water.  We ended with 9 muskie for the weekend with Brent placing on the leaderboard in 11th place with a 40 7/8"and 18.38 pound muskellunge.  It was a fun weekend and the weather was beautiful for most of our 40 hours of fishing.  I must admit though dawn to dusk in a canoe for two days followed by a third day of dawn to 5:00 when the scales close has me not wanting to see my canoe for a few days!

Brent's 11th Place Fish

One of my more unique catches.

Always Rewarded with Beautiful Scenery

The Final Standings

Stay tuned for some other stories coming soon!

Double on Muskie!!

The muskie fishing adventures this year have numbered less than anticipated, but the trips we did take were productive.  Our first outing of the year rewarded us with three toothy beauties, including the first of the year over 40", but it was the second trip which really set the stage.  A friend, Josh, was visiting from Connecticut and his heart was set on hooking into a muskie.  As we pushed the canoe off the rocky shoreline, something just felt right and we wasted no time in wetting our lines.  An hour into the trip I was second guessing myself about it feeling right when Josh let out an exclamation as the rod tip came alive and dipped hard towards the water.  Ecstatic we slipped the 36" fish into the net and headed for shore for some proper pictures.  As we finished taking pictures and watched as the released fish slipped back to the depths, I decided I would try a couple casts as well since mission was accomplished.  We had just pushed off and Brent and I both let go with long casts.  The second my lure hit the water, it was followed with an explosion as I hooked onto a fish.  I had not even had time to exclaim, "Fish On!", when I heard Brent issue the same proclamation.  Turning I saw his rod was bent over as well.  A Double on Muskie!!!!  This was something I had heard of and even saw a YouTube video or two on, but had never experienced.  Brent quickly boxed his 37" fish towards the canoe and made quick work of getting it in the net.  He generously offered to release his fish without so much as a picture to free up the net for my fish, but I was feeling like taking a risk and we decided to gamble and try to get both fish in the net.  I played the fish for a bit longer and as it passed under my seat, I couldn't help but notice the fishes' girth or what I call "shoulders".  It was an impressive fish and I was starting to regret my suggestion of trying to put two fish in the net, but with a quick swoop and some teamwork with Josh and Brent holding the net, I made one final swing of the rod and guided it beside it's comrade and it was done, a double landed.  To top the sweetness of the double, the fished stretched comfortably past the 43 1/2" mark making my personal best fish.  After some picture taking and celebration we released those two beauties for another day.  Not to be outdone, Josh produced a 43 1/2" fish after less than 10 minutes of starting to fish again.  A truly gorgeous fish that would make just about anybody happy, but throw it in as a second ever musky on your first morning of muskie fishing and I think Josh might want to retire from his musky fishing career, because I am pretty sure we won't be able to replicate that again any time soon.  After exhausting our time limits, we headed back to the landing, but we had to stop for my famous "One last cast", when Brent hooked up with the 5th fish of the morning.  A skipper compared to our prior fish that day, but on an ordinary day a fun treat.  The muskie derby was coming soon, and I'll chronicle that adventure in a separate post, so stay tuned.

Spring Adventure - St. John River Canoe Trip

Early spring found our vehicle pointed into the North Maine Woods with a canoe strapped to the top.  Our destination was some of the upper reaches of the St. John River.  I love the St. John River and have spent countless hours on the lower stretches before it crosses completely into Canada, but I had never been on the upper portion, so I was really looking forward to checking out some new country.  We were also fortunate enough to be going with some really great people who knew the country like the back of their hands, as well as it's very interesting history.  I won't bore everyone with my rambling musings as I don't believe the vocabulary exists to describe how cool of a trip this is, I will let the pictures do most of the talking, and I would challenge everyone to go check out the scenery and the history on this fabulous stretch of river.  I am definitely looking forward to extending our "river rat" territory to the entire length of the river, but in a slow and exploratory nature to really check out and experience the history that surrounds you in what seems like an untouched land.  The year of 2018 we covered from Red Pine to Seven Islands, with hopefully new areas in years to come!

The Launch at Red Pine

Plaque on Blanchet Bridge

The Makings of a Picnic Table

After Construction

Camille Beaulieu's Trapping Cabin

Evidence of a Long Ago Farm 

Steam Shovel Used for Major Construction Projects of the Day

Bear Mount - Den Addition

I got last year's bear back from the taxidermist and the pictures don't do him justice, but he is a welcome addition.  Stay tuned as well as the skull will be getting officially scored very soon.

Trophy Room - Redo

For the faithful readers, you probably remember the post I had done about my tropy room/den/man cave or whatever other buzz word you want to use to call your special domain that houses a collection of items that help you relive your memories.  For those who don't remember, take a minute and check it out here:

Trophy Room ... Den ... Man Cave

Well to make a long story short, we had some drainage issues which ended up causing water/mold damage which totaled our finished basement, so after extensive ground work to correct the problem, we set forth on a journey to rebuild our den.  We started by removing absolutely everything back to the concrete and starting completely fresh. 
Here is an abbreviated photo journey through the process...

I am very happy with how it has progressed, regardless of how long and painful the process has been, and I look forward to adding to the modest accumulation of "trophies" and memories that are housed there.