Paul's Hunting Blog

Tips from my last outing.

2014-11-08T06:26:00.001-08:00

1. Don't spray your windicator in front of your face if you wear contacts.

2. Keep your head up. First, you have to see the deer before they see you when running and gunning. Second, and more importantly; stay focused. Too many times I let myself get wore out when I'm not seeing any deer. That's when I get lazy and jump a deer when I wasn't paying attention. You have to think the deer of a lifetime is just behind the next tree. It could be.

3. Don't think because you've walked down a trail earlier that it's blown. Many times I have gone down a trail only to turn around. I let my guard down on the way back thinking I've already been through there. I've jumped a lot of deer that way. Always be ready.

4. Pack toilet paper in the most accessible pocket of your pack.

5. When pausing while still hunting make sure your body is in an easy shooting position. Also, choose spots with shooting lanes and cover.

Big coyote down!

2014-11-08T06:25:00.000-08:00

My first coyote.

II finally got out hunting for a full day. I got into the woods before light with my plan being to run and gun. If I only get out this once I have to give myself the best chance to score. I was the only car at the entrance when I showed up. I passed by and saw a few more trucks come and go. I was the last one out at the end of the day.

Not too cold.

Sunrise after 6am not too bad.

I figured my best approach on a rainy, windy day would be to crash through the thickest brush I could find. The rain and wind held off for the first half of the day. Gun season has been going strong for 5 days so the deer are probably holding tight to cover and paired up for the rut. I started in a swamp that's the thickest woods in the entire area. I started following a game trail into the wind and deeper into the swamp. I was moving as slow as possible, pausing every once in a while for 5 minutes or so. I was seeing nothing but squirrels for the first 45 minutes. Suddenly, I saw something heading down the game trail I was on right at me. It was a large coyote. I raised my 20 gauge open sight brush gun and she turned just a little. I took the shot and dropped her. She probably weighed at least 40 pounds. Her hide was immaculate right down to the black tip on her tail but ticks had infested her face and ears pretty bad.

I walked a little further and came upon another hunter. Funny; I was just thinking that I was probably one of the only hunters to hike this deep into the crazy thick swamp. He probably pushed the 'yote to me since the dope was walking with the wind. He must have found a trail or came in on a road I don't know about.

I changed directions and hiked until dark only sitting to eat a couple sandwiches. I hit all the thick swamps and then made a run into the rolling oak hills but only saw a single deer off of a trail but he saw me first. I did see in a swamp what I assume was a fisher cat. It was black and probably 5 feet from nose to tail. It bounced as it ran like a mule deer and never saw me. Being that I walked up on a coyote and fisher cat and neither predators saw me I was definitely stealth enough to have at least seen a deer. I have no idea where the deer were hiding. My guess is the private property that surrounds this land. The wind was dead in the morning but picked up to a roar by 2pm which didn't help the afternoon hunting.

I found a bunch of new places to hunt next bow season. There were awesome rubs in the swamp I started in. If I get out again I will probably sit there. I wanted to sit down at a bunch of spots but was too worried I only had one day to hunt and I didn't want to put all my chips on one spot. This years acorn crop is incredible making the deer not have to move much to find food. Walking around sounds like a bowl of Rice Krispies and walking on rocks is like trying to balance on marbles. The GPS said I put on about 5 miles of hiking which doesn't take into account all the hills and swamps so I was pretty beat by the end of the day. I don't get out enough anymore. A couple times I was dragging a little and I have to remind myself " Dude, you are hunting deer in the Maine big woods." Growing up I read every outdoor magazine and watched Tom Miranda and Jackie Bushman, it was always my dream to go to awesome places like this and hunt big deer. I am an explorer at heart and Nolan probably will be too. We just have to go and see whats over the next hill.

Coming out of the swamp I had to cross the little stream that splits the area. At its deepest that I have found it might go 3' and 10' at its widest. I saw 2 small fish at the spot I crossed that I am convinced were some kind of trout. They were about 5" and shot down stream as soon as I approached. That was pretty cool.

A fresh scrape I found at first light.

Acorns were everywhere and the deer know it.

The swamp I started in.

Lunch time.

Nice rub deep in the big woods.

You know I love ancient tree stands.

Rub City right outside the swamp.

I decided I needed some lucky socks so I picked up a pair of Farm to Feet socks. They are 100% made in the USA and a lifetime warranty. They were pretty comfortable. I didn't get cold and they never slid down in my boot. They should put a pic of a coyote on the side instead of a deer though. They weren't lucky for deer. I may write a letter.

Used a shot of the Golden Estrus.

Coming up I have a lot of work to do for Ice Fishing season. I have put together a team and we are going to fish the two biggest derbies around for big money. We are raising money for a charity at the events but we haven't chosen one yet. Should at least get me some time on the ice though.

Gear Review: Shot the New Mathews NoCam

2014-11-06T18:18:00.001-08:00

I got to shoot the new Mathews NoCam bow the day it came out. I will spare you the debate on whether or not the bow actually has cams or what constitutes a cam. I can tell you that it is very refreshing to see bow manufacturers coming up with new ideas. This bow draws very smooth and evenly. I was most impressed with the back wall which was more definite than any bow I have ever shot. I don't think this thing will revolutionize the industry, but they are cool and worth giving a couple shots. And that is a current Hoyt shooter's two cents.

Deer are dropping.

2014-11-06T08:43:00.000-08:00

What kind of a hunting and fishing blog doesn't post anything in October?! Well, the kind that has a newborn baby and hasn't hunted or fished. The Rut is in full swing and deer are dropping everywhere. My brother has scored on 2 deer and I have been out twice with my bow. I am dying to get in the woods more but work and family come first.

My brother took a nice buck in Michigan with my old Alien X bow. He later shot a doe with it as well.
I found an area to hunt just 5 minutes from where I work. The first time I walked the property I saw plenty of does and great area. Its a mix of thick brush from a clear cut surrounded by thick swamp and some oak flats. I put 2 cameras out and hunted the place twice during bow season but had no luck. There are woodcock all through the clear cut which was cool. I don't know if I have ever ran into those before. I found a giant bed bigger than any deer bed I have ever seen behind some houses with a few rubs around it. I set up a camera there and another one on an obvious trail leading in and out of an oak flat. The camera on the bed, unknown to me, had a half full card and the only tree I had available to put it on was any an inch and a half around so I came back to a full card of 350 pics of nothing from a few windy days. The camera only ran for two days but I did get some deer pics and some cool pics of a gray fox. The camera by the oaks caught what I thought it would; a bunch of deer fleeing through the exit route. I got zero pictures of bucks. When I went to pick up the cameras I hunted for a few hours and there was new buck sign around which gave me hope but I only saw one deer while hunting the area and that deer busted my coming back to sit in the oaks after retrieving a camera. It rained like crazy both days I tried to hunt.

A rock wall runs straight through the oak flat.

Gray Fox

Bird

Something in this pic bottom right. Probably the fox again.

An old make-shift bridge over a creek. It is made from wood from an old signs from a retail warehouse that isn't used anymore.

I am going to try to get out tomorrow for an all day hunt. Its gun season and I have an any-deer tag burning a hole in my camo.

Fall is the best time to take Rusty to the beach as it is deserted and not too cold yet.

Nolan is getting big and changing everyday. We celebrated his first Halloween.

A September to Remember!

2014-09-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

HE IS HERE.

Me and Nolan's first pic.

Most importantly, the greatest hunter and fisherman to ever live was born August 31st at 9:53pm. Nolan Robert Dionne came into the world 19.5" and 8lbs. 11.5oz. He is amazing and awesome everyday. It should be obvious but he may make a great impact on this blog. Hopefully he grows quickly and my time in the field will double as I can't wait to teach him everything I know.

HUNTING BUDDIES.

3 LEGENDS.

I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to meet and hang out with 3 of the greatest outdoor legends. First, I met Larry Weishuhn aka Mr. Whitetail! He is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He treats everybody with respect and is always up to trade hunting stories.

Larry Weishuhn!

Next, I met Tom Miranda! His show on ESPN2 in the 90's was a huge influence on me. Recently, before I knew I was even going to meet him, I broke down and bought his North American Slam DVD as I noted in a past blog. I had just finished it when I found out I was going to meet him. He is definitely an outdoor icon in multiple fields and it was a pleasure to shake his hand.

Tom Miranda!

In between those guys I met the "Pig Man" Brian Quaca. I never really watched his show as I have little interest in pig hunting but he is a funny guy. He MCed a hot dog eating contest I was in. Eight dogs in five minutes and I should have been the winner but its a long sad (and gross) story. I didn't take a picture with him but he did sign a picture for Nolan as did all the guys I met. Lastly, I got to be Aaron Lewis' body guard for a day. I loved Drury's Dream Season Celebrity back in college. I may have bought a Team Wainwright shirt but I enjoyed Aaron Lewis on the show. I have always liked his music and his more recent stuff is pretty awesome as it includes the outdoors in the songs. He is an awesome guy and everybody who came to see him did not leave disappointed.

Aaron frickin' Lewis!

Meeting Lee and Tiffany and now these three guys has been a dream come true. I love my job!

FISHING.

Fishing has been phenomenal when I have the opportunity to get out. I have caught close to 100 snapper bluefish (under a foot long) and one dandy striper. I have been fishing the smallest Daddy Mac jig for the bluefish. The lure has taken a real beating as these fish have crazy teeth but it still looks good. I don't think another lure would hold up as well. I ran into a pretty big bluefish blitz one day and caught a ton of them on that lure. After a while there was a short lull in the action and I soon saw why. A larger tale broke the surface which meant a larger fish and come in to feed on the blues. All I had was my beater rig with me; the Shimano AX 4000 reel on a Shimano Sojourn 6'6" after being broken as a 7' rod. Not ideal big fish gear. I had 20# high-vis power pro on with a 14" 14# Berkley vanish fluorocarbon leader on. I casted to the spot the tail surfaced at and was hooked up as soon as the Daddy Mac jig hit the water. It took me 10 minutes to land the 27" striper as he took me for a ride under the dock twice. It was a real testament to the Daddy Mac lures as the hook held up and didn't bend.

Bluefish.

Bluefish boil with one on the line.

Daddy Mac Lure action.

Striper.

Daddy Mac matching the hatch.

I caught him. I don't know how.

The ol' Beater Combo.

I took 3 bluefish home one night to try them. They were delicious!

These dudes do not sit still.

GEAR.

I have a ton of new gear I haven't posted about that I'm really excited about.

Rusty broke his old harness at the beach one day leaving me to rig what was left of it enough to take him the mile back to the car. Its not that I couldn't walk him without it I just get nervous in the parking lot without him tethered and he also likes to swim out too far into very shark infested waters so its better to keep close tabs on him. Anyway, I picked up a nice Ruff Wear harness for him and its working out very well. It seems more comfortable for him and it has a lot of adjustments making the fit perfect. It has a handle on the top so I can move him around while swimming very easily. So far it is holding up very well.

Rusty's new Ruff Wear harness.

Wildlife Research Centers sent the bowhunters at work a gift pack including some of their new products for 2014. I can't wait to try out the new stuff. I took my very first deer using the original Scent Killer years ago. Since then, I have tried some other products but have been ultimately loyal to Wildlife Research as it worked for me when I thought I would never kill a deer.

Thank you Wildlife Research Center, you may have just made my season!

I change up the knives I use and carry very often. Right now I have been using the Buck Redpoint. It has a lock on it and a swiveling gear-looking opener on the back of the blade that swings it open. Its a very cool design and I love Buck Knives anyway. Its been a fun and useful carry knife.

Definitely a man's knife, good for drinkin' and pokin'.

I have been doing a lot of bartering at work for goods as I have a large stock of stuff I don't use. I now have the perfect walleye rig for when I get back to the Great Lakes. Its the Quantam Smoke 25 loaded with 8# Power Pro on a Shimano Clarus 7' Medium Fast rod. This thing is going to be money for jigging walleye. I dare anyone to try to build a better walleye combo. It can't be done.

One of my biggest upgrades lately has been a new rifle. I posted a while back about building the ultimate .30-06 with the Interarms rifle I had and the Nikon Prostaff BDC scope. Well, I had a buddy at work try to sight that gun in for me and the barrel heated up so bad after a few shots it was impossible. I ended up trading it in for a Ruger M77 .30-06. It is in mint condition and looks awesome. Its overall a better quality gun and I will feel more confident and safer with it. I put the Nikon on it and it even came with the original box and rings!

Speaking of Buck and Ruger; I bought Nolan his first knife and gun only days after he came home. The Ruger 10/22 and Buck 110 knife are both having their 50th anniversary this year. I thought it would be awesome to get Nolan both items from his birth year. To make things even sweeter, two awesome guys I work with came up with the genius idea of a combo deal and my store is the only place that sells them making the combo even more special. I just have to store these things for a decade or so.

Finally, my bow is perfect! I have the bow I want; Hoyt Faktor. I have the rest I want; QAD. I have the quiver I have wanted for years; Fuse Ventera. I have the best sight out there; G5 Optix. I have to get out and shoot it very soon as the season is approaching in days. I can't wait to unleash this beast on some mammals.

LUCKY I'M A FAMILY GUY.

Now the usual pics of my family but with one great addition included.

My awesome family!

First trip to the beach.

Rusty knows how to improve and then kill a perfect sunset picture.

Waz up, Gangstas?

Had a lil' steak and salmon cook out with the parents here. Might have cracked a few lobstas too.

Gorgeous, proud Momma.

Rusty loves his new brother.

The Protector.

This is why I'm not in the woods or on the water. Its okay.

The Man.

Rusty and I had a bonfire one night.

August.

2014-08-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

I went out to hang some trail cams and do some scouting last week. Every spot I wanted to hang a camera had something wrong with it. There were 6 random dudes in one spot doing god only knows. ATVs were flying around everywhere so I had to stay off the trails. Blackberries and blueberries were everywhere so a bunch of old hippies were out filling bags and mouths. I finally just gave up and went to the spot I deer hunted last year and of course someone had a bear bait set up that hadn't and won't be hit because there aren't any bears in these woods. So I hung one camera on a blueberry patch just off a trail with decent cover. I got one picture of a fawn in 8 days. There is just a ton of feed right now. Acorns and berries are everywhere! I found a dead cow moose skeleton though which was cool. I get to meet Tom Miranda, Larry Weishuhn and Aaron Lewis this week! Oh, and my son for the first time too.

Love these signs. Just wish people would abide by them.

Rusty cooling off.

Deer tracks.

Moose remains.

Lots of coyotes out here. Hopefully this wasn't the fawn I got a pic of.

Somebody stacked up a large pile of big pieces of quartz. I took a couple for my driveway.

I haven't been doing much fishing lately. The guys from Daddy Mac Lures came to work and showed us their offerings and how to fish them. They make some pretty great stuff. I will post any successes I have with them if I get to fish them. My brother did some fishing back in Michigan with some friends and they were pretty successful.

I've been trying to get the dog to the beach as much as possible. Softball finished up last week and we won the championship. Our garden has been giving up some pretty good roughage too.

That baby is due any day now.

Dog bite I got while playing softball...long story.

Building my New England softball legend.

Awesome lobster rolls at Libby's Market in Brunswick.

Lee and Tiffany Lakosky, Beach Days, Fishing Tourny's, Baby Showers and so on...

2014-07-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

I've been crazy busy lately and to make matters worse; most of what I have been doing is blog-worthy. This might end up being my longest post ever. Do not adjust your monitor or phone, my facial hair will change from one pic to the next. This is in no particular order. If you like fish; scroll down half way. If you like Rusty pics; scroll down farther. Here goes:

Lee and Tiffany Lakosky

I had the opportunity to meet Lee and Tiffany Lakosky from The Crush with Lee and Tiffany! I used to watch these guys back in college and schedule my classes around their show along with The Drury Brother's Dream Season shows. I also had a life size cutout of them for a while. They made an appearance at my store and I got to spend some time with them which was awesome. They are way cooler than I expected; probably two of the nicest people on earth. They talked, took pictures and signed autographs for people from 10-6 Saturday and Sunday and took no breaks. They delighted everyone they talked to and if there was a line still after they were scheduled to leave they stayed as long as it took to get to talk to everybody. They were awesome!

Greg Ritz came in the same day only to say 'hi' as he has an office in Portsmouth. He ducked out of the picture.

Greg Ritz in the background.

Dockside Tournament

I entered the Dockside Striper Tournament (http://www.docksidestripertournament.org/) with 3 guys from work this past weekend. The tournament raises money for Northeast Passage, if you are not familiar with what they do check out their website http://nepassage.org/. They are pretty unique in the field of non-profits. Anyway, we did not do well in the tournament. I did however do pretty well at the captain's party to kick off the tourny. I went early and helped set up and Chelsea met me later for the party. The food was awesome and an open bar doesn't ever hurt. I won one of the raffles that included $150 in gift cards to two different places AND 2 guided kayak fishing trips. The tournament started Friday at 12am. I fished in Kittery from 9pm-11:30pm for a warm up. Then, I fished with another team member at Pierce Island starting at midnight until 3am but we had no luck. I tried the same place again Saturday night but again struck out. I really didn't have enough time to really give the tournament a proper run.

New Hampshire at night.

The harbor at the Captain's Party.

Rear view from said party.

Naval shipyard across from Pierce Island.

A whiskey distillery set up shop at the party.

Fishing in the dark.

Thatcher Brook

Maine stocks fish like no other state I know. The stock reports are published and I have always seen a Thatcher (sometimes Thacher) Brook in Biddeford that gets stocked with brook trout a couple times a year. I had a hard time tracking down the location of the brook until recently after some lengthy internet searching. I took off one morning set on catching some brookies in this hard to find brook. I made the whole event way harder than it had to be in multiple ways but I did get into a few fish. The part of the brook I found and fished was very obviously not the stocked part and it was stained pretty bad due to recent storms. The part of the brook I fished had some very interesting pools and some included lily pads. I finally hooked into a bluegill about an hour into fishing. A little later I found an old bridge with a waterfall under it. I dropped a line into the pool under the falls and pulled out a few creek chubs and two little brookies that looked to be natives! A rarity in New England.

The pool I found the natives in.

Looks safe, right?

This frog let me walk right up to him. He was huge, he dared me to touch him but I didn't.

First fish of the day.

Pulled the bluegill out of here. The UglyStikLite Utlra Lite 7' with Shimano Sedona 750 with 5# Power Pro worked awesome again.

Native Brook Trout

Striper Fishing Update

It has been a long time since I blogged or at least a lot has happened. I don't feel like a rookie Striper hunter anymore. I have caught a few here and there and have a pretty good handle on how and where to catch them. My boss has taken me out on his boat a few times for them but each time I have had to work so they have been quick trips that brought no Stripers. He took me and my dad out when my parents came to visit and we caught a decent amount of bait but as we took off to fish for the Stripers one of his propeller blades busted off. It kind of ruined the day and I felt horrible it happened taking us out. We did get to catch mackerel and pollock for bait though which was a first for me and my dad so that was cool and we both had a good time. One time out I caught a cunner as well so my salt water fish species total is multiplying quickly. I almost caught my first squid during the Dockside too. I spotted him in the water and quickly tied on some squid jigs and dropped them in the water. The squid grabbed on but I didn't set the hook and he was gone leaving a trailing cloud of ink. I checked out a secret spot near me a few weeks ago too. I talked to a guy at the spot and he has taken some awesome Stripers there many times so I hope I can get back to fish that spot on a better tide. Its a shady place and getting into it requires parking in front of someone's house, walking a long way down some railroad tracks and repelling down a deep embankment.

I have had great luck with Lunker City Shackers and Jig Heads.

Low Tide Treasures.

I caught crabs.

Squid Jigs. They have upward barbless spikes instead of hooks.

The route to the secret spot.

The Secret Spot.

Broken Prop.

Leaving the dock.

Catching Bait.

Mack's in the livewell.

Still haven't broken the 20" barrier but fun to catch.

My Bow Finally Came!

Look what finally showed up. Its the wrong color and draw weight but I can't wait any longer I'm keeping it. So it looks like I have another blacked out bow. I'm going to set it up tomorrow. I am going to try to find time to hang some trailcams at some point as well.

Vaughan Woods State Park

I volunteered to do a fishing seminar at Vaughan Woods State Park this month. I went to the park twice to talk about fish and fishing to kids. It was a lot of fun and hopefully I created some new fishermen. We had well over 100 kids over the two days.

Our table the first day.

Salmon Falls River at Vaughan Woods State Park.

Second day props.

One of my audience groups.

Baby Shower

Chelsea, Rusty and I took the long trip back to Michigan for a few days for our baby shower. My parents followed us back to Maine after and spent a few days. I had to work a lot to make up for the Michigan trip time but it was great to finally show them around.

We ate well.

Cruisin'

Cleaner water than he gets to swim in in Maine.

Tried to spend as much time as possible with family.

Deer in the background of our baby shower...how fitting.

Turkeys before the shower.

I got a hammock for the back seat and this dude traveled like a king.

Many lobsters were harmed in the making of this blog.

Oysters on the half shell.

Swordfish steak.

Double whammy!

Gear

A while back a guy from Shimano came to work to show us (and let us play with) the new Ultegra and Aero surfcasting reels and Tiralejo surf rods. These set ups are awesome! We went to a spot we actually fish often and know how far we can cast with our own set ups. We crushed every set up we have ever casted there. The new reels and rods from Shimano are amazing. I figured they would be good but they really wowed me and everybody else. My surf rod from Tica, the Surge 9' broke the first two times I used it so I pulled some strings and they offered me any rod they sell. I picked out the dolphin surf 9'. It has held up well so far but I am not impressed with how it casts and even less impressed by the action of it. The Baitrunner 6000 is doing its job though quite well. Bomber lures hooked me up with a few of their new Long lures. They look a little funky but they fly! It was crazy getting surf rod distance from a 7' medium action with both sizes of the Bombers. I recommend these lures to anybody looking for a little extra distance. I fished the bigger size bait a few times at the beach but haven't landed a fish with one yet. They look a lot like a few other baits so I grabbed a Savage Gear mackerel and a Diawa SP minnow mackerel too so I can compare three company's hard baits for surf casting.

Crazy reels.

Maybe someday. It was fun to play with!

My new surf rod. Ugh.

We'll see who catches more fish.

Bomber Long Shot.

Life's a Beach, Dig It?

We have been lucky enough to get a decent amount of beach time lately. Rusty loves the waves now and is probably too brave in the ocean. Here is a mix of junk:

I saw this article and ten minutes later talked to two random dudes that live in Ohio and have a cabin on this lake.

Stalking seagulls.

Beach night dinner.

Oh Yeah, we visited Nubble Lighthouse

If you made it through this blog this far congratulations. You let me bore you for longer than usual. Thanks for visiting.

Stripers are here!

2014-06-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

I have finally lifted the curse! A couple weeks ago I caught my first salt water fish; a 12 inch american shad. I caught it on a sabiki rig at the Saco boat launch late one night. I took it home and froze it to use it for chunk bait for striper fishing. The next day the tide was perfect outside of work when I got out so I decided to throw a few casts along with another guy from work. A couple casts in I hooked into my first striper. I landed a 15'' schoolie and he caught a 20"+ one after me. I was using a rapala lipless shad rap. Stripers fight pretty good and when the bite is on it can be constant action. They shut off just as fast as they start up though.

American Shad. My first salt water catch!

My first striper!

Go-To Lure!

A guy came into work and told me about a good trout spot on the Little River in Lebanon Maine. I parked at a church and walked through some woods and down a dirt road to the most beautiful little river I have ever fished on. I caught fish right away and all morning. I caught 5 brook trout around 10", 3 blue gill, and 60-70 creek chubs. It was a soul cleansing morning getting out there before 7am on a weekday and having the whole place to myself. I foul hooked one trout so I ended up with some lunch to take home. I used a #8 snelled bait hook with a silver spoon and orange beads tipped with a small trout worm. It was amazing the place held blue gill since the deepest hole I fished was about 18" deep. I used a new Ugly Stick Lite 7' ultra light rod I picked up with a Shimano Sedona 750. That combo made it really fun and I could cast my super light bait better than my 5' ultra light rod.

Creek Chub

Lunch!

Very basic but effective!

Today, I went striper fishing after work for about 20 minutes since the tide looked good. I caught one 15" schoolie. At some point I have to get into some keepers. Striped bass have to be 20-26" or over 40" to keep in Maine and only one per day.

Since lipless crank baits have been the weapon of choice I picked up a Bomber Super Pogy hoping for improved casting distance and thinking the Bomber would hold up better than the fresh water Rapalas I have been using. I don't have a picture of the lure but I will post the packaging so everyone knows to be cautious using these baits. I tied it on twice and could not get it to swim right. I used the same rig as with the Shad Raps but it never would work. It casted very well due to the weight but hung up on itself a lot and refused to swim. I will not try these again.

Here are some odds and ends for pictures from my phone. A bunch of guys at work decided we should do a fishing tournament so partners were chosen and rules were made. The tournament should be a ton of fun and bragging rights are on the line. I will post my results if I ever get out to fish in the tourney.

My favorite pic right now!

Or this one.

Throwback to 2004. Chapleau Ontario; Happy Day Lodge. My grandpa's fish. Good times!

The lowest tide I have ever seen at Biddeford Pool. Found about $10 in lost lures!

Father's Day 2014.

My First Maine Fish!

2014-05-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

This is not my first fish in Maine but it is the biggest yet. It's a huge Brook Trout.

A lot has happened in the last few weeks. I have lots of stories and even more pictures. I am going to break up this post into events and locations.

Trout Fishing

First in adventure, but not on the timeline is a quick trip I took with two great friends I've met at work. I have been waiting to fish with these guys since I met them. They took me to an awesome spot that I would have blindfolded anyone I was taking into it. We hiked into one of the most beautiful forests I have ever seen and we fished a small winding creek that had a few shallow holes. At our first hole I finally hooked into my first Maine fish; a small brook trout. Finally, the weight of the world is off my shoulders and whatever curse I had is lifted. We hiked around hitting different pools and we all caught fish. One pool coughed up about 8 brookies to two of us even though it was smaller than most people's living rooms. One of the fish was trophy sized. I have had a lot of great adventures in the past but being able to fish with these guys in such an amazing place makes the top 5 for sure. It was raining so my camera didn't want to focus on most of the pictures.

My 1st Maine fish!

The fish we were catching had amazing coloration and many were probably native as they had no clipped fin.

Turkey Hunting

Unless I wake up tomorrow at 4am and hit the woods for the final day of the season; turkey hunting is done for me until fall. I went out a few times and called many birds. One morning I got on 4 different toms within 2 hours. I was never able to get any to commit to my decoys. They seemed pretty henned up when I was hunting and I wasn't able to get out very much. I did see a lot of deer and enjoyed hunting though I don't know if I will hunt turkeys again alone. It seems more of a partner sport.

One of my decoy set ups.

Moms Visit

My Mom and Mother-in-law came for a visit for a weekend. It was a great chance to hang out with them and show them our nursery and some new parts of Maine. We visited Fort Foster so I could see if my clean up attempt stayed clean. The beaches still looked pretty good. My parents are visiting in July so I am planning some good fishing trips for me and my Dad.

Together we all built a fire pit and put in flowers and a garden.

Biddeford Pool Fishing

This beaver is literally 8 feet long and loves to chase Rusty off the beach.

I've put in a ton of time at Biddeford Pool trying to catch a striper. I have seen them chasing baitfish out of the water. I fish there just about every night. I have had no luck in salt water yet.

Chelsea and Rusty come down sometimes to keep me company. Even in the rain!

I tried sea worms for the first time yesterday. These things are creepy!

High tide offers fish, low tide gives other treasures. Finally got my SPRO jig back.

Fishing here just about every night makes me wonder how many sunsets I have missed.

Chelsea trying to train a dock dog.

Bubble Chaser.

Double rainbow all the way.

This is the first fish I touched in Maine. It was some kind of baitfish that had a large wound on its back. I tried to catch it but it had enough life left to get away. Story of my salt water life.

My TICA rod lost an eyelet insert the first time I used it so it's on it's way back to TICA right now but the Baitrunner worked very well.

Buoy at low tide.

Saco Dam Fishing

After finding I could have the Biddeford Pool to myself 90% of the time, I haven't been back to the Saco Dam in a while. I went back with Rusty and Chelsea last week to let him swim and the fish hitting the surface were crazy. Even Rusty was jumping in after them. The last time I fished there a seal was riding the fish ladder like a water slide.

Saco Dam low tide.

Its not raining, those are fish surfacing.

Other Junk

Nasty little things!

Rusty wants a guinea pig! They're both gingers.

Its pretty sickening the things that wash up on the beach. A paper shredder, really?

A small crab I caught while fishing on my lunch break.

A baby snapping turtle I found in the Saco River.

Best buds.


BBQ Season.

Rusty always be chasin' hose.

Ocean Adventures

2014-05-06T18:20:00.002-07:00

The Shimano AX4000 is my beater reel I keep in the car. I haven't busted out the Saragosa or Baitrunner yet.

A few weeks ago I helped out at a beach clean up at Fort Foster in Kittery. The Maine Island Trail Association is a group that does upkeep on public trails and beaches. When I signed up to help out I thought it was no big deal. Now, I have no idea how the beaches MITA cleans up would look without their aid. There were several locations that our group hit picking up garbage that washed ashore through the winter. The area I worked in was the worst! We had 12 lobster traps to dispose of. Six of which were all stuck together. It took two of us over an hour to break down the traps and rope into carry able sizes. Each trap weighs roughly 75 lbs. but when they wash ashore they fill with rocks making some of them closer to 150 lbs. I was fighting the end of a nasty cold but gave everything I had. I felt it in my legs for days after. Anyone in Maine who enjoys the beaches and trails should at least look into MITA and appreciate their work.

Cleaning up after lobstering is harder than lobstering!

All from 1000 feet of beach.

I have been hunting around for decent salt water access for fishing. I have been able to get a line salty and wet a couple times already. I have been going behind the building where I work on lunch breaks and throwing some lures into the tide with a coworker. The stripers are just getting into Cape Cod right now so it will be a few more weeks until I get to see one, but practice is nice.

Throwing any lure I got behind the store.

Salt water.

Rusty and I went to the Biddeford Pool to see if any fish were around a few days ago. We caught zero fish and got nearly attacked by a giant beaver.

Today I found a spot about 2 miles from my house. A guy came down while Rusty and I were exploring and we talked for a while about fishing and this particular spot. He said the shad (American Shad) will be in soon and in a few weeks that spot is awesome for stripers (Striped Bass). Rusty and I went back later at high tide and throw some lures but didn't catch anything.

My fishfinder.

Saco.

Thursday and Friday I am dedicating to turkey hunting! I have all my stuff packed. No excuses. I gotta bag at least one bird.

www.mita.org

It's a boy! And other stuff...

2014-04-24T18:43:00.000-07:00

IT'S A BOY! We found out we are having a boy and I can't even describe how excited I am. I have been busy hanging cameras, taking down stands (finally) and throwing a few lures here and there. I had lunch with the guys from FishNerds.com a few weeks ago. We talked fishing over some fresh redfish sandwiches at Bob's Clam Hut. The Fish Nerds produce a podcast on iTunes and run a website (www.FISHNERDS.com). They are based out of New Hampshire and recently completed a quest to catch and eat every freshwater fish in New Hampshire. Now they are looking to possibly take on a new quest and hopefully I can help them out. They are fun guys and are definitely worth downloading on iTunes!
Not a whole lot to share right now other than pictures and I can just explain them with captions. I am still waiting on my bow. The Hoyt Faktor should be here any day and I am kind of bummed I probably won't have it ready for Turkey season next week.

I took Rusty with me to work to spool some reels. We had to check out the tidal pool behind the store.

I needed a lot of line!

Shaking off the cold water.

I threw everything I had this day. I've been told due to the dams on both sides, there are no fish here before July.

Frozen boat launch.

Getting some sun.

Iceberg hopping.

Even worms didn't provoke a bite today.

Here is a reservoir Rusty and I checked out that is right after the Skelton Dam.

There is a hand carry launch site here that is pretty cool.

The waters were rushing like crazy this day. It was loud!

Cotton.

Either a rock or a nice fish straightened out my Mepps. Probably not the latter.

Spittle.

You wouldn't even know I was fighting 60mph gusts.

My fishfinder.

I set up a mineral site. It was not visited though at anytime during the week.

Super Busy March!

2014-03-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy lately the last couple of weeks have flown by. I helped out at the Kids Ice Fishing Derby in Poland Maine a few weeks ago. It is a great derby that is for kids and Special Olympic members only. Lots of kids came out and there were a large amount of them that had never ice fished before. It is awesome to help them get started and excited for the sport. A bunch of kids caught fish this time which was awesome! There was a rod and gun club there cleaning fish for people too. Everybody I talked to had fun. There were some idiots (pathetic adults) that did come and fished the lake that had been specifically stocked for the children. Since I didn't have a chainsaw to cut around them so they would sink; I drilled holes as close to the old misers as possible and made sure I put the rowdiest kids at those holes. How horribly selfish do you have to be to fish in the middle of a kids ice fishing derby? Anyway, I got to meet some great people and it seemed like everybody had a great time.

This trout was caught by a young girl jigging by herself.

Portland Sea Dogs' Mascot.

I put in for the Maine and New Hampshire Moose lotteries earlier this month too. You never know unless you try to get a tag. Rusty has been having his buddy Brutus over on Fridays when I am free and they have a blast. Brutus is a muscly black lab with a stellar personality.

They tear the place up!

This past Thursday Rusty got neutered. It sucks but with a baby on the way I can't have him freaking out and humping everything in the house. The veterinarian told us on the way out to not let him run or jump for 10 days! Seriously?! What dog can chill for 10 days let alone a Brittany? He was running and jumping before we even got him home but he is recovering nicely.

We got him a buck to make him feel better.

A little tip for all you turkey and especially deer hunters out there: Get on the Deer and Deer Hunting email list! There last clearance sale got me a huge trial pack of Antler King Minerals, a cook book, 5 DVDs and 4 different volumes of their magazine on CD. I literally paid .18 for some of the items. My total for the huge order was around $14! If you aren't signed up for their emails do it.

I picked up a bunch of new hunting and fishing equipment this week. I got myself into some salt water fishing set ups and a new trail camera. In total I think I got 8 new rods and 6 new reels and some apparel mostly from Shimano. The highlights being a Shimano Saragosa 6000 SW on a 8' Shimano Terez, a 8wt 9" TFO fly rod and a Shimano Baitrunner 6000 D on a Tica Surge 9' Surf rod among other things. Lets just say I got a really good deal I couldn't pass up. A rep from Yozuri lures hooked me up with a bag full of new lures too! They all look great and I don't think I could have afforded to load my tackle box like this without the hook up. I can't wait to get at some New England fish with this stuff. Hopefully we get open water sometime before July.

New sweatshirt and hat.

Had to mount a rack on the basement ceiling to house everything.

I will fish every one of these lures and I will leave feedback here if we ever get open water.

Wildgame Innovations Razor 5. Finally a full year of battery life from them!

The usual this and that gallery:

Ice out is April 1st but open water is at least a 2 months away possibly. Turkey season is coming in May and I have been practicing calling so I can get on my first Gobbler. Hopefully I can get out and get some trail cam shots soon.

Ice Fishing Mousam Lake

2014-03-04T17:04:00.000-08:00

First things first; my wife and I are expecting our first child in August! We took a 20 hour drive out to Michigan to tell our families last week. We stayed for about 12 hours and drove 18 hours back to Maine. It was exhausting but everyone is excited for the best outdoors baby that ever walked the earth to arrive.

Anyway, I am sure everyone has heard "A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work." The person who came up with that saying has never fished with me. I have had some BAD days on the water and I love my job. This past trip is no different than some other fiascoes I have had. I got permission from a guy at work to park at his camp on Mousam Lake in Maine where he has lake access. I borrowed a Jiffy 10" propane auger from another guy at work and got to the lake just fine. The lake is only a 2 line lake since it has landlocked salmon in it but it also contains perch, bass, pickerel and brown trout. I drilled a couple of holes off of a point and found a good weedbed at the bottom. I set up one of the Little Man tip ups I recently got with a medium-sized shiner about 6 inches over the weeds. I then jigged in another hole for a while with a size 3 swedish pimple. I was in about 8-10 feet of water. Nobody else was out on the lake. I was the only one on the lake that I saw even though the temperature was in the 20's and not too windy. There was between 20-30" of ice on the lake which took the auger right down to my boots to punch through on some holes. I didn't catch a thing. I was there for about 4 or 5 hours until dark. It snowed for about 2 hours in the middle of my time there. I tried everything I could think of to at least get a bite from any fish. I drilled about 5-7 holes while I was there to try different depths. The auger ran great! It took no more than 2 pulls to start every time. I tried adjusting my live bait depths and jigged with every lure I brought but had no luck. I recently picked up a Big Eye heavy jigging rod that I through a Shimano Sedona 750 on and it is an awesome big game ice fish set up. I had some smaller pan fish jigging rods with me as well but no bites. I ended up getting stuck trying to leave later. The driveway I parked in had about 4 inches of the smoother ice than a zamboni could make on it and about a half and inch of powder from the days snow on top. I stripped a dead tree of all its bark, used a blanket from my car and pounded out 30 feet of ice in order to get my car out of the driveway I was in. It took about 3 hours to go 30 feet. At times I had my vehicle in park and was able to slide it around on the ice pushing it with one hand. It was the worst ice I have ever seen. When I finally got to the one lane road I drove in on I had a long hill to climb and I was never able to make it. After several frantic calls to many very helpful friends and 8 not-so-helpful towing companies; I had my amazing wife drive out to pick me up and leave the damn car overnight until I could figure out how to get it out of the middle of nowhere. I walked about 1/4 a mile through the woods in the dark and met my wife on the main road. The next day she drove me back out there and we walked back to my car. On a last ditch try before I called roadside assistance I tried the hill one last time. This time I had a pregnant woman and a dog in the car and apparently that made all the difference in the world as I was somehow able to gun it out of there.

This Saturday I will be helping out at the Kids Ice Fishing Derby in Poland Maine. It should be a blast and hopefully I can get some good pictures of some actual fish.

Warm enough to lose the gloves.

Lots of ice!

I'm an Eskimo man but this Jiffy worked great!

The new killer Salmon, Laker, Pike jigging pole.

My view early on.

The Little Man trap.

Lots of bob-houses but no one home today.

A quick whiteout came through.

Followed by the sun.

The sun came out!

It warmed up towards the end of the day.

Windburn > Sunburn.

Other Stuff:

Rusty and Juice love watching old episodes of On Your Own Adventures.

He does really good on long car rides.

Crystal Lake Ice Fishing Derby!

2014-01-26T16:23:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I helped out at the Crystal Lake Ice Fishing Derby in Gray Maine. It was awesome! There were thousands of people hanging out and a couple hundred fishing. There was about 12-18" of ice. A bunch of different media personnel were there filming from National Geographic, Northwoods Law, and others. The derby gave out some awesome prizes including a Ford Raptor truck. The event was organized perfectly and everybody had a great time. The food was awesome and I finally tried a red snapper (hotdog). There were a bunch of families that came out with no gear or fishing experience and we hooked them up pretty sweet. That part was really fun. We handed out 200 free tip ups to kids and helped them set them up. Apparently jigging was the way to go though as I was told from the people who caught the most fish. Jigging swedish pimples worked the best. I'm just going to dump the pics here, enjoy:

My view as the sun came up.

Some kids with a nice trout.

Red snapper.

I ate well!

Fish were donated to Hunters Feeding the Hungry.

One of the kids leading fish.

The leaderboard later in the day. Notice the big nasty eel. I saw 3 of them brought in around 3' long.

Hundreds of snowmobiles!

One of the Fish and Game mascots.

An awesome old snow mobile that still ran great. I have no idea how old.

I got to the derby at 4:45am and got home about 3:30pm so it wasn't as long of a day as I expected. I would have stayed until dark if the festivities hadn't finished at 2:00pm. When I got home the animals were in rare form:

Bed Time!

Catch up time: Shed hunting and Ice Fishing and Ssssnnnnoooowwwwwww.

2014-01-20T18:32:00.004-08:00

I have over a month to catch up on with blogging and this will probably be a long post but its a mixed bag of a few projects and adventures from the end of 2013 to the start of a new year. We had a TON of snow around Christmas. So much so that it really limited any outdoor activities.

I finally broke down and had to get Rusty out of the house last week. We took off and went rabbit hunting at our usual stomping grounds. We passed three big deer on the way. It was a not so subtle reminder of how huge Maine deer are.

Rusty insisted we get out of the house.

Interesting Fact: Snowshoes are the game of choice in Maine as Cottontails are uncommon and have no season.

The snow was waist deep off the trail so the snowmobile trails were about the only place any living thing could walk around. The deer tracks were piled on top of the sled paths like cervine highways.

We never saw any rabbits. Not even rabbit tracks that seemed so plentiful just a month prior. I did see what I figured to be moose tracks though which was cool. If they were deer tracks; well, that would be even cooler. Rusty had a blast and we even got off the trail a little and got the legs muscles burning.

It was a beautiful day and rabbits or not; you could not beat being outside. We crashed when we got home!

With all the nasty weather I decided to pick up some books and dvds to bide my time waiting for spring.

A few of the books and a dvd I purchased for the winter.

The Deer and Deer Hunting website had a huge sale and I got a great deal on books and movies. I have read some of them but I couldn't beat the price and love sharing great hunting books with people. I picked up the Tom Miranda Super Slam dvd finally. Its a 3 disc set that follows his success at completing the Super Slam with his bow. Miranda isn't the entertainer a Nugent or Waddell may be but he tells it like it happened and is fun to watch. He lets the hunt be the star of the show which is refreshing. I will have reviews on the books and dvds as I finish them.

One of the Little Man Ice Traps I picked up.

I am going to get into some ice fishing pretty soon. Guys have been out for nearly two months now but the weather has been warmer recently so I want to give the ice time to harden. I bought a couple Little Man Ice Traps for cheap recently and Rusty helped me set them up. These traps are made in Maine which is very cool. I have not used tip-ups before but I am excited to get into them. I put some backer on them and a couple of leaders with Gamakatsu 2/0 red octo-inline hooks. I hope to get into some Salmon, Lakers or maybe some Pike.

This weekend I am helping out at the Crystal Lake Ice Fishing Derby so I figure I will have the itch to get out for myself after that. Its just tough using my free time alone leaving Rusty at home. Rumor has it, National Geographic will be at Crystal Lake filming a documentary about ice fishing and they are supposed to hit our shelter for some footage. That should be fun. I am trying to grow a beard quickly and come up with some epic quote to give them to make sure I get in the movie.

The weather has been warmer and the feet of snow have been slowly diminishing so I went shed hunting by myself a few days ago. I put on about 7 miles in 5 hours with no success. A few guys are posting shed pics so I thought I might get lucky. The weather was awesome!

I love winter days when there is snow on the ground and you can still walk comfortably in jeans and a flannel shirt. I saw a lot of deer sign and found about 30+ beds but no sheds.

Bedding area.

The thick cedars I look for deer beds in.

I started with the well used trails then moved to bedding sites I knew of in the cedars then I tried the hills and then finished in a swamp walking a stream. The places you typically think of deer loosing there crowns at. I saw a lot of deer and turkey tracks and some coyote and bobcat as well.

Buck track!

Bobcat track.

Big coyote track.

Tips for Shed Hunting

If you are tripping over brush you are going to fast and not looking down enough.
Dress in layers. I started off cold and got hot then cooled off again and was able to stay comfortable by moving layers between my body and backpack.
Go slow. If you start to feel your heart beat in your throat are hear it in your ears you need to chill for a while. You are moving way too fast. Sometimes deep snow can be make for a rough hike. Overexertion in frozen temps can be dangerous.
Take plenty of snacks and drinks. Take a camera as well, you never know what you might see.

I got to hike into areas I was afraid to during the fall and improved my knowledge of the area. There were no other boot tracks that I ran across which was cool. I had first dibs on any sheds that could have been out there. Its great just being outside by yourself sometimes. You can take as much time as you want to appreciate the simple things that amuse you. I still may talk myself into getting up early some morning and trying to call in a coyote.

Winter gives the best shades of blue skies.

I found this acorn in a tree stump. Pretty crazy hiding spot. AKA: simple things that amuse me.

Other than all of that I have been just trying to keep Rusty busy. We've been hitting the park as often as possible.

Jealous.

Saco River.

More Miles of Endless Shed Hunting

2014-01-20T17:21:00.000-08:00

This is a post from March 2012 that never posted.

Hiked another 8 miles today and no sheds. Saw some sweet stuff as usual and got some good exercise but one of these treks has to pay off sometime. I hit up a smaller park I had walked once a year ago and had written off as not great for deer sign. Today I found more hunter sign than deer but did come across a couple decent spots I may try in the late season. There were probably a dozen ancient wooden broken down tree stands in tall oak tress. Its always cool to see sign of hunters from long ago beating down the same paths. I saw about 30 wood ducks a couple owls and countless other waterfowl.

No idea what this is. There were two and some shreds of old leather around so I just figured it was a Giant's roller skate.

The End: Tips for first time deer trackers.

2013-12-18T17:12:00.000-08:00

Hunting season has come to an end and instead of tag soup I could make a hefty stew with all my Michigan and Maine tags unpunched. I learned a ton this year and have lofty goals and an almost stupid confidence for next year. I only got out with the muzzleloader once in the two days I had off last week. I regretted that when I finally dragged myself into the woods. The snowy woods is always amazing. Its like hunting in a totally different world.

I almost missed this beautiful day.

Thompson Center Omega.

You don't get evenings like this from the couch.

Almost too cold to get out of bed...almost.

Cloudy blue skies over badlands.

I saw deer tracks all over the place. I tried tracking for the first time. I have some tips for beginner trackers that can hopefully get a leg up the first time they try it by learning from my mistakes. First, make sure you have room to track. I tracked one buck track for 2 hours only to run into posted signs. I guess this is why tracking usually takes place much farther North of here. Next, if you can not decipher how old a track is; go out right after a fresh snow. Then the tracks are unmistakably new. I went all out on the track I decided to follow. I went over a creek and up countless mini-mountains. The snow was only 6" deep but very packy. I would say my stalking was a 6.5-7 on my 1-10 scale of silent and deadly to death metal concert. I did not see any deer but I saw lots of tracks that make me hopeful for next year and lots of coyote and snowshoe tracks that may need my attention when the snow melts a little.

Buck tracks crossing a creek.

Chasing a doe.

He ran me through the thick stuff!

I used the first of my 2 days off to hang out with Rusty and took him to a local park to get some energy out. He deserves his kind of fun as much as I do mine.

I love sharing sunsets with this guy!

I brought one of his toys for him to find.

Saco River.

Park graffiti on a cracked wall. Symbolic? I guess.

This is why I run him so hard. I get 2 seconds of him resting.

We've been getting a ridiculous amount of snow the last couple of days. I have about 3 feet in my front yard right now. I don't think I will be getting in the woods anytime soon.

In the meantime, I shot a Hoyt CRX 32 yesterday. The draw was set at 28.5" and 73# and I prefer 29" and 70# but I took only 2 shots and robinhooded. So I am pretty sure I will be moving on to a Hoyt. Hopefully I can keep the Alien X and come up with the funds for a Hoyt.

Big Buck Vids

2013-12-11T17:52:00.000-08:00

Here is the video of two big bucks (one of which I posted a pic of last post) my fiancee and I came across while scouting.

Smoke Pole Time!

2013-12-10T18:06:00.002-08:00

I'm still in search of my buck and I have decided to get out and do some muzzleloader hunting. I picked up some powder and caps and found some Hornady SST bullets I had laying around. Thursday and Friday I have off of work but the temps on those days aren't looking like they will get over 20 degrees. Hopefully the deer will be moving and the ground isn't too frozen to still hunt.

I picked up a used knife for about $6 last week that I think is pretty cool looking. I don't think its worth anything (even using) but its fancy to look at.

GEAR REVIEW

I have decided to through in a gear review every once in a while so tonight I will review my favorite boots. I have a pair of Danner 7" Blades in Mossy Oak Brush. I have used these boots for about 3 years now. I have hunted in them in 100+ degree weather and 10 degree weather. I feel stealthy with them on as they are pretty quiet for stalking and comfortable. I can not imagine a better pair of boots.

Tips For Wilderness Hikes With Your Dog

2013-12-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

This time of year is tough on outdoorsmen with jobs. There is very limited daylight for outdoor activities. Most days I only see daylight on my lunch break. It can be very depressing but it is a great time to start planning next year's activities. I had a day off yesterday so I took Rusty out for a walk in my hunting area. It is muzzleloader season for deer now so not many people are in the woods. I have my muzzleloader here in Maine with me but I did not bring any of my provisions. I was going to chalk the season up for a loss but walking with Rusty in the silent woods around dusk with a gentle mist falling gave me the fever again. I might go out and get some equipment just to hunt 2 more times this year. Things are looking good for next year anyway as there were a ton of big turkey tracks all around my spot.

Can't wait for April to put a few birds down!

We found an old container of 8 track tapes in the middle of the woods that was kind of amusing.

When I have Rusty in the woods with me there are certain precautions I take and methods I use to keep us both safe and have fun at the same time. I have made a list of recommendations.

Tips for Wilderness Dog Hikes

1. Leash or no leash?
I used to let Rusty run free on our hikes when I lived in Michigan. There was little I had to worry about other than him running off after something or other loose dogs. Here in Maine there are cliffs and other animals, including wild animals I have to worry about. My tip for anyone who wants to have their dog on the leash is to get a retractable leash and attach it to the front of your pack. I have found I can play the dog much like a fish on a line while we walk and I have both my hands free. I have found this method very comfortable and it seems like Rusty knows where I want to go most of the time so we walk quietly and effortlessly most of the time. He can read my movements through the leash and very rarely deviates from the path I have chosen. I even let him decide where we go sometimes. This might be against most dog training tutorials but I feel like letting him decide at a fork in the trail makes him feel more like a partner and builds trust.

This is how I hook the leash to my pack.

2. Food and Water. Depending on how long of a hike you are on the dog will need water and might need food. I typically throw a bottle of water for the dog in my pack and I have a small packable dish that is nearly weightless I can clip to the back of my pack. I bring some treats as well on long hikes.

3. Bugs. The ticks out here have been bad this year. Make sure you leave time either before you get in the car to leave or when you get home to check your dog over. The sooner the better as I usually find a lot on Rusty and I want them off of him before he enters my house or car.

4. Exhaustion. Rusty seems to be an endless ball of energy but I know he hides his exhaustion with excitement by the way he crashes when we get in the car. Typically this isn't a problem as most dogs have more stamina than their owners but when off the leash the dog might be doing twice the hiking as you as he weaves about. Make sure to take rests.

5. Wild Animals. News flash: Your dog cannot out run a bear, wolf, coyote, or cougar. I know dogs are fast in your backyard but hungry animals can track down and eat your dog very easily. I like to have a plan in mind for the event of meeting up with a predator that is in attack mode. Whatever your plan may be, run through it in your mind in different areas of your hike. What if a cougar came out from around this boulder or what if a bear came darting out of those pines? Would you let your dog off the leash? It can be a morbid thought at times but being prepared just might save you and your dog.

I love hiking with Rusty and I think its his favorite thing to do too.

Back to the old drawing board.

2013-12-01T16:56:00.000-08:00

I sat on this fallen tree for a while on a oak ridge.

So gun season has come and gone. I went out on Thanksgiving and ended up getting lost as my GPS showed me in random spots on the screen. It was pretty frustrating as I had to give up on hunting and focus on getting out of the woods while bumping deer. I heard at least 2 that I got close to but never saw as I was more worried about getting out before dark. I ended up having to use a compass and wade through a knee deep bog that was too thick to see through in 16 degree weather. I was wearing my Danner boots that I like to use for still hunting because they are pretty quiet but they are only water resistant. My pant legs became frozen tubes of hardened fabric around my legs for the last hour I was out there. I did find a few decent spots I may want to hunt next year though. If I want to hunt anymore it will have to be with a bow until December 15th and only in a very limited area in Southern Maine that I have not gained access to yet.

This lone pine tree was in the middle of a swamp I hiked through. It was the only tree of this thickness and stuck out from the rest.

I found this in the swamp as well. I am not sure if it is a deer rub or made by a bear. There was no bare spot on the tree that looked like a typical deer rub.

It might be hard to see but on the way to work one day I got behind this truck that had a monster on the tailgate. So big in fact that it couldn't fit through the toll station. I have to learn how to snow track deer and find a place to do it.

My wife's parents came in for Thanksgiving and we put up our Christmas tree and lights on the house this week.

Screwing around.

Hot Chocolate!

Rusty helped.

My gorgeous wife all bundled up.

End result.

I made a goals list a while back and I am going to continue to add to it and alter it as developments happen. I keep learning of new activities that are adding to new goals. 2014 should be a very eventful and crazy year of new experiences for me.

New Goals For 2014:

Kill a great Maine buck - I am learning so much every day on tactics and places to go. I think I should be able to put down a monster next year by using some Midwest ideas that most people don't take advantage of over here. The hardest part will be not to take the first spike that walks by.
Hunt at least one other state (Not Michigan) - I am thinking New Hampshire will be the easiest since it is close and has hunting on Sunday. Massachusetts is another possibility. I have always thought of Pennsylvania as a sleeper state for good deer hunting as well.
Turkey hunt for the 1st time and take at least one Tom - There are turkeys everywhere. I just need to learn the tactics.
Bear Hunt - It is what it is. It is the ultimate hunt to me. I cannot wait to start scouting and getting some cameras in the woods starting in the spring I hope I can get my brother to come out and try it with me.
Start fly-fishing again - There are some great opportunities here and in the surrounding states in fresh and salt water. I enjoyed the fishing and tying my own flies back in high school and I think I will catch the bug if I get back into it.
Squid fishing - I just recently learned about fishing for squid. I can't wait to try it.
Salt water Big Game fishing - I don't know the game yet but I really want to try to get into a big cod or tuna.
Striper and Mackerel fishing - I want to see what all the fuss is about.
Get Rusty bird hunting - A lot of the guys I have met bird hunt like crazy. I think it will take a little work but Rusty and I could have a lot of fun and be pretty successful on some partridge and grouse.

I am sure this list of goals will be much longer by the time winter starts to end. If I can knock off 3 out of 9 I would consider 2014 a success.

Throw back Thursday? I hate that saying.

2013-11-21T19:17:00.000-08:00

I dug up some decent stuff from my break from blogging. I just thought I would share it.

The video at the top is from a farm my brother got us permission to hunt last year. We hunted it twice and took one doe off of it. There were a ton of deer and lots of bucks but things never really lined up to harvest a monster there. The pics of my Journey are from about the time I gave up on humanity and blogging. I went hunting at a place a guy told me about after all my equipment got stolen in Bald Mountain. I thought I was pulling up on a shallow puddle but it ended up being a sink hole. So I hunted anyway. Long story short; almost got bit by some crazy snake, got chased out of the woods by some nut job on an ATV and some one siphoned all the gas out of my tank as I was stuck in the ditch.

It didn't look that deep.

For gun season I needed to cleanse my soul a little so I headed to the most nostalgic hunting area for me. Its some national forest land in Hale Michigan that my family used to make deer camp on when I was a kid. I decided since my brother and dad couldn't make it up with me because of work, I would "hardcore it" which meant sleeping in my car and hunting every bit of daylight. The first night was COLD. I parked between two school buses in the Hale High School parking lot for safety. I drove to my hunting spot super early as to get dibs on the place I wanted. The area hasn't changed a lot but the trail we used to drive back following my Uncle Art and his chainsaw was now blocked and allowed only foot travel access. That was fine and meant less people probably ventured back to our old spots. I got into the spot I wanted before any sign of daylight. Way too early, but daylight greeted me with the sight of awesome buck sign. Rubs and scrapes all over. That morning a dandy 10 point came in to about 30 yards from me but never offered me a shot as I had my open sight 20 gauge with me. That night after shooting light he came back and put on a show as he scraped a tree 50 yards from me with the moonlight gleaming off his 140+ rack. He ran off a bunch of smaller bucks and I decided to sneak out the back way which gave me a half mile walk instead of 1000 yards to my car. My dad and brother came up that night and we got a hotel room together and stayed two nights. It was so great. I saw a few does one day but the deer had our number that weekend. Still, I will never forget it and would give anything to do it again.

The trunk of a "hardcore solo hunter."

My rations. I was on a TINY budget.

Glorious Hale Michigan.

Big Ole Scrape

Even bigger scrape. And fresh!

My view that first morning.

View behind me.

Switched to the .30/30 the second morning. The buck had protected and made a rub in those birch trees the night before. I sat in a blind with my dad this morning.

I guess if he had showed in the fog it would have been such a beautiful sight my eyes would have exploded.

Its kind of funny now that I live by the ocean I wish I would have taken advantage of living so close to such great walleye fishing. There are no walleye populations worth fishing for in Maine. My grandpa and me tried a few times but I think I was just bad luck since we never caught much and would more often than not have some kind of equipment failure.

My papa and me heading to the St. Clair River. Little do we know we will be turning around very shortly.

We can see the Blue Water Bridge but our motor died this night so no fishing.

Nothing but pictures.

2013-11-21T18:36:00.000-08:00

I play with Instagram in the tree stand a lot. Here are some regular pics and some I played with.

My best friend and my P.I.C.

Killing Machine.

Sunsets like this are meant to be seen from a treestand not a rear view mirror.

Temperature doesn't matter.

Where I park where I'm hunting now.

Close-up.

Still at it. New pics.

2013-11-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

I've been out a few times lately including today. I sat all day today and had a single doe run under me and out of sight at full speed. Its getting colder but I have no idea what stage the rut is in if its still going. Looking on Facebook, guys are still dropping some good deer. Makes me wonder if I should randomly pick another set of woods. Tomorrow I will still hunt all day instead of sitting in a tree stand for 10+ hours. I tried a buck bomb today. I sprayed a trail on my way in and shot it around throughout the day. I didn't detonate the entire thing so I can use it again. Those things have quite a bit of juice in them. Last week I still hunted for about 5 hours. I found some cool stuff; a large cedar swamp that leads to a hardwood section of the woods with nothing but oaks and steep hill after hill, a couple foundations from buildings that used to be there decades ago, and a random blood trail. I hunted the hardwoods for a while and only saw two tree stands. The blood I found led to nothing, I was hoping there was a wounded monster at the end of it but no such luck.

The trail right through a thick cedar swamp.

Random drop of blood. Never found anymore. Must assume it was just a menstruating chickadee.

I love finding old wooden blinds and stands. Makes you wonder what the hunter that built it took from it.

The walls from an old cellar from a building that was probably torn down decades ago.

My brother got redemption a couple days ago with a nice Michigan 5 point.

Never give up!

Game Warden Got Me.

2013-11-05T15:28:00.002-08:00

Very little to report. I ended up having Monday off of work so I went out at 1pm. I passed two old guys leaving. I talked to one for a second but he hadn't seen anything recently. I saw nothing again and now figure I have to change my strategy. I was hunting that spot based on buck sign, trail cam pics and the fact that I have a tree stand already up. My new strategy involves using the other hunters to push deer to me or find some crazy deertopia safety spot where no one is hunting. I have seen zero deer tracks since opening day so I assume the deer must be hiding somewhere good. I just have to find it. Its tough with so many guys in the woods. There were more trucks in the parking lot at 1pm Monday than opening day Saturday! When I came back in there were three hunters hanging out in the parking lot. They were jerks. None of them acknowledged me even though I was putting my stuff away 3 feet from them. Guess that's what I get for having a Michigan license plate. I heard one guy say "that must be the guy who put up that stand." So I am assuming it was one of those idiots that put a stand up where I wanted to. So far I have been treated pretty crappy by the other hunters I have run into. But, its the same in Michigan on public land so I guess I should be used to it. I'll just keep being my upbeat friendly self and smother them with friendliness.

Had a perfect wind for the first time all year.

Today was my first day at my awesome new job. I got out a little early and decided to drive over to my hunting spot. When I pulled up there was 2 trucks from guys hunting and one Conservation Officer truck. I pulled in and turned around and the officer was waiting for me when I came back. To my surprise it was Rick Laflamme from Northwoods Law a cool show on Animal Planet. I guess it would have to be but it was pretty cool to see a celebrity. I talked to him for a while and he was very cool. He is a super nice guy!

Rick is the guy on the left.