Category Archives: Wildlife

Maine Bear Hunting Referendum: hunting with Bob Tigro

Bald Eagle, bear baiting, Bear hunting, Bird Watching, Black Bear, Chipmunk, Coyote, Coyote hunting, Hunting, Outdoors People, Wildlife, , , , ,
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This is an incredible story. Refill your coffee and get comfortable. You’ll be drawn in quickly. This is Bob Tigro’s story of bear and coyote hunting at Oxbow Lodge in Oxbow. What do coyotes have to do with hunting bears with bait, snares and hounds? If it weren’t for bear hunting Bob wouldn’t have made […]

Maine Bear Hunting Referendum: Thoughts from an out-of-stater

bear baiting, Bear hunting, Black Bear, Hunting, Outdoors People, Wildlife, , ,
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Pat Rayta and his Maine black bear taken in 2005.

I met Pat Rayta online in a group devoted to saving Maine’s proven hunting methods. It’s a big group, more than 1,300 men and women who love the outdoors, understand or are learning about hunting as a means of conversation, and who are passionate about keeping Maine’s bear population healthy. It didn’t take long to […]

Planting Trees for Wildlife

Life in the Woods, Wildlife,
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I wrote up my order to Fedco Trees today. In recent years we’ve planted plums, peaches, pears and apple trees (We’ve planted only two of the 40+ apple trees we have. The rest are wild.) for ourselves. I did plant an American plum with the deer in mind. I’ve read they love plums and I […]

After the ice storm

Black Bear, bobcat, Family, Ice fishing, Outdoor Rec., Wild Game, , ,
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This is what my corner of northern Washington County looks like after the ice storm, and before yesterday’s snowfall. These are the most recent photos I have. We lost WiFi during the storm so I’m using the limited service on cell phone’s hotspot. It’s going to be a while before the ice melts from the […]

Susan Morse: Keeping Track of Animals

Bald Eagle, Birds, Moose, White-tailed Deer, ,
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My daughter Taylor texted me last week to ask for wildlife photos for a video she was producing with Shannon Johnson, Chelsea Thomson and Matthew Leagan. They’re students at Unity College. This is their video about Susan Morse and how climate change is affecting wildlife.

No deer but it was a good year

Deer hunting, Hunting, Moose, White-tailed Deer
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Year six, no deer. I’m a little disappointed, especially because this was such a good year for hunters. It was a good year for me. I saw the first and only buck I’ve ever seen while hunting. People asked if I’d regret not shooting him if I didn’t have another one at the end of […]

Reader Story: Wildlife in The Basin

Outdoors People, The Outdoors, White-tailed Deer, Wildlife, ,
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I enjoy being able to share readers’ stories. This is one I’d love to see myself. Lifelong friends Dave and Barb Shaw of Glenburn were out for a ride recently. Hi Robin, Barb and I saw something unusual while nosing around Veazie and Orono to see the effects of the removal of the dam. That […]

Our Epic Moose Adventure

Moose, Outdoor Rec., Outdoors People, Wildlife,
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It started in September when Erin Merrill and I won a moose safari with Epic Adventures. Brian Donaghy donated the day-long trip to Friends of Maine BOW for our fund-raising auction. It’s the trip she mentioned in Thoughts From a Tree Stand last week. The alarm went off at 3:45 am. Not that I was […]

Finally! A bear!

bear baiting, Bear hunting, Black Bear, Hunting, The Outdoors, White-tailed Deer, Wildlife, ,
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I’m getting comfortable in my own stand. I don’t like it much but I’m adjusting. Today was a big improvement. I didn’t check the bait barrel yesterday. Ava had three harsh seizures and it took her a while to come out of it. I went up this afternoon. I watch the road closely for scat […]

My no-bear bear baiting experience

bear baiting, Bear hunting, Black Bear, Hunting, The Outdoors, , , ,
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That’s right…no bear. There’s a bear or two around but they aren’t coming to the barrel. We set up the tree stand and barrel on July 27, the first day baiting was allowed. Taylor held the ladder in place while Steve climbed to the top to secure the seat to the tree. He trimmed a […]

Deerland: America’s Hunt for Ecological Balance and the Essence of Wildness

Book Review, Deer hunting, Hunting, White-tailed Deer
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Deerland: America’s Hunt for Ecological Balance and the Essence of Wildness

Cambronne, Al. Deerland: America’s Hunt for Ecological Balance and the Essence of Wildness. Lyons Press. 2013. $18.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-7627-8027-3 I read Deerland with a highlighter and sticky notes in hand, marking pages and highlighting paragraphs I’ll know I’ll come back to. No detail seemed tedious or unnecessary. As a new hunter living in an area […]

A cow moose walks into a bear baiting station…

bear baiting, Bear hunting, Hunting, Wildlife, , , ,
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This cow moose strolled through the bait station at 5 pm Friday. She looked at the barrel for 20 seconds before moving on. She’s the only thing on the game cam; even the raccoon hasn’t been back. The moose has been walking up and down the road. She’s bigger than I guessed from her tracks. […]

Bear Baiting: a little discouraged

bear baiting, Bear hunting, Birds, Black Bear, Hunting, Wildlife, , , ,
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As of yesterday (Monday) afternoon there hasn’t been a bear at my bait barrel. I’ve changed bait from meat and sweet goat chow to doughnuts. The doughnuts did get the attention of one critter on the first night. I was excited for a split second when I saw the tipped barrel and a log on […]

Bear Baiting: tending the bait

bear baiting, Black Bear, Hunting, Moose, The Outdoors, , , ,
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Tending the barrel has been quick and easy. I park at the bottom of the hill at the washout and walk a quarter-mile to the barrel. I enjoy the daily trip. I make noise going in to help prevent meeting up with bears at the site. With If I have someone with me, we talk. […]

Bear Baiting: The barrel

bear baiting, Bear hunting, Black Bear, Hunting, Recipes, Wildlife, , , ,
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I’m using an old plastic 50 gallon barrel the girls had for barrel racing as my bait barrel. Steve cut a hole in it with the chainsaw. The size of the hole isn’t particularly important to me. I’ve seen large holes bears can stick their heads into and small holes they have to reach into […]

Don’t store bear bait in the… (reader shared story)

Bear hunting, Black Bear, Hunting, Wildlife, , , ,
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Bear fur

Steve’s putting together a tree stand for the bear bait site. I’m getting the game cameras’ batteries replaced, cards formatted and inserted, and a little bait together. A cortisone shot in my injured, arthritic knee on Thursday is working nicely today so rolling the barrel up hill won’t be so bad. I need to figure […]