Connecticut archery season,opening day.

I have to admit that I have negelected this blog for some time. I have been very busy with work and the hunting season. So far it doesn't look good for filling up the freezer. Dad and I hunted Connecticut and Massachusetts for archery.

Opening day which was September 15th found me in a treestand overlooking a cornfield after I got out of work. I was surprised to find that we had company. Two other hunters have been given permission to hunt this property. For many years Dad and I were the only ones. The landowner is gracious enough to allow us to hunt. We have exclusive access to one peice of land but the cornfield is shared, now. Anyways I headed to my ladder stand at the corner of the property line. It seems that deer from the neighboring property will cross over to eat in the corn. I had placed a couple of trail cameras and they indicate that the deer will move from that area at dusk or so. I was excited and ready to hunt.

I arrived at my perch and climbed upwards. I had waited a while until some movement caught me by surprise. I was anticipating some action close to dusk as indicated by the trail cameras but at 5:43 PM three deer passed by me. A large doe and a yearling along with what I believed to be a dry doe trailing. They went past me as I sat there not moving a muscle. I made a judgement call that if they come back I will take the dry doe. Sure enough they came back.

All of the deer were moving a little quicker than I anticipated but I have used this trick of blowing a kiss to stop a deer. Well it seems to work better on bucks. I blew a kiss as the dry doe passed. Instead of freezing in her tracks she jumped back and away. Instintively I aimed a tad higher and loosed an arrow. The arrow hit a bit high. At that point she took off into the still standing corn.

I waited for a good half hour and then called my Dad on the FRS. He came over and we began to search. What irks me is that I never found the arrow. I assumed it was a pass through shot but maybe that wasn't the case. I had followed the blood trail. What concerned me was that there was very little blood. I was feeling uneasy at this point. Dad and I continued to search the corn field and the surrounding woods until it became dark. I felt sick to my stomach. I lost her. I hate losing an animal. We walked out and saw the two other hunters standing by their vehicles. They have stands below me and in the area where the deer seemed to have gone.

The next day we went searching again but to no avail. No deer or further sign. My Dad is a very shrewd man. He has a great deal of wisdom and is somewhat suspicious of other people. He told me that there was the possibility of the other two hunters finding my deer and tagging it for themselves. He said he felt suspicious that they were hanging around well after we had left for the night .

The next time we hunted my Dad looked into the back of one of their trucks. He noticed there was evidence of blood. I have mixed feelings. Did they honestly get a deer or did they find mine? If they found mine why did they not do the honorable thing step up?

Anyways. I have made a resolution. I have been practicing more with the bow and making sure that I have been taking lower shots. Shooting high on a deer's chest does not guarantee a kill.

Back from Maine...

I

am back albeit a tad tired. For us it is almost an eight hour drive north from Rhode Island to the Forks Maine. We left the home at 5:30 AM and headed north. Most of these kids are from an inner city or suburban environment in a compact state. They have never been on a road trip of such a length and it was a real shock in many ways to them. In RI you can access all manner of amenities within ten minutes. Well, that isn't the case with the state of Maine. The concept of size became very cogent to them. The old adage from kids," Are we there yet ?" was asked in many forms. Again it was a learning experience. The next learning experience was a stop for one half hour at the Cabelas store in Scarborough Maine. Again many of these kids were surprised to see such a place existed. All of the Cabelas have a theme of various mounted animals in the center of the store. I did pick up a few things and made sure nothing left the store that wasn't paid for. We then headed north on Rte 201 towards The Forks Maine. This trip is on a secondary road with a lot of twists, turns and hills. Again the scene is very different from what the kids have grown up with. Another point are the small towns we entered into. I have more to tell but right now I have to run off to work. We're having visitors today and the place needs to look it's best.

On the first evening there was what is called a family meeting after supper. All of the homes gathered in the main room and people introduced themselves and some bonding games were conducted. After the meeting it was past dusk but I told some of the kids that if they wanted I would take them out on the road and see if we could find some moose crossing somewhere. Again most of these kids have had very little experience outside the concrete jungle. They have a lot of assumptions about the country and wilder areas. They are worried about bears or other wild animals attacking and eating them. They are accustomed to having people around them in many ways. Being in a setting where you do not have any people or habitation is somewhat disconcerting for them. One kid from the NYC area commented that he needed people around him. He could never live in a town of 30 people. We then got back into the van and drove back to the lodge. As we headed south down Rte 201 I spotted a cow and a calf cross the road. Immediately I started honking the horn and flashing the lights. Both animals panicked and as if by cue they slid on their hindquarters as they tried to get out of the road. Their hooves slipped on the newly refinished asphalt . The cow left some brown streaks from her mud laden hooves on the black top. I had feared that they harmed themselves for a minute but each one ran off from the road on opposite sides. We drove south and turned around. I shut the lights off and waited. Soon we saw the calf cross the road to join the mother. I had turned the lights on and started to drive north again . I honked on the horn a few more times to chase them off the sides of the road. Many logging trucks come barreling down from the North Woods and I don’t want to see them get hit. With the windows rolled down we could hear them trot through the woods with no trouble at all.

Most of these kids have never seen any sort of wildlife in their lives. This was quite an experiences for them to witness. They could not believe how large these animals are.

The kids went on the rafting trip the next morning. I will be honest. I don't care for white water that much. I drove for eight hours north and had to chaperon them while at the lodge until the evening. I have some motives behind my reasons. By doing this a day off will be accrued and I get the opportunity to take a break from the kids. The kids went down the Kennebec River with their guides and had a good time. I took off for a while and visited the sleepy town of Jackman Maine for a while. I confess that I have a penchant for this town for some reason. I believe it has to do with the stories that my father told regarding deer hunting when he was younger. In his day and age the Jackman area was the place to go. In many way it still is but the hunter success rate is low. On average the state of Maine has a 10 to 12 percent success rate. Where I hunt in Connecticut, the success rate for private land during the gun season runs around 30 percent. So I have almost a three times greater chance of getting my deer by hunting within a few miles of my home vs driving eight hours and hunting the great north woods. But there is a certain charm in regards to hunting the Great North Woods. It is an actual get away from everything.

I'll give you a cogent example of the area that emphasizes the get away aspect of it all. Many people in our society are used to having a connection at all times with other people via some sort of electronic device. I guess I am a short nosed cave bear from the last Ice Age. I don't have a cell phone plan. I have a trac phone that is now inactive and I have yet to reactivate it. I don't have an MP3 player or IPOD. I don't have a Black Berry although I like them in a pie and partaking in the Polish tradition of a shot of black berry brandy before quaffing a nice brew. The only Blue Tooth I have is after eating some blue berries. Well, I guess that explains a lot in my life.

We have a policy at the house where students are not allowed to have cell phones, IPODs or other devices. One main reason is that they can call someone up and set up a jail break of sorts. The other is that you can create a spark and ignite something like a half smoked cigarette butt. We make one exception for IPOD's and MP3 players. This is a long trip and we allow them to have them so the trip is more bearable for them. Also, when you go that far in Maine you generally pick up one radio station. I told the kids," I want you all to watch and listen to this." I turned the radio on and pressed the seek button. The radio self tuned through the whole spectrum several times and locked on one radio station. A hard rock station. They were all surprised. Two of the counselors stated that they had no cell phone reception. This was the case for at least seventy five miles of where we were. This was a real culture shock for people who live in a compact area.

All of the students had a great time. They had a unique and enriching experience that can demonstrate alternatives to getting high.

Experiences in a yurt.

I have always been fascinated by this unique form of portable dwelling developed by nomadic peoples living on the steppes of Mongolia. The yurt , or more properly called a ger, is similar to the American Indian tipi found in the Great Plains of North America. I have contemplated ownership of a yurt after reading many positive articles on the structure. How it is efficient, wind resistant, relatively low cost compared to a more permanent structure and lets be honest. There is a sort of "cool " factor involved with a yurt.





Mary and I were in need of a break and wanted to get away from things for a short period of time. I don't have the time off like I used to. One of the things that I sorely miss from public education is the summer vacations. You needed that time off to recharge your batteries, so to speak. Now I don't have that option. Ok. I know that sounds a tad bitter and it is but such is life.





Mary doesn't like camping all that much. She made the statement," I tolerate it" is the best way to describe it. The biggest issue of all is the cleanliness of the bathrooms. Many places we have stayed at do not clean the bathrooms and showers very well. Well, I don't want to get too off topic so here is what we can say about the yurt.





I'll not belabor any details but in a nutshell I discovered a number of downsides to the yurt. In the summer the shelter can get very hot and stuffy unless you open up all of the windows. This model had three windows and that brings up another problem. The flaps that cover the windows are on the outside. So in order to get fresh air you need to go outside and roll up the clear plastic and the green fabric and secure it with the velcro tabs. Now the problem is that people passing by can look in. In addition, if it rains you need to go outside to close the windows. The White Mountains recieved about two to four inches of rain on Thursday night thus necessitating the closure of one window. The sound of the rain pounding on the roof was very loud and did have the effect of lulling one to a state of sonambulism. Mary noted that at the roof and wall juncture there were a couple of gaps that insects could make their way in. I did get bit by no see um midges a couple of times but no amount of screening would stop them. The roof is supported on a spoke pattern of what appear to be 2x3's and the walls are supported by a lattice work. The roof is held on by a cable that cinches around the top of the wall similar to a hatband. It is there where a gap or two could lead to some problems.The yurt is very bright. The roof has a skylight. Traditionally this was an opening in which the smoke from a cooking fire would waft upward like a giant chimney. I have seen images of yurts with woodstoves so that is one way to heat a yurt when it is cold outside. The skylight on this model had a clear plexiglass dome. The owners put an opaque tarp over the top of it. I suspect that is necessary in order to keep it from overheating in the summer. Again, we found it to be very hot when we first arrived. I thought that this shelter would be comfortable in mid to late September or early October. One thing that Mary noticed was that the skylight needed cleaning. It was full of dead bugs. In a nutshell the yurt is a step in between a tent and a cabin. For ten dollars more I think you would be better off with a cabin.

I am somewhat of a dreamer. I have thought of owning a small campground in Maine or New Hampshire as a retirement business of sorts. In addition to some sites for tents and RV's it would be nice to have a couple of yurts. I am not sure if this daydream will ever come to fruition but I do believe one needs to have more experience in order to make such a decision. We had stayed in a yurt for two nights and both concluded that there are a lot of downsides to the structure. So if this dream ever comes true, I don't believe we will have any yurts available.

Herkimer Diamonds.

One of the things that intrigues me besides hunting and the outdoors are minerals. I have a set of gold pans that I have used much to my dismay in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. About the only time I had ever obtained anything was a small rice grained sized sapphire in Idaho on one of my summer trips.

A while back I was watching a show on the Travel Channel hosted by Kirsten Gumm. This young lady travels all over in search of minerals and other collectable earth deposits. She had one show on a type of crystal found in upstate New York. Just north of Rte 90 is the sleepy town of Herkimer. This location is famous for it's quartz crystals called Herkimer diamonds.

I decided that Mary and I needed a vacation to that area and planned a simple camping trip. I made arraingements to stay at a KOA in that town which has the diamond mine. I know that Mary isn't too thrilled with tent camping so I opted for renting what are called Kamping Kabins. Basically this is a small log cabin without any amenities. You take everything you need to camp except the tent. I figured that this compromise would be the best of both worlds, not to mention cheaper than staying at a motel.

We drove to the site on that same day and set up our cabin. It was very clean and cozy. The way the system works is that you pay a day use fee to Herkimer Diamond mine and rent the tools. You have to buy the chisle as it gets a lot of wear and tear. What I learned is that this place is a working mine. The owners commercially mine it for the large crystals and then people are allowed to glean through the rest. I will be honest, it is a lot of hard work. You are trying to crack off peices of dolomite with a hammer and chisle. This takes a lot out of you and you will be somewhat dirty. I'd wear old work clothes when doing this. Quite a number of people went along with some school groups.

To make a long story short we obtained a small amount that is probably worth around eighty dollars. Again, you're not going to strike it rich as much as collect something to make some jewelry with or have a souvenier.

Late Winter hunt.

It had been a long day at work. The stresses of working with teenagers in recovery can be very exacerbating to say the least. They can test you in many ways. I have learned that you need to take a low key approach and you must have a sense of resiliency when dealing with many of the verbal comments made. It is the nature of the beast, so to speak. One of the things that I have learned is that you need to have an outlet for that tension. For me, hunting has always been that safety valve that allows me to unwind and not just become an observer in nature but a participant.

After work I went to my truck and got my bow. It was a cold day in January. In fact the temperature was around 4 degrees F and a touch of a breeze to bring the windchill below zero. I wasn't too serious about taking a deer in January. Rhode Island has a late archery season which extends to the end of the month. It is tough because the deer have been pursued by archers, then muzzleloader hunters and finally the shotgun hunters. After that in January the season picks up again with archery. I know very few deer are taken since many hunters are exhausted and not willing to sit in a stand when it is near zero or less. That can be a real test of intestinal fortitude.

Oddly I just wanted to walk and maybe take the chance of seeing a deer. I walked down the path wearing my green wool pants, an insulated camouflage shirt and my coyote fur trappers hat. That hat is incredibly warm. To be honest it is uncomfortable unless you are in near zero degree weather. I walked through some overgrown meadow and followed some tracks. The blanket of snow revealed the signatures of everything that was living in the woodlands.

I walked slowly and steadily as I followed a set of tracks into a small white pine grove. There I found an old bench. Someone must have set it up for hunting. Since no one was around I sat and rested. I contemplated life and what I do for a living. I was tired and actually closed my eyes for a few minutes to get some needed rest and relaxation. As I sat there I looked forward. I can't believe my eyes. It was a deer. Soon I saw three does walking towards me. I remained motionless and they seemed very ambivalent to my presence. How ironic. I hunted hard that year and was rewarded but I never thought I would have the opportunity again so late in the year.

I sat and watched. It was around 4:00 PM. They milled all around me. I could not get a clear shot since I did not anticipate deer coming by but in a way I didn't want to shoot. I had two freezers filled with meat and I knew at this time of year those does were carrying young. If one of them were a buck I would have attempted the shot. At that time their antlers would have dropped off. I know that the Rhode Island fish and game department is wise in allowing the season this late for population control but for some strange reason I didn't want to shoot. The deer came as close as ten yards. I sat motionless wearing my big coyote fur hat. I surmise that it broke up my outline and they weren't sure what I was. Soon one deer looked at me with great scrutiny. She would bob her head and weave it all around like does will. Soon the other two were alerted and then there was the sound of air. When deer are alarmed they "blow". A sudden rush of air signals that there is danger and you need to vacate.

Soon all of them took off and I figured it was time to head home to a hot meal. I walked back in the January cold with a warm feeling.

The meat cicle

Ok. The title of this is going to sound really strange to the non hunting public. I had learned of this technique of baiting predators from a hunting forum. Here in Massachusetts we can bait for predators and hunt at night provided that we don't use a light source. To me that is silly as a light would aid in target identification but the powers that be fear people would illegally shoot deer. Personally speaking, I don't think so. Those people will do it anyways.

The way to use a meatcicle is to take a five gallon food grade pail and spray the inside with PAM or other non stick cooking spray. Put in meat scraps about one third of the way up and then fill it with water. Let it sit overnight to freeze and then bring it to your stand location. It is pretty simple to use.

I have set up a Trail camera to record what manner of wildlife would come to my meatcicle at one location I hunt in. So far the only animals that have approached it were red and gray fox. crows and a fisher.

Next winter I plan to set up a couple more meatcicles in the hopes of attracting a coyote. We'll see how well it works.

A first for me..

I am an avid turkey hunter. I started hunting the big birds when I was old enough to obtain a license. My first hunting experience was in the state of Vermont when I was thirteen years old. In all honesty, we were clueless. We had no idea how to hunt the big birds. We made many errors and after a short time became aware of how to hunt turkey. There is a methodology behind hunting wild turkey. It is almost a symphony of events when you do it the right way. Roosting the bird the night before. Entering it's realm in the wee hours of the morning to get into position. Listening for the gobbler fly down and begin his day. Making those first calls to entice the bird. The patient waiting game for the bird to come within range . In a strange way it is almost like dry fly fishing.

Over the years Dad and I have taken some nice birds but all with a shotgun. Here in Massachusetts you are allowed to use a shotgun or archery tackle. One day I'd like to take a bird with a handgun in a state where it is legal but that will have to wait. Today was a first. It was the first bird taken with the bow and arrow.

One of the facts of life in the northeast is the loss of hunting habitat and encroachment of humanity in many of the wild places I had grown up in. It is not an easy thing to deal with at times. You see a wonderful old farm becomes a development. You recall the hours of bliss that was attained in what is now someones back yard. One way to deal with this change is to adapt as much as possible. One thing that has happened is the increased opportunity for the use of archery in many places that do not allow the discharge of a firearm. One such place is where I had hunted with my Dad. A close friend of mine has a farmette for a lack of a better term and has graciously allowed me to set up a blind in his small field to bow hunt for the big birds. The turkey would come off of a roost and then start to forage in his field. I set up my blind in the middle along the edge of the field. I set out two decoys and was ready.

Opening day came early. One of the exacerbating things about turkey hunting is that you need to get up very early for hunting in the spring. In some ways deer hunting is easier. I am blessed with the opportunity to hunt after work each day if I choose. I can get a bit of sleep during deer season but not during the spring turkey. There is no afternoon hunting where I am so I suffer in that one area.

This year's opening day would be worth whatever perceived suffering I was about to undergo. I heard gobbling at the break of dawn. Not much after five in the morning did I hear the first sounds of spring. I was ready. I figured that calling should be very low key. That technique worked beautifully well. Shortly a flock of hens were all around me. I noticed one thing with the blind. The turkeys seem to be oblivious to the fact that there is someone in there. I had the hens walk by a few feet away from me. One thing to bear in mind is to make sure you wear all black when hunting from a blind. You want to blend in the shadow of the blind itself. It works well.

It was at approximately 6:40 AM when to my left a gobbler appeared. He was a nice bird in full strut as he was trying to impress the ladies. He strutted out to my twenty yard marker and I drew back my Bowtech Guardian. I placed the sight pin on his wing area and loosed an ST Axis arrow tipped with a 100 grain magnum Slick Trick broadhead. I heard the distinctive sound of the arrow hitting the bird. He flew up a bit but soon fell to earth. He tried to move but was unable to do so.

What happened next was really odd. All of the hens that have now moved to the center of the field came to see him. The lead hen stretched out her neck and had the look of concern. She led the other hens to the downed gobbler. She pecked at him once but it didn't appear to be a hard peck. It was almost as if she was checking him out. Shortly two other gobblers appeared and they approached the downed bird. Bear in mind this is all happening in the time span of all of fifteen minutes or so. They gobble in unison and soon leave. I contact my father on the FRS radio and he arrives. The birds leave which is what I wanted them to do. I didn't want the birds to see me get out of the blind.

I went over to get my bird. It was a magnificent bird taken with the bow. The bird dressed out at 18 lbs and has a 9 inch thick beard. He had 5/8th inch spurs. This will go on the wall in some what shape or form. A fine trophy in my eyes .