The Outdoor Gazette October 2012

Page 2 October 2012 The Outdoor Gazette

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On The CoverThis bedded New York buck was captured by MichaelTurner of Western, NY.

Volume 6 Issue 10

This “redneck” hood ornament was spotted in Bradford, Vermont. Nice Vermont buck!

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hunter in our family that weekend!Later this month I am headed to

Ohio for the second time. Last yearmy buddy John Flynn of N.Haverhill NH accompanied me toSouth East Ohio.

This hunt is on public land, whichis fairly abundant in this state. Thehunting is tougher than I expected,but still worth the trip. Public landwhitetails are no push over even in a

Continued next page

By Fred Allard

Editor’s Back

Porch

Nightly ritual on our Ohio deer adventure - a campfire and deer stories

Well it’s October (Bowtober) andthat means time to bowhunt. ThisOctober I spent a great weekendwith my 2 older sons, Devin andJosh, along with my dad, my brotherand nephew at our deer camp inWorcester, Vermont. The company

was good but the hunting was terri-ble. Maybe it’s us? Naw can’t be! Mynephew Garrett did manage to scarethe b’jesus out of 3 deer and get ashot. But in true Allard form, scaringthem was as close as he got … thatmakes him the most successful

Bowtober

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from previous page

of the ridge where he had comefrom. The yardage now 20, Iknocked an arrow and let fly. Theshot was dead center in to a sapling,12 yards from me. Because theground between the buck and mekind of “hollowed” (a hollar) out, myarrow was about 10 feet off theground. Anyway the six-point hadenough of this, I don’t think he evermet an Allard in the woods before.

Ohio, added to my list of states I

have scared deer in.

state like Ohio. I did manage 2 shotson a beauty of a six point, my lastevening there.

The evening was dead quiet. Icould hear the deer approaching amile away. The area’s geography hasmany of those little “hog back”ridges and the noise echoed so, thatat first I could not discern whichdirection the deer was approachingfrom. Finally after at least a 5 minutewait, I noticed the deer’s back just

over a “hog back”, only 20 yards infront of me. The buck came up over,straight toward me, then turned andstood broadside at 15 yards staringat me.

I drew quickly and released assoon as my finger reached myanchor point. My arrow was perfect,that is if the deer had not ducked atthe sound of my bowstring. I shavedhair from his back. The deer took afew bounds and stopped at the edge

Fred Allard lives in Haverhill, NH withhis family. He is a Bowhunter EducationInstructor, a scorer for the Northeast BigBuck Club, the New Hampshire Antler andSkull Trophy Club and the Vermont BigGame Trophy Club. He is the President ofthe Montshire Traditional Bowhunters.Fred can be reached by emailing [email protected].

One of the many man made lakes (full of bass), a biproduct of strip mining decades ago

Remnants of deer seasons past, permanent treestands are no longer legal here


Two weeks of NewHampshire’s bow season are inthe books. I have had a greatseason so for. No, I have nottaken a deer as of yet, but mycritter encounters have beennumerous. I have not had muchtime to hunt, maybe 5 or six out-ings, but all but one, have pro-duced deer sightings with oneday being a 9 deer day! Great forNH, or anywhere for that mat-ter.

The acorn drop has been goodand I had found an area last yearwith many oaks, in a big woodssection of central NH. The areaof oak trees encompasses about50 acres but the surroundingwilderness has none. Last yearthere were no acorns here andpoor deer hunting, this yearacorns are in and the deer are allover this acorn oasis.

My first morning in the spot aspotted a doe and a 4-6 pointbuck out at about 45 yards. Toofar for me, and my recurve toshoot. On my way out thatmorning, I hung a trail camerato see what was going on in“my” oak forest.

Do to work and life etc itwould be almost week before Icould return. I spotted 2 does

out of range this am. I left thecamera there, as I knew wouldbe back the next evening andwould pick it up then.

The next evening the forestwas very loud, as acorns droopedand grey squirrels worked theoak trees and worked on theirwinter stores. I was on the

September Encounters ground on this hunt, snuggledup against a large, forked oaktree with some small hemlocksfor cover. About 4 pm or so Islowly turned my to the left and

in my peripheral vision I pickedup the wag of a tail not 5 feetfrom me. My heart went from60-160 in no time flat and Icompletely turned my head awayfrom the deer. I listened intently

trying to figure out which direc-tion the deer was moving. Icaught movement between thefork of the tree. I used the largeoak to cover my movement as Ipositioned myself for the shot. Iwas in position and readiedmyself or the shot. When I final-ly got a good look at the deer, Irealized it was a skipper and

needed another year before Ilaunched an arrow at her. I haveseen her 3 times total now, eachtime I see her, she gives me ashot opportunity. Back to theforked tree, as I let the little deerwalk, I spotted an adult doe at15 yards moving down the ridgewith the little one. The brushwas too thick and I never got ashot off.

I picked up the trail camera onmy way out that evening.

At home, my son josh and Iwent thru the pictures. 5 bucksalong with many does, includingthe little doe. Sweet! I’m in theright spot.

So I went back couple moretimes the first time after pickingup the camera I spotted two doesout of range early in theevening, then at last shootinglight a single large doe came in30 yards from me and milledaround, eating acorns for quitesometime. I wasn’t feeling goodabout the distance, so I waitedfor her to move closer. She didmove closer, but not until shoot-ing hours were over. I didn’t

want to spook her, so I waited,hoping she would move off so Icould slip out of the woods without spooking her. She wouldn’tleave and kept getting closer.She got so close she finally wind-ed me, so much for remainingundetected.

The nine–deer-day. I headed in

Here is the big 8 point again...Hanging with his girl friend

The largest of the bucks that showed themselves at one of my NH stand locations thisSeptember. Of course, I was not there

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Continued next page

Stick and StringStick and StringBy Fred AllardBy Fred Allard


15-17 yards to my left. OHYA!...OH NO is reality. As Idrew to shoot, I thought for sureI d be eating venison that night.During the time I was watchingthe 2 deer so intently anotherdeer had worked it’s way justbehind me. The quiet woods hidits approach. So as I drew toshoot, you guessed it, the deerbehind me blew and ran scaringthe two does in front of me andscaring the #$%^ out of me aswell!

Just like that my hunt was over,no other deer showed themselvesthat day. Exciting, and disap-

pointing at the same time. That’sbowhunting. Experiences likethis just sweetens occasional suc-cess.

Two weeks down, 2 1/2months to go!

to the woods for a six -hour sit.On my way in, I jumped 3 deer.They appeared to be a doe and 2skippers but I can’t be sure. Iwas in my spot and at about 2pmI spotted 4 more deer workingthru the oaks to my right. Theywere at 40 to 50 yards, nochance for a shot.

A couple hours later I spottedtwo deer working their waydown the ridge right towardsme. The weather was rainy and

the woods were silent as a result.The little doe was one of the

deer; a larger doe accompaniedher. They hung up at 40 yardsand feasted on fallen acorns forabout 30 minutes or so. The lit-tle doe, twice during this timeframe, made her way in to shoot-ing range. The bigger doe stayedout of range. Then with outwarning she stopped eating andstarting walking down the ridge.Her path would take her about

This little doe came by me so many imes, I felt like I should name her.

This little spike still sported his velvet atthe beginning of New Hampshire’s bowseason

This larger 6 point only came by at night...Could be a tough deer to kill and may bearound for years to come.

This six point showed itself many timesduring legl shooting hours.

from previous page

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Fred Allard lives in Haverhill, NH withhis family. He is a Bowhunter EducationInstructor, a scorer for the Northeast BigBuck Club, the New Hampshire Antlerand Skull Trophy Club and the VermontBig Game Trophy Club. He works as aRegistered Nurse at Dartmouth HitchcockMedical Center in Lebanon, NH. Fredcan be reached by emailing [email protected].

This seven point came by only once during daylight hours. He was the 5th buck to passby my stand this September. I only layed eyes on one.

build it on the first Saturday ofSeptember. I have heard storiesof some die-hards getting madwhen someone came and built a

blind on “their spot”. Some ofthese blinds I heard have evenhad gas accidentally spilt onthem and they somehow caughton fire. My approach is to bemore neighborly and to find agood unused spot to build myblind. I always try to respectthose that come before me andthose who have been buildingblinds for years. To me it’s theirspot until they relinquish it.

If and when you do erect ablind on the water it needs tocome down the next year on orbefore February 15th if built onLake Champlain. Any blindsbuilt on surrounding watersother than the lake can be leftuntil May 15th of the followingyear from which it was built.Again, check the regulations foryour state. If building a blind on

private land off the lake or riversyou will need the landowner’spermission and be sure to affixyour name and address to theblind.

So what to use to build this TajMahal duck blind? What we useis whatever we can to build us asafe rugged blind that will hold4-5 guys and hide a 16-foot duckboat. We elevate this blind about8 feet off the water which is per-fect for diver ducks who swoopin low as they approach. Theadded elevation allows you toshoot downward making theshots really put a hurting onthem. We cover the blinds incedar harvested from local farm-ers. This helps with the divers,and also the puddle ducks &geese that approach from above.A suggestion here is to find agood renewable source of cedar.It takes a bunch to cover a struc-ture of this size.

The key is to prepare most ofthe blind prior to your arrival.We prefab the blind in mygarage and do some final assem-bly on shore. Much safer, and

easier, than in the water. Besure to have it 95% paintedbefore, to avoid it needing paintafterwards. Most any flat latexpaint gray or black works well.Painting a blind from a boatf loating around is tricky sobefore hand is a must. We buildtwo 4x8 structures, legs and all(except the walls) on shore andcarefully, I repeat, carefullybring these two structures out toour spot via boat. Then we standthe structures up end-to-end cre-ating a 16x4 foot platform.

We nail these two structurestogether and then put up thesidewalls that are 42 inches tall


Continued next pageLeo on a hunt, enjoying the new blind

Jay Leduc hunting from the new blind

For you die hard waterfowlhunters who seem to need to doit all when it comes to the pur-suit of those web-footed feathercovered creatures we refer to for-mally as waterfowl, here is someof what you need to know tobuild a duck blind on the water.

There are certain things youshould know before building aduck blind in the water. Firstthing to do is to figure out if youare allowed to build the blind inthe desired location. Well actual-ly the first thing is to make surethere are ducks in your desiredlocation. If not the rest doesn’treally matter.

After you find birds and youhave made certain that buildinga blind is allowed, you need tocheck your state & federal regu-lations. There are certain datesthis can happen. In Vermont, itsno sooner than the first Saturdayin September. The owner of theblind has to have their name andaddress permanently affixed tothe blind with waterproof paint

or a rust proof tag. Also manyWaterfowler’s are surprised tofind out that you are not allowedto go in early and “tag” or

“mark” your spot thinking youare laying claim to it. The onlyway this can be done is to go

Duck blinds on water, where, when and how?

A Waterfowler's PerspectiveA Waterfowler's PerspectiveBy Brian BouchardBy Brian Bouchard

The “blind” before cedar was applied

climbing up into your nice cozyblind. Counting down to legalshooting time. It’s just a matterof time before the first ducksapproach your blind. Then theshotguns start a blazing and thebirds start to fall. Good luck thisseason.

Email me with any questionson how we do it or to book a

hunt with the Fields BayOutfitter crew.

(so Leo can see over). After theplatforms are nailed together,and the walls are up, we runbracing all around it. We thenconstruct the boat hide, which issimply a lean-to type set up jut-ting out from the top of the backwalls to the water. See illustra-

tion for details.You will need to pound in sev-

eral braces running from thefinal structure into the water andinto the ground. Be sure to godeep enough to avoid the wavesand wind from taking your blindto shore for you prematurely.Then it’s time for the cedar to goup. We take full-length smalltrees that are 2-inch diameter insize but about 12 feet tall andnail & tie wrap these to the sidesof the structure. You will need toget creative on this and really

cover it well. The pre-paintingwill help create shadows anddarken the blind. We then laysmaller looser pieces all over tofill in the gaps. It’s easier than itsounds.

So if you haven’t before youshould consider building a blind

over the water. It’s a great way toget up out of the boat while stillbeing in the thick of it. Thisallows you to be safe and be ableto film the hunt or prepare food.The possibilities are endless. It’salso a great way to introducekids to the sport. Once you havebuilt a solid blind you will feellike the king of the world. Youwill have a place you know youcan always go to have tons offun with your hunting buddies.

Imagine this, cool fall morn-ings setting out the decoys,


from previous page

Phil and Brian ( the author) take a break from the hunting action for a photo-op

Leo and the author, working on the blind

I have been hunting deer and predators forover 30 years. Turkey for 15 years.Waterfowl for the past 10 years. Owner ofFields Bay Outfitters. I Live in St AlbansVT with my wife Michele and our 2 sonsDillon & Kyle and our 2 labs Tyson &Remi.

Leo and Brian, admiring thier handy work


strides. To live and die of his ownaccord as those he pursues. To be asfree as the buck he hunts, no fencesor barriers, beyond challenge. Tobelong to mother earth, full of lifeand wild.” “ In the process he will

discover his strengths and weakness-es, finding his place in time and life.”

The beauty of it all, is each of uscan make our own choice’s each fallto live out our own realities and

rediscover who we are. Our valueswill be tested, as will our bodies andspirits.

He was not laying in his 4th bed.He’d moved off the ridge at a steadypace toward the north, on to thenext of the mountain’s fingers. The1 1/2 “ thick crust made my stepsecho among the fir trees but my softsteady grunting did hold him stand-ing above bed #5, staring and listen-ing, as if his life depended on it,which it did. Time stopped as westared at one another, only parts of

each visible. If I, was ever a deer itwould be this one. He lived wherefew other’s tread. He loved to travelmiles, and had earned his placeamong others and of course lived onmy favorite mountain. As I trackedhim, calling him to his death, fullwell knowing today was his last, araven followed and pointed the way.He stopped a hundred yards short ina tall spruce and went silent. I whis-pered to the bird, “We’ll see.” Nowwe where locked in a story thatplayed out with uncanny predictabil-ity. The 5 mile long trail, the buck’sbolting, stopping to look back, theshots taken, his will to live strong andinspiring. Little can we be there dur-ing the rest of their lives. When theywere born, when they ran from thecoyote, or made it through a longcold night. But he died by my hands,my presence brought on his end.This was his last place alive, a grimreminder that someday I will lie inmy last place. A connection not to beignored. He is more then flesh andbone. He’s a gift from somethingbigger then us. A survivor, who hasearned his place in this scene. Hehangs on the wall now, remindingme of the day our realities crossedand that I belong to something much

greater then my humbled self. Weare so lucky to live on such land, tohave such freedoms! I to must earnmy way to fit in such a beautiful pic-ture.

Have fun piecing your huntingexperiences together and findingyourself along the way. Now back tomy school work ,,, so I’ll be able togo out to recess.

I simply can’t wait! The coolmornings and nights make me soexcited, like a kid at about to be freefor recess! Soon I’ll be free to hunt!The Hunter Ed. classes just get ustalking and teaching about the out-doors earlier, and add to the tensionof breaking free from the daily grindand like a happy puppy ready to bustout the door! I picture myself load-ing my old friend and walking awayfrom the rig, up my favorite moun-tain.

At first the pace is fast, but all isgood. Mountains slow you down andwhen I reach the top, I find the bestview. It’s time to stop and take a longbreather. Cool mountain air, a grandwilderness view, and it’s time to letgo of a year’s worth of being thedad, the husband, the taxidermist,the mechanic or Mr. fix-it. No morebills, no worries, deadlines or talking.No more feeling half alive orchained, or committed in any way.The door to recess starts with thisfirst step from that spot. Free at last!Thank god the all mighty, I’m free atlast!

Over the years, after reading asmuch about our sport as possible, Icame across a statement that hasexplained my feelings toward hunt-

ing the best.“A true sportsman, hunts for free-

dom. To make his own choices and

By Rodney ElmerBy Rodney Elmer

Taxidermy TrailsTaxidermy Trails

Rodney Elmer and his wife Theresa ownand operate Mountain deer taxidermy inNorthfield,Vermont.

My Mountain

Rodney and “one of the boys”

The view from the author’s favorite mountain

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WWee wwoorrkk aannnnuuaallllyy oonn aabboouutt 330000 mmoouunnttiinnggssaanndd pprreesseennttaattiioonnss ooff mmaannyy vvaarriieettiieess ooffwwiillddlliiffee;; ddeeeerr,, bbeeaarrss,, mmoooossee,, ccooyyootteess,,ffooxx,, ffiisshheerr,, ttuurrkkeeyyss aanndd mmoorree.. WWee aallssoowwoorrkk oonn aanniimmaallss ffrroomm ootthheerr ppaarrttss ooff tthheegglloobbee iinncclluuddiinngg AAffrriiccaa..

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OOuurr hhiigghh qquuaalliittyy wwoorrkk ccaann bbee sseeeenn bbyy oouurrmmaannyy rreeppeeaatt ccuussttoommeerrss tthhaatt sseeeekk oouutt oouurrsseerrvviicceess.. TThhee pprreesseennttaattiioonn ooff yyoouurr ttrroopphhyy

ccaann bbee hheeaadd wwaallll mmoouunnttss oorr ffuullll bbooddyy ddeeppiiccttiioonnss..

WWee aarree aallssoo tthhee SSttaattee ooff VVeerrmmoonntt DDeepptt..ooff FFiisshh && WWiillddlliiffee BBiigg GGaammee RReeppoorrttiinnggSSttaattiioonn.. AA ssppeecciiaallllyy ddeessiiggnneedd oouuttddoooorrssccaallee ssyysstteemm wwiitthh ttaallll vveerrttiiccaall cclleeaarr--aannccee iiss aallssoo pprroovviiddeedd ffoorr eeaassyy wweeiigghh--iinnooff aallll ssppeecciieess..

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Millions of people hunt through-out the United States. People thatcome from all walks of life, rich,poor, and everyone in the middlehunt. The most common big gameanimal hunted by all these folks isthe white-tailed deer.

As expected, hunting styles rangefrom the typical ‘take a stand and-wait’ method, where a hunter finds alikely spot in the woods where het-hinks a deer may pass, to tracking,and “still hunting”, and a few more.

The “take a stand” method isprobably the most common way tohunt whitetails and is usually themost effective. There are many fac-tors involved in this method such as;the weather, game movements orlack of it, other hunters inadvertent-ly ruining your vigil, the ability tostay very still in bad weather, and theluck of not being scented by deer ontheir approach to your stand.

With a great deal of preparationand some luck, a hunter can avoidallthese pitfalls by choosing the rightstand. This is the key to stand hunt-ing. This is what separates the sea-

soned deer hunters-the guys whoalways get their buck, from the nim-rods who just walk in the woods and

find a comfortable stump.Another method used to hunt deer

is tracking them. This is extremelyd-ifficult without snow and very hardto do in steep mountainous country

like we have around here. The guythat can track down a whitetail buckyear after year is a legend in deerhunting circles.

The cousin to the deer tracker isthe “still hunter”. Here the hunter-hangs out in likely deer places andslowly hunts through the woods.

Slowly means that this hunter cancover two hundred yards in any-where from five minutes to an hour.This hunter spends more time notmoving than he does moving.

Still another method is “driving”deer. This is when hunters take pre-determined stands where deer arelikely to go by. “Drivers”, (walkers),then start to try to move deer by thestanders. It sounds easy but the keyis knowing where the deer go whenpushed in a certain direction andhaving the standers get into placeundetected.

Out west the “spot and stalk”method is used to hunt deer. Herehunter’s glass across valleys andravines to spot deer then plan a stalkto try to get close. Whitetails are justtoo jumpy and are less tolerant toany strange noises, smells or move-ments. Here long shots are the norm

and what a hunter doesn’t have indeer knowledge, he makes up inmarksmanship.

Down in the deep-south deer aredriven by dogs through the swampsand hunters wait at “crossings”. Attimes the shooting is fast and furious,but only when the deer run acrossan opening and the hunter is watch-ing.

There are a few differences inhunting styles between the rest ofthe country and the Northeast, butthe biggest difference is in deerpop-ulations. Here in New England thesuccess rate is dismal, the baglimitsare meager, and populations arevery low compared to the rest of thedeer-hunting world.

What this all means is that here inthe Northeast we work harderforour deer, a lot harder. I don’tknow about you but from themoment Istep from the truck I’mthinking about being quiet, wheremy scent is going, how I’m going toapproach my stand, from whichdirection theother hunters will becoming, etc.

Day in and day out deer hunters inthe Northeast worker harder and-hunt smarter for their deer thandeer hunters in other parts of thecountry. We have the toughestweather conditions, the fewest deer,the most hunting pressure, the leastamount of good food and the high-est predation rate.

Raise your hand if you’ve huntedall week and you’ve never seenadeer, or maybe a few tails. Thisdoesn’t happen in most other partsofthe country. You don’t see “Bucksof Tecomante” filming anyepisodesup on Mt. Katahdin.

Around here guys shoot the firstlegal deer that comes by, if theyseeone at all. In other parts of thecountry they have the luxury ofbe-ing choosy because a better deermay come by, and it usually does.

Yes around here the deer huntingisn’t that good. But you know ifIwere to come back in life as a deer,I wouldn’t pick New England to live.

The deer hunters here are toogood and I wouldn’t last very long.

The best deer hunters

David Willette is a free-lance outdoorwriter who lives in Western Massachusetts.He can be contacted through www.coyote-wars.com

Mass MeanderingsMass MeanderingsBy David WilletteBy David Willette


landowners property, baitedareas, illegal killing of wildlife bynight hunting, or exceeding thebag limit.

Maine Game Wardens wouldalso like to remind people that toensure a game warden responseto criminal hunting activityplease call Operation GameThief at 1-800- 253-7887 (1-800- ALERTUS) or on the webgo to www.maineogt.org. You canalso report by filling out the Tip

Reporting Form on line. Eitherway, the information will remainanonymous. A reward is also pos-sible if the complainant sochooses.

If you have information thatcan lead to the arrest of the per-son or persons responsible forthe night hunting of the fourdeer in Ripley and want to col-lect a $3,000 dollar reward,please call Maine OperationGame Thief at 1-800- 253-7887(1-800- ALERTUS) or on theweb go to www.maineogt.org andremember, you can report by fill-ing out the Tip Reporting Formon line. Be a Sport and Report.

Ripley, Maine - The MaineWarden Service is looking forassistance from the public insolving a serious poaching inci-dent in the town of Ripley.Sometime during the nights ofeither Friday October 5 orSaturday October 6, a person orgroup of people night huntedand killed four deer on the LaneRoad in Ripley. Maine WardenService was notified Mondaymorning October 8 and startedan immediate investigation. Theinvestigation has determined thefollowing:

Two does and a lamb werenight hunted, shot, and left in afield. Wardens determinedanother deer was night huntedshot and taken. All the deerappear to have been shot thesame night. Wardens then foundnearby parts of a boned out deerthey believe was from the deerthat was taken.

Maine Operation Game Thief(OGT) Board of Directors hasauthorized a $3,000 dollarreward for information leadingto the arrest of the person or

person’s responsible for the ille-gal killing of these deer.

Maine Game Wardens need thepublic and sporting communityto assist in stopping criminalhunting activity this time of year.Some examples of criminal hunt-ing activity that wardens needassistance from you are hearingshots at night in areas known tobe inhabited by wildlife, spot-lighting [or illuminating fields],illegal tree stand or blinds on

Game Wardens Asking For HelpDeer Poaching in Ripley, Maine


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This year, for the first time, theNorth Country Angler guidesfielded a team in the Upper AndroAngler’s Alliance “Two FlyContest’. The team was headed byRick Gerber, our drift boat cap-tain and Nate Hill and I as theanglers.

The Upper Andro AnglersAlliance is a group of anglers andconservationists who are dedicatedto making the upper AndroscogginRiver, Maine, a blue ribbon troutfishery. The late Rocky Freda, ofSun Valley Sports, was one of thefounding members and the drivingforce behind the Alliance’s cre-ation. The “Two Fly Contest” andthe drift boat competition areimportant fund raising events forthis fine organization.

The contest, as the name sug-gests, is a fishing tournamentwhere each contestant is limited totwo flies only; should a contestantloose their flies they are out of thecompetition. Needless to say agreat deal of thought goes into thefly selection. Nate and I agonizedover our choices right up to the

last second. All fish caught, duringthe tournament, must be immedi-ately released. The oarsman is thescore keeper. He is charged withkeeping count of all fish caught

and measuring any trout over 12inches. Only trout are countedwith the exception of a possibletrophy chub; there is a prize forthe largest chub.

The contest for Rick Gerber and

I began Friday afternoon with thedrift boat competition. The eventwas held at Bethel OutdoorAdventures. Rick and I arrivedright at 2:00 P. M. and there werealready two boats ahead of us put-ting in. Once the boats were all in

the water a quick meeting washeld to go over the rules. Theobject of the race was to row upriver and than run a slalom coursedown stream. After running theslalom the boat’s anchor was to bedropped and the boat had to cometo a dead stop. The last portion of

the race was a sprint to the finishline. Each boat must carry a pas-senger in the bow seat. It was myjob to be the “crash test dummy”.We drew fifth place out of fiveboats, so we were the last to go.

Just before the first boat set off wewere all handed a raw egg whichwas to arrive at the take out intact.

As the newbie’s we were at aslight disadvantage. We made adash for the head of the slalomcourse and immediately backedinto some hidden rocks. We werehung up for just a moment, but itcost us time. Rick made a brilliantrecovery and we headed into themost difficult turn of the course.Again Rick showed his rowingskills and we had no trouble therest of the way. I think we mayhave paused too long at the anchordrop and this cost some more valu-able time. Rick put all he had intothe final sprint in a valiant effort tomake up time. In the end we camein fourth. The boat that came infifth was ironically last year’s win-ner; apparently he ran into thesame rocks as we did at the head ofthe course.

That evening all of the competi-tors were treated to a wonderfuldinner at The Bethel Inn. Afterthe dinner there was a final brief-ing on the rules and we registeredour flies.

The next morning came earlyas we put our boat in at 5:00 A.M.Teams are able to choose their

launching sites at any point fromthe Shelburne Dam, in NewHampshire to Rumford, Maine.We chose to put in at North Damin Shelburne; on the New

Riverbank TalesRiverbank Talesby Bill Thompsonby Bill Thompson

Two Fly Contest

Continued next page

Putting in...

Bill’s, North Country Angler, drift boat

2888 White Mountain HighwayNorth Conway, New Hampshirewww.northcountryangler.comPhone: 603-356-6000

The North Country Angler has been in the “Valley”for over thirty years. We are a full service fly shopoffering quality fly fishing gear and guiding.

Bill andJanet’s10 Year

Anniversaryas owners

Bill andJanet’s10 Year

Anniversaryas owners


from previous page

The one thing we did catch waschubs. Much of the flat water onthe Maine side is referred to as“turtle water”. Can’t say we sawany turtles, but we saw plenty ofchubs.

As for the flies we picked, theZoo Cougar was the hot fly. Natewas top rod in our boat and theCougar caught the most trout. Hissecond choice was a Wood’sSpecial. I fished a Craven’s Congaand a Mega Prince. The Congaproved to be a chub killer, butfailed to account for any trout.

This year’s winner of the driftboat race was Sam Lambert ofBath Maine with second placegoing to Kate Farnham also fromMaine. The Rocky Freda “TurtleWater Trophy was shared this yearby two boats: theSchiavi/Northern Lights teamrowed by Scott Smith of Norway,Maine and Skinny MooseMedia/Northern Maine Driftersrowed by Brian Randel ofCornish, Maine. I am not surewhere the North Country Anglerboat placed, but we did get on theboard and some boats did not.

All and all a good time was hadand as they say “a day on thewater……….” you know the rest.Besides having a great day we hadthe satisfaction of raising moneyfor a great cause and with any luckwe will be back next year.

See you on the river.

Hampshire side. Our take outpoint would be Gilead, Maine. Inthe early hours of the morning weparked our shuttle car and headedfor the dam. There is no boatlaunch at North Dam and the onlyway to get a drift boat in the wateris to lift it over a guard rail andslide it down a steep gravel bank. Idoubted the wisdom of doing sucha thing, but two boats were aheadof us and had already accom-plished the impossible. Thankfullythere was a bystander watchingthe action who lent a hand. Whatare the odds of finding someone atfive in the morning at North Damwatching fishermen launch driftboats; not to mention someonethat we happened to know? Rickconsidered the launch to be thehighlight of the day.

With the boat safely in theriver we began to seriously fish.The rest of the day did not go aswell as we had planned. The fish-ing was slow and we were notalone in this assessment as theother boats that launched wherewe did faired no better. Our rea-soning for putting in on the New

Hampshire side was that we knewthis section of the river far betterthan the Maine side. In fact all ofthe trout we caught were in NewHampshire. In retrospect thismight have been an error in strat-egy as the Maine side had beenstocked previous to the contest.

Originally from Maine, Bill Thompson,with his wife Janet, lives in Freedom andowns North Country Angler fly shop inNorth Conway. He has been fly fishing formore than 30 years and is a licensed NHFishing Guide. He has fished all over NewEngland, in Canada and out West, butclaims the Saco as his “home river.” Healso writes a column for a local paper aswell as articles in national fly fishing mag-azines. Bill’s email is [email protected].

On the river

Rick Gerber our drift boat captian.

He sent out frequent mailings withlists of what he had for sale. Hisfliers advertised “Shift With TheHouse Of Shiff The Gunman.”“The Best For Less. Nothing LessThan Right At Any Price.” “Buys,Sells, Trades. Over 60 years has

eliminated the risk to BOTH par-ties. My list is worth any Man’sStamp to see inside.” He adver-tised 423 guns in stock, but I haveseen other of his listings thatclaimed more than 800 guns avail-able. He said his business startedin 1878, which is usually listed asthe year of his birth, so that has tobe taken with a big grain of salt.He stocked Winchesters, Marlins,Colts, Remingtons, and a hugeselection of both flintlock and per-cussion antique firearms. Lookingthrough that final catalog is justamazing. American military flint-

lock muskets were selling for $25 to$65, Sharps rifles for less than $40,and Winchester 1886 rifles for lessthan $65. In total, over 1,000items were listed in that last cata-log.

Shiff would only wait on one cus-tomer at a time. He would ignoreanyone waiting, until he had fin-ished with that one person. Healso never answered his telephone,claiming it was for outgoing callsonly. He never owned a car andkept guinea hens in his yardbecause they would make noise ifanyone approached the house. Healways dressed in a floppy felt hatand wore long wool socks. His longwhite beard was always his mostrecognizable feature.

He was completely self sufficient,grew his own food, and cut his ownwood for heat. He was a prolificreader and subscribed to manymagazines and kept a large libraryof books on hand. Every day hewould close his shop at 11:30 AMfor lunch, turn on one of his fourradios to listen to the news, andthen not open the doors again until2 PM. No one was allowed to enterthe store between those hours. Heloved talking to gun enthusiasts,but didn’t have much use for any-one who he thought wasted histime.

In August of 1952, Shiff wasfound unconscious at his home.The local paper reported, “Carl L.Shiffer … was found unconsciousin his locked and gun-filled homehere late yesterday with a serioushead injury.” They didn’t even gethis name right. He was first takento Littleton Hospital, and thentransferred to Mary HitchcockHospital in Hanover. He diedthere, a few days later.

At first robbery was suspected,but the door was locked from theinside. A complete inventory wasdone, and no guns were foundmissing. He kept cash in a jar, andthat was also untouched. The con-clusion was that Mr. Shiff eithersuffered a dizzy spell or had a heartattack, causing him to fall and frac-ture his skull. At the time of hisdeath, he had $21,000 in his check-ing account and $18,000 in his sav-ings account. His inventory, at thattime, was valued at well over$100,000.

So that’s the story of Shiff theGunman. A colorful and eccentrichermit, he made his living sellingguns out of his house inWoodstock, New Hampshire.Today, his collection of firearmsand ammunition would likely beworth millions. That collection


Lock, Stock and Smoking BarrelLock, Stock and Smoking BarrelBy Stan HolzBy Stan Holz

Continued next page

I opened my gun store back in1974. During the first few years, Iconstantly heard stories about alegendary character named “Shiffthe Gunman.” Someone gave mean old copy of a picture of theman, and I still have that hangingon a wall of my store. I don’t hearmuch about Shiff any more, nordid I ever know much about whohe was, or what kind of business hedid.

I though it was time that Ilearned something about old Shiff.A search of the Internet turned upvery little, so I had to use some oldresearch techniques I learned whenI was in college. Yes, as strange asit may now seem, I actually resort-ed to looking at paper records. Iwas fortunate enough to have anold catalog in my own collection ofgun memorabilia … “The FamousShiff Collection,” which was a list-ing of all Shiff ’s inventory after hisdeath. In addition to the gun list-ings, it had a short biography ofthe man, as well as some poor qual-ity black and white pictures.

Next, I paid a visit to theWhitefield Public Library. Thelibrarian (who happens to also bemy wife, Sandy) was very helpful ingetting more information for me.Sandy found that the LincolnLibrary still had some old articlesabout Shiff, and they gladly sent apacket of information up toWhitefield. So, who was Shiff theGunman?

Although there are many blanksin his history, I did manage to puttogether quite a bit of informationabout the man and his business.His full name was Carroll B. Shiffand he was born in 1878 inWaterloo, Iowa. His gun businesswas conducted out of his home onEastside Road in Woodstock, NewHampshire. He died, under some-what mysterious circumstances, inAugust of 1952. His birth date wasnever really verified, and his age in1952 was listed as anything from74 to 97, although the 74-year-oldguess was probably close to his trueage.

Mr. Shiff ’s background is, like hisdate of birth, not really wellknown. One source I read claimshe was born in a covered wagon,was an Indian fighter, trader,hunter, cowboy, and guide. It isalso claimed that he had only six-teen weeks of formal schooling.Other sources state that he was aPhi Bet Kappa graduate ofHarvard, and was a ranch boss forTeddy Roosevelt. He did, in fact,

write articles for hunting and fish-ing magazines, so he must have hadat least some formal education. Hewas also very opinionated and was

a staunch Republican, hatingeverything about the DemocraticParty. He particularly had no usefor Franklin Roosevelt or HarryTruman, whom he called “KingFranklin the Damned” and“Delirium Truman the Rascal.” Itis known that, around 1919, he didwork as a ranger in the WhiteMountain National Forest. He alsoworked as a hostler for the railroad,and a coal passer for the ParkerYoung paper mill in Lincoln, NH.

His gun shop was a collection ofevery type of gun and ammunition.

Shiff the Gunman


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from previous page

into contact with a CWD posi-tive deer — given the potentialfor inter-species transmission,Vermont’s CWD response plandetails the steps that would betaken to protect Ver mont’shunting culture, traditions andagricultural industry in theevent CWD is detected. Thesesteps properly require thedepopulation of deer herds inareas where the disease is spa-tially distributed.”

“Hunters should not altertheir plans based on a state’sCWD status, however, huntersbringing deer or elk from anyof the CWD-listed states orprovinces into or throughVermont simply have to getthem processed according tothe regulat ion before doingso.”

Vermont rules on importingand possession of deer or elkfrom areas with chronic wast-ing disease (CWD) and captivehunt areas or farms:

• It is il legal to import or pos-sess deer or elk, or parts ofdeer or elk, from states andCanadian provinces that havehad chronic wasting disease, orfrom captive hunt or far mfaci l i t ies with the fol lowingexceptions:

• Meat that is cut up, pack-aged and labeled with huntingl icense infor mation and notmixed with other deer or elkduring processing;

• Meat that is boneless;• Hides or capes with no part

of the head attached;• Clean skull-cap with antlers

attached;• Antlers with no other meat

or tissue attached;• Finished taxidermy heads;• Upper canine teeth with no

tissue attached.Vermont’s CWD importation

regulations apply to huntersbringing in deer or elk carcass-es from the fol lowing statesand provinces, which nowincludes Pennsylvania:

Alberta, Colorado, I l l inois,Iowa, Kansas, Maryland,Michigan, Minnesota,Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,New Mexico, New York, NorthDakota, Oklahoma,Pennsylvania, Saskatchewan,South Dakota, Texas, Utah,Virginia, West Virginia,Wisconsin, Wyoming.

A fine of up to $1,000 andloss of hunting and f i shinglicenses for one year are appli-cable for each deer or e lkimported illegally.

The PennsylvaniaAgriculture Departmentannounced on October 11 thatchronic wasting disease (CWD)has been discovered at a cap-t ive deer faci l i ty in AdamsCounty. Further investigationdetermined that the CWD pos-itive deer had been exposed toanimals from captive facilitiesin both Lycoming and DoverCounties. All three of thesedeer farms have been quaran-tined.

The Vermont Fish & WildlifeDepartment reminds hunterstraveling outside Vermont tohunt that the regulat ionrestricting the importation ofdeer and elk carcasses, which isdesigned to protect Vermont’swild deer from chronic wastingdisease, remains in effect.

The white-tailed deer is oneof America’s most successfulconservation stories. In theearly 1900s deer were largelyext irpated from the UnitedStates. The restorat ion ofdeer populations is a true tes-tament to the conservat ionmindset of sportsmen andwomen. However, the spreadof CWD may currently be thebiggest threat to NorthAmerica’s deer hunting cultureand tradition.

CWD was first detected indeer confined at high densitieswith sheep and cows that had

been exposed to non-CWDvariants of a transmiss iblespongifor m encephalopathy(TSE). Over the last decadeCWD has been detected in 21states and two Canadianprovinces. Therefore, the Fish& Wildlife Department is tak-ing measures to prevent theintroduction of infectious dis-eases to the state’s deer herd.These measures include animportation ban on carcassesfrom states where CWD hasbeen detected and educationalef forts a imed at infor minghunters on the importance oflimiting the utilization of urinebased scents. Hunters can findinfor mation on CWD andVermont’s carcass importationban at the Vermont Fish &Wildlife Department’s website(www.vtfishandwildlife.com).

“Hunters should be aware ofthe impacts CWD would haveon Vermont’s deer hunting cul-ture and tradit ions,” saidVermont’s Deer Project LeaderAdam Murkowski . “As ourunderstanding of CWD hasincreased over the last decadethe results have reinforced theimportance of limiting the dis-tribution of CWD on the land-scape.

While no strong evidencecurrently exists to demonstrateother species or humans cancontract CWD after coming

was sold by an outfit called “TheShiff Associates” out of Danvers,Massachusetts. On the Internet,I’ll occasionally come across an oldgun for sale that the owner claimswas originally bought from Shiff,but those are quite rare. I have noidea how that final sale of the Shiffcollection was done, whether byindividual catalog sales or with anauction. It sure would have beennice to see some of those guns firsthand … it would have even been

more of a treat to have been ableto meet the legendary Shiff theGunman.

Stan Holz lives in Whitefield, NH and,with his wife Sandy, has owned and oper-ated Village Gun Store there since 1974.He invites everyone to stop and visit. Asidefrom his interest in firearms and shooting,Stan is also involved in amateur astronomy,photo-graphy, ham radio and scuba diving.He can be contacted by emailing him [email protected].

Pennsylvania Added to List of States on CWD Importation Ban

filled in completely and was now onlyinches deep. But over the summer,some new little pockets had formedalong my stretch, and some old onesseemed to hold on. The low, clearwater left few options for where thetrout could be and I thought a smalldry fly could be a fun way to see whomay be around.

The kids followed me out to thegarage to grab a rod and the little flybox I use when fishing this stream. Iopened it, surveyed the dry flies, and

selected a Royal Wulff. I held the flyup for show and tell, showing the kidsthat it’s a floating fly, and pointingout the nymphs that were supposedto sink.

“Its name is a Royal Wulff ” Iexplained. “Say Royal Wulff ” Iinstructed.

“Woyal Wolf ” said Ben with deter-mination.

“No, Wulff ” I said, trying accentu-ate the difference, although I guess itis pretty darn subtle.

“Royal Woof ” said Megan withconfidence, imitating a dog perfectly.

I chuckled and followed the kidsdown the path to our stream, rod inhand, and Ben out front with his nethe wanted to snatch up the fish with.

It was sunny and warm, with thewater scarcely up to my knees. Wesplashed lightly into the water, stillrefreshingly cold even after the hot,dry summer. I told them to staybehind me as I made my wayupstream, floating the fly over eachlittle hole. I pointed out the floatingwhite wings dancing down the cur-rent to Megan as she stood by myside, but after a couple casts with norises she lost interest and drifted backtoward normal kid activity in thewater, flipping sticks and turningover stones. As I fished along, I hadto be careful to not hook my kidssplashing about behind me with myback cast; it was certainly more chal-lenging than not getting stuck in thetrees, at least the tree limbs stayed inthe same spot!

I hooked a few fish such as the oneat the beginning of the story, prettylittle brookies about 6 or seven inch-es. There were several splashy risesby fish barely the size of my finger, a

good sign for the fish population inthe future. I fished one little pool thatsurvived the flood, a little undercutbank next to a large rock, especiallyhard because it looked so good. I hadno strikes, and moved upstream fish-ing the next pool. Megan made herway up behind me splashing andplaying cheerfully, soaking wet fromhead to toe, and entered the pool Ihad just fished hard. As she slidaround on the rocks I saw movement,a shadow, in the tiny riffle in front ofme. I focused on the movement andsaw a large trout, deep in the bodyand dark in color against the lightgravel bottom, shoot up through theshallow water and settle into thesmall patch of white water just infront of me. Megan, my little troutdriver, had just given away this toughold small stream lunker’s secret! Ifound it amazing that this trout wasliving where a year ago a car hadwashed downstream, coming to arest mere yards from the fish’s hidingspot. I decided to skip the pool heswam into and instead hit it on theway back.

After going upstream another 75yards or so, both Meg and Ben cack-led like hyenas when they both gotstuck up to their knees in a patch of“quicksand” requiring me to dragthem out accompanied by a greatsucking sound. It was a good turningaround point. I carefully crept backdown stream to the big trout’s pooland tied on a small streamer. I swamit through the pocket as enticinglyand as patiently as I could, waitingfor the solid “jolt” I knew would Iwould feel if that fish decided to eat.He was either still spooked, or hadmoved on because I had no action. Inow knew he existed, though, andwhere he lived, which was exciting.

Ben shivered with cold as wewalked up the driveway and into thehouse, a crisp breeze blowing acrossour wet skin and damp clothes. Thekids stripped out of their clothes, lefta sopping wet pile of clothes near thefront door, and ran to get into theirwarm pajamas. As I picked up thecold, dripping garments I day-dreamed of the big trout, the fly, andjust the right rainy day I would needto catch him prowling the shallows,hungry.


I moved in a half crouch, slowlystalking my way upstream towardsthe bathtub sized pool of crystalclear water. The fly landed with bar-ley a whisper on the small window ofsilky smooth water alongside theboulder. Just seconds after the flybegan its merry little voyage down-stream, a trout eased up from seem-ingly nowhere and, after pausing forjust a split second, it grabbed the flyin a quick little splash and washooked.

“Ahhhhhhhhh,” the scream echoedthrough the trees. “Get it, get it!” thevoice yelled. I ignored the yelpsbehind me, yelling back “I got oneguys, come here!” No response.

Yelling louder over the gentle butpersistent rush of water I tried again.

“Hurry up guys, I got one, comesee it” I yelled as the little troutdashed among the shallow water,then slipped down a miniature rapidat my feet and popped off the line.“Aww, I lost it” I said, mostly tomyself. Looking back, I saw Benchest deep in his shorts and T-shirt inthe middle of a little pool I had justfished moments before, chasing the

half sunken orange butterfly netdown the stream, which he was sup-posed to be following me with. Thebright colored handle stuck out justabove the surface. His sister Megankneeled in the gravel alongside thepool, in her clothes too, shriekingwith delight as her brother wallowedin the water like an otter that ate toomany lollipops.

I had an urge to check out thestream running through my landafter the heat of the summer. The

trauma of Irene almost exactly ayear ago had made some majorchanges to the streambed, and I had-n’t fished much here since. A chestdeep hole right at my house had been

Family TracksBy Brian Lang

Ben on the prowl for fish and frogs, if he could just hang on to the net!

Wading Wet

By Brian Lang

Family Tracks

Brian Lang lives with his wife, Michelleand two children Megan and Ben inReading, VT. Brian grew up in VT andstarted enjoying his outdoor pursuits at avery young age. He is an avid hunter, fish-erman, camper, and hiker and hopes to givehis kids the same wholesome upbringing heenjoyed in the New England outdoors.When he's not outside, he works as anMRI Technologist. He can be reached [email protected].


A few years back I used to bor-row my dad's camcorder a lot tofilm wildlife and some of myhunting and fishing exploits.

I mentioned to him on severaloccasions that if he were to byme my own camcorder, he wouldbe able to use his own. He wouldalways make some statement likeI didn't need a camcorder I hadhis. But I did try to take goodcare of it.

Finally one day shortly afterour third child was born, Mymom said I should be filmingthese kids or they were going togrow up and we would miss it.

This was a perfect opportunityto work on a new camcorder. So Ipromised to film the kids if theywould choose this Christmas togive the gift of a new camcorder.But it had to have night vision agozzillion power zoom so I couldfilm the kids sleeping in the darkor playing on the other side ofthe yard.

Mom and Dad saw rightthrough that plot immediatelyand said OK but you have to filmthe kids and send us tapes towatch. Oh you bet, I sure will.You got it. No problem.

Ya, right! Like that happened. The following hunting season I

drew a nonresident tag for deerin Montana. Hey, I am going tomake a great home movie of myMontana hunt. I discuss thedetails with my dad and we set adate to meet at the old homehunting grounds.

I tell him of my plans to havehim film the hunt. We plan theultimate over the shoulder film-ing of a great shot on a nicebuck.

Finally the weekend is here thatwe had waited for. I arrive abouttwo hours ahead of schedule andstart filming some nice bucks andsome of the rutting behavior. Ihave seen at least a dozen bucksthat I would love to take on film.One of them even stood on theroad just a few yards in front ofme and posed for my camcorder.

We had hit the weather justright the season just right andmaybe even the alignment of thestars was nothing short of monu-mental. Perfect for a home movieabout a deer hunt.

I head back to the meetingplace and see my dad slash cam-era man coming. Perfect timing.

We said our hellos and went for alook around before setting upcamp for the night. We saw sever-al nice bucks. None of them wereeasily accessible not even the onethat was on the road just an hourearlier. He had moved off nearlya mile. Darkness shut us down.We planned to go after that buckin the morning.

Daylight found us scanning thehills for the nice buck. It wouldbe neat if we could have this guyon film the day before we har-vested him and get that on filmtoo.

Not much later we saw himwith about 15 does. We planned astalk. Our plan called for somecrawling in the snow to get to ahigh point for a shot. I hand himthe camcorder, grab my gun andaway we go. Around the hill andto the top through a low spot.Then we have to crawl for aways, I always say about a quar-ter mile on our bellies in thesnow. It was actually about 150yards. But still soaking wet andcold.

Finally we get to the top Of theknob. I see the buck herding hisdoes. I estimate the yardage, a

very long shot. What a great situ-ation for filming. I keep checkingbehind me and there is the cam-eraman dad, camera in hand andlooking just glad to be there inthe snow with me.

I settle in for a shot with a deadrest. Man is this going to be agood home movie.

I take the shot and the beautiful5x5 crumples into a heap. What abeautiful shot on a perfect dayand it's all on film. WOO HOO!

I turn around and very proudlysay, "That was great, did you getthat on tape?"

Dad answered, "How do youturn this silly thing on?"

I laughed at him and said, "Yaright. You're kidding, aren'tyou?" He said, "No, how do youturn this stupid thing on? It wasworking fine and then it just wentblack."

"Oh no. You forgot to push therecord button."

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The Camera Man


tern in different places I have to startexamining my set-up. Keep in mindthat I’m right-handed so the thingsthat I mention below will be reversedfor a left-handed shooter.

If the broadheads hit directly

above your field points it’s a goodidea to move your nocking point upand try it again. Almost always thissmall adjustment will bring thegroup back down to where your fieldpoints hit. The opposite holds true ifthe broadheads hit low. At that pointyou should lower your nocking pointuntil the arrows all hit in the sameplace.

If the broadheads hit to the rightof the field points there could be afew different things causing theproblem. One of the first things Ilook at is the location of the arrow

rest. Many times the arrow rest willbe a touch too close to the riser. Ifyou make small adjustments andslowly move the arrow rest to the left(away from the bow) it may solveyour problem. It’s absolutely essen-tial that you shoot enough arrows tosee if the change affected the group-ing of the arrows.

If moving the rest doesn’t correctthe problem there’s a chance thatyour arrow is too weak for the set-up.The best way to tackle that problemwould be to decrease the poundageof the bow.

If your broadheads hit to the leftof your field points it’s usuallybecause your arrow rest is too faraway from the riser. In this case youshould move the rest to the right(toward the bow) and see if that givesyou a more favorable group.

This scenario could also meanthat your arrow is a little too stiff forthe set-up. This can be curbed myincreasing the draw weight of thebow.

Many bowhunters think that tun-ing broadheads is a hassle, while oth-ers don’t bother doing it at all. I tryto make the project enjoyable by see-ing the results that appear after Imake small changes to my set-up.

I’ve given you a small guide to fol-low, which will work in most cases.Although it’s not a cure all, it willprobably help you. If you try all theexamples I’ve given and you’re stillgetting poor results it might be timeto make a trip to the local archeryshop. Don’t be afraid to try differentthings to make your hunting rig asforgiving as possible. It will onlyincrease your odds when opportuni-ty presents itself.

With hunting season approachingit can sometimes be a mad dash tofind a broadhead that will fly welland perform flawlessly in the field.It’s easy to get sucked in by all of theadvertisements in magazines and ontelevision. When the advertisementsstart jumping out at you the firstthing to ignore is the statement thatthe broadhead will hit the same spotas your field point.

In many cases the design of thebroadhead will increase the likeli-hood of a tighter group, but until itis shot there’s no sure way of tellingwhere it will impact the target ascompared to your field tip.

Every year people go into archeryshops all across the country and buybroadheads the night before the sea-son opens because all of their friendstell them that there’s no need toshoot them before going out the nextday. They’ve been promised that thebroadheads will hit exactly the sameas the field points.

It makes my skin crawl when Ihear it and I do my best to explainthe advantages of experimentingwith the new equipment beforeheading into the woods. It’s theresponsible thing to do and it givesus a greater chance at a quick andhumane kill.

When fall rolls around I try avariety of broadheads with my set-up. I shoot fixed blade broadheads aswell as mechanicals. After a fewrounds of shooting it’s fairly easy forme to narrow my choices down to acouple of brands.

I won’t get into the controversysurrounding fixed blade andmechanical heads, but I will tell youthat I always end up choosing thehead that is the most accurate out ofmy set-up. I want to have the utmostconfidence that I can put the arrowwhere I’m aiming. If something hap-pens and I make a poor shot I also

want to know that the set-up will beforgiving.

I follow a few simple guidelinesafter I narrow my selection down to

the last couple of heads. The firstthing I do is shoot consistent groupswith my field points and record howthe arrows group. When you’redoing this you have to take into con-sideration your ability. If you consis-tently shoot 3-inch groups at 30yards with your field points yourbroadheads should be about thesame.

After I record my groups I shoot3 arrows tipped with broadheads. Ifthey all hit in the center I’m obvious-ly ready to head into the woods.However, if the groups form a pat-

Anchor PointsBy Todd Mead

Broadheads

By Todd Mead

Anchor Points

The author’s father took this nice buck with perfectly tuned broadheads.

Todd is the author of Backcountry Bucksand A Lifetime of Big Woods HuntingMemories. You can catch up with him onhis website: www.toddmead.comHe resides in Queensbury, NY.

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The Gazette’s Hunting and Fishing Solunar Tables

Send us yourpictures

so all our readers

can enjoythem

Email jpg’s tofred@the

outdoorgazette.comDon’t forget to write

down your names andages, where you werefishing, hunting etc...

and where you live.Thank You.. Fred


water, to the side of the feedinglane, and entice additional fishthat are not set up in the seam.

The “standard” streamer cast isquartering downstream andacross. I’ve had good luck on fishin heavy water, such as landlockedsalmon, by casting upstream and

retrieving downstream throughdeep pools and drop-offs. Thesalmon often seem to be holdingin deep water while watching forbaitfish to be swept over theirholding areas. Salmon on theWest Branch of the Penobscotbelow Seboomook Dam wouldreact quickly and often clear thewater as they took the fly on theway up as the fly came into view.

I have a few (too many) flies inmy boxes that have never beenwet. I’ll bet the beer money youdo too. During a recent visit to theRapid River, I tried a peacockbodied parachute with a sparkleyarn post as my first fly of the day.I don’t know who was more sur-prised; me or the 17-inch Brookie.I’ll be trying unused flies again,soon. You should, too.

Fishing droppers can be a painin the neck. I don’t often have thepatience to get set up this way.There’s an obvious advantage inoffering several patterns at thesame time – the smorgasbordtechnique - and it offers the addi-tional advantage of fishing flies atseveral depths.

If the flies are small, the easiest

way I’ve found is to tie 12-inchdroppers off the bend of the flyahead. It’s still a pain, but one Ican live with. If the flies are largeones, I have a leader set up tomake changing flies easier. Myheavy, multi-fly leader is tied with2x droppers made from the stand-ing leg of consecutive blood knots.The 2x mono is stiff enough tostand off from the main leader.Each dropper has a metal clipattached and is about 4-incheslong. This length also reducesdroppers tangling around themain leader. The metal clips makeit easy to change flies withoutshortening the length of the drop-per.

Some claim dapping is possibleon small streams. It’s as simple,they say, as snaking the rod tip outthrough the offending brush anddancing a fly on the surface whilemonster fish, unable to beapproached from any other angle,will glom onto your offering andguarantee your picture in the localnewspaper. Horse hockey!!!Unless I have a chainsaw, this par-ticular technique has neverworked for me. What “they” failto explain is how to get the lineout while snaking the rod tipthrough the mountain laurel andstill get the fly to the water ratherthan wrapped around every leafand twin in the county.

A variation of this, however, iseffective when fishing from boul-ders in deep water. Rig a set oflarge dropper flies, but, on thepoint, use a split-shot rather thana point fly. Now you can get therig deep and bounce it aroundwell below the turbulent surface.If you lose the split shot, so what?

So, there you have it: half adozen alternatives to quittingearly and heading for the pubbecause the fish are not cooperat-ing. Not that there’s anythingwrong with a cold one beforenoon. Remember: it’s 5PM some-where.

We’ve all said it – “I tried everypattern in my boxes and still nofish.” However, we have moretricks up our sleeves than wemight be aware of. Here’s a sam-ple of alternatives to the habitsthat too often dictate how we fish

“Thou shall cast your dry flyupstream at all times.” Oh, really?Sometimes you can’t. Why not trya downstream drift? Lightlypulling back on the forward castlets the fly drift back toward youso that it lands just downstream ofyou. This gives you time to pre-cisely place the fly in the fish’sfeeding zone. As an added advan-tage, the resulting drift is unusual-ly long and the fly is the first thingto enter the fish’s window.

The downstream dry fly cast hasbecome a regular cast for me,especially when I’m fishing a flythat has poor buoyancy. Thedownstream cast is much lessaffected by crosscurrents becausethe fly is drifting straight downfrom my position.

If you try this downstream alter-

native, you’re automatically set totry a second little used tactic –stripping in the dry fly against thecurrent. You can either skitter iton top, or, swim it like a sub-merged wet fly. This retrieve lets

you cover additional water byguiding the fly back up through

Crunch Time

Guided by the Light or is That a Train Coming?Guided by the Light or is That a Train Coming? By Tony LolliBy Tony Lolli

Tony Lolli is from Cabot, VT. His book,Go-To Flies: 101 Pattern the Pros UseWhen All Else Fails is available onlinefrom Amazon and Barnes&Noble.

Official MeasurerBoone & Crockett Club

Pope & Young ClubNH Antler & Skull Trophy Club

Maine Antler & Skull Trophy Club

22 Scribner Road, Raymond, NH [email protected] 603-895-9947

ROSCOE BLAISDELL


This Bone Collection was on display at the Vermont State Fair in Rutland, Vemont.This collection of Vermont trophy bucks were taken by the Kimball family.

-


I sit here typing, reflecting onthe past fishing season, antici-pating the fall temps & colors,thinking of so many things yet toget done before snow flies! Woodto finish stacking, chimney to becleaned, touch up painting onthe siding….oohh, lets not forgetwinterizing the boat & takingthat to storage! Stands yet to behung (yes I am behind!), decoysand waterfowl gear to dig outblinds to be set. Get in some tar-get shooting, (both archery &firearms) clean up the camp &finish yard work there as well!Lets not forget digging out theRiver & Steelhead tackle, check-ing leaders, loading new tackle &lures, changing out some of mybass gear on the drift boat &putting in the river equip-ment….Phew…so many things& not enough time!

But reflecting on the past sea-son has me smiling ear to ear,but also shedding a tear afterloosing an uncle in the pastmonth. So glad to have enjoyed

so many years in the woods &waters with he & my family,

cherishing the memories thathad been made. I was less then aweek into my three-week tour ofcharters on Lake Ontario when Ireceived the call from home thathe had passed suddenly in hishome at the young age of 67.

He was an avid outdoorsmanwho lived for hunting, fishing,snowmobiling & Atv’s. He hadjust taken up the art of trollingfor Trout & Salmon in the lastfew years, after getting sometime out trolling on a couple oftrips in the spring for StripedBass with us. He hadn’t had thechance to make it out to The Big

O’ with us yet, but had grinnedat the thought of doing battlethe Kings of Lady O’!

He would have had a toughtime whipping away the smile hewould have had this year, as we

were enjoying one of the bestlate summer Salmon seasons in20 years! I canceled a couple ofdays to make the trip home to bewith my family & attend thefuneral, so much reminiscingabout years at camp during Deerseason & winters out Ice fishing!Made me proud to be of an out-door family that celebratedsomeone’s life with the valuesthat have been instilled in meover the years, the same onesthat I instill in my son today!

No doubt I have been reward-ed with one of the best fishingseasons I have enjoyed yet! Our

Spring Striper season was fan-tastic considering the earlywarm weather we had. OurLakers & Landlocks onChamplain continue to grow &

Continued next page

The Captain’s CornerThe Captain’s CornerBy Matthew TrombleyBy Matthew Trombley

October…quite possibly the best month of the year!

One of the groups from VT & NH with limit catch's from Lake Ontario this August.

Another of the groups from VT & NH with limit catch's from Lake Ontario this August.

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look wonderful with lack ofLamprey scars! But what can Isay about the Ontario fisherybut simply amazing!! We had somany limit catches I lost count!Some absolutely astonishingdays with Line screaming Kings,mixed with some tenaciousCoho’s, some really nice Brown’sand a few Lakers mixed in forgood measure, including a pigthat tipped the scale at ouncesshy of 20 pounds! Some groupsreturning from years past thatwere rewarded with much betterfishing then previous trips, somenew ones making the voyagefrom Vt & NH whom witnessedfirst hand just what this incredi-ble fishery can dish out!

High Fives, sore arms & heavycoolers where the norm, withgroups heading home after eachtrip in awe of the size and quan-tity of the fish we landed whileon the water! If you haven’t hadthe chance to experience thethrill of doing battle with theTrout & Salmon of LakeOntario, you need to book a tripsoon! But plan on making thetrip more then once, as onceyour bit by the Jaws of the KingSalmon, you will long to comeback for more!

Now that the lake season isover for us the river season is infull swing, although some low

water is making it a bit tougherthis year. The kings of theSalmon River aren’t letting thelow water slow them down as weare experiencing one of the bestruns on record!

It certainly goes hand in handwith the Lake fishing this seasonproduced, let’s hope some com-ing rains will produce aSteelhead run that is just as phe-nomenal! I am heading backover during the next few weeksto get in some Salmon fishing ofmy own, but it’s the Steelheadthat follow later in the fall thatleaving me longing for more!Balancing with mornings in theduck blind, evenings in the treestand & quite possibly a trip tothe seacoast for some gun-ning….leaves me wonderingwhen I will enjoy the colors ofOctober mixed with the wonder-ful Chrome of those Steelhead.

But rest assured…we will findtime. As there is no finer time ofthe year, if we could just add afew more days before the Ghosts& Goblins arrive!

The Captains Uncle with a Striper he caught this May.

from previous page

Matt Trombley is a career firefighter, resid-ing with his wife & son in FlorenceVermont. He is a U.S.C.G licensed Mastercaptain, guiding & chartering fishing tripsthrough out Vermont & New York. Hischarter business, 3rd Alarm Charters canbe viewed at www.3rdalarmcharters.com


I start by walking the area; I planon trapping to see where the major-ity of the sign is. I look for feedingbeds, homes sites, droppings andother physical evidence and thendecide what sets to use at everylocation. The following sets I haveused for years and they constantlyproduce.

A bank set is easy to make. Usingyour boot or a spade carve out aledge in the bank approximatelyeight inches wide with a ramp downto water level. Just below water levelat the end of the ramp I use a 1 ?trap either staked solidly to thebank or wired to a rock in deepwater. Either way a rat steps into atrap and it will head for deep waterand the weight of the trap will keepthe catch submerged.

Rats love to investigate theseramps in hopes of finding food. Ifthere is no action within a day ortwo spice up the set with some liq-uid lure, a piece of carrot, or therat’s favorite food, an apple.

Feed bed sets work well also andare easily located by looking for

chewed up pieces of grass andweeds in a mound type form. Againplace your 1 ? in water and lightly

cover with liquid mud and stakesecurely.

Rats also love to crawl up on

stumps and logs to sun themselves.Rats inspect every nook and crannyevery time they pass a area lookingfor a meal. Traps placed aroundthese perches with a solidly placed

trap will pick them up here. Try toanchor in deeper water to avoidchew offs and to keep your catchaway from predators. It really sucksto go through all the motions onlyto have your catch dined on beforeyou get to it.

Culvert sets work well as most cul-verts are on town or state ownedland. A quick check with the localhighway superintendent will usuallyget you permission. These little furballs cause lots of damage yearly tohighways. A trap set in the inlet andoutlet of culvert will catch you rats.As always stake to the max. Thedownside to trapping culverts is youwill lose traps to Jonnie Sneakum,or trap thieves. It happens a lot notjust in society but trappers areaffected also.

Pocket sets are my favorite sets tomake. Simply make a hole in thestream bank at water level about six

to eight inches deep. Place lure onthe end of a small stick and plant itright next to the holes entrance.The lure attracts the rat to the setby scent on the wind. Place a carrot

chunk or a piece of apple inside thehole with a trap of choice directlyunder the hole should seal the deal.Do not forget to stake solidly use adrowner set.

Stay tuned for part three nexttime. Hell, I will even tell ya how tocook them and eat them. Until thenkeep your waders patched, yourlures in the shed and be sure to takea kid out doors. See ya on the trapline.

By Randy BarrowsBy Randy Barrows

The Trap LineThe Trap Line

Muskrats Part II

Randy lives in Milton, Vermont, hastrapped in Vermont for 43 years, is a hunterEd Instructor and an Advanced TrapperInstructor for the Vermont Fish & WildlifeDepartment. Randy and wife, Diane &their family, own and operate ArrowheadTrapping Supply. Randy is also a VermontState Licensed Fur Dealer. They can bereached at [email protected] or 802-355-7496, on facebook or at www.arrow-headtrappingsupply.com.


The Coolest Gift IdeaYour Picture on The Outdoor Gazette! No, not the real cover but an 8x10full color mock-up of our cover. You can put your favorite hunting, fish-ing, snowmobiling or anything you can think of, right on The NewHampshire and Vermont Outdoor Gazette cover and it will look like thereal thing. It’s the perfect gift for any outdoor enthusiast. Cover will befull color on heavy stock photo paper and will fit an 8x10 picture frame.

What do we need from you? A digital photo with at least200dpi resolution at 8x10 size or original photo mailed to

us for scanning. 4 headlines of 30 characters or lessand the month and year you would like on the cover

Want to buy one? send email to [email protected]

The Coolest Gift IdeaThe Coolest Gift Idea

Price is only $20.00 including postage

Price is only $20.00 including postage


Rancher's Rave Barbecue

A ranch style barbecue recipe, cooked in the crockpot.

1 1/2 lbs. stew venison/bear/moose cubes 1 1/2 lbs. pork cubes 2 cups chopped onions 3 small green bell peppers, seeded and chopped 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1 tsp chili powder 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon dry mustard 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Combine ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cookon high for 6 to 8 hours, or until very tender. Shredmeat with a potato masher or forks; serve over buns,potatoes, rice, or any pasta.

Pop’s KitchenPop’s Kitchen

Bill "Pop" Burke, resides in Claremont, NH. If you would liketo contact Pop send an email to: [email protected]

Bill "Pop" Burke, resides in Claremont, NH. If you would liketo contact Pop send an email to: [email protected]

Apple Onion Relish Recipe

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 onions, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup cider vinegar 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled,

cored and diced 1 cup golden raisins 2 tablespoons apple jelly

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add onions, gar-lic and sugar; cook, stirring occasionally, 35 minutesor until caramelized. Stir in vinegar, cumin, gingerand cinnamon; cook 7 minutes. Add apples andraisins; cook 5 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and stir in jelly and salt. Servewarm or at room temperature.

Apple Onion Relish Recipe

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 onions, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup cider vinegar 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled,

cored and diced 1 cup golden raisins 2 tablespoons apple jelly

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add onions, gar-lic and sugar; cook, stirring occasionally, 35 minutesor until caramelized. Stir in vinegar, cumin, gingerand cinnamon; cook 7 minutes. Add apples andraisins; cook 5 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and stir in jelly and salt. Servewarm or at room temperature.

By Charlie ChalkBy Charlie Chalk

Behind the SightsBehind the Sights

A bird bursts out of the brushjust a few yards ahead. You pullthe gun to your shoulder and cockthe hammer; all in one smoothmotion. A sound, low and mellowfollowed by a cloud of powdersmoke effects all your senses. Youare hunting with the tools ofanother generation that have beenrevived and returned to the field.

I am describing the excitingsport of muzzleloading shot gun-ning. The fastest growing outdoorsport today, is muzzleloading.Fueled by hunters who want extratime in the deer woods, there istruly a revival of muzzleloading.But for some, the lure of muzzle-loading gets in the blood. Thesymptoms of this are the desire tohunt more with muzzleloading andless with “modern” guns. If leftuncontrolled, the purchase offlintlock rifles and smoothboreswill occur and ultimately thehunter can be seen using black-powder almost exclusively.

So, are you interested in muzzle-loading shotguns? Let me share a

few tips for the newcomer and dis-pel a few notions about their effec-tiveness on game. Welcome to theworld of blackpowder and beatingwings.

Gun choices are limited to threebasic types. The single shot, thedouble, and the inline single shot.

Rare, are the flintlock doubles;these are custom-built guns ofhigh price and great beauty. For

those who are new to muzzleload-ing, I suggest the single or doublewith percussion hammers. Theyare reasonably priced ($300-400)and reliable. Inline shotguns havefallen out of favor, and while someare seen on used gun racks, nomakers are currently producingthem. Most singles and doublescurrently produced are steel

proofed and some have screw inchokes. The twelve gauge is thebest all-around choice, but 10gauges are available, if you huntturkey or geese.

One word of caution here aboutold guns. First, consider all oldguns loaded. Almost 50% of oldguns delivered to gunsmiths areloaded and most still have anactive powder charge. Second,any Damascus barrels are consid-ered unsafe at any charge. Retirethem to a place of honor, for theirdays of service are over.

Once you have made your choiceon guns, you will need to chooseproper accessories. I have beenshooting muzzleloaders for 41years. In the beginning I hadeverything possible. Most of it wasin my shooting pouch or my pock-ets. I was a walking machine shop;able to dismantle a gun in the fieldand fix any problem. Not so today.Now I advocate simplicity. Mostguns never break down. Carryonly what you need to load the gunand clear a load.

Two methods work to make load-ing simple. The hunting pouch isa classic look. Worn over theshoulder, with a powder flask inthe pouch would give you a placefor everything. The disadvantageis that they can get in the way inhigh brush and tend to fall forwardeach time you bend over. A betterway is the pocket system. Anyjacket with four pockets will dofine. If you are right handed,begin in the lower right pocketwith powder flask or powder con-

tainers. The pocket directly aboveholds powder wads and shot cards.The lower left holds pre measuredshot charges or your shot flask.The upper left holds your caps in agood dispenser. Two tools, thenipple wrench and pick, round outthe gear for a day in the field.Cleaning rods and swabs canremain in the vehicle, just in case amidday cleaning in order.

The best gun and accessoriesmean little if you can’t build agood load. Here is where you, theshooter, control all the variables.Each gun in unique and requirespractice before the season. Forinstance, some guns shoot betterwith wads rather than plastic shotcups.

As a starting point we use a “ruleof thumb” that says powder andshot are equal in VOLUME. Sostart with 75 grains of powder andfill the same measure with a loadof shot. Try this again at 80 and90 grains. One of these three willgive nice patterns, as a rule. A bet-ter way is to use the Lyman “BlackPowder Handbook”. From hereyou can choose the exact load andknow its velocity and muzzle ener-gy.

A common mistake among muz-zleloading shooters is what iscalled “blowing your pattern”.This happens when too much pow-der is used behind a given shotcharge. Firing test patterns onlarge sheets of wrapping paper willtell you just how dense your pat-tern is at a given distance. If yousee open areas in the pattern, trydropping the charge of powderback by 5-10 grains. Practice willtell you the best load for accuracyand power. It is possible to getloads in the 1100 f.p.s. range, thathave 1800 ft./lbs. of energy. Youcan work up a load that works bestfor long-range shots in the openand one for short-range woodlandshots. If you know the area youplan to hunt, just pick the best loadfor the present conditions.

As with all of us, we have a gunthat fits and just feels right. Mychoice for a shotgun is any repro-duction double gun, and there areseveral on the market, or for a sin-gle shot the Thompson/Center“New Englander”, still found onthe used gun racks.

Charlie Chalk is an outdoor writer and hasa background as a professional Firefighterand is a member of the AmericanMountain Men, an organization that emu-lates the life of the fur trappers of the1800's and their survival on the land.

Black powder and Beating Wings

Sponsored byGreen Mt. Marinades

wasn’t paying attention in class! Greatnow I’d flunk and he wouldn’t let me inthe water. Never fear, Pete was not thatkind of instructor. He didn’t give a testor even a quiz. It’s been awhile since Iwas in a classroom setting so I’ve dodged

another bullet so to say. Pete said he’dbe taking us to one of his favorite pools.I didn’t bring my suit along and told himso! I had promised fresh fish for dinnerand work to do.

Well his idea of a pool and mine aredifferent. I guess it’s an east coast/Midwest thing. A short hike later andwe were at his pool. He said we’d bewaist deep and I carefully trudged in.Now waist deep to him and waist deepto me are totally different. Rememberearlier when I mentioned he’s 6’8”? Hiswaist is a lot further up than mine and Ididn’t want to get my hair wet. Wecompromised and went in waist deepaccording to my definition. I wonagain!

I casted, not at all well, but didn’t giveup. Being in the water doing this is a lotdifferent than standing on shore. I hadto be concerned with my footing on the

slippery rocks. I had swarms of caddisflies whipping my face. I didn’t knowwhat to do with my left arm. I couldn’tlet it dangle at my side and get wet afterall. There’s a lot to think about whenfishing! The least of my worries washooking in to a fish. I’ve done that withsuccess, big fish too. I attribute a lot ofthis to the ring I always wear when fish-ing. It is a crystal Koi, very pretty and ithas brought me success. Cast after castand nothing. I believe I did have a fewbites but I wasn’t setting the hook prop-erly. I had too much to think about.Foremost I needed to keep my balanceor I’d be riding home soaking wet. Wedidn’t think to bring a change of clothes.Although, Stephanie was only up to herankles in water, she needed to concen-trate. Wet, slimy rocks are slippery.

We moved to another area when Petesaid the Batten kill is notoriously hard tofish. This made me feel better andsomewhat relieved. I didn’t want mystreak broken, I’ve always caught some-thing. Well, his “easier” area was noteasy. I did spot a fish, the crystal clearwater was breath taking, but he was hid-ing under a dead tree over hanging theriver. Pete and I stealthily (his word)made our way into the river. He askedif I wanted to give it a go. I decided Iprobably get tangled up on the log andpreferred to see him in action. He triedseveral casts in perfect form but didn’tget our fish. His line did get snaggedand he felt that scared off our target.Well come to find out it was all catchand release so I didn’t feel too bad goingaway empty handed.

We capped off our day with somelocal cuisine at the Publyk House. Thisrestaurant was tucked into the hills withsweeping mountain views from allangles. Good food, good conversationand good friends. What could be bet-ter? We had a divine day meant fordivas! Just kidding about the diva thing,but we did pull off the look in ourwaders!

Lots more from Vermont, so makesure to follow along!

Hi ho, hi ho it’s off to Orvis I go. Idon’t know why but that was runningthrough my head. Stephanie Calabro,owner of White Rocks Design Studio(whiterocksds.com) and hostess for theweek, would be accompanying me toManchester, VT for a day of play!She’d done some fishing as a child andlooked forward to recapturing some ofher youth. Or at least that’s my idea forher. Not only is she the creative geniusbehind the graphic design on my car(check it out on face book – TheOutdoor Angel with Mary Kay) she isquite the tour guide.

She pointed out the sights as we head-ed to Orvis. You can smell the money inManchester. Not literally of course, butjust looking around I knew this was aplace I could explore. But there wouldbe no time for shopping, I was going tolearn all about Orvis and fly fishing!

Walking in the door of the OrvisFlagship Store changed my mind aboutshopping. There was plenty to droolover in this store. I started to pick outfurniture for my log cabin. Doesn’t mat-ter that I don’t have one – yet – I knewhow it would be appointed! First up wemet with Phil where we would tout theponds and feed the fish. He extendedhis hand and I eagerly took what Ithought were cocoa puffs. Before Icould pop them in my mouth he saidthey were for the fish. Let them get theirown, I forgot to have breakfast! It was afeeding frenzy like I’ve never witnessed.Phil handed some food to 2 eager chil-dren and I overheard the 4 year old boytell his dad “he’s the best guy ever”. Ihad to laugh and wonder what dadthought of that! Next up was Bill whowould be the store “tour” guide.

Bill is a retired school teacher easilytalked everything from the Orvis history– oldest mail order business around – tothe fly fishing school. I guess school is2nd nature to him. Orvis is not onlyknown for their Fly Fishing expertise,they have hunting options also. I talkedwith John regarding the selection ofguns and A. was amazed with theirbeauty and B. wanted to take out ahome equity loan to be able to buy acouple! Being that I haven’t had thatmuch shooting experience I highlydoubt I need a $75,000 gun. But I’dsure look good toting that around thefield!

Feeding, history and shopping donewe met with Peter Kutzer. He is a flycasting instructor for the school as wellas the star of the Orvis TV show. I’mnot ashamed or embarrassed to admitthat Stephanie and I were impressed!Not because of his celebrity status buthis looks and height. This man is tall,dark and handsome! He stood shoul-ders above us at 6’8” and had a voicelike velvet, but I digress. We were sup-

posed to concentrate on the ponds – notPete! He gave a tour of the rod factoryand thoroughly impressed us with hisknowledge, or maybe it was his good

looks. Again, back to the task at hand!I’d never really thought about whatwent in to making a fishing rod. Whywould I, shoes and purse are more myspeed. But these are crafted in multiplesteps and each checked for quality alongthe way.

I really wanted to get in the wadersand catch some fish but Pete had awhole different idea. Didn’t he realizeI’d already fished 6 times? Why would Ineed lessons? I guess I’ll appease himand pretend to learn! I didn’t have topretend to long because I really waslearning, I was hanging on every wordthat dripped from Pete’s lips. I’m teas-ing and Pete would know this. He wasthat kind of guy and we had a fun filledday with a friend.

Even though we’d only met him 20minutes prior he felt like an old friend.Stephanie and I were older than he wasthough. With our casting skills polishedwe headed across the street to the FlyFishing School. It would be here weFINALLY be outfitted in our waders. Ican’t explain what my fascination is withthe waders.

Being that I didn’t think ahead I did-n’t have socks on. I had camouflageMary Jane heels which are certainly notworn with socks – it would ruin the look!I had to wear a man’s shoe size 7 wadersin my bare feet. Pete obviously wasn’tgoing to be chivalrous and remove hissocks. I think he secretly thought he’dteach me a lesson. Watch and learnPete. I’ll show you how it’s done!

Next up the Batten kill. We learned itwas redundant to say Batten kill riverbecause kill means river but I don’tremember in what language. Guess I


Mary about to head off on her “Orvis” adventure!

By Mary KayBy Mary Kay

The Outdoor AngelThe Outdoor Angel

Orvis Visit

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The New Hampshire Vermont Outdoor Gazette

Gerry and I used to fish together alot before we started guiding. Nowwe seldom have the time to fishtogether so we took advantage of afree morning and were joined by mywife Barb. The river had been fish-ing reasonably well given thewarmer than normal water temper-ature. Although there were a fewautumn caddis and mayflies around

there was not enough hatch activityto turn the fish on. We had beenpicking up a few on stimulators.Gerry started out fishing a caddisand only produced one strike beforefinally switching to streamers andlanded two rainbows. Fishing with agood angler can be intimidating,Barb had been fishing a streamerwithout a strike but she connectedon two consecutive casts. That wasthe start of a good morning of rain-bows, brookies and browns. I took abreak from the oars and landed afew including a couple of elusivechubs which they did not seem tohave the skill to catch. Gerry was inthe back seat; I didn’t notice he hashis camera until we got back to thehouse in Errol. Here is the link onYouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qgrPjzOA88&feature=share&list=UUK98S0Xl41DftClT9VvEABw

Fast forward a few days to the20th; the day the column is due.We’ve had a few nights in the 30’sand the water was 58 this morning;probably the first time it’s beenbelow 60 since June. It made a bigdifference in how active the troutwere. I had a client who landed sev-eral rainbows, a few brookies, abrown and a salmon and he has onlybeen fly fishing a few times.Everyone we’ve had who has beenon the Androscoggin loves the river.Labor Day weekend I had a clientfrom Utah who camped atMollidgewock campground. He hasa drift boat and raft and fished theGreen River. The Green has some-thing like 12,500 trout per mile. Hesaid an average day is about 40 plusfish. He did not get anywhere near

that number but had a great timeand the river and scenery was fantas-tic.

Every year we get clients from dif-ferent countries; in September I hada client from Tasmania. The islandhas reservoirs with large brown troutwhich he fishes for with dry flies. Hewas not used to fishing rivers butturned out to be a very adept angler.He was touring the northeast andCanada and wanted to fish theAndroscoggin; he had a great time.

In July I had an angler fromEngland; his daughter who lives inNH arranged the trip as a birthdaypresent. He was about my age. Oneof the questions we ask is do youhave any health issues. He said hecould walk several miles a day. Heretired from the post; the equivalentto our post office and walked 12-14miles a day. For exercise he walkedseveral miles a day along the beachwhere he lives. The beach is similarto the Saco in North Conway. Wefished the Saco, Ellis and Pemi andcovered a lot of water. His fishingexperience was primarily salt waterand he was also a tier, he read thewater pretty well and had no prob-lem adjusting to the rivers. As a coin-cidence he was good friends withsomeone who lives about a half milefrom us. It turns out the person is abird hunter and has hunting dogs.I’ve often stopped and talked to himover the last thirty or so years run-ning past his house with the numer-ous setters we’ve had. I never knewhis name and I doubt he knew mine.

Another couple I had out inSeptember are 79 & 80. They tookup fly fishing when he retired assomething to do together. They hadnever fished before. Both were excel-lent casters; unfortunately it was oneof those days when the fish were notcooperating. She had one large troutto the boat in heavy water. It was astrong fish and made a run under theboat and got off. I would like to thinkwhen we’re there age we’ll still beable to fish and enjoy life. We talkedabout different places we fished andwhen. We were both in Montanaduring 9/11. They ended up drivinghome and talked about all the flagsthey saw on bridges along the way.We stayed and fished in Utah. Onthe flight home we went over NewYork City. It was a clear night and wecould see the smoke columns risingfrom the towers. A sight I’ll neverforget.


We’re in Errol guiding the last twoweeks of September. The leaves areturning; it’s now the 18th and everyday the color is more noticeable. Itwill probably peak next week. Thefoliage in the Errol and Colebrookarea is always phenomenal yet themajority of tourists are unaware thatin September they could avoid theColumbus Day traffic in the WhiteMountains and drive throughDixville and Grafton notches andalong the Connecticut andAndroscoggin for great scenery. Onthe other hand I’d probably be thefirst to complain about excessivetraffic; moose watchers are badenough. It’s not the end of the fish-ing season but by the time Octoberrolls around the majority of our sea-son is over. There may be a trip ortwo a week and sometimes there area few trips in November but by andlarge trips will be winding down.There’s always mixed emotions withthe end of any season; hunting orfishing. With guiding it’s a lot of dayson the water and on the road.Sometimes we’re away for weeks andoften two to four days. Being able tobook trips in the same general loca-tion is always an advantage; likedoing the Androscoggin andConnecticut or Pemi and Saco.

In the spring we’re usually south ofthe notches and in the summer andfall it’s primarily up north. That’snot always possible and driving 180miles after a long day on the water isnever enjoyable. We have a camp inBrownfield Maine which is 30 min-utes from the Saco and an hour fromthe Lower Androscoggin and anoth-er 45 minutes to Errol. Driving twohours one way is about the maxi-

mum I want to do but not always anoption. I have a friend who had anapartment in Canaan Vermont forthe summer. That turned out to beconvenient for trips on theConnecticut and even theAndroscoggin. Staying a day or twoextra to fish worked out pretty well.

Getting an apartment up north forthe summer is a consideration for2013. There’s thirty or more miles ofgood water south of Pittsburg towade and drift. We don’t have thefish per mile of western rivers but wehave some great water. Out west youcatch and in the east you fish. Notthat we don’t have days that mayequal fishing the west. If you haveone savor the memory; it may be along time before you have another.

We usually take a trip out west inour slow season the end of July orbeginning of August; that’s the timewe get to fish for a few days. Thisyear we skipped it for personal rea-sons. We ended up with an open daySeptember 17th. Clients fromChicago who were with us last yearhad to cancel a trip. My partner

September Reflections

By Jim Norton By Jim Norton

From the back of a canoe

From the back of a canoe

Jim a native of New Hampshire enjoysfly-fishing & tying, bird hunting and avariety of other outdoor activities and is aregistered NH fishing Guidewww.nhriversguide.com and author of thebook Granite Lines.

Androscoggin Rainbow


MassWildlife has offered interestedparaplegic hunters the opportunityto hunt deer during a special three-day season since 1972. The ideagrew from a program NewHampshire's Fish & GameDepartment conducted at that time.MassWildlife staff work with volun-teers to help place hunters in areas atseveral hunt locations in the state.When a hunter successfully shoots adeer, the waiting volunteers assist thehunter by retrieving the deer, fielddressing it and getting it checked inwith MassWildlife staff on site.Sportsmen and volunteers alikeenjoy this opportunity to spend timetogether in the great outdoors,counting the hunt as successful ifthey are fortunate enough to see adeer.

Hunt HistoryIn 1972, the deer hunt was held at

the Phillipston WMA and the follow-ing year in the town of Rowe. Thehunt location then moved toMartha's Vineyard and Nantucket insubsequent years. Due to accessissues on the islands, locations inWilliamstown and in and around MtWashington State Forest were uti-lized for much of the 1980's and1990's with an occasional location inMiddlesex County. Since 2000, theDepartment of Conservation and

Recreation has hosted a third site atQuabbin Park in Belchertown. In2003, a partnership with the USArmy at Devens (formerly FortDevens) resulted in a fourth locationfor paraplegic sportsmen to try theirluck.

Each year, approximately 25-30paraplegic hunters sign up for thespecial hunt. In the past five years,these hunters have taken an annualtotal of 7-8 deer, amounting to agreater than 25% success rate. For anumber of these people, it's the onlyopportunity they have to hunt, anactivity that is an important part oftheir lives.

Paraplegic sportsmen and womenwith an interest in participating inthis hunt should contact TrinaMoruzzi for more details at (508)389-6318.

CONCORD, N.H. — For nineexciting days, from October 20 to28, 2012, lucky moose permit hold-ers and their hunting partners willhave the experience of a lifetime tak-ing part in New Hampshire’s annualmoose hunt. A total of 275 permitholders were drawn in this year’s lot-tery, randomly selected by computerfrom a pool of more than 13,400applicants. In addition, five hunterswill have the chance to hunt moosebecause they were the highest bid-ders in an annual auction that bene-fits the Wildlife Heritage Foundationof New Hampshire, and one permitwas granted to youth with seriousmedical conditions through theHunt of a Lifetime program. Lastfall, New Hampshire hunters had astatewide success rate of 71%.

Each hunter with a moose permitis assigned to hunt in one of 22wildlife management units through-out the state. Most have spent thepast several weeks or months scout-ing out potential hunting spots intheir assigned areas. After taking amoose, hunters must have the ani-mals registered and inspected at oneof seven check stations around thestate. There, wildlife biologists checkeach moose to collect informationabout the overall health of themoose herd. Moose check stationsdraw many interested onlookers, areminder of the economic and sym-

bolic importance of moose in NewHampshire, particularly in theNorth Country. A list of moosecheck stations is posted atwww.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_moose.htm.

Whether or not you’re hunting

moose this year, get into the spirit ofthe adventure with a limited-edition2012 New Hampshire moose huntcommemorative shirt. The new col-lection is available (throughNovember 23, 2012) online atwww.huntnh.com/mooseshirt.

As part of a sound managementstrategy, the moose hunt has been an

AttentionNew HampshireHunters

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AttentionNew HampshireHunters

annual event in New Hampshire formore than twenty years. By 1900,moose were scarce in the GraniteState. With the implementation ofhunting restrictions and scientificmanagement funded by the federalWildlife Restoration Program, sup-

ported by an excise tax on huntingequipment and ammunition, thepopulation has grown to about 5,000animals today. New Hampshire’sfirst modern-day moose hunt tookplace in 1988, with 75 permits issuedin the North Country. At that time,New Hampshire was home to at

least 1,600 moose.Hunters are reminded to avoid

consuming moose liver and kidney.Studies conducted by Fish andGame and the U.S. Fish & WildlifeService have revealed high levels ofcadmium in some moose livers andkidneys sampled. As a result, officialsfrom the Environmental HealthProgram at the N.H. Department ofEnvironmental Services recommendthat no moose kidney be eaten, andpreferably no liver. If individuals dochoose to eat moose liver, it shouldbe from moose no older than 1.5years. If the moose is older thanthat, consumption should be limitedto a maximum of two meals (assum-ing six ounces per meal) of mooseliver per year. Biologists at moosecheck stations can determine the ageof the animal for hunters. If youhave questions about this issue, callDavid Gordon, DES EnvironmentalHealth Program, at 603-271-4608.

Try your luck in the moose huntnext year! The next moose hunt per-mit lottery will open in late January2013 and run through mid-May; thedrawing occurs in June.

Visit a photo gallery of successfulN.H. moose hunts — and find outmore about moose hunting in NewHampshire — atwww.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_moose.htm.

N.H. moose hunt is October 20-28, 2012

Vermont residents Russ Baker (left) and Dave Ferry (right) pose with their 2011 bullmoose. “Thank you, N.H. Fish and Game, for the adventure of a lifetime!”

November Deer Hunting OpportunityFor Massachusetts Paraplegic Hunters


too conservative in the number ofpermits that they issue? Couldmore moose hunting opportunitiesbe provided without bringing sig-nificant risk to moose populations?

Is a high success rate moreimportant than providing huntingopportunities to a greater numberof hunters as long as harvest goalsare met? Does the “tourist value”of sustaining a high moose popu-lation justify the inevitableincrease moose/vehicle collisions?

These are all questions thatshould be considered as wildlifeagencies apply the art and scienceof moose management. Being ahunter and having been the headof a wildlife agency in the north-east, I do have my own opinionsconcerning these questions andsome insight into what makes themanagement system tick.

It is my opinion that the biolo-gists recommending moose permitallocations in Maine, NewHampshire and Vermont tend tobe generally conservative,approaching overly conservative,most of the time across most ofmoose country. Why? It is myopinion that much of this conser-

vatism stems from the ready criti-cism that hunters so freely expressto wildlife managers and politi-cians when animal numbers trenddownwards as opposed to any sig-nificant risk that might result froma year or two of over-harvest.Yup, some should check there feetfor bullet holes.

If we take a look at the rate atwhich Vermont’s moose popula-tion grew from just a few animalsin the 1980’s (as indicated by road-kills, other non-hunting mortalityand growth of the moose harvest,it seems clear that there is essen-tially zero risk of causing anextinction of Vermont’s mooseherd via over-harvesting under thecurrent lottery permitting systemperhaps even if every applicantwas given a permit for a year ortwo. Once over-harvest is detect-ed, permit numbers can simply becut back. The moose populationwould be expected to bounce rightback and grow at a similar rate asin the past. That is, as long ashabitat conditions continued toprovide adequate amounts of foodand cover.

www.vtfishandwildlife.com/library/Reports_and_Documents/Hunting_and_Trapping/Big_game/Big_Game_Management_Plan_%2 0 2 0 1 0 % 2 0 -%202020/_Chapter%203%20-%20Moose.pdf

A far bigger threat to Vermont’smoose population than regulatedhunting is the potential loss ofsuitable habitat that resulting fromaging forests. In parts ofVermont, the pattern of past har-vesting and reductions current for-est harvesting may result in agreater proportion of the forestreaching stages that provide littlebrowse for moose. Althoughincreases in the amount of publicforest land has insured that we willhave places to hunt, this also hasincreased the likelihood that the

The month of October bringsthe opening of most of our fallhunting seasons. As much as I liketo hunt deer, I must say that moosehunting has resulted in some ofmy most exciting and memorablehunting experiences. Calling a bigbull moose, as you would call agobbler, from 400 yards certainlycan make your heart pound.Whether he comes grunting atevery step or suddenly and silentlyappears in the shadows of thewoods at 30 or 40 yards, calling ina bull moose is a thrilling experi-ence. And yes, the experience ofharvesting a cow or calf can bejust as rewarding for manyhunters.

Unfortunately for moose huntersand “would be” moose hunters,moose numbers are not largeenough in the northeast to with-stand the same level of huntingpressure that white-tailed deerpopulations can. As a result, lim-ited numbers of licenses are issuedeach year to hunters by lottery.This means that the “luck of the

draw” can result in hunting oppor-tunities being few and far betweenfor some of us. There are morethan a few moose lottery appli-cants that have applied for permits

year after year to no avail.Given the limited opportunities

to moose hunt it may be fair toask: Are fish and wildlife agencies

Moose hunting in the northeast provides unique experiences and life-long memories.

By Wayne A. LarocheBy Wayne A. Laroche

Fish & Wildlife ManagementFish & Wildlife Management

Managing Moose: Challenges and Chances

Continued next page


from previous page

it strengthens the conservativenature that most game managerstend to have.

Whether from lack of populationdata, over cautious harvest targets,or socio-political desires to seemore moose, too many moose is a“lose: lose” situation. Too manymoose result in forest and habitatdestruction, human fatalities on

the highways, and lost huntingopportunities when the populationfinally crashes and can not recoverbecause the habitat has beendestroyed.

Constructive criticism of wildlifemanagers, on the other hand, is agood thing. We the hunters andpublic should be at the same timequestioning and encouraging ourwildlife managers so that they do

move forward, embrace new tech-nologies, gather more and betterdata, and that improve assessmenttechniques to better determine thequality, quantity and condition ofwildlife populations and habitatconditions. We should also beencouraging our politicians to pro-vide adequate funding and politi-cal support for sound, sciencebased wildlife management.Sound wildlife management prac-tices have far more likelihood ofconsistently providing the socialvalues that both hunters and non-hunters hope to gain from ourwildlife resources compared to thepolitical ping-pong that occurredall to frequently in the pastdecades.

I will be guiding a moose huntagain this fall in Vermont. I can’twait. Here is hoping as many ofus as possible get the opportunityto enjoy the great experience ofmoose hunting in the northeast. Ifyou haven’t drawn that lottery per-mit, don’t give up the hope.

amount of older aged forested willincrease as state and federal agen-cies have policies or administrativecapacity that may minimize theharvest of timber. I see reductionsin suitable moose habitat as abeing greater potential risk to sus-taining a substantial moose popu-lation in Vermont than over-har-vesting. Even if moose harvestswere too high for a time, the timenecessary to recovery for a moosepopulation would be far shorterthan the time needed to restorehabitat suitability via forest regen-eration.

The biologists know all of this.They know that they can’t “stock-pile” wildlife. Winter ticks thatinfest moose provide a good exam-ple. When moose numbers get toohigh, ticks increase in abundanceand can literally drain the bloodand energy from moose resultingin animals with decreased bodyweight and reproductive potential.In the worst case, hair loss duringthe winter will result in moosemortality as bare skin is exposed tocold temperatures. So, the moosedie from “natural” causes at ahigher rate when the mortalityrate from hunting decreases.

Still, biologists remain conserva-tive. In general, state fish andwildlife agencies hear more com-plaints and criticisms from thepublic than complements andencouragement. When the publicis happy, the lines of communica-

tion are remarkably silent. On theother hand, just a few disgruntlefolks can cause a lot of noise. Fewpeople relish criticism and politi-cians certainly don’t like that kindof noise, so wildlife managers whowould prefer to work on wildlifeare forced to deal with communi-cation and politics, things that fewdesired or were trained to deal

with. So, the next time you thing a

biologist isn’t aggressively manag-ing for moose or other species nearand dear to your heart, ask your-self if you would if you were in hisor her shoes. Unconstructive crit-icism more often than not tends to“shoot sportsmen in the foot”resulting reduced rather thanincreased hunting opportunity as

Hilda and Dave Putnam from Pennsylvania enjoyed a successful Vermont moose hunt in2011. Hilda was the lucky hunter.

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Dean Vanier • PO Box 1327 • Lebanon, NH 03766 • 603 523-9206

Wayne Laroche directed Vermont’sDepartment of Fish and Wildlife from2003 until 2011 serving as theCommissioner. He holds degrees in bothfisheries and wildlife management from theUniv. of Maine and California StateUniv. Wayne is a native Vermonter andcurrently resides in Franklin, VT. Heenjoys tracking whitetails in the big woodsof Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.Wayne can be reached by emailing [email protected].


Down.” These chapters contain justenough autobiography to keep thereader interested. Chapter 13 isactually six individual stories of sig-nificant bucks that Blood or hisclients successfully hunted usingBlood’s techniques. The 14th andfinal chapter covers Blood’s views onthe future of deer hunting. Here hetouches on forest land management,hunter-non-hunter relations, anddeer-coyote relations.

Hunting Big Woods Bucks makesextensive use of the sidebar to illus-trate its main points and themes.Every couple of pages, the authorinserts a box containing some anec-dote or example that reinforces whathe has said in the main body of thetext. Someone caught in a quick re-read just before setting out to huntcould rapidly find a lot of gems byscanning just the sidebars.

If there is anything lacking in thisbook, it would only be noticed bysomeone who hunts in the moresoutherly parts of New England.Blood’s home territory and hisexpertise lie in the rugged terrain ofthe deep north woods. Those whohunt closer to urban areas or at theedges of agricultural land and hard-

wood forests may need anotherbook of specialized techniques forthose places. That said, the prepon-derance of Blood’s advice and rec-ommendations work anywherewhitetail deer populations thrive.

Hunting Big Woods Bucksremains an important inclusion forany deer hunter’s library. The infor-mation it contains remains as freshtoday, nine seasons on, as when itwas first published. No one whocalls themselves a deer hunter oughtto miss this book.

In 2009 Blood released HuntingBig Woods Bucks Volume II. Withat least six seasons more experienceto weave into it, the second volumeshould prove at least as valuable asthe first. We’ll be seeking a copy ofthat second volume to review beforeanother deer season comes rollingaround. Hal Blood is an extraordi-nary deer hunter with a wealth ofuseful information to impart to therest of us.

HUNTING BIG WOODS BUCKSBy Hal BloodWoods N’ Water, Inc., 2003168 pages, $24.95ISBN: 0-9722804-3-X

In 2003, Master Maine Guide andowner of Cedar Ridge Outfitters inJackman, ME, Hal Blood publishedhis first book, Hunting Big WoodsBucks. The passage of time has nei-ther diminished nor dulled this sig-nificant addition to the huntingbook genre. In fact, October servesas a perfect time to re-read or dis-cover for the first time this impor-tant work.

Why now?October is prime time for any seri-

ous deer hunter to be honing skillsand polishing any scouting prepara-tions begun over the spring andsummer. Blood’s book is a valuabletool for any deer hunter, be theynovice or well-seasoned nimrod.Spending some time reflecting onBlood’s tips, techniques and experi-ences can make any deer hunter abetter deer hunter.

Blood writes a straightforwardnarrative free of embellishments

and the sentimentality that oftenpervades other hunting and fishingpublications. He augments his nar-rative with dozens of black andwhite photos taken by himself andothers, as well as pen and ink illus-trations by the author’s niece, KatieNesslerode.

The first twelve chapters aredevoted to the mechanics of deerhunting with chapter headings suchas: “The Nomadic Whitetail,”“Being Prepared,” or “Track Him

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The Gazette’s Book ReviewBy Colonel J.C. Allard

Col. J.C. Allard lives in Pittsfield, NHabout 20 miles north by east of Concord.“We're in the shadow of the Belknapmountains here, but we can see Mt.Washington on a clear day”.


For more information on deerhunting in New Hampshire, visit

www.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_deer.htm.

CONCORD, N.H. — NewHampshire’s youth deer weekend,Saturday and Sunday, October 27-28, 2012, is the perfect time to take ayoungster hunting.

This special weekend gives youngpeople age 15 and younger theopportunity to go deer hunting withan adult mentor, without the pres-sure of competing with thousands ofadult hunters.

Accompanying adults must belicensed hunters and are not allowedto carry a firearm; the idea is to con-centrate your time and attention oncoaching your young companion.

Prospects for this year’s youth sea-son are good, according to KentGustafson, Deer Project Leader forthe New Hampshire Fish and GameDepartment. New Hampshire’s deerpopulation is healthy and will pro-vide excellent opportunities. In2011, young hunters took 475 deer

during the youth weekend, up 21%from the previous year.

“The weekend is a chance to intro-duce young people to deer hunting,under the careful guidance of anexperienced adult,” said Gustafson.“You can build bonds for a lifetimewhile tracking a whitetail throughthe autumn woods or decipheringthe sounds of the forest from a treestand. We hope hunters will spendthe weekend with their sons anddaughters, grandchildren or youngfriends, helping them learn whathunting is all about.”

Gustafson notes that hunting canalso help youngsters learn about theenvironment, conservation, traditionand ethics, and it can build a deepand abiding appreciation for thewildlife and wild places that many ofour citizens and visitors cherish.

New Hampshire has offered a spe-cial youth deer hunt since 1999.Nonresident youth may participatein New Hampshire’s youth deerweekend only if their state of resi-dence allows New Hampshire youthto participate in its youth deer hunt.

For more about New Hampshire’syouth deer hunting weekend, visitwww.huntnh.com/Hunting/Youth_deer_wknd.htm.

October. All this means thereshould be some good opportunityfor turkey hunting in NewHampshire this fall. With the virtu-al absence this year of beechnuts,wild apples and other small fruits,turkeys are more likely to be foundin fields rather than in the densewoods.

Last fall (2011), hunters regis-tered a total of 643 turkeys in New

Hampshire during the fall season,432 of them taken during the five-day shotgun season.

Since turkeys tend to gather ingroups in the fall, hunters areadvised to be extremely selective indeciding when to shoot, both as amatter of safety and to guardagainst hitting more than one birdwith a single shot. “Even if theturkeys are not ‘flocked up,’ theircryptic coloration, coupled with thepellet pattern cast by a shotgun,requires that hunters exerciseextreme restraint when choosing ashot,” says Fish and Game WildlifeDivision Chief Mark Ellingwood,adding, “Pursuit of flocks visiblefrom public roadways is discour-aged for reasons of safety and fair-chase.”

Licenses, permits and more infor-mation on turkey hunting in NewHampshire is available atwww.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_turkey.htm. Want totake a friend hunting? Check outthe new Apprentice HuntingLicense, which allows people achance to hunt under the guidanceof an experienced hunter age 18 orolder, without having to take aHunter Education course first.Learn more at www.huntnh.com/Hunting/apprentice.html.

CONCORD, N.H. — NewHampshire’s five-day fall shotgunturkey hunting season takes placeMonday through Friday, October15-19, 2012, in all but six of thestate’s Wildlife Management Units(WMUs). Areas open to fall shot-gun turkey hunting encompassmuch of the Connecticut RiverValley and southern NewHampshire, including WMUs D1,D2, G, H1, H2, I1, I2, J1, J2, K, Land M. Because fall harvest tendsto favor females and given thenumber of permits sold each year,the fall shotgun season is restrictedto 5 weekdays only, to avoid over-harvest and a subsequent impacton spring hunting opportunities.For a map and more informationon turkey hunting in NewHampshire, visitw w w . h u n t n h . c o m/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_turkey.htm.

The turkey license required tohunt turkey in New Hampshirecovers both the spring and fallturkey seasons during a calendaryear; the price is $16 for residentsand $31 for non-residents. In addi-tion to the turkey license, residentsalso must have a current N.H.hunting, archery or combinationlicense, and nonresidents must have

a big game hunting or archerylicense, depending on their huntingplans. Youth hunters are remindedthat they do require a turkeylicense.

Hunters may take only a singleturkey (of either sex) during thefall, either with bow and arrow dur-ing the archery season, or with ashotgun during the shotgun season.The bird must be tagged with the“fall” tag that comes on the turkeylicense.

New Hampshire also has a longfall archery season for turkey, whichruns from September 15 throughDecember 15 throughout the state,with the exception of WMU A innorthern N.H., which is closed tofall turkey hunting.

Ted Walski, N.H. Fish andGame’s turkey project leader, advis-es that the state’s wild turkeys aredoing well this year. The early sum-mer 2012 wild turkey brood surveyindicated a favorable hatch, whichwill add a significant number ofturkeys to the fall population. Amajority of the hatch occurredduring May, because the mildestwinter in 40 years stimulated earlygreen-up and nesting. Walskireports numerous observations ofabundant turkey flocks throughoutthe state during September and

Fall Turkey Shotgun Season Coming Monday-Friday, October 15-19, 2012

N.H. youth deer hunt set for October 27-28, 2012

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together. No surprise there I guess.In fact, Skinny’s sister Bunny wasmy afterschool babysitter when shecould find me. She called my AlleyCat! My recollection of Bunny inmy younger years is her being the

on to tell me that PresidentKennedy had been shot.

For the rest of us kids, Ole Skinnyhad it all he was the lucky one.Hell, he even had one of thoseCrossman 760 pump air guns. Ifthe rest of us were lucky, we couldconvince him to sneak it out oncein awhile to plink some cans or ablue jay or two maybe a pigeon orsquirrel. We were never very lucky,being the youngest of four,Skinny’s father had put the fearinto the boy and he toed the markpretty well, in fact, he was a toughone to get to stray at all. Veryuncharacteristic of the rest of thegroup, we all strayed and hoveredbetween fact and crap most of thetime!

One of his greatest endeavorswas to learn Taxidermy! Not onlycould he shoot blue jays and squir-rels whenever he wanted, he evengot to “stuff em” afterwards! Hisfirst mount was a blue jay, and adamn handsome one at that!Come to think of it, I think it washis only mount! Wonder if he stillhas it packed away someplace? Hehad a small room upstairs at hishouse where he practiced his craft.His next handiwork was building aship in a bottle. He completed thatand went on to build many more askiing accident In fact, the last Iheard, he was off in the tropics onsome island, still building boats!

At some point in our young liveswe had made a bet. I rememberthe stakes being a five spot, Skinnyremembered it as a gentleman’sbet. I had a real hard time withthat, we were only kids, we were nogentlemen! Anyway the bet waswho was going to shoot the firstdeer. It seems as though I wasmaybe 8 at the time, both our

father’s hunter and at times huntedrabbits together. Skinny being thekid who was the perfect kid and mewho did what I damned wellpleased clearly gave me the edge.As I said before, Bunny was myafterschool sitter.

That was when my grandmotherwas out of town visiting one of myAunts or Uncles. Anyway I thinkthat it may have been mid August.Pop kept his hounds in a kennel ona hill crossed the railroad tracks inback of our house. The kennel waseasily visible from the back of thehouse. On one certain afternoon, Iwas in the back yard and just hap-pened to see a deer feeding in theraspberry bushes next to the dogkennel. I snuck into the house andgrabbed an old 12 gauge singleshot from the Old Man’s gun cabi-net.

I grabbed what I believe todaywas a couple of number 4 shotshells and proceeded out the frontdoor of the house. Gram was inthe kitchen at the sink and the frontdoor was the only way out unde-tected so I seized the moment! As Icrossed the railroad tracks, I loaderthe gun when I got to the top of thehill the kennel was on the deer wasnowhere in sight. Then shepopped he head up. I touched offand she went right down on thespot. What in the hell had I done!I was scared to no end. I left thedeer in the bushes and snuck thegun back to its rightful place inDad’s gun cabinet.

Several days went by and nothinghad been said. I was the one feed-ing the dogs anyway; dad had noreason to go up on the hill. By thistime, the deer smelled real bad.That night at the supper table, thelook on my father’s face said it all,and I knew that I was in deepdodo. When he asked me about it,I denied it of course but gram hadheard the shot, it scared years offher life and done the right thingand gone to my father. He wentand found the deer. He made metake a shovel and bury the deer inthe woods.

He should have warmed mybackside but he didn’t he got mewhere it really hurt. He vowed thatit was going to be a long timebefore I was ever going to touch agun! It hurt boy did it hurt. Butthinking back, the punishmentcould have and probably shouldhave been much worse. But deepdown, I had hurt my father too.He loved to hunt and shoot withme and now he couldn’t out ofprincipal.

We all remember certain parts ofour youth, good bad and the ugly.I remember my father being shortwith me on more that one occa-sion. I wonder if my kids willremember me being short withthem? Well, the apple doesn’t fallto far from the tree, GO FIGURE!We also have friends that we allremember some fondly, some wewould rather forget. Skinny wasone of those you can’t forget.

Skinny lived on the other end oftown, right near the river! In fact,the river was damn near his backyard. He was the envy of thegroup, he could fish anytime thathe wanted and he owned aMitchell 300 open face fishing reel!That fishing reel was Skinny’spride and joy and it was the envy ofthe neighborhood and beyond. Ifyou looked at the reel the wrongway and you got threatened withbodily harm from skinny or his sis-ter Bunny!

When he wasn’t home, Skinnycould be found at his grand father’shouse whom also lived on the river.

This being a major bonus for us, togo ice fishing every day. The riverbehind his grandfather’s made alittle pond of sorts where the cur-

rent flow slowed and the river frozequite nicely. Funny how as a kid,you remember the pond being real-ly big! Anyway, being a small town,my parents and Skinny’s parentsand grand parents, were all goodfriends so as kids, we did a lot

Skinny

Southern Side UpBy Alex Cote

Southern Side UpBy Alex Cote

Continued next page


from previous page

CONCORD, N.H. -- NewHampshire’s youth deer week-end, Saturday and Sunday,October 27-28, 2012, is theperfect time to take a youngsterhunting. This special weekendgives young people age 15 andyounger the opportunity to godeer hunting with an adultmentor, without the pressure ofcompeting with thousands ofadult hunters.

Accompanying adults must belicensed hunters and are notallowed to carry a firearm; theidea is to concentrate your timeand attention on coaching youryoung companion.

Prospects for this year’s youthseason are good, according toKent Gustafson, Deer ProjectLeader for the New HampshireFish and Game Department.New Hampshire’s deer popula-tion is healthy and will provideexcel lent opportunit ies. In2011, young hunters took 475deer during the youth weekend,up 21% from the previous year.

“The weekend is a chance tointroduce young people to deerhunting, under the carefulguidance of an experiencedadult,” said Gustafson. “Youcan build bonds for a lifetimewhile tracking a whitetai l

through the autumn woods ordeciphering the sounds of theforest from a tree stand. Wehope hunters wil l spend theweekend with their sons anddaughters, grandchildren oryoung friends, helping themlearn what hunting is al labout."

Gustafson notes that huntingcan also help youngsters learnabout the environment, conser-vation, tradit ion and ethics,and it can build a deep andabiding appreciation for thewildlife and wild places thatmany of our citizens and visi-tors cherish.

New Hampshire has offered aspecial youth deer hunt since1999. Nonresident youth mayparticipate in New Hampshire’syouth deer weekend only i ftheir state of residence allowsNew Hampshire youth to par-ticipate in its youth deer hunt.

For more about NewHampshire’s youth deer hunt-ing weekend, vis i twww.huntnh.com/Hunting/Youth_deer_wknd.htm.

For more information on deerhunting in New Hampshire,vis i t www.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_deer.htm.

Augus ta , Ma ine - - Ma ineDepartment o f In land f i sh-er ies and Wildl i fe has rleasedf igures that for ty -n ine per -cent of a l l Maine res idents 16years of age and older hunt-ed, f i shed or watched wi ld l i fein 2011 and a tota l o f $1.4bi l l ion were spent in the s tateon those act iv i t ies, accordingto a pre l iminary report by theU.S. F i sh and Wi ld l i f eService.

T he Nat iona l Survey o fF i sh ing, Hunt ing andW i l d l i f e - A s s o c i a t e dRecreat ion , wh ich i s com-pi led every f ive years, looksa t par t i c ipat ion in andexpend i tu re s fo r hun t ing,f i shing and wi ld l i fe watchingby s tate, region and nat ion.

The pre l iminary survey a l sofound that a tota l o f 1 .1 mi l -l i on re s iden t s and nonre s i -den t s d id some so r t o fwi ld l i fe-associated act iv i ty inMaine, inc lud ing 838 ,000wi ld l i f e watcher s , 341 ,000ang ler s and 181,000 hunter s.

A tota l o f $799 mi l l ion werespent on wi ld l i fe watching inMaine, inc luding $514 mi l -l ion in tr ip-re lated expenses

and $172 mi l l ion on equip-ment .

When i t came to f i shing andhunt ing, $644 mi l l ion werespent in Maine, w i th $317mi l l ion go ing towards t r ipsand $267 mi l l ion being spenton equipment .

Res idents and nonres identsspent a combined 7.3 mi l l iondays watching wi ld l i fe awayfrom their home, 3 .9 mi l l iondays f i shing and 2.5 mi l l iondays hunt ing in Maine.

Nat iona l l y, 38 percen t o fthe U.S. populat ion enjoyedsome for m of wi ld l i fe associ -ated act iv i ty in 2011, spend-ing a combined $145 bi l l ionon the act iv i t ies.

The number of people whof i shed increased by 11 per-cent nat ional ly between 2006and 2011, whi le hunt ing par-t ic ipat ion increased by 9 per-cent during that t ime.

The U.S. Fish and Wildl i feService s tarted re leas ing thesurvey in 1955, making thisthe 12th vers ion of i t . Thef inal nat ional report for 2011wi l l be avai lable in Novemberand f inal s tate reports wi l l bere leased in December.

At one point, after his skiing acci-dent, Skinny had wanted to get outinto the woods hunting. I assistedhim the best that I could and gothim settled in on a stand. I wentabout 200 yards away and parkedmyself down. After maybe 20 min-utes, I heard the deer coming in thedry leaves long before I saw them. Ipulled up the lever action 30/30and drew a bead on the largest doein the group. I squeezed the triggerand the firing pin went snap! Icocked the hammer again and theresults were the same! I worked the

lever of the rifle watching for thebad round to eject. The chamberwas EMPTY! In my efforts to getSkinny in the woods and set up, Ihad forgotten to load my rifle!

The three deer ran in the direc-tion of the spot I had set Skinny upin. I was waiting for a shot.I waitedand waited some more. No shot. Imade my way towards him to seewhat had happened and herecomes the three deer at a full runright at me! Then over the hillfrom where the deer had run cameanother bud, Jamie chasing after

the deer! The deer had in factgone buy Skinny but because of hiship surgery, he couldn’t get hisbody turned to shoot. Not a shotwas fired that afternoon!

As far as the bet with Skinnywent, he won fair and square. Icouldn’t claim bragging rights forwhat I had done although I hadtried. It took several years but I gotto hunt again. It took several moreyears and Skinny shot a legal deerout hunting with another familyfriend. Not a monster but it didn’tneed to be. Then, he changed his

tune and insisted that the bet hadin fact been a five spot. In thosedays, that five spot was like aBenjamin today. My my, howthings change don’t they? Ihaven’t seen Skinny for close to 40years but when I do run into his sis-ter, Bunny still calls me Alley Cat!

Alex Cote resides in Deerfield NewHampshire. He is on the Pro Staff forNorthwood's Common Scents! He is also ascorer for the NHASTC. Alex and his sonspend as much time outdoors as possibleand he only works when he has to.

Preliminary Figures Releasedfor the 2011 Maine

Wildlife-Related Activities

N.H. Youth Deer Hunt Setfor October 27-28, 2012


By Captian John CurryBy Captain John Curry

The Coastal ZoneThe Coastal Zone

it. Picture this for a moment;you’re at the bow of my Cuda 23with a 9 weight fly rod in handready to launch a silverside pat-

tern fly when I give you the sig-nal, its 82 degrees with a lightbreeze from the southwest. Werein 3 feet of water and the sanddunes are covered in a late after-noon shade of pink and orange.Terns are working a school ofbaitfish just off the flat where thefirst break line meets and outgo-ing tide eddy.

From my perch high up on thestern I can see four shadows mov-ing slowly on our port side. Iwhisper, “ten-o’clock fish movingto your right cast 30 yards”. Yourfly hits the water perfectly fiveyards in front of them. “Strip-strip-stop, wait one’s taking alook, strip again!” You’re on to a25 pounder and she is taking thebusiness end of your rod on a 40yard run.

After a 20 minute battle wehave her boat side. A few pic-tures and a high-five end a per-fect day of flats fishing for

stripers on Cape Cod. That’sright I said Cape Cod. Minus thepalm trees you wouldn’t know thedifference most days. Most of usthink of New England as a deepdrop bottom fishing venue forsuch delicacies as cod, pollockand haddock. “I haven’t beendeep sea fishing in years” is acommon discussion when book-ing trips for my guiding servicebased out of Cape Cod.

I tell my clients to take thewords “deep” and “sea” out oftheir vocabulary to make a point.We most likely will be fishing avariety of species using a varietyof techniques and in most casesin less than 30 feet of water. Justlike our southern game fish, ournorthern species do run certaintimes of the season.

We can always count on stripedbass from April – October andthe blues run great from May-September. It’s not uncommonto boat 4-5 different species inone trip on my boat.

So the next time you are withthe family at Disney World takethe time to experience some redfishing on the famed Space Coastof Florida, but if you want toexperience the same thrill and inmy opinion much better sceneryfor possibly less money thanround trip plane ticket to Florida,hire a guide in New Englandwhen the weather warms up andtell them you want to explore thevariety that our coastal watershave to offer.

I’ve had the good fortune ofstalking many prized game fish allover this great nation and a fewexotic ports in between. There’snothing like the thrill of a tarponas it leaps skyward or the bulldogbattle of a gag grouper trying totangle your gear on a reef.

Slipping into a mangrove linedcreek pitching live baits to roothugging snook and sea trout isalso right up there. Not to men-tion my favorite form of fishing,sight casting on the flats forbones, permit and the occasionalshark. Contrary to ones beliefthis type of fishing can be hadright here in New England.

While we obviously lack most ofthe warm water species that exitsin our sub-tropics we have theequivalent right here in our ownbackyard. From Down EastMaine to Narragansett Bay wehave as much diversity in our salt-water game fish as anywhere I’vebeen.

Just replace their tarpon for ouracrobatic bluefish. Black sea bass

are a dead ringer for grouperwhen it comes to that style offishing. I would match a stripedbass any day for a snook or even a

redfish. Our summer flounder or“fluke” as we call them are one ofmy favorite game fish to targetnot only for their fine eating, butthey have an attitude to go with

When planning your trip to the “Coastal Zone” this fall or next year, this chart is a handytool to help make your trip a success.

Capt. John Curry grew up in Rehobeth, MAand summered on the Cape mainly in theBass River area. He has over 30 years offishing and boating on Cape Cod and RhodeIsland waters. Currently living in W.Yarmouth and summers in Bourne. He runsa sportfishing business on tha Cape, visit hiswebsite www.capefishing.net.

Close to Home - New England’s Saltwater Variety


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Two (2) Winners will be drawn randomly andannounced in the January 2013 issue. PlusOne (1) Winner/Owner of “The TrailCamera Picture of the Year”, will be chosenby the Outdoor Gazette staff and folks on ourFacebook page. The “Pic of the Year” will beon the cover of the Jan. 2013 issue!

Send photos to: [email protected] with the subject line “TC Photo Contest 2012”

Send in your trail camera pics, and for every picturethat is published in The Outdoor Gazette you will get

one chance to win one of three Trail Cameras.

AArree yyoouu wwoorrrriieedd bbyy sseennddiinngg iinn yyoouurr ppiicc ooff tthhaatt ttrroopphhyy bbuucckk oorr hhuuggee bbuullll mmoooossee,, wwiillll ggiivvee aawwaayy

yyoouurr sseeccrreett llooccaattiioonn?? NNoo nneeeedd ttoo wwoorrrryy!! WWee wwiillll ppoosstt yyoouurr ppiiccss aannoonnyymmoouussllyy,, wwiitthh aass lliittttllee

iinnffoo aass yyoouu lliikkee.. YYoouurr sseeccrreett iiss ssaaffee wwiitthh uuss!!

AArree yyoouu wwoorrrriieedd bbyy sseennddiinngg iinn yyoouurr ppiicc ooff tthhaatt ttrroopphhyy bbuucckk oorr hhuuggee bbuullll mmoooossee,, wwiillll ggiivvee aawwaayy

yyoouurr sseeccrreett llooccaattiioonn?? NNoo nneeeedd ttoo wwoorrrryy!! WWee wwiillll ppoosstt yyoouurr ppiiccss aannoonnyymmoouussllyy,, wwiitthh aass lliittttllee

iinnffoo aass yyoouu lliikkee.. YYoouurr sseeccrreett iiss ssaaffee wwiitthh uuss!!

Trail Camera Picture of the Year is Dan Green from Lyme, NHRandom Winners - Thomas Flynn from Holderness, NH

and Mary Emery from Enfield, NHIt’s a Granite State Sweep!


Trail Camera Photo Contest

Alex Cote of Raymond New hampshire

Anonymous - Central, NH

Anonymous - Central Vermont

Anonymous - Central, NH

Anonymous - South Central, NH

Josh Allard - Haverhill, NH

Anonymous submission - South West, NH.

Anonymous - Conn. River Valley, NH

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Rob Burkhart - Central Vermont

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stand placements, and communicationstimes two! As with any close encounterhunting scent control is your number onepriority, when you take two humans intothe woods and place them shoulder-to-shoulder in a tree or blind the human scentfactor increases, decreasing your successratio! Keeping scent under control is a cru-cial part of filming success! We find treestands; good human odor control and set-ting up with proper wind direction are ourbest defense for filming. Then the issue ofdouble the movement comes into play andcommunication between shooter andcameraman. The cameraman has to be asstealthy as the shooter and the shooter hasto wait until the cameraman whispers, takehim! Double trouble occurs when theshooter takes the shot, before the camera-man gives the ok!

Filming the game that you harvest puts adouble edge sword into your hunting plans,but the rewards of capturing your huntingmemory on film for others to enjoy andyour family to enjoy for generations is the

Ultimate Hunting Challenge! Good luckhunting and filming your hunts!

Examples of our filmed hunts can beviewed for free by going to our sister web-site registration is free atwww.NewEnglandOutback.com. If youare a new or old, large or small film videoteam register on our website and then sendus a note requesting video uploading andwe’ll get you set up too!

I started filming hunts about ten yearsago, it was very unproductive in the firstthree or four years, mainly because I wouldstart off my season with good intentions tofilm my own hunts or my sons hunts, butafter the first set up of the day, the camerawould be left in the camera bag or at home,because it was hindering our success atbagging our intended game! Filming huntsrule number one, never leave home with-out a video camera!

About six years ago I developed a team

of pro-staff, (Maine Hunters.com) all guyswith an interest to film and produce videohunts here in New England, my goal as theleader has always been “do the best youcan with the time you have to invest in film-ing hunts” with that being said I will addthat my staff are all volunteer, they eachhave regular jobs and film strictly for thelove of being involved in a outdoor videoproduction adventure. I am very fortunateto have a team so willing to film so that wecan bring “real” New England hunting toyour TV sets, something that is ratherunusual here in New England. To furtherexplain New England hunting is not com-monly seen on the big name TV huntingchannels as a rule, because the sportingindustry that supports these TV shows areonly interested in what brings them themost viewers for their advertising dollar.Time and time again we have been told bylarger perspective sponsors, “ Film bigracked deer, hogs, sheep, etc., in westernstates like Ohio or Illinois and then we will

talk about sponsoring your hunting show!”Maybe some day the outdoor industrysponsors will wake up and realize that NewEngland hunters are some of the highestskilled hunters in the world and where wehunt and the conditions we hunt undercannot even be compared to cropland,funnel hunting of out west!

What we have learned is the mostimportant factor in filming a successfulhunt is video first and harvesting is a bonus,this is very hard to do when you work nineto five and only have Saturday and a cou-ple Holidays off from work. Most cameraguys are hunters and the drive to fill theirtags is quite overwhelming. Over the yearsour staff has become more devoted to thevideo first and harvest second theory, butstill a work in progress!

Filming your own hunt without a cam-eraman can be achieved and the bestmethod for decent footage is to treestand orground blind hunt, this helps to eliminateyour extra movement needed to film ananimal as it arrives into view.

When the animal arrives into view filmthe animal as it approaches your shootingarea and use this opportunity to zoom inon the animal full and then pan back away,look the situation over and film as long asyou can. As the animal approaches theshooting lane zoom out and try to time it sowhen you raise your bow or gun for theshot the animal will still be in the videoframe. After the shot is made return to thecamera and zooming into the animal asquickly as possible. In a perfect scenario thisworks great for self-filming a hunt! Not allsituations allow for pre-footage or move-ment from the camera to the weapon,often times you get busted by the gamemaking moves, this can cause you the har-vest! If it does, at least get the video! Othermethods like sitting against a tree or brush-ing yourself into the brush or blow downsusing a good quality tripod are also aneffective way of self-filming.

Filming a hunt with a cameramanequals double trouble in the woods! Twicethe movement, twice human odor, double

The ultimate hunting challenge

By Steve BeckwithBy Steve BeckwithThe Maine HunterThe Maine Hunter

Steve Beckwith is a Registered MaineGuide, ThermaCELL Pro Staff, andowns these owns these websites:• MaineGuideCourse.com• MaineHunters.com• CoyoteCrosshairs.com• MoosePermit.com• MaineGuidedHunts.comHe is a life member, editor and webmasterof the North Berwick Rod and Gun Club.A videographer, website designer and inter-net entrepreneur with his online portfoliolocated at MultitaskWebsites.com, Stevecan be reached through any of his websites.

Continued next page

Filming a hunt with a cameraman, equals double trouble in the woods!

I recommend an inexpensive monopod witha swivel head, I use black plastic wire tiesto secure the monopod to my stand, usuallyattached to the gun rest on my stand.


Pictures Gone WildPictures Gone WildOur reader submitted photosOur reader submitted photos

Kevin and Nick Campagna, Averill, 2012 Archery

Bobby House - The pic was taken by my uncle while we were hiking in VanderwhackerMountain Wild Forest.

This Moose was seen alongside the road in Jackman, Maine.

Vermonter Brad Lathrop w a 4pt 132 lb green mountain buck