Maine fishing

In June of 2014, I took a trip to the lakes region in Maine with my roommate Sully. His family has a camp on Keoka Lake. We fished Bear Lake and a few other nearby waters. Usually a fishing trip with Sully comes with historic bad luck, (capsized canoes, boats springing leaks, and scratched trucks.) Although I did fall into the water on one occasion while on this trip... I was testing my new kayak, the Nucanoe. I was standing on the kayak and while casting I stepped backwards, losing my balance and the rest is history, adding to Sully's entertainment. However this trip actually turned into a successful venture, landing several bass and a topping it off with a nice pickerel on the last day.

Spring Turkey 2014

Turkey hunt 2014, Rehoboth, MA

woodcock training 2014

Here's a little video of Piper and I doing some training during the spring woodcock migration in March of 2014. Piper was on point and I took my phone out to capture what a woodcock flush looks like up close.

Fall 2013

Fall 2013

Deer: During bow season had several encounters. Opening night I had what I believe was a doe followed a drag trail I had walked earlier that afternoon. It was at last light with minutes left of shooting time I rushed a 20 yard show with the deer quartering towards me. I found a blood trail but decided to back out and wait until morning, however was unable to locate it. The next night a large 8 pointer skirted me at 50 yards. I was unable to get a shot off and later spooked it as I was getting out of my tree, not a good feeling. After a few unsuccessful weeks I changed up my spot. One Saturday morning I sprayed my boots with buck bomb and walked to my stand. A decently sized five pointer walked in. He noticed me in the tree at approximately 10 yards away and started back the way he came. He stood broadside for just enough time, at 20 yards for me to get a shot off. He ran another 50-60 yards and then bedded down. He never left that spot. During shotgun I did not see much. On a drive my father shot a button buck.

Birds: Piper was in her second season and is fine tuning her skills and training. Shot a few pheasants and a couple woodcock. Did a trip up to Vermont in search of grouse. Saw a few flushes but was unable to hit one. For duck season I tried a spot on a river near my house using a boat a camo'd up. I spent a lot of time and a little money getting it ready. On the second day out the motor shit the bed and for the rest of the season I used an electric motor. Shot a female blue winged teal with Tyler Trott and a green head with Louie Dibacco.

Blue winged teal

After VT hunting trip (2 woodcock)

Piper and her pheasant

5 pointer

Dad and his bambi button buck

Monster rub

Made venison minced meat pie for Thanksgiving!

Coyotes became a bit of a problem this year

A look at the duck boat setup

Trail cam pic from the summer

Bored in a tree stand

Bow Hunting 2013

Bow Hunt 2013

Shaky video of me taking a 2.5 year old 5 pointer.

Spring Turkey 2013

Spring Turkey 2013

Spring '13 was successful to say the least. Opening day myself and first time turkey hunters the Trott brothers took three birds 10 minutes after sunrise. Birds were gobbling in the roost at dark. We snuck in on the tree line and planted two hens and my new fan decoy. Made a few soft yelps and then did a fly down cackle at sunrise. Birds flew right down after the cackle and when they saw the decoys they literally started running towards us. We had planned for a 1,2,3 BANG! but in all the excitement I left my safety on. Luckily the sight of his two wounded friends actually made him come back and I was able to take a shot. Three real nice birds. I shot the runt of the group at only 14 lbs, but the other two, (who had the same size spurs and beard, inch spurs, 9" beards) weighed in at 18 and 19 lbs respectively.

The second time I went out I pulled into my spot late. The sun was already up and as I exited my truck I heard gobbling from the next field over. I hurriedly gathered my things and made my way to the edge of the next field, crossed the brook to plant my decoys and jumped back across to sit at a tree. It was a little foggy out and the birds flew down towards the opposite side of the field. I made some calls and they responded but they sounded disinterested and started getting farther and farther away. I had the same decoy set up with the two hens and the fanned tom. I waited for 15 minutes or so not making any calls. When I started calling again I got them hammering back at me, so I shut up and waited. I saw two black bodies in the fog making their way through the brush. When they spotted the decoys one fanned out and the other followed. At full fan the front bird looked much bigger and I figured it was the dominant of the two so I aimed my bead for his head. At 20 yards away I took my shot and dropped him. I was 2 for 2 and was now out of tags.

I took one more venture out to the woods to try and help fill a tag for my buddy Lee Trott. We tried one spot unsuccessfully and decided to try a new spot I had never even scouted, but had just received permission from the landowner that week. As we pulled into the driveway there were a group of turkeys in the backyard. One large tom and three jakes. We tried to go around them but spooked them into the woods. I was able to call in the jakes but the tom stayed to the outside of view. Lee took a shot at one of the jakes but missed. We relocated and called another jake in but Lee was never able to get a shot off. So almost 3 for 3.

Not a bad opening day

Bird #2

19 lbs, 10 inch beard, small spurs

Bird #1, Overall a successful season

Deer Hunting 2012

    DEER! 2012

     Even though I thought I wouldn't be able to get up in a tree enough this year during bow season because of Piper and bird hunting, I actually spent quite a bit of time in the woods. With a few close calls and some frustration I had only wounded one small four pointer. He came out early, a couple hours before sunset and stepped out about 20 yards from me. He presented me with a clear 20 yard broad side shot. I whiffed the first shot, grazing his chest. He was unaware of what happened and gave me a second shot. I drew back and THWAP! Except he didn't take off, he merely strolled away, leaving me to believe I missed twice. When I got down from my stand I found my arrow. It had blood on the fletchings and the broad head but not the shaft. I found blood on the leaves, but after a couple hundred yards of tracking this dried up and left me with nothing to track.
    Opening morning of shotgun my dad came down to Rehoboth. With a lot of gun fire in the woods it was apparent the deer were moving. Four (4) does walked within 40 yards of my dad and he took the biggest one. He pushed the other three (3) towards me. With a shot at 60 yards I looked in my scope and took a couple shots. Again found blood but the trail ran cold quickly.
    On the third morning I was tired and did not feel like getting up. It was a cold dark morning and it had snowed lightly the night before. I got in my tree stand early. I watched a group of turkeys, that had roosted the night before, come down off their roost and fly into the field behind me. As I turned to look at the turkeys I locked eyes with a buck who had come in from behind me. Frozen, I remembered my uncle telling me to never look a deer in the eye or he would spook so I averted them to the sky, while keeping him in my peripherals. He went on grazing and I raised my gun. As I looked into the scope I realized I wasn't able to see due to the fact I had left my scope's protection caps on! I slowly removed them and realized the buck had stepped behind a group of trees. For a slight moment I thought he was going to turn and walk away. However early that morning I had sprayed from my stand some buck bomb, (doe estrus in a can). I noticed the buck lifted his nose and started walking right at me. At twenty (20) yards I pulled the trigger. He mule kicked and took off! I thought I was doomed to repeat another unsuccessful track. I took a second shot while he was at full sprint. I gave it an hour and came back to hair and blood all over the ground. The blood trail was much easier than the previous two I had that year. The ground looked like it had been the site of a massacre. I found my buck approximately 100 yards from my stand. He didn't go too far due to the fact that my second shot had nearly blasted his back leg off. Before I shot I knew I saw antlers and I thought between 4 - 6 points. When I got up to him and counted 8 I almost passed out. At that moment I remembered why I sat in a tree, in the cold, for countless hours. Why I spent so much money on licenses, gear, and time off from work. Shooting that 8 pointer was the culmination of a lot of time, money, effort, and sacrifice.
 

     Here are some of the photos from my trail camera I had out earlier this year. Disregard the date and times since I was too lazy to set them up correctly. The time was about 12 hours off. The last picture could possibly be the 8 point I shot. Either that or there is another decent buck in those woods... there's always black powder season!

Hard to tell if its the same deer or not, but this is a decent spread.

Dad's doe on the meat pole

Both deer in the truck

8 points, 3 1/2 year old, 135 lbs

Paradise

     For anyone who is looking for the motivation to get out and sit in a stand, just remember, like an old timer once told me, you won't shoot a deer unless you're in the woods. Get out there because the longer you sit, the greater your chances are. Just when you think you couldn't get any more frustrated with how things are going, within a matter of seconds everything can change. Never give up!