Late last week, I decided a trip to the woods was in order. I loaded up the truck, set course for my hunting grounds in Otis, and began planning my afternoon hunt in a place where I’d had little luck.
I never did have any luck that day – at least not when it comes to finding a deer of my own. But I did end up with a couple of hunting stories to share. And since that’s the business I’m in, the day qualifies as a success, even without any venison in the freezer.
My first stop was at The Hunting Lodge in Holden, a new shop that’s conveniently located on the road to my hunting grounds. I bought some buck lure and chatted with the owner, Todd Rogers, about his new business (going well, he said) and his hunting.
I expected for a gloomy story from Rogers, who is working hard, six days a week, to get his new enterprise off on the right foot. I figured with that kind of schedule, I’d learn that he hadn’t had the chance to spend much time in the woods.
I was right – Rogers hadn’t been able to hunt that much. But I was wrong – he wasn’t gloomy at all.
It turns out that both Rogers and his son, T.J., were able to get out together one day. And that’s all it took for both to fill their tags. Not a bad effort, and more proof (as if I needed any) that the people who know what they’re doing succeed a lot more often than the rest of us do.
Encouraged after hearing Rogers’ tale, I hopped back onto Route 1A, bound for Otis. I got as far as Holden before I noticed a truck on my rear bumper, headlights flashing. At the traffic light in downtown Holden, the driver pulled up beside me, pointed into the bed of his pickup, and signaled me to pull over.
I looked … saw big antlers … smelled a story … And did as he asked.
I know the driver, Free Martin, and have shared some of his stories in these pages. It turns out that earlier that day – the first that he’d been able to get out in the woods – had paid off. First, a doe and a fawn crossed in front of him. Second, he heard two bucks fighting, antlers rattling. Then, one of those bucks stepped out in front of him. It was a handsome 6-pointer that weighed 185 pounds. Martin’s season – like Rogers’ – ended on the day it began.
In a follow-up e-mail, Martin explained that while he has enjoyed some good hunting luck in recent years, this year’s deer stood out.
“It has been awhile since I got one that wasn’t a spikehorn,” Martin wrote. “I must say, though, after my girlfriend, Heidi, my mom and I were halfway through dragging the deer out of the woods, those old spikehorns looked pretty good. I quickly remembered that there is a massive difference in dragging a 190-pound deer vs. A 120-pound one. I guess I forgot that, not that it would have changed my decision to fire. It’s either that or I’m just getting old.”
Martin and I had spoken for just a few minutes, but it didn’t take long to draw a crowd: Two young hunters pulled in behind us, eager to hear Martin’s story.
“When the excitement settled and I could relive the day, it occurred to me that to be in the woods only 20 minutes on what to me was opening day, to see three deer, hear two bucks fighting and be lucky enough to take one, was really special,” Martin wrote.
“That doesn’t happen every day, to me anyway. I know in past years I have spent every morning and every afternoon waiting, searching, and at times battling the elements looking to fill my tag only to have it happen on the last day, or not at all. I bet that happens to a lot of Mainers.”
I bet it does, too. And on this blustery Thursday (if, that is, the meteorologists are right), I figured a couple stories like this might convince the rest of us to keep on trying.
Record rainbow caught
Maine anglers have made quite a run on the record books in recent years and a Starks man knocked off an-other state mark on Oct. 31 while fishing the Kennebec River in Solon.
Anders Olafson landed a record rainbow trout that weighed in at 8.42 pounds on a certified scale at the Solon Superette.
Olafson’s fish smashed the old record, which stood for less than two years; Michael Thebarge caught a seven-pound rainbow in Lake George on Feb. 6, 2009.
Maine’s state fishing records are jointly released by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife and The Maine Sportsman newspaper, which compiles those records.
While many of the state’s waters are closed to keeping fish during October, the section of the Kennebec River where Olafson was fishing was open. Olafson caught the record rainbow on the last day of the season.
Tracking a big deer
Coming up on Saturday, I’ll tell you more about a deer that a local teen shot. As of press time today, I’m still tracking detail, but trust me when I tell you that you’ll want to see this deer.
A trapper who contacted me earlier this week saw the deer and said it sported the most enormous rack he’d ever seen … and this trapper has spent more than a half century in the woods.
I’d tell you how big the rack is, but the truth is, even after looking at photos, I can’t tell. I even took my shoes off so I could count with both my fingers and my toes. All I can tell you is that this deer sported a monstrous non-typical set of antlers, the kind you’d expect to see in the pages of a national deer-hunting magazine.
Stay tuned.
Sportsman’s supper on tap
If you’re looking for a fun night out, you might want to mark Dec. 9 on your calendar: That’s the date of the 49th annual Maine Air National Guard sportsman’s supper.
The event has been a huge hit over the years and this year’s supper will feature guest speakers and live music by Original Condition.
A social hour will begin at 6 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7 p.m. The dinner will be held at the Horizon Inn (Building 417). On the menu for this year’s event: A steak dinner with all the fixings.
To purchase tickets, call Brian Fletcher at 990-7030, Joe Smith at 990-7253, Erika Lenfest at 990-7244 or Maranda Thompson at 990-7436.
