Outdoors
The BDN outdoors section brings readers into the woods, waters and wild places of Maine. It features stories on hunting, fishing, wildlife, conservation and recreation, told by people who live these experiences. This section emphasizes hands-on knowledge, field reports, issues, trends and the traditions that define life outside in Maine. Read more Outdoors stories here.
Opening day for turkey season is coming up. Youth day is Friday and Saturday, and the general season opens May 4.
Emilie Cram will be out this season with her toddler Alice. It’s her second year bringing her daughter along.
She and her husband are keeping expectations low.
“We’ll see how it all goes. Maybe we’ll be all together, maybe we’ll split up. But I know she’s going to be excited to see those big ‘birds’ — or ‘gobble gobbles.’”
Going anywhere with a toddler takes planning. Planning for a turkey hunt is next level.
How do you keep a toddler quiet when you’re trying to get a tom into range?
Snacks. All of them.
This video shows what goes into Cram’s hunt plan: snacks, layers, rain covers, butt pads, a first-aid kit, a book and a turkey call.
“I’m sure we’re going to look like quite a scene,” she said. “But we’ll see how it goes and adjust as we need to.”
Last year, Alice came along for her first hunt. It didn’t exactly go quietly.
Cram said a gobbling tom worked back toward a simple decoy setup after a hen initially pulled him away.
It involved a quick handoff of Alice to her husband, a squeeze smoothie to keep her occupied and Cram calling over her “squawks” as she wasn’t staying quiet.
Despite the noise, the bird committed.
“I didn’t get to enjoy the tom’s show as much as I usually do,” she said. “But we both acknowledged how pretty he was, strutting into the decoys.”