Another Year Comes to a Close #30

There are only a handful of times during the year that I can say I really do not look forward to. The first snowstorm that blankets the ground and makes everything slippery is one. When the cold finally sets in and you have to go from the medium thickness jacket to the full all-out assault on cold thickness jacket would be the second. When you get to the North Maine Woods checkpoints and find them all boarded up and abandoned for the year, (November 23^rd this year) is another.  But the one thing that really bothers me the most is when I have to clean the rifle, and put the shells and hunting clothes up for the season. That means that we have gone through a full year of fishing and hunting and all that is left is snow and cold for the next five months. Now, I do spend time skiing, which helps pass the time, but my mind is really continually calculating the remaining time until I can see bare ground, warmer temperatures and the emergence of my fishing pole. That means that I have successfully weathered another winter and it is time to get out there and go back to what I love the most, the outdoors.

It has been a great year overall. I have done as much fishing as humanly possible and have spent as much time in the woods hunting both birds and deer as I could. I have ventured into new ponds, scouted new roads and made new friends. TC and I have spent a lot of time together and she has really begun to enjoy being out there with a fly rod, and this year getting to know a shotgun. We have been fortunate to have another great crop of partridge this year, and I am extremely impressed and pleased at the amount of sign I saw while hunting deer. One such adventure we had this year while deer hunting in the North Maine Woods was when TC and I left the truck and were walking into a chopping that had been regenerated with small firs. About two hundred yards into the chop, I noticed two deer standing about 125 yards down from us. One deer was looking our way and the other was looking in the opposite direction. I pulled up the rifle, scoped the deer and found them to be both does.  I dropped the rifle and continued to look at them, but what I did not see was the deer behind them and the deer to the right of them just into the woods a bit. TC saw the deer in the back take off running, but was not sure what it was. Then all of a sudden the deer on the right spun around and jumped off into the woods taking the two does with it. I only saw the back end, but from what I saw, it had to have been a buck. With the lack of snow, it was impossible to follow them and in no time, they were nowhere to be found.  They are such an amazing animal when you see them bounding over whatever is in their way.

Now, I don’t want you to think that everything is over, because it is not. There is something called Muzzle loading season where you have an extra week here in Northern Maine to hunt with a black powder rifle, and I have one of those contraptions. I do plan to get out a day or so and revisit the areas that had such promise during the regular firearms season.  At this juncture, I don’t care if I see a deer or not, just being able to get out and enjoy what this area has to offer is enough for me.  And after this week is over and I put away all of my hunting gear, I can unequivocally say that it was a great year, and I did most everything TC and I had set out to do. And as the sun sets this coming Saturday and the entire hunting season fades away, I have no regrets. After Christmas, I will pull out the fly tying vice and material and add to my inventory for the coming year, all be it with one eye to the ground waiting for the weather to warm up, the snow to be gone, and the ice to go out on the water. That will be my cue to pull out the fishing gear and start a new season.