No Outside Intervention Needed  #43

How many of you remember the slogan, “Maine, the way life should be.” I believe that was a saying the Maine Tourism Bureau used to attract people to enjoy our great state.  I am a Mainer through and through. I was born here, I was raised here and I chose to live here because of all the things available to me. Back when I was younger, I learned to hunt and fish and enjoyed every minute of it. I was taught at an early age to only take what you need and do not take any more. Obey the laws and understand that they are put in place for a reason. We also always heard, “preserve for others in years to come.”  I recall a Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife poster, that incidentally I still have, that shows a fisherman with a whole mess of fish and a young boy standing next to him saying, “Gee Mister, will there be any left for me?” As a sportsman, it is my responsibility to protect the resources for people in years to come. I always put my trust in people who assess our wildlife and determine the best way to make sure that the balance is appropriate. Maine employs a number of biologists and they are responsible to provide solid information and evidence as to how that can be done. Although, I don’t always agree with them, their track record has been pretty darn solid.

So, it really irks me when I hear that someone or some group, most often not even from Maine, is trying to tell us how we should do things. Some of these people come to Maine and have a huge capital backing from outside influences that have a set agenda and their job is to change our state to conform to their beliefs. You could say their theme is, “Maine, the way we think it should be.” They don’t listen to the biologists or the people in Maine that have been close to the ground on these issues, no sire re Bob, they just have an agenda and they don’t care to understand anything but what they believe is best for them.

In the coming months, I have no doubt that you will see a lot of information on the television, mail and newsprint supporting one of their causes.  Back in 2003, they did the same thing and the people of Maine saw through it and voted it down. I’m speaking about the Maine Black Bear and the attempt to stop the hunting of them. They will tell you that they support the humane hunting of these animals, but their definition of humane hunting will do little to help keep the population down. The Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department estimates that there are currently 30,000 bears in the Maine Woods. Hunting them like you hunt other animals will not help. Bears are elusive animals, and if you see a bear, it is for a very short period of time and they are usually on the run to get out of there. They have a very keen smell and know when you are around. When was the last time you were walking through the woods and saw a bear standing there looking at you? Or when was the last time you were driving down the road and saw a bear and it stood there while you got out and took photos. Although that does occasionally happen, I would submit that it does not happen frequently enough. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department maintains that if we do not keep the bear population in check, we will have what we call great unforeseen consequences. Bear will continue to populate and their need for food will drive them into populated communities. That, my friends is not good.

So, if you are asked to sign a petition to put the bear referendum back on the ballot this fall, think long and hard before you do so. If they are successful in getting their agenda passed, I am very concerned about what will come next. Will they move to stop hunting and fishing altogether? Will they take away the freedoms we have had in Maine forever?  Do you believe they know more about wildlife habitat and how best to protect that for future generations than the people who do it for a living? Ask yourself, have they ever spent any time in the woods themselves? Will they try to change the great Maine heritage and the way life has been for many years before them?

There is also one more part of this that deserves to be brought up. If you talk to many of the sporting camp owners, they will tell you that one of their best seasons, monetarily, is bear season. Although that season does not take a very big number of bears each year, it does help the economy and our sporting camp industry.

Let’s let Mainers that know about the woods and the animal population decide how best to keep the population in check and not out of state interests with deep pockets. Don’t succumb to the ads that will run because much of the content in those ads cannot be substantiated. They will try to play on your emotions and tell you that they know what is best for us Mainers.  Let’s tell them that we are Mainers and we know what is best for our state, and we don’t need any outside help, thank you. Let’s preserve the way Maine should be. I like it just the way it is, no outside help needed.

Here is a metric from the SAM website.

In the last ten years, the black bear population has increased by 67% to over 30,000 bears. Just last year nuisance bear complaints increased from 396 in 2011 to 828 in 2012.  To read the entire article, you can check out the Sportsmans Alliance of Maine website by going to: www.sportsmansallianceofmaine.org

Our Second Annual Fishing Trip  #42

I always look forward to this time of year when many of my friends come to Northern Maine and we spend three days in the North Maine Woods fishing. We are fortunate that two of the guys in the group have a camp that we use as our jumping off point.

Now, the cast of characters includes a guy from Minnesota, another from Pennsylvania and some from central and southern Maine. It is always good to have them here and to catch up on their stories from the year gone by.

To set the stage for this weekend, if you watch the Voice or listen to country music, you know who Blake Shelton is. Blake Shelton just happens to have a song out right now, and the lyrics just seem to fit and tell the story of our group once we get to camp. It starts like, “Well the boys round here, drinking that ice cold……. “Then if you don’t know the rest, it goes like this. “Chew tobacco, Chew tobacco, Chew tobacco, spit…. And there you have it. You should now have a mental picture in your mind of nine guys on a fishing trip.              

It’s one thing to find a weekend that we can all commit to. It’s another to find a weekend where the weather will cooperate. During this trip, the entire weekend was fraught with rain, heavy at times. I dare say that we must have gotten at least three inches in the three days. Did that hamper our fishing trip, heck no; we braved the rain and cold and fished from daylight until dark.  We hit a number of ponds in the area and did remarkably well with some of the trout measuring upward to 14”. We also walked down through the woods to a thoroughfare between two lakes, waded in and caught some salmon, which we released instantly. If you have never caught a salmon, you are in for a treat. Once you hook them, they jump right out of the water a number of times before you can get them reeled in and released. It is just good fun.

As always, we did have an educational component to our trip. Here are a few highlights of what we leaned.

    

Cameras do not float

Black bears can come out of nowhere and are faster than a speeding truck

Trees don’t move, even when a fly rod is pushing them

Beavers are not always man’s best friend. If you break their dam to get to a pond, they will come and rebuild

Ear plugs don’t always prevent the sounds of snoring. Especially when the snorer wears them

You should always put your rain gear on in a rain storm. It is no good in your fishing basket. HOWEVER, if you forget to wear it, it can serve as a set of dry clothes for the ride back to the camp.

Always have a backup power plan because generators are not invincible

When it comes to food, you cannot possible eat everything you think you should and do bring.

Float tubes are a valuable commodity to have. They do not go as fast as a canoe in the event of a lightning storm no matter how big the flippers or how hard you kick.

And as our trip came to a close, we were happy that we had all gotten together and we promised to do it again next year. I sensed a bit of sadness that it was over and we were again going our separate ways. The fishing had been great, the group time was excellent, and the stories told and new ones made will last until we do it again next year. To all of you on that trip, Roger, Mark, Scott, Corey, Doug, Matt, Jeff and Jon, thanks for another memorable weekend. Until next year.

One afternoon, we split up and a group of guys went to a certain pond. On the way to the pond they ran into a bunch of pesky beavers who had dammed up the road. The guys decided to teach the beavers a lesson, so they began breaking out the dam so the water would drop so they could go through to the pond. As they were doing that, they noticed that the beaver came out of his house to investigate. That darn beaver kept his eye on them the entire time they were there. Eventually, the guys dropped the water enough so they could drive through. When they were done fishing, they started up the road and came to the beaver dam. That beaver had dropped a tree over the area they had broken out. More than likely, he was not wasting any time in getting his house in order. Beavers are true engineering marvels. I remember watching an episode with TC called “North American Beaver” on Nat Geo. If you get a chance to watch it, it is definitely worth your time. We could take a lesson from them because, they never give up, no matter what they are facing.