Between Moose

Wow! The last time I posted a journal entry was back in October…Let’s see where we left off…the October moose hunt had just ended…

After a night off watching football and eating grouse pizza (pizza crust topped with barbecue sauce, cheese, cubed grouse breasts, mushrooms, green peppers, black olives, and onions) we were back out on the 21st scouting moose for our November moose hunters. We packed a lunch and loaded the dogs and shotguns in to the truck for a day of scouting and bird hunting. We found moose and a shot limit of grouse then on our drive out of the woods we watched three little bears stumble across Wallagrass Tote Road in the dark. Momma bear stayed hidden on one side of the road while the confused little cubs peeked at us from the undergrowth on the other side of the road. We enjoyed them for a moment and bid them good night.

I made a trip south on the 22nd to attend a Non-Resident Hunter Task Force meeting in Augusta on the 23rd. Spent the night with mom and dad and took a walk down to Grandpa Armand’s house. After Grandpa’s passing a few years ago, my parents rented out his house then decided to sell it. This was my last visit to the little cottage turned home on Great Island. Dad gave me a crate of grandpa’s old whistler decoys and his generator, some axes, and a pair of snowshoes. I left Grandpa’s house with a heavy heart and headed to the meeting in Augusta, then back up the long road home.

Wayne and were back out scouting and bird hunting on the 24th…found more moose – one very large trophy bull, and came home with another limit of birds. That night a red “curtain” of color lit the northern sky. We enjoyed the spectacle with a beer then got to work cleaning our dinner so Wayne could prepare garlic grouse in a white sauce over pasta. Bob Fee and his griffon “Pokey” also came in with a limit of grouse. It has been a tremendous season for bird hunters in northern Maine!

On the 27th we woke to a hard frost – a welcome sight after such a mild fall. I drove over to the Nordic Heritage Center for an Aroostook County Tourism meeting and marveled at the dry grasses and stoic firs frosted in white and illuminated by the rising sun. We sighted in our deer rifles on the 28th and they were spot on! Opening day on the 29th and out to our favorite “secret deer hunting grounds”. Wayne saw two does and a buck in the thick firs but had no opportunity to shoot. I sat in my tree stand enjoying an abundance of grouse all around me but no deer.

We woke to 2” of tracking snow on the 30th but since it was Sunday and we couldn’t hunt, we scouted…moose. Watched a cow moose amble along, then a nice, 50” or better bull came along soon after she’d disappeared in to the woods.

Wayne pulled our boat and the docks on November 1st then we headed out for an afternoon deer hunt. While reaching for my camo jacket I almost missed seeing a red shrew clinging to the front of it! It blended in perfectly with the camo. I snapped some pictures then tried to scoop it off the jacket when it leaped from my grasp – I understood why it prefers living indoors as temperatures fall outdoors. Darkness comes early and as happens each fall, we find it hard to adjust. It seems I lose my motivation as the sun sets, yet just a few months ago we didn’t even think about ending the day or eating dinner until 8:00 p.m. or later. We enjoyed another mild day on the 3rd – a perfect day for raking leaves. Before tackling that project I started a bear stew in the crock pot so it could simmer all day and be ready for dinner when we were. While I raked, I thought about how all those crisp russet leaves had not long ago delighted us with a hint of color after a long winter then grew to shade us in a deep green embrace all summer – they’d watched us and our guests for months and now lay sleepily on the ground. Waves of geese flew by every morning and evening, the flock gowing with each pass, from five birds, to 18, 20, 45, and 60…they’re flocking up to fly south when our waters start to freeze over. We got a few more days of scouting in before our moose hunters began arriving on the 6th. Our favorite deer hunting family – the Bomabaras: Vinny, John, Sal, and Matt arrived on the 5th. We enjoyed a relaxing lasagna dinner and evening of catching up on the past year.