Deer season opened Saturday Statewide for residents, and this morning it is open for nonresidents as well. This is in itself a complicated situation as the deer herd in Northern Maine is in terrible jeopardy. Due to over harvesting and bad forestry practices, severe winters and harsh predators the deer herd has taken a hard hit over the past years. The winters of 2007 and 2008 we had extremely heavy snowfalls with some areas reporting 218 inches of snow. Deer were not able to get out of their wintering yards, the few that are actually left, which made it an all out slaughter for the coyotes. We lost an estimated 40% of our deer herd in Northern Maine in one year. Wood harvesting practices in the area has been to cut and clear the woods for the local paper mills for decades. They replanted some areas, but with softwood, not hardwoods that originated on the lands. Therefore habitat was taken away and never replanted. Now, some say that the two legged predators have caused some havoc also, however I don't agree and will explain.
Yes many years ago, poachers were a problem. For many families if you had wild meat and a bag of potatoes you were eating. Then it became for some just a game and much was wasted. I don't agree with the second practice, however I always looked upon necessity to feed the family in a different light. It wasn't like those who were horn hunting and not caring if they utilized the kill. Those I enjoyed seeing caught and in Maine the penalty is quite severe as it should be. You lose you license to hunt, the vehicle you were poaching from, the firearm used as well as a nice fine and a couple days in jail. Deserving don't you think? However the thing is, I have seen an extreme drop in folks hunting altogether over the past years. We encounter less and fewer hunters in the woods each year. I don't hear the comments, brags or gossip of poachers as we did years ago either. Therefore the present dilemma of the deer herd then in my opinion is of less threat of a poacher as they are of a predator. The coyote was introduced to Maine in the 70s and was not a native of the State. Now their populations are out of control with many of the animals diseased and mangy. In the last 5-6 years we have encountered coyote with such severe mange that when we catch them in a trap we simply dispose of the animal. Just the other night Big E and I was driving home and had one run out in front of us with no hair; a very sick animal and a sorry sight.
Now like many States in this economy, our Inland Fisheries and Wildlife are in financial ruin with insufficient budgets. They basically have stated that it's up to us, the people, the hunters and trappers to take care of the situation that the whole mess has created. Therefore the creation of 3 conservation groups in 3 counties of Northern Maine: Arroostook, Penobscot and Washington Counties. These are grassroots organizations whose purpose and mission is to protect, preserve and promote habitat for the whitetail deer and control predation by organizing coyote contests. Might there be other predators other than coyote? Yes, but the coyote is the main problem and those of us who live and work in the woods are well aware of that fact. We don't see deer, we see and hear coyotes wherever we go. This brings me to another fact. Many folks will go for a ride a couple two, three times a month and say," wow, we haven't seen any game!" Well Big E and I are in the woods almost daily and I myself have only seen one deer this past summer. We are not seeing any game: rabbits, grouse which we were seeing, now nothing, deer, moose are also not as plentiful; however we are seeing coyotes! Not all are mangy, but when you can say that 2 out of 5 animals have mange, this is not a good sign of the condition of our wildlife population.
Personally, I feel that IF&W have failed the people of the State of Maine terribly. The only well managed animal seems to be the black bear. However I feel that folks like myself are to be given credit for that. I watch, study and manage the bears in my hunting areas. When we have a sow with cubs feeding on our bait sites, we continue to feed them, but do not place hunters on that site. We promote identifying between sows and boars, and we teach and present effective ways to judge a bears size and weight. This is one very huge benefit to hunting over bait; it gives the hunter the opportunity to be choosy. Of course the hunter has to listen to their guide!!!! Many guides are the same as myself, therefore along with what little management IF&W have done, this has shown great success with the highest black bear population in the eastern US. What I don't understand is that IF&W still spends more than it has, yet our wildlife is suffering, therefore what are they doing????? This stands to be answered and accounted for at some point!!
I tend to be quite upfront with folks when I get inquiries for deer hunting and yes, it is taking money out of my own pocket. However I truly believe it is my duty. Up front I tell them, don't bother, save your money as you will not be happy and you will most likely leave empty handed. It is not like the many television hunting shows where one gets to choose which buck they are going to take out of a dozen. You can sit in a treestand all season and never see a deer here. You can ride all season and never see a deer!!!!
A couple of years ago I set a treestand up on the edge of a field that used to have good deer sign. I was using an electronic deer call, rattling and the only old buck that came in was my neighbor Walter, who thought it all sounded wicked good!
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