I've sung the praises of public access in Maine on this forum many times, including this week. This morning I got my come-uppance. Most of my early season hunting is on a ~20 acre pond that is across the street from my house and entirely contained in about 800 acres of conservation land owned by two land trusts. It's a 1/2 mile walk in there, and I have permission to keep a canoe at the end of the trail.
Most seasons, I have it to myself except for a handful of folks who like to hunt it during the early goose season. The only person other than my hunting partners I ever see in there is one of neighbors who only hunts ducks a couple of times per year. If one of use sees the other is there, we generally hunt together.
This morning I pulled in to two unfamiliar trucks. My initial hope that is was archery deer hunters was crushed by the camo-ed canoe on one truck and DU sticker on the other. I don't know if they've also got a stashed boat, or if they hauled one in, but they beat me to "my" island, and they got all the shooting this morning after I set up in the second best spot.
I don't really mind--it's public land and I take my chances--but it's been awful nice in the 10 years we've lived here to have a reliable "back yard" spot for woodies and a few blacks and mallards in the early season where I knew I could have a quiet morning by myself.
Other than the lack of ducks with any interest in my end of the pond, it was an awful nice morning. Sunrise lit up the red maples in the swamp and the birch and sugar maple on the ridge over the pond. Wildlife watching was excellent. I finally saw the family of otters that I knew were in the pond. In the past all I've seen is tracks and slides in the snow. There were at least three, and I swear I saw them try to put the sneak on a ringneck that was the only duck that landed any where near us this morning. The pair of loons has not migrated to the coast yet, and they did a nice job of protecting their surviving chick from the pair of eagles that were eyeing it hungrily. I saw my first real-life "murmuration" of swallows over the pond. (If you don't know what this, search for it on You-Tube.) Very cool, even if it is an invasive species.
When we landed the canoe after picking up, the dog jumped ashore and immediately flushed a bird out of the thick hemlocks above the landing. We figured it was a ruffed grouse, but it turned out to be a hen mallard that flew over both me and my partner low enough that either of us could have swatted it down if we'd still had the paddles in hand.
Sure enough, it flew down the trail, over the pond, and decoyed straight to the interlopers sitting in my spot, where one of them dropped it with a single shot.
Adding insult to injury, when I returned to the house about 9 am, my wife informed me that the flock of jake turkeys spent the whole morning in our yard. I'm not much of a turkey hunter, but I'd set my sights on bagging one of them for the meat and to chase the buggers out of my garden, where they're doing more damage than the deer.
Payback's a bitch!
Most seasons, I have it to myself except for a handful of folks who like to hunt it during the early goose season. The only person other than my hunting partners I ever see in there is one of neighbors who only hunts ducks a couple of times per year. If one of use sees the other is there, we generally hunt together.
This morning I pulled in to two unfamiliar trucks. My initial hope that is was archery deer hunters was crushed by the camo-ed canoe on one truck and DU sticker on the other. I don't know if they've also got a stashed boat, or if they hauled one in, but they beat me to "my" island, and they got all the shooting this morning after I set up in the second best spot.
I don't really mind--it's public land and I take my chances--but it's been awful nice in the 10 years we've lived here to have a reliable "back yard" spot for woodies and a few blacks and mallards in the early season where I knew I could have a quiet morning by myself.
Other than the lack of ducks with any interest in my end of the pond, it was an awful nice morning. Sunrise lit up the red maples in the swamp and the birch and sugar maple on the ridge over the pond. Wildlife watching was excellent. I finally saw the family of otters that I knew were in the pond. In the past all I've seen is tracks and slides in the snow. There were at least three, and I swear I saw them try to put the sneak on a ringneck that was the only duck that landed any where near us this morning. The pair of loons has not migrated to the coast yet, and they did a nice job of protecting their surviving chick from the pair of eagles that were eyeing it hungrily. I saw my first real-life "murmuration" of swallows over the pond. (If you don't know what this, search for it on You-Tube.) Very cool, even if it is an invasive species.
When we landed the canoe after picking up, the dog jumped ashore and immediately flushed a bird out of the thick hemlocks above the landing. We figured it was a ruffed grouse, but it turned out to be a hen mallard that flew over both me and my partner low enough that either of us could have swatted it down if we'd still had the paddles in hand.
Sure enough, it flew down the trail, over the pond, and decoyed straight to the interlopers sitting in my spot, where one of them dropped it with a single shot.
Adding insult to injury, when I returned to the house about 9 am, my wife informed me that the flock of jake turkeys spent the whole morning in our yard. I'm not much of a turkey hunter, but I'd set my sights on bagging one of them for the meat and to chase the buggers out of my garden, where they're doing more damage than the deer.
Payback's a bitch!