Maine Outdoor Report For October 23, 2007

Region A- Southwestern Maine

Region A is on the southern extreme of the moose hunting zone with several towns in Wildlife Management District (WMD) 12 within the region. The two moose registration stations tagged a total of 14 moose; a small increase over last year. WMD 15, stretching from Lovell down to Newfield, is scheduled to open to moose hunting in 2008 with a conservative allocation of 35 permits. This WMD will deviate from the rest of the zone in that moose hunting will coincide with the November deer hunt. Though this WMD does not have vast acreage of industrial forest, there are many sparsely settled towns with mixed agricultural land and meadows interspersed with large blocks of managed forest.

The fall turkey season continues in WMDs 21, 22 and 23 until Friday with archery only. The first fall shotgun season on Turkey ended this past week. A look at the registration stations in the region indicates many hunters have taken advantage of this new hunting opportunity. Hens and toms are usually in separate flocks this time of year. Hunting with a shotgun in the fall will usually require breaking up the flock and targeting a bird as they reassemble. Just as in the spring, fall turkey hunting is limited to one bird, though that bird may be a hen or a tom.

I recently spent a day on the Libby River within Scarborough Marsh. This is a site being considered for future restoration work as part of a collaborative effort of MDIF&W, USF&WS, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Duck’s Unlimited and Friends of Scarborough Marsh. During the site visit we evaluated the extent of man-made ditches from the early 1900’s and noted any occurrences of Phragmites australis, a prolific invasive plant that can have a negative impact on native marsh plants and wildlife. A local field researcher from Cornell University is investigating the potential use of biological control using insects rather than herbicides in the management of phragmites. During this rainy Friday on the lower Libby, we observed dozens of ducks in the pannes and creeks of this vast wetland. There were blacks, mallards and teal taking to wing.

On the wildlife management areas, regional staff followed up on a couple ATV/Snowmobile access issues. Use of the management areas for these purposes must occur on designated trails only. We also met with our forester at Morgan Meadow WMA in Raymond where we evaluated timber stands proposed for harvest in the near future. Management on these properties is done using the best forest management practices with much consideration given to improving stand quality and wildlife habitat.

-Scott Lindsay, Regional Wildlife Biologist

Region B - Central Maine

This time of year biologists spend a lot of time looking at deer and moose and giving our thoughts on the age and weight of the animal. Quite often we are asked to compare the harvested animal with others we have seen either this season or in previous ones. At the same time we hear of the hunter’s pasts successes and failures. It is a familiar routine that is predictable but enjoyable as we share our observations of our time in the outdoors.

Lately we have been challenged at guessing the weight of something different. At the same time we are on a pace for a record of our own. Unfortunately the weight and the record are not of a fabulous trophy, but a new scourge that threatens Maine’s tradition of open access to the outdoors. So far this year on Region B Wildlife Management Areas we have cleaned up 33,360 pounds of trash; 3,560 pounds of lumber; and 5,080 pounds of tires. This has cost several thousand dollars to dispose of properly. In fact, this year’s trash pick up will become the second ranked management activity, in terms of expenditures carried out in this Region.

Recently we spent 2 days with 3 people, 2 trucks, a 40 yard dumpster and an excavator cleaning up demolition debris dumped on IF&W land. What does this mean to you the user of IF&W lands? First, we have to protect certain areas that are hot spots for dumping by eliminating vehicle access. Second, we are spending a significant portion of the Regional budget in terms of time and money to handle this problem. This limits the amount of money and time available to do legitimate wildlife management of the 4-legged or winged kind. This has been a problem for IF&W, municipalities and a significant number of private landowners for years. Illegal dumping has reached epidemic proportions. Over the past summer Maine Warden Service summonsed three individuals for illegal dumping on IF&W lands. In these three cases it turned out to be individuals working for contractors who took the money they were paid to properly dispose of the materials, pocketed the money and dumped the trash down the nearest woods road. Part of their punishment was to clean up the trash they had dumped. Unfortunately, within less than two weeks someone else had refilled the site. This time it was obviously homeowners who had gotten new furniture and appliances and decided to dump their old ones on our site.

Equally disturbing is the fact that many of the materials illegally dumped can be recycled if taken to a well-run transfer station or landfill. Here in the Augusta area we use the Hatch Hill facility run by the City of Augusta. When these tires, shingles, and boards are disposed of properly and recycled they save landfill space and can be turned into beneficial products. Also, the rates for disposing of boards, shingles, and metal that can be recycled are lower than stuff that has to be placed in the landfill.

Here are a few suggestions for those who appreciate the outdoors. First, dispose of your own materials properly after researching all of the ways you can recycle some of these items. You can also work with a responsible company like Riverside Disposal who worked with us on special projects like the last one. Second, when you hire someone to work for you doing a building project or hauling off trash, make sure they have a legitimate place and method of disposing waste materials. On my many trips to Hatch Hill, I see many contractors who have permits and are busy recycling materials from job sites. Superior workmanship, materials, and proper job cleanup all have costs that pay off in the long run. Remember to take these facts into account when hiring someone. Also, when you see someone dumping illegally, or headed in to the woods with a truckload of trash, take note and report it. Lastly, if you use someone else’s land for recreating, after securing permission of course, pick up that tire or bag of trash you might find dumped illegally on the roadside. The opportunity for open public access you save may be your own.

-James M. Conolly, Regional Wildlife Biologist

Region C - Downeast

Probably most of us have been subjected to a spell or two of daydreaming; letting ones mind wander and visualizing other places, other times, and other things. Perhaps you are one that truly admires the craftsmanship that goes into manufacturing the classic upland bird gun. You might just find yourself daydreaming about all the various options available to you should all the obstacles, realities, and “buts” in your life disappear. First, you would have to decide on style (probably a classic two barreled firearm). Then you would consider your personal preference of a stacked barrel (over and under) versus a side by side. Another internal deliberation would be the choice of gauge. The options then become even more involved; barrel length for example, as well as preferred chokes and choke types … whether fixed or screw-in tubes. Or, if you are truly a purist, a second set of barrels would be the ultimate classic (and costly) approach. Under the barrels you have a choice: splinter forend or beavertail … two variables that depend on your hand size and arm length. And then there is the trigger. Consider the classic double trigger, or a single selective, or perhaps a single non-selective trigger. Moving to the rear half of the gun, stock length and grip style … whether pistol or straight English style. Also consider checkering and the number of lines per inch. At the very end of the stock is the buttplate, and whether your preference would lean towards hard rubber, recoil pad or just a plain grooved. It almost goes without saying that for the wood, you want the best burly walnut, deep Prussian rust bluing on the barrels and fire bright case hardening on the frame. You can really get lost in debating on whether the frame is engraved with a portrait of your best dog, your favorite quarry, or some idealistic wildlife scene. And of course, one might consider a fitted case for your prize, including the typical English cased accessories of a brass oil bottle, ivory handled screw driver, etc.

You are convinced that this weapon should be nicknamed the “exterminator” because you would never miss with this custom designed masterpiece. But for just an instant, you check yourself … remembering the days long ago of shooting trap … when the kid nearly shot a perfect round with an old single barrel with such vivid credentials as armory steel and a choke-bored barrel. The real icing on the gun was the half roll of electrical tape; part of which was wound around the tang to tighten up the buttstock and the rest wrapped around the forend to hold it in place as the screw had long since been stripped. Also, too was the hatchet-fitted butt plate made in desperation out of a flooring tile. The bluing and varnish finish had long disappeared since your parents were in high school.

Then you hear a familiar voice … your daughter has just come out of the orthodontist office with those memorable words, “I need braces.” Those fantasy visions of the perfectly crafted bird gun flush away as you open your check book. Maybe another year you think.

-James Hall, Assistant Regional Wildlife Biologist

Region D - Western Mountains

Several experiences over the past week reminded me that both people and wildlife alike are busy getting ready for winter. At home I’ve been working steady to get a garage and breezeway sided and shingled before the snow flies. Next on the list is to gather up a load of firewood from my woodlot for my brother.

Two calls were received this week relative to recent beaver activity causing road problems and access to camps and agricultural fields. Every year we see a spike in this activity as beaver work overtime to impound water, to access and store more food for the coming winter months. Beaver are active all winter but remain in their lodges or swimming under the ice to access the feed piles they created in the summer and fall. Unfortunately, these nuisance activities coincide when biologists and wardens are very busy with the start of several hunting and trapping seasons.

I had my own mini nuisance wildlife problem this weekend while I was putting cedar clapboards on a new garage. While on a ladder, thousands of ladybugs swarmed around me, getting in my hair, ears, and behind my glasses. I vaguely recalled from Entomology 101 that they were predatory so I couldn’t understand why they were so interested in the very wall that I was trying to clapboard. So I called an expert.

Charlene Donahue is an entomologist with the Maine Forest Service. I could tell right off that mine was not nearly the first ladybug call she has handled lately. According to Charlene, these are an exotic (not native) insect, introduced to the southern United States decades ago in order to eat insect pests that attacked pecan trees and other crops. The accurate name for this insect is the Asian Multicolored Lady Beetle. They are predatory, feeding heavily on aphids and scale insects. Though some were released in Maine in the early 1970s, Charlene believes they made their way to Maine from the first introduction down south. In Asia these beetles huddle together in great numbers on cliff faces in order to stay warm. In Maine, large, light colored walls provide the same shelter values as cliffs. Apparently my tall garage wall was just right. Ironically, if they go inside homes, the warmth speeds up their metabolism to the point where they consume their bodily food reserves and die.

So like I, beavers and many other wildlife species, these also are busy times for “ladybugs” in preparing for another cold and snowy winter.

- Chuck Hulsey, Regional Wildlife Biologist

Region E - Moosehead Region

Last spring I was out harvesting moose lungs again, this time on Toe-of-the -Boot. Say what? In recent years quite a few young moose have died of heavy tick infestations and/or lung worms, which is a rather new and very important development for moose “managers.” Those moose are generally approaching age 1. Bigger moose are much better able to handle tick loads. The speculation is that the tick populations grew following the build up of the moose population. If recruitment into the population of older animals is down, “allowable harvest,” as a percentage of the population at large, may be changing downward.

We need to investigate, but how? It is nigh impossible to get good information on the magnitude of this loss. And we aren’t sure whether the loss is constant or periodic. These moose tend to die in late winter when not many people are in the woods to notice and when getting around is difficult due to rutted and/or soft roads, high water, and patchy snow cover. Aerial composition counts which could be compared to herd composition counts done in the 80s are out because yearlings aren’t too readily distinguished from older animals. What to do?

NH has taken the approach of radio-equipping calf moose & monitoring their survival. Preliminary results don’t look good for the moose. We could follow suit except for the expense. And even then, it is doubtful sample size would be sufficiently large to be sure the rates obtained are representative. The only practical answer appears to be to follow trend information such as hunter success rates, reported sighting rates, incidence of road kill, and possibly age structure of the harvest.

We are roughly quantifying the degree of hair loss (Moose try to scrape off the ticks), and examining lungs to check for necrosis, i.e. lung capacity lost due to lung worms. It isn’t bad once you get past the flies & ticks. You lift the front leg, skin out the front of the thorax, snip a few ribs, and the lungs are right there. I think I’ll put in for a Tyvex suit. Fortunately, I remembered to bring along a bar of soap & a towel. Before I arrived the warden had passed a metal detector over the moose. I think the most plausible cause is that maybe that moose was trying to live in habitat which had gone by, which could mean this isn’t happening everywhere.

- Bill Noble, Assistant Regional Wildlife Biologist

Region F, Penobscot Region

The fall turkey season appears to be quite a success, at least in the portion of the turkey hunting zone that falls within Region F (eastern part of WMD 17). Turkey registration stations in East Corinth, Old Town, and Milo tagged 36, 11, and 14 birds respectively. These numbers include birds taken in the first fall shotgun season and turkeys taken by bow and arrow.

Waterfowl hunting in the area continues to be productive. While duck numbers do not seem to be bolstered by incoming migrants, migrating geese are starting to come through the area. It’s a very unpredictable situation though; one morning you may observe hundreds of birds, and the next day it seems as if only a couple of flocks are in the area. The key is to keep scouting and when birds are in your area - take advantage of it!

A couple of friends of mine came up from Pensylvania to do some upland bird and waterfowl hunting. The grouse hunting was very good. We hunted reverting farmland in the central and northern parts of the Region and were not disappointed. Most areas yielded 5-6 flushes on grouse, but some areas provided upwards of 15 flushes. The woodcock hunting in the central part of the Region was also very good. I believe we were still hunting mostly resident birds, but this is usually the time of year that the migrants will be making their way through the area. If you have ever gotten into a “flight” of woodcock, you’ll know what I mean when I say the action can be fast and furious!

Good reports are coming in about the Youth Deer Hunting Day. One party reported seeing 15 deer in the southern portion of the Region on Saturday. In my travels on Saturday, I observed several successful hunters with their deer in the back of the pick-up. The youth deer hunt is a great way to initiate young people to the required skills, excitement, and the experience of hunting. It is also a great chance to impart to them the importance of safety and ethics of the sport.

Deer hunters should be optimistic after the encouraging reports from the youth day hunt. Although last year’s winter ended up slightly on the severe side for deer, which resulted in a reduction of Any-Deer permits in some WMDs in the Region, hunters should still have plenty of opportunities to pursue their quarry. Remember: get landowner permission, do some scouting, and make sure that your weapon is working properly.

Have an enjoyable, safe and hopefully successful deer hunting season!

-Allen Starr, Regional Wildlife Biologist

Region G - Aroostook County

Saturday, October 20, was youth deer hunting day. It provided a great opportunity for Regional Biologists to interact and talk with hunters as well as collect deer biological information on northern Maine’s deer herd. This special deer hunt for junior hunting license holders (ages 10-15 years) is very popular in Aroostook County and we see a lot of young hunters taking advantage of this hunting opportunity.

Northern Maine had unusually warm temperatures with very heavy rain and wind last Saturday morning . Generally, this is not the best of deer hunting conditions, but many hunters did report seeing deer, and a few youth hunters were successful in tagging one. I checked a couple of nice bucks at Northstar Variety in New Sweden, the largest a 9 pointer weighing 148 pounds field dressed. Regardless of the outcome, everyone seemed to be enjoying this hunting opportunity and the commaraderie of being outdoors together. Certainly, a successful deer hunt shouldn’t be measured solely on whether a deer is harvested, but as a great opportunity to get out with young hunters and educate them on hunting safety, outdoor skills, hunting laws and etiquette. Most importantly, this is a chance to spend some valuable time with a young relative or friend.

Hunters are now reporting fewer bear sightings. We still have a high bear population in northern Maine but because fall bear foods, particularly beechnuts, are not abundant, bears have started to den early. Because of this behavior November deer hunters will have very few opportunities to harvest a bear.

The warm weather this fall seems to have delayed some of the fall flights for migratory waterfowl. I’m still seeing many wood ducks along the Aroostook River which is late in the season for this early migratory duck. I was also on Hodgdon Mill Pond within the Lt. Gordon Manuel Wildlife Management Area last week and observed numerous flocks of waterfowl, the most common species being black ducks and mallards. When it comes to waterfowl hunting in northern Maine there are lots of places to go and generally very light hunting pressure.

-Arlen Lovewell, Assistant Regional Wildlife Biologist

Posted by Tom Remington