Her Mainely Girl Adventures: The Curse of the Sunday Buck

By Staci Warren

I have been hunting for 16 years now, and although I’ve gotten my Grand Slam, I still don’t have a Big Buck Club patch. In fact, I’ve never harvested a deer bigger than 8 points. As many hunters do, I dream about shooting a big buck, but I’ve yet to figure out the secret to being at the right place at the right time. I scout. I hunt the wind. I try to be scent-free. I use buck lure and calls and try to be as quiet as possible. And when that doesn’t produce, I change it up by not using any call or lure at all. I hunt every morning and afternoon that my schedule allows, including sitting in the rain.

Staci Warren took a photo of this buck that she observed in 
Maine on a Sunday when hunting was not permitted during
deer season last fall. PHOTO BY STACI WARREN

I watch deer all season but the last three years, deer seemed to disappear as soon as rifle season started. The rut season seemed almost non-existent, with a handful of does moving early mornings and evenings.

Last year, three smaller bucks sporadically showed up on my cameras. I really thought there were no big bucks where I was hunting. With no intention on shooting a little buck, I started calling the curled spikehorn, Loki, and the young buck with a tall-webbed antler, Crab Claw. I had not seen Big Guy, the ten-point buck that had been in area for the last three years, until September and then I didn’t see him again all season. After seeing more big bucks than ever, tagged at the nearby store and posted on Facebook, I assumed Big Guy was one of them.

Prior to the season, I had moved stands. I moved cameras so that deer wouldn’t try to avoid them. Then once the season started, I bow-hunted and then rifle-hunted moving to different spots miles apart when I felt like I was over-hunting a spot. It didn’t seem to matter. All I ever saw were a few does, and spikehorn bucks.

Then came the first Sunday sighting. My husband, John, was checking his beaver traps. On his way back he spotted a big buck just staring at him. All he could do was watch him walk away. No rifle as it was Sunday.

The second Sunday buck arrived right after a rainstorm. A big eight-pointer with no brow tines showed for one day, during prime morning shooting hours when I would be sitting in my stand had it not been Sunday. He was a monster, and it was the first and last time I saw him on my camera.

Two weeks later, a small buck showed up 6:40 a.m. – when I’d be sitting in my stand had it not been Sunday. It ate acorns for a good half hour. That same morning, a big wide ten-point buck had strolled right by my stand at 6:04 a.m., before legal shooting hours.

Rifle season ended with no deer. I purchased a muzzleloader permit and spent the next two weeks chasing the dream of a big buck. Every time a buck showed up, I would be so excited that when the alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. it was like the first day of hunting season all over again.

The next Sunday a buck chasing a doe filled my camera, which was also the first real rut action I had seen all season. I continued to see deer on my camera, but now they were strictly night images.

My season ended with seeing eight doe, two spikehorns, and a tall eight-pointer that I saw from my four- wheeler while checking traps. And of course, the bucks came back for a show once the season ended…on Sunday and every day after, of course.

Although I may not have harvested a buck, I’ve learned a lot about deer behavior—that they really do know when we aren’t in the woods. Since Sunday hunting probably will never happen, I can only hope that someday I’ll be able to outsmart a buck, or as others say, luck out. One thing’s for sure. There are big bucks where I hunt, at least on Sundays! My 2024 buck still didn’t get me my Big Buck Club patch, but it’s a beauty, and filled my freezer with meat for the next year, thankfully in time for the upcoming recession.

Congratulations to all of you who were successful in harvesting a deer this season.

Staci Warren provides a unique woman’s perspective and column on the outdoors every month. She is a freelance writer whose blog, My Mainely Girl Adventures, is about a woman hunting, fishing, trapping, foraging and living in the Maine outdoors. She also loves camping, star gazing, wildlife watching, and hunting for fossils. She’s an active member and board member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association and is a monthly columnist and feature writer for The Maine Sportsman Magazine. In her free time, she enjoys mentoring women hunters and trappers. <

Raymond softball overachieves in first game against Old Orchard Beach

Raymond eighth-grader Caitlyn Bergsen
bats during Jordan-Small Middle School
softball's opening game of the season
against Old Orchard Beach.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

By Matt Pascarella

Raymond’s Jordan-Small Middle School played their first home game of the season against Old Orchard Beach on Tuesday, May 10 and did a spectacular job.

Raymond has been practicing since before April vacation and the team had a very nice first showing; Raymond battled up until the last out. Old Orchard Beach won 17-10.

Eighth-grader Audrey Getchell hit two in-the-park home runs with everyone on the team doing a great job on the field, offensively and defensively.

“I did alright throwing and catching, and I was hitting pretty good,” said eighth-grader Katie Plummer.

Plummer said that they’ve come a long way since that first practice.

In the first inning, OOB scored five runs.

Raymond answered when eighth-grader Briella Beers walked. Sixth-grader Kylie Gervais doubled, and Beers scored. Gervais then stole home.

In the second inning, Raymond defense nabbed a runner at home. OOB scored five runs.

Raymond brought force in the second inning after eighth-grader Caitlyn Bergsen walked. Plummer was hit by the pitch, then seventh-grader Karla Rodriguez singled and bases are loaded. Bergsen scored.

Beers walked; Plummer scored. Gervais walked and Rodriguez scored. Getchell walked and a run came in. Beers scored. After two innings OOB led 10-7.

In the fifth inning, Getchell ripped the ball deep into the outfield, rounded the bases and made it home.

In the sixth inning, Raymond sixth-grader Phinlee Afthim singled. So did eighth-grader Sarah Penna; Afthim scored.

Getchell hit another in-the-park home run in the seventh inning. Bergsen doubled.

Bergensen said overall she thought the team did very well. There were a couple things she thought they could improve on, but she was pleased with how they played.

“Our teamwork went really well, knowing that we were actually a team,” said Getchell.

Getchell has seen improvement with defense and offense. It felt really nice for her to hit two in-the-park-homeruns.

“We overachieved today,” said Raymond softball coach Jim Beers. “We haven’t had a lot of practices ... our first week of games got rained out. We’re mixing in a lot of inexperienced with some experience on our team.”

Beers said he couldn’t be happier with the outcome and is pleased they can build on that. There are little things to iron out now, little intricacies of the game; if they get those ironed out, they should be fine. <

Tales from the Outdoors: Maine Moose Hunt

By Bob Chapin

For many, drawing the coveted moose tag, can be the highlight of your hunting career in Maine. Many go decades without being selected even as a resident. Should the time come when your name is drawn in the lottery you need to have thought about how you are going to get this hunt done and be prepared and act quickly to put some planning in before the best guides and motels are taken. This year’s drawing was held on June 12. If you were successful, Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your hunt dates and location or do you want to trade with another successful lottery winner? Will you stay in an area motel or camp? Reservations? Have you cleared the dates with your sub-alternate and other prospective members of your party? How will you hunt—spot and stalk, float a river or stream, drive the logging roads, climb a tree stand? How are you going to get your moose out of the woods and to the check station and butcher? Lots of questions and options confront the recent selectee but they all add to the excitement of the hunt. Here are some thoughts to help you through many of these questions, many you have no doubt already thought of, some maybe not.

Schedule

 
IFW will confirm dates of your hunt and send you your permit paperwork. Decide early if you will use a guide or rely on your sub-alternate and friends to first find then get your moose out of the woods. Many underestimate the level of effort required. Set up several scouting trips to scout the area you will hunt so you can be efficient about getting around in the area you have and getting your moose out should you be successful. Plan to arrive on a non-hunting day i.e. Scout Sunday. Figure out where the closest check in station is and a local meat processor if you are going to use one.

Before you leave home make sure you have all your paperwork in order such as Maine Hunting License/moose/deer permit. Have you Health Insurance cards, cash, credit cards, checkbook and driver’s license. Be prepared for unexpected costs such as food and billeting money, check station fees, meat processing costs, unexpected equipment costs such as additional coolers, guide fees and tips, tolls and gas fees, miscellaneous costs such as alcohol, cigars, snacks and drinks. 

 

Travel Issues (if driving)

Have good maps of the areas you will hunt. The Maine Gazetteer is surprisingly useful when you get up into the Unincorporated areas and logging roads. Tires/snow chains can get you out of mud encountered on some logging roads and early snowstorms. Decide early whether you will use a utility trailer or an ATV to help you move your animal. Consider throwing in a chain saw and all its support requirements as some of the logging roads see infrequent maintenance and you may have to “create a road” to where your animal is down. Take spare sets of keys for all vehicles and brief all members of your party where they are kept. Take non-hunting clothes for travel and camp wear.

Equipment

Although this is a moose hunting trip, consider what other members of your party might wish to hunt (for example, birds, deer, bear where the seasons overlap) and bring the necessary gear. Cell phone coverage can be spotty at best. Consider using the FRS radios which are short range and sometimes line-of-sight only but good for coordinating group moves. Take things that will help you find your way out of the woods after dark for example headlamps, compasses, GPS. Also consider the kind of light, such as a Coleman lantern, that will give you area lighting for skinning and butchering. For field dressing bring rubber gauntlets and gloves. Calls can be effective during the rut so don’t forget them. Game meat cloth bags for transport from the field are also handy. Shorter sections of parachute cord or rope come in handy when it comes time to butcher and to transport the meat as well as slings, straps, snatch blocks, pulleys and winches. Pack boards and bags can make the pack out easier. Clothes I will leave to your discretion. Expect wet cold weather and you won’t be disappointed. Remember Blaze Orange requirements.

Actions to be Accomplished Before Departure

Provide emergency phone numbers and itinerary to spouse/family
Sight-in rifle for 1 to 300 yds with or without gloves
Prepared Meals
Decisions/Discussions with your partners before the hunt
Sharing of meat and processing costs
Overdue Hunter Procedures
Sub-Alternate shooting plan—when, if ever, does he/she shoot?
How will the decision be made and by whom and when?

Enjoy your hunt! <

Winter sports return to Windham as the season ramps up

Windham's Hayleigh Moody heads toward the
hoop in a girls' basketball home game against
Bonny Eagle on Feb. 7, 2019. Despite
delays, the Windham winter sports season
will start soon, although because of COVID-19
limitations, not all sports will have the seasons
they may have wanted. 
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

By Matt Pascarella

COVID-19 restrictions put a halt on Windham’s winter sports season when Cumberland County was categorized as yellow, which for a moment meant no athletic activities could occur. The Maine Principals’ Association reversed their decision to ban athletic activity in a “yellow” county as long as local school administrators allowed it.

Recently, Cumberland County returned to the “green” categorization because of a decrease in COVID-19 cases. Windham High School’s winter sports teams began conditioning with skills and drills as they prepare for the upcoming season, set to begin early this month.

Middle schools

Jordan-Small Middle School and Windham Middle School will have their season broken into two parts: Winter I and Winter II. Winter I will go to February break and be solely basketball, grouped by school cohort. Full remote students can participate, but only on the days they would attend in person. Unfortunately, scrimmaging or competitions will not be offered at the middle-school level, and the season will be based on skills and drills.

“The girls are very enthusiastic to be back in the gym,” said seventh grade girls’ basketball coach Deb Lebel. “There are big smiles under their masks that light up their eyes. Sports motivate many students to come to school and do their best while they are in the classroom. As a parent and teacher, I see this social/emotional piece as something that many students have really been missing during the pandemic.”

After February break, Winter II for middle school athletes will run until the third week of March offering indoor track, swimming, wrestling, and alpine skiing. Details are still being worked out, but it looks like each of these sports will be conditioning, with the exception of alpine skiing which may compete, but as of right now that is still to be determined.

Jordan-Small Middle School will be able to access Windham’s Winter II sports.

“It makes it hard to do anything team concept-wise,” said Jordan Small Middle School boys’ basketball coach Jim Beers. He’s working in almost a non-basketball capacity; masks on all the time, socially distant, minimal sharing of the ball.

“Since we can’t play any games on a schedule, or with each other really, I’m going to individually do what I can in this limited amount of time to make each of them better basketball players,” he said.

Safety protocols such as no locker room use, social distancing, hand sanitizing, mask required for all participants that cover both the face and nose and equipment cleaning after each session will be in place.

High School

High school athletics have begun practice with several sports starting competitive games early this month; schedules are still being finalized.

Safety protocols are the same as they were last season. There will be no spectators and masks are to be worn 100 percent of the time, unless taking a sip of water.

Basketball, ice hockey and alpine skiing will all begin their seasons soon. Ice hockey will play home games at the Bridgton Ice Arena. Alpine skiing will return to Shawnee Peak.

"We have been working on technical drills and gate training to ensure our fundamentals are sound," said alpine ski coach Lucas Hare. "The real focus this year is on having fun; the team has been focused and their attitudes have been great. It's great to see them outside, skiing and laughing."

Wrestling is classified as high risk and will be working on conditioning until that changes. Some sports, like indoor track and swimming do not have their regular facilities in which to compete. They may focus more on conditioning and skills and drills during their seasons. Cheering has been training virtually.
“Our plan is to bring our student-athletes along gradually and consistently work towards being ready to compete when our games begin,” said girls’ basketball coach Brody Artes. “This is a group that not only has a lot of talent on the floor but has a high level of character. A great group of student-athletes to coach. We want to be sure to honor our seniors and we always want to look to improve from beginning to end.”

Windham High Athletic Director Rich Drummond said he’s happy and proud of the kids and coaches. They are doing their best and working with facilities and within guidelines to offer the maximum experience for the kids under these limitations. <