“Every dog must have his day”

(as published in the Mountain Gazette, July 18, 2013, p. 1)

(Quote by Jonathan Swift) Every once and a while a story comes along that just warms your heart. You see the good in the world and forget, at least for a time, all that is so troublesome. I heard such a story the other day from my wife, which led me to call the people involved, and to put “pen to paper” as it is.

Back in mid-June, Priscilla Emerling and John Hanf looked out their window in Waterville and saw a man walking down Route 109 carrying a fly rod in one hand and a deer fawn in the other. This seemed a bit curious, even for Vermont, so they went outside to investigate.

The man carrying the fawn was Dalton Harben, a co-owner of Vermont’s own Worth Skis (www.worthskis.com). Dalton and his dog, Bo, were fly fishing the north branch of the Lamoille River when Bo started running around in a circle and barking, like Dalton said he does when he’s playing with another dog. Bo found a fawn. The fawn wasn’t sure what was going on and jumped into the rain-swollen river at a section of water with some small rapids. Bo went in the water right after the fawn. Dog and fawn were swept a couple hundred feet down the river. Dalton said that Bo, who is a strong swimmer, caught up to the fawn and was pushing his shoulder into the fawn to steer it towards land. Dalton said you could tell the fawn was frightened and was trying to keep its head above water. Bo then started pulling the fawn from the nape of its neck towards shore. On shore, Bo sniffed the fawn, licked it a few times, best friends forever.

Even a little fawn can recognize a good dog! Bo, a Plott Hound, with fawn
(D. Harben photo)

After picking up the fawn, Dalton started to look around and found a doe, most likely the fawn’s mother, that had been hit and killed by a car.

While Priscilla stayed outside talking with Dalton about the rescue, John went inside to call the State Police to see what they should do with the fawn. The State Police contacted the game warden and the final verdict was – set the fawn somewhere outside and “let nature take its course.”  That sounds good and fine, except that nature’s course isn’t something you’d always like to think about when it comes to God’s youngest critters.

John decided to bring the fawn up to a field where he knew there to be a fair number of doe with the hope that the fawn would be adopted. So he, Dalton, and, of course, Bo drove the fawn up to the field. John and Dalton set the fawn in the field and walked away…followed by the fawn. John set the fawn down again, lightly touching its head. He said as soon as he pressed on the fawn’s head it lay down and stayed in place.

John came back the next day to check on the fawn. He located it about 40 yards away from where he first lay it down. He saw several does in the woods near the field and there were fresh deer paths through the meadow. When John tried to touch the fawn to check its health, it bleated and ran about 20 yards and lay down. The does watched from the woods.

The third day John went to check on the fawn it was not to be found in the field. There were lots of deer tracks and no signs of predation. So, since I am the storyteller, we will assume that the fawn was adopted and everyone lived happily ever after. In fact, several weeks after the fawn was released by John and Dalton, Priscilla saw a doe with two fawns that were clearly of a different age. Happy ending, I say yes.

Nature’s course isn’t always the straightest or most gentle path(D. Harben photo)

Special thanks to Dalton, John, and Priscilla for sharing this story with me. Unfortunately, Bo still has not returned my phone calls, so I’ll have to take Dalton’s word for his side of the story. I leave you with another quote; this one from Gene Hill – one of my favorite outdoor writers. “Whoever said you can’t buy happiness forgot about little puppies.” I’m not sure how it is relevant, but it makes me smile.

Send me your stories and I’m still hoping to receive some photos, game or regular camera. Send me your best photos with some background information – general area the picture taken (unless it is a trophy animal), time of year, etc. I’ll include the best ones in to the Mountain Gazette over the next several issues. E-mail me at kristopher@sportingafield.net.

Please visit www.sportingafield.blogspot.com for more news, musings, and interviews or to leave questions or comments.

Black Flies and Trout Fishing

(as published in the Mountain Gazette, June 20, 2013, p. 10)

Like baseball and football, fly fishing has its own season. The forest browns turn into green. The days grow longer. Your senses know the trout will soon be rising for the fly. An annual May fishing trip only adds to this normal level of seasonal anticipation.

Snowmelt in May on the West Branch of the Ausable

Once again, my dad, brother, and cousin met at the end of May to fish the West Branch of the Ausable in Wilmington, NY. Unlike last year, the trout seemed better educated this year, while our casting should probably have repeated a grade. I shouldn’t include my cousin, Jim Boucher, in that statement. Jim is a good fly fisherman and has guided us to some nice fish the last couple of years.

Normally the West Branch of the Ausable runs about 700 cubic feet per second. When we hit the river on Friday morning, the river was running at over 2,000 cubic feet per second. That’s a lot of water, but not as much as earlier in the week when the river was running at almost 10,000 cubic feet per second. Why so much water? You’ll recall that with the big storm the end of May

that ruined so many local roads and driveways also dumped over 13 inches of snow on Mount Mansfield. Well the same storm dumped 3 feet of snow on Whiteface Mountain. The Ausable is right beneath Whiteface, hence the increased flow.

When I first stepped in the river, my first thought was that if my 10-year old nephew Jack had come…whoosh, there’d go Jack down the river. As it was, wading was tough. The water was a refreshing 54 degrees, but would heat up to a boiling 57 degrees by the end of the weekend.

Our compensation for the high, fast water was that the black flies were out in full force. When I go fly fishing I can usually outfit several people. I will bring extra waders, an extra rod, reel; you get the idea. You’d think I would have brought at least one mesh head net, but nope. Luckily, the black flies liked chewing on my brother Kirk much more than they liked me. Poor Kirk. It certainly adds flavor to the experience. (Jim said that the black flies didn’t bother him. A day later, with bite welts on both sides of his neck, Jim clarified. He reiterated that the flies did not bother him, but added that he never said they didn’t bite him.) Basically, Friday beat us up. No wonder that my dad and Kirk didn’t want to go out fishing again after dinner.

Jim and I were game to return to the river to fish at dusk. We stepped out of the truck after arriving at a likely spot…and the black flies attacked. At Jim’s suggestion, I tied on a “usual” fly. It’s called a usual because it usually works. As the flies feasted we fished. It’s funny, the flies don’t bother you as much when you catch some fish. 

Jim had put me in a good spot where we could see at least two trout rising. I managed to catch (and release) them both. The “usual” did not disappoint – and I probably would not have selected it without Jim’s suggestion.

So where’s the picture? I knew my dad and brother would not believe I caught anything, so the first thing I did upon bringing my first fish to net was to take a picture with my iPhone, which was in a zip-lock baggie. You can see the fish, but the photo won’t win any awards.

Sherdan and Jim trying to find less educated trout

Saturday started out with more of the same, biting black flies and no fish. Jim loves to fish, but he always tries to put us each in a good position to catch fish. I had my opportunity Friday night and that was it for me catching fish. Dad caught his fish Saturday morning.

Kirk almost hung it up after that morning. His waders were leaking and his feet were wet and cold. The black flies continued to torment him and he wasn’t getting as much as a strike. It is amazing how much better the world looks when you are well fed and back in dry clothes. Kirk’s second effort in the afternoon (in new, waterproof waders) got him his trout.

Kirk lands a nice rainbow trout

Once we had our fish, Jim went to work. He caught 5 or 6 nice rainbows. I believe they were trained fish who recognized him, recently released hatchery fish, or otherwise gullible, easy fish left over from last year. Jim certainly highlighted the fact that there were fish in the river, high water or not, and they could be caught.

  

While trout fishing comes each year to the North Country, no two seasons are the same. My dad and I told my brother, “You should have been here last year.” “You should be here next year” also applies. The only way to make sure you are on the river when the conditions are perfect is to make sure you are on the river consistently. This is true even when “consistently” means the one family trip each year. Happy days afield.

Send me your best game camera photos with some background information – general area the picture taken (unless it is a trophy animal), time of year, etc. I’ll include the best ones in to the Mountain Gazette over the next several issues.

Please visit www.sportingafield.blogspot.com for more news, musings, and interviews or to leave questions or comments.

A Quick Spring, Family Fishing, Hiking, and Bullwinkle (the moose) Permits

(as published in the Mountain Gazette, June 6, 2013)

I saw spring come to Jericho all in a couple of minutes. While my statement is true, it was with the help of my Bushnell Game Camera. This past Monday I retrieved the memory card from my game camera. There were only about 500 photos on the card, but I was able to see the trees leaf out and the ferns come up right before my eyes. It was pretty neat to see how quickly everything happened over the span of a few days.

                                                           

The first week in June I’ll be joining my dad and brothers for a fishing trip on the West Branch of the Ausable River in New York.  While we try to get together every year, it seldom works out that way. This is our second year on Ausable, and we hope to have the full complement this year.

We tried, several years ago, to fish a couple of different rivers in Vermont, but the trout seemed to be too intelligent to be caught in any number. Being the opportunists that we are, we figured we’d have better luck out of state where the fish weren’t so educated. This year my younger brother was thinking of bringing his son Jack.  Jack is almost 11. It would be wonderful to have Jack participate in our fish-trip tradition. That and we can tell him stories, some real about his dad. Unfortunately, Jack has never fly fished and where we are going you can only fish with a single hook, artificial fly – no bait. So…now Jack isn’t going because my brother thinks he’ll be too bored – which is probably right (and Jack’s friend is having a birthday party, which is more attractive than fishing with old guys). How do you get kids interested in family outdoor traditions and keep them from going crazy with boredom?

It seems to me that you first need to get your junior outdoor partner interested in the activity or event. This begins by building up anticipation for what will happen. Talk up past trips and stories. This gets them excited about participating. Involve them in the planning. Ask them what they want to do, within parameters of the trip. If the trip involves certain skills, make sure the child has mastered the basics before you leave. Once they have reached some level of proficiency, consider treating them to a new or upgraded piece of equipment – some new tackle, reel, fishing vest, or fishing boat. OK, start small. No boat.

Encouraging kids to get involved in outdoor activities can take some time and patience, but it can be rewarding for years to come. It is also important to recognize that hunting and fishing isn’t for everyone. You don’t have to hunt or fish to enjoy the outdoors or to participate in some way in family traditions. Be content if you can get your child to accompany you fishing, even if she wants to sit on a rock and watch the birds eat the hatch, rather than match the hatch.

So let’s get your kids outside.  Why not start with participating in National Trails Day^®? American Hiking Society's National Trails Day^® is the country's largest celebration of trails. Mark your 2013 calendar for June 1^st to make sure you don't miss out on the thousands of National Trails Day^® activities happening all over the country. Events include hikes, biking and horseback rides, paddling trips, birdwatching, geocaching, gear demonstrations, stewardship projects and more.  There are 11 events planned in Vermont this year, with four just a short drive away.  For more information, please see  http://www.americanhiking.org/national-trails-day/

Time to sign up for your moose permit. Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department has proposed 355 moose hunting permits for the regular October 19-24 moose season and 50 permits for an archery moose season October 1-7. More information and an application can be found at http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/hunttrap_mooselottery.cfm.

Happy days afield. Please visit www.sportingafield.blogspot.com for more news, musings, and interviews or to leave questions or comments.

Bob Howe and the Pine Grove Program for those who served

Mountain Gazette, March 7, 2013 edition, p. 10.
click here for the Mountain Gazette

Bob Howe (right) at Yankee Sportsman's Classic

One of the seminar speakers I was fortunate enough to hear speak at the 2013 Yankee Sportsman’s Classic in Essex Junction back in January was Bob Howe. Bob is a Registered Maine Master Guide with a lodge in Pleasant Ridge Plantation, Maine, who started hunting and trapping at age 10. Bob spoke about hunting coyotes and snowshoe hare, the latter with beagles from his pack of 27. Bob comes across as a quintessential Maine Guide – tall, bearded, self-deprecating, dry sense of humor, and exuding competence.

Bob has been guiding professionally for almost 40 years. He said he goes to about 14 sportsmen and trade shows a year where he sells his snowshoes and snowshoe furniture to raise funds for his Pine Grove Program (more about that below). Most of Bob’s guiding business is generated by word of mouth. Bob guides about 250 times a year – hunting and fishing for just about all legal game in the State of Maine.

In 1998, Bob and his wife, Andrea, bought Pine Grove Lodge (http://www.pinegrovelodge.com/). The lodge is a four-season sporting camp with room for up to 45 people. They offer guide service, cabin rentals, bed & breakfast stays, and many activities.

Back when Bob was just 18 he started taking military Veterans on fishing trips. He’d go to the local VFW and offer older Veterans rides to the lake and fishing tackle to use. Once Bob and Andrea bought their lodge, Bob began offering free sporting trips to Veterans and members of the armed services he would meet at trade shows. This was the beginning of the “Pine Grove Program.” After 9/11, they started inviting first responders to 9/11 and other disasters to participate in the wilderness adventures. The program has grown into a plan of action, with many helping hands, fundraisers, and organized events for groups, as well as private trips for the American hero and his or her family. Bob is a big believer in the natural therapeutic benefits of the Maine outdoors. The mission of the Pine Grove Program is to provide free outdoor experiences to Service members, Veterans, Gold Star Families, and first responders to major man-made and natural disasters. You don’t have to hunt or fish to enjoy the program. It provides an opportunity for participants to enjoy the outdoors and relax and reconnect. If you or someone you know could benefit from the program, you can obtain more information at www.pinegroveprogram.com/. The program is also wonderful at accommodating people with disabilities.

Bob and Andrea are truly generous people. Bob loves the outdoors and it shows. He can tell a good story, especially about hunting with his beagles. How could stories about 27 beagles not be entertaining? Even without the generosity of running the Pine Grove Program, it would be tough not like a guy who is so devoted to his dogs.

If you are interested in the Pine Grove Program, please give Bob and Andrea a call, they are expecting you. If you’re simply a humble sportsman or woman, too old to enlist in the military, but otherwise interested in some great hunting and fishing opportunities, you can also give Bob and Andrea a call. I’m hoping to get up to the Pine Grove Lodge next March for snowshoe hare and coyotes.

Upcoming Local Events:

-Ruffed Grouse Society Banquet, March 9, 2013, for more information please contact Jay Pierce at 802-425-3329 or bcjtpierce@gmavt.net.

-Trout Unlimited Banquet, March 23, 2013, for more information please contact chapter president, Gary West at dewey2475@me.com.

-Duck’s Unlimited Banquet, April 6, 2013, for more information please contact Art Bristol at 802-899-2460 or awbrist@myfairpoint.com or Christy Incerpi at 802-598-6279 or cincerpi@hotmail.com.

Please visit www.sportingafield.blogspot.com for more news, musings, and interviews or to leave questions or comments.

Mountain Gazette, February 7, 2013 Edition, page 10

Off-Season Scouting

Deer season and partridge season are over so it seems appropriate thatthoughts should turn to next year. Do you hunt the same spots again or strikeout and look for some new, and hopefully more productive, locales? Your answerwill likely depend upon your past success. However, even if you’ve enjoyed success, there are no guarantees nextseason. Land may be logged off, posted, or otherwise altered to the determentof your hunting. It is always good to have an eye open for new areas.

Scouting new areas, like hunting gear, has evolved over time. That beingsaid, what may still be the best way to find new hunting ground is through therecommendations of friends. While a friend may not cough up his prime spot, hemay be happy to have some company hunting some very productive spots.

For those without the right kind of friends, all is not lost.There are several tools available to help locate potential hunting areas. Oneof the best places to start is by looking at DeLorme's Vermont Atlas & Gazetteer. The Gazetteer covers the entirestate and shows primary roads, back roads, dirt roads, trails, and Federal andState land, all in 1:100,000 (1” = 1.6 miles) detail, with contour lines at 100foot intervals. Start by searching for relatively large green areas with few orno roads.

You can help refine your search using Google Earth. GoogleEarth is Google's free satellite image application that covers most of the habitableearth. Because Google Earth images are updated fairly regularly, Google Earthis a great tool for showing areas that may have been opened up by logging aswell as logged-over areas are recovering. Google Earth provides latitude andlongitude information to input into your GPS, as well as shows roads, points ofinterest, and some topographic information. Having latitude and longitudeinformation allows you to input possible waypoint information into your GPS sothese points of interest are easier to find when you are in the woods.

While contour lines are not available on Google Earth,topological information is available. The quickest way to determine the contourof the land is to tilt your view of the Google Earth map so that you arelooking at the features from a side view, rather than the default top-downview. The name of mountains and hills will appear in the tilted map view. Aleft -click of your mouse on a hill icon will pull up an elevation profile of ahill or mountain. This profile provides information on highest elevation andprovides a relief map (which can be changed to reflect different approachdirections). Another way to get topological information is to use Google Earthpath tool. By selecting the “add path” tool in the icon menu bar at the top ofyour computer screen, you can plot out a specific path through the woods. 

Another resource to hunters is the Vermont Association ofSnow Travelers (VAST) trail maps. VAST maps can be useful for finding accesstrails to hunting areas you have located and want to explore. Snow mobileaccess does not equate to hunting access in several respects. First, many areasare not accessible until the ground is firmly frozen. Second, some VAST trailsrun through land that is posted against hunting. 

Physical scouting has always been an integral part of mostsuccessful hunts. Only boots on the ground will determine whether the land isposted, whether permission is required to access an otherwise huntable area, orwhether your electronic field work is accurate. There is no better time thanwinter to scout. A cover of snow makes access by snowshoe or cross-countryskiing possible. You can enjoy time with non-hunting friends and scout at thesame time–talk about a win-win. The lack of cover allows for a quick assessmentof the overall terrain. Scouting also keeps you in shape and out of troubleuntil opening day.

A copy of the Mountain Gazette

[Update: I just read an article by Jerome Richard in the Northwoods Sporting Journal, March 2013, pp. 4 and 23, where the author shot a nice buck using only Google Earth for scouting. It is an interesting story about applying the technology about which I wrote.]