Are there any bear hunters out there?  Time is quickly approaching for those of us here in Maine to start putting out our bait sites.  I am excited with my new area and it certainly should bring some good action for myself and a few others who will be utilizing my camp and stands.  The work is certainly about to begin.  It’s quite a chore to manage the stands, keep the bait, get the bait and do all that is involved.  It will well be worth it to see some of the faces after their harvest though.  If things work out I have a kid from North Carolina coming up with his dad who is handicapped.  This kid is an amazing kid and I will share some stories about what this kid has done for handicapped hunters like his dad in another post.

Good luck in your upcoming season and keep us all posted.

Well, I know that up here in Maine we certainly have it milder then the majority of other places across this country.  I probably have no right to complain, but I’m going to.  It sure is the dog days of summer.  When you sit here and sweat like your porting a canoe a mile it’s just plain miserable.  I hate to push summer on for those who love the heat and enjoy boating, swimming or whatever other summertime event you participate in.   Although, I am longing for that cold morning sitting in a tree stand.  That time is quickly approaching us.  We have the drawing of the antlerless deer permit coming up on us quickly.  Of course there are  alot less tags out there this year(which is something that I will go into and state my opinion on tomorrow).  I have been in the woods doing some scouting and am currently looking for a couple new tree stands as one of the spots I frequently hunt had a major cutting done in it this past winter/spring.  Well, I hope you are all staying cool and for those who hate the heat as much as I do….think about that opening morning sitting in your deer stand with teeth chattering.

Well after quite some time I am back.  This time to stay.  Due to career changes and different things going on, I needed to step back and get things in order.  That has all been accomplished and I am back with new ideas, plans and look forward to reconnecting with all of you and making new contacts. 

Bear with me as I get familiar with the new layout and take a day or so to get my feet underneath me.

In a forum that I visit often, there was a recent posts where a teacher of a high school here in Maine talked about one of his students.  This student is out of his birth home and lives with a foster family.  This foster family has a strong foundation and history of hunting and fishing as many families here in Maine.  However, this kid told the teacher that he was unable to hunt until he was 18 due to being in the “system”.  I am unaware of such law but I am investigating this.  If I find this to be a true statement, I will find it unreal.  If the kid demonstrates safety and the ability to hunt then he should be able to whether in “traditional” home or a foster home. 

I have an email into the warden service in hopes of finding out more information.  If anyone has information on this matter it would be greatly appreciated.

 I hope this is not the case.  If so, we have some work to do with laws around youth in the foster care program.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  I sit here and think to myself that I am the richest man alive.  No, I do not have loads of money in my bank account.  Or a great mansion, nice cars or all the toys that I would desire.  However, I do sit here with the my wife and son.  I had a great day with my family.  I have the great assurance of Heaven my home.  I live probably the greatest part of the country for an outdoor enthusiasts. 

I also want to thank everyone who stops in and checks out my blog.  I wish you all a great holiday season.

New Hampshire’s state Rep. Bop L’Heureux proposed bill HB657.  This bill will allow the fish and game department to issue two permits a year for those 21 and under with life threatening, critical or terminal illness.

This comes as great news for those youth whose dream it is to go on that “special” hunt before they move on from this world.  Due to insurance liability reasons many of the non profit organizations will not touch youth participants.

You can read more about this in an article I found on the cabinet.

What a great opportunity for these youths.  New Hampshire again steps out and gives us a demonstration of how many of us and our states should be.  To see the smile on that kid who life has dealt a bad hand is priceless.

Phil. 3:13-15 “one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  All of us who are mature should take such a view of things”

Here I sit a few days away from the end of rifle season here in Maine.  It has been a long and hard season this year.  The weather has been against us most times it seems.  It’s either super warm or windy.  The deer seem to be “rutting” later and later each year.  Here we are in the last week and I am just now seeing some sign of the rut happening.  The lack of deer in my hunting area is not the problem.  The area is saturated with deer sign.  It appears to me though that due to the circumstances they are just bedding down during the day and moving at night.  The problem with that is I have not located where they are bedding down I guess.

This will be my second year in a row without harvesting a deer unless the next couple days turns out to be productive.  Something happened to me a little over a week ago that I have never experienced in hunting.  I was sitting in my stand and began to think how “useless” this was.  I pointed out to myself I had not seen anything.  Nor had my hunting partner.  After sitting that morning I came back and told my wife, “I’m done deer hunting. It’s pointless.”  My wife almost fell to the floor in shock.  I said “Yup, I’m just going to go duck hunting and turkey hunting.  Atleast, there’s some action in that.  Turkey hunting you can call and do things rather then just sit there.”  After a few minutes I came to my senses and was planning and thinking about my next deer hunting outing.

How many times does this happen to us in our walk with Christ?  We have things keep piling up on us.  We continue to go out and “sit” and do everything right, yet we see no results.  We then give up and say, “God, it’s just not worth it.”  I know this has happened to me so many times in my life.  I lose focus of the goal.  I lose faith in God and begin to focus on distractions outside of the goal.

Through this experience I have found a renewed passion for  Christ.  I had begin to think what is the point in doing many things that I know God has placed me here to do.  I have also rediscovered why I deer hunt.  It’s ultimately not to shoot a deer.  It’s the challenge of going out into his living room and trying to outsmart him.  It’s getting outdoors and enjoying God’s creation.  It’s getting away from “life” and enjoying a long standing tradition.

Don’t give up.  Don’t let life’s distractions get you down.  Stay focused on the goal.

Mike Huckabee was recently named among the top 25 in this list.  Alongside names like Ted Nugent and the Cabela brothers.  Huckabee is currently the governor of Arkansas, where he has served for several years now.

We are a long ways off from election day and I am certainly a ways off from making a decision of who I want to be the next leader of our country.  With that said candidate Huckabee gets a positive check for all of his great work in preserving and promoting hunting, fishing and the great outdoors.

II Timothy 4: 7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing”.

How many times have you heard people talk about “buck” fever.  What does that mean?  Well to me it means that the hunter has become overwhelmed with the trophy sitting in front of them.  The most common one is those who focus on the antlers of a monster buck.  Has this ever happened to you?  You see movement.  Then you realize that it’s a deer.  Then you look for the antlers.  Alright, it’s a legal buck.  You try and focus in on the target, the shot placement in the vital area.  You then pull up your weapon.  You realize now your shaking.  Your heart is about to jump out of your chest.  Then your focus goes back on that massive rack.  You try and focus on the target area.  This goes on, back and forth a few times.  Then usually one of two things happens.  We are so intent on the “trophy” that before we know it the deer has walked off without a chance for a shot.  Secondly, we take a shot but our focus was on the trophy and not on the target, resulting in a missed shot.

The apostle Paul spoke a lot about “the prize” and “running the race.”  He longed for those crowns that was there to reward him, but was never distracted by the trophy.  He realized what the true prize was.  He realized that the trophy came with the prize.

We then should focus on the target.  Realizing that the “trophy” will come with the prize if we remain focused on the target.  While our salvation is secure, that certainty shouldn’t get in the way of our aiming for the target.  We should always remember that we need to focus on the “target”.  Why?  So we don’t miss out on opportunities that God has given to us because we focused on the trophy instead of the target.  Remember, the trophy comes with the target.

“1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God, 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

- Psalm 42:1-2 NKJV

As I was sit here this morning  the Lord brought this question to my mind, “Are you thirsting after me as the deer pant for the water?”

Boy this was a question that gave me the dead deer in the headlights look. Why? Because I had to answer this question that the Lord asked me in a truthful manner. “Yes, Lord I do thirst after you. But I have to be honest I could thirst some more.”

Then the next question came to my mind. “Are we thirsty for Jesus?”

Just as our physical bodies need water to keep us hydrated we also need to thirst after righteousness and truth to keep our spiritual being hydrated.

Judah sought after the Lord with all their hearts and their desire was to live for Him. The result was that they found the Lord and the Lord gave them rest. “And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around.”(2 Chr. 15:15 NKJV)

Many of us have seen a Deer drink at the waters edge and there is something magical about that seen that our creator has aloud us to witness.

Can you imagine the smile that our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ have when they see their us standing at the fountain of living water drinking.

We are truly blessed with the very Word of the God at our fingertips. We need to keep nourished and be able to be aware around us as that poacher, the Devil tries to take us down. Whether it be by a direct vital hit with an arrow or by snare.   We need to flee from the danger of the poacher when alerted to his presence.

We as Christian hunters need to make sure that the grass of our fields does not wither and the deer move on. “Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field, But left because there was no grass.” (Jer. 14:5)

The prime example of this is if the Lord gives us the opportunity to witness to unbelievers and we don’t then the field will wither up and die. Then the deer will move to another field where they may find the “Great Poacher” in a blind ready to ambush them.
We must encourage one another and uplift one another. To keep our fields healthy and green or as deer we will lose interest and move on.

“As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after thee
You alone are my hearts desire
And I long to worship thee

I want You more than gold or silver,
Only You can satisfy.
You alone are the real joy Giver,
And the apple of my eye.”

This deer season has been very interesting.  As many of us I headed out early opening morning.  My first spot to “check out” was an old clearing behind my house.  I sat on the edge of this for a little over an hour.  I only had a couple hours to sit as my friend was going to meet me at my house around 9:30 so we could hunt the remainder of the day.  I wanted to scout the swamp area in order to put my friend in a place that would be productive for him.  Between the clear cut and the swamp is a small section of smaller fir trees.  After standing up and scanning the area I made a few steps down the property line headed for the swamp.  I heard a small noise and stopped to further investigate.  When I did this I saw a deer turn and run away from me.  Other then the quick flash of brown and the famous whitetail that’s all I saw of the deer.  I then heard the deer stop and give me a “blow”.  I immediately sat down in hopes that he would circle back in a little while.  I sat there for a little over an hour with no luck.  Then it was time to go meet up with my buddy.  After meeting up with him we searched the area through the swamp and found some good sign.  Both sides of the swamp seemed to be a great area for deer movement.  Two days later was Monday and again we headed into the woods early in the morning.  My friend wanted to sit on the edge of the clearcut and I headed into the edge of the swamp.  It was still dark as we headed into the woods.  As I approached my stand I heard some footprints running off.  I quickly set up in my stand and waited for legal time.  Sat for a few hours with no luck yet again.  Although, I am excited now.  The two mornings I had been out I had seen deer or been close to them.  I remember thinking to myself this seems like a great spot to come and sit and should turn out productive.  Well, here we are in the last week and that’s the last of the deer sign I have seen.  There’s plenty of deer movement in the area just not when it’s legal shooting time, is my guess.  I believe due to the warmer weather and the absence of “rut” activity they are moving at night and bedding down during the day time “big time”.

Then after a couple days into hunting season my wife woke me up early in the morning and told me that she was not feeling well and needed to go to the hospital.  She said she was having extreme stomach pains.  So, off to the hospital we went.  After several hours and test the conclusion was my wife needed to have her appendix out.  Needless to say after my wife had surgery and could not lift anything my time to get out in the woods would certainly be effected.  Especially with our active two year old.  So, now I had to use my vacation time to stay home and take care of my wife and two year old son.  Which was great, due to our busy and opposite schedules my wife and I usually pass each other as one is arriving and leaving the house.  The bad part was it would cut into my vacation time and I would need to work the week of hunting camp.  So as all the other boys were at the “annual” hunting camp week, I was working, working, working.

I have Wednesday until about noon to hunt before I work at one.  Then I will have Thanksgiving day other then the couple hours mid day for lunch break to hunt.  I will hopefully manage to have a deer cross my path in those hours I will spend in the woods.  Word has it the rut activity is starting up so putting hours in the woods will hopefully turn out to be a success.

Good luck with your hunting season and I wish everyone luck!!!

Hello again all. I am back with the Skinny Moose gang blogging again. I am excited and glad to be back and things here at the homefront have settled down, which will allow me sometime to get on here and devote the time needed to blog again.

There has been a lot happening that I will catch everyone up on over the next few days/weeks. I am in the midst of deer season right now and have not had much luck. I guess due to the warm weather and late rut activity.

Check back as I will be  filling you in on what’s been going on and current news as well.