Opening Day Success

Due to being lucky enough to find a new job, I had far less time to hunt then usual. So feeling a little rushed, I still hunted my way to my favorite spot and luckily and literally almost ran smack dab into a deer!

I noticed a few other deer moving in a small draw, so I moved to a position where I had a better vantage point. After seeing 3-4 deer that I could not identify as buck or doe I heard running coming straight for me. So I patiently waited and prepared to take the shot if it turned out to be a buck.

I immediately saw two bucks running towards me, they came up a small knoll towards me and the first one - a small spike- ran by at about 7 FEET from me. He was being chased by a fatter larger racked buck-a fork horn- who also ran by at the same 7 FEET!

Instinctually I brought up my tried and true Model 94 and let one rip and knocked the fork horn over within feet of impact.

No sooner had this 4 pointer expired at the foot of the knoll then a larger buck, much much larger, emerged from the undergrowth at the bottom of the draw. I thought I'd have some fun and grunted to this new buck which did not immediately respond, but 5 minutes later it walked up to the now dead deer and acted like he was going to attack it.

It was the deer so affectionately known as "The big 10" that I had planned on hunting for. I could have cried. The hunting instinct, the pressure to get the hunt done and over and the closeness of the deer had overwhelmed me.

After a few minutes this large buck melted back into the brush. I went down the hill and started field dressing my buck. The fresh bear crap all around me made me a bit nervous, but dragged the deer out to the road and waited for my friend Chris to come get me to take it to be checked in.

Although dissapointed that I did not get "The big 10"; I AM eating venison and I can look forward to finding "the big 10"'s antlers in the woods this year since there was only 1 buck taken off the farm and it was mine.

Adventures AND misadventures while NOT finding antlers

This antler adventure started out just terrible.

TWO stops on the way up to Pittsburg for emergency bathroom stops. I felt just awful.

I got to Indian Stream Valley at 11 am (I had left my house at 5:30 AM and this is normally a 3 hour 45 min trip).

The gate was closed on the road I needed to get to, so I decided to go to the next road down. THIS looked promising. Lots of Bull moose sign. I was getting excited and then I saw foot prints... NOT moose, but human. I wasted 4 hours just to hunt an area that had already been picked clean. It was misting rain and the ground was soggy. I hate getting soaked for nothing.

Then I fell ass over bandbox and slightly hurt my ankle and I hobble out.

SO, I drive over to Magalloway valley. Still feel like crap. Hey, wait! I remember an older clearcut where a friend and I saw the biggest bull I had ever seen.

What the hell is that noise? Why is my truck heading for the ditch? Don't tell me. Oh look at that... I have a flat. I just LOVE changing flat tires way out in the mud. This is so awesome! Oh good. My spare tire is one size smaller than the other tires on the truck. Oh well.. adapt and overcome.

I drive out of this place and think "should I just go home?" No i decide, I will head out to Perry Stream to check out a spot for tomorrow.

I drive by the guy with "ANTLERS" on his plates and moose antlers everywhere all over his house and barn. I saw him out awhile ago. I wish he was in NHSHC, he must be the master of Moose antlers!

Checked out a few places for tomorrow and hope I pick a good spot.

Back to camp and eat. At least I have enough gas to cook something. A hot meal will help my outlook. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Day 2

Woke up at 5:16 am when two log trucks blow by at what seemed like 200 MPH and pulled the jake brake when they went by my truck. Then a Chevy truck went by at what seemed like 275 MPH! HOLY CRAP! So i got up and shook off the night. Packed up, good gosh for a mini camp I sure have a lot of crap! Happy Corners is calling for me, I need coffee. I can eat cold food for days , be soaking wet and chilled to the bone, but the one thing I need is coffee.

6:30 and I am the first one in the restaurant but many soon follow; fishermen, people fixing their cabins and ONE loud, obnoxious, down stater flirting mercilessly with the waitress who is old enough to be his grandmom. Guess this is what happens to some people when they spend this much time up here away from their women. The food came almost as soon as I had placed my order, the cooks must have been psychic. The coffee is awesome!

Drove to the first spot above the First Connecticut Lake on Magalloway Rd. It's so simple, it's stupid so let's see what we can find. Nope, I found nothing except an antler that was so chewed up that there was no base or palm left. It would have been a wicked nice one.

I went to Perry Stream and it was a great spot BUT had been hit by hunters already as evident by the big antler impression in the dirt and grass next to the trail.

I did get to see a very large bear poop and eat grass. THAT was my hint to move on to a new spot. I got gas for the truck and went to yet another place.

I have to say that this trip I have seen more animals than ever. Maybe it was the weather, or time of year or just because I am really boondocking this trip. When I first got into town yesterday, I followed a yearling cow moose for about a mile on Indian Stream. Saw my little friends, the Canadian jays but this time they did not lead me to any antlers. I have seen deer everywhere, most memorable was the buck who stared me down in that first clearcut I walked in. he had really nice beams all fuzzy with velvet.

This brings me to my last stop, on Indian Stream. Why I did not check here yesterday I do not know. I never would have gone anywhere else. I only had about 2 hours left but this place is it. I parked and walked about 200 yards and saw a moose trail going up the hill and woods to my right. Moose rubs along the trail. I get to the top and it flattens out and is DRY!

I catch a movement to my right and there is a tiny red moose calf about 75-100 yards away, bouncing about. I look at him through the binoculars. Where's Mom???? I do not see her. Baby looks at me and oh gosh Mom stands up as if materializing from the earth. She lays eyes on my and instantly charges. I RUN.... FAST. Well i thought it was fast, but NOT as fast as Momma Moose. Geez she is FAST! I fall.....thankfully I fall behind bushes and a stump. She stops chasing. Because of my "genius" move of hiding (falling) behind a stump that is only 10 inches high, I don't move a muscle. Momma moose decides I am gone and goes back over the hill to her baby. I hear him making these soft mewing type noises excited for his mom to be back. I sneak away and continue to check the area out. I finally find the main clear cut but my time is running out and I have to leave.

I get back to the road and find a neat smooth red rock, then I find three 4 leaf clovers, why couldn't I find these earlier?

Whoops, I forgot about the porcupine that was hanging out in the tree. I bet he was amused when that moose chased me because he was so high up he could have watched it all happen.

So here I am walking out with my rock and my 4 leaf clovers and I think, maybe I will just pop into the woods here and look around a little. Then I am attacked again! This time by a little fluffed up hen grouse with chicks. She charges. I stand my ground. She runs off screaming like a wounded rabbit. THIS was my cue to leave Pittsburg, the animals have had enough of me!

Rob

Green up hunt June 3, 2009

I went back to Wilmot in the same place that Chris Holmes found a matched set of moose sheds on our trip last year.

It was tough hunting because green up is in full swing there, can't even see your feet.

If I had not stopped to tie my boot, I would have missed this one and I did not have my dog with me.

It was on the edge of an overgrown tote road and some hemlock trees, overlooking a beaver pond

This might be the last time I go out in the Southern part of the state specifically antler hunting because of 3 things.

1-green up

2-ticks

3-maneating mosquitos

I am probably heading to Pittsburg 1 last time the 10th/11th. I'll let you know if I find anything.

Memorial Week 2009

My nephew and I pulled onto Indian Stream road in Pittsburg with a built up excitement.

we knew we COULD come out of the woods with many or few Moose antlers. that did not matter, the chance of any antler was enough to get us fired up with visions of fields full of Moose dropping their antlers by the dozens.

We parked in a spot above gate 13 and went into the woods. After crossing a stream we came across our first antler! A 5 point with a nice broad palm. It was lying upside down on top of a stump just like it was set there for us. We were in the woods just 20 minutes!

THEN it started to rain... and rain. After 9 hours of slogging through the wet woods we decided to make the hike back to the truck.

It is at this point that I would like to thank NHSHC member Nance Fogarty for letting us park/camp at her camp driveway. THANKS Nance

Day 2

We wake up after a rough night's sleep. Dennis woke me every couple of hours to stop me from snoring! I took him to breakfast at my favorite Pittsburg eating place, Happy Corners. Let me give a plug for this GREAT establishment. They have an extensive menu for breakfast alone. GREAT coffee. REALLY hit the spot.

So we hit the road again. Today we went out to just along the Maine/ Canadian/ NH border. After 6 long, WET hours Dennis finally found an old but large antler.

It had not rained all day, we actually had sun most of the day but the ground in this area was a wet swampy woodland and we were soaked.

We hiked back to the truck and collapsed on the tailgate to eat lunch/supper.

As we drove out past East Inlet we eyeballed a few more spots for our next trip.

There seems like endless opportunities in Pittsburg for shed hunting, you just have to hit the right spot where the Moose had congregated.

I'll be going back up one more time in the next few weeks

Rob

May Pittsburg trip

Rob took a journey up North to Pittsburg on friday and he had a relaxing day. here's his report

Hit the road at 3:30 AM! After a brief stop to get coffee and sustenance I
arrived on Magalloway road just before 7 AM

I was happy to see that
the gate was open. I noticed a large number of trucks parked at the fly fishing
area trying their luck with the freshly stocked breeder trout and
salmon.

After parking at an "undisclosed location" I geared
up and headed out. The area I was searching was a downward sloping conifer
forest. It took me 2 hours to find my first moose antler ( a small one) on
a well used trail. I stopped for a bit to eat and a drink and saw a flittering
in the trees. At first I thought it was a kestrel but as it landed feet from my
face, I realized it was a Canadian jay- My FAVORITE bird. For those who do not
know these are Blue jay sized birds (cousins actually) that are very personable.
I decided to share my food with them, I say them because the one magically
turned into twelve friends that took food directly from my hands. These guys
rock! (a red squirrel also shared my food..)

I followed the moose
trail to a large clear cut that was about 7 years old. Much easier to move
through now than it was a few years ago. After my first pass through I was
getting discouraged, so much land and so little time. But I collected my
thoughts and methodically searched. next to a small outcrop of rocks near a
trail I found a smallish antler that had been on the ground 1-2 years. A little
chewed but not bad. This should illustrate to you that no matter how many times
you search an area you can miss an antler, because I searched this same area
last year and never saw it.

Got through the clear cut as best as I
could and worked my way back to the truck, it was about 2 PM and I drove to my
next search area. A lot of moose sign but saw no antlers. I was hurrying though
as I needed to leave around 5. However I did "re-find" a bull Moose skull from a
2-3 year old that I had seen last year but had not picked up. I decided to bring
it home this year because with the right sheds I can mount them to the skull to
sell.

I plan on going back up in a week or so and maybe spend the
night and maybe I will find a big set then

Late April shed

On April 22, Itsy and I went shed hunting on a private farm that is steeped in Whitetail mystery. My wife has seen an extremely large deer in velvet early last year and my friend Dave witnessed a massive 10 pointer in the corn field within easy shooting distance, but he could not take it because he did not have permission to hunt the farm.

After aquiring permission to shed hunt this several hundred acre farm, I have found now 3 antlers in total and many bones of other types including the pictured Fisher skull. To an antler dog a bone is a bone is a bone and Itsy has found LOTS of bones- deer, cow, pig etc... as well as some antlers!

I went back out on April 24 by myself because the area I wanted to search was a mess of down trees and found this antler, which is the largest of the 3 I have found on this property.

After showing this one to both Dave and my wife, they have both confirmed that this is not the giant that they saw.

.

This antler would score around 66" had the G2 tine (estimated at 9") not broken off. It currently scores about 57"

Easter finds

Easter was the end of Rob's current dry spell

Sunday he found the mate to the Moose shed he found back in Feb. It was within a few feet of where the other was, Rob even had been standing directly on top of it in Feb. The snow was just incredibly deep!!

Today he found the mate to the Whitetail antler he and Itsy found awhile back as well. Much farther from the first one than Rob would have guessed. It was up on a bedding hump/hill that came up out of the swamp

he says now his mental block is gone!

Diane
NHSHC

March shed hunting overview

Shed hunting has been tough this month. So much snow still in most of the places I go.

You keep seeing and hearing about all these sheds being found out West already, but it is a far far different hobby. Out there the snow comes and goes due to the wind and openness, and it is very common to go out and come home with a backpack FULL of sheds. It is so much easier than NH that it is often billed as a good kid's hobby due to it's ease. It is so much easier in fact that many of the most popular wintering areas have an Antler Hunting opening day to keep people from bothering the winter weary animals. On opening day (It's in May) at these places people line up at the gate and when it opens they ride horses or 4 wheelers or hike to get the best antlers first!

I'd love to see some of those people who claim how easy it is to pick up 100's of sheds a year to sell on Ebay come to NH and try the same. I think they'd give up in a hurry.

At any rate I found 3 sheds in March. I've been out a lot but the snow is still quite dense in many shady areas. Field edges and apple tree areas have been where these sheds were found, if you recall the icestorm had covered a lot and around the time the deer were dropping antlers they were hanging out in these areas

I picked up a nice 3 point (photo on the railing attached) in the middle of a hay field.

Then had a pretty dry spell, until the end of the month when the snow started to melt better

The second 3 point Itsy and I found under an apple tree at the edge of a field towards the end of the month.

The fork horn was found in an open stand of big Hemlock trees near the edge of a field. It is a fresh shed but is pretty chewed up from porcupine already due to being pretty near a porcupine den

That's it for the month of March, here's hoping the finds pick up before the ticks get bad!

Rob

Feb Moose shed

Rob went out for a short antler hunting hike today in Springfield, Nh. The snow is still pretty deep in the woods there- in some places 3' drifted , 2' in most places and in the rare Southern spot not too deep

In an area that was 2' deep with 3' drifts around the bases of the hemlocks Rob went through a section of waist high hemlocks and found this antler.

Only a few inches were sticking up.

Rob ran out of search time but he'll go back there soon to find the match

Diane

Moose Sheds

Sat I went to a spot in Springfield that I had found moose antlers before.

As I was following deer tracks I happened to look down and saw something brown IN the deer track. I bent down to look more closely at this track in deep snow and noticed that the brown had antler texture. I swept away snow and found the base of a moose antler. With some effort a pried a nice right hand antler from the snow

I decided that the match could not be far and started to search in spite of the deep snow making the discovery unlikely

I took into account the position the antler had been lying and headed in the direction the moose likely traveled

About 150 yards away I saw the very end of a base and 2" of tine sticking up from the snow

Don't let the differences in the antlers fool you, they are from the same moose. I have seen him personally with antlers on his head and have 3 years of antlers from this same moose that we are guessing is approximately 7-10 years old.

The farm produces for me again!

Rob Richardson

The streak continues

I decided that I would go and check out some more fields and apple trees today before the storm arrives. I went back to our old homestead in Unity.

I was pleasantly surprised when my old neighbor Dave decided to go out with me (Dave is a taxidermist by the way) So there was a little competition there to say the least.

We checked the apple trees first and found nothing, then we went to a ridge behind the old house where there is always a deer trail. I found this nice small 10 point set lying together as if gift wrapped. Dave was a little jealous but he got over it.

We were following a much bigger track and we knew this rack was not his. One of the neighbors had seen a large 10 point with two side stickers and that's the one we were trying to find but no luck.

Nothing more for the day but will hit there again soon

Rob

Rob and Itsy go shed hunting

Rob took his 11 month old Rottweiler girl Itsy for her first ever shed antler hunt today.

They went to a State park near us and did a field search. When they got near some apple trees, Itsy dragged him over to a tree and started digging and whining. When Rob got there he discovered she had found a nice 5 point antler

Rob was very pleased with her.

Diane

Mon Jan 5 2009

On Sat I decided that it would be good to dump a load of apples for the deer. My nephew and I jumped onto my brother's Rhino and drove up to the apple tree which is next to the corn field.

before we could dump the apples we spied this beautiful set of 10 point sheds

It seems early maybe but I'm not going to argue

Rob