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