we are back, and we brought a freind

Its been 4  years since i posted anything but we are back.

      We have moved from our beloved Unity Mtn farm.

      At first we wintered over in a small off grid cabin on a pond in in Springfield NH for 1 yr and 2 months. It was a place that I yearn to be back at every day. It had all you needed and nothing you didn't. Pure simplicity. And pure cold, as it afforded no insulation at all. Winter was a challenge but we survived and it changed us for the better.                           

      Before we made the move to the camp, we took in another mouth to feed in the form of of a Australian cattle dog puppy we named Chance. We named him after John Wayne's character in Rio Bravo. Like all my canines, he had to be employed as I don't offer welfare or Obama phones to my dogs. They have to contribute to the greater good. In Chances case that means finding the one thing I covet above all else...shed antlers. Yup Chance would be trained to shed hunt.

     His first season was a triumphant success. At just 9.5 months old Chance found his first shed on March 12 2017. A small moose shed. I will never forget it, we were heading down the mtn at about 4:30, and Chance was bouncing from one side of the tote rd to the other when he focused on a tangle of beech and balsam. As he dove in I could hear the tell tale sounds of teeth on moose paddle, and then he popped back out with his first shed! He ran up to me and I was so proud, all the training , all the days and nights after work paid off. He ended up with 8 his first season. So now I have entered the realm of shed hunting with a dog, and can't imagine ever going without him.

               
                   We also embarked on "The Quest for 200". It's a documentary and reality film about the challenge of finding, hunting and ultimately killing a 200 lb NH buck.  See videos here

                                                                                                                                                                                   I have also accepted the responsibilities of el Presidente of NH Shed Hunter's Club once again.                                 
              James has taking the reins from Roscoe Blaisdell of the NH Antler and Skull trophy club and has a massive amount on his plate. We will continue to run NHSHC , but NHASTC will be handling all records and measuring from here on in. Thanks to my boy James and we wish him luck in his future endeavors and we stand with you 1000%.
                   
               OK.... 2018
               First, as always we will be at the April 7th Sportsmen's Event at Trinity Baptist Church on Clinton street in Concord. Come down, this is great show, all the vendors give it their all. We will have a show stopper of a display and some new faces plus a real superstar of the shed world and NHSHC member Mike Guillemette.

            We will posting all of Chances shed hunting adventures with pics and videos here on the blog and also on my Rob Richardson Jr NH Shedhunter Facebook page . Come over to the NHSHC Facebook page and show us yours!

Shed Hunting Artwork

We have finally done it! Bit the bullet and had prints made of one of Rob's paintings. It's the "Standing Guard" painting of a Bull Moose skull with antlers, that Rob painted for the 2014 NHSHC Annual Raffle. This painting is the mate to the 2013 NHSHC Raffle Painting "From Death Comes Life" of a Whitetail Buck skull with antlers.

IF This print sells well, we will be having the matching Whitetail painting made into prints as well.

The Artist proof of "Standing Guard" is sold, as are prints #1 and 2. The first 5 prints sold will come with a free ($20 value) remarque (small sketch near signature). There will be ONLY 100 Giclee prints in total and they are all signed and numbered.

For more info see RJRJR Print page

Diane

30+ Inches of Snow Still on the Ground in March

Sunday brought forth nice temperatures and sun. It also brought a road trip to my best shed site, "The Farm". It's funny that no matter how bad it is everywhere else, the farm always makes me feel better. With this winter being so bad for finding those wonderful bones in our area,I needed to get on to "Hallowed ground".

I needed to collect up a Wildgame Inovations Camera I had set up in a hemlock grove that surrounds a stream valley.This spot has been a traditional wintering yard for ever, but I had my doubts after the last snow storm. The camera had been sitting there for a month and 2 weeks and the batteries were going to be long ago dead in this cold.

I secured my snowshoes and threw on my pack and headed out. I was hoping to get a picture of the big deer wounded during rifle season. Upon reaching the brook crossing, tracks caught my eye. These crazy deer were walking down the frozen brook using it for a main trail because of the lack of snow on top of the frozen stream compared to the woods where it was DEEP.

So since the tracks were days and days old, I thought it safe that there would not be deer close by (not wanting to disturb the deer or lead predators to them), so I followed the brook and tracks down into the wintering area where the camera was. There was also a total lack of fresh tracks near the camera, but the camera had 4 photos on it. Yup only 4. A button buck with his buttons still intact and 3 does. No big bucks and nothing recent. I pulled the camera and moved out.

I worked my way up to a place called "Bear Ridge" to get a look at what was going on. Bear Ridge is a finger ridge that separates the stream valley from the foot of the twin peaks on the farm, both are respectively 1400 feet above sea level. After scanning the surroundings I could see a trail leading from the South East end of Bear Ridge up the lee side of the mountain to a series of shelfs that starts with hardwood and slowly mixes with some hemlock as you climb up. After a lunch break I started my assent.

I had been measuring the snow depth with my walking stick all during my trek and to this point it had varied from 12-28" but as I went out into the low spot out in the open on an old tote road it was a whopping 30" still. As I wove my way through the hardwoods I could see a beat down trail up on the next shelf, I followed this trail until I came to an acceptable place to leave the camera (with fresh batteries and card), it was a 3 way trail intersection facing North. I left the camera facing the intersection and starting following the winding trail rolling over these shelves but avoiding going down any of the trails that lead down to bedding areas in the hemlocks (for now, while the snow is deep to respect the deer's needs and safety, I'll come back later after melt).

This entire backside of the hill is my favorite place in the world, Patriarcal Mountain. It was completely covered with sign. I did a quick scout about in 30" of snow here knowing full well that realisticly the odds are way against me finding a thing. I worked the shelf at a moderate pace heading up and out the old clearcut the deer had worked over at some point this winter towards the outskirts of another wintering area at the back of the cut to see if the deer had in fact used it.

Since the sun was kissing the tops of the mountain though I decided to take another snow measure in the cut itself. 33", this alone illustrated to me that it was in my best interest to head back to the farmhouse for some coffee and wait til another day to comb the hills for sheds. Since this property is fully closed to the public and I have exclusive shed hunting rights, I have no fears of someone legally getting out here before I get back given that tresspassers are not tolerated by the farm well.

While out today I noticed that the "lee side"/ low snow side of the mountain is on the Northwest side this year and almost all of our storms have blown in from the South East and North East meaning the snow is deeper on those sides. You might keep this in mind when going out shedding this spring as the deer stay mostly in the low snow "lee sides" and at least in my areas this will mean check those North West hillsides first!

Too much snow for March

Last week at the Granite State Outdoor Show James, Justin and myself (The Granite State Hunting Adventures Crew) decided that enough was enough and we HAD to take to the woods. The plan was to find some orchards down in the valley that had deer sign , film some shed hunting and also get some "B" roll for our DVDs (which are still in the production phase, not for sale yet).


We started our shedding half way down the mountain and when we got out of the truck we could hear some coyotes howling on the ridge above us. So our shedding turned into an inprompto coyote hunt. James had his rifle and his Foxpro in the truck, so we grabbed them as well as the filming gear and out we went. Well, sort of.... Justin did not bring any snowshoes and the snow was still at a knee freezing 24" deep even with the day being in the 40's/50's.

We trudged past our original intended target, the orchard, and could tell that not one deer had been there since the last big storm weeks ago so that was a no go anyway.

We got set up for the Song Dogs on a flat spot over looking a gully and a large hay field. We called with a fawn in distress call every 10 minutes for an hour with no response. We had the wind but in retrospect the coyotes had either found food when we heard them or they had moved off out of hearing range before we got to our setup. No harm no foul, that's hunting. Mood could also play a part. Basically I could care less about shooting/hunting coyotes. They are not as big of a problem where I am because we have a lot of dog hunters that run the coyotes with hounds. But I digress.

Justin had to split after our foray because he had to go to work, so James and I decided to go scout a spot near a friend's sister's house. She had wanted me to come over and look for "horns" for quite awhile. She has a 160 class "Booner" running around her property based on trail camera pics. We wandered down her lawn toward her apple trees and I was blown away. The ground beneath every apple tree (some still with fruit hanging) had been packed down like a barnyard. The trails that feed into the orchard were just crazy!

James and I decided to wander out some of the trails. They dropped over a steep bank down into a hemlock grove, just a perfect bedding area, beds and trails everywhere. There was still 12-18" snow even under here so the prizes are still hiding.   We scouted a bit more and then touched base with the landowner before heading back over to the Unity Mountain farm to film a "Shed tip of the week" segment on finding matched shed using the clean and dirty pedicel trick. Seems like it turned out all right, so James will try to load that one up on You tube.   Tomorrow I'll head to my brother's farm and check on a camera that has been out for a month, change the batteries and cards in it and re set it in another area. I am checking for a couple deer that were wounded during rifle season to see if they made it through til now.   Next weekend is the Rutland, Vt show and we shall see how that turns out. Stay tuned

Shed Hunting and YOU

If you have ever gone hunting for shed (dropped) deer and moose antlers, or if you have just thought about it, if you have found zero antlers or 1000 antlers, if you buy, sell or collect antlers; you need to read this.


Yes this is going to be long, and yes you might completely disagree with it, but you still need to read this through. Please note: This letter is NOT about antler "ownership", real or perceived, this is strictly about human behavior and attitude.

My husband, Rob and I are the original founders of the New Hampshire Shed Hunters Club (NHSHC) which was the FIRST such club in N.H. and one of the first in all of New England. We started the club as a way for people with the same passion- hunting shed antlers- to share photos of their finds, to exchange tips and to just be able to connect and converse with fellow shed hunters.

As a whole the people we met along the way were nice respectful people. Time passed and the club responsibilities grew too great and we passed the leadership of the club along to James Smith Jr who is just as passionate about shed hunting as Rob. The passage of time has also brought other changes, some good and some not.

Shed antler hunting has exploded in popularity, it's become popular with the young, old and in between. That is the good.

The commercial aspect of shed hunting has always been there, but that too has increased tremendously with the jump in antler prices to feed the Asian and dog chew markets. This is good AND bad. As more people come to shed hunting- for hobby or as a business- we are starting to see a huge and ugly change. There are people being drawn to shed hunting we have never encountered before and that is what we NEED to address.

In the past shed hunters have been a pretty respectful group. They get to know what the vehicles of other shed hunters look like and the areas favored by each other and generally avoid "poaching" a fellow shed hunters traditional areas. They ask permission before crossing land owner's property except in huge tracts of public access land, they go out of their way to cultivate posted landowner access permission and they never steal from anyone.

The new, ugly change we are seeing relates to competition and also in part to the commercial aspect. There are new groups of shed hunters who make a special point to "stalk" the roads looking for the vehicles of other shed hunters and then come back and scour the woods another day, or slip in ahead of them further along the property. They follow other shed hunters and steal found antlers that were tied to trees for pickup on the way out, this is causing a human danger element as altercations in the woods are increasing. They sneak (tresspass) onto posted land to obtain shed antlers. They also go out during hard winters with deep snow pack on snowshoes or snowmobiles and pressure already stressed deer and moose herds out of their "yards" in their quest to get ahead of other shed hunters and in the process pack trails for predators to more easily acccess these animals: something an ethical shed hunter would never do.

We as responsible, ethical shed hunters owe it to the animals we love and respect AND to our fellow shed hunters to regulate ourselves BEFORE the State steps in and regulates it for us by implementing seasons or fees. If the State ever decides that shed hunting is at all causing a decline or is detrimental to the well being of the animals, they could shut down winter shed hunting altogether as has happened in many Western States. No antler in your collection or your sale bin is worth THAT!

Like with ethical hunting we cannot let these "bad seeds" sully the reputation and public image of the ethical, responsible and respectful TRUE shed antler hunter. By using common sense and courtesy the ability to hunt shed antlers will continue without regulation.

In closing, there IS room in the woods for everyone regardless of why you shed hunt, but greed should never play a part or be taught to the new generation.

Sincerely;

Diane & Rob Richardson Jr

No We Did Not Die or Get Lost!

Sometimes life just gets away from you and things not at the top of the "Must do list" get forgotten. That has been the case with this blog.

Rob was at the Granite State Outdoor Show this past weekend in Concord, NH in the booth for the NH Shed Hunter's Club and Granite State Hunting Adventures and several people came up to him wondering just WHEN we were going to start writing on this blog again. We heard you and here we are!

Rob will next be at the Vermont Outdoor Show in Rutland, March 15 and 16 (check the Facebook page for the NH Shed Hunter's Club for a copy of the poster) and the NH Shed Hunter's Club will be drawing the winners of the raffles they started selling tickets for at the Concord, NH show. First prize is this painting by Rob called "Standing Guard"

After this show the men folk will be at the Trinity Baptist Church Sportman's show and banquet in Concord, NH April 5th

Rob and Bella had a good start to their Wildlife Recovery/Blood tracking season and then Bella slipped her harness and was lost for 58 hours. To read about this and other tracks of theirs, go to Bella's Page and scroll down to the Tracking Log link.

Hopefully we will be able to keep updating the blog again on a regular basis and watch for a second post today in fact!

Have a great shed season!
Diane

5 for 5! (no lie)

Write up coming

4 for 4

Okay so I am on a hot streak of sorts in that I am finding shed antlers every time I am hitting the woods. When I get up today I knew I got some things I have got to do, like put a new battery in my truck so we will not get stranded out in the out back again( long story for a different day) so before I into the big town I do a recon through the neighborhood to find where the deer had been. A quarter of the way through my tour I hit pay dirt and notice that an orchard I have permission to hunt is just destroyed with sign. Well mission control we have acquired a target for this afternoons hunt.

After my horrible Walmart morning(also another story for another time) I had lunch ,packed my gear and headed into the woods. On my short drive I knew I would be successful, call it positive thinking or cockiness or what have you I just knew. Upon reaching the orchard I was just blown away with all the big buck tracks I was seeing. I don't mean big tracks I am talking splayed foot dew claw gouging 200 lb + mature monster tracks. Those of you who are in the know, know what I am talking about. As long as a 30.06. shell and almost as wide.

Okay now I am just wound tighter than a ten day clock. big buck = big rack (mostly). I first work the upper orchard with the persistence and skill knowing the big Ol' stickers buck is still kicking around with that massive non-typical rack. The upper level has nothing that I can see but there is some snow covering potential small sheds, however big ones should still poke up.

I work into the lower section and immediately find its just as tracked up and that the deer had been bedded only fifty yards from the road. Not only is it more tracked up but there are more paths between sections. I kick around every tree and move gradually to the East then follow a trail to another section. I am walking stooped over because of the under brush and stopping and scanning the ground every few feet side to side up and down. and then as I scan just to right of my foot I see just a few inches of tine popping up out of the snow. I reach down and pop out a nice 3 point side .

A basic clean six with no brow tines. Fairly good size off a 2 and one half year old. I spend until dark thirty looking for the match. To much to cover and the bedding area is a way off so I will have to come back. Just 10 minutes from my house so I can even stop by after work. notice the size of the pedicle base huge, huh! he has some growing to do. well stay tuned, the streak will continue

3 For 3 ("Seed Antler")

So we finally got out to do some moose antler hunting in my little spot over in Croydon today.
James met me at my place bright and early and we were welcomed by a brisk 10 degrees and no wind. after a short ride and a whole lot of anticipation we were under way.

I was surprised at the lack of sign at first but the snow had only been on the ground a short time so the animals had probably been there just the snow had erased their signature. We got on some good deer tracks and followed them for a ways up a ridge to a crossing on the stream to get down to a moose yard. We went quite a ways and finally picked up some fresh moose sign and started to follow. We jumped them and followed some distance back in to the big moose yard. I was seeing little bull sign ( the two we tracked were either small yearling bulls or a cow and a calf) but once again the snow probably covered it up. after another 100 yards or so I spotted a curious site, something red and yellow and quite large. I called over to James and told him I saw something "An antler?" he asked ."Nope, a half a canoe!"

Yes a half a canoe in the outback of Croydon at least 2 miles from any navigable water way.

I still am at a loss.

We continued on into the depth of the area and started to find rubs and fresh chews on the trees. We worked an edge of some feeding areas and I started getting that vibe. We started to go down along a small bog and came out in another feeding cluster and I noticed a tree stand. How in the hell did they get that out here? I took another step and bam ! sticking up out of the snow Not three steps from the base of the tree stand was a meaty tine. GOT ONE ! And this was James response," Your kidding!" I detected a bit of envy in that statement. Sometimes being an antler addict can get me in trouble.

Anyways, it was a non typical shed with a whitetail style brow tine and a kicker off the back. The bases are really large like a mature bull but the antler itself has short beams like a five year old. Maybe a bull on the decline I am not sure. Well after a few pics and a grid search we did not find the match at this spot so we began looking in the surroundings to no avail. After James so kindly strapped my treasure to his pack we were off.

We came across a ton more rut rubs on trees closer to the stream .

We then laced our way back to the road following rubs and tracks. At one point we sat for a bit on a blowdown and James asked if I would sell him the antler. I told him no. (I did not plan on selling him that antler, my plan was to make him sweat carrying it back to the truck and then give it to him.) But I let him know then that it was his. I think he was shocked. I honestly thought he was gonna fall off the log! "You see, sometimes you need a seed antler." I told him. James asked, "What is a seed antler?" It is a antler you give some one that they put in their trophy room and it mysteriously starts adding more to the collection.

We made our way back to the truck me with another find in the books and James with the start of his moose antler collection and another push towards complete antler obsession.

Two for two

After a few unsuccessful outings , I finally broke the ice! You know it just feels good just to put your hands on some antler again!

So James and I head out on Saturday to his favorite hunting spot and tromp around for a bit. It's a very good spot he has taken some nice deer in there and found quite a few sheds, but this trip was to no avail. So we decided to head to another spot that he has been getting some nice pictures on his trail cam. One is a buck with a real nice typical NH 4 point antler on one side and the other antler looks like he had some pedicle damage because it looks as if it melted down his face.
My first impression of this spot is that it is a typical deer yard in a residential/rural area , and the deer sign is insane! We have all seen these spots (Chris Holmes I mean you) where a giant deer is seen by the desperate housewives while the hubby is 30 miles away hunting the big North Woods seeing moose and squirrels.

We moved up and along various shelves and ridges finding nothing but tons of sign. As the day waned on we worked down into planted rows of red pine and started meandering around only 200 yards from someone's back porch. As I stopped and leaned against one of said pines, I looked down at the forest floor at my feet and I saw what appeared to be a couple of chewed sticks, I knew in a instant what it was. I bent over and picked up shed # 1 of 2012, a nice big 5 point side, a little chewed but enough left to get a idea of what kind of bucks were wandering these hills . I humbly relinquished my find to the master of this hunting ground like I customarily do when shed hunting as a guest. then I headed home to recharge for day 2



Day two went like this: I trekked out to the back side of our fifty acre piece and worked into the big cut. I wandered for hours crossing all over open woods ,hemlock swamps, open clearings and nothing. I was still coming down from the high of breaking the ice yesterday so it was just great learning the routes and bedding areas I had over looked this hunting season. At just about dark I had made it just about back to the house and took a deer run that runs just 40 yards behind my big double stand and at the base of a rub for all to see out in the barren ground was my first freshie of the year! It was not the Unity Mt. swamp monster but the smaller 2 and a half year old 8 point that had been seen eating my apples not just a few days before. I looked around pretty hard for the match but since we are having some logging done I fear it is buried under dirt and debris from the machinery. Well the swamp monster's rack is still out there either on his head or on the ground and I will find them!

New Years Eve Day

Well, as many of you know I no longer head up NHSHC. Although I am still involved, I play a much smaller role assisting James Smith, jr the new owner/President. James is a hell of a guy and has a fire in his belly for our sport unequaled by anyone that I have met in many years. He has many new ideas and a clear goal in mind in what direction the club can and must go in to best serve the shed hunters of NH. James is an official scorer for both the NH Antler and Skull Trophy Club headed up by Roscoe Blaisdell and the NE Big Bucks Club, so I urge all of you to contact James about scoring your sheds. In coming days He and I will do a little shedding around the old farm just to get our feet wet.

And now for today's adventures. I met up with a lifelong friend Chris Palermo up in his home turf to go on the first antler hunt this season on the hunt for the sheds for his double main beam buck. This deer is by far the biggest bodied buck I have ever seen on digital trail cam. Given the fact I have stood where the pic was taken, I was blown away at his size. I would guess dressed weight at 250 anyways! The rack looks average until you factor in his body proportions.
It may be a little early but who knows. The terrain reads like a text book on where to find some soggy bottom old swamp beast, hemlock swamps that go on for an eternity with mixed hardwoods that surround in the highlands and open fields to the northeast and apple trees and rural lawns mixed in here and there. We first ran a ridge that fed down into a swamp (one of many I mentioned before) I found a rub line crossing a bottle neck where Chris will be placing a bow stand next season. We covered the area but judging by the pink doe pee the buck's testosterone had not dropped enough yet because of the does still being breedable.

We then noticed a snowshoe hare be-bopping in and out of some hemlocks and seeing that Chris loves to eat bunnies, we put the stalk on. Well after some masterful stalking and some careful aiming ....he missed. We chased the little guy around for near on twenty minutes and then Chris decided to eat pizza instead.

All in all, it was a good day because we now have a better understanding of how that bruiser is moving . I just wish we had a better understanding of his antlers. but I will go back in a few weeks

Bird Season moose skull

October 1st Steve and I headed to Pittsburg to do some grouse hunting and to roam the woods of the north country. I was accused early on in the 3 hour ride of using the opening of bird season to shed hunt. I assured him that my intentions were pure. But, I had fully intended to shed hunt and shoot any birds that just happened to cross my path but I did not state that to my friend Steve.

As dawn broke the next morning I could hear rain pattering on the roof and knew our tradition of only going to Pittsburg in the rain held. I swear every time we go it rains the whole time no matter what the weather says. At about seven we headed to Happy Corner for some belly stuffing. We drank our coffee in deep thought about the day, me dreaming about antlers and Steve fantasizing about the cranberry sauce and stuffing we had toted along in anticipation of some fat grouse breast for dinner. We had ordered our standard; the Rhode Island red (corned beef hash served on a bed of home fries covered with cheddar cheese) the breakfast of shed hunters...I mean bird hunters.

We finished our feast and headed into the woods. I strategically suggested a spot that had been very productive in the past and the best part is that even though it gets hunted hard in Pittsburg this spot gets overlooked because of its simplicity. it also has birds. I generally am fairly open in giving up the general location of my spots but this place is top secret. We both took a side of the brook and headed north, after 10 minutes or so I noticed a leg bone . Then a scapula. Then another leg bone. I then decided to follow the gruesome scavenger hunt.Through the spruce boughs I caught a glimpse of tines "that's cool", I thought... an antler! But as I pushed through the scrub, what awaits but the holy grail ! A moose skull with antlers attached!


So at this point I called for Steve to no avail. I hoofed it back to the truck myself .Not a monster by any means but for this shed hunter a giant just the same.

The rest of the weekend went by fast, but soaked to the bone. But we did see a cow and a bull doing the courtship thing and in another spot I called in an absolute monster of a bull within 15 yards. But sadly not a single bird. At least Steve got to eat his cranberry sauce and stuffing.........with pork chops from Young's store.

Bought a moose

Well a shed anyhow. Had a chance to buy this big Pittsburg Moose antler that was found by the son of a friend while snowmobiling. It was about to be turned into a lamp and I could not bear the thought.

Big and impressive describes this beast. And yes that is a full grown female Rottweiler.

Skulls, Skulls, and bones

Broken moose

Today's trip was shortened to a half day due to obligations beyond my control. Do people know what time of year this is? Moving right along, I returned to the place I was last week but I was going up higher today. Right away I found a well used moose path, wait, no, this is a moose road!

It went up along a ravine onto a expansive mixed hardwood and hemlock flat. Not 200 yards up I found a rub line. Yes moose, like whitetails have rub lines,they are just bigger and farther apart in distance. The first rub was on a thigh sized spruce what I would consider a marking post tree one just upon entering an open area known as a breeding arena. I did a grid back and forth of this area and found nothing. I entered a huge hardwood flat and grid searched that also. As I reached the far end of my last turn I found one, I have never found one before in a area like this, devoid of browse with all mature hardwood. It's a great shed because of its uniqueness, the palm is broke off not chewed! It also has a kicker off the back. It is I believe a year old.

I checked along the rest of the flat and found nothing ,but again saw some areas I will be back to go over again if I get time.The shear size of this particular wilderness is overwhelming and poses more than a few challenges. But I just know in myheart that there is more and bigger sheds in here.

Chewed up "yard ornaments"

One of the things I've tried to do this season is expand myhunting grounds. The more I talk to people about sheds, the more places Ihear about. I have found that Stoddard ,Munsonville, Windsor and Washington to be hidden gems, with immense open land opportunities and abundant moose and deer population.

I headed out to a place that I have been in before but not really looked thoroughly over. Almost immediately upon entering the woods I found significant moose sign. While creeping down an old abandoned farm road I looked out across a slough and noticed a hemlock covered peninsula jutting out into the summer moose feeding grounds. I noticed a number of winter chews on trees and some antler rubs on some sizable spruce and I knew in an instant that this was going to be the place to really start looking. I followed a game trail littered with moose and deer pellets over a spongy moss laden bog to reach the spit. Once I set foot on solid dry ground I could see up close that the moose spend alot of time in there. I covered the spit in three waves, outer edge by following the trail around the outside of the tree line where the rubs were all the way around. Inside edge ,This area the small hemlock was all browsed up and showed the most use and the inside where the moose bed down on the ridge that ran down the center of the landmass. When searching it is very important to go over a piece of ground with a fine tooth comb.

While scouring the inside edge I picked up my first shed of the day. A big but chewed side laying in the middle of the browse. Still with a lotof mass and weighty for its size ,would have been a cocker of an antler whole. I strapped it to the pack to use as a garden antler.
I Finished scouring the spit without any luck of finding the match. So I moved off the spit and followed the inside edge around the east side following astream. I climbed up a small rise and laying on a flat rock like an altar is a small fork moose shed chewed on the end . I am always amazed at some of the ways I have found antlers, hanging off logs, sitting up on stumps, stuck points down in the mud, in the middle of the road ,submerged in streams, just amazing.

Well the rest of the day was devoid of antlers but I did make note of a few trails and clearings that I will check into next week.

April swampin and slippin

So, as usual I am a little behind in my post.

On Thursday the I went back to Unity to attempt to find the matches to the antlers I found last week. But first I stopped to see my friend Dave Gokey at the taxidermy shop. He had mentioned that he had been ill so I wanted to check up on him. He had some real giants on the wall that duh, stupid me neglected to get photos of not to mention a splendid caribou that I was very impressed with. We talked for about 2 hrs I showed him the sheds from last week as Dave who keeps tabs on the deer around town is familiar with the area I had found these two. He let me in on the whereabouts of another buck in that vicinity with some very distinct set of antlers that he saw early last fall. Without giving much detail, it has a lot of junk sticking out all over the place. Along with a long tined 10 and a even bigger 8. Well with this new info I set off to my secret spot with visions of non-typicals dancing in my head. With strategic precision I placed my truck out of sight and headed up hill to Fields to access my spot.

I took extra care to not leave man tracks showing my entrance to the spot. While others may know of this spot during the rut, I need no competition for the treasures that await me on the ground. As I crept my way along a deer trail beside a grassy marsh area I scanned the matted down reeds and 40 or fifty yards out I could see what looked like a couple large tines poking up. the view through my binocs confirmed my suspicions. As I slogged out to my intended target It grew to the point that I thought it was a yearling moose fork. Imagine how awestruck I was after I examined it and found the basic conformation and brow tine of a whitetail!
A basic fork with the nub of a brow,measures around 22-23 inches long and from about a 2 years old. I Had not even reached the yard yet. I Traveled another hundred yards or so and crossed into the hemlocks on the backside of the pond and found the spot I picked up the 5 point antler last week. i followed the packed trail toward the south and not 40 yards away next to a dug up area where the deer had been searching for acorns was the match laying in the snow as plain as day. How in the hell did I miss it? My tracks where still visible in the snow not 5 feet away!. With that said it goes to illustrate the importance of searching an area from different angles and the necessity of turning around and examining the ground behind you. Case in point, I had traveled this same path last week only coming from the south toward the north. I have found so many that I had passed by simply by occasionally turning around to survey were I have been.

After some as it lay photos I pressed on to try to find the match to the 4 point side from last time or an altogether different antler After a lengthy search and a few misadventures with knee deep snow and more than a few steep icy deer trail and no more antlers I retreated from the woods with my two treasures, being as careful coming out as going in. It will be just a matter of time before I find more in that spot.

Next time I am heading to Croydon with Steve to try to find the match to my January moose shed or other moose sheds and hit up a big deer yard. This will give this spot about two weeks to melt out some more, Easter I will be at the farm. After that who knows, the far North? We will see.

March melt

Today I decided to go to Unity. After weeks of fighting snow and finding only one shed so far this winter the snow was finally leaving some of my best spots and Unity seemed to be at the Northern most edge of spring melt. That is at that point I like best, patches of open ground and just enough snow to give a hint of wintering activity.

In years past the brunt of the deer stayed close to the old homestead and ate the buried apples and yarded in the two hemlock groves bordering the old orchards. However, an earlier trip this year in February reavealed the deer had abandond these well used yards that I had succesfully hunted for many years. Time to think outside the box.

After reviewing some sattelite images and doing some thinking I settled on a plan of attack. I would hike way back in to an area I could remember from earlier scouting trips. I could gain access by snowmobile trails most of the way in, according to the map 1.75 miles. Then it was up to me to bushwhack back in and make good on my hunch. After walking almost 2 miles on mud snow and ice I came to a bend inthe trail that marked the bushwhacking portion of this trip. Up to this point I had not seen a track.

Walking 500 yards weaving through what seemed prime wintering ground,bingo! The deer yard. The sign was over whelming, and so wasn the smell. If you don't know what a deer smells like let me take you to one of these yards and you will not ever miss that smell again. This yard was large, maybe snaking around 5 acres, most likley more. The first thing I noticed were some giant rubs on some thigh sized hemlocks from last fall. My excitement rose when I realized the caliber of deer that may be in this spot.

I started to follow the packed down remnants of the trails. I crossed a small stone wall a headed up hill. I noticed an open quarter acre patch of oak leaves to the right of the trail, good I thought "maybe I will see something in these open spots."And up I went. There was still spots back in the yarding area that I had to strap snowshoes on and follow the packed down trails. An hour later as I reached the top of the yard I still had found nothing and started my swing backdown. Some how after alot of looking and a slightly unscheduled trip around some mystery river not on any map I arrived directly back where I had originally crossed the stone wall and as I began to follow trail # 2 along the wall, I noticed in that same open patch of oak leaf coverd ground was an antler!

How in the hell had I missed that before? There in the middle as plain as day a nice 4 point side, not the giant that had been rubbing those big trees but a nice one none the less. More than likely from a 3 1/2 year old. At this point my watch read 5:00 so I decided to start heading out by following trail#2 to the Northeast back in the direction of the truck, attempting to exit the woods at dark. Ihadn't gone thirty yards and there not a foot off the trail at the melted out base of a big spuce was a beauty of a 5 point side. Dark and with nice mass.

I was amazed at how perfect it had fallen. After a few pics I hefted it up and just marveled at how dark it was. Short stubby points but from a 4-5 1/2 year old I would guess. I looked around quickly for the match but to no avail. I started move along at a quicker clip to get out and made the truck at 7:00 pm with a good take for the day.

Bear steam

Well last weeks trip turned into a health and welfare check of one of the three deer yards at the farm. Seems that so far I haven't lost any of the mature bucks in that yard,but no antlers for they must be under some the 3 and a half odd feet of white and not so fluffy snow.



The deer seemed to be eating the fir, cedar and hemlock buds and not so much the bark. Found a few south facing edges on an oak ridge that the deer had scraped up acorns. My brother is doing some forest management where his sugar-bush abuts the drainage that connects two of the deer yards and is having the logging outfit leave the tops of the sugar maples down for the deer.This seems to be working as the deer are flocking to the site and even bedding down in and around the cut. The other two yards are primarily does and small bucks and fawns, one of which has access to the topped maples. That other yard unfortunately will be where the winter-kills will be more than likely, not to mention they will be tougher to get into because of geography.



I will wait about two more weeks before I attempt them. As far as for the next trip ,I will probably go to Wilmot and try to get into some traditional deer-yards that are in along rte.4a, or I may attempt the moose yard in and around Fowlers Town. It will all depend on snow conditions, some places are accessible by snowshoes and the crust is enough to hold you up and then there are the places you just bust through to your waist. and that my friends makes for a long miserable day.



Here's a picture of the bear den I found. The snow edges are all "melty" and when I put my head to the hole, I could hear the bear softly breathing in it's sleep!

Finally out again

Well its that time of year again when our winter weary souls start itching to get out and find bone.





I can say that the moose are bald now to the most part in our Granite State, antlers in the upper valley falling like rain somewhere around Jan. 19 or so around a full moon. Deer though are being a bit more stubborn. Some are still sporting crowns according to some local game cams but I have it on good authority that some tines are poking out of the 3 odd feet of snow.





I have going out regularly since Dec 24 keeping an eye on the ground and on a large moose-yard that holds about 7 or 8 moose, at least 4 are bulls, one is a brute with big wide palms, then another good one about 45-48 inches wide, I found his left side in Jan.

Since then conditions have gotten absolutely miserable almost impassable in the woods, I have broken snow shoes twice because of the inconsistent but heavy crust, and its just too damn deep to slog through. Mark my words we will have extreme winter kill this year. Not only can the coyotes run quite effortlessly over the the crust BUT the conditions alone will be deadly, and not just to the deer. So far this year I have heard of many owls and hawks being found dead. Seems with this crust mice and other prey can stay under the snow in tunnels. Even the mighty moose will fall victim. Even though 3 feet of snow is manageable for them ,the crust is tough even on their movement. But despite conditions I may venture out today on this presidents day and evoke the adventurous spirit of Teddy Roosevelt and do a little low impact scouting in Stoddard N.H.

I'll let you all know how that works out. .