Season by Season in Maine 2008-07-19T23:53:20Z http://maineseasonsblog.com/atom.aspx Quick Blog Vacation close to home this year tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-05-15:7801d8b8-bad5-4eec-9446-de0c39b44321 Denise 2008-05-16T09:05:35Z 2008-05-15T20:33:53Z vacation or even just a little time away? You may not have thought of Canaan before but I can tell you, this area has just as much to offer as some of the more well known destinations and some even believe it's a better family location. Located in Somerset county - half way between Augusta and Bangor on 95 or half way between Skowhegan and Newport on Rt2, Canaan is centrally located to many attractions. 
       ATV trails are set to open this week. Maine has over 5000 miles of ATV trails in the stateand more are being added all the time. ATVing is a wonderful family outing, with trails winding thru the woods, over fields, to the tops of mountains, with great spots to stop for lunch or bring your own for a trail side picnic. We have miles of local trails in the area.
       The Kennebec River is famous for fly fishing with brown and brook trout plentiful. Local lakes and ponds such as Lake George, Big Indian Pond, Moose Pond, Morrill Pond, Unity Pond and more for brook trout, brown trout, rainbows, small mouth bass, perch and more.  Lake George Park is also a great place to spend the day on the beach of the lake, enjoying a swim or the hiking trails. 
       There are many antique shops on the area including the famed James D Julia Auction House. Freeport is just a little over an hour away with the many great retail stores and restaurants. Don't miss Riverfest June 27-29 in Skowhegan and enjoy raft rides down the river, an "anything that floats" parade, atv obstacle course for kids, 5K road race, mountain bike trail ride, fly fishing with Trout Unlimited, night time entertainment and more.
The  Skowhegan State Fair  August 7-16th is one of the largest and oldest state fairs in the state.  The fair features all of the events you would want at a state fair, rides, animals, demolition derbies, and of course food. If golf is one of your pastimes there are several courses in the area- try a different one each day! 
        The cabins at Silverton are one and two bedroom with full baths, living room area, dinette tables, small frig and more. All linens are included and dogs are welcome in the cabins. Let the kids pitch a tent, go for walks, catch fish in the ponds on the property and just be kids. Try your hand at clay target shooting- we have all the equipment you need, and in the fall enjoy a pheasant hunt.
        There are local events all summer long so why not come enjoy some Maine hospitality.

      ]]> Sporting Clays course is ready to go tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-05-15:5b6ad1fd-0993-4289-9130-fc85251f090e Denise 2008-05-15T18:57:09Z 2008-05-15T17:00:00Z     According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the number of folks participating in clay target shooting is increasing among all ages, especially women. Clay target shooting can be in the form of trap shooting, which has one machine throwing clay targets going away from the shooter, skeet, which has two machines, one on the left and one on the right. Sporting clays and 5 stand are an anything goes game- targets can be incomers, going away, crossers, from towers over the shooter's head, a rabbit bouncing on the ground, you get the idea. To learn more about sporting clays check out our April 2006 newsletter on our shooting sports page.  We have instructors and all the equipment you need so why not give it a try? The 5 stand and 10 station sporting clays course are open 7 days a week by appointment. A round of 25 targets on the 5 stand is just $5 and 50 targets on the sporting clays course is $25. Clay target shooting is an activity all ages can enjoy and with the proper fitting shotgun you're half way to success. I frequently have groups of three generations coming out to shoot, or corporate groups which consider shooting events great team building exercises, employee rewards,or a unique client outing.
    
    We will be hosting the Maine State Sporting Clays Championship on June 27, 28 & 29 and are expecting shooters from all over New England and beyond for the event. Several of the events will be benefiting the Ronald McDonald House of Bangor thru the Kids & Clays program. These events are held all over the country raising funds for this wonderful organization. 

    Spend a few hours shooting on the 5 stand or sporting clays course then relax on the screened porch or deck of the lodge with a cool drink- sounds like a nice outing doesn't it?





    
    ]]> 5th time's the charm tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-05-12:07881d75-fa2c-40c6-bdd4-4b1988c28476 Denise 2008-05-12T23:10:47Z 2008-05-12T22:24:00Z     On Saturday I moved to a different spot. Since there was gobbling from several locations around the field each day, it was tough to know which spot to pick. One day I had them to my left and behind me. The ones behind me never came out but instead went the opposite direction. So this day the majority of the gobbling was in the lower corner so I headed that way.
     JD was with me  and we had action up close but from a pair of hens. The decoys were 10 yards from the edge of the field and we heard gobbling from the opposite side and from our left. The left got quiet and we were focused across the field. Suddenly a pair of hens came running  to the decoys and after checking out the new girls on the block, one felt comforatble enough to engage in a dust bath. Her purring and dusting just 10 yards from us was a real treat. She was thoroughly enjoying her self and when she stood up and shook her self off there was a cloud of dust. The other hen was all business and did her best to call the toms over to them. But they were not budging and both hens eventually made their way across the field to the toms. This is not the first time we've had other birds do the calling for us and it's an unbelieveable education. The group wandered along the edge of the field and disappeared back into the woods. 
    I had to wait until Monday to try again and I chose the lower end of the field and about 100 yards from the corner. There was active gobbling on the middle edge of the field, where I had been the week before but I stuck with my original choice. I sent the two hen decoys out and heard gobbling just 30 yards into the woods. I hurried to the woods and settled in, confident that the birds would appear on my right. They were close enough that I could hear their wings. I was ready, or so I thought.  I caught a glimse of movement out of the corner of my eye and turned just in time to see a tom fly down in between the two decoys. I must have walked right past him and he never made a sound. I watch him check the girls out and for about 10 seconds I thought " I'll just wait for the big one- he's just on the other side of the brush" as I turned back to the tom in the field he was in full strut and I came to my senses- don't be greedy here's a nice tom 20 yards away- take him! Only problem was I needed to make a 1/4 turn to reposition myself for the shot. I slowly moved, taking advantage of when he wasn't looking. There were several times I thought he was looking right at me but he didn't get nervous. Just as I was in position he decided the decoys weren't interesting after all and turned to walk away. I took the shot and had a nice 19lb tom with an 8.5" beard and 1" spurs to take home. It was 5:20 am and I sent a text to JD asking him not to leave for work yet. He coaches varsity softball and usually I am not allowed to talk to him on game days, ( he says it's bad luck) but I knew he'd make an exception for this.
    When my turkey comes back from the taxidermist, where he will assume the position of full flight forever, he will join the other mounts in the lodge and be the inspiration for stories for many years to come.









]]>     After 4 days of turkey hunting, today was the day. I had hunted this group of birds several days and learned a little more about them  each day. First, there were 4 toms in the group with as many as a dozen hens. These toms as a group had no interest in going to hens. One day I had set up  two hen decoys and had the biggest tom gobble back at my calls several times , then continue feeding their way across the field. If they weren't coming to him- he wasn't going to them. The next day they ... the love affair continues tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-05-03:350a3f8e-d7dd-411f-bb75-bbda014421b8 Denise 2008-05-03T13:58:06Z 2008-05-03T13:44:00Z








]]> Spring Fling Sporting Clays results tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-05-03:98cb3cbd-363e-482f-a89c-a6be3f2a718b Denise 2008-05-03T13:43:35Z 2008-05-03T13:20:00Z Congratulations to Earle Glidden of Gorham took top honors by winning the tie breaker with a 95 over Henry Trial of Argyle.  Top subgauge score went to Frank Sabo of Massachusetts with a 46.

We also have the Hunter class for those shooters that are not NSCA resgistered and don't care about which class they are in. Our top Hunter class shooter for the main event was Brent Sirios of Kennebunk.
For complete results go to www.silvertonsportingranch.com and click on the "shoot results" page.
Our next shoot will be the Maine State Sporting Clays Championship June 27-29. For those looking to improve their scores we will have shooting lessons and a target reading clinic with Bob Mastroianni of Break Point Management Shooting School on June 7 & 8.





]]> hey boys top this one tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-04-30:eb48d0f8-48ad-4003-820c-e489f95c5c3b Denise 2008-04-30T13:32:33Z 2008-04-30T13:22:00Z After spotting the tom in the distance, Richard told Andrea their best chance would be to stalk the bird. They started crawling on the ground until they were within shooting range. It was 40 yards but Andrea made a good shot, although part of a spur was shot off in the process.
Here's the stats: 24.6 lbs - 9.5" beard - Spurs 1.5" and 7/8". The bird ranks 4th in Maine for weight.
Way to go Andrea!!!  She took a jake last year so she's on a roll.


]]> Denise_200842292323.flv tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-04-22:8b9c4158-5766-4f46-b27e-6e29d7e58d97 Denise 2008-04-22T09:37:34Z 2008-04-22T09:36:00Z http://maineseasonsblog.com/2008/04/22/denise_200842292323flv.aspx]]> 10 reasons tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-04-20:9ea75407-c9ac-4796-a47e-6cef8b9386ef Denise 2008-04-20T08:13:17Z 2008-04-20T08:11:00Z http://outdoorlife.blogs.com/thegunshots/2008/04/10-reasons-men.html]]> Snow melt pictures tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-04-11:443b1f7a-b88e-4771-a63c-59889d096ea9 Denise 2008-04-11T11:41:26Z 2008-04-11T11:38:00Z but as an added bonus by the time I got back to the lodge it was dusk and there was a woodcock in the field. I know others have said they have heard them last week but this was my first of the year.

]]> Now this is more like it tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-04-10:6d6e2864-9ed5-45ab-ac9c-8870695a283e Denise 2008-04-10T18:03:53Z 2008-04-10T17:52:00Z     As I have driven around from Waterville to Skowhegan the last few days I can't help but notice that we have far more snow in the fields here. This, of course, is because we have a sporting clays shoot here in two weeks and need to have the fields as dried up as possible. When the snow in the field behind the lodge starts to melt, we have a small raging river that runs thru my fields and winds it's way down to the bog. This make for some very interesting walks especially over the ledges but I'm glad it's only certain times of the year. 
    When I went out this morning there was a pair of mallards lounging in the front pond and a pair of geese over head that seemed to be on a mission.....signs of life that spring has definetely sprung.
    ]]> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The last few days have finally started to feel like spring. I was out early the other morning and the birds were chirping, there were deer in the field behind the little barn, a wood duck had been tempted by the calls of the mallard hens in the pen and the turkeys were answering the calls of the pheasant roosters.. okay they were a little confused by actually the pheasant make great locator calls.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As I have driven around from Waterville to Skowhegan the last few days I can't help but notice that we have far more snow in the fields ... last of the season- Sportsmans Shows that is tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-04-08:a9a35e9a-fc74-4a30-866d-a9d037c4c310 Denise 2008-04-08T09:13:14Z 2008-04-08T08:09:00Z Presque Isle Fish and Game Association.
This is a show that everyone looks forward to. The hospitality is typical of  "the County" - very friendly and easy going. This was our 6th show- we've been in MA, NH and ME and there are several of the exhibitors that have been at the same show as us and we've gotten to know them as good friends now. One couple, Don and Linda Boisvert of Bloodfinder of NH are a great example. Don and Linda have been promoting their product, Blue Star, which will detect blood. How many stories have you heard that start with" I know I had a good shot on him but I couldn't find any blood". This product will help hunters find that deer. Besides their wonderful company, Linda's cookies and treats are a welcome treat every afternoon at the shows. 
    Because Presque Isle is my hometown it's always great to see so  many people, mostly family,  that I don't get to see.  There are always those embarassing moments when someone says  hi and wow it's great to see you it's been a  long time......
    One of the hot topics of conversation was the devestation to the deer herd from this winter. The mortality rate is expected to be between 35 and 50 %. There were some feeding practices such as cutting cedar it was no where near enough. At this point there will be no any deer permits in the northern part of the state and there is hope that the department will implement restricitons on bucks as well.  The moose population has also taken a hit. I spoke to my cousin and he told me he'd spoken to someone who flies and he's seen several dead moose as well. One trip into a small deer yard in Mapleton found 7 dead deer, curled up and starved to death. This has been a common seen thru out the County. In our Zone, 17 the any deer permit numbers will be down by 2000 to just over 9000 total. It will certainly be a tough year and we can only hope that mother nature doesn't hit us with a cold wet spring, or poor crop conditions.
]]> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The last Sportsman Show in Maine was last weekend hosted by the <a href="http://www.presqueislefishandgame.org/">Presque Isle Fish and Game Association</a>.<br> This is a show that everyone looks forward to. The hospitality is typical of &nbsp;"the County" - very friendly and easy going. This was our 6th show- we've been in MA, NH and ME and there are several of the exhibitors that have been at the same show as us and we've gotten to know them as good friends now. One couple, Don and Linda Boisvert of&nbsp;<a href= "http://www.bloodfinderofnh.com/">Bloodfinder of NH</a> are a great example. Don and Linda have been promoting their product, ... Bear Monitoring tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-03-30:175ca0e1-2e71-444c-8ad8-d4f785d86450 Denise 2008-03-30T08:53:10Z 2008-03-30T08:25:00Z Paul Cr, in northern Maine who is an incredible photographer caputuring all aspects of life in northern Maine both human and otherwise.  He sent out these photos from a trip he took with Maine's Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Department  biologists on a bear monitoring trip. According to Paul the  bears are wearing tracking devices and are tracked by air then the coordinates are given to the biologists who snowmobile/ snowshoe into where the dens are. They dig out the snow, tranqulize the bear, remove her and the cubs. They do a health exam, record the data and return the bears to the den. One bear they are monitoring is now 13 and had three cubs with her.  Maine's bear population is healthy and plentyful thanks to the great  job these guys do.

I'll let the pictures tell the story.







]]> I receive an email almost daily from a gentleman,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.crownofmaine.com/paulcyr/main.php">Paul Cr,</a>&nbsp;in northern Maine who is an incredible photographer caputuring all aspects of life in northern Maine both human and otherwise.&nbsp; He sent out these photos from a trip he took with&nbsp;<a href="http://www.maine.gov/ifw">Maine's Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Department</a>&nbsp; biologists on a bear monitoring trip. According to Paul the &nbsp;bears are wearing tracking devices and are tracked by air then the coordinates are given to the biologists who snowmobile/ shoes into where the dens are. They dig out the snow, tranqulize the bear, remove her and the cubs. They do a health ... Sportsman Show Time tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-03-27:87dc0d07-7050-440f-8a7d-9f3ca3c03c67 Denise 2008-03-27T10:03:54Z 2008-03-27T09:12:00Z This year the Maine State Sportsmans Show is March 28-30 at the Augusta Civic Center. You can meet the folks from some of the great conservation organizations such as National Wild Turkey Federation, Trout Unlimited, The Maine Bowhunter Association,. ATV Maine willbe there will free ATV rides for the kids. There will be a live bald eagle coming from the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray. There will be many seminars and demonstrations on fishing, hunting, taxidermy, dog training and so much more.

This year I will have had a booth at 5 different shows in three states starting with the Rockingham Sportsmans Show, the Springfield Sportsmans Show, the Pine State Sportsmens Show, the Maine State Sportsmans Show and the Presque Isle Sportsmans Show. The Pine State Sportsmans Show, also referred to as the Wilton Show as it's held at the Nichols Expo Center, was hampered with a double whammy this year. It was Easter weekend and brutally cold and windy. Attendance was still good with over 5000 attending Saturday.  I always meet lots of new folks and contacts, meet new friends and customers at these shows.


Next weekend I head home to Presque Isle for their show. It's always good to go home, not having to pay for a hotel room is a plus! It's a great show with high attendance and since it 's the last show of the season for most outfitters, it's a little more relaxed and a lot of fun.

]]> March can be a tough month in Maine.....especially this winter when we've had so much snow- cabin fever hits an all time high. Sportsmans Shows provide an outlet, a chance to dream of future hunts, talk to outfitters, purchase beef jerky, fishing gear and more. <br> This year the Maine State Sportsmans Show is March 28-30 at the Augusta Civic Center. You can meet the folks from some of the great conservation organizations such as <a href="http://www.nwtf.org">National Wild Turkey Federation</a>, <a href="http://www.tu.org">Trout Unlimited</a>, <a href="http://www.mainebowhunters.org/main.php">The Maine Bowhunter Association</a>,. <a href="http://www.atvmaine.org">ATV Maine</a>&nbsp;willbe there will free ATV rides for the kids. There will ... So much information to share! tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-03-25:118bba76-0da5-4793-adb3-f3acbea59236 Denise 2008-03-25T16:29:49Z 2008-03-25T16:23:00Z We are very excited to be able to share all of the many things that are going on in Maine, the Skowhegan area, and here at Silverton Sporting Ranch.

In Maine we are more inclined to describe the season by an activity, hunting season, ice fishing season, followed by our famous mud season, you get the idea.

Here we will take you along on and invite you to come and enjoy for your self here at Silverton


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]]> Making Top 200 Towns list tag:maineseasonsblog.com,2008-03-25:03e022e8-e42b-4ad0-a640-14890c8c8a33 Denise 2008-03-25T15:19:44Z 2008-03-25T13:20:00Z Outdoor Life magazine's April 2008 issue arrived in my mailbox yesterday and imagine my surprise to find not only one but two of my favorite hunting areas in Maine listed in the Best Places to Live - Top 200 Towns for Hunters and Anglers! Outdoor Life was looking for the best towns across America for public hunting and fishing opportunities, healthly economies with a hometown feel. 

    I grew up in Presque Isle, Maine, which made the list at #77. Most of my family still lives there and I look forward to hunting trips for waterfowl. Presque Isle is located in northern Maine, in what is known throughout the state as "The County"  where potato production was king. Now the area has expanded crops to include, barley, sorghum, brocoli and much more. Presque Isle is definetley worthly of making the list with wonderful fishing in the Aroostook River, Little Madawaska River, Presque Isle Stream and many lakes and ponds. If you are lucky enough to receive a Moose Permit ( deadline for permit application is April 1) the Presque Isle area is where you want to be. 
    When I decided it was time to return to Maine, I found the ideal property for my upland hunting preserve in Canaan, just outside of Skowhegan, #122 on the list.  A mill town, Skowhegan is the center of many activities and shopping for the area. The Kennenbec River is famous for landlocked salmon, brook trout, brown trout and rainbows. Local ponds and lakes are prime for smallmouth bass, crappie, yellow and white perch. Turkey populations are expanding in the area with a new fall season offering twice the turkey hunting fun.  
Skowhegan is located in Maine's deer zone 17 on of the best zones in the state. We were fortunate last year with a 40% success rate for our deer hunters.  As president of the Big Indian ATV Riders I have been fortunate to work with lots of great folks on adding  ATV trails from Canaan to Skowhegan. Maine has over 5000 miles of atv trails and 13,000 miles of snowmobile trails with assess right from the lodge at Silverton.
 
Outdoor Life has some pretty great places on the list and I think I'm fortunate to have lived in two of the best Maine has to offer.  ]]>