Maine Fish and Wildlife Magazine, Fall 1995

Maine State Library

Maine State Documents Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Magazine

Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

9-1-1995

Maine Fish and Game Magazine, Fall 1995 Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalmaine.com/ifw_magazine Recommended Citation Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, "Maine Fish and Game Magazine, Fall 1995" (1995). Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Magazine. Book 44. http://digitalmaine.com/ifw_magazine/44

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MAINE STATE LIBRARY LIBRARY USE ONLY

EDITORIAL

by Ray B. Owen, Jr., Commissioner

Volunteers

We Need Your Help!

Historically, volunteers have long played important roles for the Department in selected areas such as hunter education, boating safety and at the Gray Game Farm. In other areas, however, we just haven't responded to requests or developed appropriate activities for volunteers. But that is changing and we are looking for all the help we can get as the adjoining announcement indicates. Recently Charlie Mann - himself a volunteer - joined us as a coordinator of our volunteer program. His job is to survey the Department for volunteer opportunities and then match these with individuals interested in participating in the program.

Currently, in Maine, 1,500 hunter, ATV, snowmobile and boat safety instructors contribute more than 16,000 hours each year as volunteers! At the Game Farm, 50 volunteers donate 1,500 hours staffing the front gate. These are tremendous contribuVolunteer Coordinator tions and we thank all of you. Other folks help with selected wildlife and fisheries Charlie Mann projects but these latter opportunities have been limited.

What can you do? Sign up, send Charlie your name, address and phone number and be willing to provide at least 10-20 hours each year. We are looking for people who are sincerely committed in helping and we will try to match interests are much as possible.

Our program has just begun but already the Sebago Anglers have painted the inside of the new hatchery building at New Gloucester, Kennebec Trout Unlimited helped with outside maintenance at the Governor Hill Hatchery. A~ I write, Moosehead Lake Coalition members are busy restoring several tributary streams that enter Moosehead Lake.

Potential projects include: Check Stations Hatchery Maintenance Shorebird Surveys Stocking Bear Tagging and Den Work Collecting Angler Information Animal Damage Control Posting Special Regulation Waters Deer Wintering Area Surveys Lake Patrols Furbearer Surveys Posting Headway Speed Signs Crop Damage Permits Stream Reclamation and much, much more!

Two new projects that will require considerable outside help are Hooked on Fishing and Landowner Relations. Hooked on Fishing involves teaching youngsters how to fish, and providing some special waters for them to enjoy. We plan to begin this program next spring and will use volunteers to help state-wide. I hope both individuals and organizations will participate. Our new Landowner Relations Program is designed to help landowners with the many problems they encounter when allowing public use of their land.

We will need a cadre of folks located across the state who can help us carry out these new initiatives.

So, as you can see, we do need your help. Please come forward with your support and pass the word. I believe you will find the experience rewarding as together we contribute to the stewardship of Maine's fish and wildlife resources.

Thank you in advance!

MAINE

FISH AND WILDLIFE VOL. 37, NO. 3

FALL1995

Features Biggest Bucks in Maine, 1994

2

Last fall 's biggest and best deer from the Maine woods

What Beaver Do for Other Animals

3

by Skip Lisle

These guys mean well-but can get carried away. Part II of a two-part series

What's It All About?

6

by Gerald R. Lavigne

Our specialist spells out what we're doing to manage the whitetail deer in Maine

Drawing Them In

10

by Ralph Nodine

Decoys can call 'em in for hunting-but how about for other reasons?

The "Old Boy"

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by Bruce A. Buckner

Looking back-on many memories of hunting and fishing

"Scent" To Do A Job

18

by Wayde Carter

K-9s are branching out-learning new ways to help wardens do their job

How Do They Measure Up?

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by Richard P. Arsenault

The Maine Antler & Skull 'frophy Club-the lowdown on the guys who keep the stats

Departments KID-BITS

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FROM THE FLY TYING BENCH:

The Blue Charm

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THE MARKETPLACE

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ASH AND WILDLIFE BRIEFS

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by Butch Carey

The Front Cover: Photographer George Ialovega was In the right place at the right time. Of course, It helps that he spent 15 months with the animals on a dally basis, at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Fann. Still, It's a one- of-a - kind photograph-this female fox and her kits were primary subjects of Ealovega's for more than seven months, and even the deer were pretty used to him.

For more Information, or for copies of this photograph, contact: George Ealovega, 16 Bayberry Ave., Kennebunk ME 04043, telephone (207) 967-048 1.

Printed with vegetable-based

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inks on recyclable paper

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BIGGEST BUCKS .IN MAINE, 1994 Name Joseph Niemczyk Kenneth Haney Gregory K. Smith Robert G. Green Gary H. Kenney Henry Borey, Jr. Glenn Waite Warren Farrington Charles Gibson Donald Moulton Tom Boyce Stephen Crammer Roland Faunce III Jim Doody Eric Smith Florence Smith David Bernier Lincoln Cress Ernest G. Spence Walter Bador David R. Beaulieu Gary Guerrette Chris Krukowski Richard L. Pratt Thomas Dawson Paul Litalien Gerald S. Jordan Willie Thomas Thomas D. Kokal Joseph Lydon , Sr. Kenneth A. Crockett Timothy Dolby Hugh Kovacs Daniel S. Labrie Bill Murphy Tammy Ouellette Catherine Newman Brook Cummings Darrell Holbrook Peter McRae Harold W. Chasson Joey Crooker, Jr. Michael Harrington James Bell William Banks Michael Chase Chris Croxford Robert W. Emery William Hennessey Leonard Lavoie

Address Blackstone MA Caribou ME Machias ME Newport VT Presque Isle ME Needham MA Bayfield CO Canaan ME Solon ME Cape Neddick ME Kingfield ME Pemberton NJ Stockton Springs ME Caribou ME Morrill ME Standish ME Richmond ME Prospect PA Richmond VT Worcester VT Gray ME Sinclair ME Jackman ME South Bristol ME Maynard MA Turner ME Wiscasset ME Hyde Park VT Rockwood ME So. Portland ME Columbia Falls ME Windham ME Northfield NJ Auburn ME Bethel ME Medway ME Canton ME Augusta ME Harrington ME Wiscasset ME Livermore Falls ME Springfield ME Bethel ME Monticello ME E. Eddington ME Farmington ME Dresden ME Litchfield ME Grafton MA Epping NH

Date Killed 11/21/94 10/29/94 11/4/94 11/4/94 11/12/94 11/16/94 11/23/94 11/ 15/94 11/12/94 11/2/94 10/31/94 11/7/94 11/18/94 11/8/94 11/09/94 11/03/94 10/29/94 11/17/94 11/26/94 11/3/94 11/1/94 11/19/94 11/12/94 11/3/94 11/7/94 11/7/94 11/7/94 11/25/94 11/26/94 11/19/94 11/ 11/94 11/21/94 11/12/94 10/29/94 11/ 5/94 11/02/94 11/11/94 11/19/94 10/ 29/94 11/ 11/ 94 10/ 29/ 94 10/ 29/ 94 10/ 29/ 94 11/ 11/ 94 10/ 29/ 94 11/ 12/ 94 11/ 4/ 94 11/ 11/ 94 11/ 17/ 94 11/11/94

Where Killed

Firearm

Caratunk .30-06 Caribou .30-06 Wesley .30-06 Dole Brook Twp. 30-06 Cast Hill .30-06 Dole Pond .30-06 Seboomook Twp. .270 Brassua Twp. .30-06 Concord .30-06 Brassua Twp. .3'J-06 44 Mag. Kingfield TllRll .280 cal. .30-30 cal.

Ashland .243 Caribou Browning .308 Greenville 300 Sav. FWT Frenchtown New Vineyard 300 Mag. 7mm Mag. Sebec Hobbstown Twp. .30-06 264 Mag. Kennebago .270 Win. Shirley .270 T17R3 .30-30 Holeb 35 Rem .

Greenville Katahdin Iron Works 7x57 Mauser Livermore .270 Win. .30-06 Scraggly .30-06 Jackman .30-06 Sapling Twp. .270 Moxie Gore Twp. 25 .270 T5R14 .30-06 Weld .30-06 Sangerville .30-06 Giliad .270 Grindstone .30-06 Langtown .30-06 Sidney .270 Win. T24MD .30-06 .30-06 T5R9 NWP .30-30 Livermore Falls 30 Cal. Prentiss .30-06 Bethel Harvey Siding .30-06 Clifton 35 Marlin Fairbanks .30-06 .30-30 Dresden Lower Enchanted Twp. .308 Athens .30-06 .30-06 Carrabassett

Dressed Live Weight Weight 300 272 270 265 265 264 262 260 259 256 255 255 255 255 253 253 251 251 251 250 250 250 250 249 248 247 247 247 246 246 245 245 245 245 245 245 244 244 244 242 241 241 241 240 240 240 240 240 240 240

360 326 324 318 318 317 314 312 311 307 306 306 306 306 304 304 301 301 301 300 300 300 300 299 298 296 296 296 295 295 294 294 294 294 294 294 293 293 293 290 289 289 289 288 288 288 288 288 288 288

This list contains the top 50 of the 702 entries into the Biggest Bucks in Maine Club for 1994. Membership requires a 200-pound deer (dressed weight , without heart and liver); $3 application fee. The club is maintained by The Maine Sportsman, PO Box 910 , Yarmouth ME 04096-0910. Live weight (estimates)= dressed weight+ 20 percent. ' /.

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Mai11e Fish and Wildlife

Beaver In Maine, Part 11

What Beaver Do For Other Animals (And What We Do When They Do It Too Often!)

A

fter being nearly driven to extinction during the Fur Trade, beaver have returned during this century to much of their former range. This resurgence of beaver has been accompanied by a concept almost synonymous with this species-raised water levels.

Because flooding has an adverse effect on many human enterprises, beaver have often been lumped in the category of "nuisance species" -and treated accordingly. Early management tools were .22 caliber rifles, dynamite, and backhoes.

by Skip Lisle These tools (excluding dynamite) are still used today, but we are beginning to acknowledge the inefficiency of this approach.

For instance, beaver can quickly rebuild destroyed dams. And if a given wetland provides good forage and a favorable dam site, dispersing beaver will soon re-

place those that have been shot, trapped, or otherwise displaced.

Therefore, the same work (by humans) needs to be repeated over and over again.

In addition, wetlands, which are of great ecological and economic value, are often damaged or destroyed in the process. As a

Whitetailed deer feeding in Burnt Pine Flowage. Insets: lower left, redwinged blackbird commonly nest in shrubby hummocks; upperright, cardinal flowers prefer the relatively deep shade at the edge of the flowage; lower right, iris bloom in the sunnier areas.

result, contemporary managers are more likely to try to outsmart beaver than to eliminate them.

These evolving attempts to outsmart "those dam builders" have resulted in dozens of strategies (e.g., PVC pipes, oddshaped culverts, and wire fences) meant to prevent beaver from building effective dams, thus reducing maintenance costs and protecting the integrity of wetlands.

The Penobscot Indian Nation has long recognized the value of beaver and the wetlands they create. Our Department of Natural Resources employs a simple but effective device-nicknamed the "beaver deceiver" -to ensure that road culverts remain free-flowing. The design is meant to thwart beaver by eliminating two common characteristics of their dams: 1) they are roughly perpendicular to stream flow, and 2) they are started in relatively shallow water.

Essentially, our structure is a wire fence in the form of an acute triangle that keeps beaver away from the culvert head. The length of the long sides of the triangle is usually about 10 feet; fence height is generally three to four feet. The V-fence presents beaver with an unnatural shape, and can be built with three cedar or pressure-treated posts; compared to a square structure, this "V" saves material and labor.

(Certain situations require larger or more elaborate V-shaped fences, and therefore more posts.)

To increase rigidity and provide a surface to which to attach The author is a wetlands biologist for the Penobscot Indian Nation in Old Town.

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Mame Fish and Wildlife

the top of the fence, the posts are braced to one another with horizontal boards (5/4" x 6" pressuretreated decking stock, ripped in half, is good for this purpose.)

This stock also comes in lengths from 8 to 16 feet.

The most important aspect of a beaver deceiver is its placement in deeper water (at least two or three feet). If a fence can't be placed in deep water, it can be made more effective by lengthening the sides.

Our typical approach to a dammed culvert goes something like this: 1) clean out culvert (not necessarily the entire beaver dam) and draw down the water; 2) drive cedar posts; 3) brace them; 4) tack the wire fence (at least 12.5 gauge) to posts and braces, making sure to eliminate all beaver access; and 5) build the dam to raise water around the fence. The latter stage can sometimes be accomplished by nailing lumber between two of the cedar posts.

A dam can even be built of rocks, mud, and sticks-like those beaver-built ones we're after in the first place. Each culvert, wetland, and beaver dam is different, so these beaver deceivers naturally vary slightly in form. When building new roads, culverts should be placed as high as possible to create a pool in which to construct a V-fence.

Building beaver deceivers requires a relatively large initial investment. If beaver deceivers are built soundly, however, they will ensure that culverts remain unclogged for years, regardless of the presence of beaver. Also, some of the best places for wildlife viewing in Maine, roadside wetlands, can remain in place without becoming threats to our thoroughfares. • Fall 1995

5

Deer Management In

J~

From the lush green of high summer to the back-breaking snows of winter, whitetailed deer have an interesting time making it around the Maine calendar.

by Gerald R. Lavigne

early everyone is delighted by the sight of a doe and her young fawns feeding in a meadow on a late summer evening; those with sporting interests also dream of encouPtering a mature buck within gun or bow range in the autumn woods. And Maine is nationally renowned for producing trophy quality bucks-one buck in five legally taken in Maine is a mature buck weighing from 175 to nearly 300 pounds- field dressed!

Of the190,000 to 210,000 people each year who hunted deer in Maine during the past 15 years, 15 percent came from 43 other states and Canada.

Nearly all Maine hunters pursue white-tailed deer; they spend a total of 1.6 million days afield each year- and they also spend the lion's share of the $150 million generated in Maine's economy by hunting each year.

Maintaining a healthy white-tailed deer population is in the best interests of all Maine people. Responsibility for management of this and many other wildlife populations lies with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W). The legislature passes laws which provide the framework for deer management; within this framework, IF&W has authority to regulate deer populations and wintering habitats, chiefly by passing of rules such as those providing for annual allocations of any-deer permits.

Deer management involves a wide array of activities. Here's how this all fits together in Maine.

DEER MANAGEMENT PLAN

IF&W uses long-term strategic planning to guide management of all exploited fish and wildlife, as well as some endangered and threatened species.

Such planning: 1) allows for active participation by the public in deciding what size population is appropriate for Maine; and 2) provides a road map of what IF&W needs to do to attain the desired level.

Our agenq has been implementing strategic planning since 1975. Plans are revised at five-year

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Maine Fish and Wildlife

Maine

intervals; major revisions, involving public input, occur at 15-year intervals. The last major revision of the deer plan occurred in 1986; the next revision will occur before the year 2000.

Maine's Deer Management Plan calls for increasing populations to 50 percent of the maximum sustainable herd. This would translate to a statewide herd of 250,000 to 300,000 wintering deer. Because populations are below this level in all Deer Management Districts (DMDs), most management efforts are geared toward reducing deer losses and encouraging herd growth.

Since 1983, when doe harvest restrictions were first implemented, the statewide herd has increased from 160,000 to 210,000. When we reach our population objective, hunter harvests should approach 35,000 deer, and the success rate should be about 15 percent for our 200,000 deer hunters. An interesting note: there are nearly as many deer hunters in Maine as there are deer, so regulation of the deer hunting seasons is obviously a department priority!

DEER POPULATION MANAGEMENT

We have divided Maine into 18 DMDs. Maine varies tremendously in habitat quality, winter climate, and land use-the potential for deer population size and growth varies accordingly. Deer population objectives have been set individually for each DMD to ensure optimum balance between the benefits of having deer (viewing, hunting, tourism), and the detriments of having too many deer for people to tolerate (road-kills, farm, home, and woodlot plant damage, and Lyme disease interactions).

Experience in North America has shown that a well-regulated recreational hunting program is the single most practical and effective means of managing deer populations. IF&W now has in place most of the tools to provide high-quality deer hunts, which also help us attain our deer population objectives. What follows are descriptions of the various elements of our deer harvest program.

The author is the department's deer research specialist, headquartered in Bangor.

One end result of a doe management effort is a larger, healthier crop of these little fellows in the springtime.

1) Record-keeping. We have a mandatory registration system for all deer legally taken. Deer harvests are recorded for towns and DMDs each year.

Game wardens supervise the operation of the nearly 400 deer registration stations statewide.

These tagging stations consist primarily of cooperating grocery stores, sporting goods stores, sporting camps, filling stations, and other small businesses.

Staff in Augusta enter the 25,000 to 30,000 deer kill records onto a computer database for analysis. Our deer registration records extend back to 1919; these are very valuable in evaluating past management efforts.

IF&W requires a big game hunting license for deer hunting, in part to generate revenue for department operations, but also to provide information about the hunting public-who they are, how this changes over time, and most importantly, how much hunting pressure is being applied to the deer resource. Much of our administrative staff works on license and permit sales and renewals, not only for hunting, but for other outdoor recreation activities.

Maine offers deer hunters relatively long hunting seasons: • There is a special archery season of about 25 days, primarily the month of October, during which 15,000 archers register 500 to 700 deer annually.

Fall 1995

7

• Next is the 25-day regular firearm season-the mainstay for Maine deer hunters. This month-ofNovember firearm season, encompassing the peak of the rut, attracts more than 190,000 enthusiasts (about six hunters per square mile); 96 percent of the 24,000 to 30,000 deer harvested annually are tagged during this season. • Finally, there is a one- to two-week deer hunt for black powder enthusiasts in late November or early December. This hunt is growing in popularity.

Currently, nearly 6,000 muzzle-loading hunters take to the woods; they tag 100-200 deer annually.

Offering hunters three relatively long deer hunting seasons enables individual hunters to choose when and how they want to hunt, and disperses hunters in hunting area and hunting time during the season. This in turn minimizes conflicts with landowners, fosters safe hunting practices, and provides enough time to achieve desired harvests of deer.

There are important restrictions on hunters during each of these seasons in order to keep deer harvests within acceptable limits. Deer cannot be hunted on Sundays, and the legal limit on deer is one per hunter per year, regardless of season. During the regular firearm and muzzleloader seasons, any hunter may harvest a buck (a deer with antlers three or more inches in length) anywhere in Maine. Does and fawns, however, can only be taken by hunters who possess an any-deer permit which is valid for a specific DMD. Currently, archers can take any sex or age of deer during the special archery season.

The number of any-deer permits issued in any given DMD each year is geared to achieving a specific quota of adult does in the hunting kill. Deer populations will increase if the total number of adult does dying during the course of a year is less than the number of doe fawns born into the herd.

The reverse situation will cause the herd to decline.

Naturally, does die from a variety of causes in addition to hunting. But we can most readily manipulate doe mortality due to recreational hunting, and this is the basis for our any-deer permit allocations.

How do we determine how many does need to be harvested in each DMD? Recommendations for doe harvests are the responsibility of IF&W Wildlife Division biologists; rules which finalize doe quotas and any-deer permit allocations are the responsibility of the IF&W Commissioner and his Advisory

8

M aine Fish and Wildlife

Council. Biologists' recommendations are guided by a population management system which enables us to track our progress toward attaining the population objectives set within the deer management plan.

Wildlife Division biologists collect data to help in determining: 1) if the herd in a given DMD has reached the desired population level; 2) whether the herd is growing, declining, or stable; or 3) if any unusually high or low mortality has affected the herd due to recent wintering conditions or other factors. Each autumn, our wildlife biologists examine 5,000 to 7,000 harvested deer, gaining valuable insight into the condition and status of the deer herd.

We monitor legal buck harvest, road-kills, and deer sightings by hunters as indicators of population trends. Harvest and other population attributes allow us to estimate deer population size and trend for each DMD. We also monitor wintering conditions weekly in 25 deer wintering areas throughout Maine to assess the relative magnitude of winter losses. Finally, we analyze actual doe harvest versus doe quotas set during the past season to refine our ability to achieve desired harvests, and to determine if other, unmeasured losses (e.g. illegal kills), are impeding management efforts.

All of these bits of information are assembled in late winter each year, when IF&W regional wildlife biologists meet with the deer biologist to draft recommendations for the coming hunting season. The population management system provides rules of thumb for management actions after data inputs are analyzed. We agree upon a management strategy to increase, decrease, or stabilize the herd in each DMD. We then decide how many does must be harvested to achieve that strategy. Once doe harvest quotas are determined, it is an easy matter to recommend how many any-deer permits must be allocated.

Generally, it takes five to seven any-deer permits to realize one adult doe in the legal harvest. Some permittees may not see or kill a doe, some will take a buck, others will tag a fawn, and some will tag a doe killed by another hunter (which is strictly illegal!).

Doe quotas and any-deer permit allocation recommendations are then reviewed administratively within IF&W. After review, these recommendations are advertised to the public as proposed

rules, in .::ompliance with the Administrative Procedures Act. Public input is solicited in writing, and from testimony at one or more public hearings.

Finally, the Commissioner and his Advisory Council review these IF&W proposed rules in light of public testimony, and ultimately promulgate them, possibly after modification for social concerns.

Once doe quotas and any-deer permit allocations are promulgated, the availability of any-deer permits for each DMD is advertised to the public. After a two-month application period, any-deer permit applications are entered onto a database; successful applicants are selected in a random computer lottery.

We employ a two-tier lottery. Qualifying landowners receive a maximum of 20 percent of available permits in an early draw,while all other applicants compete for the remainder. The lottery is also designed to allocate approximately 15 percent of available any-deer permits to nonresidents. There is no cost to successful or unsuccessful applicants, although we require applicants to first possess their hunting licenses. Annually, nearly 100,000 hunters apply for the 24,000 to 55,000 available any-deer permits.

We have been using the any-deer permit system since 1986. As we have gained experience, we have refined our ability to achieve a doe harvest which has usually been within five percent of our preset quotas. Although the any-deer permit system has proven to be acceptably precise in regulating the doe harvest, we have until recently been harvesting more does than necessary. Recent declines in the availability of any-deer permits reflect our desire to increase the growth rate of the herd within most DMDs. This should allow us to attain our desired population of 250,000+ deer in a shorter amount of time.

Our recreational hunting seasons usually provide an efficient vehicle for managing deer populations within large areas such as our deer management districts. It is sometimes necessary, however, to control deer on a more localized scale. Deer populations may increase to intolerable levels where access to hunting is restricted, or where prohibitions on firearm discharge result in limited or no deer harvest by recreational hunting.

We offer three approaches to solving such nuisance deer problems: First, we are implementing a Landowner Relations Program designed to increase the amount of private land which is open to recreational deer

hunting. As noted before, this is the preferred and best means of controlling deer populations.

Second, we maintain an Animal Damage Control Program in which IF&W staff (in cooperation with USDA personnel) distribute deer repellents and/ or provide loans or cost-sharing for deer fencing of commercial crops.

Third, game wardens issue deer depredation permits to certain landowners to remove deer which are damaging agricultural commodities.

Recently, the legislature delegated to IF&W the authority to conduct controlled deer hunts where necessary to reduce overabundant deer populations. Controlled hunts would be appropriate in locations in which recreational hunting absolutely cannot be used to maintain desirable deer harvests.

We consider the use of such a special hunting season a "last resort" among our deer population management tools, since administration of controlled hunts is costly and time-consuming.

In a controlled hunt, the commissioner may designate who may hunt, which methods or hunting implements are to be employed, and how many and what sex/ age combinations of deer are to be removed. These are not intended as recreational hunts, but rather serve as a tool for removal of nuisance deer from areas which are larger than individual land ownerships but smaller than DMDs. DEER HABIT AT MANAGE\IENT

Regardless of how refined our deer harvest program becomes, we will fail to achieve our desired deer populations if we ignore the habitat requirements of wintering deer. White-tailed deer in Maine are near the northern limits for the species.

Deer are not as well adapted to intense cold and deep snow as are moose. Consequently, whitetails are vulnerable to the ravages of severe winters.

During northern winters, deer congregate in mature softwood forests, which provide protection from chilling winds and drifting snow, thereby making travel and foraging easier. Depending on the severity of the winter, deer may need to yard in wintering areas for 30 to 150 days each year.

In Maine, less than 15 percent of the landbase provides good wintering habitat. When wintering habitat is severely degraded, as from excessive timber removal and/ or development, fewer deer survive. In such degraded habitats, deer become more vulnerable to predation by coyotes and feral dogs,

continued on page 25 Fall 1995

9

Decoys are most often used to lure game birds to the blind. But these gifted and generous woodcarvers have a different reason for ...

Drawing Them In

by Ralph Nodine

and Margaret Anderson

An

active group of down east wildlife woodcarvers is helping Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge reestablish seabird colonies on several offshore Maine islands.

The Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge has responsibility, under the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, for 16 islands along the Maine coast from Cutler to Popham Beach, and for the seabird colonies which have historically nested on these islands. In recent years, however, burgeoning populations of landfill-fed herring gulls and blackbacked gulls have wiped out many breeding colonies of terns and other seabirds.

The Refuge, in partnership with the College of the Atlantic and the National Audubon Society, has successfully restored colonies of terns and puffins to some islands, but nearly 85 percent of all Maine's nesting Arctic, common, and roseate terns are now found on just five islands.

Such concentrations are at high risk to damage from natural disasters such as disease, predation, or extreme weather, and manrnade disasters such as oil spills. Therefore, Refuge biologists have been trying to restore

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Maine Fish and Wildlife

colonies on additional island sites to provide a more dispersed population and to allow for future growth in bird numbers.

Restoring breeding colonies of terns, puffins, auks, or murres to islands where none currently exist is a difficult and frustrating task. These seabirds are so colonial in their nesting behaviorperhaps as a defense against the gulls-that unless they are convinced that a large colony is already nesting on a given island, they do not settle there. So the problem for the Refuge is to convince those first few birds to form a new colony .

Refuge Manager Margaret Anderson presented this dilemma to the wildlife carving group of the very active Pleasant River Fish and Game Conservation Association and asked for their help. Seabird decoys placed on an island create the illusion that an active colony exists-the more decoys placed on an island, the more appealing the island looks to birds in search of a nesting site. So during this past winter, while the birds were at sea, the carvers volunteered many hours of skilled work to make about 40 murre decoys and an equal number of tern decoys; the Refuge will put these decoys on the islands, and will reinforce these visual lures with tape recorders playing the sounds of active breeding colonies. Sound and sight together will hopefully persuade passing seabirds that a thriving colony already exists

and is welcoming them to join it.

The tern decoys will go to restore abandoned colonies of common terns and roseate terns on Ship Island and Trumpet Island in Blue Hill Bay, in an area whe. . e about 400 pair of terns have been roaming about in recent years, apparently looking for secure places to nest. The murre decoys will go to far offshore locations such as Matinicus Rock and Seal Island; there, they will encourage refounding of colonies not only of murres, but also of auks, puffins, and other seabirds that commonly nest with murres and are attracted to the neighborhoods of their colonies.

While the woodcarvers' participation in this project with the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge is relatively new, it draws upon the traditional skills of the carvers who for generations have made the cedar wildfow 1decoys used in the past by market hunters. During the last few years, the down east group has built upon these traditional skills. Members have also relied upon the teaching ability of world-class wildlife carver Bob Nelson of Jonesport to become major winners in open contests for wildlife carving throughout Maine and New England.

Jonesboro resident Ralph Nodine is a freelance writer. Margaret Anderson is manager of the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge.

World-class carver Bob Nelson helps John Crowley of Addison with a tricky point on the fin of a dolphin.

w ldlife carving is far from "abstract art;" the subject, whether a nuthatch or a brook trout, is studied so thoroughly that the carving captures the creature in the midst of an action typical for the species. Thus, the trout is carved as it looks at the top of a rise to a May fly; the nuthatch is shown as it goes headfirst down a tree trunk probing the bark for insects.

Carvers from all over Maine enter contests, or shows, where their work is judged on technical skill and also on the lifelike presentation of a realistic moment in

the life of the creature portrayed.

These shows are open to the public, and are becoming increasingly popular, especially on the tourist circuit.

This enthusiastic new group of downeast carvers has not only revived the old art of wildlife carving in Washington County, but has taken a leading position in wildlife carving in Maine, winning in these open competitions against established wildlife carving clubs from other parts of Maine. At a recent show in Belfast, the down east carvers came back with 21 awardsmore than half of the total!-

even though they are a comparatively new group.

Part of their success is due to the fact that they work not only in their homes and shops, but also meet weekly in their Columbia Falls clubhouse to work together, help one another, and provide one another with constructive criticism. At these sessions, the air is filled with flying woodchips and helpful hints as members work on their individual projects, ranging from the traditional eider decoys of George Openshaw to the cedar waxwing of Charlene Nelson to the shad of John Trapp. A large contingent of talented young school-aged carvers in attendance guarantees that the down east carving tradition will not die out with the older generation.

Ornithologists and naturalists in the group bring their expertise and books. Bird and wildlife paintings and photographs help suggest subjects for carvings, but the choice of subjects or poses for most carvers are made from close personal experiences and observations of wildlife.

The Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge is hoping that some of the carvers, especially the younger ones, will be able to go to the islands and actually help place the seabird decoys.

The Refuge has been sponsoring a school program to help down east children understand more of the unique seabird life of the coast; this carving project will reinforce that understanding. It Fa/11995

11

•

will also add a new depth to the wildlife carvings of these carvers of the future.

Thus in this project, the art of wildlife carving, which has its origins in the carving of working decoys by the old market hunters, is returning to making working decoys of another sort to be used for the conservation of threatened seabirds. And the staff of the Refuge is building a new bond with the sportsmen and other nature lovers of the down east coast.

•

Scott Stylos (standing), helps Joey Stylos while Zack and Zeb Strout work at the table on their birds.

All four are from Addison.

Nonresident Snowmobile Alert!

In the past, it has sometimes been difficult, especially on weekends and evenings , for a nonresident to pick up a snowmobile registration because most local registration agents are municipalities with regular weekday business hours. Now, thanks to a change in the law, the registration process has been simplified for nonresident snowmobile owners . Nonresident snowmobiles are no longer subject to Maine sales tax. To legally operate a snowmobile in Maine , a nonresident must possess of one of the following current nonresident registrations: 3-Day Snowmobile Registration ............ $35 10-Day Snowmobile Registration .......... $50 Season Snowmobile Registration ......... $60

The department will be soliciting businesses throughout the state-businesses which are open at convenient hours-to become snowmobile registration agents. Before winter, the department will make a list of nonresident registration agents available to the public.

All nonresidents who registered snowmobiles in Maine last year have been sent notification of this change in the law. New registrations are now being produced and should be available about mid-November. A nonresident snowmobile dealer can register as a dealer for $15 and obtain demonstrator plates for $60 each . Most of the extra monies generated by these fees will be dedicated to snowmobile trails maintenance and improvement.

Nonresidents from Colorado, Iowa, Michigan , Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire , Pennsylvania, Wash ington , and Wisconsin are still exempt from snowmobile registration in Maine because of our reciprocal agreements.

This change does not affect resident snowmobile registrations, which will remain at $20. To be eligible to purchase a resident snowmobile registration , a person must comply with the same requirements necessary to purchase a resident hunting and fishing license. ¡

12

Maine Fish and Wildlife

11

The 0ld Boy''

by Bruce A. Buckner

M

oisture beaded on the needles of the white pine, dripped off the fir tips and off the Old Boy's cap brim. A mild, misty November morning-he fussed a little, under his breath, as he wiped his new glasses yet again (Not with a white handkerchief-oh, no! Not with all the nuts around who might snap off a shot at a glimpse of white, even in a tree! He used a faded old bandanna from his left back pocket). The specs were about six months old, and he couldn't get used to them, especially in the woods. He had to admit, though-things a ways off were fuzzy without them.

Ben thought of himself as the "Old Boy" ever since he overheard his second son talking to Sal a couple of summers ago.

The boy wanted to know how his father-the "Old Boy"-was doing those days. Sal had chided her son gently about the "Old," but the title had stuck in Ben's mind.

He squirmed on the tree stand, feeling the dampness through the seat of his pants, easing his gimpy knee a bit.

Feeding three soft-nosed cartridges into the 3030, he took a deep breath and looked around slowly and carefully.

Ben always

figured that one bullet should be enough, but maybe you might just need another to finish the job. His first son had helped him put up the platform in a clump of three white birches when he was up for late fishing the last week of September. It was maybe 12 or 14 feet off the ground, knocked together out of rough pine, sturdy enough, if a bit narrow. Anyway, you could see much further along the old woods road from the stand, and you were much less visible and "smellable" to a deer up here than you would be on the ground.

Getting lighter now-he could clearly make out the big granite boulder about 50 yards south. The perch wasn't far into the cutover woods, perhaps a half mile from

the blacktop road-he had seen deer sign last week nearby, although everybody said that they were scarce this year. The Old Boy was breathing easier now.

It wasn't a bad walk back from

the house and the ladder up to the stand was no problem. "O.K. Calm down now-keep alert," he told himself.

There would be no sun today It was not really raining, but the air was heavy with moisture.

About as light now as it was going to get. Suddenly, his head jerked up at a flicker of movement over by that dead spruce top. The Old Boy stared, then looked away and back again quickly. A red squirrel scampered away, tail twitching. "Skittish little varmint," he muttered, taking a couple of deep breaths and settling down once again.

Ki-Ki-Ki-Ki-Ki! The strident call of a pileated woodpecker rang through the woods from down near the brook. Quite a stand of dead wood down in that old beaver flowage, and those handsome red-headed fellows were getting common there. Then, a slight sound somewhere at his back made him tense up again. Concentrating, he heard nothing more, but sensed movement below him on the trail. A shiny black nose; two large cocked ears-then the mistjewelled back of a graceful,

14

Maine Fish and Wildlife

mincing doe materialized. He held his breath-the doe did not look up, and meandered silently off down the slope, tail lowered naturally, unalarmed. He was kind of glad of the bucks only

The Old Boy was already dreaming of the lake salmon fishing in the distant spring.

Maybe he and Pete would get up to Long Lake next year.

law this year; that one would have been too easy. Exhaling, he willed his thumping heart to slow down and smiled after the disappearing whitetail.

The morning dragged on. He glanced at his watch now and then-usually finding that only five minutes or so had passed.

Mentally, he set a time to leave his perch and tramp home for something more substantial than the quick cup of coffee he had gulped at six o'clock. Maybe he could hold out until eight if his stomach didn't complain too much. Not much action in the woods today; a small bunch of juncos foraging in the leaves, a chickadee or two in the firs, and once in a while, a blue jay, flashing from tree to tree A vagrant breeze rattled the few remaining leathery oak leaves.

He sort of dreaded the coming snow of winter, 'though he did enjoy cold weather if the wind didn't get too strong. He didn't do much ice fishing anymorePete wouldn't go and the younger fellows seldom asked him. No fun, and really too much equipment to carry alone.

He could see old Pete now, hunched down in the boat seat, long rod in hand, grousing after 30 minutes or so of fruitless trolling: "Too cold- too windy (or too calm)- lake' s all fished out; too much ice last winter, shut off all the oxygen." Then, when he did get a strike on his streamer fly, Pete would be 20 years younger instantly; straight and alert for 30 minutes, maybe 40, then it would start all over again. "Too this, too that." Oh yes, Pete was a character all right And was, Ben remembered sadly, was correct.

They had put old Pete under the sod only two weeks ago, and the Old Boy still couldn' t accept it. And Pete was only 75; lots of guys older than that still here and active. He would pass 70 himself next year. Yes, the ranks of his fishing buddies were getting thin, and Pete had been kind of special. He'd be missed; especially when the browns and salmon were hitting.

A distant crashing in the brush snapped him to attention again. Somewhere past where the doe had melted away- there, a brown streak dashed across the trail up by the turning. He caught a flash of white. Buck or

doe? No time to tell, too fast for a shot, and too far for the 30-30 anyway. Now what had spooked that deer? Maybe Ferd, his nearest neighbor toward town, was off from his mill job and plodding through the cedar swamp at the bottom of the hill. That would be like him; he always did things the hard way, but he did stir things up.

Not a sound now. Breeze had died, and the mist was turning into a fine drizzle. The Old Boy pushed up his sleeve and checked his watch again-10 'til 8-almost time to climb down and follow the trail to the paved road, then down to his own driveway. It would be drier than busting through the woods, if a bit further, and maybe his morning paper would be in the box by now. Besides, an egg or two, maybe a bit of ham with a couple of Sal's biscuits and more coffee sure would hit the spot. Be good to shed his damp orange hunting jacket, too, and pull his special chair a little closer to the wood stove after his belly was full.

Strange, how a body changes over the years. Used to be, he would head out at daylight in deer season; tramp home for lunch and a little rest at midday, then go back into the woods again 'til full dark. Nowadays, somehow, it didn't seem nearly so important-and, as he well knew, it was quite a job to drag out a good buck. A fat crotchhorn this close to the trail would be just right, however.

He remembered a buck he had shot several years back, a scarred-up old fellow that had

lost one of his heavy antlers, probably in a scuffle over a doe.

It was a heavy deer, but not fat, dropped right next to the Long Hill tote road, so he could bring the Jeep within 50 feet. Well, that buck was so tough and stringy that he had the butcher grind the whole carcass into deerburger.

Sal had served every variety of

ground venison known to man that winter. She told him then never to shoot an old buck again. Now last year, that little spikehorn was tender as could be-all of it! Yet, small as it was, it was still pretty hard to get it home, skin it out, cut it up, and package the meat for the freezer. So perhaps he didn't much care if he got a shot this

The author, a freelance writer from Penobscot, Maine, sent us this article longer ago than we care to remember. We thank him for his patience!

year, but he did enjoy being out in the woods-that is, until he got cold, wet, and hungry, as he was now.

Hey, it was after eight, and all quiet. He looked all around the area again-nothing stirring. The Old Boy sighed and unloaded the rifle. He hung it on the top of the ladder by the sling and pulled himself slowly to his feet on the platform; holding onto one of the birches. A bit stiff, he moved to the ladder and started down, the rifle slung over his shoulder.

Well, he thought-as Ferd would say-now I am in a "compromising situation." It was a long-standing joke between them (maybe not really a joke-more than half serious). When he and Ferd were out hunting or fishing, it seemed that when the line was slack, the bass would strike; when the gun was flat on the ground and you were halfway through the fence, the grouse would flush; when you were relaxing for a minute with a hot cup of something, the ducks would flash in and over the blind; all of these were "compromising situations," said Ferd.

Sure enough, just as he stepped into the oak leaves at the foot of the ladder, a deer snorted behind him and crashed off through the puckerbrush The Old Boy chuckled-not a bit put out. He must tell Ferd that it had happened again-or was he "wishful hearing"-just imagining it? Still grinning, well-content, he moved off slowly toward the road; toward a warm kitchen, awesome breakfast, and another episode to hash over with Sal. Guess he'd be back out along toward dusk-if it didn't turn too bad. • Fall 1995

15

--¡ --¡ w

a: w

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w > w en w u..

....J

C

....J

~

When we think of wildlife, we generally think of animals and birds wild and free in the woods and fields, marshes and coastline of Maine. But how often are places named after wildlife? How is wildlife used in advertising in magazines and newspapers?

Images of wildlife decorate our homes, and the T-shirts and sweatshirts we wear. Jewelry is often modeled after wildlife figures. How many times do you come across wildlife used in these ways in a typical day?

D D D We use wildlife names in our everyday language, too! See if you can pick the right animal from the list on the right to fill each blank below.

Your teacher tells you that you're as wise as an

moose owl bear eel doe woodchuck fox trout

Your best friend is as clever as a That fish you caught was as slippery as an You are as hungry as a

just before dinner.

Your girlfriend has the eyes of a How much wood could a >1:>n4:> :>n4:>pooM e p1noo !au e JO saAa '.

chuck? e se AJ6un4 '.

ue se AJadd!IS '.

e se Jal\a10 !1

ue se 3S!M :sJaMSU'lf

Questions? Complaints? Just Something To Say? Address your letters to: Lisa Kane, KID-BITS Editor MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE 284 State Street 41 State House Station Augusta ME 04333

l

Here are some scrambled names of Maine places named after wildlife. See if you can unscramble the names with help from the pictures. Then see if you can locate each place using an index and a Maine Atlas (we've done one for you). Careful! Some are two words, and one has no picture clue at all!

-~..· ·. '.

~ •:.. ..

.·\!

Aeflewi (no picture!)

As you go to school, travel around town, watch TV, take trips with your family, read books, newspapers and magazines, see if you can find examples of: • A street or road sign using a wildlife name.

• A business sign with a wildlife name.

• A TV commercial that uses wildlife in it.

• Cartoon characters of wild animals and birds.

• A car or truck named after a wild animal.

• Music using wildlife in the lyrics .

• Postage stamps, coins, or paper money with animals and birds • A magazine advertisement using pictures of wildlife.

As you can see, wildlife really is everywhere!

Warden Canines

••seent'' To Do A

by Wayde Carter Photos by the author

M

any people think of "K-9s" as vicious, barking dogs that bite the "bad guys" (a perception supported by television!). But there is much more to law enforcement use of canines than just stopping a violator.

Many K-9s are specially trained for detecting specific odors-of drugs, bombs, fire accelerants, or people, alive or dead. These dogs aren't vicious barkers-they aren't necessarily even German shepherds! In fact, any dog with the right qualities can be trained as a canine.

Why should dogs be used in the Maine Warden Service ?

Well, "Why not?" If you're thinking, "Well OK, I guess dogs could be used in search and rescue," you're right. But let's look a little further. If dogs can be trained to detect odors (and just about every piece of Nature has its own distinctive odor), then why shouldn't we train dogs to detect things by odor alone? We can-and we have been training dogs for this purpose for some time.

Miranda, with the warden badge she wears to school classes and other public appearances.

But I do the talking!

18

Mame Fish a11d Wildlife

Job! There are currently four Maine Criminal Justice Academy certified K-9 handler teams in the Maine Warden Service. To be recognized as a certified K-9 handler team, dog and master must go through a recognized training program, certify in several specific areas, and then continue training for at least eight hours per month to keep up the certification. It takes a lot of commitment from the K-9 handler teams, but it more than pays off.

I was hired by the Maine Warden Service (which started my realization of a lifelong dream!), in August 1993. My father was a game warden; this was instrumental (as has been the case in many warden families) in helping me choose my career-or I should say my way of life.

Before I was a game warden, I worked as a deputy sheriff. It was then that I became interested in training dogs for law enforcement activities. I purchased a female German shepherd and named her Miranda-a proper name for a law enforcement dog, don't you think? After reading a lot and talking with several police officers who had canines, I began to train my own.

The author is a Maine game warden and a certified canine handler for the Maine Warden Seroice.

I started training on tracking-and Miranda really enjoyed the game! If she found who she was looking for, she knew she would be rewarded with a tennis ball, her favorite toy.

Miranda had been training for about one year at the time I became a game warden-not professional training, just my own brand of backyard training I developed from reading books on the subject. This proved to be helpful, as you will read later in this article.

My first warden assignment was in the Daaquam district in the northwestern part of Maine, bordering Quebec. I moved to this district in the middle of nowhere with my German shepherd, Miranda. (My wife and two children joined me later.) I now have the Embden district, on the west shore of the Kennebec River.

I began formal training with Miranda in the spring of 1994 under police and warden canine trainers. These trainers gave valuable advice on how to train my dog the proper way-and this is also when I learned that my dog is smarter than I am!

Boy, did I have a lot to learn!

I began training Miranda on obedience, tracking, and evidence recovery. Let's briefly examine each category.

Obedience is the most important, because all other training is based upon it. If your dog does not listen or obey, the line of communication is broken and you're unable to make your dog perform as you want. The canine handler (that's me!) must have control of the dog at all times, whether or not the dog is on a leash. It's also valuable to teach your dog to respond to hand commands, in addition to voice

commands, to avoid alerting someone you may be attempting to catch.

Tracking is helpful in locating lost persons, suspects who have fled on foot, or persons whom you wish to observe to see if they are obeying the fish and game laws. People have their own distinctive scents-as unique as fingerprints-and when a dog is properly trained, it will follow such a scent until that person is located.

Evidence recovery, or article searching, involves locating evidence or clues by using unique scents, much like tracking. This is helpful in unravelling what happened in a situation, whether or not it involves a crime. The item may be a lost child's piece of clothing or footwear found along a trailevidence that your dog is on the correct track. Or it may be evidence of a crime-empty shell casings, guns, knives, tools, articles of clothing, keys, etc.

As we've said already, everything has a scent. We may not be able to smell it, but it's there.

Birds have distinctive odors.

That's how bird dogs make a living! But what about fish? They certainly smell, too!

You may laugh at the thought of a "fish dog," but people who have seen them in action are no longer laughing. A game warden accompanied by a canine fish cop knows the fish are there because the dog tells him so. This may sound crazy, but read on for some real in-the-field examples.

***** In May of 1995, I was working brook fishermen and came across a vehicle parked along a brook. I took Miranda and started to walk down Fa/11995

19

the brook, but Miranda had apparently picked up the person's scent and wanted to walk up the brook.

She would stop occasionally at the deep pools and sniff and paw at the ground. Later I learned that each stop was at a spot where a fish had been caught.

We continued to track the person up the brook; Miranda suddenly picked up air scent and lifted her nose from the ground. We went away from the brook for a short distance, but when we came back to the water, Miranda indicated that the person was nearby.

I looked through the trees and observed the subject leaning over the brook fishing. I waited, and when the subject got to where I was hiding I stepped out, announced myself, and asked to see his fishing license. While I was checking it, Miranda indicated that she had detected fish in a wallettype pouch attached to the man's waist. In the pouch were 16 brook trout, several of them under six inches long. The subject pied guilty, paid a $270 fine, and will lose his license to fish for at least one year.

***** In June of 1995, I observed a vehicle parked alongside the road in an area not known for good fishing spots.

Curious about the vehicle, I ran a track with Miranda and found the subject a short distance from the vehicle-fishing a beaver pond. I approached the subject, and Miranda immediately indicated that there were fish in his milk container of worms. The subject was charged with possession of trout under minimum length and over the legal creel limit.

***** Miranda first figured into the solution of a case in November 1993 in one of the unorganized townships in the Daaquam district. I had information that a subject had already shot his deer and was continuing to hunt for deer for his friends while they stayed at camp.

The subject would be dropped off on a certain road, hunt for the day, and be picked up later so a parked vehicle wouldn't show his location.

I went to this road and walked up and down the shoulders with Miranda. She soon picked up a scent, and we tracked into the woods about one mile. Along the way, I would occasionally observe boot tracks in the wet areas, but even with these tracks, it would have been very difficult to track the subject by myself After about 30 minutes of tracking, Miranda started wagging her tail vigorously, indicating that someone was nearby. I looked ahead and observed a hunter walking along slowly. About then, a group of deer took off through the woods. The hunter attempted to fire at a deer, then continued to walk towards where the deer went. Miranda and I followed close behind. The deer again spooked and the hunter raised his gun in attempt to fire at the deer. The subject-who was, in fact, the person I was looking forwas subsequently arrested and charged with hunting deer after having already killed one. He was amazed by the fact that I had found him; he readily admitted to the offense, and he paid $1000 in fines.

I was called to a possible illegal deer kill in the Farmington area in March 1995. We knew that a vehicle had stopped alongside the road and that a subject had entered the woods and fired several shots, then left in a hurry. This area was known to have a large population of deer.

When I arrived at the scene, it was dark. I used Miranda to do a track and see what evidence she would find. While tracking, Miranda laid dow11. This indicates that she has located some kind of evidence. I turned on my flashlight and looked between Miranda's paws. At first I didn 't see anything, but then I noticed a piece of paper; a closer examination showed it to be the wadding of a shotgun shell.

Miranda immediately indicated another object nearby-the plastic buffer of a shotgun shell.

In the same area, Miranda also found five empty 28-gauge shell casings. We concluded that the subject was rabbit hunting and had killed a rabbit. We were only there for about one hour-and this case was solved with no crime committed. But without the dog, we would have had to return to the scene during the daylight hours, and may still not have found the evidence.

Miranda saved us lots of time!

W arden Service canines have figured prominently in enforcing many different types of fish and game laws. These dogs have solved night hunting cases by locating shell casings

••Birds have distinctive odors.

That's how bird dogs make a living!

But what about fish?''

20

Main e Fish and Wildlife

.

'

Looks like undersize-/ooks like overlimit-looks like a good sniff-pinch for my favorite assistant! and firearms discarded by fleeing suspects. They have located fish buried in the snow by ice fishermen attempting to take more than the legal limit, or a short fish or two hidden in snowmobiles, vehicles, coolers, etc.

But canines also prove their value in lost person searches.

Read on for two examples where Mirands helped me out in this way.

On June 20 of this year, I was called to Salem Township to assist in the search for a 16-year old legally blind boy who had failed to return from a walk behind a camp where he was staying. The boy, last seen at 6:00 p.rn., had told people he was going to make his way around a beaver bog close behind the camp.

Miranda and I arrived at the scene at about 2 a.m. I was taken to the area where the boy was last seen and I started Miranda on the track.

Miranda indicated the subject had stayed in this area for awhile. But she then struck out through the woods directly away from the beaver bog (the bog where the boy said he was going). We tracked back out to and across a field adjacent to the camp, passing a refueling search helicopter and several other searchers. Miranda continued tracking towards the main road. Just prior to our arriving at the road, two persons said they could see the boy, just off the road.

Miranda continued about anot/1er 25 yards to where the boy was lying up agai11st a tree. His fright was apparent- he was lying in a fetal

position, shaking, holding his arms tightly against his chest.

Miranda went up to him, looked back at me, then lapped the boy on the face, crawled into his lap, and lay down. She showed concern when a group of searchers began converging on us. She did not rpant to leave the boy's side even when the ambulance arrived to take him to the Farmington hospital, where he was treated for extreme dehydration.

Just two days later, I was contacted by the Somerset County Sheriff's Department about a missing woman and her dog in Mercer.

When Miranda and I reached the scene, I learned that the 40-year old woman had a mental disability and had Jailed to take needed medication.

She had entered the woods around 1:30 p.m.

I started the track where she was last seen along the road. We were up against several hours of track contamination from persons walking along the road and vehicles going

by, which made it very difficult for Miranda to pick up the track. We entered the woods away from the road in hopes that Miranda could pick up an uncontaminated track.

We walked a short ways up some of the snowmobile trails in the area, hoping to find a spot where the woman had crossed.

While walking down one of the trails, Miranda began air scenting, pulling harder and wagging her tail to indicate that a person was nearby.

We hollered the women's name and a dog started barking in the distance. I continued to follow Miranda to where the woman was lying, overcome by exhaustion, scratches, and insect bites. She was transported by ambulance for treatment.

A.

s a Maine game warden, I have accepted assistance, either requested or not, from a great number of sources. But one of my best helpers, friends, and companions is right with me as I patrol my district-my canine • Miranda!

Fall 1995

21

The Maine Antler and Skull Trophy Club

How Do They

by Richard P. Arsenault

Measure Up? 0

ne fall evening in 1963, a young deer hunter in th e western mountain Maine town of Rumford finished reading a deer hunting article in a popular outdoor magazine. The article reported that "a trophy whitetail buck hunter should hunt the western states for a Boone and Crockett buck, not Maine. While Maine has a great number of large-bodied heavy bucks, it has no trophy Boone and Crockett antlered bucks."

Well, this young hunter knew that if you got your deer in the fall, you got a trophy. The sex or size of the deer didn't matter at all. The point was to get a deer, period. Besides, whoever heard of a Boone and Crockett buck?

That same young man was intrigued by an ad in a popular outdoor magazine. That ad contained information about a records book on trophy big game animals taken by North American hunters.

These tremendous whitetail antlers were taken somewhere west of Bangor.

The owner is James Mason of West Paris ME. The 31 1/8 and 32 1/8 inch beams are among the longest in the whitetail world; presently, it's Maine 's Number Two Nontypical with a score of 248 1/8.

22

Maine Fish and Wildlife

It basically said that their seventh edition of the Boone and Crockett Big Game Records Book had the biggest and best big game trophies from North America ever taken, and that included BIG antlers from whitetail bucks. That young hunter checked his Band-Aid can where he saved half dollars, took a chance, and ordered that book.

The book arrived a few months later-behold, there were already a few Maine deer and moose trophies listed in it!

He and a younger brother found it very interesting. They studied the book and taught each other the measuring system. And almost immediately they began searching out all the antlers they could find in the RumfordMexico area.

After a decade of searching and measuring big western Maine whitetail buck antlers, they finally found a 5 x 5, or 10pointer, that measured the then minimum of 160 points after penalties. That was a really high

This 30-point bull moose was taken October 8, 1984 in Piscataquis County

by Desmond Harvey of Carmel, Maine.

The 62-inch wide antlers are the highest scoring antlers taken since the moose hunting season re-opened in 1980. The palms on this rack score 79 3/8 and 79 6/8.

score to them. But unfortuna tely, the minimums for whitetail antlers were increased from 160 Typical and 185 Nontypical to 170 and 195- a crushing blow!

These looked like imp ossible scores to attain for any western Maine whitetail. It was even harder to imagine how big the biggest ones must be, if they couldn't find one that simply made the minimum score!

Still these two young deer hunters, Dick and Jean Arsenault, wouldn't leave it alone. They persisted in the dream that there were some deer antlers that big in Maine-somewhere. If they could find them, they would put their state where it belonged in the North American Big Game Records Book.

Another decade passed, and they finally concluded that western Maine had a lot of huge bucks, but that their antlers lacked mass and size. But they did begin to see occasional antlers from the eastern half of Maine, some of which had much more antler mass than the hundreds they had seen from western Maine. Their deduction: if the best in western Maine were close to making the grade, and

This huge 5 x 5 with three sticker points was taken 11/17/84

by Gerald Murray of Bangor, Maine, in Penobscot County. It grossed 202 6/8 and netted 186 2/8. The buck dressed 245 pounds and the antlers weighed 7 3/4 pounds-dry! The right antler scored 94 3/8! the best they could find from eastern Maine were more massive, eastern Maine had to have some Boone and Crockett whitetail bucks. All they had to do was find them-a formidable task!

Each of their ump teenth routine discussions on Maine antlers would end with one of them saying, "They (meaning the Maine Fish and Game Department) should do something about this". Their 1977 Thanksgiving discussion ended with, "Someone should do something about this." That's when Dick said, "I'm someone, so I guess

I'll do something about this."

Jean vowed to help all he could, and soon became an official scorer for the Boone and Crockett Club.

In the spring of 1979, after a year of writing instructional and informational articles in the Maine Sportsman about a new club and about measuring deer antlers, the First Annual Big Game Awards Banquet for the Maine Antler and Skull Trophy The author is the department's assistant regional fisheries biologist in Region A, with headquarterss in Gray.

Fall 1995

23

Club (MASTC) was held in the hall of Saint Anne's Church in Gorham, the meal put on by the wives of the Buxton-Hollis Kiwanis Club.

No one knew what would happen. Dick had said he'd do this and he'd do that, while the people he involved basically said, "Go ahead, it's your neck.

But we'll help and do what we can." Look at that, will you!

Their small show was a sellout!

Hunters registed 81 deer and bear trophies in several categories. Everyone was simply amazed at the caliber and quality of big game trophies in Maine.

The following year, Dick, following up a lead from Roger Mason of Gorham, found their first Maine Boone and Crockett buck. It was owned by retired game warden Vern Black of Kezar Falls, and had been taken many years prior by Game Warden Joe Stickney (Joe was already famous for having invented the Warden's Worry and Supervisor flies).

From that first banquet to banquet number 16 in 1994, MASTC has registered 2,592 deer, 321 bear, and 226 moose that have made the high minimum score requirements of the club. Basically, a set of deer antlers that score 140 points or more is equivalent to the antler scores of, say, eight bucks, each dressing out at 200 pounds or more! It's hard to get a big whitetail buck with such high quality antlers.

Now Maine has four official Boone and Crockett scorers.

They have scored 56 Typical deer, 34 Nontypical deer, 5 bear, and 31 moose which have met the minimum Boone and Crockett score requirements.

Jean is considered the Father of Maine's Boone and Crockett

24

Maine Fish and Wildlife

scorers. He has trained many scorers on what to look for, and has measured and rechecked many huge Maine trophies, asking only that together we strive to see that all Maine Boone and Crockett trophies are officially registered. The end result, and this club's primary goal: to gain this state its rightful recognition.

MASTC actually has no problem with the buying and selling of antlers. It does have a problem with the one-third of antler sets that are not registered each year.

The club has been unable to convince this third of the fortunate hunters who take trophies annually to have them scored. This involves only about 50 trophies each year, but this translates into 800 in 16 years!

After a trophy is scored and registered by the hunter, it can be sold if so desired. It's sort of like trapping a mink, getting it tagged, then selling it. Both the state and the sportsman benefit.

If sportsmen sincerely value their trophies and the quest for quality animals, getting the racks scored promotes those attitudes among fellow hunters.

The growth of such attitudes is itself a form of protection.

Hunters become more concerned about how you trophies were taken. Peer pressure and personal feelings will then help discourage illegal activities and promote fair chase. It's very important for us all to have both the right and the opportunity to hunt.

MASTC is very happy that 3,140 Maine hunters have registered their trophies-and that 126 of them made the Boone and Crockett minimums! Many of them have been officially regis~ tered in The Boone and Crockett Records Book, where they now

nationally represent Maine. In the past 17 years, the club has sold about 10,500 Maine record books all over North America, and about 8,000 people have attended our 16 banquets.

The new 16th Annual Big Game Records Book is available.

To purchase one, send a check for $23 to MASTC, c/ o Al Wentworth, 36 Ames Road, Dover Foxcroft ME 04429. This new 8 1/ 2" by 11" hardcover book includes 53 hunter stories, more than 250 pictures, and updated listings of Maine's quality big game trophies .. Only about 750 of this collectors' item will be available for sale.

MASTC has been around for more than 17 years now, and nearly all hunters know about us. When a hunter takes a potential trophy, however, he or she is often at a loss as to who to contact. If you're not sure, contact a game biologist or warden, or inquire at local sporting goods stores or tagging stations. Or call Dick Arsenault evenings at 207727-3880. You will find that it only takes a little effort to be led in the right direction, and you will be glad you made that effort.

The true success of MASTC is due to all the hard-working faithful volunteer scorers. They consistently expend much personal time, expense, and effort to serve the hunting public of Maine, just for the opportunity to examine the big Maine trophies and hear a lot of hunting stories. Many of them, as part of the process, even pry out leads on other trophies to track down.

When you meet a MASTC scorer, pat him on the back and say thanks. It will mean a lot to him as he continues to work for • us all!

continued from page 9 and also to malnutrition and disease. Although winter losses normally increase as the severity of wintering conditions increases, deer losses in poor quality wintering areas are disproportionately greater than in healthy, intact wintering areas.

Maintaining 250,000 to 300,000 deer in good condition during moderately severe winters in Maine requires a minimum of 1.5 million acres of wintering habitat-nearly 8 percent of the state's landbase. Since 97 percent of Maine is in private ownership, safeguarding wintering habitat quality in Maine requires close cooperation with private and corporate landowners.

Since the 1950s, we have approached the task of maintaining and improving deer wintering areas in two ways. One was to develop cooperative agreements with large landowners to consider habitat needs of deer when they conduct logging operations in wintering areas. Cooperative agreements of this nature were negotiated by IF&W wildlife biologists in the 1950s and 1960s, but were largely abandoned until recently.

The other approach was land use regulation.

Under this approach, important habitats such as deer wintering areas were designated and accarded legal protection from certain alterations and conflicting land uses. Deer wintering areas in Maine's unorganized territories have been regulated in this way by the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) since the early 1970s. To date, nearly 200,000 acres of deer wintering habitat in northern and western Maine have been placed under LURC protection. In 1988, the legislature mandated that imp0rLant wintering areas in Maine's organized towns also be identified and protected. IF&W is currently developing procedures and policies which will guide protection of deer wintering habitat in these central and southern Maine towns.

Since the early 1970s, IF&W Wildlife Division biologists have expended much time in aerial and ground reconnaissance of deer wintering areas.

Understandably, locating and evaluating the relative quality of the thousands of deer wintering areas scattered over Maine's 20 million acres of land area is a monumental task! Moreover, once a deer wintering area is placed in a LURC protection district, land use regulations require IF&W biologist

approval of timber harvests in these wintering areas.

Recently, our regional biologists have begun a promising dialogue with major landowners regarding development of long-range plans for managing deer wintering habitats for the benefit of both the company and the people who depend on the deer resource.

In addition to wintering habitat protection, IF&W wildlife biologists provide technical information to landowners regarding management practices which enhance deer and other wildlife on summer-fall deer range. Quite often, they working closely with outreach organizations such as the Cooperative Extension Program, ASCS, SCS, and a variety of private small landowner groups which strive to improve habitat quality. IF&W wildlife biologists also manage 100,000 acres of department-owned Wildlife Management Area land, and also provide wildlife expertise in the management of 400,000 acres of other state-owned land. On all state-owned land, preservation and enhancement of deer habitat figures prominently into land management decisions.

LAW ENFORCEl\lENT Illegal hunting is probably the third highest loss factor affecting Maine's deer herd today (after legal harvests and winter losses). Direct estimates of illegal kill are not possible, but population modeling suggests that the unreported illegal kill of deer may exceed 10,000 deer each year! Considering both the aesthetic and the more tangible values of the deer resource to Maine's economy, this is theft of major proportions! At its worst, the drain of illegally killed deer may impede our efforts to increase the deer population. This is particularly true in situations where several other factors combine to reduce deer popu:ations to low numbers in a short period of time.

Reducing illegal kill of deer is a top priority of IF&W's Warden Service. As a result, IF&W deploys a warden force of nearly 120 full-time field personnel; much of their time in autumn focuses upon enforcement of the many laws which regulate deer hunting. In fact, getting ahead of the poachers is sometimes a yearlong effort, since illegal deer kill may take place in any month of the year. And once violators are apprehended, game wardens log a significant amount of time in court, guiding poaching cases through Maine's criminal justice system.

Maine people must realize that illegal kill of wildlife threatens a valuable resource which belongs to all of us. Poaching is as damaging to society as Fa/11995

25

housebreaking and theft are to individual homeowners! Few people would fail to call the police if they discover a neighbor's home being burglarized. We should react similarly whenever we encounter illegal killing of wildlife. IF&W (with support from the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine) maintains an anonymous hot line to report poachers. Called Operation Game Thief, this program provides a convenient and timely way for all of us to alert game wardens to illegal hunting activities.

COYOTES AND DEER MANAGEMENT

Since the species' establishment in Maine during the 1970s, the eastern coyote has had an impact on deer management. Coyotes do prey on deer, and they may even limit deer population growth under certain circumstances.

To a degree, when coyotes prey on healthy deer populations, we must reduce allowable harvest to hunters in order to keep overall deer losses in balance with fawn production. On the other hand, there are situations in which poor quality wintering habitat is the real limiting factor, and predation by coyotes secondary. In this case, deer population will decline to a level that the winter habitat will support, regardless of what we or the coyotes do.

Deer population management might be simpler if we had fewer (or no) coyotes in Maine, but realistically, the coyote is here to stay. We consider the eastern coyote to be a valuable forbearer, to be utilized for its recreational values to trappers and hunters and wildlife watchers. IF&W maintains a yearlong hunting season for coyote, including a night hunting season in winter. Coyotes may be trapped during an both the early and the regular land trapping seasons in autumn. In addition, coyotes may be taken with body snares in winter by individuals certified by IF&W for this activity.

IF&W also administers a limited coyote control program to address deer and domestic animal losses to coyotes. Regional wildlife biologists and game wardens may deploy certified coyote snarers to locations where coyotes are causing significant losses to wintering deer or domestic livestock. Control efforts are focused on the particular coyotes actually doing the damage.

Considering the amount of wintering habitat in Maine, though, coyote control activities are employed on only a tiny fraction of potential sites each year. Moreover, fewer than 50 volunteers are currently deployed in coyote control activities across the state. Hence, the program's overall effect 26

Ma ine Fish and Wildl ife

in reducing deer losses to coyotes is limited to small, localized areas.

CONSERVATION EDUCATION

The success or failure of any program often depends on how well we communicate with the public. IF&W's deer management program is no exception, and conservation education plays an important role in this regard. There are many facets in play here. One is our Information and Education (I&E) Division, the public relations and educational arm of the department. With news releases, children's learning programs, TV and film documentaries, MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE Magazine, and direct conta.:ts with the public, our I&E staff informs hunters and nonhunters about natural resource stewardship in general and deer management issues in particular.

Hunter behavior and ethics also factor into the deer management equation in Maine. Negative experiences between landowners and hunters result in much land being closed to hunting. These same negative interactions contribute to efforts to impose firearm discharge bans out of fear for public safety.

To counteract both trends, hunters must improve their collective image in the public eye. Improving hunting behavior will go a long way toward achieving this.

IF&W is deploying two programs aimed at improving hunter behavior and reenforcing a code of ethics while hunting. One is our long-standing Hunter Education Program, now mandatory for all new deer hunters. Since the program's inception in 1958, more than 140,000 new hunters have received instruction on various aspects of hunter ethics, safe firearm use, and appropriate behavior afield. The other, more recent, effort is the Landowner Relations Program. This program is only a year old, but has already proven to be a valuable bridge between the hunting public and the landowners whose property harbors most of our wildlife resource.

~ fJ

aine people have had a long and varied history of sharing the land with white-tailed deer.

During the past four centuries, deer and people have proven highly adaptable to each other. Maine will certainly continue to change in the future; our attitudes toward deer and outdoor recreation will also evolve. The deer management program should remain flexible and responsive to these changes as they occur. •

BLUE CHARM

by Butch Carey rom the Fly Tying Bench

THE PATTERN Hook: #36890 salmon THREAD: Black monocord TAG: Oval silver tinsel TIP: Yellow floss TAIL: Golden pheasant crest BUTT: Black ostrich RIBBING: Oval silver tinsel

Cast on black thread above the barb of the hook, then tie in tag [] and tip.

@]

Tie in ribbing in front of butt.

Bring thread to front of hook and tie in black floss for body.

BODY: Black floss WING: Brown mottled turkey with narrow strips of teal flank over upper half TOPPING: Golden pheasant crest THROAT: Blue barbules CHEEK: Jungle cock (optional) HEAD: Black monocord

•

~

Tie in tail, then tie in butt just ~ in front of tail.

Wind body to back, then over again to front of hook in smooth, even turns.

Fall 1995

27

--¡-----

~-

fcl Bring ribbing up front in evenly

~ Tie in brown mottled turkey on

~ spaced turns. Tie & trim.

~ top of hook near eye.

l7l Tie in narrow teal flank strips l.!.J over upper part of wing.

Top wing with golden pheasant crest extending to tail. Tie in throat under head.

Finish head, cement, and your Blue Charm is complete! Note the optional jungle cock eye (inset), which can be added just before head is finished. "''"

t::

OJ

iii I

>,

I

.D

~ .c a.

28

Maine Fish and Wildlife

THE MARKETPLACE 1940s Posters The original silk-screened versions of these posters measure about 22 by 28 inches. Screened sometime in the mid- l 940s, they were designed to promote conservation efforts. (Editor's note: The series stands at these four, that we know about-if you know of more, let us know!)

These handsome 14" by 18" (about half-size) full-color reprints of the originals convey their messages loud and clear-just like their larger ancestors did! The reprints are on sturdy coated poster stock, and are shipped flat and reinforced to avoid damage.

.

l

eac.b, JDC. sb\pptnS

To order, send check or money order to: POSTERS! d\nS .

Inland Fisheries and Wildlife band\tnS 284 State Street, Station #41 Augusta ME 04333 Be sure to specify which poster( s) you want and/or the quantity of each. Please allow four weeks for delivery.

t

Watchable Wildlife Guide Available!

This new-in-1994 pocket guide contains more than two dozen full-color wildlife photographs and descriptions of 62 great places in Maine to go in search of that ever-remembered glimpse of wildlife in its natural setting. Most of the sites are on publiclyowned land, but all are open for careful public use.

The book is organized by geographic regions and describes To order, send check or money each site in detail - how to get order for $5.95 (payable to there, the species you might Maine Fish and Wildlife) to: expect to see, details on the WATCHABLE WILDLIFE availability of restrooms, parking, 284 State St., Station 41 and other facilities, and much Augusta, ME 04333 more, including information on access for persons with disabilities.

Fall 1995

29

FISH AND WILDLIFE BRIEFS Advisory Council Action At its monthly meeting, Maine's Fish and Wildlife Advisory Council approved the 1995-96 hunting and trapping seasons on furbearing animals and established boat horsepower restrictions on two Maine ponds.

The new hunting and trapping regulations on furbearers remain much the same as last season with two exceptions.

The open season on trapping beaver will begin two weeks earlier than last year in Wildlife Management Units 4 and 6, or Dec. 15 instead of Jan. 1. Also, an early season for muskrat trapping was approved in Wildlife Management Units 1 and 2.

According to Ken Elowe, wildlife director for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, last year's harvest of otter and beaver were higher than normal. An abundance of both furbearers in Maine combined with an increased demand for these pelts spurred the annual increase.

The council also approved a public request to disallow the use of any internal combustion engines on Scituate Pond in York. On Beal Pond (also Crystal Pond) in Turner the council approved a request to prohibit outboard motors of more than 10 horsepower.

Prior to the council meeting, four newly appointed members were sworn in for three-year terms. The new council members are Charles F. Beck, Presque Isle; Millard A. Wardwell, Penobscot; Eric N . Davis, Vinalhaven; and F. Dale Speed, Princeton.

Catch and Release Only Earlier this month, the Atlantic Sea Rtm Salmon Commission adopted a new regulation that amends the Atlantic salmon season on Maine rivers. The new regulation prohibits the taking of Atlantic salmon. Previously, anglers could keep one fish. Under the new catch and release provision, sport harvest of Atlantic salmon in all waters of the state is now illegal. All fish must be released at once, alive and without further injury.

According to the commission, the purpose of the change "is to eliminate the sport harvest in order to increase spawning escapement and the size of future Maine Atlantic salmon runs."

The commission said that "This conservation measure is necessary due to low and declining populations of Atlantic salmon across North America."

Prior to the adoption of the new regula tion, no public opposition was heard during two public hearings.

Hatchery Personnel Recognized During a recent State House ceremony in the Hall of Flags, three hatchery personnel received special recognition for their participation in a youth training program.

From the Governor Hill Hatchery, Hatchery Manager David C. Raynor, Assistant Hatchery Manager Jerre Keller, and Fish Culturist Thomas McLaughlin were presented with Outstanding Supervisors certificates by Commissioner of Labor Valerie Landry.

Commissioner Ray "Bucky" Owen welcomed the new members of the Fish and Wildlife Advisory Council. (Left to right) Commissioner Owen; F. Dale Speed, Princeton; Charles Beck, Presque Isle; Eric N. Davis, Vinalhaven; and Millard A. Wardwell, Penobscot.

30

Maine Fish and Wildlife

According to Mary Ann Samuels, a spokeswoman for the Summer Youth Employment and Training Program (SYETP), the three men did "an ou tstanding job in providing guidance and a learning opportunity during the summer for a disadvantaged 16-year old boy." Samuels said that through patience and thoughtful guidance, "they really helped him use his strengths and overcome his weaknesses. They managed to do their regular jobs and still give +he student 101 percent."

Missing Person Found The body of a missing Patten man was found June 5 following a woods search in Chester by the Maine Warden Service.

John Scully, 55, was last seen April 17 when he left New Jersey for his home in Patten. Following recent reports of clothing found near a logging road in Chester, an aerial search was conducted near the Butterfield Ridge Road. When Warden Pilot Alan Rider spotted from the air what appeared to be a stuck vehicle, a ground search team was called in and found the vehicle.

The victim's body was soon located in the woods a short distance from a four-wheel drive pickup truck. According to Warden Roger Guay, it appeared that Scully had become stuck and attempted to walk out the logging road.

There was no evidence of suicide or foul play.

Record Turkey Harvest Maine's 1995 turkey hunting season, which takes place during the month of May, ended with a record harvest of 117 birds.

This figure represents an increase of 89 percent over last year's total harvest of 62 male birds. According to wildlife biologist Phil Bozenhard, reasons for the dramatic increase in hunting success by spring turkey hunters is attributable to conservative kill quotas, which have allowed Maine's turkey population to increase and expand its range. The extremely mild winter of 1995 also helped cut down on winter losses of Maine's largest game bird.

Maine's wild turkey population has expanded eastward in Maine and wildlife biologists are expected to recom-

mend an expansion of next year's hunting zones to as far east as the Penobscot River.

Two record birds were killed during this season, each weighing 23 pounds.

Next year's turkey season will run during the month of May and will be open to residents and nonresidents who obtain hunting permits by participation in a permit drawing. Applications for the 1996 season will be available in late December of 1995.

Warden Peppard Promoted

New Trout Regulations

District Warden Dave Peppard of Richmond, a 21-year veteran with the Maine Warden Service, has been named to head up Operation Game Thief and the department's Landowner Relations Program.

A recent study that compares the rate of growth of brook trout in different bodies of water is the foundation of a new proposed set of fishing regulations for Maine's 1,010 brook trout waters.

An age and growth study of brook trout by fisheries biologists found that there is a wide range of growth rates from water to water. For example, a one-year old brook trout can range in size from 3.4 inches to 11.5 inches, a three year old brook trout can range in length from 6.1 inches to 20 inches. Fish and Wildlife's brook trout specialist Forrest Bonney points out that this wide range in trout growth demonstrates the need to provide in the regulations a range in length limits rather than one general law.

Because of this disparity in growth rates, the current general law regulations often do not protect trout to spawning size before being harvested.

This fact, along with a significant increase in angling pressure and a public demand for larger fish, has brought about an ever-increasing number of trout waters that have been protected by special regulations over the past few years. In fact, more than half of Maine's brook trout lakes and ponds are currently covered by special angling regulations. These special regulations have been imposed to protect Maine trout populations from overfishing. Despite some public criticism of Maine's many different angling regulations, a simple, uniform general law on trout has not been possible because of the diverse nature of trout populations and habitat.

However, some newly proposed trout regulations, which are comprised of four categories, are intended to further protect the trout fishery while at the same time making the regulations simpler and more consistent.

The proposed regulations, based on brook trout growth rates, are summarized in a box on the following page.

The intent of restricting the number of larger fish kept is an attempt to preserve some of the older, larger trout that are aesthetically and genetically important. Their protection will assure natural reproduction of wild trout populations.

The 2 trout limit, 8 " minimum length limit will become general law on lakes and ponds in the following Southern Maine counties: Androscoggin, Cumberland, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford, Sagadahoc, Waldo, and York.

Gulliver Named A television news reporter from northern Maine is the new videographer and assistant media relations coordinator for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The appointment of Jon Gulliver, 27, of Houlton, former news anchorman at WA GM-TV in Presque Isle, was announced recently by V. Paul Reynolds, Information Director for Fish and Wildlife.

Jon Gulliver Gulliver replaces Paul Fournier, who retired in January.

A Houlton native, Gulliver has eight years of Maine media experience. Before working in television, he was a news reporter with the Presque Isle Star Herald and the Maine Campus at the Univer ity of Maine.

In his new post, Gulliver will produce television public service announcements as well as promotional and educational programs for fish and wildlife.

As assistant media relations coordinator, Gulliver will also work with Reynolds in responding to media queries and preparing news releases.

David M. Peppard Peppard's dual responsibilities were previously separate assignments. Recently retired Warden Charlie Marshall served as Landowner Relations Coordinator, while former Warden Chuck Allen directed Operation Game Thief (OGT).

A native of Eddington, Peppard is a 1974 graduate of the University of Maine, where he majored in wildlife management. He has served as a district warden in the Richmond area for 20 years.

In naming Peppard to the post, Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Bucky Owen said "Dave has a big job to do.

He'll be expanding the Landowner Relations Program with revenues from the new Supersport license. We expect that he'll also make important contributions as a member of the task force on Maine trespass laws. Owen also noted that the OGT program, which has been successful in prosecuting fish and game violations, will this year also deal with the growing problem of dumping used appliances in wooded areas.

Peppard said that he is excited about his new responsibilities, including the chance to improve landowner relations around the state and help clarify state trespass laws.

The Richmond warden will continue to oversee the department's airboat program and will be headquartered in Augusta.

Fall 1995

31

Bag limit 2 trout 2 trout

Length limit Recommended for lakes and ponds with: 12" minimum; only 1 fish highest growth potential may be greater than 14" 10" minimum; only 1 fish may be greater than 12"

2 trout

8" minimum

5 trout

6" minimum

The 5 trout limit, 6 " minimum length limit will remain general law on lakes and ponds in other counties.

Because trout growth rates in rivers, brooks and streams are generally much less than those in lakes and ponds, no general law changes are being proposed for brook trout in flowing waters.

These proposed changes in trout regulations are expected to go to rulemaking in early fall and, if approved, will become effective in 1996.

New Laws Passed Before adjourning in June, the Maine State legislature passed more than 20 new laws pertaining to h unting, fishing and outdoor recreation. Among the most far-reaching bills are: a bill crea ting the Outdoor Heritage Fund; a bill that requires legislative approval of new listings of endangered species in Maine; and a tough new poacher's law.

The Outdoor Heritage Fund creates a Maine wildlife lottery game, expected to generate $2-5 million annually. Funds from the lottery will be earmarked for a variety of state conservation programs, including fisheries and wildlife habitat, public access to outdoor recreation, natural resources law enforcement, and endangered and threatened species.

The endangered species bill, opposed

by Fish and Wildlife, provides for legislative oversight for all listings of endangered or threa tened species in Maine.

The so-called poacher's law markedly increases the penalties for fish and game violators. This new law gives the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife expanded authority to revoke hunting and fishing licenses for much longer periods of time, including life. The commissioner may also revoke all licenses issued by the Department for any Class D fish and game violation . Additionally, hunting and fishing privileges may be revoked immediately upon conviction.

32

Maine Fish and Wildlife

high growth potential moderate growth potential and for stocked waters where distributionof the catch among anglers is a consideration. "put and take" stocked waters and remote waters with low fishing pressure

The new law also expands the authority of the Maine Warden Service to confiscate equipment used in fish and wildlife violations.

Other new laws passed by the state legislature include: • An increase in loon license plate revenues for Fish & Wildlife.

• An increase in fees for moose hunting permits for nonresidents to $300.

• An act to stop the alewives restoration program on the St. Croix River.

• An act that makes parents legally responsible for juveniles hunting without adult supervision.

• An act that expands the Supersport licensing program and dedicates the revenues for furthering landowner relations and sportsmen's ethics.

• An act creating an Atlantic Sea Run Salmon Authority with exclusive jurisdiction over the introduction and management of Sea Run Salmon.

• An act making it illegal to feed or bait deer two months before the firearms season .

• An act creating a Landowner Recognition Day. An act that simplifies snowmobile registration for nonresiden ts.

• An act creating a three-day nonresident small game hunting license.

• An act that increases the set aside of state gas tax revenues for ATV and snowmobile trails.

• An act that modifies the law on wild turkey possession in Maine.

• An act that creates a commission to study state trespass laws.

• An act that creates a task force to study IF&W operations.

• An act to exempt shooting range owners from civil and criminal action in noise pollution.

• An act to require licensing of wolf hybrids in Maine.

Warden Livezey Recognized Lincoln Game Warden William Livezey has received national recognition for his efforts in boating safety.

The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) who work closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and state boating safety organizations, recognized Livezey for his dedication and hard work in enforcing boating laws and boating accident investigations.

Deputy Chief Warden Major Dan Tourtelotte (right) presents Warden William Livezey (left) with a national award for his efforts in enforcing Maine boating laws. Livezey's supervisor, Sergeant Mike Marshall (center), shares the proud moment.

Livezey's supervisor, Warden Sgt. Mike Marshall, recommended the Lincoln conservation officer for the award.

According to Marshall, Warden Livezey has been particularly effective in prosecuting intoxicated boaters. "Not only does Bill help to keep boating safer in his area, his accident investigations (boating) are consistently as complete and accurate as possible," Marshall said.

Last year, the Maine Warden Service presented Warden Livezey with a Meritorious Service Award for his rescue of two youngsters caught in a storm on Caribou Pond.

Along with the national recognition for his efforts by NASBLA, Warden Livezey was presented with a new Mossberg shotgun.

Young Writers The Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) is sponsoring a youth writing award for children in grades 612. The work must have been previously published in a newsletter, magazine, newspaper, etc., and the topic must be outdoor oriented. The deadline for submission is January 31, 1996. For more information, write to Eileen King, OWAA, 2017 Cato Ave. Suite 101, State College, Pennsylvania 16801-2768, or call 814-234-1011.

II

Getting Involved The Sebago Lake Anglers Association, in conjunction with the volunteer program of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, is rolling up its sleeves and helping out.

A number of members gave up a Saturday in July to paint the interior walls of the hatchery building at New Gloucester.

The Association is also exploring the possibility of working with the Depart-

ment biologists in gathering data about Sebago lake feeder streams, as well as projects that involve stream rehabilitation. The group is also designing boat stickers that invite inquiries from fishery biologists about fishing, fish taken, etc.

The idea is to encourage communication between the anglers and the biologists.

Taking a cue from the Sebago group, other similar organizations are jumping on the volunteer bandwagon. (Editor's Note: See editorial inside front cover.)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: Hats off to Bob Foye and all your talented people for the wonderful article in your spring 1995 issue of Maine Fish & Wildlife.

I must say that this article and the accompanying photography is just another fine example of the many articles that have appeared over the years in this great magazine.

However, this issue and this article deserve special mention.

If I were a teacher, you would all receive three stars.

William R. Randall Winthrop

Dear Editor: Maine Fish and Wildlife Magazine is one of my favorite fishing and hunting publications. I was particularly taken with your recent Spring '95 cover of colorful streamer flies.

I wish to call to your attention the Light Edson Tiger fly in the upper left hand corner which was incorrectly called a Dark Edson Tiger. L.L. Bean made the same mistake in their 1995 fishing catalogue. I knew Bill Edson when he worked in Portland and the Light Tiger has always been one of my favorites.

Al Clements Spencertown NY

NOTES FROM OUR FIELD STAFF

While doing an electro-fishing survey of Black Brook in Twp. 25 June 19, we captured an unusual fish. In addition to brook trout, we captured an 8 1/2" splake. The splake had a BV fin clip, indicating that it had been stocked this spring. The fish was stocked in Peaked Mountain Pond on May 17, and travelled about 8-8 1/2 miles from the stocking site to the capture site. It travelled about 2 1/2 miles down Peaked Mountain Pond outlet, then swam about 3 1/2 miles up the Machias River, then swam about 11/2 miles up Mopang Stream, and finally, aboL1t 3/4 mile up Black Brook. The fish made three "left turns" to reach its destination!!

June 19 was an extremely hot day, and Black Brook was 71.5 degrees F. I would not expect to find a splake in water this warm. The fish was very thin and in poor condition, probably from his long-distance jaunt in search of cool water.

Ron Brokaw Fisheries Biologist

The game wardens of Division B, Sidney headquarters, have had an extremely busy, productive spring and summer. Beginning in spring, most areas experienced some very good smelt runs, with numerous violations encountered on the closed runs. Warden Mark Thompson made several significant apprehensions of a closed run on Swan Lake in Swanville. One man had 16 quarts over his limit, the other man 14 quarts over. While checking the lake during the day, Thompson charged three men with possessing 1O trout over their limit.

Sgt. Michael Pratt and Warden Blaine Holding apprehended a man who was in possession of five gallons of smelts over the limit as he came off the Big Sag smelt run. The man paid a $460 penalty.

The wardens of Sections 1 and 2, under the leadership of Sgts. Bill Allen and Glynn Pratt, have been holding special boat safety enforcement details on various high-complaint areas on local

i

lakes. The purpose of these high-profile details is to ensure compliance with the Maine boat law, particularly violations of headway speed, OUI, and safety equipment laws. During four two-hour details in June, 75 violations were written on area lakes. Many of the violations were documented on video tape to be used as evidence in court.

Wdn. Lloyd Perkins and other area wardens spent a lot of time working the special regulation ponds in the Augusta area. Plain clothed game wardens posed as fishermen. Numerous flagrant violations were encountered, including many overlimit, no license, and taking by illegal means violations.

Operation Game Thief (OGT) continues to provide vital information to game wa~enssoapprehen~onscanbe made. Warden Perkins was able to apprehend a man with eight bass over the limit and to catch numerous people with illegal jigging of fish due to OGT information.

Lt. Jim Ross, Division B

Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

• 284 State Street

• Augusta ME 04333

Stumped Fo~ Holiday Gift Ideas?

Well, try these on for size! Our new Fish and Wildlife Department barbecue aprons-made from tough cotton/polyester material in either forest green or khaki-are perfect for those , outdoor-or indoor-cooks in your family. · This rugged easyto-clean apron is currently available in two designs-a mother loon with chick on her back or a leaping troutand cost only

$} 4 99each If you're still stumped, think about some of our distinctive note cards for those other hard-to-buy-for people on your list. We're offering a package of 10 cards with envelopes-in any combination of our five distinctive designsfor only

Who wouldn't want to write their thank-you notes on these handsome cards?

Order now to receive these items in time for the holidays. Send check or money order to: Maine Fish and Wildlife Department, Drawer AC,284 State Street, 41 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333.

Please state quantity, color, and design for each apron (add $1.50 per apron for shipping and handling), and your choice of assortment for each set of cards (shipping and h;mdling included for cards). Please al/ow four to six weeks for delivery.