Allagash Guide Service Blog

Maine Spring Moose Antler Hunts

Most of the snow is gone from northern Maine and that means spring shed hunting.  In shaded areas and softwood dominated sections there is still too much snow but in most of the hardwood and mixed wood sections enough snow has melted to pick up anlters that dropped over the winter.  Some roads are still too wet or soft or even too much snow in some to get into places so walking is required.  Over the last week or so the local shed hutners have been busy covering as much ground as possible.  It is great to get out and enjoy this time of year, temperatures are perfect for walking and we get to see many grouse and woodcock as well as do some scouting for new moose and deer hunting areas for the coming fall.  Below is a photo of 6 antlers I found walking one ridge this past Sunday, I also found 2 others laying in a road.  You can go to my website and click on antler hunting photos for more spring and winter hunt photos.

Sheds found on 4/1/2012

Maine Black Bear Hunting Spring Preview

Maine bear hunting is poised to be great in 2012, the harvest was down in 2011 due to an abundance of natural food.  The availability of late fall food sources gives the bear population the ability to feed on quality food prior to winter hibernation.  Key to a healthy bear population is quality late season food to allow pregnant sows to enter their den as healthy as possible and support the cubs and the remaining bear den with hearty winter reserves for the long winter.

I have restructured the remote bear hunts to provide a better quality hunt.  I decided to build 3 modular camps and relocate the camps to a much more desirable location.  The previous camps were not desirable due to the location, poor condition and lack of maintenance by the owner.  The new location is on the St. John river, there will only be a maximum of 6 hunters each week.  Limiting the hunt to only 6 hunters will allow me to offer a high quality bear hunt with a cook to provide all of your meals and shower is provided with hot running water.

Newly buiilt remote bear hunt cabins

Good muskie fishing and coyote hunting is available at the remote camps and at our base camp in Allagash.  There is still a few select openings for our Maine bear hunts in Allagash or at the remote bear camps in the North Maine Woods.

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Maine deer hunters will also benefit from light winter

Northern Maine deer herd has experienced another winter of below average snow fall and winter severity.  Snow depths were well below normal (I estimate 60 – 70 inches) for a third winter in a row, but that is not the only benefit of the winter.  Most deer entered their standard winter yards later than normal and due to a fantastic warm up in mid March that effectively melted so much snow it allowed most deer to leave the winter yards.  Leaving the wintering areas a month early will help deer improve their late winter physical and biological conditions contributing to less late winter stress and mortality.  Hopefully this will translate into more fawn births and survival for the future.  Low winter stress and adequate spring nutrition will also help many of our bucks produce better antlers this summer, which we all can appreciate.

All of this good news and favorable conditions will continue to help our deer herd recover, albeit very slowly, from several severe winters in 2008 and 2009.  Maine deer hunting with rifle begins October 29, 2012 and continues through November 24^th.  Muzzle loader season begins November 26 and ends December 1, 2012, there are still openings for the upcoming season.

Muzzle loader harvest

Spring time means Allagash and St. John river canoe trips – planning

An early spring arrival has brought optimism for paddling and fishing season.  During the weeks of March 12th and 19^th temperatures were regularly above normal and also setting many new record high temperatures.  Ice out on theSt. John and Allagash rivers occurred on March 22, which is the earliest that any locals can ever remember.  The early spring arrival has spawned a lot of interest in planning canoe trips on the Allagash andSt. John rivers.  Although ice out was early there is still snow left in the woods and ice on the lakes also there is lots of ice piled up on the shore of the rivers, as you can see in the photo.

View of canoe landing from Allagash river bridge

Since the record temperatures a few weeks ago our weather has turned back to normal late March temperatures with overnight lows around 10 degrees and day time highs around 30, although it is not too early to start making plans and reservations we will have to wait about a month before conditions shape up for safe and comfortable paddling.

Confluence of Allagash and St. John river after ice out

Maine Black Bear, Deer, Grouse, Moose and River Trips On Display

Winter time means show season for many outfitters across the country.  There is no bigger sportsman, outdoor and travel show in the east then at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA.  The show started on Saturday February 4 and runs through Sunday February 12.  I will be at the show in the Main Hall at booth #7018, I hope to see many of my past and returning customers.  Outfitters from across Maine are trying to sell White Tail Deer, Black Bear, Grouse and Moose hunts to fill the 2012  hunting season, so if you are thinking about booking a hunt for the fall make sure to visit the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show this week.

Moose Antler Shed Hunting – January 2012

Fresh anlter found on January 10th 2012

Our early moose shed hunting has been very slow, by mid January 2011 we were finding a lot of antlers and many of respectable size in the 12 – 20 lb range.  So far in January 2012 shed hunting has not measured up to 2011 and we are still seeing many bulls carrying both anlters.  During the week of January 9th I had 4 shed hunters for 3 days who found 19 antlers, several were in the 12 – 14 lb, so overall it was a good week but not what were expecting for size.  The theory of many is that it takes cold weather to knock of the antlers (not so sure how that really affects things), over the last week we have had 3 or 4 days of -10 to -20 degrees.  Plenty cold to knock off anlters if you believe in that theory, on January 15 I went out all day with a friend at -20, we found 3 small antlers.  With all of our sightings of bulls still holding onto their antlers we will keep plugging along which gives us hope for more treasures and bodes well for our upcoming customers.  Snow depths are good for this time of the winter so traveling througout our area by snowmobile is easy with not much concern of becoming stuck in deep snow and it is easy for the moose herd.  I look forward to speaking to anyone interested in booking a moose shed antler hunt over the next couple weeks.

Results from January 9th & 10th 2012

2011 Deer Hunting In Northern Maine

Deer hunting results were disappointing this year, after a summer of seeing many more deer than the last few years I was expecting better sightings and harvest.  Throughout the summer I saw a lot of does and fawns, much more than usual, I also counted 20 bucks throughout the summer which was more than the last two summers combined.  Not to make too many excueses but temperatures throughout the season were extremely warm with many days in the 50′s and a few days during Thanksgiving and muzzleloader weeks in the mid 40′s, not  a great recipe for deer movement during the rut.  Anyway, we had 20 hunters throughout the season that harvested 3 bucks, passed up 4 small bucks and missed one buck, so 8 of 20 hunters had opportunities to kill a buck, thankfully many small bucks were left to live another year.

So far our early winter is starting out very mild with minimal snow on the ground.  As I make my way around in the woods the last few weeks there is ony 2 -4 inches of snow blanketing the ground.  At this time last year we had enough early snow that I had to use a snowmobile to access most areas in the backcountry looking for shed antlers.  The winters of 2010 and 2011 were very easy on our deer herd with very low levels of snow fall, if we can string another winter to that it will be great for our deer herd.

Grouse and Woodcock Hunting In Maine 2011

Another fine grouse day with some great dog work

The outlook for the 2011 season was not promising, after experiencing record breaking rainfall throughout the spring, summer and early fall I did not expect a whole lot for our grouse hunting.  During our September bear season I usually have a good feel for how our upland bird hunting will be in October, throughout September I did not see the usual flocks of grouse that is typical up here leading up to our October grouse / woodcock hunting.  The first week was living up to what I expected and only averaging about 13 grouse flushes and 3 woodcock flushes, but surprisingly the second, third and fourth weeks of October were much better, our daily flush rate went up and we were seeing 18 – 25 grouse flushes each day while woodcock improved to about 4 per day.  Our dogs held up very well throughout the 4 weeks with only two minor injuries, thankfully they did not slow them down at all.  Thanks to our many returning grouse customers and several new clients or groups that were a pleasure to meet and hunt with this year.  Many new customers made the same comment that we here every year “I have never seen this many grouse”.  Overall the season totals for our guided hunts were as follows:  16 grouse flushes per day and 4 woodcock flushes each day, these averages are a bit lower than the last couple of years but considering our summer weather we did just fine.

Maine Moose Hunting 2011 Season

Mike Whitten and his 2011 moose with a 52" spread / B&C score of 185 5/8

Maine moose hunting at its best, what a great three week season.   Over the course of the 3 week season we hosted 19 moose hunting groups, some with bull permits and some with cow permits.  Many of the hunting groups were un-guided but we were fortunate to guide 5 hunters during the 3 week hunt.  There were several nice bulls shot by our guided hunters with two beautiful bulls over 50 inch spreads.  Weather was a challenge during each of the 3 weeks, we faced several days in the 70′s during week one and two and during week three most of the days temperatures were in the 50′s.  Thanks to our fantastic and highly motivated and experienced guides all of our moose hunters were able to harvest a moose to fill their tags, we are looking forward to the 2012 hunt.

Dave Colbath and 2011 moose with 57" spread

2011 Maine Bear Hunt Final Statistics

Maine Black Bear Hunt over Bait 2011

As stated in an earlier post overall the 2011 baited bear hunt was disappointing, the first week results were the worst.  The sightings were minimal and the size of most bear was smaller than avearage.  Once the second week hunters arrived the bait sites were working much better and sightings still were not up to par but were significantly better than week number one and the third week was even better with all hunters seeing a bear, the hunters were 100% on harvesting or shooting at a bear.  Overal the season statistics shaped up like this, 15 of 41 hunters harvested a bear, 36% success, but 78% of the hunters had an opportunity to harvest a bear.  What I mean by opportunity is a hunter either harvested a bear, shot at one and missed or chose to pass on a shot because the bear was too small.  Considering how dismal the first week bear hunt over bait in northern Maine went I was much more pleased with the second and third week results.

I am in the planning stages for the 2012 season and revamping  the remote bear hunt.  In 2012 I will be using a location on the St. John river near Seminary brook, the same location I used from 1995 to 2004.  The setting is beautiful on the shore of the St. John river, a benefit to this section of the river is the evolving Muskie fishery.  There is some great sections of the river with deep pools that harbor plenty of Muskie, it will be a great addition to this hunt.