So I was picked randomly by MDIFW to complete a hunter effort survey this year. I was one of 6,255 applicants for big game hunting licenses that was requested to complete a daily survey of hunting effort. I don't know the number of total applicants for Maine big game licenses but I'm sure this is a very small percentage and was more than happy to keep a daily log of hours hunted, which zone, number of antlerless deer, bucks and unidentified sex of deer seen while afield hunting. Now what is crazy about this is the fact that I have had the worst year in 39 years of hunting of seeing deer in the woods while hunting. Part of the problem is that my neighbor decided to selectively cut a 40 acre parcel that abuts to my property, he did this in late summer, so no chance for new vegetation to grow back up and because of the cleared land, completely changed the way the deer move through the area at least for this current deer season. This recent cut interfered with the way the deer moved into and out of the east side of my property for roughly up to 1 mile wide by 2 miles long, these are places where the deer cycle into and out of in a large circular oval pattern that changes every 3 days or so over the entire deer hunting season, so the usual places that I take a stand at particular stages of the season on the east side of my property resulted in no deer seen, very little fresh sign if any at all seen, and very little sign seen even with fresh snow on the ground after waiting 24 hours right after the snowfall! So I moved across the road to the west side which is Kennebec Highlands public conservation land which I have hunted for the last 6 years also. There is an area on the west side of my driveway that comprises about 12,000 acres of unbroken forestland, not a single house or structure just a vast huge piece of woods with bogs/swamps, beaver ponds, brooks and streams and surrounded by foothills/mountains that progress ever higher as you head north. The usual quick close to home sits on the east side proved hopeless day in and day out, so I committed to taking the long hike back to the west later in the rifle season as time was running out and I had not seen a single deer yet! So as not to bore you with repeat details, that is when I ran into the only deer of the season which was a beautiful bucket racked buck up on the Mountain. So I turned in the survey for rifle only season which accounts for 69 hours of hunting zone 16 with only one large mature buck sighted, and 20 hours of hunting zone 7 with no deer sighted. Needless to say I am shocked and very frustrated, I have a doe permit for zone 16 for crying out loud and have not seen a single doe, this is crazy because I usually see any where from 6 - 8 does per season and usually pass on them in hopes of shooting a bigger buck. Not this year, just really working my arse off to see very little deer, but the one buck I did see was just incredible and I will trade that in for seeing lot's of does anytime!
