2012 N.B. DEER HUNT AND SOME VINTAGE OUTDOOR ITEMS.

   The 2012 New Brunswick deer season is wrapped up for another year and although it wasn't a good year for me personally,the harvest numbers are up quite nicely after bottoming out a couple of years ago. This can be attributed to the low snow pack last year here in New Brunswick and the extra five hundred or so doe tags,mainly is the high density doe areas in the private, southern coastal area of N.B. The final figures are in at 6030 deer killed in 2012 in N.B.,up twenty-six percent over last years numbers. What is especially encouraging is the fact that this years kill numbers is the highest since 2008,which indicates an increasing trend over the last four years.If we can get a few mild winters in a row,it would certainly go a long way towards increasing the deer numbers in New Brunswick. The depth of the snow has a direct corralation to survival numbers of the deer herd here in N.B and we are at the mercy of Mother Nature on that one. I think if we hunters here in New Brunswick can each do some small thing to help the deer in the areas we hunt,then when Mother Nature is harsh with the deer ,our help will soften the blow and likewise,allow the numbers to jump qickly when Mother Nature is kind to the deer. Remember,a three and a half year old buck here in N.B. can be 200 lbs. dressed and sporting a nice 8 or 10 pt. rack. Three years goes by pretty quickly and with any luck at all,there would be some nice bucks around after three or four years of help from deer hunters and Mother natures co-operation during the winter. I think deer hunters who have private ground here in N.B. are already managing their ground to help deer survival rates. Give them food,shelter and control the coyote numbers on your hunting grounds and the deer numbers WILL increase. I think we seen some evidence of these facts in the nice bucks taken in the province this year. A lot of these bucks were taken in the southern half of New Brunswick on private ground. The following photo is one of a nice buck taken by Chris D. of Douglas Harbour near the southern end of Grand Lake. This area has a lot of private ground and has been a haven for nice bucks for as long as I can remember.

 Please note Chris's bandaged hand. He recieved a nasty cut while dressing his deer. This happens a lot more often than you would think.The excitement of killing a nice buck,coupled with cold hands and working in slippery conditions,can result in a cut hand,sometimes severe. Slow and easy wins the day in these situations.

    As I said at the start of this post,it was not a very good season for me personally. As a matter of fact,you could say it was the season that wasn't. After scouting two good areas in the Grand Lake area and finding some very promising buck sign after the duck season opener,I was struck down with a dibilitating health problem that put me down for the whole deer season except for four hours on one afternoon and I had to force myself to go for even that short time. Kenny was called away to Nova Scotia on a job for most of the season so he missed out on most of the hunt. My good friend,Allen Davidson killed a nice little spike horn for meat and guided Steve D. of Cold Lake to a nice four point buck in the Mountain Brook area. I had told Steve if he really wanted to kill a deer in this area to take the first one he seen wearing horns because there are not a lot of deer in this country. Steve took that advice and got a nice little buck for his efforts. On a side note, Steve said he seen a panther while hunting in Mountain Brook ,near the Gaspereau River.

   Because I don't have a lot of photos for this post,I am providing a link to NBHunting so the reader can view some of the bucks killed this year across the province. Please note that most of these bucks were killed in the south and south-western part of New Brunswick. Just click on this link/http://newbrunswickhunting.com/forums/index.php?/topic/4123-2012-whitetail-harvest-pics-only-no-comments/ to view the photos. As you can see from these photos,some very nice bucks were killed this year,with a few being world class trophies. New Brunswick has the potential to grow trophy bucks. We just have to get all of our ducks in a row to realize this potential. If nothing else,these photos provide a glimmer of hope for the future and thats a good thing.

   I continue to pick up outdoor related vintage items during my travels and I will feature three of these for this post. The first photo shows a nice cast iron stag in repose. I don't know much about this item including the date of manufacture or what it decorated when it was manufactured. I do know that I liked it from the moment I seen it and I always buy what I like.

   The next photo shows a nice item made of iron and tin that was used in farm houses and camps to hang kitchen pots and pans as well as kitchen condiments.

 Again,this item is hard to date but I would guess it is from the Fifties. It could be a little earlier or later but I can't say with any certainty.As with the previous item,I liked it as soon as I seen it and bought it without hesitation. Finally,I picked up a nice cast iron hatchet decorated with some red paint. I would say this hatchet is from the late Fifties or early Sixties but that is just a guess.

   There is still a little hunting to be done for partridge,rabbits and coyotes before the big freeze settles in over the Maritimes so don't hesitate to get out there,especially for those deer killing coyotes.

   Until next time,this is Dale Bauer saying"Happy Trails to You.......Until we Meet Again!

2012 N.B.MOOSE HUNT,THE BITE THAT WASN'T,HUNTING PUDDLE DUCKS

The 2012 hunting season started off with a bang with a terrific moose hunt,followed by some very good duck hunting. The weather co-operated during our short moose season and this helped boost hunter success rates across the province. We also started to get a little fall rain that put some water back in the ponds and marshes. This made it a little easier for duck hunters to get around in their boats and gave the ducks a little more water to access food and resting areas. As far as this years fall salmon season goes,the water we did receive was just too little,too late. By the time we got some water,the season had pretty much ended.
    As I mentioned last month,we had three moose tags this year and we were all primed up for the hunt because of all the sign we were seeing. I drew a tag for the first time in over thirty years and ol' Wes Hargrove got a tag again this year after having one last year.If he draws another one next year,I'm going to get him to by my lotto tickets! Wesley's new son-in-law,Denis,rounded out the group that held tags for this years hunt. We were splitting up into three hunting parties and we would each be hunting our own area within zone 18. I elected to hunt the same spot I hunted last year as second gun for Stephen Doherty's wife and that proved to be a wise choice. This area is part of the Coal Creek valley as it makes it's way to its point of entry to Grand Lake. Wes and his second shooter decided to hunt the Harley Road and Denis,his brother and a friend from Saint John were going to hunt a spot in Bronson. All the areas we had chosen were showing a lot of sign so we were quite confident going into this years hunt.
    Here is a clip of Allen Davidson calling on the opener of last years hunt. Allen and Stephen Doherty were hunting with me again this year and we had a great time.

    Allen did a repeat of that call again this year and I hadn't gone out of site down the road when the cell phone buzzed and it was Steven telling me to get back up the hill to where they were calling because there was a nice 14 pt. bull had come to within thirty yards of the truck,not more than ten minutes after the start of the season. Somehow I knew this was going to happen, so off I go huffing and puffing back up the hill,only to arrive about two minutes late.Allen said he held the bull there as long as he could by grunting him back each time he started to leave but eventually he faded out of sight down through the chopping. I asked which direction he went and down through the chopping I go,hoping to catch him lingering in the area or maybe grunt him back out. What a mess of skidder ruts and pot holes I got myself into and all to no avail. Mr. Moose was long gone. Back out I come and after talking some more to the boys,off I go again to make my way to my stand. This time I do make it to my stand around the corner and after I get set up,I give a few calls and suddenly,out steps a moose about four hundred yards away. I could tell it was a big moose but I knew I had to get closer. As I duck walked up the road towards the moose,the cell phone buzzed again! It was Stephen calling to say a monster bull with about twenty points and a sixty inch spread was heading my way. I told him I had a moose in front of me,when the moose veered off of the road as quickly as it had come onto it.I tried to call it back out but it was a no show. I quickly made my way back to the stand because if that big bull was going to cross,I had the chopping and road both covered. After I got settled in,I gave a series of calls and stood waiting. It wasn't five minutes and out comes a moose heading right towards me at about seventy-five yards. I moved to get behind some bushes and he stopped and turned broadside. After all the close encounters that morning,I wasn't going to let this guy walk. I dumped him and I walked back to Stephen and Allen and we drove back to the moose.Neither one of them had heard me call or shoot,so they were quite surprised when I told them I had one down. The following photo shows Allen and I with my moose shortly after walking in to where he fell. As you can tell from the photo,I am not a trophy hunter.Period. When it comes to moose and deer,I take whatever the good Lord puts in front of me,as long as it's legal. I love moose and deer meat so on a three day moose hunt,I'll take a young,eating bull like this any day. But,like any hunter,I like big horns, too. So you can be sure,if I'm hunting a spot ,there is usually a large set of horns in the area.A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush! The next photo shows Stephen and Allen taking a sup of tea before the work begins. I dressed out my moose and Sheldon W. came along and offered to drag it out for me.I said sure and we had the moose on the back of the truck in no time. I shot the moose about 9:30 a.m. and we were on our way to the Chipman DNR station to register the moose by 11:a.m. The next photo shows Sheldon W. packing up after we had our moose loaded. When we got to the registration station,we were surprised to see Ol' Wes had been the first hunter to register a moose on the first day. Wesley got his picture taken and a short write-up in the local paper and he was pleased as punch with the moose he got. His moose was almost a twin to the one I got but unfortunately I never got a photo. After getting my moose looked after,I suggested to Kenny that we take a run back into the area I had hunted on the morning of the second day, just to see what was around. We hadn't gone too far when I spotted a cow in the chopping. After going a little further,we saw another cow with a calf on the opposite side of the road.We started back out and on the way I saw a nice cow standing beside a pond. That totalled three cows and a calf on the second morning. That told Ken and I that the moose were still in pre-rut and not breeding yet.The bulls were still chasing and sparring and the cows were still feeding and travelling with calves,from what we observed the first two days of the season. This type of situation always provides lots of good moose hunting opportunities,provided the weather is good,of course. This year proved to be a banner year,with a moose kill of three thousand ,five hundred and fifty -six moose killed with sixty-three registered at the Chipman station. I tagged out early so that gave me a good chance to get some photos of the moose as they came in and I wasn't disappointed. All of these bulls were from zones 13,17 and 18 and these photos show the calibre of moose living in our hunting area. This first photo is one showing four moose brought in by a group of Frenchmen.Two large bulls,a smaller bull and a nice cow. All these moose were taken in zone 17. The next photo shows Kenny K. huge, old, one horned bull that proved to be the largest registered at 886 lbs. This moose had one banged up horn and was all beat to pieces from fighting. This moose was taken in zone 13.

    The next photo is the moose my neighbors and long time Irving employees,Greg and Kelly B. took in zone 17. Greg and his wife both drew tags and this is the bull Kelly took. Looking on is ninety years young Glendon L. of Chipman and Gerald B. who is eighty something.

  The next photo shows two trophy bulls taken by two local hunters who were less than two km. apart in zone 18. Sam W. of Salmon Creek took the biggest rack,with 20 pts.. Terry L. of Chipman took the second trophy,having 14 pts. Sam W. had the nicest rack I seen registered this year but I know I didn't see all the bulls taken in our area,so there could have been a larger one taken.

 The next photo shows a very nice bull taken by Linda and Roger A. of Minto. They got their moose in zone 13,near Salmon River.

 This next bull came from zone 18 and was taken by a couple of hunters from Moncton.

 This next bull fell in a pretty rough spot in zone 17 and the hunter said they tried unsuccessfully to get their moose out whole before giving up and cutting the big bull into two pieces to get him out.

 The next photo shows the second bull taken by my neighbours Greg and Kelly.Both their bulls were very nice specimens and both were taken in zone 17. Rounding out the photos of moose for this post is a very nice bull taken in the final moments of the 2012 moose hunt by Denis,Wesley's son-in law. It never pays to give up and Denis was justly rewarded with this bull taken in a pounding rain at the last moment. I could only get a photo when the moose was loaded and in the back of the truck. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. Denis' moose filled the last of the three tags our group had and Allen and Stephen agreed that our hunt was one of the best we had ever gone on,in terms of moose taken and seen. A lot of other hunters would have to agree this was one of the best years ever for hunting moose in New Brunswick and any non-resident looking for a trophy moose hunt couldn't pick a better time to enter our draw for one of the one hundred non-resident tags available.

 

    The salmon season has pretty much come to an end for another year except for three small rivers that are tributaries of the Miramichi.These small rivers will end on October29th. I really don't know what to think of this years salmon season and the very poor returns for the year. Atlantic salmon have to be the most exasperating and,at the same time,thrilling fish that swims.After a banner year in 2011 and a phenomenal spring fishery in 2012,most sports and outfitters where almost giddy in their praise of our Atlantic salmon. Then things started to get a little wonky. We started out with low water conditions at the start of the season and many people were surprised when the larger sea-trout sailed through very early in May,although their numbers were way down.Then in June we got a big raise of water and a run of mostly large salmon came in and very few grilse. A prolonged drought settled in over New Brunswick and sportsmen and outfitters alike waited all summer for runs of fish that just didn't materialize. Now all our hopes were pinned on a strong fall run. This run also failed to arrive before the season ended and now most river people were getting very concerned. Now here we stand,our heads hanging,lamenting our loss for this year after rejoicing over the strong runs of salmon last year. I'm positive if it were not for the sheer love of this fish by anglers,it would have been extinct here in New Brunswick decades ago. The ups and downs of this love affair with the King of Sportfish is sometimes enough to drive you to distraction but at the end of the day, hope springs eternal and we all eagerly anticipate the coming year when,once again,our runs of Atlantic salmon will complete their age old ritual and greet waiting fishermen. Lets just keep our fingers crossed and hope Mother Nature knows what is best for this great fighting fish and their numbers will rebound in the coming year.

 

    We only had a day between the last day of moose season and the first day of duck hunting,so we were rushing around trying to finish up some last minute details before heading out on the first morning. Each fall,I look forward to the waterfowl opener with the same enthusiasm as I did over forty years ago,when I was a young man growing up in Minto. I've hunted a lot of different marshes and ponds over the years in the Grand Lake area. I started out hunting McDonalds Meadows at the mouth of Newcastle Stream and moved on to Grand Lake Meadows,the Portobello,Indian and French Lake and then I moved up to Salmon Harbour and the Mouth of Coal Creek stream.Later still,I hunted up the Salmon River at The McGill Meadows, Mistake Cove, and McLeods Pond.For the last several years I have been hunting a small pond on Moon Island and we usually have a very good morning shoot in this spot but the night shoot is usually a little slower. Today,after killing hundreds of ducks over the years,I find myself not being too concerned about getting a limit but would rather watch a beginner make a good shot and see the look on their face or maybe just sit for a bit,have a sup of coffee and just soak it all in.The meadows and surrounding woods are beautiful at this time of year. Don't get me wrong,I still like to dump a few ducks once in a while but the emphasis of my hunt lies elsewhere at this stage of my life. The following photo shows the group who shot the pond on the first day.

 It was nice to have a new lady shooter join us this year.Cora B. works as an electrician out of Fredericton and has a camp outside of Chipman in Dufferen. Cora shot her share of ducks and kept us in stitches all morning with her dry wit and funny comments. The next photo shows Cora in the background, waiting for some ducks to come in. We ended up taking our limit of ducks on the first morning. It was a mixed bag of woodies,blacks,blue-wing teal and a couple of green-winged teal. We used Maddie for most of the retrieving duties and he did a fair job,considering his age and having no formal training. The next photo shows Maddie with the ducks he retrieved on the first day.  The following photo shows a good shot of a male wood duck with his brilliant plumage.

 

    As you can tell from this months post,we are off to a roaring start as our fall hunting season gets under way.Our deer season just started and if we can hang a couple of nice bucks on the pole,we will finish out our fall hunting season with lots of good memories with old friends and hunting partners and toasts around the camp fire. Look forward to some changes here at Hargrove and Bauer Outdoor Adventures in the coming new year. We will be updating our web site and Ken and I will be adding some new features to the adventures we can provide here in the beautiful Grand Lake area.In the meantime,if you are looking for a week or a day in the bush or on the water,just give me a shout and we'll have you on your way in no time. This is Dale Bauer saying "Happy Trails to You,Until we Meet Again!"

FALL IS HERE,THE BITE AND VINTAGE OUTDOOR STUFF

    Fall has finally arrived here at home on Salmon River but definitely not in a big way. This year has been very warm and we received very little rain,so that feeling of fall in the air has been a while coming. We finally got some rain that gave Salmon River a small bump of 3-4 inches that was greatly appreciated by anyone travelling the river. That same rain system gave the lower Miramichi a nice little raise but failed to help the river in the Doaktown and Boistown areas. The fishermen and outfitters alike have had what can only be described as a disastrous year on the Miramichi and her tributaries,especially after the great runs experienced last year. Although it was a poor year for our salmon and trout,as usual under these conditions,the pickerel and perch fishing was fantastic. Low water conditions really turns on the pickerel bite and we took full advantage of the great fishing by being out there nearly every day and hooking trophy sized pickerel on nearly every outing.
    To show you how late fall is arriving this year,I will show two pictures taken on the same day one year apart of Moon Island across from my shore. The first photo was taken this year.As you can see,there isn't much color in the vegetation yet.

 The next photo shows the same scene but taken a year ago.As you can see from this photo,the colors of fall were out in full force. That's a pretty dramatic difference from last year. We seem to be running a bit late but the weather has started to cool off some at night so I expect the leaves will start to change soon enough.

    We were out for our last fish of the year for pickerel and we hooked quite a few in the short time we fished. We like to go a little earlier in the evening before the water starts to cool off and the fish get sluggish. For some reason,the fish we caught on our last trip out were all average sized pickerel from 16-18 inches.What the fish lacked in size,they more than made up for in numbers. Several times we had three or four fish chasing our lures as they skipped across the surface of the water.The next photo shows one of the pics I caught on our last trip out.

 I caught a half dozen all about the same size and lost that many or more before we decided to call it quits. The next photo shows me with another small pickerel taken the same evening.

    As I said earlier,the salmon fishing has been very poor this year and we are just hearing of a few fish moving into the system the past few days. If we get some good rains before the end of the season,we could see some decent fishing yet. I'm hoping for enough water in the Cains to bring some new fish up river because I always like to end the salmon season on the Cains River,if at all possible. It's a beautiful river in the fall and can produce some great fishing if the conditions are good. The next photo shows a nice shot of the fall foliage just below ten mile brook. I'm trying to finish this bit of blog up on the eve of the moose hunt and everything is looking good in terms of weather and the amount of sign we are seeing. Allen Davidson and I checked our spot out this afternoon and the road was tore all to pieces,from one end to the other. Dallas called in a fourteen point bull to within a stones throw of his truck in the morning while checking out the Harley Road in his and ol' Wes's moose hunting spot. We will be going right into the duck hunt after the moose hunt and I will post the results of both of those hunts in October. The next photo shows a nice sunset on Salmon River taken a few days ago. This part of Salmon River is very scenic and has some great photo opportunities.

     I have picked up some great outdoor related stuff lately and the first two items are both lamps. The first lamp would be made for a child's bedroom or would work well in the camp. The body is a figural squirrel holding an acorn and is in great condition. Not sure of manufacturer but it dates to around 1950. The next lamp is a fine example of "tramp art" made by an old lad from Kingsclear,above Fredericton. These lamps have become quite desirable the last few years because people like to decorate their camps with stuff like this. The lamp is constructed with Popsicle sticks and is in perfect condition. I would say this lamp was constructed during the late Sixties or early Seventies. Finally,I have a photo of a very nice print of an outdoor scene in a nice,gold colored vintage frame. This print is dated 1939 and is in very good condition. The hunting season is officially started for this year so be sure to look for upcoming posts with reports of our successes and even our occasional failures in the field.That's the way we like to do it - up front and keeping it real! If any readers are looking for a hunt or a day on the water,just send me an e-mail or give me a call at home to make arrangements. We have some great group deals on bear and deer hunts if four or more book together. Hope to see you soon! Until then,this is Dale Bauer saying "Happy Trails to You,Until we Meet Again!