Sunday – Monday
October 28 and 29 – Maine Hunting Camp
I think I was the last to arrive at hunting camp yesterday even though I envisioned being the first. It was my full intention to be here earlier but you know plans can change. I decided to go with my mother to church on Sunday. She has decided to join a new church and I could tell by the look in hers eyes that she would like me to go.
Sunday was a sunny day but windy and when I arrived everyone was busy sighting in new guns and checking out the old standbys. I got my gear stowed and dusted off my .308 to see how it was going to shoot. After a few adjustments, I felt confident that I could at least scare some game away.
Supper at camp was good. Don brought a huge pot full of a New England boiled dinner. After eating, we tuned in the battery-powered radio so we could listen to the World Series game – Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox.
To bed by around midnight and up at 5 a.m. certainly made for a short night. After a feast of bacon, eggs, toast, juice, coffee, etc., the search began one more time to gather all that stowed gear and get ready for a day in the Maine woods.
When I awoke at about 5 a.m., a quick check of the thermometer hanging in the tree behind camp revealed a chilly 22 degrees. It warmed to around 34 by midday.
I believe this to be my 33rd year coming to this camp and I discovered yet another first. With a cold wind blowing at the left side of my face as I still-hunted through an area where I found success last year, I heard a loon crying on the pond that sits perhaps a half to three quarters of a mile from the hunting camp. This is the first time I have ever heard loons on this water. As I was returning to camp late this afternoon, I heard yet again a loon crying out.
All hunters in camp spent the day in the woods. Some are still out as I write. Some have seen flashes and glimpses of deer but no opportunities. I saw at least a half-dozen ruffed grouse and one mink but no deer.
I will finish this later while I wait to hear reports as hunters return.
Well, almost everyone is back in camp and so far, no luck. But this will not daunt any of us from getting up early tomorrow morning and hitting the woods again.
The snacks are breaking out and discussions on each hunter’s excursions continue.
As I follow stories and hopefully excitement builds, I try to get stories out to you.
Tom Remington
