Well the past few weeks have absolutely amazing. Over the past two weeks I threw a surprise wedding with my best friend in the world. Almost all of our family and friends were extremely excited for us and the ones who weren't I think need to take a look at what marriage is actually all about and realize that our ceremony was a representation about what we need to get back to. Small and full of love, happiness and joy. Our wedding was not done to impress any one which unfortunately seems to be the way with marriage today. When you get married, should you ever choose to, do what makes you and your spouse happy and forget what any one may say about it. This is your day, do it your way and forget about any outside noise because those who complain about your wedding are selfish and care more about what they can get out of your wedding instead of simply just being happy for you. Jeanne and I got married with some of our family and closest friends. The weather, the food, the drinks, the ceremony and the love in the air made it without question the perfect wedding and even though it may sound boastful or like bragging I believe our wedding should be an example about what is important at a ceremony and what marriage really is all about.
The second dream of mine that has come true is that on August 13th at 11:37am I officially became a licensed and registered Maine Guide. You all may see the post I put up roughly a month ago explaining that i was chasing this dream of mine. Well, it happened! This guide patch literally is the "trophy" I am the most proud of (besides my wife). Big bucks, big moose, all the grouse in the world and sports trophies or awards from years past all add up to nothing compared to the immense pride and honor I feel about this patch. This will allow me to develop a guiding company focusing on getting people interested in the outdoors and will enable me to make a living while doing it (hopefully haha). This patch also brings with it substantial responsibility which I do not take lightly at all. As a registered Maine Guide upholding the laws and traditions of the sportsman lifestyle are center core values that I myself and many guides before me all contain.
As usual I want to end this quick life update post with the invitation that I always give. Please, if you want to do something in the outdoors contact me at any time and we will make a plan. Whether you want to go shooting in a gravel pit, look at trees, take foliage pictures, go camping or hunting; I want to provide you with a safe and information packed adventure that will get you excited about life in the outdoors. Thank you for reading this post as I am very excited about my most recent life events.
Take care and always remember; shoot straight and shoot often.
God bless.
Summer is here and the heat sure is rolling up in Maine this week. My office seems to refuse to dip below 85 degrees which makes for an extremely long day at the office that's for sure. Lately I've been looking into many avenues to start my dream of becoming a professional Maine Guide and outfitter in the state of Maine. I belong in the woods or in a stream, outside and not in a sit down desk job. Obviously this transition is not something one does over nights, it's a process and something that should be thought out well before venturing into. While thinking about the idea of being a Maine Guide I have come to realize that I will not only be held to the highest of standards for ethics in the hunting community but will be expected to ensure that others do the same. This is something I greatly look forward to and am excited to have such an honor and privilege some day. The first major step in my journey will start this Thursday when I start "Maine Guide School". Maine Guide School was in face a gift that my wonderful fiance purchased for me for our anniversary. I must admit, I really lucked out in finding a life partner that is not only supportive of me chasing my dreams, but will sacrifice things herself to help me achieve them. She is my backbone and the biggest blessing in my life without question. This four day Maine Guide School class is designed to help prepare it's students for the intense examination process that must be passed in order to become a licensed and professional Maine Guide. Having recently completed a first aid and CPR course I am also up to date on my skills for medical emergencies which I will hopefully never need, but none the less are extremely important. Once I am finished with Maine Guide School I plan on sending in my application to sign up for the exam ASAP and dream of the day that I pass the exam and will be a licensed Maine Guide.
I've grown up amongst some of the best hunters in the state of Maine. My father, uncles and grandfather's have all had a tradition or harvesting monster whitetail bucks all over this great state with many field dressing well over 200 lbs. The Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, an excellent group, gives out patches for specific hunting accomplishments in harvesting animals. These patches are then often times sewn onto a hunters jacket to proudly represent a prior successful accomplishment. The "Biggest Bucks in Maine Club" patch is given out to any one who harvests a deer that field dresses over 200 lbs. I was fortunate to get my first patch at the age of 14 years old and to this day I wear my wool jacket with that patch sewn on it with so much pride. But the patch that in my opinion is the ultimate accomplishment and representation of true woodsman-ship, sportsmanship and respect for natural resources is the patch that reads "Registered Maine Guide". My Uncle John has been a guide for years, harvesting dozens of monster bucks, bears, moose and other animals through out his impressive hunting career. You can easily say that not only hunting but also guiding is in my blood, it comes from my heart and it is something that ever fiber of my being is excited to start doing. My Uncle's most amazing accomplishments, in my opinion, have been running a successful camp for years as an outfitter taking people out into the great woods and ensuring their safety. Bringing people into the woods and teaching about the lay of the land and the wonderful resources available is something that I would not only enjoy, but would fuel my soul and really give me a true satisfaction of life. I look forward to the day of taking people into the woods tracking down that monster buck on snow, calling in a 50'' bull moose, spotting and stalking a large black bear, telling a youngster were to place a fly in a stream while fishing as well as telling stories, sharing food and drink along with making lifelong friendships at camp.
I hope one day to possibly take YOU on an adventure out into the great woods of Maine!
Take care and remember, shoot straight and shoot often.
It seems today that so many people don't understand the truth about hunting. So many progressive animal activist groups out there today try to portray today's hunter as an assassin salivating at the thought of bringing pain and death to all animals in the world and killing every creature that moves. I must say, this couldn't be further from the truth. I saw around 25 deer last hunting season, guess how many I shot..........0. Hunting season brings with it so much more than the legal opportunity to harvest meat for the freezer. It brings with it the changes of the season, the chance to teach a young child about the outdoors, about the respect that all firearms should be treated with, about the unique freedoms we have in this country that we should never take for granted. There is a saying I have heard that discusses hunting and I think it sums the entire thing up in a perfect way, "It's not what you hunt or where you hunt, but who you hunt with, that matters". It's about family, friends and the great outdoors ladies and gentlemen, that's it. Bringing home a big buck or your daily limit of partridge is excellent and I look forward to it every year but I can tell you without question I have just as much fun at hunting camp on the trips I come home empty handed. Being in the woods is good for any person to reflect on their life and get away from the constant noise caused by work, bills and the unfortunately busy lives that we have all created for ourselves. Being at camp staying up late telling stories and laughing with my family and friends is not only fun but it is actually good for me. It replenishes me and it brings my soul back to a state which I wish it could be at 24/7. If you are a person who doesn't like hunting, or who hates firearms I think you should take one small step, be open minded and visit a friend who goes on a hunting trip for a day. Swing in after a days hunt for a drink, a little food and for some story telling because that is the best part about hunting camp. I along with any of my hunting family would be glad to take you out in the woods for a day, whether you want to go hunting, fishing, for a hike, or just take a drive down a dirt road to possibly get a picture of a moose eating in a swamp. We love the outdoors, but most of all we love people and think that there is no greater gift than to get someone interested in the outdoors lifestyle. If you want to take a trip outside some time and want someone to come along with you PLEASE don't hesitate to call, text, email, facebook or whatever because I assure you, I will be there to give you whatever advice or outdoor lessons I possibly can.
Until next time, shoot straight and shoot often.
Well, it has been quite a while since my last entry. Needless to say it has been a crazy winter and spring here in Maine. Hopefully I will be better about updating this blog! A very good friend of mine started blogging and I figured together he and I could possibly draw more interest into our hunting community. For some reason it seems that in the world of politics issues never are put to rest and never go away. It looks like there will be a new Bear Hunting Referendum in the fall of 2014 which will seek to not only limit bear hunting in Maine but essentially make it disappear. The sponsoring group, the Humane Society of the United States, HSUS for short, recently sponsored a bill in the Maine legislature to ban the use of hounds and traps for harvesting black bears in the state of Maine. Many people, including many hunters honestly seem that they wouldn't have a problem with that way of harvesting bears disappearing. Well I personally do, and in my opinion for good reason. Back in 2004 the bear referendum that was put up for vote included a ban on "bear baiting" and the people of the state of Maine voted it down. Baiting is the reason we have a black bear hunt in the state. I have no statistics but an overwhelming majority of bears harvested in Maine are harvested over bait and without it, we essentially don't have a bear hunt. Hundreds of outfitters and guides make a large amount of their yearly income by keeping bait locations and bringing hunters to these areas to harvest a bear. The reason I did not support this most recent legislative bill, and why I'm glad the Maine legislature did not approve this most recent bill is because HSUS will not stop at the hounds and the trapping; they will return for the baiting as well. Guess what people, I was correct. It seems that HSUS is doing what it can to get signatures to have a public referendum on the ballot in November which WILL INCLUDE a ban on baiting along with trapping and hounds as well as increases fines for harvesting illegal bears, changing yearly bear limits from 2 down to 1 and prevent us from ever reinstating a spring bear hunt (I have no problem with increased penalties for poachers and would support these measures but it seems HSUS is an all or nothing deal type of organization). What upsets me most about this is I see nothing but an erosion on the rights of sportsmen across this country. Think about it, when was the last time you heard of hunting privileges being opened up or expanded? Most recently we had a bill LD 1303 which would amend the Maine State Constitution to guarantee sportsman the rights to harvest game by all traditional means and that any game regulations would have to come from Maine IF&W. This was a gut reaction from a variety of people to prevent large special interest groups such as HSUS from stepping on our rights as hunters. As much as that sounds great I honestly am glad it did not pass. Taking away the voting rights of the Maine people is not the correct way to fight this battle. In order to preserve our hunting rights we need to get people informed about the massive threat this referendum is to our hunting traditions as well as the economic well being of very small towns in rural Maine where bear hunting is a large and essential industry. I hope all who read this will stand with me voting in November to keep our bear hunting rights. This debate and discussion will get passionate and very offensive at times but I urge my friends in the hunting community, and my friends who don't hunt but support the rural way of life, to not play into irrational name calling and ignorant bashing of the opposition. This will only block our ability to send our message. Please, if you call me your friend, stand with me in voting down a public referendum that would greatly hinder the harvesting of black bears in the state of Maine.
