Feathers ‘n Fins

Guns Galore: Around this neck of the woods it’s no secret that the departure of the Bangor State Fair signals the end of summer. During the past 13 years, however, another local event has established itself as a sure sign that autumn, the season of guns and hunting, has arrived. Not surprisingly, that much-anticipated event is the “Bangor Gun Show,” sponsored by Bangor Daily News Charities Inc.

If you’re a hunter, gun collector, gunsmith, or competition shooter who enjoys the smell of Hoppe’s No. 9 and the sight and feel of finely crafted firearms, then by all means sight in on Sept. 7-8, the dates of this year’s show.

More than 100 gun dealers from across the country will occupy 250 tables at the Bangor Auditorium from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, and from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. If you’re old enough to own a hunting license, your donation is $2.50. If you’re under 12 and accompanied by an adult you walk in free of charge. All proceeds from the show will support the Bangor Daily News Charities.

Also free are appraisals of modern and antique firearms and professional information and tips in regard to reloading, ammunition, sights – scopes and open – shooting, gun parts and accessories. If you’ve been hunting for an answer to a gun-related question, chances are you can scare it up at the Gun Show, so feel free to fire away. In addition to that you can draw a bead on the shotgun raffle offered by the Hermon Skeet Club.

During these times of increasing anti-gun sentiment and anti-hunting attitudes, the exposure and education of young hunters and shooters to firearms is integral to the protection of our constitutional rights as Americans and to our privileges as responsible sportsmen. If you know of a youngster who shows an interest in shooting or hunting, bring him or her to the Bangor Gun Show.

There, they will mix and mingle with people who have owned guns all their lives and who have never committed a criminal act and who are intelligent, conscientious citizens and sportsmen. That firsthand experience will be invaluable in discrediting the anti-gun and anti-hunting attitudes being presented in many classrooms. – – –

Mention of the Hermon Skeet Club brings to mind an announcement that the club will hold a “Fun Shoot” on Sept. 21 (rain date, Sept 28) at its facility on the Black Stream Road in Hermon. Don’t think, though, that the event is limited to trap and skeet competitions. Realizing that all sporting guns aren’t smooth-bored, the club is offering riflemen a chance to burn some powder in a competition called an “Egg Shoot.”

The way I understand it is that an egg is hung on a string at a distance of about 100 yards. For $1 a shot you can attempt to place a bullet in the same space occupied by the egg. What do you get for hitting the egg? A chicken, of course. Think of it, for a buck you could walk off that gunning ground with an egg factory. Scope sights are allowed but all shots must be made offhand, which means no rifle rests of any kind.

Now if splattering an egg at 100 yards isn’t challenging enough for you, a special prize will be awarded to the sharpshooter who can break the string holding the egg. The egg must drop intact onto a soft pad. Anyone displaying that kind of marksmanship should be given a rooster to go with the chicken.

Shotgun events will include trap and skeet games and the popular Snipe Shoot Team Event. A potluck lunch will be available during the Fun Shoot – $3 for all you can eat. The Hermon Skeet Club welcomes new members. If you’re thinking of joining, there’d be no better time to step onto the firing line than at the Fun Shoot. All proceeds go to the preservation of wetlands. – – –

The prices of furs may have taken a few trappers off their lines, but the Maine Trappers Association is as active as ever. In fact, on Sept. 7-8, the organization will hold its “Fall Rendezvous Extravaganza” at the Skowhegan Sportsman’s Club in Skowhegan.

Included in the two-day event are trapping demonstrations, games for young trappers, food-and-drink concessions, exhibits, a pig roast, a sportsman’s auction – 6 p.m.-7 p.m., and a dance – 9 p.m.- 1 a.m. Representatives from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine will be on hand to answer questions and offer information about trapping seasons, regulations, etc. Sounds like a good place to leave some tracks. – – –

While trappers have centerstage, let’s take a peek at the 1991 trapping regulations. From Nov. 3 through Dec. 31 statewide trapping is legal for bobcat, coyote, fisher, fox, raccoon, skunk, weasel, marten, mink, muskrat, opossum, and otter. Opossum, which are becoming numerous in the southern sections of the state, are new on the list of Maine furbearers. Also, a special fox and coyote trapping season will begin Oct. 27 and end Nov. 2.

It will be legal to hunt for raccoon, skunk, and opossum from Oct. 28 to Dec. 31. Fox hunting is legal from Oct. 28 through Feb. 29.

A season trapping limit of 25 marten has been adopted by the DIFW because of concerns that the animals are being overharvested. According to Ken Elowe, the department’s furbearer project leader, the annual take of marten has shown a gradual decline for several years. He reported that the animals were one of the few furbearers whose value had risen, resulting in increasing trapping pressure. Marten populations also are affected by habitat loss caused by clear-cutting.

Elowe allowed that most marten were trapped by fewer than 10 percent of Maine’s 3,500 licensed trappers, a few of whom took up to 200 per season. He said a season limit of 25 marten would achieve a harvest reduction and affect fewer trappers than would a reduction in season length. As a part of the restriction, a temporary transportation permit keyed to the trapper’s license number must be affixed to a trapped marten before it can be transported or possessed.

Feel the fall.