Corey Graham has known for some time that he’d end up with another hunting buddy soon enough. His daughter, Hannah, showed an early interest in the outdoors, after all.

“She’s not the typical Barbie Doll type of girl,” said Graham. “She’s always been a tomboy, very involved in sports. She’s actually sat in a tree stand with me during deer season.”

That partially explains why Graham got right to work when he moved to Caribou from his hometown of Dover-Foxcroft over the summer, scouting out new hunting and fishing spots.

Earlier this month, he put that work to good use, he said in a recent e-mail and follow-up conversation.

“It’s hard to believe I’ve [already] got a daughter 10 years old,” Corey Graham said. “I can remember when my father used to yank me out of school and take me bird hunting.”

And that explains why, on opening day of this year’s upland bird season, he and Hannah repeated the family ritual.

“I decided to revive the Graham family tradition of skipping work and school by going hunting with my daughter,” he wrote.

Hannah was ready, and well-equipped.

“I bought her a Rossi 20-gauge youth model for her birthday to hunt with. On opening day she shot her first bird and you can tell by the big smile that she was quite thrilled,” Graham wrote.

“She spotted her first bird in the middle of a side road we were passing by. I turned the truck around and we pulled into the mouth of the side road. Hannah did everything I had taught her.

“She got out of the truck and opened her shotgun and dropped in the shell. Watching her stalk this bird was a riot. She crept up on it so slowly I thought the season may pass before she shot,” he wrote.

Of course, that’s not what happened … or you wouldn’t be reading about it now.

“She got about 20 yards away and let the bird have it,” he wrote. “The surprise from the kick of the gun was quickly forgotten …”

Of course, a bit of success goes a long way when it comes to inspiring new hunters or anglers.

“She was hooked. So much so, that she wanted to go again,” Corey Graham wrote. “This past Saturday we went out again for four hours and both of us had our limit by noon. She got to shoot her gun 10 times at a number of birds before finally connecting on four. It was a beautiful day and one we will both remember.”

Corey Graham said Hannah’s not done yet. In fact, with Youth Deer Day looming this Saturday, she’s already got plans for her next hunting excursion.

“She’s looking forward to it,” he said, explaining that they’ll head down to his old stomping grounds around Dover-Foxcroft for the special occasion. “I’ve got some spots where she should have some close encounters.”

Deer baiting clarified

On Saturday, I told you about one warden’s efforts to make sure Maine hunters realized that baiting deer during hunting season is illegal.

The problem, the warden said, was that many varieties of mineral baits are sold in several Maine stores, and hunters may make the assumption that anything so readily available must be perfectly legal.

Not so.

A reader responded to the column with concerns of their own, however, pointing out that the headline on the column was incorrect, in that it didn’t paint a complete enough picture.

The headline: “Attractants for deer not legal in Maine.”

That’s not really true.

As the column pointed out, attractants that are “bait,” and are meant to be consumed by deer, are illegal to use during open hunting seasons on deer.

The key point here: During open hunting seasons.

Attractants that rely on scent, deer urine and the like, are perfectly legal, even during hunting season.

Bucksport forum scheduled

The Bucksmills Rod & Gun Club will hold its annual sportsmen’s forum on Wednesday at the clubhouse on Bucksmills Road in Bucksport.

The forums are a good chance for outdoor enthusiasts to ask questions of staffers of the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, including game wardens and biologists. The sitting commissioner of DIF&W generally attends the forum as well.

The evening begins with a ham dinner at 6 p.m. Tickets for the meal cost $7. The forum will begin at about 7 p.m.

Salmon hearing on tap

Atlantic salmon anglers who took part in the second limited fall season on the Penobscot can put their rods away for the winter – the season ended Monday – but that doesn’t mean their work is done.

Instead, they may want to make plans to attend the regular meeting of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission board, which will be held on Thursday.

The board will likely make a move that will help determine whether a spring season for salmon will be held in 2008.

Biologist Norm Dube will present a risk assessment on a spring recreational fishery, and the board may choose to take the next step toward opening the Penobscot for a catch-and-release season next year.

The meeting is set for 10 a.m. at the Eddington Salmon Club.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.