Sea duck hunt was educational for rookie

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Pete Caron brushed seaweed off a barnacle-encrusted rock, nodded his head toward the makeshift chair and offered me a seat for the show that would follow … if we were lucky.

The island, as islands go, wasn’t much to write home about: At low tide, it was spacious enough that one could (if the ducks weren’t flying) stand up and walk around a bit. At high tide, I suspected that there wouldn’t be much “island” left at all.

But for our purposes, it was perfect.

Caron and I were here to hunt sea ducks – most likely eiders – and on the short boat ride from Brooklin, we’d seen plenty.

Getting at those ducks, however, wasn’t an option.

“I’d really rather not take a wave,” guide Mark Danforth, our host on the Thursday-morning session said as he surveyed the island from which he had planned to hunt.

All around us, the waters of Eggemoggin Reach frothed and rolled, and wind-whipped spray pelted our camouflage jackets. Even Widgeon, Danforth’s 8-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever, had abandoned lookout duties and chosen to turn her back to the breeze and salt spray.

I followed suit, realizing Widgeon was not just a dog but also a veteran sea duck hunter who knew more about dealing with the weather than I apparently did.

Just another day of sea-duck hunting, I assumed, having heard the bad-weather tales of others over the years.

“It’s pretty nasty out there,” Danforth had admitted a few minutes earlier, before we abandoned the calmer “in there” waters and headed … well … “out there.”

Danforth, a veteran of the sea duck game, had made one thing perfectly clear from the beginning: Being smart and cautious was the most important order of business.

On this, my first sea-duck excursion, Danforth was determined to find some birds for me to hit … or miss. I was, after all, “the newbie,” and he’d help however he could. But stopping his boat and setting up a decoy spread in the tossing seas in the unsheltered water of his preferred island, he said, was neither smart nor cautious … no matter how many ducks flew past.

Caron, his longtime friend and hunting buddy, concurred.

So we moved on, found a smaller but more sheltered island, and proceeded to set up for the hunt.

“We’re serious about this, but we don’t take it too seriously,” Danforth had told me as we rolled through the dark toward Brooklin a couple hours earlier.

Danforth is a knowledgeable outdoorsman who grew up in Hampden, spends summers guiding in Forest City, then heads for Aroostook County to find geese and the midcoast to put sports on ducks.

Simply put, he spends more time on the water and in the woods in a given year than many Mainers do in a lifetime.

His experience shows.

Caron and Danforth are comfortable around each other, and know each other’s stories and jokes well.

They also know the duck-hunting process well and have spent many successful days on the water together.

Few words are necessary as Caron deploys the decoys and Danforth mans the helm.

In no time, Caron and I hop onto the small island and Danforth, unable to find a safe spot to tie off his boat, motors away to the lee of a nearby island to hide from the wind. If we need his assistance, or that of Widgeon, we can radio him. Until then, we hunker down on our barnacle sofas and wait.

Now, it’s up to the ducks.

On Thursday, the ducks weren’t too plentiful.

Hunting is like that, Caron and I realize. We killed time telling tales, watching for ducks and getting to know each other a bit. There have been plenty of times that Caron and Danforth have bagged a limit of fast-flying eiders in minutes, there are other days when things aren’t so easy.

Days like Thursday.

In a couple of hours spent sitting on our rocks, Caron and I didn’t waste many shells.

Actually, he didn’t waste any, hitting the bird I’d missed as it tried to escape.

But the fact just three birds had strayed into gun range in two hours didn’t bode well.

In the distance, the sky was darkening.

“That’s rain,” Danforth said, as we motored back toward shore and the waiting truck. Caron again concurred.

I believed them.

“If it starts raining right after we get to shore, that means we timed it right,” Caron said with a chuckle.

It did. And we had.

Yes, these veteran duck hunters are serious about their sport. But they don’t take it too seriously.

One female eider isn’t a full game bag, by any estimate.

But the conversation was good … the jokes funny … the day enjoyable.

The best part: There will be other days, when more ducks are flying, the wind isn’t howling and the rain isn’t threatening.

When more shots hit their targets.

Danforth and Caron and Widgeon the wonder dog will be back out there then. Of that, I’m certain.

Hopefully, I’ll be there, too.

Plum Creek hearings on tap

Folks from all around the state will head to Greenville and Augusta this weekend as the Land Use Regulation Commission holds public hearings on Plum Creek’s development plan for the Moosehead Lake region.

Hundreds of people are expected to attend the hearings. The first will be held today at Greenville High School, while the second is set for Sunday at Augusta Civic Center.

Both hearings will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2-6 p.m.

Those who plan to speak at the hearings are advised to show up early. Each prospective speaker will be assigned a number and will be limited to three minutes to make their points. Signup for those who wish to address LURC will begin at 9 a.m. on both days.

If you’re interested in the goings-on and can’t make it to Greenville or Augusta, the Department of Conservation has made it possible to check in on the proceedings from home.

LURC announced in a press release that audio from the hearings will be available on the Internet.

“We understand that there is tremendous interest in this application and the hearings associated with it,” LURC director Catherine M. Carroll said in the release. “We have taken this unprecedented step of offering streaming audio to help the public stay informed as the hearings progress.”

Live audio of the proceedings will be available during the public sessions and the party sessions which follow. To get a complete hearing schedule or tune in to the hearings on the Internet, go to www.maine.gov/doc/lurc.

Moose lottery location set

Since 1999, the annual moose-permit lottery has turned into a traveling road show of sorts, with state wildlife officials staging the event in towns across Maine.

If you want to be on hand when your name finally pops out of the magic computer hopper in 2008, you’re going to have to travel to the extreme southern end of the state: Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Commissioner Roland “Dan” Martin announced Wednesday that the event will be held in Kittery.

More specifically, it’ll be held June 12 at the Kittery Trading Post. The festivities start at 6 p.m. and should last for three hours or so.

Prior to 1999, the state always held the moose-permit lottery in Augusta. Since then, Scarborough has hosted twice, while Millinocket, Boothbay Harbor, Old Town, Bucksport, Presque Isle, Rumford and Phippsburg have also served as host sites.

According to a DIF&W press release, the 2008 lottery will be held on the grounds of the Kittery Trading Post but will be in a large, enclosed tent.

“We’ve moved the drawing to all parts of the state so that people can have the opportunity to be part of it first-hand,” Martin said in the press release. “Nothing pleases us more than to have members in the audience react to being selected.”

Typically, several hundred prospective moose hunters attend the yearly event, where food and beverages are served and plenty of mingling can be done.

DIF&W personnel including wardens, biologists and administrative staff are all on hand and welcome the chance to chat about the outdoors.

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