The curtain has come down on another deer season, unless you’re holding claim to a black powder rifle. Then there’s still time to sneak up a few more ridges or ease into another chopping at the crack of dawn, in hopes of catching that elusive buck by surprise.

The rest of us are resting on the edge of the couch, spiraling a cleaning rod down the barrel of our hunting rifle, while a heavy overcast of bore cleaner blears our vision. By now you’ve probably accumulated a mountain of dirty patches large enough to send a Maytag washing machine looking for help. Don’t be discouraged. Past experience has shown me that it usually takes at least two mountains and a slice of your wife’s last cotton rag before cleanliness prevails. That’s taking into consideration you performed this kind act to your rifle last season.

But there’s probably a good chance that didn’t happen. At best it received a promise packed with good intentions as the stock came to rest in the gun cabinet beside a can of oil starving for attention. It’s the same attention your ice fishing traps have been longing for since returning from last season’s tour of duty.

Chances are they’re still in the garage, clustered together in your pack-basket with rusty hooks and line so old the original color is unknown. Try removing one trap now and four come with it, followed by a 2-year-old Snickers bar imbedded in one of the spools. Any hooks that could do battle for another season are sunk so deep in the line it would take a surgeon to remove them. But the flags are in great condition, one of them anyway. The other four have been patched with duct tape or some other nearly invisible material.

So before returning to the indentation you left on the couch cushion, detour to the garage after those neglected traps. After all, the fresh air could do wonders for your health. I’m sure by now the odor from bore cleaner is strong enough to make the 6:30 news anchorman dizzy.

. . .

To the east, at The Pine Tree Store in Grand Lake Stream, news is slow as we approach that lull between deer and ice fishing season. Store owner Kurt Cressey reported the fish are still in the stream, and he’s still taking to the woods.

I’m sure Kurt has spent the entire week traveling over ridges and sneaking into clearings for a buck with more points than a Christmas tree has needles. He’s no doubt a true hunter with the month of November running through his veins. As we speak he’s probably discharging about 70 grains of black powder behind a .50-caliber lead ball at one of the biggest bucks to ever step across the Washington County line.

. . .

Up in the County temperatures cooled down during the third week of deer season and many more hunters took to the woods, said DIF&W biologist Rich Hoppe. As hunting activity picked up, so did the numbers at tagging stations. Overall, registration stations across the County showed a 10 to 25 percent increase from last season. According to hunters, there have been more deer observed than in previous years, because of excellent fawn production and a couple of mild winters, said Hoppe.

The rut proved to be in full swing last week, as tagging stations viewed bucks with swollen necks and brow tines filled with bark from rubing on trees.

The beginning of the third week brought success to one hunter, as he took careful aim on a careless buck that field-dressed at 280 pounds.

. . .

Hats off to Newburgh resident Rob Burke, who teaches eighth grade at Reeds Brook School in Hampden. Burke invested countless hours and miles beneath his feet, for a crack at a prize held by the month of November. Just a short time before the closing bell on Saturday, Burke cashed in, tipping over a doe that teetered close to 130 pounds.

Answer to last week’s questions: Is it possible to tell the difference between the tracks of a doe and buck?

No doubt a mature buck carries a larger hoof than a mature doe, but many bucks are shot before reaching full growth. You can tell the difference if you’re viewing their tracks in about an inch of snow. A buck drags his toes and a doe walks more gracefully, raising her feet to clear the ground. But once the snow accumulates more than 1 inch, all tracks show drag marks.

Question: At birth what is the weight of a black bear?

– NEWS staffer Terry Farren,

Outdoorreport@bangordailynews.net