By Katy England edge staff writer kengland@themaineedge.com As the leaves flutter down from the trees and the frost puts a bite in the air, a tradition older than Maine is in full swing: hunting season. And for seasoned hunters and folks new to the sport, it’s a time of excitement and anticipation, a chance to reconnect with nature and harvest food the old-fashioned way. Recently, the number of hunters in Maine has been on the decline, a trend that the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is trying to curb. In this high-tech, fast-paced world where you can pick up just about any meal through your car window, hunting may seem too slow for some. But as the economy gets tighter, people are looking for new ways to reconnect – not only with nature and traditions, but with family. “I grew up here, but I left for 19 years and recently moved back,” said Sasha Alcott, who took the Oct. 11 Hunter Safety Course offered by the Penobscot County Conservation Association. “My dad is a hunter and I thought it would be a good thing I could do with my dad.” The quality of the meat is something that interested Alcott about hunting. “I don’t generally eat meat that isn’t locally raised,” she said. “There’s an added health benefit if in fact we do manage to harvest a deer, because I would actually eat it.” Alcott found the hunter safety course provided a wealth of information to people of all generations taking the course. She noted that there were plenty of women also taking the course and said she felt welcomed. Also check out... Get it in gear The Dark Side - Illegal hunting Hunters for the hungry There’s more than one way to catch some game With regular rifle hunting season starting this weekend, lots of people are just starting to gear up. But for bow hunters, the season is already in full swing. Joe Hall of Brewer has his regular bow hunting permit as well as a special bow hunting permit, which allows him to hunt in specially-designated areas and also bring in two bucks, as opposed to one. “By moving into special archery, you double your chance to get a deer,” Hall said. “That’s one reason I really enjoy bow hunting, because you have more than twice the opportunity of rifle guys.” Hall has been hunting since he was 13 years old, and has been hunting rabbits and bow hunting since the 1990s. And when he’s in the off season, he spends his time scouting trails, looking for deer sign. Hall said that hunting was one way he could help provide for his family in tougher economic times as it helped ease the burden on the food bill. Not to mention that the quality of meat is better. “It’s better meat than commercial meat,” he said. “It’s not filled with antibiotics and hormones. And it makes sense because it’s local.” Hall hopes that a balance can be reached between development of cities and preservation of hunting grounds. “People should be able to live right near their food,” he said. “Whether it’s a garden, walking trails or hunting, there should be enough for all of that.” Deer me Controlling animal population is the biggest goal of any game harvest. The reasons for controlling the numbers vary depending on the animal, but with deer and moose it comes down to avoiding car collisions, dealing with crop damage and even protecting the animal’s habitat from itself. Controlling the population of wildlife is a complicated balancing act that involves far more than you’d assume at face value, simply because there are different levels of the value of the animals to the state. “There’s a lot of value to animals, more than just hunting. There’s wildlife watching – a lot of people like to do that. There are people who come up to the state of Maine just to see a moose,” said Sgt. Kevin Adam, a warden for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. “We’re constantly in a battle of [balancing] what’s the right level of sustainable population for hunting and a sustainable population for wildlife viewing. And we also need to keep the animal population down so we don’t have car-deer and car-moose accidents.” Adam explained that the unfortunate reality of having a regulated sport means that there are going to be people who ignore the rules, hunt in closed season, ignore land ownership or hunt over their limit. This can have drastic repercussions, especially after a hard winter, which can reduce the herd number and reduce hunting licenses for the rest of us. Is your safety on? Being safe is paramount during any hunting season. Many accidents come about because people don’t properly identify what they’re aiming at before they shoot. “You have to know what you’re shooting at,” said Adam. “You need to identify the target by its head and torso and shoot when you have a safe shot.” He said that many accidents happen when hunters just shoot at “brown” movement. Many walking trails change and you can’t rely on people always wearing blaze orange even during hunting season. The need to identify game before you shoot is also important if you’re going to avoid mistakenly bagging the wrong game. Recently, the barrows goldeneye duck, which looks remarkably similar to the common goldeneye, was listed as threatened and is closed to hunting. By the numbers The economy behind hunting and fishing is huge. This sport brings a lot of business to Maine though tourism. According to Deborah Turcotte, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, approximately 209,000 residents and non-residents purchased hunting licenses in Maine in 2006. The total economic impact, from food and lodging to the purchase of equipment and hiring of seasonal help, amounted to around $241 million. IFW receives about $8.2 million in licensing fees, which funds the wildlife habitat management programs, law enforcement efforts by the Warden Service, and other efforts by the department. “We take seriously our role in protecting the resources the Maine people and others love for hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation,” said Turcotte in an e-mail. Laws of the Land In order to hunt there needs to be land, and where there’s land there’s someone who owns it. Maine is renowned for its neighborliness, with a 200-year tradition of landowners allowing hunters to use their property for the deer harvest. The Maine Warden Service Web site details the complicated relationship between recreationalists and landowners, and has some excellent advice about how to keep these bonds strong. The biggest element is common courtesy. The site offers the flowing tips: - For safety, logging trucks always have the right of way on forest road. - Avoid driving – especially four-wheeling – on muddy roads, fields and croplands, which can cause extensive damage and create hazards. - Hunting and other recreational activities should never take place where people are actively working in the woods or fields. - Camping and campfires should be in designated areas only. - Vehicles should never be driven in sensitive areas like wetlands or across streams, where rutting can cause environmental damage. Landowners use special techniques to prevent such damage during harvest. - Trash should always be carried out. - Bicycles, snowmobiles and APIs must never be operated on active logging roads. - Christmas tree and firewood cutting, fir tipping and motorized gold prospecting are allowed with landowner permission. - Users must obey all federal, state and local laws and regulation. The Web site also provides a form you can print out if you’re seeking to get permission to use someone’s land. You and the landowner use the form to record exactly what you’ll be doing on the property. Both parties sign the form and retain a copy to keep misunderstandings to a minimum. With more and more property being posted, it’s imperative that hunters not only seek permission to use land, but treat the land with respect. An unfortunate fact of life is that one bad apple can spoil the bunch, and it just takes one inconsiderate soul to ruin this centuries-long tradition for dozens, if not hundreds of respectful hunters in the state. Send us your pictures! We want to see the pictures of your harvest! We’re especially keen on seeing youth hunters’ first catches, record-setting deer and anything else you’d like to brag about. We want to help get the word out. E-mail pictures (no bigger than 3 megabytes) to yourviews@themaineedge.com, or mail them to PO Box 2639, Bangor, ME 04402-2639. Don’t forget to tell us who took the photos and where you claimed your prize, as well as your age and hometown. Good luck, hunters!