Hi my name is John O’Connor, I am a father, outdoorsman and passionate about living a healthy lifestyle. Over the past few years I have become more and more interested in hearing loss. My father and grandfathers, who are and were all hunters, are affected by hearing loss. I feel that there is a general lack of understanding around the issue and it is our job to spread awareness where we can. Check out my new blog at bloggingwjohno.blogspot.com!
Protect Yourself from Hearing Loss While Hunting
Millions of Americans either own a gun or use one for hunting or other recreational purposes. As a result, thousands of hunters and sportsmen experience hearing loss due to the noise from firing a gun. Not all recreational shooters suffer damage, but it only takes a single shot to leave you with temporary or permanent hearing loss. By then, it’s too late to do anything about it. Hunters Need to Adequately Protect Themselves
A typical hunter doesn’t fire a gun all that much because most of his time is spent seeking and patiently waiting for that perfect shot. Wearing protection can sometimes feel like it’s a little overboard. That isn’t true because a good hunter will spend a lot of time throughout the year firing practice shots. Since it isn’t hunting that actually causes the damage, you need to protect yourselves from hearing loss at the practice range as well as while hunting. That goes for your buddies or anyone else who might be nearby when the gun goes off. The noise causes the problem.
The Adult Audiology Department of Washington University cautions individuals that repeated exposures to loud noises such as firecrackers, loud machinery, power tools, lawn mowers or gunshots over an extended period can gradually result in hearing loss. It doesn’t have to happen all at once. Continuous noise can easily damage the hair follicles inside your ear and result in sensorineural hearing loss.
How to Protect Yourself from Hearing Loss
The easiest way to protect yourself is to limit the time you spend being exposed to loud noises, but that isn’t practical for hunters or those practicing at a firing range. My father who has always been a hunter and regular at the shooting range, has been affected by hearing loss as long as I can remember. He often times didn’t take the proper precautionary steps in protecting his hearing while hunting and as the years have gone by his hearing has paid for it. Due to hunting and many other reasons he wears a hearing aid to help amplify sound. Although his hearing levels have decreased dramatically, he still loves to get out a hunt but now when he checks his gear he first always makes sure he has his hearing aids in and that he has packed his earmuffs.
Hearing protection is essential while hunting. Here are a few devices that will be able to protect your hearing while hunting or hitting the shooting range. In-Ear Hunting Hearing Aids: These devices work similar to how a standard hearing aid or hearing aids work. They look just like a hearing aid and slip inside the ear. These protective aids come in both ear canal or behind the ear models. Although they amplify hearing, their benefit to hunters is that when a loud sound occurs, their volume automatically drops to a safe level.
Shooting Ear-Plugs: Unlike traditional ear plugs that block out all noise, these plugs contain an acoustic filler that allows some sound to get through. They work by an acoustic valve that closes when struck by a sound wave when a gun is fired. Ear muffs: Ear muffs are popular among hunters because they are easy to put on and take off. They come in electronic or more passive styles. Electronic muffs shut off instantly when a loud sound reaches the cup, while passive ear muffs use foam to tightly protect the ear. Many styles fold up for easy traveling and are designed to not interfere with your gunstock when shooting. They are less effective than earplugs, but earmuffs are easier to make sure they are in place.
As days go by we often over look our hearing. If you enjoy hunting or shooting make sure you are protecting your ears. Protecting your hearing now can prevent hearing loss in the future.
Even for me 3:30am is early. I am wide-awake. No caffeine, just the excitement of finally beginning my caribou hunt. I have been inactive too long as my absence from this blog will attest. Too many hours in offices and meetings. My primeval skills have been dulled. I hope I can still read a compass!
My gear is already in my truck, so I just need to get on the road to rendezvous with my hunting partner. We are driving to Montreal today and will spend tonight in the airport hotel before venturing north to camp tomorrow.
Experience from multiple past hunting excursions into Canada makes the border crossing and firearms registration pass quickly and smoothly. My wingman, Ted is a young eighty-year old ex-air force fighter pilot. We swap tales of hunts past and he is entertaining me with his stories of flying combat missions. This guy is a real top gun and I can’t get enough of listening to him.
Day 2 – Arrival at Camp
We are up early and weighing the gear for our flight north. We will be taking two flights today. The first out of Montreal will be on a Nolinor Airways Convair 580 jet prop cargo/passenger plane. This flight will take us north to Caniapiscau. There we will transfer to a DHC-3 Otter for the flight into the camps. In total about 5 hours of flying time.
The scenery enroute is spectacular. The landscape is littered with lakes and rivers and not a road or cabin anywhere to be seen. On the Otter I am sitting right behind the pilot and monitoring his GPS. I am happy to see 10 minutes to destination come up on his screen. The camp comes into sight and we are eager to tumble out of the plane. A gauntlet of staff and guides meet and greet us. As the plane departs we know we are now in true wilderness.
Ted and I are sharing a cabin and we begin the task of unpacking what seems to be a mountain of gear. We then gather for our first meal together and meet fellow hunters and the guides. The food and hospitality is fantastic and I marvel at he logistics to keep such a remote camp operating at such a high level.
Sunset at Leaf River
Day 3 Caribou Hunting
Everyone eats quickly in anticipation of our first day of hunting. I am hoping to do a lot of walking to counter the numerous calories we are taking in. Breakfast is a full affair with eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast, and sausages.
Ted and I head down to the departure area and meet Remi, our guide. He is a likeable young French-Canadian who has been guiding here for four years. No messing around. Get in the boat and go. We head up river to Area 3, our designated zone for today.
The 30-minute ride offers great scenery and gives us a good sense of the rugged terrain we will need to cover in order to get a bull caribou. The full migration is just starting so we will see pockets of animals but not the hundreds or thousands that are often witnessed at the height of the migration and rut, later in the month.
Remi finds a nice landing spot and soon we are atop a hill glassing and looking for animals. We spot several cows and a few bulls that are downriver from us. A hasty retreat to the river and once again we are speeding along. The five minute ride to intercept those bulls has the beginning sensations of a stalk and once on shore we are quickly and cautiously moving inland.
After finding a good vista, Ted settles in behind a nice shooting spot and I head on ahead to glass a nearby small piece of woods. Remi heads over to another area to glass so we have good coverage.
I settle into a comfortable sitting position and realize that I am overdressed for today. The weather is in the high fifties and I am glad I have layered clothing. I know by noon I will be sweating. I start glassing the wide barren ridge beyond the few trees directly in front of me. There are no caribou to be seen but there is an abundance of colors everywhere with autumn already in full bloom here. A slight breeze from my back is of concern. Anything approaching off that ridge or from those trees will pick up my scent. After a short period of time I notice something move directly in front of me. I reposition my binoculars and three bull caribou have materialized in front of me!
Of the three there was one that was definitely a keeper. As they approached my position I quietly chambered a round in my .06 and waited to see what would happen. I was hoping they would pass my position and then Ted could get a shot at them.
The caribou split off into two groups. The larger one is to my left and is heading straight towards Ted’s position. Good. The two smaller animals kept coming straight for me. Not so good. They catch my scent about 100 yards out and freeze. We have a staring contest. Caribou have lousy eyesight and the large bull hasn’t picked me up yet. It will only be a matter of time however before he either winds me or is spooked by the other two’s increasing anxiety.
I decided to be greedy and take the large bull. I flip off the safety and grunted. The effort to stop the bull didn’t have any impact but the bullet did. The remaining caribou just looked bemused at their fallen companion. I grabbed my Nikon D90 and started taking pictures of the two of them. As Remi approached they finally flee the scene.
After pictures, we quarter the animal and back pack the meat and antlers to the boat.
In late afternoon we spot a nice group of animals including a real large bull. We put on a stalk and got close to a group of cows, but the bull was nowhere to be seen. Ted opts to take a cow for meat and it is soon on the ground.
As is typical of hunting camps stories are retold over dinner and a glorious sunset.
Day 4 – Tagged Out
After an hour long boat ride to Area 1 and a thirty-minute hike we are on the top of a ridge overlooking a migration crossing point in the river. We are trying to set up an ambush for several nice bulls we see approaching from the northwest. We are just south of the tree line and the landscape is predominantly scrub brush, stunted trees and barren tundra. The hills that rise 400-500 feet above the river are completely barren and are full of blue berries, lingon berries, and lichen moss. The latter is the sustaining food of caribou.
Several cows and calves approach our site. No bulls within shooting sight. They are just over the ridge with the tops of their antlers teasing us. We remain motionless for the better part of an hour. Ted and Remi are kneeling down in front of me and with the hot direct sun on me I am starting to drift asleep.
We decide to try and move the cows out and then put a stalk on the bulls. We slowly move forward and this catches the attention of the cows in front of us. They call to their calves and are soon headed up the hill and away from us. The bulls have not moved.
Remi and Ted position themselves behind a large rock ready to take a shot. I move forward to a rock and set up in case I have a shooting opportunity. Ted will shoot first and then I will see if there is a shot worth taking.
Suddenly a young bull gets up and starts checking us out. He wasn’t a shooter and Ted is showing remarkable restraint in not killing the curious guy. For the next ten minutes he is walking around where Ted is set up and then finally heads back towards the other animals. In an effort to get the big bulls up Remi starts calling. I can’t see anything from my vantage point. Then a shot rings out.
After Ted shot I was expecting another caribou to stand up. Instead three get up including a really nice big bull. I range him at 105 yards and he is coming straight at me. At 75 yards he is broad side and the on the ground. Two very nice animals about five minutes and 50 yards apart.
Day 5 & 6 – Salmon Fishing and Exploring
The next couple of days witnessed a much more relaxed pace and an opportunity to do some fishing and exploring. The focus of my trip now turned from hunting with my .06 to my Nikon D90.
I love fishing but I have a greater passion for photography and before I even wetted a line I needed to explore some waterfalls in the area. Ted wanted to get fishing and while I am snapping pictures he is landing a really nice fifteen plus pound salmon.
We spend the next two days fishing and exploring and I catch several really nice trout. No salmon for me. The highlight however is still the scenery and the shore lunches that Remi prepares.
Our first lunch consists of salmon fillets and a potato-vegetable fry. The meal is fantastic and I ask Remi if he would like to return to Maine with us. I am thinking I could set this guy up in a restaurant business that would be the envy of Portland.
The salmon lunch was fantastic, but was nothing compared to the caribou and french-fries that our master chef is cooking for us. While I am casting for salmon Remi is busy slicing up potatoes into homemade fries and soon has them in a pan with canola oil and butter. I stop fishing and grab the camera. I need to record this. Now he is pan searing some of the tenderloins from my caribou. This is not a meal I will ever forget.
Day 7 – The End of the Earth
No plane today. Strong winds. The news puts an initial damper on camp, but a few hunters have not yet tagged out and I still have more exploring to do.
I decide to walk around the area and survey the local landscape. Ted joins me and soon we are soaking up the incredible scenery. We find a small river nearby and can see a lot of trout getting ready to spawn. Back at camp I can’t get the trout out of my mind and very soon there are three of us furiously casting for the fish. We catch around two dozen. After the first few are landed we decide to cut off the barbs on the flies to minimize any damage to the fish. They have a voracious appetite and someone always has a fish on the line.
By 1pm the fishing slows and we head back to camp for some warm soup. I spent much of the afternoon playing cribbage and just relaxing. A final meal together is highlighted by the fact that every hunter got an animal today.
For our final night in camp we witness the most incredible light show I have seen in many years. The northern lights are spectacular and somehow put the final bow on what had been an amazing week.
It’s amazing how fast the leaves are changing and the water temps are dropping! Lake temps are around 64 degrees now and the fishing has really picked up. This time of year you might not catch as many numbers, but you definitely can catch some of the biggest fish of the season. We’ve been getting some really big pike (see the facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/#!/mainewild and https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Maine-Wilderness-Tours/113166285385874 Facebook is where I put most of the pictures and storys. We are also gearing up for duck hunting, archery deer hunts and fall turkey. There’s so much to do this time of year!!!
Welcome back to another year of exploring the Belgrades! It’s shaping up to be an exceptional season and everyone is chomping at the bit to get out and enjoy this beautiful area. We’ve been spending a lot of time targeting largemouth and smallmouth bass on the lakes; although fly fishing the local ponds and streams is always fun too.
Everett Day caught this big largemouth bass last week in the Belgrades. The bass was hiding in a fallen tree in about 3 feet of water.
The smallmouth bass fishing is off the charts right now! Because of the early spring and above average temperatures, anglers are getting to experience awesome fishing a little earlier in the season than usual. Right now the male bass are busy making nests and are easily found up and down the shorelines. The bigger females are often found hanging in 8 – 10 feet of water somewhere off-shore near the beds. The tricky part is getting her to bite. Baits like Senkos, plastic worms and tube jigs probably account for more smallmouth bass than any other options, but top- water lures can often trick the biggest fish. If conditions are right, fishermen can expect intense strikes as the bigger bass crush slowly moving surface plugs. Another option this time of year for the bigger bass is to use slash baits like the Rapala X-Rap. These baits can cover a lot of water and work well when casting away from the shoreline. Once you find a series of bass beds that have male bass protecting the nest, try fan casting out toward deeper water to search for his girlfriend. Chances are she’s out there waiting for just the right moment to move shallow.
As for largemouth bass like the beauty in this picture, we’ve been finding a lot of quality fish on a number of the Belgrade lakes. The largemouth fishing has been very impressive so far. The bass seem to be holding in traditional heavy cover, especially fallen trees and sunken timber. They have also been stacking up near currents like culverts or dams. We’ve been having good luck on jigs in black with pumpkin/red flake trailers. If you catch a couple of crayfish out of the lake you’ll notice that many of them have small bright red marks down their backs. So it only makes sense to try red flake trailers on your jigs.
As you can see by the other attached picture, I made a few furry friends early this spring. This was a very special treat indeed because otters are one of my favorite animals to watch. Otters are much more active at night and like to play and feed in backwaters, so most anglers never see them. I first spotted this group about a week after ice out. They were very active and playful. When you think about it, otters a very social, love to frolic with their friends, are wicked cute, and go fishing every day! No wonder they are my favorite critter! This group was extremely curious and would hang around my boat each time our paths crossed. There were five otters in this group, but I couldn’t get a picture of all five at once. They would swim like a porpoise around the boat and then stop and pop their heads up to watch us. But as soon as I would move the camera they would scatter. It’s amazing how long they can stay underwater – we estimated up to 4 minutes and they would cover a couple of hundred yards before popping back up for air! Hopefully they will show up again soon so I can take some more pictures! Good luck!
Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted on the blog, but the facebook pages are up to date. Plus, who has time to write when there are so many fish to catch! This year has been terrific so far, mostly because the conditions have been perfect. We don’t have a lot of snow, so there’s no slush on the lakes. Getting around is easy right now. We also have between 14 & 18 inches of good ice so drilling holes is a snap.
The bigger pike are starting to move shallow now, so I think March is going to be a banner month for chasing the trophys.
The guys at camp this past weekend had a blast and caught a ton of great fish too. Here’s a link to the facebook page:
