Huntin' The Dump

June 11, 10:58 AMBillings Sightseeing ExaminerGregan Wortmann

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Billings Sightseeing Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

For readers who have already seen my recent article entitled Camping Hints this article starts where that one left off and will give you more information about my stomping ground around Moosehead Lake in Maine.  And THANKS to all the readers that visit my pages.    http://www.examiner.com/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m6d9-Camping-Hints

For recreational bushwhacking with a .22 rifle I use the Public Reserve Land that is just outside of Greenville, Maine and encompasses all of Big and Little Moose Mountains.  The original Native names for these mountains were Onguechonta Mountain and Pack Mountain and these are the names that I use in my conversations when I refer to these mountains.                                                       

This is a great photo that shows Pack Mountain on the left and Onguechonta Mountain on the right with Moosehead Lake in the foreground.

To get to the public land area from Greenville, Maine drive north on Route 6/15 and just after you go under the railroad trestle take a left turn and drive out of town to the west on the dirt road.  You will see the town dump site in a couple miles and continuing on the same dirt road there are numerous turn offs on the right side of the road and all of these go up the small mountain ridge and into the public use land area.  I have been trying to find maps on the internet to make it easier to visualize where these mountains are and what they look like.  http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis538/getgooglemap?p_lat=45.484213&p_longi=-69.7111681&fid=562242

http://www.moosehead.net/hiking/littlesquaw.html  The mountain in the photo on this page is not Little Moose Mountain it is Mount Kineo.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mountains_in_Maine

The public land that I have described has been commercially wood harvested several times over the years and so although it is wooded it is fairly open and makes a good hunting area.  In Maine crows are legal to hunt most of the year as are red squirrels and coyotes.  In Maine you will need a hunting license if you are packing heat and are in the woods.  There are no 'free' animals to hunt in Maine like the coyote and rabbit are in Montana.  Deer are plentiful in this area but are much shyer than the coyotes and foxes.  If you have a scent, and believe me I think you do, the canines will come to you as they are predators and you are prey as far as they are concerned.  I have been in this area many, many times and every time I go there I see fox or coyote almost without fail. 

Red Fox

Of course, this area is very near the Greenville town dump site which is probably one of the reasons there is such a high wild canine activity in this area but there are also deer yards (areas where deer bed and feed) on the mountains and when hunting I have walked right through some of these yards during daylight and judging from the size of the areas where the grasses have been pressed down by groups of sleeping deer there are some very, very healthy herds up in this region.  In Maine it is not legal to hunt deer with a .22 calibre rifle so if this is your prey you must use something larger, preferably a .30 calibre or bigger.  https://www5.informe.org/cgi-bin/online/moses2/index.pl 

Joe Crow

Crows abound around the dump and although it is against town ordinance to enter the town dump property when it is closed there is ample opportunity to shoot at some crows in the woods adjacent to the dump.  I am not the only one who takes firearms into this area as, of course, I encounter others and this tradition has been going on for some time because my father took me to the town dump to shoot at cans starting when I was about 6 or 7.

One more story and then we'll get out of here.  One afternoon I decided to stay a little late in an area of woods right next to the dump.  The dump superintendent had lit a big pile of junk wood and brush on fire and after it got dark a little red fox evidently fascinated by the flames came out of the woods and began dancing in the fire light.  The fox had a huge gapping grin and had his head turned around towards his rear and appeared to be admiring himself and his dancing in the light of the flickering flames.

For a small additional fee a night hunting permit to go along with your Maine hunting license will let you stay legal in the woods at night with a firearm for the purpose of hunting coyote but you must also carry some type of predator calling device.

Gregan Wortmann

kruzndog@imt.net