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THE MUNSUNGAN MUSE
FEBRUARY 2011 BRADFORD CAMPS E-PRESS
"Searching for the sound, listening for the truth"
www.bradfordcamps.com 207-433-0660 maine@bradfordcamps.com
FROM THE PORCH
Year
Fifteen for Karen and me at Bradford Camps has come and gone, and I am
sitting here at “the box” during probably THE big snowstorm of 2011.
We are expecting about 24 inches of new snow today, and I am throwing
stick after stick of southern
But
what of
What else goes on up there? Trees pop and crack on still mornings when the temps freeze their core, songbirds flit from tree to tree looking for a seed or lone cocoon. Coyotes prowl the edges of roads while under them mice burrow between snow and leaves. Frogs buried in the mud with turtles are essentially frozen, yet still very alive. On warmer days in the sun, hatches of snow fleas undulate in the air. A raven flies across the lake barking out an invitation to dine on some unfortunate.
Our
woods around 
SKYHAWK N46291
Our beloved aircraft, Skyhawk N46291 was blown upside down in a strong thunderstorm this spring. I was taxiing on Big Hurd Pond after landing there to await the passing thunderhead. With the throttle all the way back and heading to the dock, a microburst came from behind the right wing, picked it up and pushed us right over. The aircraft settled on the soft mud of the shore and my passenger and I escaped unharmed.
It
was May 25 (coincidentally my aviator-grandfather’s day of birth) and the most
unlikely time of year for that kind of a storm. On the day immediately following, the aircraft swarmed with mechanics
from
A
week later after a few repairs we ferried the plane to
2010 IN REVIEW – HUNTING AND FISHING
Ice out April 20th, second earliest ice out since I was born. Our near fifty year average is May 6.
These early ice outs seem to slow the fishing down a bit. I think the later the ice out date, the more compressed the feeding frenzy is and the better the fishing. The season stats show that there are many salmon in the lake, and there is an increasing population of Lake Trout. Both of these facts give rise to a concern about smelt population, so we are promoting a more aggressive policy of putting fish on the stringer.
Fifteen
years ago when we began our tenure here on Munsungan, the lake trout population
was quite low. The Fisheries
Department actually came here in October 1996 to scuba dive on the
Brook trout fishing held up well this year for those heading to the ponds. Karen and I spend an extraordinary day on LP this summer with Gary and Diane Corson. The beavers are in there and have raised the water way over the pond’s banks. It literally is twenty or thirty feet into the woods at many places. The trees are dying all along the shore actually. The deeper water throughout the pond has kept the fish out of the refuge spring holes and we could not find a fish anywhere. Two or three feet of water completely changed the habitat and fish behavior.
So, the fish were not where they “belong”; we found hundreds in the woods! They were up in shallow water swimming around flooded tree trunks in large schools where the springs seep in at the edges. It was unbelievable, and impossible to adequately describe. Some small ones were there but most were at least 12 inches, up to some quite large fish. We brought our boat in to the pools in the woods and a hundred fish would scatter and splash over tree roots nervously trying to avoid us, but stay in the cold areas. The only thing a picture would show was a canoe floating in the woods behind trees, with a mystified paddler looking down like he had never seen water before…..
Bear hunting season was again a great success.
11 bear were harvested out of 21 hunters over two weeks. This is about average for our success rate, but better by far than the
Of
particular note is that once again we did not lose any bear this year. Our hunters prove themselves year after year to be steady and careful
shooters, and patient. I would say
that there is not another outfit that can boast the great statistics that we
have of tagging nearly every bear we have hit over the years.
It seems there are more and more bear every year. This year we had numerous sows with cubs on stands (we leave them alone as a policy) and we had two stands which were frequented by sows with triplets. Bear hunting has continually proven to be a very exciting and rewarding hunt for us and out hunters. We encourage any of you to consider it for a first time hunt; we still have a few spots left for this season.
We anticipated Bird Season this year to be huge, and it pretty much was. Our summer was warm and dry, and the chicks survived well. Coyote populations were down and the primary predator for birds still seems to be the red tailed hawk. Those guys are everywhere. October is a great time of year: the weather is usually good, and full days of exercise punctuated with the thrill of the hunt, dogs working and flushes busting…. Well, it’s just plain FUN. We seem to have a fair number of dads with their kids at this time of year. What a great way to make a lifetime of memories together. A lot of fishermen get talked into coming back for bird hunting.
Our two Moose Hunters did well this year. Jim Park was fortunate enough to get his bull on day three. He and guide Dick Mosher spotted the bull a long ways off. Jim gave a few calls and the bull came right up to within a good range. One shot was all it took. Our Guide mark Christian also had a hunter who scored on the first day, right near camp.
Deer hunting was difficult this year. I believe that while there are a few deer doing well in our area in the summer, the numbers are not there for the fall rut. They seem to flock to the dark growth of wintering habitat, which is getting scarcer every year. So while they are condensed into what’s left of the watershed ribbons of spruce, fir and cedar they are very vulnerable to the increasing concentrations of hunters finding them there. Coyotes and bear take their toll as well. It is a problem the state has been grappling with for a long time. The only answer I see is a long term project of buying cut winter habitat and planting it to generate a canopy as quickly as possible. Winter habitat is the most crucial piece of the puzzle to keep the herd healthy year round. But our state is no richer than yours, and prospects for the northern deer herd to rejuvenate are slim indeed. A glance into the old log books of the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s shows that EVERY hunter went home with a deer. That’s hard to imagine in today’s circumstances.
That
being said, we offer a great hunt, away from roads, houses, and other hunters;
where the tracks and scrapes are HUGE. What
keeps our hunters returning is that chance at a trophy club buck of
REED POND
HUGE year for Reed Pond…unbelievable amount of work and success. So listen up:
**
A spring and summer effort of hundreds of hours gillnetting the pond yielded
only one Blueback. This meant
that we most probably captured all there was to catch in the pond. The time was right for supporting and breeding the captives, and killing
the pond with it’s very detrimental smelt population.
** The Army National Guard expressed an interest in sending two Sikorsky Black Hawk Guard helicopters to help. (Q: is that coincidence, ironic, or synergy?) A new dock was built to receive the ten tons of supplies and chemicals that would be flown in and dropped.
** Supplies for twenty people for four days were shuttled in by the DIFW aircraft and by the now repaired Bradford Camps’ aircraft. An incomplete list of what went into and out of the planes follows: pumps, water tanks, hoses, fuel, generators, outboard engines, food, water, life jackets, chemical testing equipment, clothes, sleeping bags, tarps, lumber, nets, fish holding equipment, tents, and lions tigers and bears.
**
October 4 was the day of reclamation. A
large boat traversed the pond along GPS guided paths and pumped the powder
slurry of Rotenone chemical from barrels, mixed with pond water, and delivered
onto the surface. This organic
chemical drifted down through the water column and essentially suffocated the
smelt that have plagued the pond for two decades. Throughout the day we boated through floating smelt and suckers, about
one every square foot across the entire pond. It is estimated that the floating fish represented only a tiny fraction
of the pond’s population.
Four
watercraft waited on the surface at the ready to hand net any char or trout that
came up stunned. Karen and I, with
guide Mark Kingsbury were in our canoe/kayak catamaran (design by Igor) and were
successful in removing about a dozen brook trout from the pond. These were revived in a clean water tank and flown out by yours truly the
following day. No char were found
that day, dead or alive.
Unseen
that day were many biologists whose job was to treat every tiny tributary above
Reed Pond that drained in. The
minute possibility of any surviving undesirables had to be eliminated or the
effort would not succeed. So the
most physically demanding job was hiking tanks up through the woods, over beaver
dams and under blow downs and sending streams of rotenone into all the nooks and
crannies.
It was actually a strange feeling at the end of the day to be on a pond, once teeming with life, and now dormant….dead. The future of the pond now all rested in the hands of the Mountain Springs Trout Hatchery where the thousands of spawned char and trout finned, oblivious of their pilgrimages. I did not expect to feel so overwhelmed and long moments of silence ensued.
**
OK! Back at it, in
So as you read this in the depth of winter, think of the little guys up there at the Reed Pond inlets. Come spring they will be joined by their native brethren, and by their cousins the blue back char of Reed Pond.
CLICK HERE FOR AOPA MAGAZINE ARTICLE, March 2011 issue, featuring yours truly!
http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/2011/march/gaservesamerica.html
CLICK
HERE FOR U TUBE CLIP OF YEARLING CHAR!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KucI83_E0w8
SEND GREENBACKS FOR BLUEBACKS!!!
THE REED POND PROJECT IS STILL NOT COMPLETELY FUNDED YET
Please send in a donation to this worthy project! Checks payable to:
The Nature Conservancy, 14 Maine Street, Brunswick, Maine 04011.
(Write "Reed Pond Project" in the memo line of the check)
If I said "Thank you", would that be enough? Just imagine if the Blueback could talk what they would say....
BUY YOUR LICENSE ONLINE
Click
here to take you to the first step in getting ready for a trip to 
GARDEN METAL
Here is a picture of some of the loot from a small mining operation from last spring. Gene Morin, of Waldron Group Fame, loves seeing what’s just under the surface. The easy digging, he says, is always in the garden. He found some cool stuff, and I got a free rototill! Many coins and of course rifle shells were found. One Indian Head penny, fragments of a bell, and an old necklace trinket were turned up. I am still looking for my Leatherman pocketknife….
CAMP IMPROVEMENTS
1 - The big project of the year was the big setback of the year. Boo Hoo…. The plane took a lot out of both of us. Thanks everyone for the thoughts of support and help.
2 – The Reed Pond Project was a biggie, and we want to thank everyone who helped by donating their hard earned money to the cause. The donor list (so far) is:
|
Daniel & Sally Jackson |
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund |
Alexander K. Buck Jr |
|
David D. Gathman |
Barton D. Reese |
Daniel M. Prouty |
|
David Burkholder |
David K. Brooker |
Eric & Patricia Brooker |
|
John Rogers & Lisa Lemieux |
John & Carol Gorski |
Joseph Steffy |
|
Kenneth & Susan Musi |
Laurence Ufford |
Mark Kingsbury |
|
Mark & Maria Velleca |
RB Klinkenberg |
Randall Gathman |
|
Richard Corkran |
Sheau Ng & Faridah Kassim |
Thomas Freedman |
|
Timothy Menard |
Willard & Nancy Lewis |
William & Debra Freedman |
|
Barbara Brooker |
Deborah Ekstrom & Jeffrey Metzmaker |
Susan L. Johansson |
| Dan Waldron | Gary Reed |
Caroline Sikorsky |
| The Mike Dunn Family | Dan and Betsy Hollins | The McConnell Family |
| Sally and Dan Jackson (again) | Geoff Cummings | Rusty Gathman (again) |
| Jim and Linda Paxton | Walter and Arnold Herrick | Jimmy Buffett |
| Charlie Gummy | Aero Phoenix | The Nature Conservancy |
| Bill Sortor | Penobscot Island Air |
Stephen Schley |
| Clayton Abbot | Herbert Wirth |
Thank you all!
From Bradford Camps, the native fish of Reed Pond, and the State of Maine.
Please consider donating if you have not done
so (see above for instructions). After all, ITS FOR THE FISH!
3
– Our cabin addition is close to completion. Roofing, windows, exterior details, insulation, interior finish, and
floor are all done. We should be
moved in this year, early (which will most likely not affect any of you). The added space, however, should make us a happier couple.
So that means more smiles for all!
4
–
5
– The
6 – There really is no “6”; I am just on a roll here. But I do want to mention that we are always looking for ways to make our place… more… your place. So, please tell us of your good ideas below, or whenever you are inspired. Ideas little or big. Perhaps YOUR idea will be on this list for next year!
GUIDES
Your experience at Bradford Camps is completely colored by the long days
spent in the canoes, on the streams and in the woods with your guide. Our life at the Camps is also shaped by our guides: dining in the back
room, coffee-time before breakfast, hanging around after meals, and helping out
on days off. We are very proud of
our guides’ commitment to their job. They
are constantly thinking of safety, forever getting a feel for what you want out
of your trip, and always on the lookout for the fish, game, and wildlife that
will make your trip awesome. Hat’s
off to Dick Mosher, Jim Rowbotham, Pete Drummond, Mark Kingsbury, Terry Hunter, and Mark
Christian who helped you and Bradford Camps this past year. Thank you guys, very much.
KAREN’S KITCHEN
Karen’s
Kitchen will have a new overlord this year: Matthew Mills. He comes from
a well-rehearsed culinary career including multiple years in
FSS REPORT
Attendees were: Me, Pete Drummond, Chas Gill, Larry Wagner, Tom Alarie, John Boley, Jennings Boley, Richard Corkran, Charlie Coombs, Doug Coombs, Doug Materne. Many of these guys have been FSS superstars since inception. We are not really sure when inception was, a bit fuzzy about most FSS weekends actually….. This year the Free Shoveling Society produced:
*450
blocks of Munsungan Crystal, average weight 55 pounds.
*Harvest time +- 4 hours.
*Recovery from post-harvest: 3 days.
*Food report: Fresh sea run smelt fritters, Turkey Tetrazzini, Homemade Lasagna, Marinated steak tips, spiral ham and home baked beans, bloody mary machines, Ken Musi moose meatloaf and sweet potato steaks, Beef de Bourguignon over garden potatoes, and Spam.
*
On Saturday we sped up to Mike Wood’s Munsungan Maple Sugary and hiked back to
camp the long way. It was about 7
miles of x-country skiing through
* Saturday night were visited by a fox, completely intrepid. Richard called us out late in the night and we all ten of us stood outside while Mr. Fox scampered this way and that, within feet of all of us. That night whenever anyone bundled up for an outdoor call of nature, the fox was there close at hand. I mean close. He nearly followed me in to the cabin on my trip. That was the only night we saw him; a very unusual fox indeed.
* Does the Munsungan Ice Bar photo look like fun? Someone please tell me it does!
THE SALMONATOR: DONE AND GONE
Those of you who witnessed this speculative piece of marine machinery scooting across Munsungan were either awestruck, or oh-no struck. Built of two sheets of plywood (one hull, one deck) and four 8” tall by 8’ long stringers, this baby is the original jet ski. Not necessarily a favorable pedigree in our neck of the woods. I built her last winter and planned on using her as a fly casting platform to chase the rising salmon in June. I am proud to say I did catch a salmon off Norway Brook one evening while standing on The Salmonator.
With
cautious pilotage she was a worthy ship, and a great project to build. She was also the fastest craft on Munsungan, save for the airplane.
I have the plans and encourage any handy dare doers raising an eyebrow to
inquire. She does not
come with a warrantee….
For most of the year this beautiful sign hangs under cover on the back porch. But for the glorious month of October, when the grouse and woodcock are chased around the woods, we bring it to full life, full view, and full use. Hunters get to hang their catch and share stories with each other about their day next to the most beautiful game bird station in the North Maine Woods! It is very much appreciated by all, thanks to our bird hunting friend Brad duPont!
CHRISTMAS CARD
How was that done? First start with a darkening evening sky, add a splash of bourbon over Munsungan Crystal, a pinch of inspiration from Karen, two flashlights and a decent camera on a tripod with a 30-second exposure. Oh yeah, that’s me holding the flashlights and making myself to be a tree…
(Did yours come through the mail a little US Postalled? Bent? Spindled? Mutilated? Many unfortunately did. Please call or email for another one!)
SIKORSKY WEEKEND
The aircraft of The Great War, the flying boats of the 30’s, the modern helicopter, religion and mysticism are subjects deeply rooted in the life of my grandfather, Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky. This weekend we share photos, stories, books and movies about the life my grandfather led, from the dawn of aviation through the first moonwalks. Two nights lodging, all facilities, plus a floatplane ride with yours truly!
- July 8,9,10 - $340 per person -
2011 prices are same as last year. Click $ HERE $ for details
Karen and Igor Sikorsky
P.O. Box 729
Ashland, Maine 04732
207-433-0660
email: maine@bradfordcamps.com
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