Seems I just can’t abandon the topic of oak trees, red and white, how to differentiate. This week I will share comments from a wildlife biologist, an arborist and my own brother-in-law, with whom I quite spontaneously broached the subject on the phone Wednesday morning. He, the owner of a large, paradisiacal retirement spread in […]

Wow! Quite a reaction to last week’s piece about my difficulties identifying by sight the different oaks in our forest. Criticism, advice and gracious hands-on offers to teach me proper recognition of red, white and chestnut oaks came my way in rapid fashion. The feedback came from hunters and gatherers, hikers and foresters, ladies and men. Clearly, it’s high […]

A six-foot snow bank at a dead end marked the beginning of our quarter-mile trek through deep, fluffy, toe-dragging snow. We skirted the pile and followed a convenient foot-wide deer path down the wooded trail into a peaceful hollow before ascending to the crest of a gentle hill long ago cleared by and named after […]

Last week’s “What deer?” column drew reader comments, some written, another phoned, all throwing in their two-cents’ worth about the status of our Franklin County deer herd. Not one painted a rosy picture. The freshest response came by cell phone Tuesday evening around 5. It was Phil Phillips, an old chum from my hometown of […]

What to make of the 2010 deer season? That’s the question that’s been bugging me for the past few weeks. Not a scientific analysis. Just trying to make sense of observations I am not academically trained to interpret. A deer expert I am not. Far from it, in fact. The only kind of field research […]

This is a tale of perseverance and Thanksgiving, that of octogenarian Richard Phelps, known to his family as “Ritt,” Vermonter to the core, a throwback from way back. Phelps claims he’s applied for a Vermont moose permit every year since they became available “and they finally gave me one at prit’near 90.” Or, at least, […]

An expert deer hunter I am not, do not profess to be, never had the benefit of a venerable mentor to hunt beside, teach me. Yes, I have taken deer over the years, mostly does when holding a rare permit during shotgun or blackpowder. But, still, I always keep my eyes open and try to […]

The noontime sky had cleared Friday after heavy overnight rains, and the sun was bright in an endless, blue sky, white clouds wafting east like lumpy cotton swabs. I was out by the mailbox picking up a gray Rubbermaid barrel and four recycling bins, tidying up for an important overnight guest due anytime. Never know what’ll greet you by the side […]

The foliage is aflame, a chill’s in the air and woodstoves are belching smoke as white pines shed their long needles in blustery winds, depositing roadside mounds for mulch gatherers buttoning down their blueberry patches for winter. Yes, hunting season is upon us. Time to get my shotgun ready. Actually, I’ve been at the chore since midday Saturday, when I […]