I hate winter and this is what I do about it

By Al Raychard

There’s an old saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” I never gave it much thought until the other day, when a simple walk in the woods reminded me why it’s true.

Winter isn’t my favorite season. But I do enjoy the occasional walk in the woods. It’s a good way to get some fresh air, stretch muscles I haven’t used since deer season and clear my head. I especially like woodland jaunts after a fresh snowfall. For some reason, the woods seem quieter, more peaceful after snow and any tracks I come across are fresh, keeping me in tune with wildlife activity.

I’ve always been a camera buff, so I grabbed my camera out of habit as much as anything. I’m glad I did. A few pictures reminded me that warmer days, open water and more hunting seasons are coming — and that I miss them more than I realized.

I wandered past the storage shed and spotted our 16-foot Old Town canoe, snow-covered and still. It brought back memories of last year’s fishing trips. One September day, just before archery deer season, my wife and I swapped fly rods for bows and spent the day casting poppers for smallmouth bass.

There was also the camping and fishing trip to the Cold Stream area south of Jackman in June. We hit the mayfly hatches at just the right time and couldn’t keep trout off the rods. We saw moose, a bear ran across the Capital Road on the way in and one night coyotes howled as we sat around the campfire.

For three blissful days, we didn’t see another soul. Trips like that don’t happen often, but when they do, you never forget them. Walking away from the canoe, I felt a quiet pleasure knowing there will be more fishing to come, hopefully just as memorable.

I continued past the shed, circled behind the house and followed the ridge until I reached one of my ladder stands. It’s just one of several that stay up year-round, and it’s one of my favorite hunting spots.

The stand overlooks a natural funnel that leads from neighboring acreage to a one-acre clearing I had cut for a planned food plot but never got to. For some reason, deer are drawn to this clearing in archery season but not during gun season. The neighboring property is posted no hunting and serves as a sanctuary. The funnel and clearing are deer magnets.

I’ve killed several deer from this stand, including a small buck last October, but now it stood empty and snow-covered. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a lonelier sight. I’m not a person to wish time away, but standing there, I couldn’t wait until October.

It was still early, and I had a couple hours before the Patriots game against the Texans. I navigated down the ridge to one of the roads we use to haul firewood with the tractor or retrieve deer with the Ranger. 

To my joy, I came across a fresh snowshoe hare track leading into a fir thicket, something we don’t see many of these days. I crossed a bridge over a small brook and continued on to our cabin.

Several years ago, we considered buying a cabin somewhere remote. But because we like to travel, fish and hunt different places, we decided against it.

Instead, I built a one-room cabin on our back forty. No power, no running water, just steps from the woods. We use it during spring turkey season and October and November deer seasons. It’s not much, and it’s not on a lake, but it’s surrounded by woods.

From the porch, I can hear turkey gobbles, owls at night or the brook babble as we lie in bed. It’s all we need, and we’re glad we have it.

As I made my way back to the house for lunch, I crossed a coyote track and some deer tracks, pleased I had decided to get outside. The walk had been long overdue, and it’s something I promised myself I would do again.

Winters are long here in Maine, and for some of us, too long. Some people ice fish, hunt snowshoe hare or track predators — whatever helps the season pass. But sometimes, all it takes is a simple walk in the woods.