Site Discussions

I have two butternut trees. I have been waiting 18-19 years to receive fruit from them. Always said before I die I will see them produce nuts for me. I just laid my husband to rest this summer. Looked up at the tree and what do I see but its given me a nut for the first time. I am faced with the joy of getting the trees to produce nuts which makes me happy! But I know there is a process to drying them. Would love so input on how to dry them and cure them now. Can you help?

I was hoping you might have some ideas on how to store multiple handles for extended periods of time.

Bear baiting as well as any kind of baiting must stop being banned as unethical.

I don’t have personal experience, Neil, but the numbers back up your contention. According to the BTU chart that hangs on the wall of my office, larch has about 19.5 million btu’s per cord; that’s comparable to white birch and red maple and a lot better than other softwoods. White pine and balsam fir have about 13.2 million btu’s per cord.

Un-freaking-believeable that we are even having a discussion on this. Ethically, morally, spiritually…setting live traps with jelly donuts, scraps of food, garbage, whatever is hunting? Really? Have humans fallen so low in “managing” wildlife that you have to resort to this? Those of you who say ” I saw a bear on my walk in the woods the other day” inferring they are a menace are living in the wrong part of the world. Humans will be 8 BILLION soon. Bears do not stand a chance against the onslaught of humans reproducing. Let them be…hunt them ethically….this is so wrong. If I had known you all were debating this before I planned a vacation there, I would not have planned it.

I have heard that, among the softwoods, larch is the best firewood. Does anyone have personal experience with using it this way? How long do you season it? Other comments or recommendations? I have 10+ acres of European Larch planted in the late 1980s.

I very much like olden days life styles and their connection with nature. I want to do my own axe, thank you for this information. It gave me suggestions to make my own axe, choosing of material & wood.

The issue of out-of-state money is irksome, but everywhere and unavoidable at the same time.

The Moosehead Plum Creek development, JD Irving’s desire to operate an open-pit mine, and the money spent by out-of-state hunters in Maine, are all examples of outside money that seeks to influence Maine citizens in the use of Maine’s resources.

If that outside money could be eliminated, the issue of moneyed influence would then move solely to Maine residents and institutions. That may not be a large improvement.

Mainers do not agree with each other on the items listed above even though they have roughly equally valid insights into Maine life.

There would still be those within Maine who can afford a louder political voice than others. Their opinions and goals are no less wrong or right just because they are Maine people.

I think (hope) people are beginning to ignore the money-driven agendas and will decide the bear baiting and similar issues on their merits.

A concise argument, pro or con that is factually defensible, is very expensive to overcome.

I think you have characterized the opposing positions, and the subtexts within them, well.  There is another aspect running through this: Unsurprisingly, the opponents of bait hunting, who see this in moral terms, often heap scorn and derision on their opponents.  They are, after all, by their definition, immoral.  Equally unsurprisingly, hunters don’t take to that very well.  It’s one thing to have a policy dispute; quite another to be attacked personally. So this is descending into one of those urban vs. rural, newcomer vs. native, soccer mom vs. blue color guy disputes that will, I fear, leave a lot of damage to the social fabric for years to come - no matter how it comes out at the ballot box.

Thank you for your well written article. These methods are used in part because it is very difficult to hunt bears by other means. They generally stay in the thick woods and it is more rare that you see a bear walking in the woods, or along the road.

I am a Mom with two daughters and I live in a Rural Community. One daughter saw a bear while she was out jogging along the roadway.  Another daughter and her family live in a coastal community and they saw a bear while on route to school.  As a Mom, I would like to have a way to manage the number of bears that we have in our State.

We have one or two little green herons that fish from our dock.  This behavior is not something I’d expect from the heron family as they are usually quite secretive.

Baiting of any type is always controversial.  Bear baiting has always been the most controversial that I’ve run across.  I think Dave makes a bigger point in this argument; outside influence by big names and big money fogs the matter more than it helps.  In our divided nation of extremes, nobody dares stand in the middle.  It takes brave leaders to be willing to play monkey in the middle while the extremities toss opinions back and forth.  We need more people in the middle to catch and rationalize all those opinions tossed around.  Thanks Dave.

What’s the difference between baiting bears and jacklighting deer?

Both seem to me to like shooting fish in a barrel.

Good essay, Dave.

I don’t live in Maine, but have a lifelong association with a part of the state where bear hunting is not only common but also a source of revenue for guides in a part of the world where jobs are damnably rare. Those guides are both furious and scared, as are their families.

Not unrelated, two weeks ago, a large sow bear walked right through a crowd of Passamaquoddy school kids to get to a dumpster. Our bears aren’t aggressive, but that is a scary situation. This instance shows, not just in theory but fact, that there are too many bears in much of the state.

I myself would not walk 100 yards to shoot a bear over bait, but that’s not the point. The Humane Society campaigners have made it clear that the bear ban is a wedge issue, which they hope to use in banning hunting of all sorts, even my own beloved bird hunting.

If outside forces conspired to tell indigenous people in Alaska, say, that they could no longer practice skills essential to their cultural history, many would be outraged. That external groups seek to do so in Maine is perhaps less sexily outrageous, but it’s an outrage still.

Excellent piece.  While social media has many benefits, it is also where young people (and old) like to “show off”.  Even though their lives might not be great, they want everyone to think they are living the dream.  It does create pressure on their “friends”.  There is also pressure created by our government , media, and others for all young people to go to a four year college, racking up a lot of debt, while they might have been happier at a technical school or a two year college.  Manufacturers are struggling to find skilled technical workers.  Many young people might be happier working with their hands, in a factory or in the woods as you say.  It’s a problem we need to solve.

Interesting article in business week about other states that have passed a ban…

I’m looking for information and pictures, on the little creatures in our local puddles. Can you recommend a book or video?

Your instructions suggest a Spud with approximately the same curve as the diameter as the tree. From that, I pictured using the Spud, curve down, following the tree curve. But the illustration looks like the Spud is being used curve up, opposite the logs curve. What am I not understanding? Thanks! Mark

We have 2 mature butternut trees in our backyard. Love the shade.