can't believe how dry the woods are in my part of Maine

[daveInME]

went out scouting the woods out behind my house, and I noticed 2 things right off.

1. there's a LOT of storm damage
2. ALL of the little streams and swamps are bone dry, not even mud.

this is the 1st time I've wander around out back since the spring, and there were several high wind / torrential downpour storms that came thru here mostly late spring, and they have taken down a lot of 6 - 9 inch hardwood trees, lots of good firewood for me this year at least.

all the fruit trees are packed though.
I haven't seen this many apples on the trees in a long time, and my blue berry field was packed earlier in the summer.

lots of scat and tracks from all sorts of animals, both large and small, so should be a good hunting season this year.

 

[Coyote33]

Sounds like a rough Winter maybe.

 

[sig shooter]

hopefully we will get that tropical system or whats left of it at least, you guys up in mine should get some of it too

 

[daveInME]

it was a weird winter in that December and part of January were warmer then normal, with no snow, then March and April had several wet and windy snow storms with 6 - 12 inches of wet stuff. plus 2 or 3 mid spring wind storms with lots of heavy rain. washed out a couple of roads around here, guess it did a number on the woods also.


on a side note, does anyone know what kind of angle an ATV can handle?
or better yet a John Deere Gator?
I've got a gator and would love to put some paths thru the woods for clearing and then to aid in bringing out deer. problem is it's all hills and ravines around me, with some pretty steep inclines.

 

[edin508]

The woods around here and my lawn are very "crunchy" right now. We need some rain real bad.

 

[Migmojo]

Hopefully it's a gentle rain to start, otherwise it will all run off.

 

[HTRN]

I wouldn't try more than 40DEG or so for an incline. My Polaris manual states 25DEG as the max incline. I know that I've driven at 45Deg when I can put all of my weight above the front axle.

Best of luck, I hope there are folks with UTV experience that can offer more help.

As for the hunting, not sure yet. Season opens in 30 days or so and haven't seen much this year. Just 2 does about 500 ft from my house. Usually, I have moose and bear all around me too.

I plan to hang out at the swamps for the bucks this year, as they are surely hiding there with the lack of good vegetation from this drought.

Very little moose sign too. They have definitely moved to greener pastures this year. (Hopefully this will be good for the deer season.)