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THE
MUNSUNGAN MUSE
April
“News from Heaven”
2006
FROM
THE PORCH
A
decade has officially passed since Karen and I took over the operation of the
Bradford Camps. Ten years in the
history of the camps is a small percentage, but a significant part of our lives.
We
had a great year in 2005 in many respects. The
fishery in the lake was superb, probably due in large part to your efforts to
keep the breeders alive. The weather
was at times difficult (that is putting it nicely, isn’t it?).
Our loyal staff was with us again for the third year in a row (and will
be with us again in 2006).
Ice
out occurred May 4th in a light northwest wind. The
smelt run was spread out over a period of more than a week, with no real
spawning peak that there usually is. All
in all, May turned out to be a great month for salmon fishing.
The salmon pictured below was a typical healthy 15 inch-er caught by
young Patrick Vossmer right around the fifteenth.
Average salmon sizes for the month ranged around 19 inches.
Our May fisherman by and large found the salmon to be noticeably larger
and healthier that they remember. No
doubt this is due in large part to our camp slot limit of 14”-17”: release
the ones you want to catch again and release the breeders.
I
am going to let the newsletter pictures tell the rest of the story for the
fishing season last year. They say
it’s worth a thousand words. It
really was a great season and I think everyone was very satisfied with their fly
fishing, trolling, and casting. Thank
you for being a part of it all.
Ice
Out
I
am always the last person to leave the movie theatre, watching the screen until
the last credits roll off into blackness. My
delight–in-delaying (as my father would say) qualifies me to be fascinated
with the barely perceptible motion of the ice leaving the lake in the spring.
To me, it is not like grass growing or paint drying, but has subtle
movement, with shifts in direction and speed, both reactions to wind and
weather; and ice out includes its own background soundtrack.
Last spring the ice shifted around for days, indecisive about direction
and not unified in an evacuation plan. First,
a great split appeared in front of the lodge.
Next, the upper end of the lake cleared off enough for fishing.
Different gaps and fissures developed.
The two great rectangular spots from last January’s ice cutting shrank,
and the wind picked up and the ice islands began to collide.
Millions of small rectangular pieces of clear ice, 6-8 inches long
floated along the edges of the ice floes.
The wind-driven ice pushed these needles ashore, and they piled up
with loud crashing and tinkling noises. The
ice was on the move.
Time to get back to work (…time to go fishing!)
I found myself just standing at the edge of the lake and taking it all
in; then Igor found
me just
standing
at the edge of the
lake…!
We smile and I got
up
to leave this movie theatre…
The
Life of Riley….
Floatplane
Scenic Flights
This
year Bradford Camps will be offering scenic flights to all of you wishing to get
a bird’s-eye view of the land around
Outpost
Cabins
We
have two outpost cabins that are for rent for anyone wishing a more remote
experience, and a few less amenities. These
cabins are located on Reed Pond and on Bluffer Pond.
The cost is $40 per person per night ($240 minimum).
You are responsible for your own food, sleeping bags and transportation
to the cabin. Reed Pond is fly-in
only and a round trip price begins at $160 ppdo.
Bluffer pond is a drive-in cabin requiring a ½ mile hike.
A fly-in/hike out trip to Bluffer Pond can also be arranged.
As
you can imagine these ponds are very remote and offer a wilderness experience
that is unsurpassed in the lower 48. Reed
Pond is in the middle of the Northeast’s largest old growth forest on land
owned by the Nature Conservancy, and the Bluffer Pond camp is, well, it’s
simply in the middle of nowhere. Both
places offer a comfortable waterfront setting on a truly pristine body of water.
PLUS there’s wild trout in them
thar waters!
Jack
and Skip’s Moose
This
photo was taken by Jack Juechter about a quarter of a mile away from camp.
He and Skip Johnson were on their way home when they stopped beside an
unusual site in the road: the afterbirth of a calf moose.
Knowing something interesting was afoot they drove along, and in the
shade of a yellow birch sapling was the baby moose, still unable to get on its
feet. Off in the woods was the cow,
which eventually came out to begin nudging the calf up on its feet.
After several long minutes of watching from their truck, the calf
succeeded and on wobbly legs, began its life in the North Maine Woods!
This photo is this year’s winner for the best photo prize and will
entitle the taker to $100 off his stay this year.
Hooray for Skip and Jack (and the baby moose!).
Several
times each year we have an impromptu shooting school for all abilities and
almost all ages. The Bradford Camps
offers the perfect surroundings for people unfamiliar with firearms to begin to
learn. The typical class takes a few
hours from start to finish. In it we
include the standard subjects such as safety, handling and marksmanship.
We also take the time to go over the mechanics of different firearms, the
differences between shotguns and rifles, and etiquette when handling firearms.
It is truly a pleasure for us when we help the unfamiliar
“non-enthusiast” understand a bit of why this sport is fun, exciting, and a
positive pastime.
Starkey’s
Bear
Wendy
and Alex Starkey came to camp for the first time this fall.
Wendy is an experienced big game hunter and this was to be her son’s
first big game hunt. After a few
nights of unsuccessful hunting, Alex had a shot at what he only could tell was
“a bear”: who knows how big. When
I got to the stand he said he saw a bear, took a shot, but had no idea how large
the bear was, only that it was greater that the size we had described.
After a short track we found him fifty yards away and I was amazed.
It was the largest bear shot at Bradford Camps in my time and weighed in
at almost 450 pounds!
Sons,
and Daughters
Many
guests, be they 6 years old or 46 years old, come every year with their dad (and
sometimes their mom). This is
quality time at its finest! The fast
days of fishing stay forever in memories; and as you know, they even grow.
Maybe more importantly are the slow times in the boat, when there is
nothing else to do but sit, wait,
and be quiet: the time for truly special memories.
2006 RATES
FISHING,
HUNTING
FAMILY
TRIPS
(prices
include all meals and lodging)
Adults…….$132/Night;
$860 / 7-Night Week
Children..…..…………..$7
X Age per Night
2
Parents, 2 Children, 7-Night Stay...$2095 / Week
Bear
Hunt, Sept (Guided, License Incl.)….$1795
Deer
Hunt, November………….…$695 / Week
Two
Week Deer Hunt………..$1200 / 2 Weeks
(Deer
Hunts Sun to Sun, add’l nights $100
ea)
GUIDE
SERVICE
(in
addition to meals and lodging prices above)
Guide
for Fishing and Bird Hunting…$180 / Day
(may
be shared by two sports max)
Guide
for Deer Hunts……..………..$1050 / Week
(2
hunters max, add’l hunters at $150 per person)
BOATS
Boat,
Motor, and Gas…….…………$50 / Day
Canoes
and Kayak...……….…….No Charge
OUTPOST
CABINS
Adults……..………………$40
/ pp / Night
(minimum
rate …$240)
FISHING
GEAR RENTAL
Fly
Rod and Gear…..…………………$20 / Day
Waders……………………………..$15
/ Day
SPORTING
CLAYS COURSE
10
Stations……………………………..No Charge
(Add’l
fee for instruction, gun and shells)
THE
SMALL PRINT
*Staff tips of 15% will be added to
lodging rates.
*Prices include private waterfront cabin,
full bath and three home-cooked meals.
*State tax of 7% will be added to lodging
rates.
*15% additional for single occupancy.
*Check in before 5:00 pm, check out before
dinner.
*$200 deposit required per person.
*$600 deposit required for September bear
hunts.
*5% less on lodging for the wise, 70 years
and up.
Sikorsky
Seminar
Dates
July 14, 15, 16 Cost $250 ppdo, meals & lodging
For aviation enthusiasts this is a great weekend to hear the story of my grandfather’s three careers: Russian airplanes, American clipper ships, and helicopters. Fly in to our lodge (seaplane base ME3) or drive in. All guests will be offered a seaplane ride with I. Sikorsky III!
The
Life of a Day
Like
people or dogs, each day is unique and has its own personality quirks which can
easily be seen if you look closely. But
there are so few days as compared to people, not to mention dogs, that it would
be surprising if a day were not a hundred times more interesting than most
people. But usually they just pass,
mostly unnoticed, unless they are wildly nice, like autumn ones full of red
maple trees and hazy sunlight, or if they are grimly awful ones in a winter
blizzard that kills the lost traveler and bunches of cattle.
For some reason we like to see days pass, even though most of us claim we
don’t want to reach our last one for a long time.
We examine each day before us with barely a glance and say, no, this
isn’t one I’ve been looking for, and wait in a bored sort of way for the
next, when, we are convinced, our lives will start for real.
Meanwhile, this day is going by perfectly well-adjusted, as some days
are, with the right amounts of sunlight and shade, and a light breeze scented
with a perfume made from the mixture of fallen apples, corn stubble, dry oak
leaves, and the faint odor of last night’s meandering skunk.
Poem by Tom Hennen
From Good Poems, edited by
Garrison Keillor, published by Penguin Books
