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New Hampshire – Hiking Mount Major with My Retriever Bella

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Yesterday was a slice of heaven up on Mount Major State Park near Alton Bay, New Hampshire. We hiked the main blue trail which is 1.5 miles to the summit at 1785 ft. Or 1100 feet high from the trail head.

Mount Major Hiking Trails

map image courtesy Gunstock Mountain Resort

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-hampshire/mt-major

My new Labrador puppy Bella is just about 4 months old and growing like a weed. Note for road trips in the car, be sure to carry some chew stuff as that  helped Bella pass the time. Stop for potty calls and carry bags for her waste.

She was leashed and my companion for the hike to the top of Mount Major and she handled it like a champ! I took a backpack with a first aid kit and lots of bottled water, enough for both of us. I am teaching her how to drink from a water bottle with a pop lid. She gets it! Glug glug! I purchased a harness for her so she did not have any neck strain.

What a great day! Calm wind, cool autumn air with oak, spruce scents filling the air along the trail. Acorns were falling as we hiked and could hear them patter to the ground around us. You just wanted to bottle the air to take home! Mount Major is perhaps one of the closest and unique trails to hike and can be climbed by most anyone, kids and seniors alike  with good footwear and those exercised.

 

View of Lake Winnipesaukee from top of Mount Major

 

Her blue harness took strain off her neck while on Mt Major trail

The harness was a terrific purchase and was aided by Petco folks to find one that fit her now, and added growth for her later. She loved the trip and hikers wanted to pet her (puppies do that) . Great socialization on the trail with other pets too. You need good footwear for the trail as there are loose rocks and granite as well as tree roots on the trail. We took our time and made the summit under 2 hours. It is very steep near the blue trail summit with exposed granite to walk up so be careful.

 

Love the kisses!

We stopped in Alton Bay at a Drive In style outdoor restaurant for lunch of fried Ipswich Clams and some dog biscuit and small vanilla ice cream for Bella.  She loved the Ice Cream! She slept all the way home an hour and a half drive. We stopped a Calef’s country store for their famous thick sliced Virginia ham for wife and dinner of ham and beans and lots of cold beer. Wow! Bella chowed down on her puppy food!

Happy Hiking!

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Muzzleloading Deer in New Hampshire is a Real Leg Up on Rifle Season

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I have always believed that if you hunt muzzleloader season in New Hampshire, then you have a leg up on the rifle season, and a best chance to get a shot at a big buck, or any deer for that  matter.

Deer that are shot at, don’t hang around, or at least in daylight hours.

That said; muzzleloading is your best chance at hunting game which has not been spooked. 

But there is more.

In Line Muzzleloading rifles are easy to purchase, very cost effective, and super accurate.

But don’t wait till the last minute to get your muzzleloader gear.

In the week prior to the season which begins in my Zone M  on October 31, everybody is out shopping and finding few bullets they liked, powder that was out of stock. And they are sometimes mad that there was none left! Who is to blame for that!

WORD TO THE WISE

Be  super ready now, shoot your muzzleloader and get all your gear now while it is in stock! 

Stay clean, scout ahead, keep your hunt clothes away from odors that cling, and watch that wind.

Luck is where preparation meets opportunity!

Good Hunting!

 

Fish For Your Vegetable Garden Part 1 and Part II

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I went striper fishing last week and had fish bait left over so I froze it. In the mean time have been creating a back yard garden. I noticed that my summer squash and zucchini plant are not growing fast like my other plants. I am watering them so what’s going on?

before fish

Before adding fish parts

15 days after fish parts added and watered.

Some research finds that they are perhaps not getting enough nitrogen. It dawned on me that our early American bretheren learned from native Indians used fish as fertilizer. I had 4 small tinker mackerel in the freezer! I started by taking the frozen juices of the fish and creating an emulsion to pour at the base of plants but later cut the fish into chunks and buried a chunk at each root.

Some research on line says I am on the right track. We shall see! I will take a photo next week and track progress. I did feed my tomato’s and Cuke’s some fish as well.

Here is what the cuke plants look like now. Left is a tomato plant and right are cukes that have fish parts added. Soil is dry so watered daily. Cukes are flowering and growing cukes like crazy. I’d say water helped greatly but the fish caused the bush to have explosive growth. And that is no fish story.

Good Gardening with the fish I was going to throw out in the trash.

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ANNOUNCEMENT: NH Fish and Game: Start Your Online Hunter Education Class Today

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A few years ago I was hunting in another state, they required a hunter education certification number. I had used old licences for years since I stopped instructing NH Hunter and Bowhunter Ed years ago. Thus I was re-certified and took the Online Hunter Education class which required a training meeting at the end. See below for details and click on the words “Continue reading” below.

It is a thorough program for Hunting, firearms and  most importantly safe handling practices in the field.

Start Your Online Hunter Education Class Today