As the Crow Flies Guide Service

03/10/2024

Shout out to a guide, springer spaniel breeder, and dog handler I always looked up to. This is Joann Moody and one of her springer spaniels when we shared some time together one bird season. As an upland guide myself back in the day, stories of Joann inspired me and when I finally met her I was surprised at her diminutive stature and gentle demeanor, her reputation was large and preceded her after all. We shared many loves, like upland bird hunting, working dogs, and appaloosa horses. Cheers to Joann Moody for inspiring me and others, the great dogs she produced, and the thunder of grouse wings in front of a working dog! And cheers to the best time of the year! HAPPY HUNTING - and be safe out there!

26/09/2024

Some images of our WMD2 moose hunt with Dean's Den and guide Scott Allen. It was a beautiful reunion of guides and familiar stomping grounds that we visited like an old friend. On Monday morning at 6:15 Scott called this 53" 739 lb bull in as if on a string. Thank you Scott for humoring me and reminiscing and for a dream hunt! It was a pleasure being on the receiving end of your experience and professionalism as a guide.

13/09/2024

We're expecting! ✨🐾 I've been dreaming of a little black English Cocker Spaniel (ECS) for a very long time, since I watched Cricket (handled by Kelly) retrieve after my GSP Re*****on was on point and Kelly Hamilton Stoddard Cotiaux sent her springer to flush. Then I watched Barb & Cary Haupt's delightful ECSs work and I knew "someday" I would like to add an ECS to my family. Well, that day is nearing! Very soon that little black female will be entrusted to us as Eshod's She's Got Grit (Gritty). 🥰

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13/09/2024

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10/09/2024

When you go to the polls in November, this is something we can all get behind... VOTE YES ON 4.

08/09/2024

What a humbling honor bestowed on me last night while sharing an evening with my peers celebrating our hunting and fishing heritage at the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine banquet! Somehow a whole bunch of you kept this secret from me so it was an emotional moment when Tim Peabody read my name and nomination. There are so many to thank... my family for their love, support and encouragement to chase my dreams sometimes at their sacrifice - this is for you too 💖 Thank you IF&W for managing our fish and wildlife resources so we can all enjoy them, Bob and Andrea Howe who were the first lodgeowners to give me a chance to launch my guide service and the outfitters who followed by hiring me too and inspiring me to branch out into the sporting camp and outfitting business myself. Thank you clients, many who remain my friends long after entrusting me to take you into the woods or on the water. And thank you Cornelia "Flyrod" Crosby and Joann Moody, and other women like Avis Skolfield and Gladys Baker who inspired me. To the youth and novices getting started and yet to come, I hope I have helped you develop skills and build confidence to get out there on your own or inspired you to try. In my lifetime I have enjoyed watching barriers come down for women entering the hunting and fishing community and it has been a privilege to serve in various capacities the people and fish and wildlife resources of this place we love.These are just some of the thoughts I would have shared at the lectern last night when I was feeling kinda speechless! 🥰 Also, congratulations to Alexandra Conover Bennett who was also recognized and received the Flyrod Crosby Lifetime Acheivement Award last night! She is another formidable outdoors woman who has been a leader on the water and in the woods, building skills and inspiring others! 🛶

27/08/2024

Some work days are more inspiring than others. I had the privilege to spend today with Enock Glidden of Go Beyond The Fence as he guided us to see our community's trails through a different lens. Enock lives each day with the motto, "If you try, things happen". Whether it's challenging himself to "go beyond the fence" to climb Cathedral Ledge in New Hampshire and then El Capitan in Yosemite, evaluate hundreds of miles of trails in Maine, or through his consulting work to inspire others to challenge themselves, today we were reminded that the scenery is better when EVERYONE is a part of it. Our work begins as we "try to make things happen" and answer the question, "What can we do to get EVERYONE outdoors?"

21/08/2024

You know the phrase, "Tell me what you do without telling me what you do."? Well, part of what I do in my work is "beg for money", which means write for grants. I am thrilled Main Street Skowhegan was awarded a Maine Outdoor Learning Initiative grant for which I requested funding. It allowed our Skowhegan Outdoors program to offer four weeks of summer day camps, FREE to all participants: Mountain Biking, Hiking, Introduction to White Water Kayaking, and Intermediate White Water Kayaking. Read about our Introduction to White Water Kayaking camp in this article!

Six students, ranging from grades 8th to 12th, participated in an Introduction to Whitewater Kayaking Camp offered by the Main Street Skowhegan Organization. Thanks to the Maine Outdoor Learning Initiative, these students could participate in the experience at no cost to them. The Maine Outdoor Lear...

10/08/2024

What do you know about the North American Non-lead Partnership? Until today I knew nothing about it but curiosity motivated me to learn more. Thank you Ron Fournier at IF&W for scheduling this opportunity for hunter safety instructor continuing education training. It was fun to see familiar faces like Virginia P. Parker and meet other instructors at the SAM Outdoor Education Facility. My big "take away" was seeing the astonishing amount of lead fragmentation left behind after pe*******on. And THANK YOU Ron for preparing a sampling of moose, mule deer and bear sausage sliders for lunch!

02/08/2024

Skowhegan Outdoors hosting the Maine Outdoor Film Festival, beneath a stary sky, on the bank of the Kennebec, on this Penobscot land. How magical is this?

24/07/2024

17/07/2024

Good morning friends! Look how fast these little phoebes have grown. They remind me, time passes much too quickly so remember that when you're working through the rough spots but embrace every second of the good stuff!

10/07/2024

Rivers for Change ambassadors Chris Morgan, a local Stand Up Paddle athlete, Jessica Sterling, and Stuart Hickey are working with Rivers for Change to paddle the length of the Kennebec. They started at Moosehead on July 5th and plan to finish July 12th when they reach the ocean at Popham. Today a group of us from Skowhegan Outdoors joined them on a section between Norridgewock and Skowhegan. It was a beautiful trip where my mind was often on the Wabanaki people who lived along and traveled this river that we now enjoy. Wabanaki homelands.

09/07/2024

BOLO - dragon fly hatches! Pretty amazing these beauties emerge from these little packages

20/05/2024

This one was a gift and humble reminder that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. After I misjudged the distance on a long beard Friday morning with a swing and a miss, we roosted three birds in the same field Friday night. Saturday morning Talkative One finally flew down and when he popped up over the rise I was ready but he played dodge-the-decoy and slipped away out of range. Not to be outplayed a third time, we roosted a bird last night. I changed it up this morning, setting up about 50 yards to my left nearer the corner where they've been slipping into the woods, just out of range. After Talkative One sat on the roost and gobbled for an hour, he pitched down on the far edge, gobbled once, and walked away unimpressed. We waited. When two jakes strolled in to view minutes later I had plenty of time to choose to let them walk and wait for a bigger bird, or take the gift presented. I selected the larger of the two to come into range and BOOM, down. Redemption. Thank you Little Man for reminding me how fortunate I've been to sit in the dark and listen to the woods come alive with owl hoots, turkey gobbles, hen yelps and clucks, singing song birds and ambling deer as dawn breaks. Talkative One's gobbles will echo across the fields another day and the gift of Little Man will provide sustenance and a reminder how grateful I am. Tagged out on spring turkey.

30/05/2023

Proud "Temmy moment" this morning when my grand daughter Nellie did EVERYTHING right while we were locked down with six sets of turkey eyes, at 12 yards. Birds alert and searching for the source of my yelps and clucks, Nellie cautiously waited for them to come around from behind on her right, sort them selves out and settle in as they were on high alert. She pulled the hammer back, eased the .410 on to one of the jakes and squeezed off a perfect round for the flop! She earned that bird! Youth day they zigged when we thought they'd zag and after resetting a couple times with no luck we called it a day. Nellie asked, "Can we go again Temmy?" So, last Friday we tried again and had birds gobbling and hens clucking all around but no interest in us until we reset for the third time and had one come in silent from behind us in the woods but got busted as he "putted" away. After a five hour hunt, we called it a day in hopes of getting out again this weekend. This morning we set up, watched a doe in the field at first light but no gobbles. Had a conversation with a bossy hen and about an hour later heard our first gobble. 20 minutes later the flock arrived without making a peep. Congratulations Nellie - you are a joy to hunt with - safe, ethical, and patient... all the makings of a great turkey hunter! That's a wrap until fall turkey and deer! Stevens Model 301 in .410 with 3" Hevi-18 TSS in with a Matt Van Cise box call.

06/05/2023

Hiking with Move More Kids and Skowhegan Outdoors to Moxie Falls and lunch at Caratunk Falls on this stellar day!