It's dark and rainy here today. The weather forecast calls for our first snowfall of the season. Bad weather doesn't deter a photographer; in fact it has been said many times before that the lousier the weather, the better the pictures. I tend to agree. And snowfall with autumn colors? That sounds beautiful to me. I should be so lucky!
I'm ready to head back out to moose country (western Maine/northern New Hampshire) for the next couple of days. As I mentioned in the previous post, moose hunting season is underway here in Maine. Not everywhere at once, however. The hunting opens in one section or "zone" of the state while closing in another. So the season is staggered across the state over a period of a few weeks. Moose hunters who won their permits through the state moose hunting lottery can only hunt for moose within their designated zone which in turn has a designated window of opportunity.
Many of the places I wish to drive to (and hike) for fall colors are currently in the "line of fire", so to speak. I'm packing a reversible down vest for this trip. The outside of the vest is navy blue and the inside is blaze orange. I'll reverse the vest depending on where I am and what I am doing. I top off my ensemble with an orange ball cap.
I always hold out hope that the majority of hunters out there are alert and cautious before they open fire on their chosen target. But it must also be noted that this can be a naïve (and therefore dangerous) outlook. I can't assume anything.
I once saw a farmer use blaze orange paint to write the letters C-O-W on the sides of his grazing livestock to prevent them from being shot during hunting season. And I've heard many stories over the years - scary stories - which do not instill a sense of confidence as I head out into the fields and forests with my tripod during hunting season.
Although I choose to "hunt" with my camera, I'm not writing about these things to belittle or criticize hunters. It's about taking precautions when heading out into the field. Odds are I'll have a better chance of seeing ol' Pegamoose (illustration above based on eyewitness accounts) than a real moose anyway. The amorous bull moose are in rut, chasing after their cows, and as such they are often far away from many roads and trails. Love and bullets are in the air!
When hunting season rolls around, the moose seem to...um, vamoose. Ugh. Sorry about that! But it's true, and I'm not the only person who comments on the scarcity of moose sightings during this particular time of the year. No doubt it is as frustrating for the hunters as it is for me.
I'm getting sidetracked here with all of this moose madness. The fleeting colors of autumn are my primary focus. These storms wreak havoc on the foliage, and a season that is too short to begin with is clipped shorter with each passing day. I have to chase whatever colors remain before they vanish for another year.
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