Rick
grew up on a dairy farm in the beautiful Blackstone
Valley area of Massachusetts, back when it was
still beautiful. He spent much of his youth in the woods
exploring nature. His father gave him his first camera
when he was 10 and some years later he started focusing
on shooting wildlife with Nikon cameras.
In
1978, eight years after high school graduation, Rick
settled in Keene and in 1990 moved to Andover, N.H.
He never attended college nor did he ever study
photography. He is completely self-taught and in today’s digital world,
he is not a fan of computers or Photoshop.
Rick
worked in a natural foods store for many years in New
London, N.H, and is quite the health nut. His focus
now is on The MooseMan business as he
and his
wife Donna slowly build it. He is grateful to Donna for her encouragement
and support while he forges ahead with his true calling….The
MooseMan.
Rick
has a rather unique approach to shooting wildlife.
He flies in by floatplane to wilderness settings, explores
and shoots by kayak once there.
He is 57
years old but feels 40! He plans to keep on kayaking with the moose for
a couple more
decades, as it simply fills his soul.
7/23/2009
MooseMan is fresh out of the woods from his annual Northern
Maine adventures. This proved to be rather extraordinary
in many ways. The weather was same as here, rather unsettled
and rainy but this proved to be excellent for moose watching.
The trip started within Baxter State Park at Sandy Stream
Pond with lots of cow/calf action there. After 2 days
in the park, MooseMan headed in to his rather sacred
spot north of the park.
It
was there that things really heated up quick.
The winter of northern Maine had been good to the moose
and right away, Rick found many of his “regulars” alive
and well after a rugged Maine winter. Two of
his favorites, Pot Belly and Big Boy were both
located within the
first three days. Pot Belly is elderly but still
having calves
at this point. Big Boy has an enormous rack this
year with more points than ever before. He is truly
an awesome
animal and will most likely become one of the
dominant bulls in his area.
Cows
and calves……normally on a 8-10 day
trip , MooseMan may locate a half dozen sets of cow/calves.
This year was far more productive with no less than
a
dozen different sets located and enjoyed.
But
the big splash of the trip was a pleasant surprise
one night at 6:30pm at the inlet of the northern
bog. Rick has kept moose journals thru the years
and has
pretty extensive records of sightings. Back in 1981,
(28 years
ago) MooseMan was at the outlet of his favorite bog
and sat in a canoe surrounded by 11 moose. The number
held
the record all these years and was never even challenged
when Rick managed to sit in front of 8 moose back
in 2006. But….this year one night at 6:30pm just before
sunset….MooseMan was in awe. He sat in the kayak
and started counting. All within a couple hundred feet
were 12 moose……. Among them was a huge
old bull that Rick named King Tutt. This broke a
long standing
record of 11 as mentioned earlier.
Photo
opportunities proved plentiful and when the 13
days in the woods were done, new records had been
set
for both “moose in one place” and “total
moose sightings recorded”
“Big
Boy” Moose in the Lake
I found this moose back in 2003. He was dangerously skinny
from nearly starving to death from winter weight loss.
Little did I know this bull and I would form a “bond
of sorts.” I located him each year in the same
area from 2003 right thru to 2009. He just turned nine
years old June of 2009. I call him “Big Boy” and
he’s shown here at six years old
back in 2006.
Gordon the Bull Moose
Meet
Gordon the bull moose. This guy is rather elderly.
He is huge but gentle and VERY slow
moving. This image
was shot at dusk in July 2008. he came
out of the woods, got into the water, and
walked right to me and started
to feed….Nikon D300, 200mm lens,
from a distance of roughly 10-15 ft.
Peek-a-Boo
One
of my favorites. This image was somewhat planned.
I was hoping for a moose in
this area that I knew had
a pleasing background. As I approached
the spot …he
silently stepped into view. It was awesome. The bull
never even snapped a twig and disappeared like a ghost.
I call him “Peek-a-boo”
Tess the Baby Moose
Meet Tess the baby moose. I named her
after a friend of mine’s daughter. This little gal was part of
a nearly all day long moose encounter. Lengthy encounters
are always special and memorable for me. The calf is
about 6 weeks old here and weighed only 30 pounds or
so at birth. By August’s end,
this little darling will weigh 200-300
lbs.
Sunset
Bull
This bull is an old favorite
of mine. Gordon was feeding at sunset and everything
just kind
of “came together” and
worked. I have located this bull three times; in
2007, 2008, and last year in July of 2010 I saw him briefly
but only thru my spotting scope about a mile across
the pond I work .
Bruiser
This moose is simply enormous.
I run into many good bulls out there in the wilderness
but
this guy
is THE LARGEST
moose I have ever located. An interesting thing
about Bruiser is his “drop tine” antler on his
right antler. It is the only time I have ever seen an
antler tine pointing down and I’ve logged
over 1200 moose encounters in my journal.
The
Morning is Calming
It is sunrise in the wilderness and
a young bull works his way out on a peninsula to feed.
I
love the layers
of woods in the background , and the morning
fog will soon be gone. The tallest tree in the
background is
home to a pair of nesting bald eagles.
Sherry
Baby
I named the adult moose Sherry (after
my daughter) She recently became a Mom and
had a little boy
so of course
I had to name the little calf Cody
(after my grandson). I just loved the way this
Mother moose
watched over
her calf.
