Mike Sullivan
Mike Sullivan didn't kill a deer on a week-long trip to northern Maine in early December, but he did return with a jump-start on getting in shape for the 2012 STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Series.
"One day we walked 13 or 14 miles, at least," Sullivan said. "It was a different kind of walking too. We were going up and down hills and stepping across blown-down trees in thick woods. It was a tough day."
Sullivan has been competing in the STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Series since its inception in 1985. The 51-year-old from Colebrook, Conn., grew up with a baseball bat in his hands but proved to be a fast study after switching to an axe handle.
He's piled up a ton of trophies, including winning the first STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® championship. Although he's now one of the oldest competitors in the Series, Sullivan is not slowing down. Sullivan qualified for the finals in the U.S. Championships again last year and is the only lumberjack to compete in all 26 championship events. He's now going for 27.
"I pride myself in getting to the finals," Sullivan said. "I'm taking it one year at a time. I'm signed up for 2012, but I'm not going to hang around and embarrass myself. At the end of the year, I'll look back and see how I did before I commit to another season."
Deer hunting is another activity he's excelled in for almost as long. Sullivan has killed many trophies over the years, most of them with a bow. His hunt near the Canadian border presented a different challenge. With the help of a guide, he was attempting to track a deer, rather than sit in a tree-stand and wait for one to walk by. His quest was hindered by good weather.
"They had one of the warmest Novembers on record in Maine," Sullivan said. "There wasn't any snow on the ground when I got there."
After Sullivan got to deer camp, a three-inch snowfall presented the opportunity to do some tracking.
"We only saw one set of buck tracks, but they were huge," Sullivan said. "Those were the biggest buck tracks I've ever seen."
It was muzzleloader season in Maine. Big bucks don't get that big without learning the habits of hunters.
"We were on a 4,600-acre lease, with big woods all around it," Sullivan said. "We tracked that deer for five hours, then it crossed the border into Canada where we couldn't hunt it."
Sullivan and his guide did some backtracking and discovered the big buck had crossed into Maine from Canada, scented an area across the entire lease -- "looking for hot does" -- then gone back across the border.
Not killing a deer didn't keep Sullivan from enjoying the experience.
"It's not for everybody," he said. "The average is one of every 10 hunters kills a deer by tracking there. It's a tough hunt, and you've really got to cover some ground. Since I'm in pretty good shape, my guide told me he was going to take me places where he likes to go, places he'd never taken a client. We were jumping moose. It was awesome."
Sullivan also got a valuable, hands-on lesson in woodsmanship. Relying mostly on a compass, with occasional handheld GPS readings for reference, Sullivan's guide showed him how to navigate Maine's big woods, or anyplace else, without getting lost.
"He showed me how you could start walking anywhere in the world and have confidence in where you were going," Sullivan said. "Once you get that confidence, it makes you a better hunter because you don't have that fear of getting lost."
Sullivan has already killed three deer this season: He shot a mule deer in Alberta, Canada, with a bow; the deer had a 150-inch rack, "nothing special," Sullivan said. He killed a 130-inch, 10-point whitetail with a bow in Ohio; "Just a nice Ohio buck," he said. And he shot a doe near his home in Colebrook, Conn., "because I needed the meat."
Sullivan and his wife, Darlene, have two sons -- Nick, 17, and Mitch, 13. Sullivan works as a sales rep for a company that markets a variety of hunting products, including Winchester bows. His hunting time will begin decreasing with the arrival of a new year, which signals a spike in hunting trade shows and a new buying season for retailers.
Sullivan's love of the outdoors comes naturally, and it helped him on the path to STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® competition. His father has been a fur-trapper all his life, taking Sullivan on trapping excursions since he was 5. His appreciation for the outdoors led Sullivan to become an arborist.
"My dad has been trapping since he was 10 years old," Sullivan said. "He's 76 now, and he's still trapping. He probably traps more animals than anyone in the state. He still lives on Deer Hill Road (in Colebrook), where I grew up.
"By the time I was 13 or 14, I was catching minks, which are the hardest animals to trap. I was pretty good. I was out-trapping guys who were 35, 40 years old. I still go with my dad sometimes."
Sullivan played minor league baseball as a catcher in the Cincinnati Reds organization for 3 1/2 years, until a shoulder injury ended his career. His highlights included catching Hall of Famer pitcher Tom Seaver during a spring training game and taking batting practice with Ken Griffey Sr. and George Foster, who were key players on those great 1970s Cincinnati teams known as the "Big Red Machine." The Reds won back-to-back World Series titles in 1975-76.
Sullivan grew up with a baseball bat in his hands, rather than a wood-chopping axe. After his baseball career ended, Sullivan was introduced to lumberjack sports by Jim Colbert, who lives near Sullivan's dad on Deer Hill Road.
"My dad didn't chop wood," Sullivan said. "It's a big disadvantage when you don't grow up in the sport. That's part of the reason the Australians and the New Zealanders are so good. They don't play baseball. They grew up with an axe in their hands instead of a baseball bat."