For years now, from elected Augusta officials of either party, we have heard this song before: “We need to be more aggressive and creative in marketing Maine as a hunting and fishing destination.” Yes, it’s an old, familiar score. But somehow reality always seems to fall short of promises and expectations. Traditionally, the promote Maine …
Next to being in the woods during the deer season, I most enjoy reading books about how to hunt these wary animals. In fact, the stand beside my bed is a repository for dozens of books, most of which promise to show me the way to bag that trophy buck. As the nights cool and …
Traditionally in Maine, the two big fall hunts have been partridge in October and deer in November. That still may be the case, but with so many wild turkeys roaming the Maine woods fall hunters looking for some added hunt challenges might want to give fall turkeys a go. As most sportsmen and back country …
Since 1972, an organization called North Maine Woods has been providing remote outdoor recreational opportunities amid a vast expanse of privately owned commercial forest that encompasses more than 3.5 million acres in this state. North Maine Woods was formed in 1972 with the aim of carefully managing and balancing outdoor recreational access and commercial logging. …
Moose are Maine’s largest big game animal by far. Bulls have been known to top the scales in excess of 1,000 pounds! Because of their sheer size and body mass, they can be difficult to put down, even with a high-powered rifle, if shot placement is not good. For ethical as well as practical reasons, …
Aroostook County has always had an allure for me. Not just because of the great trout fishing, of which my family and I have partaken often over the years, but for many other reasons, too. As a youngster who left Bangor and spent some pre-teen years living in Houlton during the late 1950s, the County …
Maine’s new fish and wildlife boss, Judy Camuso, who has been at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W) helm since January, shared her views recently as a guest on my Sunday night statewide radio program “Maine Outdoors” (103.9, 101.3 and 95.1 FM). Throughout the interview her unbridled enthusiasm for her new job, …
Not surprisingly, it took some time for Maine’s fish and wildlife regulatory apparatus to loosen up when it came to accepting the crossbow as a legitimate and acceptable hunting device. Compared with other states, we have been a long time coming around. In an excellent column in the September issue of the Northwoods Sporting Journal, …
“Past fifty, my eyesight is bad, can’t find my glasses, then I get mad. Where can they be, has anyone seen, not a trace, now I’m steamed. Up on my head, is where they sit, grandkids laughing, how silly can one get….” In the days of my youth, when my vision and hearing were reasonably …
Whether you are a hunter or just an outdoor person with a fascination for wildlife in its natural surroundings, a trail camera is a useful device that allows you to not only get some great photos of wildlife, but figure out which animals are moving and at what time of the day. Bud Utecht, who …
There are big game hunters, and then there are hunters of dangerous big game. Waterville native Kenneth T. Winters, who has hunted 223 big game species throughout the world, spent the better part of his adult life hunting dangerous big game in his beloved Africa. In his new book, “Chasing High Adventure,” Winters relives those …
Recently Maine’s new fish and wildlife commissioner, Judy Camuso, was a studio guest on “Maine Calling,” an interactive radio program on the National Public Radio station in Portland. She performed well as she outlined the goals and challenges of the department in the months ahead. The control of coyote populations in the North Woods by …
