In her newest book, “Through Woods & Waters,” Chandler recounts her solo journey, both on foot and by canoe, through Maine’s most fabled watershed, the Penobscot River. From its upper beginnings and on down through the East Branch and the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Chandler paddles it all.
What if there were no black flies? What if you could wave a magic wand — or hire an insect engineer — and get rid of the scornful pests for good? Would you do it?
Here in the Florida Keys, starting the first of the year, 750 million genetically engineered mosquitoes will be released in the Florida peninsula by a British company, Oxitec. Oxitec is partly funded by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, who hopes to rid the world of malaria. The goal, of course, in Florida is to reduce the mosquito populations and minimize the need for the use of nasty insecticides.
“Most deer hunters are dreamers by nature,” writes V. Paul Reynolds this week. “For those who tramp the cedar bogs and sit for hours on cold stumps along the ridge lines, the fantasy repeats itself year after year: a thick-necked, big-antlered buck, with steam around his nostrils, appears like a mirage from the fir thicket. If, like me, your dream did not become reality this fall, there is another fall to come. Rest assured that somewhere out there in the deer woods there is a buck with your name on it — perhaps a state record-breaker.”
Dream on.
When I was a kid growing up in Maine, I and most of my playmates, who spent our waking lives outdoors, daydreamed of becoming either a Navy carrier pilot or a Maine game warden when we grew up. That never worked out. I split the difference, getting a private pilot’s license and a Maine Guide’s …
From Michigan’s famous Deerfoot Lodge to one of Maine’s oldest deer camps, the Skulkers of Seboeis, the annual game dinner always prevails as the intended high point of any legendary deer camp. The game dinner is both a celebration of the harvest of wild meat and a friendly, but intense, culinary contest: who can outdo …
Most of the sportsmen and women I have known over the years have an affinity for tools of the trade, gizmos and gadgets that have a practical application in their outdoor pursuits. And if they want something, and can afford it, they just go out and buy it. Oh, there are exceptions in the outdoor …
A number of years ago when I was a working newspaper editor, the silent unsung heroes of the newsroom operation were the copy editors on the copy desk. These word and fact sleuths did not wear green eye shades or elastic arm bands, but they were meticulous and detail-oriented to a fault. They were the …
“On the Ridge – Stories from a New England Hunter” by Joseph J. Judd, $10.95, published by Whitney Acres Editorial Joe Judd, a dedicated hunter and conservationist from western Massachusetts, got his start in outdoor writing as a columnist for the West County News in his beloved Shelburne. Although Judd hunts most all game, …
As I looked up the frozen, snow-swept northern lake, something amid the canvas of endless white looked out of place. A gray hump broke the monotonous snowscape. Overcome by curiosity, I left the warmth of my ice-fishing hut to snow-sled up the lake in the direction of the inexplicable gray spot. What I found …
Have you tried to buy any ammunition lately? Good luck. Statewide outlets for firearms and ammunition, whether big-box stores or locally owned sporting goods stores, are pretty much out of stock, especially for the most popular calibers of ammunition. In mid-October, the ammunition shelves at area Walmarts were as empty as Hannaford’s bathroom tissue shelves …
For Maine residents, the firearms season for deer began Saturday, Oct. 31. All other deer hunters could legally start their deer a hunt a half hour before sunrise on Monday, Nov. 2. Many sportsmen count the November deer hunt as the highlight of all of their outdoor passions. It is a special time. Frosty mornings …
As November comes on in Maine, with frost-laden mornings and leafless hardwoods graying up the tree lines, serious deer hunters begin preparations. Rifles are cleaned and zeroed. Maps are studied. Hunting clothes are checked over. New gear is purchased. Tree stands are erected. And kindred spirits of the fall deer hunt fix the leaky roof …
