Hunting Maine bears August 8, 2018 by V. Paul Reynolds on Outdoors in Maine If you are a hunter and have never hunted a Maine black bear, you might want to give it a try. Bears are as plentiful as they have ever been. Not only is the estimated bear population figure hovering around 35,000 animals and climbing, there is an excess population that is beyond the bounds of …
Laminating the legacies August 1, 2018 by V. Paul Reynolds on Outdoors in Maine Maine’s rich and colorful outdoor heritage has over the years produced a parade of prominent and not-so-prominent personalities, all of whom helped shape and imprint this memorable and lasting legacy. Greenville bush pilot Dick Folsom was a man who left his mark in the annals of Maine’s outdoor history. After serving during World War II …
Big, bad bogs July 25, 2018 by V. Paul Reynolds on Outdoors in Maine For me, Maine bogs have always held an allure. It may be the deer hunter in me. The buck of my dreams is always seen in a bog, ghosting its way silently on the mossy ground, weaving slowly between gnarled old cedar trees and gray, weathered deadfall. There is a dusting of snow underfoot. The …
The whitewater warriors July 18, 2018 by V. Paul Reynolds on Outdoors in Maine A long-lost fellow acquaintance of mine, who took far too many chances as a young man, once mused “If it ain’t scary, it ain’t no fun.” He would have enjoyed a ride in a rubber raft down the West Branch of the Penobscot River below the dam at Ripogenus Lake. This section of the river …
Maine moose: reduction needed? July 11, 2018 by V. Paul Reynolds on Outdoors in Maine Maine’s newly released 10-year Big Game Management Plan clearly claims that, when it comes to managing our biggest and most popular big game animal, there is uncertainty. Moose ticks are the wild card. The $64 million question is: How are moose ticks impacting our moose population? In 2010, about the time that wildlife biologist Lee …
The Greenland Salmon Pact July 4, 2018 by V. Paul Reynolds on Outdoors in Maine Not a lot of Atlantic salmon have danced off the end of my Sage 9-weight fly rod over the years, but just enough to make me a believer. There is no other angling experience quite like it! Not even the 64- pound Alaskan king salmon that a guide netted for me on the Kenai River …
Alewife runs: good or bad? June 27, 2018 by V. Paul Reynolds on Outdoors in Maine Smelt runs up lake tributaries are always a sight to see. Some are better than others. The first one you ever see, with thousands of slithering, wiggling silver fish fighting their way upstream under the glow of the flashlight, leaves an impression. So does a run of alewives, or so-called river herring. Have you ever …
Maine’s game management plan June 20, 2018 by V. Paul Reynolds on Outdoors in Maine In the realm of wildlife management, we have come a long way since the days of Aldo Leopold, the American father of enlightened wildlife stewardship. Leopold, in his writings and teaching, warned about the destructive impact that industrial progress and technology was having on America’s wildlife. In fact, wildlife planning, protection and well-funded conservation efforts …
A trip to “Grouse Country” June 13, 2018 by V. Paul Reynolds on Outdoors in Maine Art Wheaton is the “perfect storm” kind of guy to write a classy, keepsake book about hunting the king of game birds. For a lot of reasons. Art, a son of the late Downeast guide Woodie Wheaton, cut his teeth on grouse and gun dogs. He and his family moved to Forest City (near Princeton) …
The deer numbers June 6, 2018 by V. Paul Reynolds on Outdoors in Maine “Hey, Paul, you’ve got to be kidding me! It’s March and you guys still don’t have the tally on last fall’s deer kill?” asked the New England outdoor editor of a national sporting magazine. That scolding took place more than 20 years ago, when I was press officer for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries …
