April — Maine’s seasonal limbo month — just got a little more interesting. Governor Mills directed Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Judy Camuso to waive the need for a fishing license during the entire month of April. Of course, anglers must still abide by all of the fishing regulations as outlined in the new fishing lawbook, …
Most outdoors people I know would rather take an alder branch in the eye or get thumb-snagged on a rusty hook than spend 10 minutes at a political rally. But sometimes political reality gets close to home, especially for recreational hunters whose heritage is linked inextricably to their right to possess and use firearms in …
Since the debut of the Maine moose lottery more than 50 years ago, Lady Luck of Lotteries smiled on me one time. And during that once-in-a-lifetime hunt from a canoe along Ross Stream at opening day, a young bull stepped from the alders into an opening and my moose hunt was over — or, almost …
Our national bird, the American bald eagle, has been getting its fair share of media attention lately. Maine game wardens are still investigating the illegal shooting of one of our national symbols in western Maine. And, in a soon-to-be released story in the April issue of the Northwoods Sporting Journal, columnist and USFWS wildlife biologist …
Most of us who hunt for wild meat or pick wild berries and mushrooms, and take profound pleasure from the hunter-gatherer act, recognize that there is an ancestral or antediluvian connection. Your caveman lineage is likely to take on a new focus if you spend some time with a book titled “The Man in the …
For anyone qualified and interested in a fulfilling and challenging career as a Maine game warden, the opportunities over the next few years will never be better. According to Warden Service spokesman Sgt. John MacDonald, there is among the warden ranks a large number of senior wardens who will be eligible for retirement in the …
The Maine ATV Task Force, created last fall by Governor Janet Mills, recently finished its work and sent recommendations to the Governor’s desk. At the outset, the 15-member group was charged with addressing three major areas of concern: how to manage the growth in statewide ATV use, helping the outdoor recreation economy and how best …
It’s been a while since that word has been used around anglers, but I like it, and miss hearing people use it. It’s one of those words that triggers the synapses and gets gray-haired anglers thinking back to canvas-covered Old Town boats and bamboo rods. What’s a squaretail? Put that query to a fisherman next …
Henry David Thoreau, beholding Moosehead Lake for the first time, wrote this: “a gleaming silver platter at the end of the table.” If only he could have seen the lake from the air! The first time that I saw the big lake from the air in a northbound ski-plane my jaw dropped. The expansiveness, not …
Before iPhones, about the only time fellow deer hunters communicated with one another was during the noon lunch break or back at camp after legal shooting hours. Not so today. We text each other during the day at agreed times. It might go like this: “On south side of bog. Good sign.” Or “Just jumped …
It has been said before in this space, but it applies once more. When it comes to hunting big game there are hunters, and then there are hunters. Most of us are of the former. We enjoy the hunt, but we don’t live to hunt. The latter are among the minority; they live to hunt …
Aroostook County guide and outfitter Nathan Theriault had a pretty good idea where Big Dodge liked to hang out, especially when the rut was on. The season before one of Nathan’s clients got a shot at the big bull but failed to put him down. Big Dodge eluded the hunters and Theriault, wondering if the …
