In rural Maine, the ownership and use of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) of every make and description has become a way of life. This ATV presence has taken off like a rocket leaving the launch pad at Cape Kennedy. According to Maine state officials, ATVs generate $250 million a year in revenue. This growth phenomenon …
Off to the east, behind Pagoda Peak, dawn was creeping upward. In the crimson half light, my horse picked its way along the rocky, mud-frozen pack trail. The boss, an elk outfitter I worked for, had given me the morning off and a loaned horse to get to the elk country above the Beaver Creek …
Although my wife will mock me and guffaw when she reads this, when it comes to hunting and fishing equipment I am not a “gear hound.” Just ignore her scoffing. I really don’t buy a lot of new stuff, honest. Whether it is a fly rod, a shotgun or a pair of chest waders, I …
Maine has not had a spring bear hunt for many years. Although a reinstitution of a spring bear hunt in the Pine Tree State has been talked about on and off as a way of dealing with our ever-increasing population of bears, many stakeholders — including bear guides and outfitters — have opposed the spring …
If you own a boat that gets trailered to your favorite body of water, you are familiar with boat ramps. When things go right, you back the trailer down the ramp until the boat starts to displace water. On with the emergency brake or the parking mode. You disconnect the yellow winch strap, park the …
There’s a worthy saying that goes like this: “Bad things happen when good men do nothing.” The Veazie Salmon Club, to its credit, is not sitting on its collective hands when it comes to the following issue: the federal government’s insistence that the declining Atlantic salmon that returns to the Penobscot River must be …
It can vary by days, but in Maine the middle of April always ushers in the annual smelt runs from coldwater lakes up nearby brooks and streams. As every salmon angler knows, these small rainbow smelts are the key food source for landlocked salmon. Rule of thumb: no smelt, no salmon. Back in the …
American veterans who served their country richly deserve our appreciation, no matter where, when or how they served. If they wore a U.S. military uniform, they were in the freedom preservation business. Next to those who made the ultimate sacrifice stands another very special American serviceman or woman – the disabled vet. With all of …
The first story, by Northwoods Sporting Journal writer Jess Libby, recounts her memorable winter snowsledding northern Maine on trail conditions that have never been better. She writes: “My best day of riding that weekend started off with below zero temps and warmed up into the 20s. There’s something to be said for bright blue skies, …
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W) has had a landowner relations arm since the mid-1990s. Back then, Game Warden Dave Peppard, with whom I worked, was freed up from most of his law enforcement duties to troubleshoot landowner relations issues and spread the word that posted land hurts the cause of Maine …
Nothing gets an angler’s heart pumping faster than the sight of an airborne Atlantic salmon dancing atop the water on a flyline. As a slack-jawed kid, I watched these goings-on at the legendary Bangor Salmon Pool. Later, as an adult, the late Tom Hennessey helped me land my first silver warrior at the Pipeline Pool …
A fisherman I have always been; and a fisherman I will always be, until I join my late fishing friend Wiggie Robinson, who no doubt is up there paddling the Silver Canoe. What about you? If you have been known to wet a line, what do you call yourself, a fisherman or a fisher? A …
