The New Year is almost always a welcome event, even if we are all a year older. The slate is clean. As we look ahead it’s a lot like a field of virgin snow. As we move on, the tracks we leave will take us to unseen ground. This is especially sweet for outdoor people who have an affinity for exploration, for finding what is just beyond the hill, or on the other side of the cedar swamp.

Move on, yes. But don’t forget to check your backtrack! Animals do it for survival. For the rest of us contemplative bipods, who struggle for understanding and perspective, a check of what already took place can often divulge clues or insights into what lies ahead. Let’s check that backtrack for the Maine outdoors, circa 2013.

For simplicity’s sake, this outdoor look back is divided into three categories: The good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good:

Maine’s once ­struggling deer herd is on the rebound. All evidence supports this good news. Deer harvest numbers are up considerably this fall, and hunters have been reporting plenty of deer sign in the woods, including in the Big Woods. Tagging stations are reporting more big bucks than they have seen in a long time.

Roxanne Quimby opened up 40,000 acres of her previously posted land to traditional use, including hunting! Her spokesman, Lucas St. Clair, also announced that his mother’s land company would not support the anti­hunting bear referendum.

Thanks to a healthy moose herd, Maine’s moose hunters were allocated a record number of moose hunting permits, 4,155 as compared with 3,725 issued in 2012.

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife continued to fund its coyote control program and announced the creation of a statewide Shooting Range Coordinator paid for by a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (So far no word on who that person is or what is being done to create more quality shooting ranges in Maine.)

New turkey hunting regulations were approved. Hunting hours have been expanded for the spring hunt.

More hunt zones have been added, and the fall take has been liberalized. (Check the new hunting regs for details).

The bad:

Liberal downstate state legislators once again introduced a long list of gun­-control legislation, most of it unsuccessful. Expect to see the Portland­ area gun grabbers back in the fray before spring thaw.

Policywise, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W) made some unwise moves. First, it tried in a sweeping, breathtakingly audacious measure to ban the use of live fish as bait on most state “B” waters. It did so against the blanket opposition of its own fisheries biologists! Much of this was reversed by state lawmakers. Second, MDIF&W imposed a new regulation that requires bird hunters to attach a name tag to grouse in possession. Third, and most egregious of all, MDIF&W and the state legislature approved a new regulation, under the rubric of safety, that disallows bow hunters or recreational bow shooters to shoot a bow within 100 yards of any dwelling without written permission!

The ugly:

Declaring once again that Maine’s traditional bear hunt is cruel and unsporting, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) launched another major referendum initiative with the aim of banning the baiting, hounding and trapping of black bears in Maine. Operating under the ludicrous but seductive mantle of “Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting,” the well­-heeled organization plans to spend upwards of $3 million on advertising in hopes of winning over the average Maine voter.

There is much at stake, both for the rural Maine economy and the effective management of Maine’s burgeoning black bear population. Money talks. In the months ahead, the challenge for sportsmen, sporting organizations and MDIF&W, will be to educate the Maine voters about the critical role that traditional bear hunting plays in the management of black bear numbers, and to do it with limited funds.

You guessed it. The year that is about to unfold promises to be an eventful one for all of us who spend time hunting and fishing in the Maine outdoors.

Happy New Year.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co­host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News­ Talk Network (WVOM­FM 103.9, WQVM­FM 101.3) and former information of icer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e­mail address is paul@sportingjournal.com. He has two books “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook” and his latest, “Backtrack.” Online information is available at www.maineoutdoorpublications.com or by calling Diane at 207 745 0049.

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