Since the beginning of scientific deer herd management in Maine, the data needed to make informed decisions was always slow in coming. The public and the biologists who manage deer were lucky to get November deer harvest figures by early spring. That has all changed this time around thanks to the Fish and Wildlife Department’s […]
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Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: Longtime game warden John Ford lived a long, happy life
Jonny Law is gone. That is what he called himself — at least with his email address. Retired Maine Game Warden, two-term sheriff of Waldo County, author and artist John Ford Sr. of Brooks died in November after a 20-year battle with cancer. John was not a close friend of mine — at least not […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Gift guide for those who love the outdoors
Sportsmen and sportswomen love their toys. Of course, they prefer to consider these toys as indispensable tools for the outdoors. Sometimes the best gift one can give to an outdoorsman is a tool or device that he might not either think to buy for himself or feel comfortable buying. For example, my late mother-in-law always […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Lost hunters will get help, but need to help themselves first
There was a time during Maine’s November deer hunt when it was not uncommon for Maine Game Wardens to have three or four missing hunters in one day! In his new book, “Gary Dumond Remembers —Warden Pilots,” retired Maine warden pilot Gary Dumond recalls, “One day, Jack McPhee and I were the only two pilots […]
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Outdoors in Maine: University of Maine will start testing ticks for disease
Ten years ago, few outdoor folks in this neck of the woods gave ticks a second thought. Not so today. Most of us who spend time outdoors have had encounters with deer ticks, the bad ones, or know someone with Lyme disease. Recently, University of Maine professor Jim Dill, a tick expert, appeared as a […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Officials issue emergency regulations to prevent CWD in deer
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W) announced on Oct. 11 the issuance of emergency rules to protect Maine’s deer and moose populations. MDIF&W advised that a captive deer in neighboring Quebec was found to be infected with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). In other states, especially in the West, CWD has infected elk […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Deer camps create a fellowship that's tough to match
It’s only one five-letter word followed by an exclamation point, but most military air crewmen hope they never hear it or have to say it: “Eject! Eject! Eject!” The next sounds heard by Capt. Vernon Burke and 2nd Lt. Leroy Vestar most likely were the rush of fast-moving air and the welcome pop of a […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Protection of state's coastal forestland receives major boost
Back in May, an important press release apparently got upstaged by other events, or simply slipped beneath the radar. It was a land-conservation story of significance. There are a lot of organizational names, big words and capitalizations connected to this press release, which may partly explain the lack of “public buzz.” Here is the upshot […]
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Outdoors in Maine: 'Too much country, too short a life' for hunters
Sooner or later in our lives, most of us contemplate our own mortality. Those of us who really love the deer woods tend to use the number of deer seasons left as yardstick of our days. It is said, though, that most deer hunters go through stages, and tend to lose their ardor for the […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Looking at local candidates' views on gun
As a rule, my editors prefer that the Maine outdoor beat steers clear of politics. And they are right, most of the time. But when the body politic begins trifling with our Second Amendment rights, should an outdoor writer just walk away? Tough to do because gun rights and taking a gun to the woods […]