Banff, that fabled alpine village in the midsection of the Canadian Rockies, has been on my wife Diane’s bucket list for many years. Flying to Salt Lake City, we rented a car and drove to Butte and Great Falls, Montana, on up to Calgary, Alberta, and then West into Banff National Park. This was not […]
outdoors in maine
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: The legend of unsung hero 'Uncle Tim'
Uncle Tim Pollard was a game warden’s game warden. At least that’s the impression you’ll get if you read a tattered, faded clipping of an article from the Maine Sunday Telegram circa 1926. At that time he was the longest-serving game warden in Maine history. A Dover-Foxcroft native, Pollard, or more precisely, Game Warden Captain […]
advertisement
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: Seeds of recovery in Milo
Milo, like so many small, rural Maine towns, was once a robust, economically thriving community. Rewind back to the 1950s and even the late 1960s. The town of three rivers boasted three car dealerships, big churches, clothing, furniture and drug stores, many restaurants, movie theatre, regal homes, hardware and sporting goods stores, supermarkets, a hospital, […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: A boon in bear hunting is needed
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 […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: Book tells stories of legendary bush pilot
Maine’s rich and colorful outdoor heritage has over the years produced a parade of prominent and not-so-prominent personalities, all who 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 in the Army Air Force […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: Bogs demand hunters' utmost respect
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 grey, weathered deadfall. There is a dusting of snow underfoot. The […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: Section of Penobscot River is one of the best whitewater trips in state
A long-lost former 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 […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: Trying to get a handle on state's moose population
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 dollar question is: How are moose ticks impacting our moose population? In 2010, about the time that wildlife biologist […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: Pact aims to boost Atlantic salmon numbers
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 […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: The debate is still out on alewife runs
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 seen […]