Although crossbows have never held a lot of appeal for me, I have hunted with a borrowed crossbow in the deer-rich state of Maryland. For me it just seems awkward to carry while still hunting, and it doesn’t have the visual appeal of conventional longbows, recurves or compound bows. As a hunting device it is […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Caution is the key to staying safe on ice
Each year about this time, the Maine Warden Service urges us to use extreme caution before venturing out onto any ice that may be covering Maine’s waterways. This is timely advice. On Jan. 7, Richard Dumont, 52, of North Attleboro, Massachusetts, died when his snowsled went through the ice on Messalonskee Lake. A few years […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Dedication pays off with a rare easy buck
On average, the Reynolds family freezer winds up with some venison about every other year. The math has been surprisingly consistent over the past 50 years. Having been skunked in 2015, this past fall was to be the year to get out the Food Saver and the meat grinder. But it didn’t get off to […]
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Outdoors in Maine: ‘Threaded Journeys’ well worth the read
“Threaded Journeys” by Tom Johnson is not a conventional collection of hunting and fishing stories. In it, the author does take you on a tour de force of well-known hunting and fishing places in North America, but he spices his book thoughtfully with constructive social, political and economic advocacy. Lest this sounds like an awkward […]
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Outdoors in Maine: The future of wildlife management is in good hands
Every year at about this time, at all of New England’s land grant colleges, a few members of the New England Outdoor Writer’s Association (NEOWA) visit the wildlife departments of these respective colleges with a mission: to award scholarships. These scholarships are substantial. At each college, one scholarship is awarded to an outstanding wildlife ecology […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Young deer hunters need nurturing
At deer camp, when we are not out in the woods hunting deer, we are often inside the camp talking about deer hunting. One of the topics this time around at deer camp was the increasing visibility of youthful deer hunters, in this publication and in other daily and weekly newspapers. It used to be […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Gift ideas for sportsmen
Sportsmen 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 mother-in-law always had an uncanny […]
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Outdoors in Maine: The foliage theory
Honestly now, do you ever remember a more magnificent Maine autumn? October is always a special time in Maine, but wasn’t there something extraordinary, this time around, about the oranges of the tamaracks, the crimsons of the swamp maples and the yellows of the poplars? Or was it merely that my gray hairs have heightened […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Big buck hunters share common threads
There are deer hunters and, then, there are buck hunters. Which are you? Of course, you say, we are all buck hunters, one way or another. Any Maine deer hunter who does not have a doe tag is a buck hunter, right? True, but there are a few stalwart deer hunters in Maine who — […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Boucher boats among the best around
If you look closely, especially in the garages, barns and back workshops of Maine people, you will discover people making things with their hands, talented, creative people with the gift of true craftsmanship. Pete Boucher from Hampden is one of those people. He makes boats, drift boats for serious fishermen who want a stable craft […]