It didn’t used to be, but in many parts of Maine now, deer ticks are a reality. It’s spring and time to think about the outdoors and proper protection against ticks. Maine had 1,171 cases of Lyme disease reported in 2015. May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month and time to consider a tick-prevention strategy. In […]
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Outdoors in Maine: PCCA tops among many conservation organizations
Organizations come in all sizes and a variety of names: Fish & Game Clubs, Rod & Gun Clubs, Sportman’s Associations, Angler’s Alliance, you name it. And they can be found all over New England, and the country for that matter, in little hamlets and even big cities. They have been around for years. They are […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Safety tips for hunting turkeys
In most Wildlife Management Districts (WMDs), spring turkey hunting in Maine begins a half hour before sunrise on May 2. There is a special Youth Day that is held April 30th. There is probably no better way to introduce a youngster to hunting than in the turkey woods. For adult or youngster, the primitive sound […]
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Have gun, will fix it: Gunsmith Morrison the real McCoy
It is easy to say that someone’s passing marks the end of an era. Truly, though, the passing last month of Bradford gunsmith, Bill Morrison, at age 94, without a doubt marks the closing chapter of his unique breed of craftsman. When it came to guns, repairing them, creating them, and appreciating them, Morrison was, […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Over-cooking can spoil great wild meat
Let me be blunt: When it comes to eating out, I am a cynical curmudgeon who prefers my own or my wife’s great cooking. Frequent patronizing of restaurants is my idea of an obligatory chore. My wife is convinced that my jaded view of restaurants is grounded in the fact that I am close with […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Moose lottery now open; fewer permits being issued
The application process for fall moose hunting permits has begun. Online applicants have until May 16th to apply for a moose permit. Mailed applications must be postmarked no later than April 1st. Possession of a current big game hunting license is not required to apply. Applicants only need to be eligible to obtain a big […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Tales of the spring turkey hunt
If you have never tried matching your wits with a spring gobbler you don’t know what you are missing. A typical hunt for longbeards goes something like this: Opening day of Maine’s turkey season. Shuffling out of the sack at 3:30 a.m., I eat a quick breakfast and drive to a spot I know. After […]
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Outdoors in Maine: New junior hunting law in effect
When it comes to junior hunters and hunting safety, I am old school. A former certified hunting safety instructor and father of two sons who were brought up with guns, my boys were indoctrinated early and often in all of the protocols of safe gun handling and safe hunting practices. (Each of them, at my […]
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When it comes to fishing, life is good in the Gulf
Here in the Florida Keys there are always fishing options, even when the wind churns up the sea or an unseasonal “cool down” keeps a lot of anglers at the docks. The other day my son-in-law Capt. Jacques Pauchey, along with three of his college buddies, my son Scotty and I, donned our windbreakers and […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Cout marginalizes IF&W’s law book
A number of years ago, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W) elected to join a national trend to consolidate and slick up its Plain-Jane hunting and fishing law book. With the help of a private publishing firm, the law book was dressed up in an attractive magazine format, complete with eye-catching graphics […]