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 […]
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Outdoors in Maine: The cost of search and rescue missions
Search and Rescue. Just the term itself rings with urgency. Finding lost persons in the woods of Maine is one of the key missions of the Maine Warden Service. Often overlooked, or taken for granted by the average citizen, search and rescue operations run the gamut, from locating a lost hunter or an overdue snowmobiler […]
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Outdoors in Maine: The dastardly spruce budworm returns
Unless you are in your forties, you probably have no recollection of Maine’s last spruce budworm infestation. The budworm, which can chew its way through acres and acres of coniferous forest and kill spruce and balsam fir, left its destructive mark on Maine’s softwood stands in the mid 1970s. I remember it well. By the […]
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A lot transpired when it comes to Maine’s outdoors this year
Before we bid farewell to another year, here is a selective review of outdoor highlights from 2015. A lot happened this year that will have an ongoing impact on most of us who hunt and fish and recreate in the Maine outdoors. On the political front, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) announced […]
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Grouse hunting study offers mixed-bag conclusion
Maine’s Ruffed Grouse, or pa’tridge, is a legendary and very popular game bird. A recent study by a survey firm hired by the state revealed that, next to deer hunting, licensed Maine hunters like grouse hunting best of all. How did this fall’s bird hunt go? Were the birds there in sufficient numbers to make […]