There was a time, a decade or more ago, that Maine’s wildlife officials were making educated guesses about Maine’s estimated moose population, which was said to be between 20,000 and 30,000 animals. Wildlife planners did a pretty good job calculating our deer numbers using an assortment of timetested formulas and indices. Not so with moose. […]
outdoors
Posted inLocal Sports
Tales of a dedicated Maine warden — part II
Sometime in the 1980s, Warden John Ford’s dream job took a turn for the worst. Under the leadership of the then controversial Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Glenn Manual, Maine Game Wardens were ordered to work no more than a 40-hour week and to vastly curtail their mileage. “It got to a point where I just […]
advertisement
Posted inLocal Sports
Tales of a dedicated Maine warden, part I
John Ford’s Story: Part 1 Warden Sgt. Roger Wolverton gently suggested that Ford and Crabtree unstrap their gunbelts before going behind closed doors. “The bad guy shot the state police dog. I was in the bushes and suddenly I was facing a gun barrel. It wasn’t my first brush with death. My heart was pumping, […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Deer management study raises eyebrows, plenty of questions
The Fish and Wildlife Department recently released its official deer harvest report. Deer hunters in Maine harvested 22,490 deer last fall. This number is a far cry from the deer harvests in the past. It’s a slight improvement, however, and the Fish and Wildlife Department, understandably, made the best of a bad situation with a […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Good or bad, bass’ popularity grows in Maine
Bass vs. brookies. Which do you prefer? Why do anglers tend to gravitate toward one of the other? When I was a youngster, my Dad broke me in on small, alder-choked streams that gave up small trout when the worm passed them by. I loved it. Later, as a teen I spent many June hours […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Outdoors in Maine: Deer are big business
For more than 100 years Maine has been the deer hunter’s destination spot for those who want to hunt big deer in the North Woods. Although a decline in deer numbers in Maine, especially in the big woods, has resulted in fewer nonresident deer hunters flocking to the Pine Tree State, deer hunting by residents […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Outdoors in Maine: Amendment may not be ‘silver bullet,’ but it would be well worth it
The stark fact that the Humane Society of the United States has announced its intentions to make another run at banning bear hunting in Maine, as early as next year, ought to be triggering alarm bells, not just in rural Maine and urban Maine, but in the legislative halls in Augusta. Earlier this month, two […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Outdoors in Maine: The wild turkey outlook
When it comes to Maine sportsman and wild turkeys, there are two distinct groups: those who hunt ’em and those who hate ’em. Count me among the former. Having hunted them with a shotgun and a bow, it’s beyond me why anyone who loves to hunt is not enjoying this spring opportunity. There is a […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Outdoors in Maine: Escaping winter with stone crabs
In the Florida Keys, comfortably removed from one of the worst winters New England has known, there are plenty of diversions beyond watching the weather channel and enjoying the plentiful sun-drenched days, ocean breezes and soaring birds. My son-in-law, Jacques, and I have taken up stone crabbing. Stone crabs are a delicacy — an expensive […]
Posted inLocal Sports
No patience or respect for Humane Society’s tenacity
The following history is important because it defines our enemy. In 2004, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) tried to use Maine’s citizen referendum process as a mechanism to ban bear hunting. Maine citizens, in a statewide vote, rejected the ban. Then in 2014, in an act of incredible arrogance and breathtaking audacity, […]