In fashionable circles, including segments of the sportsman community, the debate about banning lead ammunition altogether is picking up a good head of steam. An article recently in the Northwoods Sporting Journal by Mark McCollough addressed the lead ammunition issue. McCollough, who is a federal wildlife biologist as well as a hunter, wrote: “I am […]
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Checking your backtrack just as important to us bipods
The New Year is almost always a welcomed event. The slate is clean. As we look ahead, it’s a lot like a field of virgin snow. As we move on, the tracks we leave will take us to unseen ground. This is especially sweet for outdoor people who have an affinity for exploration, for finding […]
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Without the three ‘Ps’, good luck bagging a deer
The more I hunt deer the more I understand one thing: Most of the time in the deer woods, a hunter who practices the three “Ps” will, over the years, bag the most deer. Patience, perseverance and persistence, these makeup the deer hunter’s critical triad. Without these, any successes that you have will be mostly […]
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‘Tis the season for shopping for the outdoorsmen
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 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 knack […]
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Taking the offensive to protect hunters’ rights
Now that we have been successful for the second time in defeating the bear referendum, we can go about our business. Our opposition, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), has gotten the message and will move on to more fertile soil. Right? Wrong on both counts. We cannot afford to let down our […]
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Outdoors in Maine: A hunt turns into a lesson in futility
You would think that I would learn after a while. Big game can be hit hard with a high velocity bullet and leave no trace. When my wife Diane shot a cow moose a decade or more ago with a .35 Remington, the animal disappeared into a fir thicket. There was no indication on the […]
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Outdoors in Maine: The aftermath of the bear hunting referendum
Well, we can heave a sigh of relief. Maine bear hunting, as we know it, survived Round Two of another well-funded and well-organized assault from the antihunting factions of this country. Who is “we”? Bear guides and outfitters? Yes, they make up part of the “we.” But there is more to it. Much more. Although […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Dealing with wounded deer
Most deer hunters will sooner or later in their hunting careers wound a deer and not recover it. It happens. The causes differ. A rushed shot. Buck fever. A gun with an inadequate caliber. A bullet’s impact or trajectory compromised by a tree limb. Often, particularly with inexperienced hunters, shots at a deer are taken […]
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Presenting a logical argument against the Bear referendum
For months now, outdoor writers and sportsmen organizations have penned a lot of compelling arguments against the bear referendum. It has been said that these efforts being made in a sporting publication or on the outdoor page of a newspaper are akin to “preaching to the choir.” That may be so. As one of those […]
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Urban bow hunting offers many challenges
Before I took up the bow, deer hunting was quite conventional. You layered up with long johns and wool clothing, grabbed the .30-30, some shells, a compass and then you spent a quiet — usually uneventful — day in the solitude of Maine’s woods. Now, long before November, I hunt deer in September during the […]