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 […]
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Getting the moose can be Herculean task
During the first few years of Maine’s October moose hunt, before the animals were as wary as they are today, it was common for a hunter to drop his big bull either on a logging road or close by. Not so today. Many of the clearcuts have grown up and the hunter’s visibility has declined […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Fall fishing options abound
With the Maine woods in full autumn bloom, there is no finer time to wet a line: no bugs, less water traffic, cooling waters and moving fish. Fall fishing options abound. But the regulations vary from water to water. Check your law book closely. Here are the waters that our regional fisheries biologists suggest you […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Autumn’s dance card
There is a mixed feeling, a sense of fleeting time along with great anticipation mingled with frustration. Fall fishing, bow hunting, bear hunt, moose hunt, upland birds, waterfowl, deer season — the list goes on. So much to do and so little time to do it! A blissful hereafter for me would be an endless […]
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Leading a pristine life at camp is out of the question
“Cleanliness is next to Godliness,” my mother so admonished me as a child. It did little good, however, as my wife Diane will attest. Even the U.S. Navy could never really changed me permanently. Oh, I went along with the spit-polished shoes and Brassoed buttons just to get through basic training, but not for the […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Save the St. Croix Fishery
You have to hand it to the Downeast Maine Guides and the Grand Lake Stream Guides Association. These folks keep on fighting even after they have been knocked down. What’s the fight about? The issue is the Federally mandated introduction of anadromous alewives into the St. Croix River watershed. For years, the Downeast guides and others […]