AUGUSTA — A government agency says hunters in Maine bagged 15 percent more deer in 2013 over the previous year. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said Friday that 24,795 deer killed by hunters in 2013 was an increase over 21,552 in 2012. It’s the third consecutive year there’s been an increase. The […]
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Outdoors: Story of a shell game played to excess
When it comes to the surreal realm of American gun control politics, the adage “truth is stranger than fiction” really applies. Just when you think that you’ve heard it all, something even more utterly outrageous pops into the news headlines. In the nation’s capital, (which has for a long time been the epicenter of the […]
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A women’s place is outside and in the woods, too
When my wife Diane retired from teaching in 1999 and asked me to “bring her along” as a Maine deer hunter, I, and our two deer hunting sons, thought that was great! She took to it easily, and has become a capable hunter who has put meat on the table many times. Although Diane’s late-in-life […]
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Saying goodbye and welcoming a bill with common sense
Time and tide have taken another outdoorsman from our midst. I first met Bill Irwin in his book “Blind Courage,” which chronicled an amazing God-inspired feat. Bill, blind since young adulthood, walked the entire Appalachian Trail (AT) from Georgia to Maine. Most of us could not endure that arduous trek even with the benefit of […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Gulf offers grouper galore
You gotta love the Florida Keys, especially if you are a fisherman and have a boat or know somebody who has a boat and likes company. You have your choice of waters. The blue water of the Atlantic on the east side of the Keys peninsula or the green water of the Gulf on the […]
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Bad bow hunting law bagged before harm done
Back in September, under the headline “Sneaky New Law,” I wrote this: If you are a Maine bowhunter or recreational archer, fasten your seat belt! You are not gonna believe this. Among the assortment of new sportsmen-related state laws that got squeezed through under the public radar was LD 540, which, I predict, is destined […]
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Is freedom just another word for nothin’ left to lose?
Freedom. It’s a simple but powerful word in our national vocabulary. For reasons unknown to me, the word has been on my mind of late. Last week, while fishing the Back Country of the Florida Keys, my son-in-law unhooked a small shark from Diane’s fishing line. Heaving the toothy critter into the air off the […]
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The lion in winter
Maine’s tallest mountain attracts hikers even at the height of our coldest season Imagine yourself waking before dawn in a strange frozen landscape and squirming out of your sleeping bag under an open-air lean-to to greet sub-zero temperatures and biting wind. Bundling up in several layers of your warmest clothes, and taking extra care not […]
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Outfitting hunting camps with special lottery draw good idea
Maine moose are worth money. Lots of money. If you combine the revenues from the moose hunt, along with the tourism income from moose viewing, you are talking literally millions of dollars for this state. It is income that is spread out among outfitters, meat cutters, hunting lodges, guides, rural stores, gas stations, and many, […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Antler restrictions merit further discussion
More and more Maine deer hunters I speak with are asking the question: Why not impose antler restrictions as part of Maine’s fall deer hunting regulations? The belief is that if we restrict the antler size on a legal deer we will in time be bagging more trophy class bucks with bigger racks. Other states […]