The testing procedure to become a registered Maine guide just got a little tougher. The Maine Fish and Wildlife Department ( DIF&W), recently announced that successful guide applicants will now face a new testing component: a test of hands on skills. Previously, a guide applicant had to pass a written exam and an oral exam overseen by a guide’s board.

The so-called “skills component” will require applicants to demonstrate that they, indeed, have the practical knowledge in their chosen category, whether it be hunting, fishing, kayaking or whatever.

In the outdoor community, nationwide, Maine guides have always evoked a legendary image. The Maine guide’s story officially began in 1897, when the state legislature required that all guides be licensed with the state before taking money for services rendered. That first year, close to 1,500 guides became licensed. Back then, a prospective guide was simply required to pass muster with his local game warden, and presto, he was a registered Maine guide. ( In fact, in those days most of the wardens got their badges almost as easily).

But times change. A few years back, I wrote a story about the history of Maine guides and there were about 2,000 licensed guides. Today, there are 5,000 of us who wear the patch of the registered Maine guide.

According to Mary Ann Foye at DIF&W, there is an unprecedented parade of applicants for the Maine guide licenses. The large spike in applications may partly explain why the Department has elected to make the examination gauntlet a little more formidable. What is not speculative is human nature: some applicants may have no plans to guide for pay. They just want the personal satisfaction of sporting a guide’s patch on their jacket or hunting shirt.

Former guide examiner Gil Gilpatrick once told me, “We, as examiners, know very well that some of the candidates we pass have little actual in-the-woods experience, but if they have the answers then we have no choice but to pass them.”

Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Chandler Woodcock’s press statement seems to imply a concern in this area. He said, “This process is being implemented to ensure that we continue to license only the most qualified and experienced individuals.” This begs the question: Are some folks successfully negotiating the examination process who are not as woods savvy or qualified as they should be?

Perhaps.

Gilpatrick, a highly experienced and venerated Maine guide, told me recently that he thinks the idea to add a skills component to the guide’s test is a good idea. Gary Corson, a well-known fishing guide and member of the Guide’s Advisory Board, shares Gilpatrick’s sentiments.

What type of practical skills will the prospective Maine Guide be required to demonstrate to the examiners? Of course, it will depend upon which guide category is being applied for. I asked Foye for a couple of examples in the hunting category.

“An applicant for the hunting guide’s license might be asked to prepare an outdoor fire that would survive a rainy night in the woods,” Foye said. “Or perhaps to demonstrate the safe use of a tree stand.”

On balance, adding a skills component to the guide’s test, if fairly applied, can only serve to help maintain the positive image and professional reputation of the registered Maine guide.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM 101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected] . He has two books “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook” and his latest, “Backtrack.” Online information is available at www.maineoutdoorpublications.com or by calling Diane at 207 745 0049.