When it comes to junior hunters and hunting safety, I am old school. A former certified hunting safety instructor and father of two sons who were brought up with guns, my boys were indoctrinated early and often in all of the protocols of safe gun handling and safe hunting practices. (Each of them, at my […]
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When it comes to fishing, life is good in the Gulf
Here in the Florida Keys there are always fishing options, even when the wind churns up the sea or an unseasonal “cool down” keeps a lot of anglers at the docks. The other day my son-in-law Capt. Jacques Pauchey, along with three of his college buddies, my son Scotty and I, donned our windbreakers and […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Cout marginalizes IF&W’s law book
A number of years ago, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W) elected to join a national trend to consolidate and slick up its Plain-Jane hunting and fishing law book. With the help of a private publishing firm, the law book was dressed up in an attractive magazine format, complete with eye-catching graphics […]
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Outdoors in Maine: The cost of search and rescue missions
Search and Rescue. Just the term itself rings with urgency. Finding lost persons in the woods of Maine is one of the key missions of the Maine Warden Service. Often overlooked, or taken for granted by the average citizen, search and rescue operations run the gamut, from locating a lost hunter or an overdue snowmobiler […]
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Outdoors in Maine: The dastardly spruce budworm returns
Unless you are in your forties, you probably have no recollection of Maine’s last spruce budworm infestation. The budworm, which can chew its way through acres and acres of coniferous forest and kill spruce and balsam fir, left its destructive mark on Maine’s softwood stands in the mid 1970s. I remember it well. By the […]
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A lot transpired when it comes to Maine’s outdoors this year
Before we bid farewell to another year, here is a selective review of outdoor highlights from 2015. A lot happened this year that will have an ongoing impact on most of us who hunt and fish and recreate in the Maine outdoors. On the political front, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) announced […]
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Grouse hunting study offers mixed-bag conclusion
Maine’s Ruffed Grouse, or pa’tridge, is a legendary and very popular game bird. A recent study by a survey firm hired by the state revealed that, next to deer hunting, licensed Maine hunters like grouse hunting best of all. How did this fall’s bird hunt go? Were the birds there in sufficient numbers to make […]
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Gifts that come in handy for 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 to an outdoorsman is a tool or device that he might not either think to buy for himself or feel comfortable buying. For that favorite sportsman or sportswoman on your […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Reflecting on Thanksgiving
For family reasons, my deer hunt had to end earlier than usual. An incorrigible deer hunter, my quest for a Maine whitetail generally drags on until the last gun is fired: a clear-the-barrel shot from a .45 caliber muzzle-loader on the last day of the black powder season in December. No matter. My deer hunt […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Protect our right to hunt and fish
Recently, in a sweeping, breathtakingly cavalier — if not bizarre — editorial, the Bangor Daily News called for the Maine State Legislature to “eliminate once and for all” the practice of trapping bears or hunting them with hounds. Apparently, the newspaper was moved to take its bold position by an announcement made this fall by […]