Posted inLocal Sports

Outdoors in Maine: Ethanol is hard on New England, and its people

A recent study revealed that New England’s use of ethanol gas is creating a major transfer of wealth to the corn-growing Midwest. The report showed that New England drivers during the past decade spent $5.6 billion needlessly in additional fuel costs due to ethanol-based gas. Additionally, it is doing nothing to help the environment, and […]

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Outdoors in Maine: The Mulie Story

In the small Northwestern Colorado town of Maybell, the morning came on with low-lying dark clouds, rain and fog. For cow elk hunters, including Diane and myself, the nasty weather was a welcome respite from a week of too much sun and too much heat, even up high in the magnificent Danforth Hills. After a […]

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Tale of two hermits a fascinating subject of debate

In re-reading “The Maine Woods” by Henry David Thoreau, I got to thinking about hermits. They fascinate me. Let’s face it .There is not a Maine outdoorsman worth his salt who hasn’t at least entertained a fantasy about pulling the societal plug and really getting off the grid. It’s one thing to lose yourself in […]

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Trouble on the mountain, but justice prevails

Editor’s note: The author is somewhere in the mountains of Western Colorado far from computers and the Internet. This week’s column is an excerpted chapter from his book “Backtrack.” Adam Moore guided his quarter horse down the narrow, rocky trail. It was almost lunch time. A soft October breeze stirred the golden aspen leaves. Beyond […]

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Democracy in action will leave many hunters snickering

A sage once offered this definition of democracy: “Democracy is like a raft. It never sinks, but damn it, your feet are always in the water.” This cynical tidbit comes to mind if you sift through all of the proposed Maine legislative bills that wound up in the ONTP trash bag. (ONTP is an Augusta […]

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Outdoors in Maine: Grouse hunting days are upon us

Ahhh, October. Frosty mornings and flaming foliage. Grouse days are upon us. In Maine, next to whitetail deer, there is no other game species that draws as much attention in autumn from hunters, residents and nonresidents alike. Deservedly. Can you think of any other game bird that so challenges a gun dog and a shooter? […]

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Keeping an eye on Maine’s deer population in winter

One of the more important jobs performed by Maine’s deer research leader, Kyle Ravanna, in concert with state regional wildlife biologists, is the annual estimate of winter deer losses. Deer mortality may take place at the wintering deer yards and elsewhere in early spring as undernourished whitetails disburse in search of new forage. If the […]

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Outdoors in Maine: Bear hunting nostalgia

The Maine bear hunt is on! Unless you are an agitator with the Humane Society of the United States, this is a good story, a good hunt, and a good time of year. The weather in early September is splendid. Excited hunters come from all corners of the country to harvest a Maine black bear. […]

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Hunter set their sights on Maine’s game birds

A 2013 survey conducted in behalf of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife by a highly reputable polling organization sheds light on who does what in Maine when it comes to recreational hunting. Details of this survey are available to anyone on DIF&W’s official website, www.mefishwildlife.com. For starters, the survey indicates that in […]