There was a day when any old gravel pit would do as a makeshift shooting range. Not so anymore. Today, most of those gravel pits are posted and gated off. These pit owners are concerned about somebody, an ATVer or recreational shooter, getting hurt and hiring an attorney to recover damages. For the recreational shooter […]
outdoors
Keeping a close eye on Maine’s moose population
With the word spreading about declining moose populations in Montana and Minnesota – and closer to home in New Hampshire — Mainers have begun expressing their concerns about the health of our statewide moose population. In Minnesota the state moose population reportedly has been dropping at an alarming rate — 25 percent per year! Moose […]
CC’s Outdoor Journal; Sledding is family fun
As much as many people dislike winter and shiver at the sound of snow, ice, and cold, me and my family are the ones who are shivering with excitement to embrace the fun that can be had. What a great start to the new year with so much snow and a bit of an ice […]
When it comes to survival, deer are good listeners
If there is a wild animal more fascinating than a whitetail deer, I don’t know what it is. Should I decide to stop hunting them, I shall continue to feel this way. Certainly the act of hunting deer year after year for most of my adult life has helped generate this fascination and appreciation for […]
CC’s Outdoor Journal: Fishing in the new year
Living in Maine, many of us have been fortunate enough to have found our common bond with our favorite season. For anglers across the state, January 1 marks opening day for ice fishing. While some die hards were scoping out those bodies of water open for fishing before the new year, the majority of fishermen […]
Backtracking and taking a hard look back at 2013
The New Year is almost always a welcome event, even if we are all a year older. The slate is clean. As we look ahead it’s a lot like a field of virgin snow. As we move on, the tracks we leave will take us to unseen ground. This is especially sweet for outdoor people […]
When stepping onto ice, watch your step
Each year about this time, the Maine Warden Service urges us to use extreme caution before venturing out onto any ice that may be covering Maine’s waterways. This is timely advice. Last winter three night-time snowsledders all perished in one night on Rangeley Lake when they and their machines broke through thin ice. Many of […]
Hunting for the right Christmas gift for an outdoorsman
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 example, my motherinlaw always had an uncanny […]
Outdoors in Maine: Spruce’s redemption buck
For whatever reason I still don’t understand, there are – I’m convinced – certain individual deer hunters who simply see more deer than the average Joe. For the sake of a better name, let’s call this natural phenomenon the Reynolds Rule. If you are a deer hunter who hunts from a deer camp, or with […]
Outdoors in Maine: The Karen Wood story
When I was a newspaperman, there was a cynical quip that made the round of newsrooms. It was used by some editors when a neophyte reporter messed up a story badly. It went something like this: “Well, at least he didn’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.” It was intended […]