The Miami Boat Show — if you will excuse the use of a popular grammatical corruption — is ginormous! It is a showplace for everything that is technologically on the cutting edge, not only for big expensive boats and outboards, but also for nautical devices and related gizmos. For those of us who grew up […]
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There are many factors when calculating moose harvests
Recently, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W) released a summary of last fall’s moose harvest. Of the 3,025 hunting applicants who were issued a moose tag, almost a third — 2,022 — brought home a moose. If you crunch the numbers, 65 percent of last fall’s moose hunters were successful. This is […]
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Outdoors in Maine: The plight of the panther
A common mistake we make when dealing with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is to judge its decision-making by normative standards. That is to say, we should have learned by now not to expect much of what USFWS does to make much sense. This large bureaucratic organization is, after all, part of the […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Elusive brown trout still fascinate devout fishermen
If splake are viewed by Maine sportsmen as the Rodney Dangerfield of Maine’s sport fishery, then brown trout might be deemed the Willie Loman of the Maine sport fish family. (Liked, but not well liked). Not in my mind, though. Brown trout have always held a fascination for me, even though I have not caught […]
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Salivating bear meat recipe for you
What does bear meat taste like? If you Google the question, you’ll get a variety of answers. “It can be gamey and greasy.” “Hard to describe.” “It tastes a little like beef and a little like pork.” Over the years, I’ve tried just about every wild critter Maine has to offer. Only two turned me […]
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Incidental take permit on lynx not needed
With respect to Maine’s federally protected Canada lynx, there is suddenly good news and bad news. The good news is — or was — that the feds finally, after 6 years of outlandish dithering, recently granted the state an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) on lynx. Basically, the ITP is a binding agreement between the state […]
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Outdoors in Maine: The lead ammo debate
In fashionable circles, including segments of the sportsman community, the debate about banning lead ammunition altogether is picking up a good head of steam. An article recently in the Northwoods Sporting Journal by Mark McCollough addressed the lead ammunition issue. McCollough, who is a federal wildlife biologist as well as a hunter, wrote: “I am […]
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Outdoors in Maine: Be wary of the ice early in the season
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 snow sledders all perished in one night on Rangeley Lake when they and their machines broke through thin ice. […]
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Checking your backtrack just as important to us bipods
The New Year is almost always a welcomed event. 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 who have an affinity for exploration, for finding […]
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Without the three ‘Ps’, good luck bagging a deer
The more I hunt deer the more I understand one thing: Most of the time in the deer woods, a hunter who practices the three “Ps” will, over the years, bag the most deer. Patience, perseverance and persistence, these makeup the deer hunter’s critical triad. Without these, any successes that you have will be mostly […]