Ski coach Tom Reynolds instructs a group of skiers. When Tom Reynolds is inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, somebody should also hand him an award for his humility, kindness and devotion to the students and athletes he has taught and coached for several decades. But Reynolds is just fine with being a […]
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Posted inLocal Sports
Outdoors in Maine: Protecting the deer yards
Deer yards, or deer wintering areas, are a critical component of deer survival in Maine. Nearly 15 years ago, in an article about the status of Maine’s deer yards, I wrote this: As state biologists prepare Maine’s next 15-year plan for deer management, which is due to be approved early this year, deer wintering habitat […]
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Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web, Uncategorized
Outdoors in Maine: Fishing for mackerel with Capt'n Neat
My tackle box is a neat person’s nightmare. It is a tangle of treble hooks, rusted lures and rat’s nests of used monofilament. My wife says that my tackle box is disgusting. Each year about this time, at least three of our fishing writers for the Northwoods Sporting Journal write an article about how important […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: New tick removal system
It may seem early to be discussing ticks. After all, what self-respecting parasite would be caught flitting about amid ice-covered fields and sub-zero temperatures, right? But the tick season in Maine will be here before you know it. And, ticks, and the Lyme disease that they can cause, is becoming an ever-increasing welfare concern for […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: Wildlife Restoration Projects: Part II
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Maine has tried twice unsuccessfully, once in 1963 and again in 1986-1990, to reintroduce caribou to our North Woods. Does this adage apply? Did Maine give up too easily on its effort to establish a caribou population? Sometimes persistence can make dreams come true. As reported […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
On Skiing: Reynolds will always be 'Coach,' and not just at UMF
Among my favorite ski days over the years have been the days when I’ve met with Tom Reynolds to spend a day on the slopes. I had planned on such a day this season but when I called to suggest we get together, I learned that Tom had retired from not just ski teaching and […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
Outdoors in Maine: Wildlife restoration projects: Part 1
When it comes to the restoration or reintroduction of wild species into areas where they once existed — before man over-harvested them or put up a parking lot in their habitat — the well-intentioned projects have borne mixed results. Massachusetts, I have been told, is looking to reintroduce Timber rattlesnakes to the Quabbin Reservoir, which […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Outdoors in Maine: Crossbow rules can be confusing
Although crossbows have never held a lot of appeal for me, I have hunted with a borrowed crossbow in the deer-rich state of Maryland. For me it just seems awkward to carry while still hunting, and it doesn’t have the visual appeal of conventional longbows, recurves or compound bows. As a hunting device it is […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Outdoors in Maine: ‘Threaded Journeys’ well worth the read
“Threaded Journeys” by Tom Johnson is not a conventional collection of hunting and fishing stories. In it, the author does take you on a tour de force of well-known hunting and fishing places in North America, but he spices his book thoughtfully with constructive social, political and economic advocacy. Lest this sounds like an awkward […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Outdoors in Maine: Gift ideas for sportsmen
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 mother-in-law always had an uncanny […]