The Maine Sportsman January 2025 Digital Edition

Snowmobile & Ice -Fishing Time!

Sportsman The Maine

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For Over 50 Years!

Ice Fishing for Musky P. 37 Rangeley – Riding at Its Best P. 25

Lost Hound P. 33 Could You Survive a Night in the Woods?

P. 54

Youth Hunters P. 57, 60, 64

2 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

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Allagash Headwaters Lodge Maine’s newest lodge is located in the headwaters area of the legendary Allagash Lakes Region. Within ten miles driving by vehicle or groomed snowmobile trail to Chamberlain, Big Eagle, Round Pond and Telos Lakes. Located in Twp 7 Range 11, mile 62 on the Telos Road.

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ter- and ice-fishermen, with a trail system maintained by Allagash Headwaters Snowmobile club. Your gateway to the legendary Ghost Trains of the Allagash.

2025 will offer guided and outfitted Allagash canoe trips.

Big game hunts for Allagash bear, moose and whitetails in WMD 4 and 5.

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Wilsons on Moosehead Lake

Adventures abound at Wilsons on Moosehead – every season, all year long.

Scott and Alison Snell recall, “It started over 20 years ago with a dream and two young children (soon to be three). It turned into hard work, uncertainty, determination and incredible relationships with so many new and repeat guests we now consider family. In 2017, we were fortunate to be able to purchase Wilsons on Moosehead – a dream come true!”

Visitors to the Greenville/Moosehead region enjoy hunting, fishing, and four-season recreation at Wilsons. Wilsons cabins range from one to five bedrooms, all with full kitchens and bathrooms, and a screened-in porch (lakeside) to enjoy the views of beautiful Moosehead Lake and the surrounding mountains.

Several cabins are equipped with a fireplace to warm up and relax after a day on the trails or other winter adventure!

Winter Sports – Snowmobiling, Ice fishing, Snowshoeing and More!

Wilsons is conveniently located between Greenville and Rockwood, Maine where you can find numerous outdoor activities! Winter at Wilsons on Moosehead offers ice fishing on over 1,000 feet of lake frontage. A protected cove makes ice early, so plan your trip to ice fish January

1st, to kick off opening day. Plenty of action, with a beautiful setting to boot!

Snowmobile the hundreds of miles of beautifully groomed trails – right from your cabin door. Snowmobiling is a favorite of many of the guests, with ITS trails right at the end of the driveway connecting to hundreds of miles of groomed trails, including the famous “Moosehead Trail.”

Guests at Wilsons enjoy many private scenic trails to enjoy winter hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. You might even see some wildlife!

Downhill skiing and snowboarding are available at nearby Squaw Mountain Ski Resort, located just six miles down the road, with all rentals readily available in the area.

The dam at the East Outlet on Moosehead Lake creates a river flowage

leading to Indian Pond – the headwaters of the Kennebec River. Well-informed anglers know the East Outlet as one of the finest brook trout and landlocked salmon fisheries in New England. Wilsons on Moosehead is situated at this “salmonid epicenter”!

Spring/Summer at Wilsons on Moosehead Lake Wake up at one of your own personal cabins, grab your fly rod, and walk down to the East Outlet dam to fish the turbulent headwaters. Or experience the ultimate fly-fishing adventure and book a drift boat trip with Scott, a Master Maine Guide. He will show you the tactics and techniques to help you catch the fish of your dreams.

Fall offers hunting and fishing “cast ’n’ blast” at Wilsons on Moosehead. Flyfish the world famous East Outlet of the Kennebec River, and end the day on a guided upland bird hunting adventure!

Their guests agree – vacationing at Wilsons on Moosehead is a spectacular adventure. Hosts: Alison & Scott Snell, Master Maine Guide. For reservations or more information: info@wilsonsonmooseheadlake.com 207-695-2549 or go to wilsonsonmooseheadlake.com.

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www.MaineSportsman.com

4 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Editorial

Lessons Learned During Muzzleloader Season The quiet and relative solitude of a snowy muzzleloader season in northwestern Maine provided a chance to reflect on how hunting lessons also apply to life.

1) One chance. Like many opportunities in life, muzzle-loading hunting usually offers one chance to perform, so you need to be ready.

2) Don’t be a slave to your compass. While it’s important to have a general idea where you are, both in the woods and in life, it’s also important to allow yourself to be guided by instinct.

3) Trust your instruments. As an airplane pilot will tell you, it’s imperative to have faith in your instruments. They have no reason to lie.

4) Don’t always trust your instruments. Mid-morning of our first day in the woods, we realized that our trusty lapel compasses would show “north” to be whatever direction we pointed the stainless steel muzzles of our rifles. Apparently there’s sufficient ferrous mass in the barrels to overpower our small compasses. So trust, but verify.

5) Gear need not be expensive or complicated. Examples include low-cost, single-use disposable hand-warmers – scientific marvels that can be life-savers. (Learn more about hand-warmers on pages 14–15.)

6) Celebrate the accomplishments of others. Our editor was participating in a sit-down meeting in Augusta when he received a two-word text message from The Maine Sportsman’s office manager, who is also the editor’s sister: “Got one.” Excusing himself from the meeting, and while still wearing his button-down shirt, he assisted in hauling a fat fork-horn uphill to the road in a Jet-sled.

7) Self-insured. In the woods, it’s likely that no one knows exactly where you are at all times, cell coverage is spotty, and even satellite communications rely on batteries that don’t do well in extreme cold.

So bring an extra knife, a lighter, a compact poncho, water, dry socks and a length of line.

8) Getting out there. To quote Wayne Gretsky, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Whitetail deer are crepuscular (active at daybreak and dusk), and that trait is more pronounced toward the end of a season of hunting, and with the rut winding down. Daybreak and dusk are easily missed by hunters who burn the midnight oil at camp.

9) Change is inevitable. Sadly, in the case of hunting areas, change often takes the form of “For Sale” signs, followed by postings and gates. It’s a great reminder to support the state’s purchase of Wildlife Management Areas, on which the right to hunt is preserved.

10) Tradition is important. Take photos, write in the camp log book, and share (and re-share) stories with friends and family. History and tradition are often a hunting camp’s most valuable assets – on the balance sheet, they are identified as “goodwill.”

¶

On the Cover: To quote the good folks at Libby Camps: “Now there’s a classic sunset!” Thanks to the Goulets for the photograph.

www.MaineSportsman.com

New England’s Largest Outdoor Publication

Sportsman The Maine

ISSN 0199-036 — Issue No. 626 • www.mainesportsman.com PUBLISHER: Jon Lund MANAGING EDITOR: Will Lund will@mainesportsman.com OFFICE MANAGER: Carol Lund carol@mainesportsman.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Kristina Roderick kristina@mainesportsman.com ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Nancy Carpenter nancy@mainesportsman.com DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR: Jon Mulherin distribution@mainesportsman.com Second class postage paid at Scarborough, ME 04074 and additional entry offices.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Almanac by Will Lund.................................................... 13 Aroostook - “The County” by Bill Graves..................... 30 Big Game Hunting by Joe Saltalamachia.................. 42 Big Woods World by Joe Kruse..................................... 39 Editorial.............................................................................. 4 Freshwater Fly Fishing by xxx......................................... 51 Jackman Region by William Sheldon.......................... 46 Jottings by Jon Lund........................................................ 8 Katahdin Country by William Sheldon......................... 36 Letters to the Editor.......................................................... 6 Maine Sportswoman by Christi Elliott........................... 37 Maine Wildlife by Tom Seymour................................... 18 Midcoast by Tom Seymour...............................................

Moosehead Region by Tom Seymour......................... 48 New Hampshire by Ethan Emerson.............................. 65 Outdoors & Other Mistakes by Al Diamon.................. 69 Petzal Logic by David Petzal........................................ 61 Quotable Sportsman by Will Lund................................ 17 Rangeley Region by William Clunie............................. 58 Ranger on the Allagash by Tim Caverly...................... 35 Riding Shotgun by Robert Summers............................. 68 Saltwater Fishing by Bob Humphrey............................ 56 Sebago to Auburn Region by Tom Roth..................... 53 Self-Propelled Sportsman by Jim Andrews.................. 34 Shooter’s Bench by Col. J.C. Allard............................. 44 Smilin’ Sportsman by Will Lund...................................... 68 Snapshots in Time by Bill Pierce.................................... 12 Southern Maine by Val Marquez................................. 54 Sportsman’s Journal by King Montgomery................. 10 Tidewater Tales by Randy Randall............................... 55 Trapping The Silent Places by David Miller.................. 62 Trading Post (Classifieds)............................................... 70 Trout Fishing by Tom Seymour....................................... 50 Vermont by Matt Breton............................................... 41 Western Maine Mountains by William Clunie.............. 63

GUEST COLUMNS & SPECIAL SECTIONS GUEST: Chasing Hounds by Jim Fahey........................ 33 ICE FISHING: Ice Fishing with a Friend by Nolan Raymond......... 19 Ice Fishing for Crappie by Bob Humphrey............. 23 SNOWMOBILING: Rangeley Riding by Steve Carpenteri..................... 25 Why Join a Snowmobile Club? by Staci Warren.... 28

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6 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Letters To The Editor

Need to Get Another Hat

To the Editor: Last year, I gave my brother Jeff, who lives on the West Coast, a subscription to The Maine Sportsman. We had often hunted deer and pheasants when we lived in Western New York years ago. Jeff often mentions the Sportsman’s articles and columns when he calls me from California.

Soon after I told him of my success in drawing a Maine moose tag, he gifted me with an orange hat from Foggy Mountain Hat Company, one of your long-time advertisers. Jeff said the salesman told him, “The hunter who wears the orange flapper or crusher model is guaranteed to get a moose.”

I questioned my brother, as he loves to flirt with the truth.

On opening day of the hunt, I gave my sub-permittee, my son Conrad, the orange hat. Soon after sunrise, our guide – Pete Stratton of Rockwood – spotted a good bull. Conrad ended the hunt with a 140-yard shot from his .308.

www.MaineSportsman.com

Conrad, wearing his lucky blaze-orange Foggy Mountain crusher hat, and his dad Joe, celebrate their opening-day success.

The accompanying photo clearly shows my son wearing the orange Foggy Mountain hat. My only question is this: Does Foggy Mountain have a hat for deer? I want to get ready for the 2025 whitetail season.

Joe Weiss, Ph.D., Clarence NY —

Mossberg Cost $35 – a Week’s Wages To the Editor: I enjoyed Val Marquez’s “Southern Maine” column on the Mossberg Model

185 bolt-action shotgun (see “The One Gun that’s Perfect for All Hunting in Maine,” December 2024 issue).

He’s right – that is the one gun that could pretty much do it all.

The article brought back memories, since my very first gun was a Mossberg Model 183K,a bolt action .410 with an integral 3-round magazine, and the newly-introduced C-lect choke.

My father paid $35 for it, and back then, that was a week’s wages.

I still have that Mossberg, as well as several of the manufacturer’s pump actions. They make fine, servicable firearms.

Wayne Denler, Danbury, CT —

Getting the Lead Out To the Editor: I just finished reading Staci Warren’s excellent article on lead-free ammo in the December issue of The Maine Sportsman (see “Making the Switch,” page 59). I’ve been using lead-free ammo for a few decades now, starting with lead-free shot for waterfowl hunting in response to the ban on lead shot, and denser-than-lead tungsten shot for turkey hunting and the more effective patterns I am able to obtain.

(Continued on next page)

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With my big game rifle, I hunt only with copper monolithic bullets.

The toxicity of lead is my main concern there. I’d seen the x-ray images of lead fragments scattered throughout a deer carcass, and didn’t want to be responsible for my family, or scavengers, ingesting that.

I started with the Barnes 130 grain TTSX for my .308, and was immediately impressed with how accurate they were – it proved more accurate than lead core ammo.

A few years back, I started reloading for the rifle. I’ve since switched to copper bullets from Hammer Bullets, a small but very innovative company in Montana.

I’ve been pleased with the performance of their bullets on game.

Since these monolithic bullets usually pass through, the presence of an entrance and exit hole can make for very good blood trails.

There is one curious thing I’ll mention about the copper monolithic bullets. If you shoot them following the use of lead core bullets, they often don’t shoot very accurately, unless the barrel is first thoroughly cleaned of the copper and other res-

idues from the lead core ammo. I’m not sure that anyone has a really good explanation for this, but there is a lot of anecdotal evidence. Jim Harmer has a video on his Backfire YouTube channel about just that topic, titled “Ron Spomer Saved My Favorite Gun.” Mike Desjarlais, Freeport, ME —

Lots of Gear, and a Dog on the Kayak To the Editor: I just got done reading William Clunie’s column in the December, 2024 issue about reducing the amount of fishing equipment (see “Downsizing the Bulk of My Fly-Fishing Gear,” page 52).

Although I’m a lifelong Massachusetts resident, as a boy I was brought up to fish “ice out” with my dad on West Grand Lake. We always stayed at Leen’s Lodge. If you need to know how old I am, here’s a hint – I remember Mr. Leen very well.

I caught the fishing bug back then, and it never left me. I shifted exclusively to fly fishing decades (Letters continued on page 9)

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8 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Seeing a Mountain Lion in Maine Makes You a Believer

Redington Pond It was early in the deer season, and

“As I took my foot off the gas pedal, a buckskin tan-colored animal with a long, thick tail leapt across the gravel road in what seemed like a single bound.”

Seeing is believing when it comes to how Mainers feel about the likelihood of cougars (mountain lions) being present in Maine’s woods. Photo by Outward_ bound via Flickr

I’d been hunting with family and friends near Redington Pond.

I was starting the drive home, alone. The

ground was bare.

The gravel access road went close by several gravel pits where material had been ex-

cavated for road-building. In some places, a few small bushes lined the road, but it would be described as “open

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country.” I was driving probably 25 miles an hour on a clear November afternoon.

As I came to a straight section of the road, I looked to my left and saw an animal behind a clump of bushes, close to the side of the road. As I took my foot off the gas pedal, a buckskin tan-colored animal with a long, thick tail leapt across the gravel road in what seemed like a single bound, and disappeared in the low brush on the right hand side of the road.

Up the Side of a Gravel Pit I slowed the car some more, and looked to the right to where the animal had (Continued on next page)

INC.

Question #40 in our publication’s recent 2024 – 2025 Maine Sportsman Readers Poll asked the following: “Have you – or has anyone you know – seen a cougar (mountain lion) in Maine?”

An astonishing 17% of respondents answered “Yes,” and several provided detailed and believable descriptions of what they’d witnessed.

And I believe them.

That’s because I saw what I am certain was a mountain lion, many years ago.

Let me describe my own experience, when I was a young hunter.

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crossed. A short distance away was the slope of a gravel pit that I would estimate about 100 yards in length, and a 45 degree slope. As I watched,

the animal cleared the top of the slope, going fast, and disappeared from sight. That was it. It was gone.

The whole sighting took but a few seconds.

The animal was cat-

Letters

(Continued from page 7)

back. I mainly fish rivers, but I also favor the open water during mid-season for smallmouth. My smallmouth fishing is always done on a kayak.

I have fished and camped throughout all of Maine – from Sebago in Southern Maine up to Eagle Lake in The County, and every place in between.

As a result, Mr. Clunie’s column resonated perfectly with me. I so much always wish to be a minimalist on the river and on my kayak, but often fall short. To complicate matters, my dog Ruby always travels on the back of my kayak!

In an effort to stay “light,” I go through my gear before heading out, and leave an amazing amount of extra gear in the truck.

Of course, this technique still gets complicated, as I must figure out what gear goes in my truck and what gear stays at home in the basement. William’s column helped me figure out that dilemma for next season!

On a final note, to save time and frustration on the water, I create a prerigged two nymph setup before the season, and I replenish it a couple times during the season. This small system

like in its movements, tan-colored, and large, with a long tail. It was capable of climbing the slope of a gravel pit rapidly.

I was not halucinating. It was real,

and kind of scary.

I believe it was a mountain lion; a cougar. Right here in Maine.

That is my story, and I’m sticking with it. So count me among

goes in my waist pack (I do not use a vest). I started this “jury-rigged” system when fine tippets and stone fingers caused me some challenges a few years back.

I start with a large nymph (that attaches to 3x or 4x) and run 12-16” of finer tippet from its bend to a smaller nymph. I have a small rubber hollow cylinder in which I can place about a dozen nymph setups. I wanted to share the technique for others to try.

Thomas O’Brien, Hull, MA —

Joe Salty’s Technology Column, Letter #1 To the Editor: Regarding Joe Saltalamachia’s cell phone hunting column (see “Technology Leaves Joe Dissatisfied,” regarding game cameras connected to cell phones), one has to also ask additional questions about advances in hunting: Is it “sporting” to use: • Ozonics (scent control devices)?

• food plots?

• dog tracking collars on people, to help track deer on snow?

• and even GPS? The list goes on. The days of a nimrod entering the woods and finding where a buck is living, then hunting it

THE MAINE SPORTSMAN DIGITAL EDITION Discover The Maine Sportsman on-the-go and never miss another issue!

the nearly 1 in 6 Mainers who has seen, or who knows someone who has seen, a mountain lion in this state.

¶

on foot, are pretty much over.

Bob Carter, Thorndike, ME —

Joe Salty’s Technology Column, Letter #2 To the Editor: In my opinion, the use of remote cameras in hunting serves to tip the scales too far away from the principles of “Fair Chase Hunting,” and more toward “culling.”

Stephen Morawski, Russell, MA Joe Salty’s response: Thank you both for writing. I appreciate your feedback in response to the column. I know there are few hunters out there who are doing things “the old fashioned way,” like most hunters used to.

While I do enjoy lots of the technology available today, I find myself longing for days gone by. Nowadays, it sometimes seems even an inexperienced hunter can be successful, quickly, using all the technology available.

It’s doubtful we’ll go back to the old days, but I’m seeing some states changing the rules already, especially on the subject of connected trail cameras.

Technology isn’t all bad, but I won’t cry if some of it is taken away.

Joe Saltalamachia

¶

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The Superdog “Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.” And that’s the way the black and white 1950s Superman TV show began when I was a kid in San Antonio, Texas.

Hyperbole? Absolutely. But as I was researching this column, I kept coming across some pretty powerful descriptions of a hunting dog breed you’ve probably never heard of, so let’s see what the American Kennel Club (AKC) has to say about this almost otherworldly canine.

The breed is “… a versatile hunting dog and natural retriever with a medium range, solid pointing instinct, and strong desire for water. These qualities are enhanced by intelligence and trainability.”

Further, the dog “… is smart and capable of learning, has a full but even temperament, and is steady in character. It is alert and friendly towards people, which makes them suitable for family life; they have good social behavior and keep in close contact with their master. Its passionate, persevering predatory instinct, versatile hunting aptitudes and strong nerves and keenness for game make it an extremely adept hunting companion.” And the glowing descripwww.MaineSportsman.com

A smart pointer and retriever in the field, and a great pet around the home – what more could you want from a hunting dog? Meet the Kleiner Münsterländer.

April with a pheasant shows how relatively small these small munsterlanders are, compared to some of the larger versatile gundog breeds -- small, but mighty. All photos by Pete Eising unless otherwise noted

tion goes on and on.

Pete & Susie, April & Feather My word, what a fabulous résumé, and the narrative by the AKC was just getting started with the list of kudos for this amazing animal. And my friend Pete just arrived late September from Switzerland with his two Kleiner Münsterländer dogs. April is 9-1/2 years old, and Feather is 10 months.

I’m sad to say I’ve not hunted over these fine animals, and won’t have the opportunity to do so in the future, but that won’t stop

me from writing about them.

Pete Eising is USborn, and thanks to his Swiss mother, he’s a dual citizen.

He and wife Susie spend most of the year in Switzerland, but they, along with their Small Munsterlanders (SM), spend fall and early winter in Maine, where they’re often afield looking for pheasants, partridge and American woodcock.

Pete and Susie were professional photographers, specifically food photographers, a field that has blossomed immense-

ly in the past several decades. They started a photo stock agency specializing in food images, and eventually had offices in Munich, Kennebunkport, London and Switzerland.

The agency became the world’s largest food stock photo company. They sold the enterprise in 2016.

Pete came to Maine 30 years ago, and fell in love with it. Eventually, they bought a second home in Kennebunkport, and started their photo agency here. (The Eisings live about a 20-second drive from me.) Their large, fenced front

yard often is home to a gallivanting Small Munsterlander or two.

April is the veteran dog, while Feather, at 10 months, is the newbie. The two seem to get along fine, and I’ll bet Feather learns a lot about being a versatile bird dog from her mentor, and, of course, from Pete. Sometimes the best dog trainer is another dog with some field miles on its pads.

SM’s are not large dogs, with heights generally 20.5 - 21 inches, and weights between 40 and 60 pounds. They live 12 to 14 years. They also are intelligent, devoted, and self-confident.

They are known to be good family pets and good around small children.

After hunting over a friend’s German Shorthair Pointers, Pete figured it was time to get his own bird dog, and after some research settled on his first SM with Rosie, 25 years ago.

Rosie had a litter, and Pete kept Amsel. Both were superb gun dogs, and Pete stayed with the breed. He and Susie obviously love their companions.

In the fall of 2024, the Eising team hunted in the Bethel area, the Rangeleys, and Downeast. After that, they traveled to Pennsylvania to a dog-training operation, to bolster the training regimen for (Continued on next page)

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 11 (Continued from page 10)

both dogs and people – and we all know it’s easier to train the dogs than it is the people!

More Info on Small Munsterlanders If I’ve piqued your interest in the SM, there are several organizations that have good websites and other media pages online.

The first is the Small Munsterlander Club of North America.

And the parent group, Verband für Kleine Münsterländer, or the Small Munsterlander Club, which is located

in Germany and has chapters all over Europe. Pete Eising is an active member in both organizations.

Check out these groups’ websites and other social media platforms. The breeding history of the dogs in the Munster area of Germany is extremely interesting, and generally mirrors the early breeding trends of a number of our currently established versatile gun dog partners.

These are the dogs that make our lives so easy and full of pleasure in the uplands,

Pete Eising with Munsterlanders April (right) and Feather.

April is a veteran gundog, while young Feather is in early training to become a Superdog. Photo by King Montgomery

and in front of the fireplace at home on a cool winter’s night. *** Over the years, from my early days hunting California quail, through the times in the Southern US bobwhite quail fields, and finally ending in the incomparable Maine woods for ruffed grouse and American woodcock, I’ve formed the belief that the lure of bird hunting is a close synergy of time, place, shotguns, people, dogs, and some mag-

ic. But mostly it’s the dogs that bring out the best in all of us.

Pete and Susie Eising, now with their Munsterlanders April and Feather, embody that perspective, as they spend their falls and early winters in

the Maine mountains, woods, and upland fields looking for Old Ruff and Timberdoodle, and you know they’ll also find some of that magic I was talking about, too.

¶

NOTE TO READERS We are extremely saddened to report that King Montgomery passed away on December 9, 2024 at his home in Kennebunkport. For ten years, King provided our readers with outstanding columns and wonderful photographs.

Our thoughts and condolences are with his wife Elizabeth Grant, and family members. A link to the full obituary of this extraordinary man is posted on our website www.mainesportsman.com/blog.

Small Munsterlanders are extremely intelligent, trainable, and attentive, but can require gentle and patient training. Bred originally in Munster, Germany, they are not related to the Large Munsterlander, which also was bred nearby but from very different stock.

Collar on and ready to go, young Feather waits to be set on the ground for another training session in the field with Pete and Susie.

April with a woodcock. She’s just as apt to jump in the water for a duck or retrieve a rabbit or hare.

April holds a Maine-shot American woodcock after a retrieve.

Young Feather on her way home from her breeder. There’s no such thing as an unadorable puppy of any kind.

The cycle of life goes on in dog-world, as April on the left, and Feather on the right, contemplate the woods ahead.

On goes the collar so the break is over. Back to work/fun in the field. www.MaineSportsman.com

12 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

“Snapshots in Time”

Historical Glimpses from Maine’s Sporting Past Compiled by Bill Pierce, Former Executive Director, Outdoor Heritage Museum

Chasing a Big Buck What follows appeared in the February 2, 1906 edition of the MAINE WOODS newspaper. It shares an example of the dogged determination of two young hunters, and the craftiness of a wise old buck. By 1906, deer were quite scarce here in Maine as well as nationally. Wildlife experts believe the population of whitetail deer in the United States was down to as few as 350,000 by 1900, largely because of unregulated hunting. Thankfully, the present population is about equal to what it was before Europeans arrived, with somewhere between 24 million and 34 million nationwide [Source: deerfriendly.com].

Enjoy this entertaining tale of a then-rare and elusive big buck, and the two young hunters determined to bag him. (Contemporary commentary at end in italics,) *****

Jumped Barn for Exercise After Four Days’ Chase Some years ago, two boys, a brother and the writer, had a hunt at C Pond, and camped in a lean-to at the south end at C Bluff. It was near the end of December and there was quite www.MaineSportsman.com

Although the buck was the object of a 5-day dogged pursuit by two young hunters, it became apparent the big deer was in it just for the exercise.

Photo credit: Sweeney Enterprises

a quantity of snow, so we were obliged to use snowshoes.

After fixing our camp as best we could, we ate supper and turned in for the night, as we were very tired after hauling our kit in for camping seven or eight miles through twenty inches of snow.

The next morning, we lay until after daylight. Then, getting a good meal, Dan donned his snowshoes and looked for deer signs, while the

writer stayed around camp to make it more comfortable.

There were no signs of deer discovered that day, so it looked like a hard show for game. The next day, we both started early, and found an old track under four inches of snow. As we decided a deer must be at the end of the trail, we followed, and in less than two hours we jumped a very large buck.

There being quite

a crust, we could not still-hunt, so we stripped down our gear for the race, and made it quite warm for him. The buck circled for three days, stopping at night near where we started him in the morning. The fourth day he headed north, lying down at night as soon as we left him. We camped in a lean-to or elsewhere, as the case may be.

The fifth day, the deer took a westerly course, crossing

a ridge and coming down to a farm shed.

Although he could go around either end, he instead took to the roof, as it was low on the east side and went straight over the center, jumping ten or 12 feet. He left on the other side, and made west at 20 miles an hour! Dan says, “Tis no use to follow that fellow. We have double-quicked him for four days, and he has jumped a barn for exercise on the morning of the fifth day!” But we did follow him until late that night, he taking a west course toward Berlin Falls, and we then decided he took the train for Canada. It being the last day of open time, we turned our feet homeward, alas empty handed. -B. Swett All I can add is that I do not know of anyone today who would track a buck for four days, and sleep outside in the snowy cold of Maine while doing so .... Do you? I guess that buck must have lived to pass his genetics on down, because unless the rut is on, Maine’s big bucks have not gotten any dumber. I hope you bagged your deer, and until next time … be sure to get outside and make some great Maine sporting history of your own.

¶

Almanac

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 13

Three Minutes with a Maine Guide

by Lisa DeHart

Compiled and Edited by — Will Lund —

The Right Boat for the Right Job Recently on my YouTube channel, 3 Minutes with a Maine Guide, I featured an Old Town Camper canoe that I’d fixed up. I have several of these canoes I run as solo boats. Keeping the bow seat, and removing the stern seat proper.

Then of course, since canoes are shaped the same on both ends, I paddle and pole from the position of the bow seat, facing where the stern seat used to be.

Several canoeists wrote in and asked, “If it’s a solo boat, how come the seat isn’t in the middle of the canoe?”

Good question.

Back in the day, the really short 10 to 14-foot canoes, with the seats in the middle, the air bags fore and aft, were referred to as “play boats.” We played in them. The goal for the day was to push the limits of our own skills, swamp it,

A well-designed canoe exhibits incredible buoyancy. Here, the author has packed her canoe for a 10-day trip. It was the most weight she’d ever carried on a trip, and she marveled at the amount of freeboard remaining. Chris Corey photo

flip it, and do it again. And we learned A LOT. Now with these short canoes that have the seat in the middle, adults are putting gear in them and doing canoe trips. I’ve run into them on several occasions, and they are not happy canoeists.

They’re cold and wet, and they’ve been sitting in water for the day, because

those small canoes with the seat in the center are made to carry air, fore and aft, and little else.

With an adult seated in the middle, and loaded with gear, these boats have so little freeboard that a moderate wave, a decent rapid or a windy crossing, and they spend the day bailing more than paddling. To be in a boat and sitting in water – that’s not a good place to be.

I also had two students who told of getting their feet trapped under the seat, during a capsize in a rapid – very dangerous.

The photo accompanying this column shows the start of a 10-day wilderness canoe trip in a 16-foot 2-inch Camper Canoe, and this is the most loaded I’ve ever been on a canoe trip. Even with all that weight, look at the freeboard in this canoe! Especially in the front where it parts the waves.

Be safe. Take the right boat for the job.

— (Continued on next page)

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14 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Almanac

(Continued from page 13)

Guide Talk

by John LaMarca

Coyote Hunting – Making Bait Last With a blanket of snow on the ground and the harsh winter weather set in, many of us have begun our pursuit of coyotes during the night coyote hunting season.

Hunters use two methods to attract the animals. The first is to establish a bait pile, using legally acquired roadkill or other bait. The second method is to use electronic callers to entice the coyotes into coming toward the sounds of prey or other coyotes.

Although there is not complete agreement on the total population effects of coyote hunting, it is indisputable that the regional hunting of coyotes results in an increase in both the deer and turkey populations. I have seen this personally in the different areas I hunt year-round where I also hunt coyotes at night.

I guide many coyote hunts out of my heated cabin, and the biggest issue many guides and hunters have with bait piles, is making the bait last. A dead deer in the woods is quite the bounty, and it does not go unnoticed. When you get a pack of 5 or 6 coyotes hitting the bait at night as well as eagles and other

Coyotes can hit bait sites in large numbers.

In fact, the author has witnessed the animals eating an entire frozen road-kill deer in one night. Photos by the author

carrion-eating birds hitting it during the day, a deer can disappear in an amazingly-short period of time.

A way that I have found to make the bait last is making a “deer-cicle” – i.e., a frozen treat for coyotes. Basically, when I pick up a roadkill deer, I let it freeze outside. I then cut the parts off the deer, then put everything into a wheelbarrow.

Then I fill the rest of the wheelbarrow with water, and let it freeze.

Over the course of 4 or 5 really cold days and nights, what you are left with is a deer that is frozen into a block of ice.

Once everything’s solid, place a jet sled on the snow, and flip the wheelbarrow over into the jet sled. Sometimes the block will fall out by itself; other times you may need to use a rubber mallet on the wheelbarrow to break the edge and release the ice.

Next, use the jet sled to drag this frozen coyote treat to your bait site.

This method greatly slows how quickly birds and coyotes can eat the bait, but does not slow their inclination to come to it to grab a meal. What I have found is the birds spend all day

Eagles, crows and ravens can really put a dent in a hunter’s baits. Encasing the bait in ice (creating a “deer-popsicle”) slows down scavengers, and keeps the bait site active for a longer period of time.

pecking at the ice/deer, and the coyotes come in at night to get the broken scraps.

If you just put a deer out at the site, it will be eaten in a matter of two days.

However, if you freeze it into a block of ice, it will last – and continue to perform – for more than a week of heavy use.

—

Cold Hands? Lots of Hand Warmer Options

by Will Lund

The air temperatures in northwest Maine during the 2024 muzzle-loader season were relatively cold – starting at about 9 degrees at sunrise, and warming to a balmy 16 degrees by mid-day.

Young hunters often don’t have issues with cold hands and feet – they are so busy charging through the snow and puckerbrush that they stay naturally heated all day. However, many older hunters experience cold hands and feet, since they travel through the woods more slowly, and stop more frequently to hunt from high points or tree stands.

The answer, or course, is to employ (Continued on next page)

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iments to verify or disprove this claim.)

Perhaps best of all, they are very inexpensive – usually less than $2 for a 2-pack – and they serve as welcome stocking-stuffers during the holidays.

(Continued from page 14)

hand warmers and foot warmers, so when a big buck jumps, your hands are able to pull back the hammer, and your feet are capable of moving you into position for a clear shot.

Three basic types of warmers are available: the inexpensive, single-use type that’s activated by air; the types that look like oversized old-fashioned cigarette lighters and that operate on lighter fluid; and the newest entry into the market – rechargeable electric models.

Air-Activated Air-activated warmers, in which the active ingredients are sealed in small cloth bags, are remarkable inventions.

Offered by such companies as HotHands and Grabber, they produce heat through oxidation – in effect, when the contents rust rapidly.

They contain iron powder, salt, activated charcoal (to control the heat and spread it out a bit) and vermiculite (to absorb oxygen when the outer plastic package is opened, and keep the oxygen in contact with the iron until all the iron has oxidized).

These packets heat up relatively quickly to about 135 degrees, and because of their flexibility, they can usually be jammed inside loose mittens or gloves. The foot-warmer models have sticky pads to adhere to your sock or the inside of your boot, keeping them in

Air-activated hand warmer.

place (sometimes with limited degrees of success).

They will produce heat for most of a day of hunting, although they gradually become cooler during the day. And if you activate one and then immediately get called back into the cabin for lunch, true believers wrap them tightly in Saran Wrap, which supposedly blocks the flow of oxygen to the contents and allows them to cool off but then be reactivated later. (We have not conducted any exper-

Lighter Fluid-fueled Hand Warmers For longer-term heat, some folks use hand warmers made by companies such as Zippo. Depending on how much fuel is placed in the hand warmer, the heat can last up to 12 hours.

Made of metal, they will remain functional for years under proper use.

Many of us remember seeing grandfathers or great-grandfathers using these large metal handwarmers while hunting or ice-fishing.

Interestingly, they operate without a flame. Rather, although they are initially activated by touching the top to a flame, once they are running correctly there is no flame visible.

Instead of an open flame, the unit becomes a type of catalytic heater, in (Continued on next page)

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16 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Almanac

they do – they will stay hotter, and for a longer time, than the air-activated type.

There are a few disadvantages to these units compared with the disposable ones: they require fuel, and they are sometimes challenging to refill; they are large and rigid, so they don’t mold to the inside of your gloves (most folks keep them in their pockets, and put their hands over them); and once the catalytic process starts, there’s no real way to shut down the heat until the fuel’s gone.

Vintage Zippo hand warmer, which runs on lighter fluid but without an open flame.

Rechargeable Electric Units

(Continued from page 15)

which a catalyzed chemical reaction breaks down molecules in the fuel, thereby creating heat. And create heat

Manufacturers including Owl and Unihand now offer small units powered by lithium batteries. They last between 9 and 20 hours before needing a charge,

State of Maine Sportsman’s Show Volunteers Needed The 43rd Annual State of Maine Sportsman’s Show will be held Friday through Sunday, March 28 - 30, 2025 at the Augusta Civic Center, and we could use your help in making it a success again this year.

Can you travel easily to the Augusta area? Can you commit to a 4-hour shift? Can you follow directions? Tasks will be assigned based on your interests, experience and abilities. Set-up; tear-down; staffing the information booth; staffing the Kids’ Zone – we’ll put you to work.

In exchange, you will gain free admission to the Show, and an official Show t-shirt. You’ll get to meet 8,000 other outdoors-minded visitors, and you’ll have the opportunity to work with some of the greatest folks in the state – the staff of The Maine Sportsman magazine, and Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine!

Call (207) 622-4242 or email Carol@MaineSportsman.com and let us know your contact information and your availability.

Modern lithium battery powered electric hand warmers recharge with a USB cable.

and their output is adjustable, so the user can increase or decrease heat as needed. In fact, the latest models monitor the ambient temperature, and put out the correct amount of heat needed to maintain a specific comfortable temperature for the user.

They recharge from a USB port, which is great if your hunting cabin is equipped with electricity, or if you brought along a large battery to power or recharge the electronic devices in your camp or ice shack.

We invite readers to let us know their experiences with hand warmers – old-school or new school.

¶

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��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 17

Quotable

Sportsman

by Will Lund

“An NRA pet project, this legislation would force states with more stringent gun standards to comply with looser regulations in other states, risking our public safety and making it more difficult to enforce state laws that save lives.”

The Democratic National Committee in 2017, when the US House of Representatives passed the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. Full reciprocity would allow gun owners who’ve been issued a concealed carry permit in one state, to legally carry their weapons in other states. The measure later stalled in the US Senate.

— “I will protect the right of self-defense everywhere it is under siege.

And I will sign concealed carry reciprocity. Your Second Amendment does not end at the state line.”

Then-candidate Donald Trump, in a 2023 speech, according to Newsweek, November 11, 2024.

— “The incomprehensible and appalling act of one individual tarnishes the reputation of all of Maine’s 230,000 hunters.”

Maine DIF&W Commissioner Judith Camuso, after a hunter shot and killed an unleashed pet dog at a wildlife preserve in North Yarmouth that’s open to both dog-walkers and hunters. Following a brief encounter with the owner and two other individuals, the hunter left in his vehicle. He subsequently turned himself in, and is facing a charge of wrongfully killing a domestic animal.

— “Use Your Cell Phone to Clear the Field” You’re hunting over a Midwest farm field that’s full of deer, and night falls. You don’t want to have your buddy drive his tractor or ATV to your stand to get you, and you don’t want to simply climb down from your stand into the deer. So what do you do? According to “Strange Deer-Hunting Tactics That Actually Work” (Outdoor Life, October 3, 2024), you play a loud YouTube audio file of an ATV or tractor for 20 or 30 seconds, and then you turn on your hunting flashlight. The theory is that “the audio followed by light appearance will simulate an approaching vehicle, pushing deer out of the immediate area and allowing you to climb down and depart.” This is more advantageous, states the magazine, compared to “deer seeing, hearing, or smelling a human trying to slip out of their stand in the dark.”

— “The Ferrari of Frogs” Imaginative advertising copy used by LiveTarget Tackle Co., introducing a new bass lure, “Freestyle Frog 2.0.” The topwater frog’s “ultra-realistic extending legs give the lure unmatched lifelike profile and action in the water,” according to the promotional text. The lure is manufactured by “leveraging injected core technology to combine an alluring inner core and a highly durable exoskeleton.” The Sportsman periodically salutes advertising copy writers whose breathless language, in this case, makes us want to go out and buy a couple of lures right away, since the bass clearly won’t have a chance.

The “Freestyle Frog 2.0” in action. Credit: LiveTarget

January 2025 Sunrise/Sunset Bangor, ME DATE RISE SET 1 Wed 7:10 4:06 2 Thu 7:10 4:07 3 Fri 7:10 4:08 4 Sat 7:10 4:09 5 Sun 7:10 4:10 6 Mon 7:10 4:11 7 Tue 7:10 4:12 8 Wed 7:09 4:13 9 Thu 7:09 4:15 10 Fri 7:09 4:16 11 Sat 7:08 4:17 12 Sun 7:08 4:18 13 Mon 7:08 4:19 14 Tue 7:07 4:21 15 Wed 7:06 4:22 16 Thu 7:06 4:23

DATE RISE SET 17 Fri 7:05 4:24 18 Sat 7:05 4:26 19 Sun 7:04 4:27 20 Mon 7:03 4:28 21 Tue 7:02 4:30 22 Wed 7:02 4:31 23 Thu 7:01 4:32 24 Fri 7:00 4:34 25 Sat 6:59 4:35 26 Sun 6:58 4:36 27 Mon 6:57 4:38 28 Tue 6:56 4:39 29 Wed 6:55 4:41 30 Thu 6:54 4:42 31 Fri 6:53 4:43

January 2025 Tides Portland, ME DATE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri

HIGH AM PM 11:42 — 12:22 12:24 1:04 1:09 1:48 1:57 2:36 2:50 3:27 3:48 4:22 4:50 5:19 5:57 6:20 7:06 7:23 8:11 8:23 9:11 9:20 10:06 10:13 10:57 11:03 11:44 11:50 — 12:28 12:34 1:10 1:17 1:52 2:01 2:33 2:47 3:17 3:36 4:02 4:28 4:49 5:25 5:41 6:25 6:36 7:26 7:32 8:20 8:23 9:08 9:10 9:53 9:55 10:35 10:38 11:16 11:22 11:57 — 12:06

LOW AM PM 5:27 6:08 6:10 6:49 6:56 7:32 7:45 8:18 8:39 9:08 9:37 10:00 10:38 10:56 11:43 11:57 — 12:51 1:01 1:57 2:04 2:57 3:02 3:52 3:56 4:43 4:47 5:31 5:35 6:15 6:21 6:56 7:05 7:37 7:50 8:17 8:37 8:58 9:26 9:41 10:17 10:27 11:12 11:17 — 12:11 12:12 1:12 1:10 2:07 2:04 2:55 2:52 3:39 3:37 4:21 4:22 5:02 5:06 5:43 5:52 6:25

www.MaineSportsman.com

18 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Maine Wildlife:

The Bobcat Explosion

by Tom Seymour

I can recall when, with the exception of northern Maine, bobcats were relatively scarce. A man who lived down the road from us when I was young used to haul his snowmobile to the northern regions to follow his hounds as they ran bobcats on the snow. Other than that, bobcats were something you knew were around, but were rarely seen.

That situation has done a complete turnaround. Now, bobcats are everywhere, including in built-up regions and even in small-town backyards. People setting trail cameras for deer usually manage to capture one or two bobcat images.

Where once a bobcat sighting elicited frenzied calls to neighbors, today seeing a bobcat ranks as just one more run-of-the-mill experience. What gives?

Once, bobcats depended almost entirely upon snowshoe hares for survival. Fir thickets, the thicker the better, provided home to hares and, consequently, bobcats. But in the bottom half of Maine, fir thickets have turned into house lots, and hare populations have drastically declined. So why have the bobcats not disappeared?

Easy Prey Not only have bobcats not declined, their numbers have significantly increased. The very existence of so many wild creatures depends upon two factors. These are winter protection, and a dependable forage base. Bobcats can handily get by in cold weather, so that doesn’t make much difference in this case. Therefore, the reason for their population boom must have to do with food.

And indeed it does. Wild turkeys, once extirpated in our state, have come back big-time, thanks to a successful reintroduction program carried out by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The program began in Southern and Midcoast Maine, and now turkeys have made their way to northern Maine. Moose and grouse hunters in the Moosehead region, for example, routinely come across family groups of wild turkeys.

Bobcats in the Midcoast region, www.MaineSportsman.com

where I live, have seemingly become as numerous as housecats. Most everyone in my small town has seen a bobcat, or if they haven’t, their neighbor has. The once-scarce bobcats have become ubiquitous.

At this point, a burgeoning bobcat population is not a bad thing. But as with other wildlife species, overabundances can lead to problems. Disease comes immediately to mind, as does a drop-off in prey species. But all that remains in the realm of speculation. As of now, I enjoy having the possibility of spying a bobcat each time I leave the house.

Easy Pickings Turkeys’ habits of roosting in trees lead to their downfall. As opposed to domestic turkeys, wild turkeys are powerful fliers and have no problem in ascending to the topmost boughs of the tallest white pines. You would think that would put them out of reach of four-legged predators, but it doesn’t.

Bobcats, as with any feline, are agile climbers.

And if a bobcat doesn’t care to take its meal in a place with a view, it can simply wait at the base of the roosting tree at sunup and grab a turkey as it flutters down to the ground. Either way, the turkey is toast.

Does bobcat predation hurt turkey populations? I think so, but my thoughts are based solely upon conjecture. Still, when people tell me they hardly ever see turkeys in their neighborhoods anymore, bobcats come immediately to mind.

I do know it has become commonplace to walk through the woods and

see piles of turkey feathers at the bases of tall trees. It doesn’t take a detective to visualize what had occurred.

Bobcat Identification Bobcats live within the range of Canada lynx, so the two often overlap.

While the two animals are quite similar, there are some easy features to look for when making an ID. Lynx have longer legs than bobcats, and larger feet. Lynx have short, or “bobbed” tails, which are black completely around at the tip. Lynx also have prominent tufts on their ears. Bobcat tail tips are only black on top.

Bobcats weigh somewhere between 15 and 35 pounds, with some notable exceptions. Forty-pound Maine cats are not unheard of. However, even a 25-pound bobcat looks deceptively large. It’s easy to view a standard-sized bobcat and become convinced that you have seen a Leviathan. And despite their recent population boost, bobcats are not something you see every day, so gauging their weight has its challenges.

Although bobcats are primarily nocturnal, more and more people are seeing them in the daytime. This happens primarily in more open locations, especially near human dwellings. Sometimes, a bobcat will, instead of running off at the sight of a person, just sit there stock-still, as if analyzing the situation.

This gives us a much better chance to make a proper identification.

Nothing lasts forever, and this bobcat proliferation will undoubtably end some time in the future. But for now, Let’s enjoy seeing this majestic wildling of the Maine woods.

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 19

The Importance of Ice Fishing with a Friend

by Nolan Raymond Whether I’m on a local ice fishing excursion or a major trip into the North Maine Woods for a weekend of angling, I always prefer to bring a buddy. For one thing, it can make a slow day of fishing much more enjoyable, since there’s someone along to talk to and share the experience with – that makes a big difference.

More important than entertainment, however, is the added security that a fishing partner can bring you.

When the trip doesn’t go as planned – you get lost, break some equipment, or even more serious, you get hurt or fall through the ice – you have someone there to help

Solo ice fishing trips can be great experiences, but there are times when it’s far better to have others along for the adventure.

The author’s brother sets up traps on a deep woods excursion before sunrise.

All photos by the author

out and potentially save your life.

Companionship While Awaiting the Flags We’ve all had those

days: you go out and set up for a day of ice fishing, full of hope and ambition for a productive trip. You get all set up and settle in,

and … nothing. Maybe it’s just a temporary situation, and the bite will pick up? Wishful thinking. You’ve signed yourself up for

a slow day on the ice – the kind where you get one flag in the early afternoon, with a stolen bait. And that’s it.

The rest of the time, you’ve gotta find ways to entertain yourself. Alone, that can be taxing. If you have a friend (or multiple, if you’re the really social type), you have each other to keep company.

Busted Equipment I’ve found that ice fishing is hard on the gear and equipment.

Especially when you’re going on bigger trips – running snowmobiles, or using other complex devices – things can fail easily. Cold, icy weather takes a toll on the machinery.

(Continued on next page)

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A suspension failure nearly required the group to leave the disabled sled on the trail and return later. Working as a team, the three riders were able to free the track, compress the spring, reinstall the track, and limp back to the parking area.

Ice Fishing with a Friend (Continued from page 19)

If the angler is alone, these problems could be severe and the consequences dangerous.

Last season, my dad, brother and I took a trip to a remote pond

in Northern Maine.

The pond was accessed by a rough trail of about 10 miles, which we traversed by snowmobile.

The trip was successful – we caught our

It’s always a good trip when everyone is able to return safely to the truck and trailer.

limits of brook trout.

On the ride out, however, near-disaster struck. On one of the sleds, the suspension spring on one side of the track broke free of its guide, sending the spring-loaded piece of metal into the track.

It tore a hole through a significant portion of the track, leaving us stuck on the trail,

with no cell service, and with darkness approaching.

Group Effort Luckily, there were three of us. We were able to tilt the bulky snowmobile on its side, and free the track. Two of us compressed the spring, while another pulled the track clear.

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GREAT POND ICE FISHING DERBY Saturday, January 25, 2025 • 6AM–3PM Great Pond, Aurora, ME Admission: $10 per Ticket • 50/50 Drawing $1 per Ticket

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With that temporary fix, we were able to limp the rig back to the truck and snowmobile trailer, which was fortunate for us.

Had this happened to a solo fisherman, things would have been different. The snowmobile would have been rendered useless, and the angler would have had to walk the distance to the truck, in heavy snow and darkness, leaving the snowmobile behind to recover later with the help of more people.

Solo Preparation There is certainly something to be said for solo ice fishing adventures. I head out alone from time to time, and I find such trips quite relaxing.

It is also very rewarding to have success on these trips, knowing that you made it happen for yourself.

Just remember to be prepared for the worst if you go out solo … you’re signing up to be self-reliant. So if the risk is great, communications are limited, or the distance is long, it’s time to consider bringing along family and friends.

¶

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 21

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12/4/24 1:42 PM

www.MaineSportsman.com

22 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

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��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 23

— Ice Fishing —

Ice-Fishing for Crappie

by Bob Humphrey There’s a trite and over-used expression that a bad day of ice fishing is better than a good day at work. Not sure I agree with that, as I’ve had some pretty crappy ice fishing days (auger battery dead, snow machine won’t start, fish aren’t biting, windburn, frostbite ...).

On the other hand, a “crappie” ice fishing day can be quite delightful. While trout and salmon get most of the glory in Maine, fishing for them can sometimes be painfully slow. So-called “rough” fish are often much more obliging, if you know how to catch them. Perhaps the roughest of all is the black crappie, which is despised as an invasive, and underappreciated as both a game fish and table fare.

So if you’re sick of one-flag days on the ice, you might want to give them a try.

What Let’s begin with learning more about the species. Black crappie (pronounced “croppie” or “crahppie” by warmwater fishing snobs, if there is such a thing), also called calico bass, are members of the sunfish family. Average adult size is between 6 and 11 inches, though fish exceeding 14 inches and 3 pounds occur in Maine.

Like other sunfish, they travel in schools.

In spring, males migrate to shallow areas, where they create co-

They’re fun to catch through the ice; they make for excellent eating; and there’s no catch limit – what’s not to like about helping to reduce the population of this invasive species?

Source: MDIF&W Minor Game Fish Management Plan

lonial nests or redds in sand or mud substrate.

They are prolific spawners.

Females move in to the shallows and deposit between 20,000 and 60,000 eggs. Young grow rapidly, and as adults they feed primarily on small fish.

That piscivorous propensity and the fact they are an introduced species has earned them a bad reputation. First stocked

in the headwaters of the Sebago drainage in 1921, their range has since expanded to include the Little Ossipee, Penobscot and Kennebec drainages, thanks in no small part to “bucket biologists” – folks who want to fish for crappie in their local ponds, but fail to recognize the damage they’re doing by introducing a new species.

They can be downright devastating to na-

tive fish populations, preying on young, and out-competing adults for food.

There is a silver lining – they’re abundant, relatively easy to catch, and quite tasty.

Furthermore, because of their undesirable status, there are no daily bag or length limits, so you can catch as many as you want – or at least try to.

Where Black crappie are known to occur in 64

lakes statewide, with principal fisheries being in the Sebago region and Belgrade Lakes chain. They occur in lakes and ponds from a few acres in size to several thousand acres. If you’re looking for specific waterbodies, a quick call or visit to your regional fisheries biologist will get you more than enough information.

You’d also do well to check monthly regional columns in The Maine Sportsman for advice on where the crappie are biting.

How I’m relatively new to ice-fishing for crappie, and it took several winters to get it dialed in. I’m by no means an expert, but I can share what works for me.

Throughout the winter, crappie schools are relatively mobile, and you can find them in almost any depth (Continued on next page)

15th Annual

SOKOKIS LAKE ICE FISHING DERBY Limerick, ME

FEBRUARY 2, 2025 (Rain Date Feb. 9, 2025)

Registration & Weigh-In at Public Landing 7AM–3PM Adults $10 • Kids 15 & Under FREE

KIDS: Heaviest Fish $200, 2nd Place $100, 3rd Place $50 ADULTS: Heaviest Fish Wins 50% of Entry Fees Collected FMI: Call Michael Ward 207-608-5837 www.MaineSportsman.com

24 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Ice Fishing for Crappie (Continued from page 23)

from roughly 20 feet and deeper. One method for locating them is to simply drill test holes and fish until you catch, but that can be rather time- and labor-intensive. Depth maps help, but portable sounders are even more helpful. Drop the lower unit in the hole, and the screen will tell you if the fish are there. You still have to catch them, which can be challenging.

We started with conventional methods like ice traps baited with small shiners, and jig rods with artificial baits, and quickly learned that jigging is the way to go if you’re specifically targeting crappie. Most any small jig (1/4-1/16 oz) like the Swedish Pimple or weighted-head jigs with soft baits or hair and feather dressing will work.

Ultralight jigging rods will out-fish conventional traps by a wide margin. Photos by the author

Now I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Regardless of what jig type you’re using, add a piece of mealworm, and your catch rate will increase dramatically.

That sounder you used to find fish, can also be helpful in catching them, as you’ll know when a school comes through and what depth they’re at. It’s also fun to literally watch the fish follow your jig. They’ll bite most any time of day, but early and late tend to be better.

Technique is also important. We wore ourselves out with modest success until

I discovered that the winter crappie bite is very subtle. You actually need little or no up and down movement.

Simply hold your rod, and watch the tip for any movement, then lift slowly and steadily. Spring bobbers are immensely helpful in detecting a bite.

Don’t Take More Than You Can Fillet While there are no limits, a word of caution is advised when the bite gets hot.

Before you realize it, there’s a pile of fish on the ice around you that need to be filleted.

It’s okay to splurge on the first few trips, but

Join us for the annual Dexter Firefighters Association and Fish & Game Association

ICE FISHING DERBY JANUARY 25–26, 2025

When the action is hot, the crappie can pile up quickly.

in time you may opt to keep only the larger fish, as the smaller ones produce less flesh per effort.

Still, you shouldn’t feel guilty no matter how many you pull through the ice (ecologically, the more, the better). You won’t deplete the population. As a sportsman, I can’t encourage wanton waste, even with an invasive species; so make sure they all go to good use. Either way, the end result is worth any effort, as crappie have very mild white flesh when cooked.

As for how to cook them, you’re limited only by your own cre-

ativity, but it’s hard to beat batter-fried.

There is another good reason for crappie fishing days. State fisheries managers have tried to limit population spread, mostly by educating the public on introducing invasive species, and with obviously limited results. A second objective is to increase use of the resource, by encouraging people to catch crappie. Even that has fallen short.

So do your part, and maybe the next time you step back up to trout and salmon, there will be a few more around to catch.

¶

Lake Wassookeag, Dexter, ME All proceeds to benefit Dexter Firefighters Association Derby Headquarters: Lakeshore Restaurant, 16 Crockett Road, Dexter Pre-Registration: Lakeshore Restaurant, Friday, January 24, 9am–5pm Registration: Lakeshore Restaurant, Opens Saturday & Sunday, January 25 & 26, 5:45am Derby Hours: Saturday, January 25, 6am–6pm & Sunday, January 26, 6am- 4pm Prizes for the 1st & 2nd Biggest Fish for Various Species: Togue $500 & $250, Salmon $250 & $200, Bass $100 & $50, Brook Trout $200 & $100, Pickerel $100 & $50, Yellow Perch (kids under 16) $50 and Trophy & $25 Trophies (Under Age 16): 1st to Register a Fish, 1 Winner per Category One Prize for SMALLEST Yellow Perch: Set including Jet Sled, 5 Jack Traps & Pack Basket.

Fish winners will be posted at the end of the derby on Sunday, January 26 at 4pm.

DERBY ENTRY TICKETS: $10 EACH OR BUY 5 AT THE SAME TIME & GET THE 6TH FREE

Each Derby ticket enters you into a drawing for a chance to win derby entry prizes including: Firearms, Eskimo Outbreak 850XD Pop-up Ice Shelter, Strike Master Lithium 24V Ice Auger, Set Including Pack Basket, 5-Jack Traps with line, leaders, hooks, reel wraps. Plus, you’ll receive 10 Raffle Tickets for a chance to win other prizes.

RAFFLE TICKETS: $5 FOR 10 TICKETS

LOTS OF PRIZES! Lifetime Fishing License (kids), Gift Cards & more. Drawings will be held on Sunday, January 26 after 5pm. Winners do not need to be present.

Derby Entry Tickets and Raffle Tickets will be available for sale from Dexter Fire Department members, at PJ’s Bait & Tackle in Dexter, and at RE/MAX Infinity, Dexter or Greenville For more information or to donate, call or text Matt Connor (207) 270-1776 or Roger Salley (207) 270-1000, or email Sonja Anderson SLAC710@gmail.com

JOIN THE DEXTER FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL ICE FISHING DERBY GROUP ON FACEBOOK

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��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 25

Rangeley: Riding at Its Best

by Steve Carpenteri This winter, snowmobiling enthusiasts will be able to find plenty of options in the famous Rangeley Lakes region. Avid riders can explore the area via 150 miles of well-groomed trails that connect to all points north, south, east and west, including the 260-mile International Trail System (ITS) circuit into Canada. Riders in the region are also just a few hours from New Hampshire.

According to Alexandra Kaiser, executive director of the Rangely Lakes Chamber of Commerce, the region offers visiting riders a chance to explore a vast network of hundreds of miles of maintained trails that course through the region’s dense forests, around frozen lakes, and over gently rolling hills. Riders will find themselves gliding through a winter wonderland surrounded by snow-covered trees and the crisp, clean scent of spruce and fir in the air.

This area is a treasure trove of panoramic views and diverse landscapes.

From winding trails that hug the shorelines of Rangeley Lake to the awesome views from

150 miles of trails, a winter full of events, as well as inns, motels, machines to rent and stores to shop --- what’s not to like about snowmobiling in the Rangeley Region?

Photo courtesy Rangeley Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce

Quill Hill, every turn offers a new visual delight.

Trails originating in the Rangeley Region also connect to trails that lead into the Flagstaff Lake area, including Oquossoc and Stratton.

Why Rangeley?

Kaiser said that the Rangeley Region is the place to go for winter fun.

“There’s no better place to be in winter,” Kaiser enthused. “The scenery is beautiful

– it’s like being in a snow globe.”

Kaiser said that in addition to the region’s endless miles of snowmobile trails, there are also opportunities for skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and fattire biking.

“Most of the Rangeley Lakes Region trails are designed and maintained for multiple users,” she said. “In addition, our inns, motels, hotels

and rental cabins are located on or next to well-groomed trails, providing easy access for all users.”

Lodging facilities with trail access include the Rangeley Saddleback Inn. Cabin rentals with adjacent trail access may be arranged through Rangeley Vacation Rentals or at RangeleyRentals.com.

Things To Do in Rangeley Kaiser pointed out

that there’s a wide range of dining options for visiting winter enthusiasts, from rustic to elegant, as well as a handful of trailside dining options.

“Shopping opportunities abound in Rangeley’s quaint downtown,” Kaiser noted, “or you can see a show or movie at the RFA Lakeside Theatre. Visitors might also consider a night of bowling, drinks, pool, darts and occasional live music at Moose Alley.

“Also, there are karaoke, trivia or dance party nights at Sarge’s Pub & Grub,” she added.

“There are five park-and-ride locations in Rangeley if your lodging does not have trail access and for those who plan on doing a day trip,” Kaiser said. Log onto RangeleySnowmobile. com for more details.

Events The Rangeley Lakes Snowmobile Club – open daily from late December through late March – sponsors several popular events during the winter season, including Snodeo (January 30 – February 1), King of the Mountain at Saddle(Continued on next page) www.MaineSportsman.com

26 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Snowmobiling Rangeley (Continued from page 25)

back Mountain (April 25 and 26), Ride for Cystic Fibrosis (February 3), and radar runs.

Also popular is the Saddleback Festival, scheduled for Feb. 2123, featuring a torchlight parade, fireworks and a variety of events as well as plenty of food and drink.

Yamaha Sidewinder L-TX-SE The Sidewinder L‑TX SE has all the trail performance and capabilities found in our LE models but at a lower price point. The ARCS front suspension with Fox® RC adjustable shocks leads the charge with longer, lightweight forged spindles and optimized geometry. A 137” Ripsaw II track wrapped around the free‑arm, coupled SRV rear suspension with HPG shocks hooks up the industry’s most powerful engine. The race bred chassis holds you forward, at the ready to meet anything the trail throws your way.

See Your Local Yamaha Snowmobile Dealer for the Latest Promotions!

SKOWHEGAN Whittemore & Sons 257 Waterville Road 207-474-2591 www.whittemoreandsons.com TOPSHAM MOMS Topsham 70 Topsham Fair Mall Road 207-729-1177 www.topsham.moms73.com Always wear an approved helmet and eye protection. Observe all state and local laws. Respect the rights of others. Ride within your capabilities. Allow extra time and plenty of distance for maneuvering. Do not perform stunts. © 2025 Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Sled Rentals According to Kaiser, visitors new to the region may rent sleds at Mountain View Adventures (MVAMaine. com), and snowmobilers from away can also book a guide with Mountain View.

“The friendly and knowledgeable staff help you make the most of your Rangeley Snowmobile Adventure,” she added.

Additional sled

rentals are available at Northeast Snowmobile and ATV Rentals (NortheastATVRentals.com).

Trail Maintenance Rangeley’s snowmobile trails are maintained by three Piston Bully PLB grooming machines, and three Mogul Master state-ofthe-art drags. Piston Bully groomed trails (16 feet in width) connect to all points north, south, east and west, including the 12,500-mile international circuit. No fees are charged to ride these trails.

Trail Conditions For trail conditions, call the Rangeley Lakes Trail System Hotline at (207) 864-7336. The season started as soon as the

snow flew in December, and many years it has lasted well into April.

Trail maps are available for $5 each plus $1 for postage (check or money order) from the Rangeley Lakes Snowmobile Club, P.O. Box 950, Rangeley, Maine 04970. There are no trail fees. All revenue generated by the Rangeley Lakes Snowmobile Club’s fundraising efforts are used to maintain area snowmobile trails.

For more information and the full calendar of events in the Rangeley Lakes Region, log onto RangeleyLakesRegion.com, or contact Alexandra Kaiser at the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce, (207) 8645571 or by e-mail at ExecDirector@RangeleyMaine.com.

¶

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LINCOLN Lincoln Power Sports - Access Auto 265 West Broadway 207-794-8100 www.lincolnpowersports.com ©2024 Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP). All rights reserved. ®, ™ and the BRP logo are trademarks of BRP or its affiliates. Offers valid in United States only from November 01 2024 to January 10 2025. The terms and conditions may vary depending on your state and these offers are subject to termination or change at any time without notice. Offer may not be assigned, traded, sold or combined with any other offer unless expressly stated herein. Other conditions may apply. Void where prohibited by law. † Financing starting at 6.99% APR (Annual Percentage Rate) for 36 months. Examples of monthly payments required over a 36‑month term at a 6.99% APR rate: $30.87 per $1,000 financed. An example of a monthly payment with $1,396 down, no rebate, an APR of 6.99% APR for 36 months at an MSRP of $15,000 is $419.99/mo. Total cost of borrowing $1,515.63 with a total repayment obligation of $15,119.64. Down payment may be required. Other financing offers may be available. Minimum and Maximum Amount Financed may vary. Not all buyers will qualify. Higher rates apply for buyers with lower credit ratings. Other qualifications and restrictions may apply, depending on the participating financial institution(s). BRP is not responsible for any of the financing terms and conditions. Offer subject to change without notice. Financing promotions void where prohibited. See your BRP dealer for details. Always consult your snowmobile dealer when selecting a snowmobile for your particular needs and carefully read and pay special attention to your Operator’s Guide, Safety Video, Safety Handbook and to the safety labelling on your snowmobile. Always ride responsibly and safely and wear appropriate clothing, including a helmet. Please observe applicable laws and regulations. Remember that riding and alcohol/drugs don’t mix. See your authorized BRP dealer for details and visit ski‑doo.com.

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28 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

— Snowmobiling —

ATV & Snowmobile Clubs: Why Now is the Time to Join

by Staci Warren In November, voters approved a $30 million Maine Trails Bond package (LD1156), to be awarded as competitive grants for the design, development, and maintenance of trails statewide.

For the next four years, the State of Maine Bureau of Parks and Land will make available $7.5M annually to clubs and municipalities, of which 25% will be specifically awarded for motorized trails, and another 50% for multiuse trails.

Clubs and municipalities will be required to match at least 10% of their applied-for amounts, which is why riders’ membership is more crucial now than ever before. Last year’s storms did a tremendous amount of damage to trails that were not covered by any type of funding, so this opportunity for grants couldn’t have come at a better time.

According to Maine’s Department of

Now is a great time to join an ATV or snowmobile club. The cost is minimal; the benefits are tangible; there’s state referendum money in the pipeline for the next four years; and it’s a great way to contribute to the community.

This groomer is headquartered out of the Valley Riders Snowmobile Club, located in Bingham.

Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the state has over 14,000 miles of groomed trails, thanks to private landowners and the snowmobile clubs and their volunteers that maintain those pristine trails that you ride on each winter.

The Maine Snowmobile Association has over 280 clubs as members, and ATV Maine has more than 65 members. The noted difference in numbers is because many,

if not most, ATV clubs are also affiliated with snowmobile organizations.

Eighty percent of ATV trails are on private land, and ATV clubs and their members work with the State of Maine and private landowners to keep trails open, through partnerships and education for ATV riders.

Cost The cost of a membership is nominal.

A trail bridge being constructed by the Lexington Highlanders club. www.MaineSportsman.com

The Maine Snowmobile Association has an online membership form (MaineSnowmobileAssociation.com/ clubs) that covers the entire list of clubs. It’s as easy as filling in the blanks, and then clicking on your primary club choice.

What’s even better is that riders can support more than one club. For example, I like to support my local club, but if I also began spending a lot of time driving to the

Lexington, Greenville or Jackman regions, I could also click to support those clubs, and all for the low cost of $15 per membership for an entire family. The application is completed when you pay via PayPal. ATV Maine has a registration form available on their website, ATVMaine.org, and the cost is $30 for a club or $10 per membership for an individual or family.

Some clubs have individual club memberships that help offset the cost of groomer maintenance and fuel costs, but most clubs heavily rely on volunteers to run groomers and work to clear trails.

Benefits The benefits of joining a club are far more than just helping to keep the trails maintained and sustained. Clubs build community through special events and rides, fundraising, trail projects, and vol(Continued on next page)

Members of the Valley Riders Snowmobile Club rebuild a trail bridge.

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 29 (Continued from page 28)

unteerism. Children get an early start to altruism and community building, while enjoying the outdoors and family time.

In other words, being a member truly helps you give back to your community. Community is what sustains these clubs, in the form of donations of time, materials and equipment (including big equipment, like excavators) from area businesses.

ATV Maine provides $3,500 life and injury coverage to all ATV Maine primary members and their immediate families, including supporting

business owners. The organization also offers general liability insurance to all affiliated clubs. And the Maine Snowmobile Association offers two annual scholarships to its members.

Many clubs have been fortunate to have secured funding through grant requests to Polaris, Yamaha, Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, and the Conservation Fund. Valley Riders Snowmobile Club in Bingham secured a $20K Yamaha grant this past July to go toward the clubhouse being built for both the Valley Riders Snowmobile and Moose Alley Riders ATV clubs.

Most of all, clubs represent their members on the issues that matter, and the Maine Snowmobile Association and ATV Maine work hard to have riders’ voices heard when it comes to legislation, regulation and landowner relations.

Clubs also keep the public up to date on the conditions of the trails. Social media has been an especially helpful medium for clubs to get the word out regarding closed trails, freshly groomed trails, club meetings, and appeals for project volunteers.

Get Involved If you’re one of those people who don’t feel you have the time

Club supper at the Lexington Highlanders Snowmobile Club, located in Lexington/New Portland.

for one more commitment, or if time is creeping up on you and you’re physically unable to do what may be required, then consider supporting your club by one of the following: 1) become a club member anyway, 2) make an annual donation to your club, 3) recruit others to join the club, and

4) support club events by attending, sponsoring, donating goods, contributing food, and most important, supporting businesses that contribute to the club.

The next time you’re out on the trails, you’ll feel the difference, knowing you are making a difference.

¶

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Aroostook’s “Wait and See” Early Ice Fishing After ensuring safe ice thickness (and with your 2025 fishing license in hand), head for the protected coves, backwaters and eddies, where you can catch big smelt using a handline or a jigging rod.

Myriad options are available for celebrating the first day of a New Year. A surprising number of Aroostook’s outdoorsmen and women opt for ice fishing. Their brandnew 2025 ice fishing license is “burning a hole in their pocket,” so to speak, and January 1st is opening day on a lot of northern Maine’s waterways. Unlike a decade ago and before, over the last couple of years Mother Nature has dictated whether or not there would be early hard-water fishing at all, and where the few safe lakes and ponds might be.

Long Option I’ve been ice fishing for more than six decades, and while I’ve enjoyed the sport, the fact is that many of the outings have occurred simply because winter options for Aroostook anglers are limited!

I’m more of a “hands on” fisherman – without a rod in my hand, I feel like a spectator – and setting out tip-ups is more of a wait-andwatch game. However, I still get excited about handlining for smelt, and the fastest smelting on local lakes occurs during the first couple of weeks of safe ice.

If there’s not four inches of solid blue ice,

Allagash Lakes Region

this old boy is staying on shore! Use an ice spud or drill to check as you proceed outward, and it’s good to fish with a partner who keeps separate until a solid ice thickness is verified. For early season trips the last few years, I’ve worn a lightweight horse-collar style CO2 auto inflating PFD – better safe than sorry.

Long Lake on the Fish River chain yields fantastic smelt action this month – including very large smelt.

It’s all about finding a place to drill and handline safely. Last year, for example, there was still open water in the middle of the lake, but

Early ice fishing for smelt is top rate this month, and occasionally a nice trout or salmon will grab a jigged smelt bait. All photos provided by the author

jiggers were hauling up silver slivers by the dozen in St. Agatha Cove, which featured more than 5 inches of ice depth. Some sports were even able to set up portable huts for warmth and comfort.

I prefer 6- or 8-pound test monofilament hand lines on

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my handmade wooden holders, size 10 gold or red hooks, and a small non-toxic round sinker 12 inches above the hook. I may use a piece of shrimp, bacon, or Vienna sausage to catch the first smelt, which is immediately sliced and diced for fresh bait. The little silver cannibals love fresh meat, and if you filet and section carefully, and place your hook through skin on one side of the smelt slice, you may find that one piece of bait can be used to catch several smelt.

DeLorme’s Atlas, Map 68, B-3 overviews the far northern cove of Long Lake, where shallower water, no current and little wind often lead to earlier, thicker ice than the rest of the waterway.

Anglers who live nearby or know a shoreline (The County continued on page 32)

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 31

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32 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Keaton Engelholm of Rosebud Texas was visiting The County for work and hoping for snow. Instead, what he got was cold weather, and a great day ice fishing on Arnold Brook Lake.

The County (Continued from page 30)

resident can check on ice formation regularly, while others may need to travel, but believe me – the early smelt fishing is worth the effort.

A Pleasant Option My very first smelt fishing foray took place in a shanty rented from Joe Edwards at Birch Point Lodge on Pleasant Lake in Island Falls. Within a couple of years, I’d built my own smelt hut, and for decades I placed it above the shallow shoal 75 yards behind the main lodge. With family and friends, I’d travel from Mars Hill a couple of

times a week to enjoy great handlining for Maine’s smallest game fish.

Smelt jigging remains productive, and Pleasant Lake is still a top-rate location to visit this month. Joe Edwards Jr. rents huts, by the hour or the day, but there are far more amenities at Birch Point. Warm, cozy shoreline cabins may be rented to enjoy fishing, as well as riding snowmobiles, and traversing cross-country ski and snowshoe trails. There’s a wonderful restaurant on site open from Thursday through Sunday that boasts a diverse,

The Most Remote Hunting in the North Maine Woods Wilderness

Evan Charette of Portland enjoys the comfort of Granddad Sherby Morris’ smelt hut in St. Agatha cove on Long Lake. It’s a great way to introduce youngsters to ice fishing.

tasty menu, and for a change of pace from fishing to indoor fun, visit the bowling alleys downstairs.

My best smelt fishing occurred during the two or three hours around dusk and dawn throughout the season, but during the first couple of weeks of early ice, you can catch smelt anytime.

A lot of my friends prefer to visit Pleasant during the day, so they can set out tip-ups for salmon and trout, and over-watch them while handlining smelt from the cozy hut. DeLorme’s Map 52, grids 4 & 5 will overview the lake and best approach roads.

Smelt and Splake Scopan Lake, located between Presque Isle and Ash-

land, is also among my top trio of great early season smelting spots. Like the others, Scopan is simple to reach via well-plowed roads. It offers parking and easy lake access from at least two snow-cleared summer boat ramp locations.

This large boomerang-shaped waterway produces consistent smelt jigging in 15 to 25 feet of water roughly 60 yards out from the Walker Siding Road launch off Rt.163. Near Masardis, the Sterling Ridge Road off Rt. 11 leads to another ramp and cove with dependable fishing close to shore. Review DeLorme’s Maps 58 and 64 for a full overview.

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Tom Tardiff of Robinson fished a small lake near home early last season when safe ice was scarce and snow had yet to arrive.

Scopan harbors plenty of splake, with 16- to 18-inch hefty specimens of this brook trout/lake trout hybrid caught regularly. While I’m an old school handline, sinker and hook guy, more and more winter anglers are using short jig rods with spinning reels. Along with the asset of an actual drag system, the rods have some flexibility as well, just in case a twopound salmon, trout or splake grabs the bait when you’re expecting the tap-tap of a smelt! Many of these bait-bouncers are adding a small spinner above the hook to attract more fish of all sizes; I’d suggest silver or pearl.

While many ice drillers don’t share my penchant for catching three or four dozen smaller fish instead of one larger-size specimen, I maintain that for early ice action, smelt are the most dependable quarry, and they offer hands-on fishing. They also tend to be in coves, backwaters and eddies that freeze over earlier and thicker on most lakes.

Having said that, let me add that no fish is worth a January polar dip; be safe, and check ice depth thoroughly.

¶

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 33

— Guest Column —

Chasing Hounds

by Jim Fahey I have hunted snowshoe hare with beagles for nearly 40 years. Over the past four decades, I have seen various technologies develop to aid in the hunt.

I remember when the small Motorola handheld radios came out in the 1980s.

We thought we’d died and gone to Heaven. Those radios allowed us to communicate while in the field during the hunt and at quitting time. We were able to coordinate who was rounding up the dogs and who was staying put or returning to the vehicle.

This was back before GPS and cell phones. We carried compasses, and knew how to use them. We also knew how to circle, cut and follow dog tracks when hunting on snow.

Tracking collars utilizing radio telemetry were around, but we didn’t have them. We simply had someone try to stay within earshot of the dogs at all times. We didn’t hunt on real windy days, and we didn’t hunt late in the day.

We still had some days where we spent a fair amount of time hunting for the dogs, never mind trying to find a hare.

Occasionally we would lose a dog and have to go home without it. A tried-andtrue method of recovery in those days was to leave a hunting jacket on the ground in the area being hunted. Oftentimes, upon returning later that night or the next morning, the hunter would find his hound curled up on the coat.

Modern Technology The modern-day hunter, myself included, has many advantages. We now have improved two-way radios and cell phones for enhanced communication.

We also have GPS systems to aid in navigating through the woods and returning to the truck.

Tracking collars that communicate with the GPS are essential equipment for those hunting with dogs, particularly hounds. If charged and functioning properly, there is really no reason not to return home with your dog at the end of the day.

The Garmin Astro system that I use is invaluable. I am so reliant on it now that I am hesitant to hunt without it. A lost dog is potentially vulnerable to cold weather exposure, attacks by coyotes, theft, or getting hit by a car or train. My dog is one of my best friends, and I want him in his kennel at night.

Modern technology has made it much easier to keep track of your hunting dogs. As the story of Reggie the lost beagle makes clear, that wasn’t always the case.

Tired, lame and hungry, Reggie makes his way toward his rescuer after more than three days in the deep woods near Old Town. Photos by Jim Fahey

We can now hunt with confidence in windy conditions and later in the day, without fear of losing a dog. A compass is still recommended, as are a headlamp and extra batteries for the GPS. Woods skills and preparedness mitigate issues that may arise, such as a long-winded hare leading the hounds deep into the woods late in the day.

Reggie the Lost Beagle Preparedness aside, things still can and do happen. Ten years ago, in October of 2014, I learned of a lost beagle in a large block of woods behind a gate in the greater Old Town area. The dog, Reggie, was not wearing a tracking collar, but had been packed in with some hounds that did. He did have a training collar on.

Somehow, he got separated from the pack, and couldn’t be located at the end of the day. The hunters had to return to their home state of Connecticut the next day, and they were naturally very concerned about the dog.

I was the District Game Warden at the time. As I recall, I found out about Reggie just before a scheduled day off.

I specifically went hunting there with my hounds the next day, to see if their barking or any gunshots might bring Reggie around. No luck – he didn’t show.

A couple more days went by. I returned to the area in my Warden truck with a plan to cruise out the entire road system.

I slowly drove the roads. On my way back out of the woods, I stopped on a straightaway and ate my lunch.

Within a few minutes, Reggie appeared in the road! He was some kind of tired.

I jumped out and got a lead on him. I led him to the truck, and gave him some water and a bit of my lunch. I made him comfortable. He was lame, and the training collar had chafed his neck raw in one place. Other than that, he appeared okay.

I called the Connecticut hunters’ local contact where they had stayed while in Maine. I conveyed the good news, then delivered Reggie to a warm, dry kennel at a residence in Old Town.

Hunting Dogs – Part of the Family I participated in countless searches for lost people over my 25-plus year career as a Maine Game Warden. I have to say that finding Reggie was about as satisfying as any search I was ever part of.

Overall, hunters, especially those who hunt with hounds, are far better equipped now than 40 years ago. Communications and GPS tracking collars are common, practically the standard, for the modern day hunter. These hunters have a lot invested in their dogs.

They feed, care for, train, condition and hunt with them.

They love them like part of the family. That is one thing that hasn’t changed in the last 40 years.

¶

www.MaineSportsman.com

34 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

The Old Man and the Deer Woods “What do you think, buck? What’s the best way to get you out to the road?”

He was not sure when he started talking aloud to himself in the deer woods. But he was certain that he didn’t do it as a young hunter.

He was an old man now, who still-hunted alone and as far from the roads as the short November days would allow.

The buck had died more than a mile from the waiting truck. The deer made a critical mistake by following his scrapeline through the hardwoods with the slight morning breeze at his back. There was no reason for him to think that an old man would be there, leaning against a tree, standing still on a granite outcrop with a rifle slung over his shoulder.

A thousand identical places in the buck’s territory had no hunters perched on ledges watching for him that morning. Ten minutes earlier and the old man would not yet have arrived. Twenty minutes later and he would have already passed through.

“Good luck for me, buck. Bad luck for you.”

The deer didn’t respond.

The old man finished the field dressing. And after attaching a drag stick to the antlers with a short rope, he asked again which way was easiest to get to the road.

Still no answer.

Technology Failure The old man knew the GPS in his pack would be useless. The little toy was wonderful for showing him where he was in the woods. But after hunting this mountain for over 40 years, he already knew that answer. And the simple straight-line course the device would show to his truck was a lie.

Here on this mountain, the straightest, shortest route by distance was always the wrong answer. Following it would take longer and be more difficult than any one of a half-dozen other options.

The cell phone he carried was equally useless. Even if cell service was available, there was nobody to call for help.

The old man’s children lived their lives far away. Many of his oldest hunting companions had given up the deer woods, and most were not well enough www.MaineSportsman.com

For many years, the author has carried a small paperback copy of Earnest Hemingway’s 1952 novella “The Old Man and the Sea” in his hunting pack. He says he considers it the single greatest hunting story ever told. Here, with apologies to “Papa,” he offers a Mainer’s take on this classic.

Far from the road. Jim Andrews photo

to be of much assistance. Those who persisted sat in ground blinds and treestands close to the roads. They would be glad for his success, but they had their own hunts to pursue this morning.

The buck lay at his feet.

He loved hunting alone and on foot.

But he was not as strong as he had once been. He could not hunt as far out from the roads. And he had less interest in the killing.

It had been several Novembers since dragging was necessary. But it was a part of the hunt. He would do it alone.

The Drag He started south, almost in the opposite direction of his goal, but side-hilling along the contour of the mountain. The dry hardwood leaves helped.

“I think you and I weigh about the same, buck.” Aloud again.

In steep spots, the deer’s backside slid sideways, downslope, where the rear legs tangled on brush and rocks.

The deep leaves hid obstructions that sometimes caused him to trip. He would

have fallen often, but for the tension of the rope between him and the deer.

“Short pulls and long breaks,” he told himself. “I have all day.” But it was tempting to not abandon the momentum of the moving weight. Starting from a full stop was harder work. So, he pulled until nearly exhausted each time before resting.

He crept along the contour, losing or gaining elevation only when necessary to avoid an obstacle. During one stop he removed his outer shirt, gasping for breath in the cool air.

“My heart is beating faster than yours, buck.”

Uphill In an hour he found what he was looking for. The half-remembered trace of an old skidder trail that followed a natural ramp up the mountain. Here he turned ninety degrees and began the uphill climb toward a shallow saddle in the long ridge that obstructed his path to the road.

The trail offered some relief from obstructions, but the grade was punishing. The old man repeatedly adjusted his grip on the rough drag stick. Leaning as far forward as possible, and forcing himself uphill with short steps, he could just barely progress against the deer’s weight.

“I think this may be my last time, buck,” he gasped aloud at one point.

“Maybe, I shouldn’t go out so far again.”

Hours passed. And the pain and exertion became as tangible as the bare granite stones the old man struggled past. After reaching the saddle at the crest of the ridge, he sat and then reclined back on the leaves, resting completely for the first time since shooting that morning. His breathing finally quieted.

It would be nothing to die here, he thought. But it would also be nothing to get to the road. The downhill slope lay before him.

“The killing is less important to me now,” he muttered as he turned his head to look at the deer lying near him in the dry leaves.

“Although, I loved the killing as much as the rest of it in my early life.”

¶

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 35

Page Camp Revisited In my December column, I talked about the attempted theft of a wagon wheel chandelier from the AWW Page Camp in T11R13. Here is some additional information on that story.

mental Responsibility (Peer.org): The costs of repair at the Page Camp continued to climb, finally ballooning to three times the original estimates by the summer of 1997. In the fall, with repairs almost completed, the Page camp was destroyed by fire.

[An influential state senator] and his friends in the Bureau leadership immediately used the opportunity to replace it with a newer, modern structure that was closer to his headquarters on the Allagash: [name redacted] Sporting Camps. The new location was to be less than 1,000 feet from state ownership in T13R12.1 Page Camp Renovated – More or Less Today, folks paddling Long Lake can see a heavy steel firebox sitting along the east shore of the lake. It was left behind by a culprit who tried to steal the insert from the stone fireplace at the Page Camp.

is still sound; all we need to do is to cover the area with preservative, and the wall will last for years.” I disagreed, and instructed him to replace the decay.

Two weeks later, my maintenance mechanic and I accessed the site by foot trail. Strangely, we found the unfinished site void of any lumber, generators, or construction material. The next day, I unsuccessfully tried to phone the contractor.

Some time later I received word that the Page Camp had burned. Eventually, Conservation Commissioner Ron Lovaglio gave me several pictures he had taken of the burning camp while flying over.

While the aerial photo images showed an extremely hot blaze, they were too blurry to make clear identifications.

Location of Long Lake Page Camp.

Credit: DeLorme’s Maine Atlas & Gazetteer, Map 61

After rescuing the state property, I placed the artifact in my canoe and motored to the Umsaskis Thoroughfare. At the bridge, I saw a person closely watching my arrival. As the visitor limped towards my canoe, I noticed he was obviously suffering from back pain.

When I inquired about his health, the person dismissed my question, stating that he had strained a muscle. Seeing the wheel, he asked what I was going to do with it.

I replied that the artifact was going to be stored under lock and key. He grunted and turned to walk away, muttering, “the Senator isn’t going to be happy about that.” I called after him, “What did you say?” But he ignored my question, got into his truck, and left.

Later, I learned there was a political movement to build a $100,000 camp along the Allagash behind Round Pond’s Back Channel campsite in T13R12. This situation was described in a 2002 white paper by Public Employees for Environ-

Original building of Page Camp.

Before the attempted theft of the camp’s chandelier, the University of Maine of Fort Kent had requested to use the Page Camp for environmental studies. But the aged building needed renovations. So, The Parks bureau hired a contractor to do repairs. I was instructed to monitor the restoration.

Some time later, I canoed to the camp to check the status of repairs, only to find the work unfinished. During my inspection, I noticed a section of rotten wood in the middle of a back wall. To determine the depth of the dry rot, I pushed a small hardwood stick completely through the log.

When I questioned the contractor about plans to replace the rot, he became very defensive, claiming, “That log

Aerial photograph of forest fire in T14R9.

Courtesy of Maine Forest Service

Within days, rumors spread that an arsonist had destroyed the building.

State Fire Marshals investigated, but the fire had burned so hot there wasn’t any identifiable evidence.

So, Who Set the Fire?

During my early writing career, my wife and I attended sportsman shows to do book signings. At those events, we would often hear comments about overharvesting or poor fishing. We’d also receive questions about changes to the Allagash.

One spring at the State of Maine Sportsman Show in Augusta, a reputa(Ranger on the Allagash continued on page 38) www.MaineSportsman.com

36 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Something for Everyone in Katahdin’s Winter Playground Katahdin’s winter playground averages over eight feet of snow from the first-of-theseason storm to spring melt. That’s a lot of snow to play with, and motorized trail runners take full notice.

A connected system of 350-plus miles of groomed trails slices through the heart of one of America’s most pristine wilderness areas. Scenery and wildlife abound.

Modern four-stroke snowmobiles rule the trail these days. Sleds have come a long way.

As the owner of a 1970 snowmobile, I can attest to the advances in every category. Modern sleds have incredible suspension systems that make a day of touring back-friendly.

Without debate, they’ve gotten larger, faster, quieter and a

The region hosts snowmobilers and ice anglers in royal fashion. And if the fishing’s slow or the youngsters are restless, the author lists other activities to keep the day entertaining – fat-tire bikes, skates, and … kites?

The Katahdin Region’s 350-plus miles of world-class snowmobile trails bustle with activity this month. Many trail runners stop for a photo in front of the iconic “Keep Maine Beautiful” rock. Located just two miles before the south entrance to Baxter State Park, this may well be the most photographed rock in the north country. New England Outdoor Center photo

whole lot more comfortable. In the old days, 50 miles of riding required a chiropractor visit at the end

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of day.

Heated seats, handlebars and running boards take the edge off wintry weather conditions. That, combined with occasional stops for a hot beverage, let riders spend a real day touring this unmatched winter wonderland.

Chamber News The Katahdin Chamber of Commerce has an excellent website (www.KatahdinMaine.com) that provides folks new to the area with a plethora of information. From the all-important lodging options to current trail maps, this site points sled jockeys in the right direction.

Trail runners can

take advantage of the local snowmobile clubs’ chamber-provided contact information to get a real time pulse of the latest conditions.

These folks do the behind-the-scenes work that keeps the trails among the best-rated in the Pine Tree State.

For every smooth trail, some volunteer spent a sleepless night piloting a groomer through the hills and valleys, prepping for the next day’s sledding. Without grooming, the trails would quickly turn to washboard.

Washboard trails take a serious toll on both machinery and rider.

Make sure to bring a camera. Modern cell

phone cameras do an amazing job of capturing scenery. Everyone stops for photos at the iconic “Keep Maine Beautiful” rock found a few miles before the southern entrance to Baxter State Park.

This may well qualify as the most-photographed rock in Maine.

Hard Water Options Ice fishing opens this month, and hard water anglers eye some key waters in the region. The lakes in the Pemadumcook Chain, consisting of South Twin, North Twin, Ambajejus, Pemadumcook and Elbow Lakes, have plenty of ice to go around.

A little farther south, Seboeis Lake and Endless Lake offer anglers scenic ice fishing. However, those anglers can also take part in alternate activities on the ice.

Many folks overlook some of the forgotten ice sports that make perfect fillers in between chasing ice trap flags. Besides roasting hot dogs and boiling hot chocolate, anglers have many options to fill in the slow times.

When a friend of mine, the late Peter Suorsa, ice skated around a frozen lake, it was like watching poetry in motion. On the other end of the spectrum, and more my skill level, a good game of hockey always (Katahdin Country continued on page 38)

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 37

Ice Fishing for Musky Catching a musky had been on my bucket list for a while. A few years ago, my husband Travis and I made the trip to St. Agatha and fished open water for them in the St John River. Despite our 10,000 casts, we did not land “the fish of 10,000 casts” (the nickname for musky, since they’re so difficult to catch). So last winter, we headed back north to ice-fish for them.

Glazier Lake near St Francis is known for producing large muskies. I spoke with my friends Drake Voisine and Jared Ashley from that area, in hopes of gaining some insight.

I also emailed the fisheries biologist in the region, after finding his contact information on the MDIFW website. Frank Frost, the Regional Fisheries Biologist, replied and recommended we fish upper Glazier Lake.

He also provided updated snow conditions for the area, since it can be reached only by snowmobile. If you recall, last year was not a good snow year – in fact, the CanAm 100 in Fort Kent was canceled due to lack of snow.

Getting to Glazier Lake We left our AirBnB in St Francis in the dark, and drove to the Little Black Gate checkpoint in Dickey.

The thermostat on the truck read 15 degrees as we unloaded our

In just a few minutes, I had an iridescent green, toothy musky on the ice. I had succeeded in doing what we came here to do! I was thrilled. After a couple of photos, I released the musky back through the ice.

The author discovers that ice-angling on a remote Aroostook County lake is productive, but it’s also about more than just catching fish.

More Anglers A couple of locals arrived shortly thereafter, and set up their traps. One angler, with “Wayne Bernier Fishing Team” embroidered on the back of his Carhartt jacket, stopped to chat with me while Travis was out checking baits.

Wayne introduced himself, and I told him about the musky I had caught and released.

He encouraged me to keep the next musky we caught. I explained I was hesitant because I heard they were tough to filet, but he offered to filet it for me.

The author with her bucket-list fish. Travis Elliott photo

snowmobiles packed with gear. I towed our jet sled behind my machine, with our Jack Traps rigged with 4/0 hooks and 30lb fluorocarbon.

The riding was wonderful.

Moose tracks crossed the freshly-groomed trail.

We rode for 15 miles, which took 45 minutes, before arriving at a very steep bank down to the lake. Travis drove his snowmobile down, then he drove mine, while I walked down the precarious hill.

The low early-morning sun shone on the lake. There was no one else there. The land on the far side is New Brunswick, but Maine has an agreement with New Bruns-

wick that our anglers can fish all the way across the lake (in contrast with nearby Beau Lake, bordering Quebec, where anglers can only fish halfway across).

Quick Results We bisected the lake with our ten traps, using a mix of large shiners, suckers and sea run smelts.

Just thirty minutes after we were all set up, a flag from my deepest trap (in about 40’ of water) popped up.

I ran over and looked down the hole.

The reel was motionless, and I could tell by the different colors of the line I had on, that the fish had not taken much line. “Is it a musky?” I wondered.

I picked the trap

up, set it on the ice next to me, and began bringing in the line, hand over hand. Travis knelt across from me, ready to help lift the fish out of the hole if necessary.

“It feels heavy and strong!” I exclaimed with nervous anticipation. “It must be a musky!”

“Don’t muscle it too much – we have light leaders,” Travis coached.

A Larger Fish About an hour later, Travis got a flag and brought up his first musky, which was bigger than mine!

We kept his fish, and Wayne made good on his word and fileted

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38 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Travis Elliott with an 8-pound musky on Glazier Lake. Photo by the author

Jack Voisine (right) admires a musky held by his father Drake. Photo by the author

Maine Sportswoman (Continued from page 37)

the fish for us.

The action was slow but steady the rest of the day. We caught a couple of yellow perch. Drake and his son Jack arrived, and they cooked red hot dogs to go with our

venison sausage. Jared brought his family out, and at noon, his son Peter caught his first musky!

Jared’s traps were prepared with prerigged Kevlar leaders sold from the Lake

Ranger on the Allagash (Continued from page 35)

ble guide approached our booth. After a brief hello, he asked if the person who burned the Page camp had ever been found. “Not to my knowledge,” I replied.

Katahdin Country (Continued from page 36)

brings out one’s competitive spirit.

As kids, we would bring a couple of homemade nets, and make believe we were Bobby Orr, while at the same time keeping one eye on our designated ice trap. Ice skating comes in many flavors and is an often-overlooked hard water activity.

The self-propelled crowd has taken a turn at fat-tire mountain biking on the ice. With granny gearing, motorcycle sized tires outfitted with metal studs, and a little determination, one can navigate all over a frozen lake.

Some riders use their ice bikes to check traps and visit competing anglers. It’s certainly a much slower-paced www.MaineSportsman.com

Road Store, which seemed to work well. A couple of hours later, they caught another one, and I chafed off a big musky at the hole.

As we were packing up, Jared’s daughter Piper landed the biggest musky of the day! So five fish landed and one lost – not bad!

Jerod Ashley’s daughter Piper caught the biggest musky of the day. Photo by the author

When it came time to leave, Wayne and his friends helped our group get their sleds up the hill, towing the older sleds that didn’t have picks on their tracks, or that were hauling heavy loads in their jet sleds.

Back in St. Francis, Travis and I were

happy, having succeeded in our goal to catch musky on a beautiful winter day with friends. For dinner, Drake cooked the most delicious potato leek soup with ployes.

A true County experience!

¶

“Well,” my friend continued, “I was camping at the Inlet Campsite on Round Pond in T13R12 right after the fire, when a person in a canoe paused to talk. I inquired if he had heard about the torching. “Yes,” he confidently replied. “The fire was deliberately set to collect on the insurance money, a practice also known as ‘selling the building to Hartford’.”

1

and more environmentally-friendly approach than slapping the throttle on a snowmobile. I’ve even seen bikes that are specifically designed for snow and ice travel – they sport a ski in the front, in lieu of a front tire.

On more remote lakes with no other anglers around, putting the crosshairs on a coyote keeps everyone on their toes. A little bit of bait combined with some calling can create some quick excitement. Use caution, and be respectful of other anglers, when taking part in this activity.

Take a page out of the Bill Sheldon playbook. As kids, my brother and I had kites. Yup, low tech, inexpensive kites. Of course, being just a little odd compared to normal kids, I had my kite tied to an old saltwater fishing pole.

Worked sweet. I called it fishing in reverse. We filled in the slack times on the ice by fighting that imaginary fish in the sky. No breeze went to waste, as those cheap kites kept us kids amused during lulls in the action, not to mention that I got a little “fish-fighting” experience.

The older anglers roasting hot dogs got a kick out of watching kites tickle the skyline.

Bottom line? There’s something for everyone in Katahdin’s winter playground.

Reverse Fishing One last thought on fun alternatives or additions to ice fishing; namely, kite-flying! Frozen lakes offer wide, expansive areas. Often, the wind comes whipping across the hard water with reckless abandon.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility “Losing Paradise, The Allagash Wilderness Waterway Under Attack 2002, page 19 ***** Tim Caverly has authored thirteen volumes about Maine’s northern forest.

For more information see www.AllagashTails.com

¶

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��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 39

Find What Works for YOU!

by Joe Kruse The Good Old Days In a time when we have so many options for gear and a literal world of information at our fingertips, it can sometimes be a challenge to find what works best for ourselves.

In the “old” days of tracking, hunters didn’t have to consider nearly as much when it came to how they were going to dress and what they would carry for a weapon, simply because options were limited. Wool clothes and a trusty lever gun with iron sights were what was available, so deciding over the latest and greatest waterproof camo outerwear and a high tech gun/scope combination wasn’t a thing.

It can be argued that a lack of options actually made hunters more proficient, because you had what you had, and the only option was to get good with it.

Figure It Out I’ve been guilty myself over the years of switching things up because of success that others have had with their equipment or way of hunting. A good example of this is when I decided to start using a peep sight after having used a scope for much of my hunting career.

It made perfect sense to me, as I was tired of dealing with snow in the scope, and it carried so much better,

Our guest that day had a different approach. He stated that he would run after the deer when first jumped, then slow down when the buck did. He’s also had great success over the years with his method, and said he arrived at it because he lacks the patience to wait that long. This is just another example of getting the job done with different approaches.

Joe Kruse advises hunters to avoid following the crowd, but rather to find out what rifle, clothing and tactics are the best match for their individual skills, strengths and limitations. Photo provided by Joe Kruse

never mind the fact that most of the successful trackers were using them. I had no issues when I was at the range shooting at paper, but after missing two nice bucks, I came to the realization that I’m a scope guy and that’s what works for me.

In my case, I don’t feel that it was a lack

SS

of practice, but rather an issue with my eyesight. It’s something I had to learn the hard way, but that’s always the best teacher.

Another example of using what works for you was discussed on a recent podcast we recorded. The discussion was on whether to wait 30 minutes after jumping a buck

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for the first time, or keep right after him.

As anyone who follows Hal knows, he’s a sitdown-and-eat-a-sandwich guy. It’s what he’s found has worked for him over the years, and it’s really hard to argue with his success.

We’re All Built Differently Reading, watching, and listening to how others do things should serve only as a starting point. Like most everything worth doing, it’ll take time, and probably won’t come easy. Don’t get discouraged in the process, and forget trying to be like anybody else.

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40 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Big Woods World (Continued from page 39)

takes, and anyone who has spent much time in the woods has made plenty of them. Take tips and tricks from a those who have found their own success, and try them. Some will work and some won’t, but in the end you will find what works for you.

Hal Blood’s Thoughts I agree with Joe

that every hunter needs to be themselves and figure out what works best for them.

For years I’ve been telling hunters not to try and be me, because it’s painful! I developed my system for success in the deer woods years ago through trial and error. I had no one to teach me about Big Woods hunting, so I set out to teach myself.

I soon realized that

the bucks were the ones I needed to learn from.

Not only did I learn the habits and behavior of the bucks that roam the big woods of the north, I also learned what clothing and equipment was best suited for the job.

I always wore a wool jacket and pants, but over time I zeroed in on the best boots, socks and undergarments to keep me dry and comfortable on the nastiest weather days.

I also started off

my Big Woods adventures with a scoped bolt-action Remington.

I quickly learned that keeping a scope clear was always a problem on the foul-weather days. I tried the Remington 7400 semi-auto carbine with a peep sight for a year, because I bought it cheap.

I didn’t like the way it carried, and it seemed a little heavy, so the next year I decided to try the 7600 pump. I think I paid $395 for it, back in

1988. I put a peep sight on it and was ready to roll.

That turned out to be the ticket for me. I liked the way it carried, and I was used to shooting a Remington 870 pump, so it was a natural switch.

To this day, I carry that same rifle, and it has served me well.

Today there are many more options than when I got started, so figure out what works for you!

¶

Biggest Bucks Preview –

Get Your Applications In Now! Our next issue, which we are currently compiling, will contain a list of “Biggest Bucks in Maine” patch club winners for the 2024 season. If you tagged a 200-lb.+ deer this past year, and if you want your name to appear in the February, 2025 special issue, complete and mail the application immediately. You can find the application online at www.MaineSportsman.com/ patch-clubs. Follow the instructions regarding completing the application and providing photographs. Applications must be mailed by December 31st, to have your name listed in our February issue.

Butch Earns Another Patch Butch Desanctis of Durham is an accomplished outdoorsman and guide, as demonstrated when he tagged this 211-lb., 10-pt. whitetail buck in Sandy River Plantation on November 12, 2024.

For Butch, a Maine Sportsman subscriber, it’s the third 200-lb.+ buck of his hunting career. The big deer was registered by John Dugan at Rivers Edge Sports in Oquossoc. www.MaineSportsman.com

Emily Tags Her Big Buck in Mt. Vernon Emily Williams of Mt. Vernon was hunting in her hometown on November 9, 2024 when she tagged this 200-lb., 8-pt. buck, using her .270. She brought the trophy to Vicki Laflin of Fayette for certification. Welcome to the Biggest Bucks in Maine patch club, Emily!

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 41

Beginnings Every single day is an opportunity for a fresh start. We tend to feel like we’re locked into the pathway of our life, as though we can’t choose to do something different. We get caught up in the day-to-day tasks and the motions that we’ve become accustomed to – work, chores, dinner, events, and on and on.

That routine is familiar and generally good for us. Occasionally, though, it is good to step back and ponder the specifics of that routine and perhaps make some changes.

We don’t want to look back after 20 years and realize we missed out on some of the things that we wanted in life. The turning of the calendar is a prime time to do this. While I’m no fan of New Year’s resolutions, I do think a conscious exploration of our lives is important now and then. Are there new experiences to have?

Can I add something to one aspect of my life that will yield significant returns? Is there something I should subtract that doesn’t benefit me anymore?

For the hunter and angler, there are obvious things to reflect on. Is there a dream hunt on your list that it’s time to start working on? Did last season go how you wanted it to? Do you need to change things up, whether that is for more success or more

January is a time to reflect, but more important, to look forward. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago,” reads one of the author’s favorite proverbs, which continues: “The secondbest time is today.” enjoyment? I take a lot of time off to hunt, and I get the, “Must be nice,” remark regularly. And then I turn around and have the same attitude when I look at someone doing something I want to do that I feel like I can’t achieve. We often fail to recognize the choices and sacrifices that people make to put themselves in a position to be where they are. So, January, more than for resolutions, might be a time to shift the pathway and the attitude for the next year.

Right Now In Vermont, we had some changes in the last election that I hope makes our legislative branch of government a little more friendly to hunters, anglers, and trappers.

In every state, we should each be reaching out to our representatives at every level of government to introduce ourselves and begin to weigh in on what we, as constituents, want. Being polite is key with this; we’re looking to establish a working relationship and have them understand where we’re coming from. When I write in, I always thank my

ing into things now. If you’re going with an outfitter, start your research. Don’t waste their time if you’re not serious, but begin to get references and make some decisions about where you want to go and what you want the hunt to look like. Tag draws for western states start now, so getting the points business figured out will benefit you as you work on the plan. I speak to a number of people who want to go West, but haven’t done the leg work to know what applications look like and what’s realistic. These trips aren’t cheap, so start squirreling away some cash, too.

The author found this signpost rub when he changed how he worked his way up through a saddle.

Changing our pathway a little can yield some positive results.

Matt Breton photo

reps for their service, regardless of how they vote or what their party affiliation is. Stay vigilant in the coming months for more attempts to alter our way of life.

Looking Ahead If a new adventure is in your plans, don’t wait. Start look-

Looking Out Even Further I like the proverb, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today.” Fitness, for hunting and life, is a lot like planting that tree. As a physical therapist in my work life, I think getting started with a good, sustainable routine now, that we can remain consistent with long-term, will yield better results than any one impressive session. Walking regularly and moving

a few weights will get the job done. Nothing too heavy or crazy is needed. The basics are simple. Consider booking a session or two with a trainer to get started, grab a couple of dumbbells or sandbags, and get after it.

We don’t need to be bodybuilders to make some gains. If you’re already training and want to step it up further, go for it. My buddy, Adrian, over at Ridgeline Athlete, has what I would call advanced programming, available online. If you have the trip of a lifetime, or a life of adventure planned, reach out to him (www.ridgelineathlete.com).

My own approach for the year ahead will include much of the standard stuff, except I’ve got some extra vacation time banked.

I’m hoping to pull a double and get out West to both hunt and guide. As far as the life pathway adjustment, I’m working on expanding some skill sets that should add a few more opportunities to my hunting and fishing pursuits, so that I can spend even more time in the woods. While I’m not there yet, turning 50 isn’t too far off, and when I do get there, I hope to be working harder during my ‘time off’ than I do in my day job. Just don’t tell my boss, OK?

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42 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

A Resource Worth Celebrating The wind was completely wrong to be hunting this property.

However, my intentions were to fill one of my antlerless tags, before focusing on bucks.

The northwest wind kissed my right ear as I worked slowly to the first field. My goal was to proceed quietly to the far southern end of the property before heading west and eventually back to the north.

As I got halfway across the first field, I

Fritzi, Suzanne Hamilton’s tracking dog, was all business. Quickly, she was on the track toward the spot where I’d jumped the deer. Approximately 90 yards into the track, Susanne said the words I wanted to hear. spotted a fawn making its way west. Picking up my gun, I noticed two more fawns, and then the doe. “No way I’m shooting a producer like that,” I thought, as they finally noticed me. I let them sneak off.

Approaching a fa-

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miliar hedgerow, I spotted another deer, about 100 yards away.

I reached down to increase my scope’s magnification, keeping my eyes on the deer. A flash of antler got my heart pounding. “Don’t be big,” I said, quietly.

As I raised my rifle, a gust of wind hit me in the neck. The buck jerked his head in the air. I knew he’d caught my scent.

Peering through the scope, I saw half his rack. Was he the big nine-point I had

the

32

on camera? His large body convinced me he was. I centered my crosshairs on the back of his stomach (he was quartering away hard) and proceeded to jerk to heck out of the trigger.

Calling in the Dogs After 45 seasons in the deer woods, I know when I’ve made a mistake. I had just returned from a twoweek wing-shooting trip, but my rifle finger had apparently not returned.

At the shot, the buck hunched and trotted away, tail tucked.

Waiting five minutes, I started walking toward the spot where he’d been standing.

As I passed through the hedgerow, a deer took off from the area where the buck had run. Was that him? I crept to the spot where he’d stood when I shot.

A quick search revealed no hair and no blood.

It was time to call Susanne Hamilton.

Best Tracker In my opinion, Susanne is the best tracker of wounded deer in Maine, and likely among the best in the country. Su(Continued on next page)

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I had hit it. Now we needed a lethal shot.

Roughly 400 yards into the track, on regular blood, I was thinking we should give the deer time.

Twice, Susanne and I had smelled the blood and agreed that it smelled like paunch.

This made sense on a quartering-away shot.

We decided to back out until 3:00 p.m.

(Continued from page 42)

sanne and her longhaired Dachshunds are absolute masters at finding wounded game. I’ve worked with her a few times before, and I completely understand the “do’s and don’ts” of what to do after the shot.

Being opening day of deer season, I’d need to act fast to get my name on her list. I called her, and she explained that she had another hunter call right before me, and needed to see them first.

Ten minutes later, I received a text from her: “The last hunter stumbled onto their deer while walking out. I’ll be on to you first.”

My confidence grew immensely upon receiving that text.

This is exactly the feeling every hunter should have when Ms. Hamilton is on their side. Trackers are one of the best resources Maine deer hunters have.

All Business Susanne arrived at 9:00 a.m., and I brought her directly to

The author holds Fritzi, a 5-½-year-old tracking master (German long-haired Dachshund) owned by Suzanne Hamilton. Accompanying the author is longtime hunting buddy Tom Green. Tom came along to witness the excellent work performed by Susanne and her little dog. The author believes Susanne is among the best deer trackers in the country and beyond.

the spot the buck had stood in the field. Her dog doesn’t just track blood; rather, this dog tracks individual deer.

I was purposefully vague about the buck’s movements when we started, because I wanted to allow the dog to work, and not steer it.

Susanne’s dog Fritzi is five and a half

years old. She’s been on over 1,000 tracks, and has recovered more than 300 animals for hunters.

This little dog is all business. Quickly, she was on the track toward the spot I’d jumped the deer. Approximately 90 yards into the track, Susanne said the words I wanted to hear: “I

have blood.”

By the way the buck reacted, I knew

A Quick Recovery on the Second Try When Susanne came back at 3:00 p.m., I suggested that we approach the last blood from a different angle. Though Susanne had reservations, she trusted me and agreed.

Partway in, while we were walking on an old logging road, Su(Big Game continued on page 45)

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44 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

A Savage for All Seasons The .250 Savage packs quite a wallop. In fact, the late Frank C. Barnes, writing in Cartridges of the World, said of the .250, “It is far superior as a deer cartridge to the .30-30 or anything in that class, regardless of what some .30-30 addicts claim.” Strong words!

Happy New Year!

Here’s to prosperity in the months ahead, and four seasons filled with days afield.

For most of us, the cold, dark, often stormy days of January represent the nadir of the shooting and hunting year. But the bright, clear, sunny days of this first month do offer opportunities for shooters of every leaning.

For stout-hearted Mainers, some good hunting remains in the small game and varmint categories.

There is even some late season waterfowl-

ing still legal for a few more days. Shotguns rule for waterfowlers, and also largely among hunters of snowshoe hare. Hunters after the bigger game of winter – coyote, fox or bobcat – most often choose center-fire rifles and cartridges designed for the task.

Characteristically, small-caliber, flat-trajectory, and fast-moving rounds prevail.

Popular to the point of dominance today are cartridges such as the .204 Ruger, .223 Remington (5.56X45mm), .22-250 Remington, .243 Win-

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chester, 6mm Remington, and 6.5mm Creedmoor.

Closing from behind would be the .224 Valkyrie, .22 Nosler, 6.5mm Grendel, 6.5mm PRC, and several other similar calibers.

As contemporary as these might be, the genesis of this class of cartridge occurred well over a century ago, and that original design continues to take game, and influence ballistic developments in the present day. Known then as the .250-3000 Savage, today we refer to it simply as the .250 Savage.

The successful .250 Savage was the first commercially-available round to achieve a velocity of 3,000 feet per second. It also became the base for the .22-250 Remington. Photo: Savage Arms

Designed by Charles Newton, the .250-3000 was introduced to the public by the Savage Arms Company in 1915 as a chambering in their Model 99 lever-action rifle. It was the first commercially available cartridge to exceed 3,000 feet per second. The success

of the hot little round with its 87-grain bullet encouraged Savage to soon chamber it in their Model 20 and Model 40 bolt-action rifles. Seeking improved terminal performance on large game led Savage to introduce a 100-grain .250 Savage bullet in 1932.

Growing Popularity By the mid-1930s, reacting to Savage’s success with the .250 round in both the lever-action and the two bolt models, Winchester offered the cartridge in its Model 54 and Model 70 bolt-actions. A renaissance of the Savage Model 99 in the 1970s convinced Remington, Ruger, and others to offer rifles made for the diminutive but potent .250 Savage.

The late Frank C. Barnes wrote in Car(Continued on next page)

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 45

Other rifle makers such as Winchester embraced the .250 Savage as a viable chambering – in this case, for the Winchester Model 70 bolt-action. Photo: Winchester Repeating Arms (Continued from page 44)

tridges of the World, “Flat trajectory, outstanding accuracy and good killing power on anything up to and including deer are established characteristics of the .250 Savage.”

Accounts exist from the 1920s and ’30s of the .250 Savage used successfully in Alaska for caribou and moose.

Obviously a fan, Barnes further said of the .250, “It is far superior as a deer cartridge to the .30-30 or anything in that class, regardless of what some .30-30 addicts claim.”

Strong words, but no doubt its flat trajectory gives the .250 a marked advantage over the .30-

30 at ranges beyond 75 yards.

With Maine’s deer season finished, it is probably best to concentrate on the appropriateness of the .250 Savage for the hunting we do have available in January, and that would be the so-called varmints. With due respect to chickens and anyone who raises them, I admit that calling Maines’ coyotes, bobcats and foxes “varmints” does not come easy. They are fine game animals (except for the eating part) and pursuing them during these days of deep winter is as noble as any other kind of hunting.

Anyone setting out to hunt fox, bobcat or

Big Game (Continued from page 43)

zanne spotted a drop of blood the size of a pea. The buck had made it another 150 yards to this point from last blood.

Fritzi was on the track quickly and began to yip. This meant she was close.

Within 100 yards, we came upon my buck, expired. Success is sweet!

The Ethical Thing is to Find the Deer That buck hadn’t been dead long,

coyote in the Maine woods would do well to consider the .250 Savage. It is a superb cartridge for this type of hunting. The original 87-grain and later120-grain bullets are no longer factory loaded. However, HSM loads an excellent 75-grain V-Max bullet, and Hornady offers a jacketed soft point in 100 grains. Hand-loaders have numerous options, from 60 and 87 grains, up to 100 and 117 grains.

Moving Forward Embracing the .250 Savage now does not mean embracing some archaic relic of a bygone era. Despite its 110-year age, it remains a viable option

in any hunter’s tool kit.

Likely, the .250 Savage would retain popularity today, were it not for Winchester’s 1955 release of the .243 Winchester, another fine round. After the mid1950s, enthusiasm for the .250 waned, particularly during the period when Savage stopped offering the famous Model 99 in that chambering.

If we circle back to Frank Barnes, we find another cogent reason for taking up the .250.

In his analysis of the .250 for Cartridges of the World, he stated, “Because of its light recoil, it is an excellent choice for youths and women.” Youth and women—the future of

and who knows if he’d bedded earlier.

Had we not waited an extra five hours and given him time, we may not have recovered him. Listening to Suzanne the tracker, with her skilled dog and their experienced teamwork, paid off again.

I’ve witnessed people online harassing other hunters for employing a tracker and their dogs. Some hunters are even embarrassed to use them.

However, I see these people and dogs as an excellent tool that hunters should never hesitate to use. There’s

Savage Arms originally offered the .250 in the year 1915, in their groundbreaking Model 99 lever-action rifle.

Photo: Col. JC Allard

our sport.

What could be better for the future of Maine hunting than to get a novice armed with an accurate, light-recoiling rifle into the woods on a crystalline January day and onto the track of a challenging critter?

¶

far more sadness and embarrassment in losing a deer than in getting assistance from a tracker. The animal deserves a quick, clean kill. When the shot is off, the animal deserves every effort from us to recover it. As a responsible sportsman, I’ll always err on the side of caution, and utilize all my resources. Sportsmen who do the same should be unapologetic.

Thanks again to Susanne and Fritzi for doing a great job!

¶

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46 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Ice Fishing 2.0 Ice fishing was not always so, let us say, comfortable. Having spent 60-years trying to hook fish beneath the hard water has revealed a few changes.

Some would say it’s not your grandpa’s sport anymore. Heck, it’s not even my father’s sport anymore. Technology has ushered in a kinder, smarter, and yes, warmer experience.

My father had an old gray sweatshirt tucked behind the seat of his truck. A jackknife cut relieved the neck area. My old man did not like suits or anything else tight around his neck.

It was his go-to gear when the wind kicked ice crystals across the lake.

The cut neck cotton sweatshirt did have one important

The author’s late friend, Lenny Potvin, had a knack for finding just the right spot to drill productive holes on hard water. The author learned a lot from this dedicated ice angler. Years ago, this photo graced the cover of The Maine Sportsman. Photo provided by the Potvin family

feature. A tattered hood that kept those same ice crystals from sliding down his neck.

It was a far cry from today’s weather resistant gear.

Fight the Cold The key to any successful ice fishing trip involves staying

warm. Many newbies stay away from hard water fishing after freezing their collective butts off. The sport got a bad wrap in those early years.

Today, anglers can spend a long day in sub-freezing temperatures by taking advantage of advances in winter weather gear.

No more freezing body parts. High tech thermal clothing makes that old sweatshirt obsolete. A popular set-up uses a one-piece design with extra waterproofing around the knees.

The age of battery powered heated clothing has arrived.

I know, electric socks have warmed cold feet for years. However, battery technology has advanced so much in (Continued on next page)

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recent years. Modern batteries are smaller and last longer than the old nine-volt transistor radio battery of my father’s era.

Beneath any conglomeration of cold weather clothing belongs a base layer.

This all-important accessory never touches the light of day but ranks high on the list for keeping warm.

These base layers do the critical job of retaining heat and wicking away perspiration.

Freezing sweat is the cause of most shivering. Stay dry!

Hand Warmers While my father’s truck had an old sweatshirt behind his seat, my pickup sports a box of chemical hand and foot warmers. I have socks and gloves that have built-in pockets to accommodate these user-friendly packets.

They go in my gloves, over my toes and in my pockets.

One of my insulated base layers has cargo pockets on both

legs. On real cold days when I’m not moving much, I slip a couple of “hot hands” down into those lower pockets.

Chemical hand warmers may just be the simplest and least expensive way to keep winter chills at bay. Paired with quality clothing these inexpensive packets bring staying warm and comfortable to the next level.

Augers Rule My dad used a wide bladed “ice chipper” to whittle holes in the ice. It was just a chisel blade welded to a piece of iron pipe.

Up and down it went, occasionally stopping to clear the chips. No drilling for us, just chipping...and more chipping. Each hole took forever.

Today most serious anglers have a motorized auger. For years gas operated augers ruled the ice. However, with modern battery technology running wild, battery-operated electric augers have arrived in force.

Power augers made “hole hopping” a legitimate strategy.

Because drilling holes takes mere seconds it easy to drill extra holes and jump from hole to hole throughout the day.

I have a hand powered auger that works well. My thought was that I wouldn’t have to deal with the internal combustion engine attached to an ice auger.

I wanted to save the cord pulling, cussing and drama of a small engine not wanting to start. This is common with engines used seasonally.

Now that the battery-operated augers have settled into the marketplace I’m rethinking my strategy.

The convenience and quiet of these units appeal to me. A couple of battery packs and I’ll be good to go. No more cussing.

Ice Shacks Ice shacks changed the game. Exposed ice fishing has few friends.

My father had little more than a five-gal-

lon bucket turned upside down to sit on.

First, wooden built shanties came along.

These showed up using everything from old boards to scrap plywood. As time wore on, they became more like miniature homes with carpeting and central heat. Custom shanties still make up the lions’ share of “ice villages” that spring up on Maine’s hard water.

Lightweight, portable, high-tech tents that pop up quickly and move from spot to spot effortlessly find favor with the modern, mobile ice angler. These insulated, heated units work well when fishing dif-

ferent bodies of water throughout the season.

And, of course, electronic fish finders my father could only dream about. With advanced sonar technology, mapping features tied to GPS and underwater cameras the game has really changed. My dad just chipped holes based on gut feeling. Today ice holes get located based on real time data.

Not all Jackman Region waters are open to ice fishing.

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¶

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48 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Enjoying the Wildlife of the Moosehead Region People are drawn to the Moosehead Region for many reasons, including fishing, hunting, skiing, snowmobiling and ATV riding. In addition to these sports, the area also offers unprecedented wildlife viewing.

Birds and mammals galore fly and prowl the woods, bogs and reverting clearcuts. The minute you venture off the main road, you are officially in prime wildlife viewing territory, often in places where moose outnumber people.

Paper company roads, both on and off Maine North Woods Association land, put you in the driver’s seat for wildlife viewing.

Even if you don’t fish or hunt, it’s worth a trip to the Moosehead region just to cruise the back roads,

If your job as a registered Maine guide calls for you to be outside in the woods and on the water all day, you have the ability to witness a multitude of wildlife images. And if you’re also a skilled photographer, you have the opportunity to share those images with the world.

Newborn moose. All photos by Eric Holbrook

camera at the ready, to view the area’s wildlife. It could stand as a trip of a lifetime, or even an annual trek.

The wildlife awaits.

But what about doing it every day –

being so immersed in the pulse of nature that you are able to put yourself in places, seemingly at will, where you can view sights others only dream of? I know such

a person, and if you are a regular reader, so do you.

Nature Guide His name is Eric Holbrook, a registered Maine guide work-

ing in the Moosehead Region. In addition to guiding anglers in spring and summer on Maine’s largest lake, and hosting guided bird-hunting trips with his cadre of trained retrievers, Eric also takes guests on moose-watching tours. Often, his tours involve more than just moose. Small mammals, deer, bobcat and a host of wild birds often show up during his jaunts. Eric recently saw and photographed a baby fisher – something few others have ever seen.

Even when not hosting tours, Eric continues to scout new areas. Break of dawn may find him in some remote valley, sunbeams filtering through the conifers and illuminating a baby deer, or perhaps (Continued on next page)

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A bald eagle with a fish in its talons.

Bull moose.

Button-horn buck.

Baby grouse.

(Continued from page 48)

a cow moose and her newborn calves.

Eric always has his camera handy, seldom missing an opportunity to capture some fascinating, wild scene with his lens. He also has a refined sense of composition – how to set up a photo so as to increase the visual effect of whatever he is photographing.

The ability to be in the right place at the right time, combined with his photography skills, have resulted in many astounding photos over the years.

Fortunately, Eric enjoys sharing his work with others, especially Maine Sportsman readers. The Moosehead column often includes one-ofa-kind snapshots from his wilderness travels.

Some of these are included in this column and with Eric’s permission, his work will continue to appear in future columns. I look forward to Eric taking us to places we have never been, through the lens of his trusty

Sunrise over Moosehead.

camera. I wonder what he will show us next?

Early Ice In years past, January 1st saw more-than-adequate ice cover on area lakes.

But that was then, and this is now. For the last several years, January has seen, at best, sketchy ice conditions.

Warmer winters, even here in the Moosehead Region, have caused later-than-normal ice formation.

Unsafe ice has the effect of reducing the duration of the ice-fishing season. Time lost up-front can’t be regained in the end. It is my opinion that this abbreviated ice-fishing season is at least partly responsible for the excellent open-water fishing enjoyed the following season. Sum-

mer access does little to comfort hardwater anglers, though. For many, ice fishing is their major passion, and a short season, on account of poor ice conditions, has a tremendous negative impact.

This is not to mention the loss to local bait dealers, tackle shops, snowmobilers, variety stores and ice-fishing guides.

Simply put, late ice stands as bad news for us all. But is this trend carved in stone? Hardly.

We all know that weather is fickle and unpredictable. Despite a string of above-average winters, it is always possible for things to make an abrupt turn-about.

Just as warmer conditions can appear

Eric Holbrook.

suddenly and without warning, so can cold, frigid conditions. Consider the winter of 1814, the “Year without a summer,” when the thermometer stood below freezing every month. Crops failed, and people perished. Perhaps half of Maine’s population took up stakes and headed west, to escape the barren conditions here. That was all caused by a volcanic eruption half a world away. We certainly don’t anticipate a return of that scenario, but it just goes to show the capriciousness of Maine weather.

Togue Time Given safe ice conditions, January brings anglers out, big-time. Since salmon season doesn’t open until February, togue and brook trout stand as the two key species now.

You might find togue anywhere, not just in deep water, as per late summer.

Brook trout, though, will hold closer to shore. No matter what you catch, the thrill of seeing that first flag of the season remains the same. Given safe ice, have fun.

¶

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50 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Weather’s Big Effect Upon LateSeason, Open-Water Trout Fishing With the advent of many rivers and streams being opened to fishing year-round, along with a string of mild winters, anglers have become accustomed to hitting the water throughout the fall and winter. Availability doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, however.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (DIF&W) has a policy of opening only rivers and streams that lack a natural trout fishery, meaning places where the water is too warm for longterm trout survival or where there is little or no natural spawning habitat. Thus, our year-round waters rely on stocking in order to meet angler demand.

As far as most anglers are concerned, that’s all well and good. Stocked trout fight as well as their stream-born brethren, and they taste great too, thanks to a healthy diet. So what’s the problem?

Well, DIF&W won’t stock rivers or streams when the water is too low to ensure

The author analyzes the different forces that combine to provide good early-winter fishing, or to prevent such fishing. Those factors include drought, stocking schedules, rainstorms, dam openings, and the instincts of trout to head for deep, oxygenated water.

Low water in fall means low stream flow in winter. Tom Seymour photo

more than just limited survival. So, other than a few carryover fish from spring stockings, many otherwise productive waters go fishless in winter. In some years, such as the 2024-2025 season, even the few carryover fish that remain are mostly unavailable, since they migrated to healthier environs.

Droughts Hurt Many of these streams and small

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rivers depend upon dam releases to provide sufficient water to keep stocked trout healthy. But during dry seasons, such as the current one, this too becomes a problem. Here’s why.

Most times, dams are opened in fall to lower the water to the point that shoreline docks and other structures do not suffer from severe ice damage. But when, going into the winter, the water in impoundments is already low, there is no need to open the floodgates.

So DIF&W refrains from stocking trout until such times as the dams are opened – if they are opened at all.

But by January, there

is little chance of that.

This means that the department’s hatchery division must stock the trout that were allocated in nowlow streams, in other places. This can result in unscheduled stockings in places that were already stocked.

This is done to free up hatchery space, in order to make room for the fish that are to be stocked the following spring.

So both carryover trout, if any exist, and newly stocked trout, become unavailable to anglers during times of drought.

Thus, while we have many year-round streams in our state, these mostly are bereft of fish for anglers to catch. You

can go fishing as much as you like, but you probably won’t catch anything. And that seems the case this season.

Providential Rains None of this means that the situation can’t change, and change quickly. This becomes especially true in yearround waters that feed into lakes and ponds, as well as streams and rivers that exit ponds that are not controlled by dams.

The solution lies in a heavy, prolonged rainstorm. We just didn’t see anything like that this fall, but oftentimes, early winter can bring soaking rains to Maine. This infusion of fresh water not only raises water levels, it also adds supplemental oxygen to the water. Trout that have sought protection in lakes and ponds sense the newly risen, well-oxygenated water, and re-enter the streams.

I have seen this happen even early in the year, during dry times. One of my local year-round rivers becomes fishless when water levels drop in early fall, and when the entity that controls the dam decides not to open the gates. But a powerful storm often causes concern, and they open the gates for safety’s sake, raising the water level. It only (Trout Fishing continued on page 52)

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 51

My 2025 Trout-Bum Plan Revealed I’ll start this New Year off with a huge amount of thankfulness for one of the best years of fishing I’ve ever had. At the same time, 2024 didn’t find me fishing as much as usual, for several reasons. Minor medical events kept me off the water, as well as several competing projects around home.

This year, I plan on exhausting all efforts to get out and fish more often. A typical fishing year has me on the water at least twice a week. At a minimum, I’d like to get back to that. Fishing is one of my favorite ways to find peace in this world.

On top of the “twodays-a-week” fishing program, I’m also wishing to do more camping with fishing as a top priority … and staying at lodges with lots of fishing close at hand.

As long as I’m wishing, I’d like to fish in some new places, too, or at least some places

Inspired by a classic John Gierach book, the author envisions a nomadic life with his wife and dogs chasing trout waters throughout the region and beyond. A lightweight pull-behind travel trailer, he believes, will be their ticket to paradise.

I don’t get to that often.

I’m thinking Salmon River, in Pulaski, NY; the Rapid River; Nesowadnehunk Lake; anywhere on the Penobscot River; Grand Lake Stream and surrounding lakes; or any of the multitude of wonderful brook trout ponds that are just out of reach in the North Maine Woods.

Fish Bum One of my favorite fly-fishing authors, John Gierach, is now fishing in the great stream of afterlife. He is missed by many – his passing leaves a huge hole in the literary world of outdoor writing.

Gierach authored quite a few books, but the one that really plucked at my heart-

strings was “Trout Bum.” I have always had a dream of living life as a traveling angler, and his book only added fuel to that fire.

I frequently envision myself creating a vehicle designed to match the life of a traveling angler. The hardest part of this thought process is trying to figure out how to talk my wife into the plan.

If I do this traveling with her and the two dogs, what do they

do while I fish? She does like kayaking, so if we camped near water, she could take one of the dogs with her, paddling around for a portion of the day.

I could fish mornings and evenings with the other dog, and hang out around the camp during the warmest part of the day when fish are less active.

We are considering getting a recreational vehicle, rather than staying at lodges all the time. I like getting

This book inspired the author to consider a traveling life in pursuit of fly-fishing opportunities.

way back in the woods, and I prefer camping and fishing in remote locations.

In my lifetime, I have been fortunate enough to stay in some fine lodges, and also (Continued on next page)

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52 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Freshwater Fly Fishing (Continued from page 51)

did loads of camping in tents, lean-to huts, old cabins, customized vans, camper/trailers, and large RVs. I’ve even slept right out in the open a few times, with nothing but a sleeping bag and a ground pad underneath, including one night when it snowed and the temperature hovered around zero!

Plan for 2025 Over the years I’ve written a lot in these pages about purchasing a camping vehicle. At present, I have my Tacoma set up for

camping, but have decided to get a pull-behind camping trailer of some sort.

I wanted to get a conversion van for camping, but decided against that because it would only be good for the life of the van … maybe 200,000 miles at the most. Most vehicles won’t last long before they experience some kind of mechanical failure.

A camping trailer, by contrast, will outlast several trucks.

When I purchase a new vehicle, I’ll just

Gene Bahr MASTER FISH CARVER & WILDLIFE ARTIST

The author has decided to acquire a camping trailer light enough for the Tacoma, and hit the road this year. Photo: Nancy Carpenter

make sure it is rated for pulling the camping trailer. My parents owned quite a few vehicles in their lifetime, and only had two campers over the years – when the vehicles wore out and were traded in, the camper was still in good shape, sitting in the yard ready to be hauled to other campgrounds.

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ways enjoyed traveling around the country, so a camper sounds good to her. She doesn’t know about my plans to customize the camper to accommodate my “Trout Bum” lifestyle.

Of course, I’ll have some rod holders installed, so I can keep my four-piece rods connected and ready for use at any time.

I’m sure there’ll be a place to store wet waders and gear, with a big awning to hide un-

Trout Fishing (Continued from page 50)

takes a matter of days for trout, living in a downstream pond, to sense the change and migrate up in the river.

Most of these are brook trout, stocked the previous spring, and they display a fantastic growth rate. The pond holds lots of shiners and other baitfish, as well as a limited supply of smelt, and the trout and occasional salmon wax fat and healthy on such a diet.

Weather Awareness Trout fishing in streams and rivers differs greatly from summertime angling. Instead of balmy air temperatures and water temperatures bordering upon being too warm, winter fishing offers just the opposite.

One of the biggest dangers is slipping on ice-covered rocks or

der and change out of wet fishing gear.

The kayaks will have to be stored in the bed of the truck … they are too heavy for me to lift up onto a roof rack any more.

Carrying them in the bed will work just fine, rather than breaking my back trying to put them up on a roof rack.

I can’t wait to get this “Trout Bum” lifestyle rolling!

¶

logs. Whereas in summer these become nothing more than stepping stones or bases to stand upon while casting, winter conditions cause them to become treacherous, greatly imperiling anyone who dares tread upon them.

Shelf ice – ice that forms along the shore, but is usually too thin to bear a person’s weight – presents another grave hazard. Shelf ice should be avoided at all costs, since it can appear safe, yet be unsafe because of air pockets or – even worse – spaces between the thin layers.

Despite these additional hazards, winter trout fishing can be productive and safe, as long as we observe simple rules of safety.

And while the water remains low now, we never know when a sudden deluge will change all of that.

Let’s hope it will.

¶

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 53

Ice Fishing Starts Up This Month!

We unloaded my ice shack and hitched it to my four-wheeler. We started out from the Raymond boat launch on Sebago Lake (DeLorme Atlas, Map 5, C-1). It was early January several years ago, and undoubtedly the earliest I had been on the ice for quite a few years. We motored out, checking the thickness of the ice every few hundred feet. It was black and looked to be but a few inches, but we got a solid 10 inches with each test hole drilled. Once we were in the part of Jordan Bay I like to fish, we anchored the shack and headed home.

Sebago Lake That Saturday, I was out at the shack, heating up the stove and fishing. For me, Sebago always seems to produce better by jigging than by traps, but I always set traps anyway. I set my traps around the shack, and started jigging inside, where the warmth from the wood stove soon had me down to a short-sleeved shirt. I was jigging a tube jig, and soon had a fish on. After a brief battle, I iced a nice three-pound laker.

The past two seasons, Sebago Lake did not freeze. In fact, not even Jordan Bay froze. Even when it does freeze, it is rare to get out much before the end of January, but you have got to be ready.

Lures; Bait For many years, the Swedish pimple was my lure of choice when ice fishing Sebago Lake. I wore the finish off many, bouncing them off bottom and scraping against rocks.

Over the past six or so years, I have switched to tube jigs. I think the soft jigs get fish to hold on a bit longer, typically resulting in solid hook-ups. They also come with scent impregnated into them, plus you can add scent in their hollow bodies. All these things make soft baits like tube jigs my new go-to.

For bait, I typically use live shiners.

My long-time fishing partner, Rene Lavoie, used dead saltwater smelt that we caught while smelting on coastal rivers.

I always chided him, claiming live bait did better than his dead smelt, but he caught fish with them!

Regardless of when Sebago freezes,

Occasionally, the Big Lake freezes up early.

More likely, however, anglers will have to be patient, and set their ice fishing traps and jigging rigs up on smaller bodies of water that ice up sooner. Here, the author lists seven of the smaller ponds – and recommends specific bait and lures – that will produce for you as soon as there’s good ice. use caution and check the ice well as you venture out. In fact, this is a good practice on all bodies of water.

Early Freezers My good friend Greg Hamilton from Gorham loves to get out early and set his traps for trout. His favorite spot is the Otter Ponds (DeLorme’s, Map 5, D-1) in Standish, since they freeze early, are easy to get to, and are heavily stocked.

Adam Farrington of Poland, and his son Connor, show off a nice Upper Range Pond brown trout. Tom Roth photo

Otter Ponds #2 and #4 were generously stocked with brook trout this past fall.

More than 1,000 brookies were dumped in these two ponds in October.

Another early-freezer is Crystal Lake (Map 5, B-3) in Gray. Crystal was stocked this past October with a smattering of brook trout, rainbow trout and brown trout. How’s that for a combo?

With great parking, proximity to this region, and a trio of trout species, Crystal Lake is a great early-season spot.

It has been several years since I fished Worthley Pond (Map 5, A-3) in Poland, but it deserves a visit this winter. For a small pond, it gets solid attention from the stocking truck. Not only did Worthley get close to 1,000 brook trout this past fall, but it also received a dose of 15- to 17-inchers. Worthley is well-stocked in the spring, too, so holdover fish are common. Set up close to shore, use at least one or two traps with worms, and get ready!

Perhaps one of the region’s most popular early ice angling destination is the Range Pond chain (Map 5, A-3) in Poland. Consisting of Upper, Lower and Middle, the Range Ponds are heavily stocked, and they hold fish over well as they grow each year.

In October of 2024, Middle Range Pond received 650 rainbow trout, 325 brown trout and 350 brook trout. Upper Range Pond received 300 rainbow trout, 150 brown trout and 400 brookies. Lower Range Pond took in 300 brownies and 200 brook trout this past fall. Talk about a smorgasbord!

Shiners on traps, and traps baited with worms in the shallows, are how I fish the Range Chain. I typically concentrate on Upper Range Pond, as I have a buddy with a home there, which simplifies parking for me. However, there are plenty of boat launch areas that provide easy parking and access to the ponds for everyone.

Ice anglers itching to get on the hardwater can try these spots if ice has not yet formed on the Big Lake. Be safe and have fun this winter!

¶

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54 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Could You Survive Overnight in Maine’s Winter Woods?

Like most wives, Doris worries every time I go into the woods fishing or hunting. She wants to know where I’m going, where I will park, and how long I plan to stay. “Have you got water?” she asks.

“Is your cell phone charged? Make sure you call me often.” She then writes it all down, and sticks the list on the refrigerator.

Safety-wise this is good, but it still feels like she’s filling out a police report.

This wouldn’t bother most guys; however, for me it’s a bit confining. When I leave to hunt or fish, I don’t like to have a timeline or a destination I can’t modify.

After I’ve completed the interrogation, I generally explain that the worst thing that could happen is I may have to spend the night in the woods, and add that I have the experience and proper gear to do it. I explain that you can’t walk in a straight line for a half-hour without coming to a house or road here in southern Maine.

I say that primarily to stop her from worrying.

In reality, Maine’s “winter wonderland” can turn on you quickly, and the Maine woods can be a dangerous place if you aren’t prepared. Whenever a person ventures into the forest, they need to carry a first-aid and fire-making kit, proper clothing and boots, water, snacks, compass and a flashlight with extra batteries. A strap-on headlamp is best, as they allow you to use both hands, and they illuminate the spot where you’re looking.

But placing this gear into your pack doesn’t make you prepared; you need to know how to use it under adverse conditions. Can you start a fire in the rain or snow after dark, and keep it burning all night?

This gear will help you survive, but how efficiently you can use it is important as well. The only way to become safe and ready for whatever could happen is to become familiar and comfortable with it under less-than-ideal weather conditions, and after dark.

Mock-up Training When I was an instructor for the Navy, we depended on mock-up training. Whenever we were training to remove parts of a nuclear reactor from a submarine, we did mock-up training www.MaineSportsman.com

It’s one thing to read about lighting a fire or building a shelter, but to improve your chances of success, you need to follow the Navy’s “mockup” concept, by heading out into the woods and going through an overnight survival drill, specifically to hone your skills and familiarize yourself with your gear. over and over for months before the hull cut was even made.

Mock-up training involves setting up a duplicate or mock-up of the exact layout we’ll be encountering, and then performing our anticipated work steps over and over. Any weaknesses in work skills or equipment quickly become evident, and then changes can be made.

The best way to survive a mishap in the woods is to go out on a hike during a cold, snowy day, and do a mock-up training session – start a fire, and stay until after dark. You need to get comfortable while under these conditions.

Heat from a fire is critical for surviving a cold winter night in Maine. This small back-pack stove creates a surprising amount of heat using small sticks and limbs. The stove folds flat, and you can carry it in your pack or even in your pocket. Photo by Val Marquez

Lost hunters here in Southern Maine will generally only spend one night in the woods before they are rescued. Hypothermia is the biggest problem that an injured or lost person will face; and a warm fire is the only way to prevent it.

Here’s how to build and maintain a fire all night.

• Have a fire kit, including a plastic sandwich bag of Vaseline-soaked cotton balls, and two or more fire starting methods.

• Don’t wait until dark. Instead, start gathering wood as soon as you know you are in trouble. You can break dead limbs by placing them between two trees or a fork in a tree, and then exerting force.

• Try to place the fire against a large boulder or log, so it will reflect heat back to you.

• If possible, build a lean-to shelter to hold heat in and protect you from snow or rain.

All Night Fire Stumbling around in the darkness trying to gather more firewood to keep the fire going all night isn’t safe or fun.

You should gather long pieces of logs and limbs, then start a large fire and place the ends of the dead, dry limbs on the fire. As they burn off, you can slowly push the long logs into the flames and hot coals. Wood dries as it nears the fire and burns better when pushed onto the hot coals and flames.

Also, add small-size sticks into your pile, and keep plenty of kindling wood and dry leaves nearby to refuel the fire if needed. You can lie down in your little shelter and push the wood into the fire all night. With some preparation and practice, you can spend the night in relative comfort, while awaiting daylight and rescue.

Doris is still anxious, going through her checklist whenever I leave for a hunt, and I keep telling her not to worry. She does have a good reason for reminding me, however, considering my age and health issues. Because racing motor-cross, tennis and football have wrecked my knees. I generally stumble or fall at least once on every outing – I guess it’s a matter of time before I break something.

I hope Doris doesn’t read this column.

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��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 55

The Argyle Boom In the heyday of Maine’s log drives, hundreds of thousands of logs — belonging to many different logging companies — all drifted down the river together. When they floated to the mill, a form of “branding” allowed each company to separate its logs from those belonging to others.

Professor Edward Ives was my college advisor and teacher at UMO. Did you know him? He went by “Sandy.” Sandy Ives headed up the folklore department. I think of Prof.

Ives now when mud season rolls around and the rivers are full of runoff; because he wrote a book about the Argyle Boom.

You see, the loggers had been cutting and twitching logs all winter when the ground was frozen and they could easily move the logs in sleds on the ice and snow. They piled the logs on the ice and the riverbanks, and when the ice went out they threw the logs into the streams, and the spring log drive was on. From early spring until mid-summer, the “Bangor Tigers,” working for the PLD (Penobscot Log Driving Co.), scrambled along the riverbanks and skipped over the floating logs shoving them all downstream to Bangor and the waiting lumber mills.

Which Logs Belong to Whom?

Now think about this – there were many lumber companies or “jobbers” that had been cutting all winter in many different town-

ships, and they all set their logs adrift on the flooded streams. Those stream drives eventually joined all the other drives when the logs emptied into the Penobscot River and mingled with everyone else’s logs. The river backed up with logs for miles and miles.

Back at the landings, when the horses hauled a sled load of logs down to the river, there was a lumberman with an ax whose job it was to cut an emblem into each tree trunk. These marks were like cattle brands, and they identified each company’s logs. The marks were registered with the state, and today you can find examples of them at the Maine State Museum.

Sandy Ives was aware of the log driving history on the Penobscot and the millions of board feet that had come floating down to Orono and Veazie each year, and what he wanted to know was how each lumber mill got the logs they had paid for? Sandy turned his folklore students loose on the problem, and after lots of research and reading and interviews with the men who had worked

on the sorting booms, they figured it out. The resulting book is Argyle Boom published

by Northeast Folklore in 1976.

How it Worked The process went something like this – at different locations in the river above Old Town, the boom company used logs to build giant V-shaped funnels in the river. You may have seen the big cribbed-up piers in parts of Maine rivers.

Those were anchors for the long booms that were strung together to guide the logs into the sorting gap. The largest boom operation was at Argyle, which is located about six miles upriver from Old Town.

A few hundred men worked on these booms for most of the spring and into the summer. It took all kinds of men to keep the logs moving, stopping them when necessary, identifying each log, capturing it for the right company, and assembling the logs into rafts for the tugboats to tow.

The guys at the sorting gap knew all the brands, and used their caulked boots to spin the logs to see the marks. They used pick poles to shove each log

In the spring, before the logs were dumped into the streams and rivers to drift to the mill, logging companies assigned lumbermen with sharp axes to cut emblems into each tree trunk. Source: West Branch Historical Preservation Committee

toward the appropriate “checker” out in the river, who was responsible for catching different marks.

These young men, often just boys, held onto ropes suspended across the river, and balanced on logs or small rafts called “jiggers,” as they kicked or pushed the logs coming at them in toward shore.

A gang on shore gathered in the logs and pinned them together into a raft using a long rope and wooden wedges. This raft building went on at many locations along the riverbank, assembling the logs for the individual mills.

When enough rafts had been strung together, they were swung out into the channel and tied off to a buoy to await the steam tug.

This work went on day after day late into the summer with men sorting out the logs, chasing down strays, picking log jams, and

shifting booms into deeper water.

Although it seems an impossible task, in fact a specific lumberman’s logs entered the river in a bunch, and for the most part floated along together, so when they came to the boom, the same marks would run for hours and hours as the logs slipped through the sorting gap.

Other crews were sent back up the river to pick stray logs off the banks and pitch them back into the river. The men slept in a bunkhouse and ate in a mess hall and lived at the boom house while sorting was going on. Each lumber company paid a toll for their logs to be sorted.

Sandy Ives was a much-loved professor when I was at UMO. He left us a great legacy with the folklore studies he engineered, not the least of which is how all those logs got sorted out in the Penobscot River.

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56 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Resolve to Get Involved “DMR Proposes Changes to Striped Bass Fishing Regulations.”

No sooner does a state or federal agency issue a press release proposing some regulation change, and the complaint department we refer to as social media is inundated with negative comments about over-regulation: “Here we go again. They’re trying to regulate the guides out of business.

They don’t know what they’re doing. It’s just a money grab. They don’t care what the fishermen think ….” and so on.

Most of the people who make these comments never read past the headline. Why should they? They already know more than the professionals who manage our fisheries resources; or at least think they do. And they think the agencies don’t care what they think.

The fact of the matter is, they do care, and they do listen to

Don’t just complain about fisheries management, says the author. Based on his own experience, he knows there’s a lot more you can do, and that advocacy can achieve results.

The author, shown here with a nice striper, understands that citizen involvement is a large part of fisheries management.

the voice of reason.

They pay little heed to dock talk, the rumor

mill and baseless comments, but they do encourage participation.

However, the onus is on fishermen to join the conversation. It’s like elections: If you don’t vote, you can’t complain. By getting involved, the average Joe or Jane can help guide fisheries management and sometimes make substantive changes. What follows are some ways.

Learn the Facts Read past the headline, and you’ll

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find general information on justification for a proposed change.

You might also find links to relevant material like stock assessments. Serious skeptics might get that far, but then dismiss the science as bunk.

I can assure you it’s not. Agency personnel don’t have an agenda, except to manage the resource in a way that provides maximum benefit to users and the resource. It’s also their mandate, and our obligation to see

that they follow it.

Stay Informed Don’t just wait for word on the street. All agencies have email lists you can subscribe to, so you’ll receive regular press releases, news bulletins and research reports. Many also allow public access to commission, council working group and committee sessions, so you can learn how the system works.

That information will come in handy when it’s time to comment.

Attend Meetings Attend public hearings and work sessions. This is your opportunity to be heard, and the agencies do listen. Several years ago, I was invited to participate in a public working group for groundfish, put on

by NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO). We had just experienced an experimental recreational cod season, and facilitators said we would likely not see another one for the foreseeable future.

Over the next two days, participants shared what they’d seen, and where. We were catching lots of cod, big and small, sometimes outnumbering haddock, and in some unexpected places. Long story short, GARFO eventually changed the way they assess cod stocks in the Gulf of Maine, (Continued on next page)

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 57 (Continued from page 56)

and subsequently increased recreational fishing opportunity for them.

Provide Written Comments Agency folks read letters and emails as well. How well they’re received will depend on how well your position is stated. Have a clear point, and make it concisely. Overwordy documents get dismissed more quickly. Do your homework

(see above). If your argument is based on legitimate facts, it will carry more weight and get more attention.

Organize One voice will be heard, but many will garner a lot more attention. If you can get a group of fishermen to agree on an approach (and that can be a challenge), your suggestions will carry more weight. You needn’t do it yourself, either, as there are several

groups like the Maine Professional Guides Association, the Maine Charterboat Captains Association and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, that frequently provide comments and suggestions representing their respective organizations. All you have to do is join the group and maybe serve on a committee, if you’re really invested in protecting the resource and your fishing opportunities.

There’s an old saw from the 70s that says, “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”

It applies here as well.

Dock talk is cheap. You can sit around at the marina or boat launch and complain, or you can make an effort to get involved and try to make positive change.

You won’t always get your way, but you will gain a much better understanding of and appreciation for why you

didn’t.

Capt. Bob Humphrey is President of the Casco Bay Bluefin Bonanza, and Vice President of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. He serves on the NOAA Fisheries Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel, the ASMFC Striped Bass Advisory Panel, and the Governor’s Energy Office Offshore Wind Research Consortium.

¶

~ Youth Trophy Gallery ~

Jake Viesta, age 10, of Wilton CT was hunting with his dad, Justin Viesta, on October 26 in Lisbon, when he shot this 120-lb. 3-point buck using a 350 Legend. The deer was registered at Sabattus Deer Processing. This was the first-ever deer for Justin, who is a Maine Sportsman subscriber. Wrote his dad, “A father could not be more proud.”

Maine Sportsman subscriber Jack Kurucz of Freeport, age 13, earned his Youth Deer patch with this spikehorn buck. Jack carried a .243 in his successful hunt in his hometown. This is Jack’s fourth deer in three years of hunting. The deer was tagged at Butcher Boys in Bowdoin Center. Congratulations, Jack! www.MaineSportsman.com

58 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Creating a Mindset of Exploration Beyond the Norm

Dive into the unknown, and become an explorer this New Year. William Clunie photo

I’ve often wondered why I enjoy the company of hunters and anglers so much.

I’m not really a “people person,” I usually prefer solo hunting and fishing adventures. At

the same time, I do enjoy an occasional deer or bird hunting camp with friends and family.

As I sat in my deer hunting stand this past year, I had plenty

of time to think about all sorts of things. One topic helped me understand why I relate to other hunters and anglers…most of them are positive thinkers.

Like walking

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through the woods and seeing a knoll ahead…I just have to get over the top of it to see what’s on the other side. I think most hunters understand this feeling.

The same with anglers, they know that with every cast there is the possibility of catching a fish. They can hardly stop casting because there just might be a fish that will take their offering at any moment. This is positive thinking.

I like to think that I’m a positive thinker.

This New Year has me bubbling with excitement at the multitude of outdoor adventures to come in 2025.

Exploring New Territories I have plenty of old hunting and fishing locations that seem to keep producing year after year. I know I can return to these spots and find game or fish, usually with-

out seeing anyone else – that’s a top priority for me. If someone else moves in, I usually will leave for another location – Maine is a big state, and it is easy to slip away from other hunters or anglers.

As much as I enjoy my own “secret” hunting and fishing locations, one of my favorite things is discovering new (to me) areas with abundant fish and game populations and no people. My Tacoma pickup goes a long way on a tank of gas, but sometimes I travel far enough to make taking a couple extra five-gallon containers of fuel necessary. I seal them in a large trash bag and secure them in the bed of the truck. I never know what’s on the other side of the hill, and often find myself “way out there.”

Of course I carry a compass, but my favor(Continued on page 60)

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60 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Rangeley Region (Continued from page 58)

ite tool is the onX Hunt app on my cell phone. I always carry my phone when I’m hunting or fishing, just in case there’s an emergency. I also rely on it when I’m traveling to new places.

I can’t count the times I have been driving along and realized that I’m not exactly sure where I am. I pull out the cell phone and check that onX Hunt map and immediately discover my exact location. It sounds funny to admit that I some-

times don’t know where I am, but it must be noted that to uncover new locations, a person must be willing to forge ahead into the unknown.

The onX Hunt app tracks the user’s path through the woods, so if I ever am truly lost all I need to do is turn around and follow my return path on the map.

As you travel, the mapping program traces your path and leaves a line on the map indicating your route of travel.

The onX Hunt app also allows me to track myself even when there’s no cell coverage…I simply hit the “Off Grid” button before I lose coverage, and the mapping program locks in the zone of my choice.

With this secure mapping ability, I can travel anywhere and feel comfortably safe about easily getting back home. The freedom the app provides allows me to go further without worry.

Head Game With the mapping app, a compass, extra gasoline, and a desire

to find remote, new locations for hunting and fishing, one has half of the solution for remote travel well managed.

The other half is all about managing what goes on in your head.

Too many hunters and anglers won’t travel far from home, or if they do get away for a bit, they are timid about reaching out to search new territories that are beyond their normal range.

Make exploring a normal part of your life by going for semi-remote drives with your family. Pack a lunch and get back in the

woods a ways, a little at first and more later. At some point, take a tent and camp out… learn to enjoy remote places as a way of life.

It won’t be long before you start to desire this kind of life rather than sitting around at home or hunting and fishing in the routine locations that have become so familiar and crowded with others that won’t learn to extend themselves beyond the norm.

Make this New Year one of discovery and wonder at the immense depth of beauty Maine holds.

¶

~ Youth Trophy Gallery ~

Nine-year-old Landon Wallace of Westport Island was hunting with his father Michael in Wiscasset when he dropped this 179lb., 8-point buck with his 6.5 Creedmoor. Landon, whose father reports that he enjoys reading The Sportsman, qualified for a Youth Deer patch. The weight was certified at Dresden Takeout, 537 Gardiner Road. Congratulations to Landon and his “superproud” dad! www.MaineSportsman.com

Thirteen-year-old Jaxson Dorr of Windham earned his Biggest Bucks in Maine patch and his Youth Deer patch by tagging this 210.4-lb, 6-point whitetail buck in Mexico, Maine on November 2, 2024. Jaxon, a Maine Sportsman subscriber, was supervised

by Paul R. Dumas, Jr. The massive buck was registered at Mills Market, South Main St. in Andover.

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 61

Passing Fred’s Hat Passing the hat is a means of collecting money. Street musicians pass their hats, as do church congregations. This is about passing a hat to honor a man’s memory.

Fred Thurston, a longtime resident of Gloucester, Maine, died on August 10th, 2024, at the age of 83.

He began his career as a fry cook and rose from that, through business smarts and immense hard work, into a restaurant empire that he ran with his son Matt and daughter Laura, and called Conifer Industries. Fred was also a passionate hunter and fisherman, and in 1992 bought King and Bartlett (K&B) Fish and Game Club, near Eustis.

K&B hosted hunters of all sorts, but mostly those who lusted after deer, and some came back year after year. In the early 2000s, about a dozen of these men decided that they should hunt at the same time every year so they could

for hot weather. In winter, your head will freeze if you wear it, and I asked Matt why Fred wore the thing.

“My guess is,” he said, “that Fred lost all his winter caps and was too damned cheap to buy a new one, so he wore the only one he had left, and this was it.”

This year was our first without Fred on earth with us, and Matt hit on the idea of having each of us wear Fred’s hat for one day as a memorial of sorts, and to use our own eyes to give Fred a look around and make sure that everyone was conducting themselves properly.

I realize that all this may sound silly, and probably it is. But then consider: Passing Fred’s hat is another way of saying “We remember all you did for us, and for a lot of other people, and we wanted to let you know.”

And there’s nothing silly at all about that.

The “Third-Weekers” adopted a unique way to remember and honor one of their own. freeze in the woods and enjoy each other’s company when not freezing in the woods.

The unofficial name of the group was the Third Week of November Association, because that was when it assembled, and it was hosted by Fred and Matt.

The Third Week group gradually developed its own folklore and legends. Everyone knew where the Taj Mahal blind was, and where the Bedspring was, and where the Ollie Missed the Deer Road was, and how it got its name.

Third Weekers are an odd and unclassifiable bunch. Presently the group includes hunters from Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Texas. Mostly, it’s middle-aged and elderly men, but the Texan is 37, and the youngest member, one of the Pennsylvanians,

The late Fred Thurston, of King & Bartlett.

is 17 and president of her high school class.

The oldest is 93, and at last report was about to travel to New Mexico to make his first elk hunt. Our professions include retired bank president, former professional soldier, writer, and for a few years, a dentist who is also a 5-string banjo virtuoso.

Fred Thurston had one of the bigger hearts ever issued to a human being, and this showed itself in a number of ways. If you hunted during the

Third Week, you became family, and Fred loved family even more than he loved driving on logging roads at suicidal speeds. If you worked for Conifer Industries, you were family. If you came to K&B in late November, you were family, and Fred, probably more than anything else, wanted the members of his families to do well. He fretted endlessly about how much game we were seeing or not seeing, and who needed help, and he ran the roads in a cloud of dust, checking up on everyone.

So when he left us, Matt Thurston came up with a way to keep Fred watching over us.

One of Fred’s trademarks was a ratty, dirty, orange baseball cap that was his constant companion. It has a small flashlight and a compass pinned to the crown, and is a mesh cap designed

¶

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62 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Claude Dallas, Jr. – The Outlaw Trapper of Idaho I used to hunt with a friend in the Book Cliffs mountain range area of Utah. He told me the saga of Claude Dallas, Jr. Later, my friend sent me a book about Dallas, titled “Outlaw – The True Story of Claude Dallas,” by Jeff Long. He also sent me newspaper clippings covering the period of time when Dallas was released from prison.

Combining information from the book, the clippings and online sources, here’s the abbreviated tale of Claude Dallas, Jr. ***** On January 5, 1981, 43 years ago this month, Claude Dallas, Jr. was charged with the murder of two wardens in southwestern Idaho.

Dallas was born in Virginia, and moved with his parents to Michigan, then to Ohio. It was in rural Ohio that Dallas learned to hunt and trap.

As a youngster, Dallas read books about the Old West, and dreamt of someday living like the characters he read about.

He graduated from high school in 1967, then headed West, moving to Oregon, where he earned a living as a ranch hand and trapper.

Dallas arrived at Bull Camp, Idaho in early 1980. He found wildlife abundant, and was seduced by www.MaineSportsman.com

The strange, sordid tale of a man who dreamt of being a cowboy, a hunter and a trapper, living off the land. Then he committed two crimes, and spent the next 23 years of his life either on the run from the law, or behind bars.

The author’s interest in the infamous Claude Dallas, Jr. was piqued when he read this book.

the land and its isolation. It was about the closest he could get to the Old West of his dreams.

He lived by himself that first winter, and although he knew hunting season was closed, he shot several deer for camp meat and trapping bait. He also started trapping, although that season was closed, as well.

Evidence Grows One day, Dallas had a visitor – Ed Carlin, who was employed by an outfit called 45 Ranch.

Carlin caught sight

of two illegal bobcat hides in Dallas’ camp, as well as poached deer. He also saw that Dallas was wearing a .357 revolver, which was unusual because trappers normally carry .22 cal. handguns.

Information about Dallas made its way to the state’s law enforcement personnel.

Ten days after Carlin’s visit, Idaho Game Wardens Bill Pogue and Conley Elms went to Bull Camp to check out Claude Dallas, Jr. The situation ended in gunfire, with both wardens – Pogue and Elms – being killed. At his subsequent murder

trial, Dallas testified that Pogue drew his weapon first, although there was no evidence to support this claim.

Dallas shot both officers, first with a .357, and then with a .22.

Dallas was charged with the murder of the two wardens on January 5, 1981. He avoided capture for over fifteen months. Eventually, he was arrested in northern Nevada. He was convicted in 1982, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Four years later, in 1986, Dallas escaped from prison, and eluded the law for nearly

a year, despite being on the FBI’s ten most wanted list.

He was finally apprehended outside a convenience store in southern California on March 8, 1987.

Unlikely Folk Hero Dallas attracted national media attention after both escapes, becoming a particularly controversial figure in Idaho, Oregon, and Northern Nevada. As usual in cases like this, a few misguided souls within the region regarded him as a folk hero for his role in defying the government.

These supporters defended Dallas’ right to live off the land.

Most folks, however, were shocked by the crimes, and viewed Dallas as a coldblooded killer.

After the manslaughter convictions in 1982, his prison escape trial ended in acquittal in 1987. Dallas served 22 years of a 30-year sentence, and was released in February 2005.

Since his release, he has been sighted living in Grouse Creek, Utah and in the Alaskan wilderness.

There’s much more to this morbidly fascinating story.

The tale serves as a good reminder of the risks law enforcement agents encounter, and the dangers they face when dealing with misguided and dangerous individuals.

¶

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 63

Revisit Last Year, to Improve This Year I’m sure others do the same as me … when the New Year comes around, I look back and reexamine events during the past year to see where I can improve. Author and philosopher George Santayana is credited with stating, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

When I look back on the previous year, I can laugh and enjoy successful accomplishments, as well as critically inspect events of failure or times that didn’t go as well as I thought they might.

What do they say, “Hindsight is 20/20”?

Looking back helps us clearly see what we need to do in the future. As we get older, each new year seems more precious. I want to create the best outdoor adventures for 2025, so I’ll take the time now to reflect on 2024 and plan accordingly.

More Fly Tying Tying flies usually gets put on the back burner for me … I figure I can just buy some flies when I need them. Last year I ordered some flies I felt I needed, and the company (and several others) had them on back order for me for months.

This year I’m bypassing purchase failures and tying my own flies. I have several patterns that I’ve found are easy to tie,

Boot group how to tie jig head flies, as well as some of his own patterns. He also showed me how to tie a few nymphs that I didn’t think I could tie … they were very small, but were completed with a few, simple wraps.

The author gets to work on his list of New Year’s resolutions. Not surprisingly, the list includes shooting rimfires, reloading, fly-tying, and sharing skills and experiences with other outdoor sports enthusiasts.

Tying more flies with his fellow veterans will be among the author’s top priorities for 2025. William Clunie photo

and the fish love them.

Several of my fishing buddies also tie flies, and they can give me excellent help with the patterns that are new to me. Some of these fellows have created their own effective patterns, and I’m dying to tie and fish them myself.

I am also part of a veteran’s organization, Operation ReBoot Outdoors (OperationRebootOutdoors. org), and we meet on certain Saturdays at the Rumford American Legion Hall, at 184 Congress Street, to tie flies throughout the winter months.

During these tying sessions, many of the participants introduce our members to new flies that have worked for them. It’s a great

way to find out how to tie flies that really work.

The organization helps veterans heal through outdoor programs. During the fly-tying season (winter), we also provide rabbit-hunting adventures. Sometimes it’s hard to choose between hunting rab-

bits and tying flies.

This winter, I hope to schedule more of each.

Learn from the Experts My great friend and fellow veteran, Stephen Marsters, has shown me some awesome patterns that really work on big fish.

This winter, I’ll ask if he can show the Re-

Shooting and Reloading As a semi-retired senior, I have found a lot of free time on my hands. This year I plan to do a lot more reloading and shooting, just for the fun of it. I used to do so much more when I was younger – just getting out with friends and shooting for fun. We would set up a little friendly competition to increase the pressure, simulating the stress of taking a shot while hunting. I believe the rivalry helps each of us become better shots.

I enjoy reloading, and will dive into this again with pleasure.

I like making my own target loads for less

(Continued on next page)

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64 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Western Maine (Continued from page 63)

than the factory-loaded prices. I can also produce extremely accurate, tailor-made rounds for my rifles that the factory can’t even approach, and at a much lower price.

Shotgun shells have been hard to find lately.

This year I’m going to

start reloading my own target loads to save some cash and, at the same time, allow me to shoot more clay pigeons. I need as much practice with my shotgun as I can get.

Of all the target shooting I have done over the years, shoot-

ing .22 caliber rounds is probably my favorite.

This year I’m sending more .22s down range than ever. The little .22 long rifle does not cost much to shoot, and provides excellent practice.

I have a .22 caliber rifle that is similar to my deer hunting rifle, so shooting the little .22 long rifle will keep my deer hunting eye in shape. I also have a

handgun in the same little caliber that is a riot to use for plinking cans and smaller targets. My son Brian and I used to spend hours popping wooden blocks around at the gravel pit near home – such an inexpensive and fun time.

In this new year, I hope to get back to my shooting past, as well as rekindle some of the activities I like to do

best – reloading, tying flies, rabbit hunting, and just hanging out with my buddies in the outdoors.

Looking back at 2024, I see that I’ve neglected some of my favorite pastimes, so this new year I’m reigniting some of those good old outdoor experiences I have always cherished.

¶

~ Youth Trophy Gallery ~

Ford Madden of Milford, age 12, was awarded his Grand Slam in 2024, having taken a tom turkey and a whitetail buck in his hometown, as well as a bull moose in T7 R11, and this black bear in Greenfield. Ford was supervised by Derek Madden.

On November 27th, 2024, 13-year-old TJ Peters of Buxton completed his Grand Slam with a 128 lb., 8-point buck in Gorham, Maine. On October 17th, 2024, he tagged this turkey in Buxton. On opening day (October 14th, 2024) of the Moose Hunt in Zone 1, accompanied by his father, brother, two grandfathers and friends, he dropped a bull moose weighing 690 lbs. with a 44” spread . On September 21, 2024, with the help of Rough Country Guide Services in Bingham, Maine, TJ shot a 150 lb. male bear. TJ is the son of Tom and Shira Peters of Buxton, ME. Congratulations, TJ, on this accomplishment! www.MaineSportsman.com

Anthony Lawrence, age 12, of St. Albans, earned both his Maine Bowhunters patch and his Youth Deer patch, with this fat spikehorn, which he dropped with a crossbow on October 10, 2024 in his hometown. The hunt was supervised by David Lawrence, and the buck was registered at A.E. Robinson, on Main Street in St. Albans.

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 65

The Best Thing I’ve Ever Read on Hunting “The killing bothers me.” This is the first line of the best piece I’ve ever read about hunting. It is an essay by Bruce Woods, entitled The Hunting Problem.

If it weren’t for copyright issues, I’d quote the entire essay here for all to read – that’s how good it is!

But, alas, I guess it wouldn’t be right for The Maine Sportsman to pay me to copy and paste someone else’s words – so I’ll provide you with some of my own less-articulate thoughts instead.

Woods laments that he, like I, and probably most, doesn’t enjoy the act of killing.

But he does it because “killing is, after all, the only way to make meat.” One could argue there are ways to get meat, that don’t involve you personally doing the killing, but Woods reckons that “killing to eat is, in fact, too ugly to leave to others all of the time. It would be a shirking of responsibility akin to forcing a subordinate to tackle a firing that’s your responsibility, or using a telephone to tell a lover that you have a [transmittable] disease.”

I carry this train of thought one step further. I have come to conclude that it is also a “shirking of responsibility” to have others do the butchering of your killing. Man, do I hate butchering

The day that a successful hunt is not an emotional event, says the author, is the day he’ll worry that he’s become too callous and cavalier about what is a gravely serious act.

On warm-weather days, the writer sometimes takes a stand and reads some hunting literature. E. Emerson photo

stuff – but I do it as part of the process and ugliness of providing one’s own food. And I view the backache of cutting and packaging meat as a form of penance for the deed that had to be done to acquire the meat in the

first place.

Woods also puts into words what I thought there weren’t words for – the emotions of the moments during and just after a kill. “It combines the delicious, fearful anticipation of shouldering

a great responsibility with the euphoria of having discovered that you can, for however brief a moment, bear its weight …. There is a primitive sort of triumph to having killed: the hand reaches out beyond the body

to touch with terrible magic, to make food.

The war of celebration and regret leaves me awash, hyperaware of colors and scents, and feeling physically lighter, as after … a purging cry.”

My body tries to physically purge itself of these emotions, as I regularly find myself vomiting immediately after a kill. My friends tease me for it, but I find it to be the most pure expression of that “war of celebration and regret” that Woods describes. And if there comes a day where that emotion isn’t enough to make me lose my lunch, I’ll worry whether I’ve become too callous or cavalier about what is a gravely serious act.

In addition to the normal grief and regret of taking a life, my brain acts swiftly to quell the euphoria of triumph by seeding intense doubt. Often, after shooting a buck, I become awash with fear that I only imagined seeing the antlers, and that I made a terrible mistake by illegally shooting a doe. Or if I shoot multiple times, my brain tells me that I’ve likely killed several different animals. It doesn’t seem to matter how clearly I’ve identified my targets or how improbable or irrational the negative outcomes are.

This sickening feeling (Continued on next page) www.MaineSportsman.com

66 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

New Hampshire (Continued from page 65)

Become a Member of The Maine Sportsman

PATCH CLUBS You’ve been successful at the hunt, now wear your pride by entering one of The Maine Sportsman’s exclusive patch clubs!

Maine Sportsman Patch Clubs Include: Biggest Bucks in Maine, Maine Youth Deer Hunter, Maine Youth Turkey Hunter, Maine Big Game Grand Slam, Maine Black Bear, Maine Bowhunters, Maine Moose Hunters, Maine Wild Turkey, The One That Didn’t Get Away, Catch-and-Release, Maine Saltwater Anglers, and Maine Trappers.

To enter, go to

www.mainesportsman.com/patch-clubs Print and mail your application with fee to: The Maine Sportsman 183 State Street, Suite 101, Augusta, ME 04330 Don’t have a computer or printer? No problem!

Give us a call at (207) 622-4242 and we’ll mail you an application.

stays with me well after I put my hands on the animal and confirm that everything is right and okay. It really is a sobering process, but then again, should killing something be solely a jubilant moment? I think not.

As Bruce Woods concludes in his essay, “to hunt and not despise the killing would be to become not an animal, but a form of human that is already far too common in the festering cities of the world.”

Hunting isn’t about the kill for me.

And it isn’t wholly about the meat, either – although I do

love and cherish it. It’s about getting out and seeing the remote places and witnessing the wilderness happenings that 99.9% of people will never see and experience. It’s about the mental chess match and the physically exhaustive chase of hunting a big buck.

It’s about the little things: the rays of sunlight shining through a foggy forest, an old car two miles from any semblance of a road, Canada jays that land on your gun barrel, a boulder the size of a house, an owl swooping down in front of you, a hidden waterfall, or

maybe just an unusual squiggly-looking tree.

It’s about sharing these stories and experiences with those you love.

Sure, one could argue that I could experience all these things still if I left my gun at home. But the kill – or the possibility of a kill – is necessary. That darkness is what makes the sunshine in the fog and the Canada jay and the squiggly tree so brightly beautiful in contrast.

There is no better summation than the simple phrase I found in the middle of Woods’ essay: “I do not hunt to kill, but rather, I kill to have hunted.” This is my new mantra.

¶

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��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 67

The 43rd Annual

State of Maine

Sportsman’s Show

Mark Your Calendars for Maine’s Premier Outdoor Show!

Outdoor enthusiasts wait all winter long for the spring thaw, and what better way to spend one of those spring weekends than at Maine’s biggest outdoor trade show, the 43rd annual

STATE OF MAINE SPORTSMAN’S SHOW MARCH 28–30, 2025!

FRIDAY 1PM–8PM • SATURDAY 9AM–7PM • SUNDAY 9AM–4PM Thousands of outdoors-minded folks will gather for an entire weekend of everything outdoors. There truly is something for everyone: OVER 100 EXHIBITORS, KID ZONE, DEMONSTRATIONS, SEMINARS, GAME CAMERA PHOTO CONTEST, TURKEY CALLING CONTEST, AND LOTS MORE!

Are you a returning or new exhibitor with questions? Contact Carol at Carol@MaineSportsman.com or (207) 622-4242.

STAY TUNED TO THE SHOW WEBSITE & FACEBOOK PAGE FOR UPDATES!

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68 • January 2025 • The Maine Sportsman ——————————————————————————————————————————————

Smilin’ Sportsman

Spelling Gooder My professor told me not to worry about spelling when I write, because autocorrect software will make everything accurate. For that, I am eternally grapefruit.

— Four Stages The four stages of a man’s life: 1) You believe in Santa Claus 2) You don’t believe in Santa Claus 3) You are Santa Claus 4) You look like Santa Claus —

www.MaineSportsman.com

Whoopie Trick Young Billy was at the Windsor Fair when he noticed a teenager in a green jacket surreptitiously putting two whoopie pies in his jacket pocket without paying for them.

He went up to the vendor behind the counter, and asked, “Would you like to see a magic trick?”

“Sure,” said the vendor.

Billy asked the vendor for two whoopie pies, and when the vendor handed them over, Billy quickly ate them.

“So what’s the trick?” asked the suspicious vendor.

“Well,” replied Billy, “you see that teenager in the green jacket over there …?”

— Dearly Beloved A wife unexpectedly brought a young female co-worker to her home for dinner at 5:30 p.m. Her husband was upset.

“You didn’t tell me you were bringing someone home tonight!” he said, loudly.

“I am still in my boxer shorts. The couch is covered with pizza boxes and beer cans. Why would you bring her over here without letting me know?”

“Because,” replied the wife, “she’s thinking about getting married.”

— Wicked Funny If your mother-in-law is visiting and asks if you know where the broom is, it’s not a good idea to ask her if she’s going somewhere.

— Aim is True A man came home late, claiming he’d been at a bar. His wife didn’t believe him.

“It’s true,” he protested, “and I can prove I was there! The bar had urinals made of gold!”

The next evening, the wife called the bar and asked whether they had urinals made of gold.

The manager put his hand over the receiver, but she could still hear him as he yelled to a member of the band: “Hey, Joe – I think we found out who peed in your saxophone!”

— Squeeze Play Husband: “Your horoscope says you should embrace your mistakes.”

Wife: “Come here for a big hug!”

¶

��������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • January 2025 • 69

It Takes a (Weird) Village In Maine, there are towns that exist because somebody built a paper mill. There are towns that owe their creation to summer tourists flocking to their beaches. Potatoes are responsible for more than one municipality’s birth in Aroostook County. And Portland is a Frankenstein-like monster stitched together by hyperkinetic condo developers.

But there’s only one town in the state that was created by eccentric characters with a passion for careening down hills with large sticks strapped to their feet.

And now there’s a book celebrating that dubious achievement.

Virginia Wright has written A Town Built by Ski Bums about Carrabassett Valley, the home of Sugarloaf, the state’s second tallest mountain and largest ski area. (Full disclosure: I was, for a time, a member of the town’s history committee, and a small amount of my research is included in the book.)

As Wright notes in this well-written and compelling story, Carrabassett had a considerable history before skiing entered the picture. Native Americans, drawn by abundant game, were frequent visitors after the last Ice Age receded around 12,000 years ago. The town may have been named after a semi-fictional Indian leader (real person, fake legend) slain near Norridgewock by a white militia in 1724. Or it could be a corruption of the Wabanaki word for sturgeon. Nobody really knows.

Big Idea In any case, enterprising individuals from places like Boston noticed there were lots of trees in the area, then called Jerusalem Plantation and Crockertown.

They hired crews to cut them and float them down the river when it was running high in the spring. This proved to be inefficient and dangerous, so they built mills to cut the logs into boards, and shipped those out by wagon. This proved to be expensive, so they built narrow-gauge railroad lines to transport the lumber. Before long, the first tourists began taking those trains to hunt, fish and cure their ailments with the supposedly medicinal waters of Spring Farm.

Apparently, all those events occurred before anybody noticed there

A new book reveals the origin of a small drinking town with a skiing problem.

A new book chronicles the sometimes-improbable creation of the town now known as Carrabassett Valley, home to Sugarloaf Mountain.

was a big honkin’ mountain looming over everything. But as the timber and quack-medicine businesses struggled, the proponents of employing such a geographic feature for outdoor recreation were making plans.

When the mills closed, the population dwindled, until by the 1940s, there was hardly anybody living in the area.

But Amos Winter, a storekeeper from Kingfield, decided the mountainous terrain would be ideal for a ski resort. With a bunch of his pals, Winter set out to carve trails on Bigelow Mountain.

Wrong Hill After just two seasons, Winter was forced to abandon Bigelow, due to Central Maine Power’s new dam that flooded the access road and created Flagstaff Lake.

But Winter and his crew weren’t discouraged. They cleared a trail on nearby Sugarloaf, and somehow convinced

a host of volunteers and an impressive list of investors to back Winter’s vision of a world-class ski resort. In short order, ski bums were buying up camps left behind by the mills, and enterprising contractors were filling the valley with A-frames. Cheap lodging at places like Judson’s Motel and Chateau de Tague soon followed, as did raucous nightlife at the Red Stallion.

On the mountain, a base lodge was constructed, along with new trails and lifts, soon attracting national competitions. In a marketing move, the Legislature changed the name of Crockertown to Sugarloaf Township. Establishment types mixed with ski bums in mutual appreciation of the skiing and hearty partying. There weren’t many rules in what the locals called Whiskey Valley, and that suited everyone just fine.

A New Town, and Improved Behavior But as development accelerated — ski shops, restaurants, hotels and loads of camps — officials began enforcing state zoning regulations. The developers didn’t like that, and neither did the ski bums. The only way to halt that intrusion was to cease being unorganized territories with no local government, and become an official town.

That process turned out to be complex, but it eventually happened. In March 1972, Jerusalem was officially incorporated as the Town of Carrabassett Valley. In 1975, drawn by the prospect of lower property taxes, Sugarloaf residents voted to join in.

There would be many trials and tribulations — bankruptcy, yellow nose voles, Les Otten — but somehow, against all expectations, the ski bums had morphed into town fathers and mothers, and were forced to improve their behavior.

But not all that much.

That’s hardly the end of the story (or the book). It’s more like the start of a whole other phase, during which there were mandatory pauses in the carousing to run the town the carousers had more or less inadvertently created.

Al Diamon writes the monthly column Politics & Other Mistakes for The Bollard magazine.

¶

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– Building Opportunities – Dennistown PLT – Nestled amidst the tranquil wilderness, this unfinished camp offers a rustic retreat with endless possibilities. Two cozy bedrooms, a shared full bathroom seamlessly integrated with a convenient laundry room, and an open concept kitchen/living area. Seller has left building materials to help you begin this transformation (4 brand new windows and assorted lumber). Its prime location grants direct access to ATV and snowmobile trails. Nature enthusiasts will revel in the abundance of recreational opportunities, from trapping, hunting to fishing and scenic hiking trails, all within reach. Despite its serene setting, this hidden gem remains conveniently close to town, ensuring both seclusion and accessibility. Embrace the potential of your piece of Maine, where the allure of outdoor escapades meets the comfort of home. MLS #1591508 – $180,000 Readfield – This 8.1-acre lot is situated in a tranquil town where you’ll benefit from a close-knit community and the charm of rural life. Enjoy nearby recreational opportunities and the beauty of nature. MLS #1598994 – $94,000

Dexter – This 84-acre wooded lot is on a town maintained road. No matter the season, bring your ATV, snowmobile, skis, snowshoes, hiking gear and take in all this property has to offer. MLS #1579300 – $199,000

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LINCOLN PLT – Year-round home very privately sited on 5.5 pastoral acres with 450’ frontage on the Magalloway River and additional frontage on Alder Stream. Perched on a knoll with commanding river and mountain views, this 3BR home with attached 2 car garage is ideally located to enjoy all four seasons. Fly fish to your heart’s delight, snowmobile from your door, launch your boat on Aziscohos Lake. Plus detached steel barn to store your gear.

Inquire today! MLS #1610417– $679,000 DALLAS PLT – Ideally located 2.21 acre parcel offers elevated panoramic mountain views, glimpses of Haley Pond and Gull Pond. Shale driveway in place, building site cleared, 3 bedroom septic plan available, UG power. Enjoy snowmobile/ ATV access from your door. Plus just minutes to Rangeley amenities, Saddleback ski area, 4-season recreation. MLS #1606041 – $169,000

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RANGELEY – Brand new home on a nicely wooded 1.42 acre parcel boasting jaw dropping views of Spotted Mountain. The 3 bedroom, 2 bath home offers comfortable floor plan all on one level, plus walkout basement (plumbed for 3rd bath) can be finished for additional living space. Easy snowmobile trail access from your door. Great spot for your get away or fulltime home, just off the beaten path and yet minutes to town amenities, Saddleback, 4-season adventures. MLS #1588753 – $589,000

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