Northwoods Sporting Journal, March 2024

Uncle Arnold Teaches Me & Joe To Be “Ice Cutters” March 2024

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Never Cry Wolf

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- Mark McCollough

* New Rifles * Sebec Lake Togue * The Signal * Camps, Cottages & Land For Sale

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March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 3

Never Cry Wolf

It was the wee hours of the morning at the deadend of a rutted logging road deep in the vast Ragmuff clearcut in northern Maine.

A carpet of stars blanketed the moonless night. We stepped out of the truck, set up the speakers, and played a recorded sequence of wolf calls that sailed across the northern night. We had done this dozens of times over hundreds of square miles in northern Maine.

The only responses we got were the excited yips and howls of coyotes.

This time was different. A lonely, bass, monotone howl permeated the black night, raising the hair on the back of our necks. After weeks of surveys, we heard hundreds of coyotes respond to our recorded calls. But there was no mistaking that this was likely a wolf, identical to the mournful howls I’ve heard in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Denali, Alaska,

and the tundra of northern Quebec. We returned to the same area several times before the snow blanketed the Northwoods, with no luck at eliciting another response.

As soon as the snow melted the following spring, I returned to the Ragmuff country. The logging roads were still soft from snowmelt when I found the large canid tracks on a remote road that had not been traveled since the previous autumn. There was a set of 25 or 30 tracks, 4 ¾-inches long and spaced about 29 inches apart – well beyond the size expected for an eastern coyote.

That was it.

No more howls.

No more tracks.

Are there wolves in Maine?

Two wolves were killed in Maine in the 1990s, but they likely spent some time in captivity. An 86-pound wild wolf was killed in northern New Brunswick in 2013.

In the fall of 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wanted to definitively answer this question before proposing to remove the wolf from the federal endangered species list in the Northeast.

I was tasked to work with National Wildlife Federation, Defenders of Wildlife, and Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to answer that seemingly simple question.

It is still unsettled.

Since my early days as a federal biologist, the wolves in the Northeast

Northwoods Sketchbook

by Mark McCollough, Hampden, ME were on and off the federal endangered list, punctuated by lawsuits and conflicting biological data. The “wolf question” is elusive, complex, hinges on our understanding of what canid lived here historically,

north. This comports with our recent understanding of wolf species in eastern Canada – a smaller eastern wolf species (Canis lycaon) found from Algonquin Park to the north shore of the St. Lawrence River and a large

The “wolf question” is elusive, complex, hinges on our understanding of what canid lived here historically, and the latest genetic understanding of canids in eastern North America. and the latest genetic understanding of canids in eastern North America.

Wolves once were numerous in Maine, but what species of wolf were they?

Early Maine naturalists sometimes referred to two different types of wolves – a smaller “deer wolf” along the coast and a larger variety that preyed on moose and caribou in the

gray wolf species (Canis lupus) in the northern moose-caribou ecosystems of Quebec and Labrador. In between is a zone of gray X eastern wolf hybrids. A similar zone of hybridization could have occurred in Maine when Europeans first arrived. A wolf specimen in the Harvard Museum killed in 1863 at (Wolf cont. pg 13)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

On The Cover

Uncle Arnold Teaches Me & Joe to be “Ice Cutters” - Pg 16 Never Cry Wolf - Pg 3 New Rifles - Pg 33 Sebec Lake Togue - Pg 23 The Signal - Pg 45 Camps, Cottages and Land for Sale - Pg 68-70

Contents

3. Northwoods Sketchbook - Mark McCollough 5. The Back Shelf - Stu Bristol 6. Slipstream - Scott Biron 7. South Of the Kennebec - Stu Bristol 9. The Bird Perch - Karen Holmes 10. A Hiker’s Life - Carey Kish 11. Warden’s Words - Kale O’Leary 14. The Trail Rider - Dan Wilson 15. Marsh Island Chronicles - Matthew Dunlap 16. The Adventures Of Me & Joe - Bob Cram 18. Outdoor Sporting Library - Jeremiah Wood 20. Aroostook Woods & Water - Mike Maynard 22. Maine Tails - Jonah Paris 23. Outdoors In Maine - V. Paul Reynolds 24. The Gun Cabinet - John Floyd 26. Muzzleloading Afield - Al Raychard 27. Cracker Barrel - Homer Spit 28. On Point - Paul Fuller 29. Cookin’ With New England’s WildCheff - Denny Corriveau 31. Just Fishing - Bob Leeman 32. Women In The Woods - Erin Merrill 33. Guns & Ammo: A Guide’s Perspective - Tom Kelly 34. The Maine Woods - Matt LaRoche 36. View From The River - Laurie Chandler 38. Maine Outdoor Adventure - Rich Yvon 39. Old Tales From The Maine Woods - Steve Pinkham 40. Understanding Fly Lines - Bob Leeman 41. Bear, Bear, Everywhere - Jesse McEntee 42. The Buck Hunter - Hal Blood 43. Northwoods Voyager - Gil Gilpatrick 44. Angling, Antlers and Artifacts - Jake Scoville 45. Tales Of A Maine Woodsman - Joel Tripp 46. From Craig Pond - Bob Mercer 47. The Singing Maine Guide - Randy Spencer 48. Vermont Ramblings - Dennis Jensen 49. Outdoors In Vermont - Gary Moore 50. Maple Country Outdoors - Ben Wilcox 52. Kineo Currents - Suzanne AuClair 53. Against The Current - Bob Romano 54. New Hampshire Outdoors - Peter St. James 55. Basics Of Survival - Joe Frazier 56. Question Of The Month - Bryan McCarthy 57. On The Ridge - Joe Judd 59. Green Mountain Report - Bradley Carleton 60. On The Prowl - Justin Merrill 61. Best Bassin’ - Bill Decoteau 65. SAM News - David Trahan 66. The Difference Between Wild and Native Trout - John Bolland

March 2024

The Sportin’ Journal The Outdoor Paper For “Maine Folks”

The Northwoods Sporting Journal is the Northeast’s most comprewww.sportingjournal.com hensive and readable monthly outdoor Main Office Phone: (207) 732-4880 publication. Published at the trailhead E-mail: info@sportingjournal.com Fax: (207)732-4970 of Maine’s sprawling North Woods, the Vol 31 Issue 3 is published monthly by Northwoods Publications, 57 Old County Rd. North, W. Enfield, ME 04493 Sporting Journal prides itself on being Periodical Postage Paid at W. Enfield, ME. and additional mailing offices. an independent voice for the region’s The Northwoods Sporting Journal (ISSN#1548-193X) Postmaster: outdoor community for more than 28 Send address changes to: years. Some of our writers are seasoned Northwoods Sporting Journal, PO Box 195, W. Enfield, ME 04493 and specialized outdoors people who Northwoods Publishing Group will share their know-how and insights; Victor Morin - Susan Morin - Diane Reynolds - V. Paul Reynolds some of our contributors are simply Publishers - Victor Morin Jr. - V. Paul Reynolds lifelong outdoor people with interest- Editor - V. Paul Reynolds Assistant Editor - Josh Reynolds ing stories to tell.

Associate Editor - Donna Veino Our aim every month is to capture Graphic Arts Manager - Gayleen Cummings the essence of Northern New England’s Subscription/Distribution Manager - Alicia Cram Manager - Annette Boobar remarkable outdoor heritage by stirring Operations Webmaster - V. Paul Reynolds memories, portraying outdoor humor, Sales Department; Victor Morin,Thomas Schmidt, Paul Hatin, and sharing experiences and outdoor Traci Grant, Michael Georgia and Mike Brown Regional Advertising Manager - Jim Thorne knowledge. We also keep our readers The Northwoods Sporting Journal invites submissions of photographs up to date with late-breaking outdoor and articles about the Maine outdoors.

Manuscripts should be sent with a self-addressed envelope to: news and hard-hitting editorials about NORTHWOODS SPORTING JOURNAL fish and wildlife issues.

P.O. BOX 195, W. ENFIELD, MAINE 04493 Anyone who loves to hunt and The Northwoods Sporting Journal accepts no responsibility for fish, or simply finds the Great Outdoors unsolicited photos or manuscripts. Photos submitted without a stamped, self-addressed envelope will not be returned. a treasured place, is more than likely to find some special connections amid All rights reserved, 2024. Written permission must be obtained from the Northwoods the pages of the Northwoods Sporting Sporting Journal to reprint any part of this publication. Any errors or omissions in ads or editorial matter will be corrected in the next issue of NWSJ. Journal.

The views and opinions expressed by our monthly columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

A Hiker’s Life - Pg 10 Carey Kish

The Gun Cabinet - Pg 24 John Floyd

Other Great Stories & Information 8. Editorial/Letters 12. Outdoor News 68. Real Estate

Cover Photo:

Ice Fisherman Eric Ward with a Moosehead Brookie (Photo by John Watt)

On The Prowl - Pg 60 Justin Merrill

From Craig Pond - Pg 46 Bob Mercer

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Cast and Gobble

By Stu Bristol

The combination of hunting and fishing during a 3-day visit has been known for years as a “cast and blast.” A person can choose to hunt for a few hours then fish the rest of the day, or alternate. In

the past this activity usually took place in the fall, combining late fall fishing with grouse and woodcock or squirrel hunting. With the re-introduction of wild turkeys into the Northeast the cast and blast has gotten taken up a notch.

Due to the prohibition of hunting in Maine on Sunday, the combination hunts, especially in the springtime now become known as “cast and gobble.”

Maine no longer requires non-residents to purchase a big game license to hunt turkeys in the spring or fall. They must, however purchase the additional wild turkey hunting permit which allows two bearded turkeys in the spring and two birds either sex in the fall. Financial investment in license now becomes $75.00 small game and $20 for wild turkey permit that covers two in spring two in fall. Non-resident fishing

can be purchased for 1-day, 3-day, 7-day, 15-day and season.

Please note that the big game license allows a deer, bear and all small game. Non-resident hunting/fishing combination license will cost $150.00 plus the $20 turkey permit.

T h e possibilities are endless, beginning with outstanding spring fishing opportunities.

The Maine springtime turkey hunt runs from April 30 through June 2. Visiting hunters/anglers can take two wild turkeys any day of the week then concentrate on fishing on Sunday.

A common scenario for a non-resident in search of a cast and gobble experience is to arrive in Maine on Friday, scout for evening gobbles, then hunt early morning for turkey, taking either one or two (same day kills is allowed in Maine) then fish the rest of the day or fish, take a nap then hunt turkeys during late afternoon. Legal hunting hours are ½-hour before sunrise through ½-hour after sunset.

For those with a car-topper boat or canoe, consider a float trip that combines both fishing and turkey hunting. Several slow-moving waters in southern Maine offer excellent hunting and fishing opportunities.

The Saco River between Buxton and Bid-

Page 5

THE BACK SHELF

From the files of the Northwoods Sporting Journal The best hunting and fishing columns going back 25 years!

deford is just one of many.

Paddle or float at sunrise listening for gobbles, continue downstream fishing for brown trout and smallmouth bass. Farther upstream opportunities are also varied beginning your float at Fryeburg then drifting or paddling south.

Much of the land along the Saco River is open to hunting and fishing.

Once you have purchased the big or small game license there is no reason not to come back in October and do it all over again. The fall either sex

Also, don’t overlook the opportunity to collect fiddleheads. Just about every feeder stream along the Saco offers outstanding fiddlehead habitat.

Along the coast the striped bass usually come into the bays and estuaries by mid-May, giving you another fishing opportunity. Maine does not require a saltwater license but anglers who do not hold a Maine freshwater license must pay (online) the one dollar fee and register as a saltwater angler.

(2-turkey limit) runs from October 2 through November 7.

For big game licenseholders consider a threefer.

Maine’s firearms season for deer runs from October 30 through November 25.

If you engage in archery or muzzle loading, your opportunities extend from September 9 all the way through December 9. You will need to consult lawbook for details.

Maines wild turkey population has grown to over 50,000 and southern

By their very nature backshelf articles, resurrected from our archives, may contain information or facts that have been altered or changed by the passage of time.

Maine has plenty of open hunting land and even more open fishing waters. Despite the no hunting on Sunday, Maine has much to offer the three day hunt/fish

The Maine springtime turkey hunt runs from April 30 through June 2. Visiting hunters/anglers can take two wild turkeys any day of the week then concentrate on fishing on Sunday.

or as we call them, “cast and gobble” trips.

Stu Bristol is a Master Maine Hunting, Fishing and Tidewater Guide and Outdoor Writer. His features have been published nationwide for more than 50 years. He is an expert game call maker; owner of Deadly Imposter Game Calls and author of several turkey hunting books and hundreds of wild turkey hunting and outdoor articles. www.deadlyimpostergamecalls.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 6

Slipstream

by Scott Biron, New London, NH I’m getting ready to start going through all of my spring trolling gear, checking everything I need for the canoe and reinstall the seat that needed recaning (I completed that job in February). I should be about done tying flies for people who need them for spring and the fly tying classes have all been completed. It will be nice to get back out and do some spring trolling here in NH and in Maine.

Over the tying season I found myself answering questions on hooks, and in particular tandem streamers. This is a great readership to share my thoughts.

As I’ve said before the three most important aspects of fly tying are 1.

Vise, 2. Scissors and 3.

Hooks. Short changing yourself on any one of these can be disastrous.

I tie on Partridge of Redditch and Sprite hooks.

The hooks are made on Swedish Steel, they have the traditional bronze color of New England streamer

March 2024

Tandem Trolling Streamers lately, I use Partridge Wet Heavy Supreme G3A/L with the front hook being a size 4 and the rear hook a size 6.

The tandem set up originated in Maine and has been credited to Emile and Gene Letourneau as well as Dr. J Hubert Sanborn of Waterville, ME. The story as best as I can find is that these three had been fishing

and book he wrote.

Thread Black Body Flat silver tinsel Wing 6-8 strands of peacock herl over which are 4 grizzly saddles Throat Y e l l o w bucktail the length of the body Cheeks Jungle cock

It would be interesting to see what they wrote.

One tip I like to share with anglers is to change the size of the fly before you give up on a pattern and try a different one.

Years ago on Lake Sunapee, Chuck and I were trolling and not having much luck. We switched patterns

Some historical clarification on fly patterns, in this you will see Throat and then a specification of its length. Today many patterns will list this as Belly instead of throat. Most tyers now understand the belly is usually the length of the wing unless specified otherwise.

Look at the Sportsmen Say tandem fly I tied for this article, notice the wing length on this fly and it’s relationship to the rear hook. The connecting wire is Mason MultiStrand stainless steel trolling line 60 pound test. I buy this in long rolls and cut them to length. Most of my tandem wires are 2.25” long. I find that once the fly is tied it approximates the length of smelt in the lakes I fish. I have a Bronze Ghost tandem tied by Jim Warner that is a jumbo, but that’s a story for another time.

The Letourneau’s filed a request for a US Patent on their tandem fly. They were declined. I wonder if the Patent Office still has their original paperwork?

after trying multiple sizes of other ones. I started with a Ripogenus Smelt on a 9 XL Partridge hook and gave Chuck the same fly in a 7 XL (slightly shorter).

Chuck began catching fish so I switched to a 7 XL and we had a banner day landing well over 25 salmon.

The 7 XL fly was closer to the size of the smelt in the lake. Now I seldom fish that lake with a fly any larger.

The tandem set up originated in Maine and has been credited to Emile and Gene Letourneau as well as Dr. J Hubert Sanborn of Waterville, ME. hooks and they are very strong. These hooks are produced in limited quantities so when you find them grab what you think you need for the tying season.

My trolling streamers are tied as singles 7x to 10x usually in sizes 2-4. When I tie tandems, which I have been using more and more

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with single hook streamers.

They were experiencing short strikes where the fish would hit the rear of the fly and miss the hook. Often older trolling patterns had very long wings.

I wish I had been out trolling with these three at least once because in my opinion they really were not only fishing but they were looking for innovative ways to make trolling better. After too many short strikes, Emile and Sanborn discussed trying two hooks instead of one. That night Emile filed off the eye of the rear hook and attached the hooks with wire and gut, giving birth to the first tandem.

The two hooks allowed Emile to create a fly that was as long as the smelt they were imitating and eliminate having the flies wing extending way beyond the hook. They could run the feather’s tips right to the bend of the rear hook, reducing short strikes.

It’s said that the first tandem fly pattern was the Sportsmen Say, which was the name of Gene Letourneau’s newspaper column

Scott Biron cut his teeth learning to tie flies and fly fish back in the1960s in the North County of New Hampshire. He has fished many of the streams north of Route 26 in NH and his favorite the Androscoggin River. He is a Master Artist in the NH Traditional Arts Program and instructs fly tying both nationally and internationally. He is on the Ambassador Pro Team for HMH Vises and Partridge of Redditch. Ewing has come out with a signature series line of feathers under Scott’s name.

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Wintering Turkeys: Tough Birds

For the next two months this and other outdoor magazines will be flooded with wild turkey hunting articles, so I thought I’d get ahead of the crows, adding my opinion

right down to bare ground.

Of course, they are opportunists and take full advantage of bird feeders and farm silage and manure piles. I’ve even seen turkeys pestering school

to brush up on their turkey talk. Listen to the flocks and try to understand the different vocalizations and how they interact with each other.

Yes, it’s acceptable to join in with a few sweet clucks and yelps, and even an exciting cutting or two, to fire up a gobbler or group of jakes. You don’t want to do that when the

Page 7

South Of the Kennebec

by Stu Bristol, Lyman, ME

back in the early 1970s that it’s not good enough to sound like a turkey, you need to become one.

Every call maker and every veteran turkey hunter has the top four or five turkey vocalizations imprinted in their brains. You can’t get that from calling contests, it comes from

Because they feed on such a variety of plants and insects, they are almost never in danger of starvation. I see them pecking at winter insects and green grass at the base of trees where the sun melts a crescent right down to bare ground. mating season gets closer or you’ll end up with call shy birds.

This is a good time to understand one of the basic rules of wild turkey hunting. Legendary turkey hunter Ben Lee told me Wild turkeys are tough customers when it comes to winter survival. (Photo by Stu Bristol) of how the Maine turkeys got through the winter. Unlike most other wild turkey hunters, I am on the lookout for flocks year-round.

Sure, I ice fish in the winter but traveling both ways my eyes are wandering off to the sides looking for flocks.

Having done this for more than 50 years, I can safely say the wintering birds follow the same patterns each winter. Because they feed on such a variety of plants and insects, they are almost never in danger of starvation. I see them pecking at winter insects and green grass at the base of trees where the sun melts a crescent

kids at the bus stops, looking for handouts. As far as predation by raccoons, hawks etc., there is very little happening during the winter months. Most of those dangers come around egg laying time in April or May. To the observant turkey hunter, winter is a very valuable time to observe and to listen to turkeys.

First, the flocks lose much of their wariness and humans can get relatively close to them. In fact, if you stay in your vehicle the flocks will seldom run away or scatter. Step out and that’s another matter.

This is the time for hunters

listening to and interacting with live turkeys.

Hens are still tending broods, although the young of the year are now nearly as tall as adults. Their voices, however, have matured and so have their instincts

to create a pecking order.

This is a period of time when the super jakes (twoyear-olds) begin challenging the old gobblers for flock dominance.

Don’t be surprised to see half a dozen jakes beating up on an old tom between now and the start of mating season. Every turkey, male or female, is right now asserting their place in the flock’s pecking order.

What about the deep powder snow we’ve been getting this winter? You’ve heard deep powder will kill turkeys? You would only be partly correct, but it would take a long period of very cold weather to keep the snow from forming a crust. I’ve only seen this condition once and that was in Vermont ten years ago.

(Birds cont. pg 19)

Page 8

Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

Indian Land Claims

More than 40 years ago, in 1980, the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement was signed, sealed and delivered. Maine’s four native American tribes were awarded $80 million by the Federal government as part of the settlement. It is a long complex document, which proclaims in part, that the tribes, in exchange for the settlement money, agree to the “extinguishment of titles and claims”. The settlement language also asserts that “All Indians in the State of Maine are and shall be subject to all laws of the state.”

By definition, a settlement is supposed to be just that, a done deal. Well, so much for that. The entire period after that landmark settlement has been an unending sovereignty dispute between the tribes and the state. The settlement has been amended at least 48 times. In 2019, the Maine Indian Claims Task Force was assembled, and eventually drafted a proposal to overhaul the original settlement that includes 22 recommended changes, all intended to mollify the tribes.

Sebec Lake Togue To the Editor I read with interest V. Paul Reynolds article about big togue in Sebec Lake. It brought back one whopper of a memory.

I was living in Bowerbank on a beautiful cove the winter of 1975. It was the year between high

In 2015, a tribal leader protested,”We do not recognize the authority of the state of Maine, its governor, Legislature or courts to define our sovereignty or culture or to interfere with our self-governing rights.”

Ironically, when the settlement was drafted by Congress, its justification for proceeding was to avoid a drawn out litigation process “which would consume many years and promote hostility and uncertainty in the state of Maine.”

In the area of fish and game laws, the tribes want the legal right to favor tribal members over non-members in the enforcement of fishing and hunting regulations. The tribes also want to disallow the state fish and wildlife commissioner the authority to regulate fishing bag limits on tribal land. Additionally, the tribes do not want to be required to maintain game tagging stations or report registered wildlife to the state.

Much of this is contrary to the 1980 Indian Land Claims Settlement. What we seem to be witnessing over time is unre-

school and when I decided to go to U-Maine Orono.

I regularly put out traps and saw a flag pop up as they were wont to do. I headed to the hole and saw the line whizzing out. At 19yo I had had a couple years of ice-fishing experience with the Baker brothers and knew to wait (at least) until the line slowed

down.

The line came to a stop and I gave it a tug. At first I could not budge it. I pulled a little harder and there was a slight amount of give. I moved the line 5 or 6 inches, but then it came to an abrupt halt.

I thought perhaps I had hooked a piece of wood or that a fish wrapped around something.

I decided to wait several minutes to see if anything happened. The line moved back and forth some so I picked it up again and began pulling.

It came along slowly and felt heavy.

The thought occurred to me if it was a fish, it would not come through

lenting incrementalism , the slow but sure dismantling of the 1980 contract between the tribes and the state of Maine.

Within the realm of fish and game regulations, the tribes have a pretty good deal. For example, in sustenance fishing, a tribal member can possess 10 Atlantic salmon. Tribal members have exclusive opportunities – which non tribal Maine citizens don’t enjoy - for spring bear hunts, Sunday hunting, and deer hunting in July and August, among others.

Most reasonable people recognize the historical injustices that were visited upon Native Americans in the early years.

Righting those wrongs has been a process that may not yet be concluded, but, when it comes to public opinion, the tribal leaders do themselves and their tribal members a disservice when they insist upon an anachronistic brand of sovereignty that existed centuries ago.

the hole!

A couple feet from the opening, the darn thing started pulling back. I was excited and put some extra muscle into pulling very slowly and steadily. All of a sudden there was a powerful tug and the line went slack. I was disappointed but to my amazement, when I pulled the rest of the line up, my #4 hook was completely straightened out!

This is one fishing experience I will never forget. Thank you for helping to bring back this thrilling memory.

Bonny Bishop Hartford, Maine

VPR

Indian Land Claims To the Editor: I have just had your article about Indian Land Claims forwarded to me

by Lloyd Cuttler in Carrabassett Valley. As you may know Lloyd is a selectman in Carrabassett Valley.

Carrabassett Valley and Lincoln have been working to contain or make more reasonable the recent efforts of the tribes to take more sovereignty in Maine.

In particular Lincoln is working to avoid having the tribes takeover bank to bank sovereignty of the rivers. We are working with a company that plans to build a bio-refinery on the former (Letters cont. pg 21)

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

White Wader Birds

This spring and summer I hope to use my identification skills on various species of white wader birds. Waders are wetland birds that have the following characteristics: pointed beaks to strike and pick up food; tall legs to keep the majority of its body feathers dry while standing in deep water and mud; long necks that work like a spring and produce quick strikes; feet with spread-out toes that act like snowshoes and prevent sinking deep in muck; rods in the eyes which are highdensity light receptors for enabling hunting day or night.

I will look especially for Cattle Egrets here in Downeast Maine. This species originally lived in southern Europe, Africa and Asia. I reached northeastern South America in the late 1800s. It was first documented in southern North America in 1952.

It was the first time a bird species came from the Old World to the New World under its own power and really prospered. They were not brought in cages and either escaped or released.

Their name comes from close association with livestock grazing in pastures.

Cattle egrets are squat and chunky and have short thick bills and shorter legs than other waders.

In breeding plumage they have bright yellow bills and legs and rich washes of buff on the crest, chest and lower back. But very young birds may have blackish legs. Finding white waders like this may lead to misidentification, especially of young birds. You have to closely examine legs and bills colors. Little Blue Herons were once considered accidental visitors, but are now seen here often. Adults have slatey blue backs, maroon-brown necks, dull olive legs and bluish bills tipped with black. If their juvies mix with Snowy Egrets, it is easy to misidentify.

They are both white and about the same size.

I look for bills with bases of bluish - gray and black at the tips. Snowys have slender black bills, black legs and yellow feet. They seem to have golden slippers! But their juvies in late summer often have bright green legs and yellow feet. I look for birds to be crouching and shuffling their feet, stirring up food and rushing about which is Snowy behavior. Immature Little Blues are much more slow moving and stop often to peer downward with extended necks.

Great Egrets are the much larger white waders with exceptionally long and slender necks, large orange or yellow bills, black legs and feet. You should notice that both legs and feet are black unlike Snowys. Birders in southern Florida have other challenges. There are white morphed Great Blue Herons. They could be misidentified as smaller Great Egrets. But their heads and necks are thicker and they

have more rounded heads with slopes from crowns to bills and their legs are flesh-colored.

On the coastline of the Gulf Coast states are immature white morph Reddish Egrets. They are larger than Snowy Egrets but smaller than Great Egrets. Their legs and bills are black.

You can also find White Ibis and white Wood Storks

Page 9

The Bird Perch

by Karen Holmes, Cooper, ME

have long plumes down the back. They were much sought after in the millinery trade for women’s hats.

Feathers fetched $32 an ounce. Hunters killed the adults at their rookeries, pulled off just the plumes and left their nestlings to

January had high winds and blew down many trees.

They are busy trying to clear up the fallen timber, but it will take months.

Karen will also continue to volunteer for various wildlife surveys in Downeast Maine. These include the

Cattle egrets are squat and chunky and have short thick bills and shorter legs than other waders. In breeding plumage they have bright yellow bills and legs and rich washes of buff on the crest, chest and lower back.

there! It is not so complicated here in Downeast Maine to identify the fewer species of white waders.

When I see any of them I feel fortunate that since the early 1900s they have been protected from men’s greed and women’s vanity. During breeding season egrets

starve and their eggs to rot.

One Audubon warden was even killed in Florida while trying to protect them.

Karen Holmes and her husband Ken are busy acting as stewards of their acres of woodlands. The storms of December and

Project FeederWatch, the Christmas Bird Counts, the Annual Loon Count, both spring and fall hawk watches,etc. She is a freelance writer for a local newspaper and other publications such as The Northwoods Sporting Journal.

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207-377-2711

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Page 10

“A Hiker’s Life”

Northwoods Sporting Journal

By Carey Kish, Mt. Desert Island, ME Bauneg Beg Mountain rises inconspicuously over the rural outskirts of North Berwick in York County. Driving to the main trailhead on Fox Farm Hill Road, the mountain and its three peaks aren’t distinguishable until you’re nearly upon them.

Perhaps that’s because it is—incredibly—the only major mountaintop in York County without a communications tower.

The mountain is part of the 89-acre Bauneg Beg Mountain Conservation Area, which is owned and managed by Great Works Regional Land Trust. The trust assembled the preserve from three parcels of land purchased between 2000 and 2001, effectively saving a good chunk of the mountain from potential development.

Despite the moun-

t a i n ’s l o w p r o f i l e , a 20-minute, half-mile hike via Bauneg Beg Trail (sign, kiosk, trail maps at trailhead parking lot) to the craggy ledges atop 860foot Middle Peak reveals distant views northwest to Pleasant Mountain and far beyond to the White Mountains. To the southeast, glimpses of the Atlantic Ocean are possible through the trees.

The trail forks just below the peak in a level area thick with white pines.

To the left, Ginny’s Way wends easily up the summit ridgeline. To the right, the path climbs more directly through Devil’s Den, a rugged area of cliffs and large boulders, before emerging on top. Steps from the summit, Tom’s Way diverges left, winding pleasantly downhill through mixed forest to Bauneg Beg Hill

Coastal

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March 2024

Hiking Bauneg Beg Mountain

When you visit the trails of Bauneg Beg, plan to do so at a saunter. Stop often to savor the viewpoints and listen to the quiet of the forest. You, too, I trust, will be amazed at this little pocket of wildness just 3 miles from the heart of busy Sanford.

Road, a worthwhile mile out-and-back if you’re up for a little extra exploration.

For the descent back to your car at Fox Farm Hill Road, take the scenic loop path over North Peak, with its lovely stone walls and treetop views. The land encompassing North Peak is owned by the Town of North Berwick and nicely complements the Bauneg Beg property.

When you visit the trails of Bauneg Beg, plan to do so at a saunter. Stop often to savor the viewpoints and listen to the quiet of the forest. You, too, I trust, will be amazed at this little pocket of wildness just 3 miles from the heart of busy Sanford.

The mountain was

once the site of Bauneg Beg Ski Area, which operated from about 1937 to 1945. This small, familyrun business featured a 250-foot vertical drop, rope tow, warming hut, and even a slope-side snack bar. The ski hill was resurrected briefly sometime around 2001 and run as Bauneg Beg Ski Trails.

The unusual name of Bauneg Beg (pronounced like “Bonny Beg”) has caused its share of confusion over time. According to “Mountains of Maine: Intriguing Stories Behind Their Names,” by Steve Pinkham (Down East Books, 2009), Bauneg Beg was once thought to be of Scottish origin. But historian Fanny Hardy Eckstorm proved the name to be a

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derivative of the Wabanaki word Bannebeaugue, meaning “spread out” and “still water.” It’s believed to describe Bauneg Beg Pond at the peak’s eastern base, a part of the wide and placid Great Works River.

Since its founding in 1986, the Great Works Regional Land Trust has protected more than 7,600 acres across the towns of Eliot, South Berwick, Berwick, North Berwick, Wells and Ogunquit. Twenty GWRLT preserves feature hiking trails, so there’s plenty to see and do in addition to exploring Bauneg Beg Mountain.

Carey Kish of Mount Desert Island, ME is the author of Beer Hiking New England, AMC’s Best Day Hikes Along the Maine Coast, and the AMC Maine Mountain Guide. Catch up with him (maybe) at maineoutdoors@aol.com, on Facebook, and on Instagram @careykish

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 11

The Warden’s Legacy

Since 1880, Maine Game Wardens have patrolled and protected the vast forests that we have all come to know as the great “North Maine Woods”.

Since the early beginnings in 1880, the Warden Service’s primary mission has

tin, Charlie Davis, Curly Hamlin, Rod Siriois, Terry Hunter or the Warden families like the Pelletiers and Dumonds. These Wardens patrolled the same roads, woods and waters that the Wardens of today roam, but with advancements in tech-

far between. Retired Warden Pilot Gary Dumond told me a story of the first coyote kill he ever saw in the early 70’s on Carpenter Pond off the Pinkham Road, when the packs of coyotes first became established in Maine. Emerging development, timber practices and new fauna to the landscape have definitely

Warden’s Words

by Game Warden Kale O’Leary, Ashland, ME its sprawling boundaries.

We will always remain committed to serving the citizens, visitors and wildlife of the Pine Tree State in all of our different capacities.

day, please contact the dispatch center nearest you: Houlton Regional Communications Center: 1-800-924-2261 Or Maine Operation Game Thief at

All indications are that sightings of moose prior to 1970 were few and far between. Retired Warden Pilot Gary Dumond told me a story of the first coyote kill he ever saw in the early 70’s on Carpenter Pond off the Pinkham Road, when the packs of coyotes first became established in Maine.

always been protecting Maine’s natural resources.

Each year, Game Wardens conduct hundreds of compliance checks on hunters, anglers and trappers to ensure that the fish and wildlife laws are followed, ensuring these resources remain available for future generations to enjoy.

Over the last 144 years, our job has expanded to involve not just law enforcement, but also search and rescue practices, education, community and landowner involvement.

To be effective, we rely heavily on the cooperation, assistance, and support of all who travel north to enjoy the North Maine Woods, along with the Maine Guide’s and sporting camps that operate in this region.

Being a bit of a history nut myself, I often think of the legendary Wardens of yesteryear who patrolled the North Maine Woods, like David Jackson, John Robertson, Cash Aus-

nology, equipment and the ever-changing dynamics of roads and access, I often wonder if they would recognize these same places.

Wardens at the turn of the 20th century would have been prosecuting Caribou poaching cases as the herd began to dwindle, with one of the last sightings of a Caribou in Maine occurring near Churchill Dam on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in 1911 by Game Warden Bert Spencer. In Annette Jackson’s book “My Life in the Maine Woods”, she talks of her Game Warden husband David Jackson’s exploits on snowshoes, apprehending deer poachers in the vast deer yards along the Allagash River of this era.

Moose hunting, one of the major draws to the North Maine Woods today, only began in 1980 with the first controlled hunt and few permits issued.

All indications are that sightings of moose prior to 1970 were few and

changed these wild places over the last century.

History has always been important for our agency as we remember the past and those paved the way before us, while looking to the future. The North Maine Woods area is also where four Maine Game Wardens have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line duty. Wardens Mertley E. Johnson and David F. Brown died in the line of duty near Big Bog in the St. John River headlands country while pursuing illegal fur trappers in the area in 1922. Warden Jean Baptiste Jalbert drowned while canoeing on the St. Francis River in 1933.

Most recently, Warden Pilot Daryl R. Gordon perished in a plane crash on Clear Lake while flying a patrol flight to assist ground Wardens in their efforts in March of 2011.

Like everything in life, change is inevitable.

One thing that has not changed, however, are the men and women in green who strive everyday to protect the North Maine Woods and the birds and animals contained within

As game wardens work to protect our precious natural resources, we rely on the public to be an extra set of eyes and ears.

If you witness a violation or suspect illegal activity, please report! To reach a Game Warden 24-hours a

1-800-ALERT-US (1-800253-7887).

Kale O’Leary has been a Maine Game Warden since 2016. He currently works in the Oxbow/ Masardis district and lives in Ashland.

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Page 12

Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

Outdoor News - March 2024 Edited by V. Paul Reynolds

lonsburg Grange, 1610 NY22, Essex, New York from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, for anglers and other individuals interested in the fisheries of Lake Champlain.

This meeting is an opportunity for agency staff and others to provide updates on the status and trends of the fisheries and to hear from anglers. Information will be provided on restoration, research, assessment, and other work that has been accomplished over the past year as well as work planned for the coming year. Species to be discussed include lake trout, landlocked Atlantic salmon, sea lamprey, muskellunge, walleye, and bass. Time will be allotted for questions.

If memory serves, April in Maine last spring was the pits. So what’s new? Let’s face it, in Maine in April it always rains and spits snow, regardless of the famous Ground Hog's meteorological premonition. We're betting that there will be some late ice-fishing this year, even if the Pennsylvania ground hog’s shadow foretells an early spring.

Be brave. Spring will come. We'll be smelting, picking fiddleheads, and scouting for turkey activity before you know it.. So.... hang in there. Go to church.

Tie some more flies. Check the fishing gear, again. Revisit the catalogs. Shoot a coyote. Take a vacation in the Florida Keys or get to as many state sportsmen shows as you can. To find Press Release from a sportsman show in your Trout Unlimited area, check this month's ads Dry riverbeds, fish in the Journal. kills, and harm to stream ecology for the West Lake Champlain Branch of the Penobscot River will continue under a Meeting If you are an avid proposed plan from BrookLake Champlain angler or field Renewable Partners/ someone who would like to Great Lakes Hydro Amerlearn more about the vast ica, LLC, according to a array of fish species that just-submitted letter to the live in Lake Champlain, be Federal Energy Regulatory sure to reserve March 23 to Commission (FERC) from attend a meeting with fish- the Maine Council of Trout eries biologists in Essex, Unlimited (TU), the nonprofit national cold water New York.

The Lake Champlain fisheries conservation orFish and Wildlife Man- ganization.

“Instead of providing agement Cooperative -- a working group of fisher- real measures to cut fish ies professionals from the mortality and stream damVermont Fish and Wildlife age as requested by FERC, Department, New York Brookfield’s proposed plan State Department of Envi- does little more than conronmental Conservation, tinue the status quo as it and the United States Fish rejects measures that could and Wildlife Service -- will improve on the current situhost a ‘State of the Lake ation in the near term,” said Fisheries’ meeting at Whal- Steve Heinz, Maine TU

Council FERC Coordinator, representing statewide TU chapters and more than 2,000 Mainers.

“Brookfield could easily do the right thing and greatly improve this watershed for those who live near or love the West Branch. Brookfield continues to show that it is no friend to fish, rivers, or Maine,” said Heinz.

would also address stated Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife concerns for public safety that an automated process would entail; and * Taking steps that fix existing problems rather than simply paying proposed fines for dam outage events when they occur. (“A willingness to pay speeding tickets doesn’t

Ripogenus, has been investigating the shutdown

About Trout Unlimited

Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest cold water fisheries conservation organization dedicated to caring for and recovering America’s rivers and streams so our children can experience the joy of wild and native trout and salmon. Across the country, TU brings to bear local, regional, and national grassroots organizing, durable partnerships, sciencebacked policy muscle, and legal firepower on behalf of trout and salmon fisheries, healthy waters, and vibrant communities.

NH Moose Lottery Open

In a January 25, 2024, letter to FERC in response to Brookfield’s Interim Plan for Aquatic Resources Protection During McKay Station Outages, Heinz highlights recurring problems on the Brookfieldcontrolled West Branch and outlines concrete steps that would address the problems impacting the Upper Ripogenus Gorge area, and iconic Maine sporting areas including Little Eddy and Holbrook. Those steps include: * Releasing a minimum of 200-500 cubic feet per second continuously from Ripogenus Dam to prevent dewatering, fish kills, and harm to stream ecology; * Staffing McKay Station rather than calling crews from Millinocket, more than one hour away, as is currently done. This

give anyone the right to break laws,” said Heinz.)

Dam-related water flow problems on the West Branch below Ripogenus most recently came into vivid perspective following reports last summer of a dried up river, fish kills, and the elimination of an entire spawning season of salmon. After a summer thunderstorm shut down Canada-based Brookfield’s Ripogenus dam for five hours in July, the company did not explain why it did not release water through other dam gates, nor why technicians arriving long after the shutdown “did not conduct any river surveys for environmental effects.”

In response to complaints about the incident from TU and others, FERC, which licenses and regulates the nation’s hydroelectric dams including

New Hampshire’s 2024 moose hunt lottery is now open. Enter today for your chance at the adventure of a lifetime—hunting moose in the rugged woods of the Granite State. The lottery entrance fee is $15 for Granite State residents and $25 for nonresidents.

Visit www.wildlife. nh.gov/hunting-nh/moosehunting-new-hampshire where you can enter the New Hampshire moose hunt lottery online or print out a mail-in application.

You can also pick up an application at any Fish and Game license agent, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department headquarters, or at Fish and Game regional offices.

Moose hunt lottery applications for 2024 must be postmarked or submitted online by midnight (News cont. pg 13)

March 2024

News (Cont. from pg 12) Eastern Standard Time on Friday, May 31. Applications can also be delivered to the Licensing Office at New Hampshire Fish and Game Department headquarters, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH, before 3:45 p.m. that day. Winners will be selected through a computerized random drawing and announced on June 21.

Applicants can enter

Wolf (Cont. from pg 3) Moosehead Lake, Maine was genetically determined to be an eastern wolf.

The closest wolf population to Maine is in the Laurentide Reserve, a scant 80 miles from St. Pamphile on the northwest border of Maine. These animals are a gray X eastern wolf hybrid. Although challenging, wolves (and other mammals) can traverse south across the ice-covered St. Lawrence River. Crossing the Gaspe region of Quebec may be even more daunting. The province does not tolerate wolves south of the St. Lawrence where coyote snaring and trapping is widespread.

Enter the eastern coyote (Canis latrans). Wolves were extirpated from New England and the most remote areas of Maine by the 1890s. It didn’t take long for nature to fill the void.

Western coyotes dramatically expanded their range eastward and arrived here in the 1930s and 1940s.

They hybridized with the smaller eastern wolf (Canis lycaon) as they migrated across southern Ontario.

A Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and Trent

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 13

the moose hunt lottery once per year. A bonuspoint system improves the chances for unsuccessful applicants who apply in each consecutive year.

The point is earned for each year, and each point translates to a chance in the drawing. As an example, last year the overall odds of a resident applicant being drawn were 1 in 114, and resident applicants with a total of 20 points had a 1 in 39 chance of being drawn.

For nonresidents, the odds

were 1 in 477 overall and 1 in 178 for applicants with 20 points.

In 2023, 5,950 people entered the lottery for the chance to win one of 33 permits. More than 1,190 people continued to accrue bonus points because they submitted an application for a point only to hold their already accrued points. Hunters from six other states won permits in the 2023 lottery.

While people travel from all over the country

to take part in the New Hampshire moose hunt, the majority of permits, almost 85%, are awarded to Granite State residents.

The number of permits available to nonresidents is capped, based on the prior year’s sales of nonresident hunting licenses.

The number of moose hunt permits that will be offered for this fall’s hunt has not yet been determined as harvest and survey data are currently under review.

Final numbers will be re-

leased later this spring.

“Moose lottery permit numbers for 2024 are currently being determined,” said Moose Project Leader Henry Jones. “Your chance of being drawn and offered a permit in the lottery will be improved if you rank all wildlife management units on your application. You will then have the option to decline a permit if you are drawn for a unit you would prefer not to hunt in.”

New Hampshire’s (News cont. pg 30)

University study of coyote carcasses in 2003 showed that most Maine coyotes exhibited some wolf ancestry, which explains their larger size than their western cousins.

A 25-year debate has filled scientific journals on whether the eastern wolf (Canis lycaon) is a unique species or a subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus lycaon) or is a hybrid between gray wolves and coyotes (Canis lupus X latrans). The Canadian government has accepted the taxonomy that the eastern wolf is a unique species, but admits they will readily hybridize with gray wolves and with coyotes. The latest 2023 study by Trent University describes eastern wolves as a distinct species that evolved separately from grey wolves for the past ∼67,000 years. They hybridized with coyotes ∼37,000 years ago and again in the last century.

In 2023, the Maine Wolf Coalition posted trail camera photos of a wolf-like canid in northern Maine. Does this mean that wolves are returning to Maine? Not necessarily.

If an eastern wolf from Ontario or Quebec finds its way to northern New York, Maine, or New

Brunswick it will find itself in a sea of eastern coyotes.

Any dispersing eastern wolf would readily hybridize with eastern coyotes, and the offspring would be assimilated into a eastern coyote population that already has a genetic legacy of wolf genes. Similarly, eastern coyotes from southern Canada freely disperse into New England and New Brunswick (and vice versa), further mixing the Canis soupis mix of wolf and coyote genes in our region.

Hybridization between reintroduced red wolves (Canis rufus) and eastern coyotes In North Carolina has made reintroduction of these wolves (that scientists believe are related to the eastern Canadian wolf) almost impossible.

Some argue that the large gray wolf once occurred in Maine when we had abundant moose and caribou. Why not bring them back to Maine? After all, big gray wolves eat small western coyotes (as they do in Yellowstone).

Where definitively-identified large gray wolves and small “western” coyotes are found together in the West there is no documented hybridization between the two. Or perhaps gray wolves would instead make

love to larger eastern coyotes? Eastern coyotes are not sympatric with large gray wolves in northern Quebec, so hybridization between large gray wolves and large eastern coyotes has not been documented (yet).

My conclusion…yes, individual eastern wolves occasionally disperse into northern New England and New Brunswick. Once here, they are assimilated into a large population of eastern coyotes that al-

ready has a genetic legacy of breeding with wolves.

Even if a pack of eastern wolves stayed intact and came from Quebec to Maine, it is unlikely they would retain their unique behavior and genetics for long.

Mark McCollough can be contacted at markmccollough25@gmail.com He recently was a guest at Maine Public Radio Maine Calling show about wolves.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 14

“The Trail Rider”

March 2024

Why I Ride

by Dan Wilson, Bowdoinham, ME Snowmobiling, sledding, snowmachining, or Ski-Dooing are several ways to describe the activity of riding a snowmobile and are likely dependent upon what region you are in or grew up in. Growing up in Maine, my grandparents would often use the word snowmachine, and family friends and relatives sometimes would use the word sled. I think I’ve mostly used the word snowmobile.

We’ve been fortunate to have a few snowmobiles in our barn, each one a different model, year, and until recently, all the same brand: Arctic Cat. We’d mostly refer to the sleds by their model name, “the Puma,” “the Jag” or “long-

track.” Recently, meaning within the last ten years, we’ve added to the fleet, with my father’s Arctic Cat Lynx simply being called “Papa’s” and my Yamaha Venture being called “D’s,” what my nephews call me.

I remember a lot of snowmobiles over the years in my childhood from the pair of blue Sno-Jets my grandparents had, black and orange power snowmobiles with “800” in their name, yellow Ski-Doos, red Polaris snowmobiles, brown/gold Yamaha sleds, plus an assortment of Arctic Cats, bright green and multi-color fluorescents.

Some riders would be fully kitted out with a snowsuit and helmet matching their sled.

Oddly enough, I don’t enjoy riding alone as much as riding with family and friends, leading me to believe that a big part of my trail riding enthusiasm is a social one.

This year has started off as a year of reflection, coupled with turbulent weather and missing frost, snow cover, and ice, and I ask myself, “why do I ride?” This question has many answers and will be unique for each person. As I unpack my “why,” I’m flooded with happy memories, from trips to Jackman to ice fishing and riding on local trails in Bowdoinham and Richmond. I remember excitement, wonder, crisp fresh air, problem-solving, camaraderie. There is a

feeling of freedom riding the trail and an opportunity to explore the woods and vast stretches of land that you might not get to wander on foot in the warmer months.

Oddly enough, I don’t enjoy riding alone as much as riding with family and friends, leading me to believe that a big part of my trail riding enthusiasm is a social one. There are times when I’ve ridden alone, a milestone birthday after fresh snow, coming home from school taking a quick ride before supper, and once for a science project where I took a picture of the sunset atop a hill every night for two-weeks, but my solo trips are usually short, local, and even a bit transactional or with a specific purpose in mind.

I don’t particularly

have a need for speed, though I know some who do. I tend to be a cautious snowmobiler and take my time to enjoy the ride and landscape around me. I might open up a bit in a field that I’m familiar with, but usually won’t sustain a fast speed for long, no fast corners or hills for me. I haven’t spent much time on trails upcountry, especially as an adult, but I look forward to opportunities to explore and experience riding trails and riding culture there.

Memories, immersion in the outdoors, and wonder sum up my top three driving forces for why I ride, what are yours?

Daniel Wilson works in healthcare and enjoys time outside in nature with his family.

~ SAVE THE DATE ~ May 17th - 19th 2024

MTA Spring Fling & Rendezvous

Brooks Community Park, Community Park Drive, Brooks, ME 04921 We will have Vendors, Tailgaters, Demonstrations, a Fur Auction and events for all ages and skill levels. A full schedule will be available for the March/April issue For information regarding the rendezvous please contact Brian Bernosky. Vice President, Maine Trappers Association.

Cell: 207-227-9271 or email Brian.Bernosky@outlook.com

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 15

Something To Warm Up To

As I have gotten a lot older, I find myself gravitating more frequently to places and circumstances that beget comfort and warmth. As a kid, the deep, cold winter would find me alternatively sledding down one of the hills on the farm, playing a weird form of hockey (one stick, one puck, no goals, and one pair of ice skates for two people) on the ice of a small pond near one of the barns, or perhaps making our rounds in snowshoes while carrying buckets of maple sap for boiling down to syrup. Nowadays, sitting under a blanket by a warm fire and nursing a cocktail sounds like a pretty dandy winter sport to my old creaky bones.

I still get out there from time to time, snowshoes and all. In those times, honestly, the colder it is, the better I like it.

When the air itself seems to have shape and feel to it in the bitterest of temperatures, it’s like nothing else in the world. The cold air also makes for the best viewing of stars and planets through a telescope, and now that technology can allow you to set up your equipment and direct it with a smart phone, you don’t even have to worry about the wind chill. Combining an old favorite activity with a newer favorite one is a truly remarkable first-world development.

Some activities are only remotely affected by technology; ice fishing is one of them. The invention of tools like the gaspowered ice auger, the tip-up ice fishing trap, and

the snowmobile has democratized ice fishing and made it widely available to the masses otherwise uninclined to chip holes through several feet of rock-hard ice after walking many miles through chestdeep snow, which seem to represent the greatest technological leap in the outdoors since the invention of the Pop-Tart®.

So, while it resembles nothing that either an Inuit fisherman or an early mountaineer would recognize, ice fishing is still full of essential mystery: what’s down there? It’s a question no less compelling to us than it was to those hardy souls who walked the many miles through the chestdeep snow, et cetera, to do something other than go uphill to school like we used to do.

Near the end of January this year, my colleagues and I on the board of the Maine Youth Fish and Game Association hosted over a hundred kids and their families at the association facilities in the remote wilderness of Township 32, Middle Division, in northern Hancock County, Maine. Okay, so “remote wilderness” in this case means about a twenty-

minute drive from where I live in Old Town, but, hell, I still think it counts.

The point of the work of the association is to introduce young people to the fun and wonders of the outdoors. Ice fishing presents some pretty compelling adventures to those with minds curious enough to want to know about using gear that doesn’t need to be charged up.

Marsh Island Chronicles

by Matthew Dunlap, Old Town, ME bell rings, it’s time for the free hot dog lunch. There’s also plenty of hot chocolate and coffee in the club’s ice shack on the pond, not to mention fun prizes.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, a critical partner to the organization, might make an extra stop now and again from the

go up and the reel is just running. All the kids come dashing, stand on tiptoe around the hole, and then— whoosh! The twisting, arcing brook trout splashes out of the hole, bringing with it an entire universe of wonder. After twenty years of seeing that scene play out over and again, it still doesn’t get old.

So, while it resembles nothing that either an Inuit fisherman or an early mountaineer would recognize, ice fishing is still full of essential mystery: what’s down there?

We try to make it an easy take for new anglers.

Thanks to the generosity of far too many people and organizations to name—and no kidding, the list alone would far exceed my editor’s preferred word count for this space—in hosting the ice fishing event, we provide absolutely everything. Young parents yielding to the baying of “I want to go!” are, uniformly, delighted to learn that they are responsible for no more than getting the young adventurers to the event. Volunteers stand by to provide gear, handson demonstrations on the use of it, bait, a couple of freshly-drilled holes for each angler, and when the

Portland

rearing station in Enfield with the fish truck, and they might throw in a few of the retired, heroic brood stock for good measure. I’ve never witnessed a hatchery truck pull up to the edge of the pond myself, mind you, but I’ve seen lots of very nice trout come out of the ice after a young angler has quickly mastered the mysterious art of setting a hook.

Honestly, there’s just something about the excited look in a young kid’s eyes when they see that flag

It’s cold out there, to be sure. But when you get to share joy like that, you quickly find there’s more ways of warming one’s old, creaky bones than a blanket and a blazing fire.

Matt Dunlap is a sportsman from Old Town and is a periodic co-host on Maine Outdoors, heard statewide every Sunday night at 7:00 pm on WVOM 103.9 FM, WVQM 101.3 FM, and WRKD 95.1 FM in Rockland.

HELP US FIND

The elusive Northwoods Sporting Journal’s moose Marty.

He has wandered into the northwoods.

Find Marty somewhere in the Northwoods Sporting Journal (Hint: he will be located in one of our ads) Send us the page number he’s on and you could be a WINNER! Win a FREE Northwoods Sporting Journal Marty Hat. We will draw one winner from all correct entries submitted each month. We will announce the winner in the next issue.

PLEASE MAIL THIS FORM TO: Northwoods Sporting Journal P.O. Box 195, West Enfield, ME 04493

Shown actual size

Randy Stoddard

Name

(Marty was found on pg 68)

Address City

Marty

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Phone I found Marty on page

Zip

Entries must be postmarked by 3/12/24 to be eligible for this issue.

Page 16

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Adventures of Me and Joe

by Bob Cram, (Alias T.J. Coongate) Medway, ME

Me and Joe had just finished a meeting with Condon Fishbane and Gasper Gooch in the tack room of Uncle Arnold’s old barn. He had let us set up a ramdown heater in the small room and use it as a meeting place through the winter, a place free of blizzards, interruptions, and grownups.

Maine had been suffering through a long cold spell, but by mid-March things were beginning to turn around. Daytime temperatures hovered in the high 20s and there was still two weeks left in the ice fishing season. The four of us had decided to spend the day of Fallfish Pond across the back field at the edge of Uncle Arnold’s property.

The small pond was full of hungry pickerel and we figured to catch enough for a big fish fry that evening.

As we crossed the back yard, we noted Uncle Arnold, dressed in green wool pants with red suspenders, a checked flannel shirt and wool hat, standing with his hands in his pockets and eyeing a small, squat building specula-

tively.

“Mornin’, boys,” he said absently as we came up. I looked at the low building with cement walls and a cedar shake roof.

Several small structures in various states of repair dotted Uncle Arnold’s property. Few served any modern purpose.

“What’s this building, Uncle Arnold?” I asked.

“Don’t think I ever noticed it before.”

“That there’s my icehouse,” he replied. “That’s where I store up my ice fer the comin’ summer.

Stack the blocks an’ burry it all in sawdust. Lasts me all through the warm weather.”

We eyed the little building curiously. It was about 12 feet square with walls just 5 feet high. Parts of the walls were underground and the floor was about three feet below ground level. The whole structure had a general aura of decay and lack of use.

Uncle Arnold sighed and began to rub the small of his back. “Getting’ old,” I ‘spect,” he said sorrowfully. “Don’t know’s I’m

March 2024

The Ice Cutters

The Combined force of the ice block, Joe and Condon hit Gasper and me in the back at about 30 miles an hour. The big chain saw flew into the air and with a savage shriek, narrowly missing uncle Arnold, and landed on its side of the ice. up to cuttin’ an’ haulin’ my ice anymore.” He gazed downhill at the pond with a melancholy expression.

“Might have ta go without cut ice this summer.”

Me and Joe looked at each other. Every time we got into a project with Uncle Arnold it seemed like we ended up regretting it in some way, usually physical. But it also looked like a nearly impossible task for a stooped old man to cut enough ice at Fallfish Pond and haul it across a quarter mile of sloping field to fill up the icehouse. Before we could speak out, however, Gasper piped up.

“We’ll cut yore (gasp)

If you just can’t get enough of reading our Me & Joe Adventures, check out the All Outdoor section of our new Northwoods Sporting Journal website:www.sportingjournal.com You’ll find an ample supply of Me & Joe stories to keep you checking for a long time.

ice, Uncle (gasp) Arnold!’ he said emphatically.

“Uh, yeah,” Condon agreed. “You just…uh… show us how, an’ we’ll… uh…have that ol’ icehouse…uh…filled in no time!”

Although it was against our better judgement, it would have seemed mean not to join in. The four of us followed Uncle Arnold over to the tool shed. He began selecting various implements, all of which seemed to have seen better days and all of which had the appearance of being made during the Cleveland Administration.

The first one. Included were a huge pair of tongs with sharp gripping points and iron loops at the top,

several long poles with steel points at the ends, four hand axes, long coils of hemp rope, and an ancient yellow Terrill chainsaw that weighed about a hundred pounds.

U n d e r U n c l e A rnold’s direction we toted the whole conglomeration down to the pond, hauling most of it on a rickety toboggan that we would use to haul back the blocks of ice. High winds had swept a portion of the ice free of snow and Uncle Arnold determined that we would begin cutting operations right by the shore nearest his back field.

“Plenty of water jist off the shore,” he commented with satisfaction.

(Me & Joe cont. pg 17)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

Me & Joe (Cont. from pg 16)

“We won’t stir up any mud off’n bottom. That slope leads right down to the shore. We kin park the toboggan at the top, pour water on the slop ta make her slick, then skid them blocks right up to the top an’ load ‘um on. Easy as pie.”

I still had misgivings but Uncle Arnold seemed to know what he was about.

He carefully marked out a large square, etching the outline in the ice with a point of a pickpole. “Joe, you an’ Condon come over here. I’ll show yer how ta work the chainsaw.”

Joe looked somewhat fearful but Condon was eager to run the old contraption. Uncle Arnold coached them on how to choke the engine, how to grip the handles and avoid the long bar and chain. As they held the saw tightly Uncle Arnold yanked repeatedly on the pull-ord. On about the fifth crank, the old engine started with a sputtering roar.

Shouting above the scream of the unmuffled engine, he directed them over to the design in the ice. “She’ll cut ice like a hot knife through butter,” he shouted. “Jist hold ‘er tight an’ make sure neither one of you gits near the chain. Oh,” he added in afterthought, “try not to let ‘er kick back an’ cut yer heads off.”

Suddenly sober, with looks on their faces bordering on terror, Joe and Condon lowered the tip of the bar to the ice and revved the saw to peak power. Surprisingly, the saw cut beautifully, with no tendency to kick back and cutting through the

two-foot thick ice in a swift, straight line. In no time at all they had cut out the square of ice. Shutting off the saw, they turned to Uncle Arnold.

“How we gonna… uh…get the block out?”

Condon asked in puzzlement.

“We ain’t,” Uncle Arnold replied. “Gimme that pickpole.”

I handed him the pole and he planted the pick at the center of the square block. Pushing down with all his weight, he shoved the heavy block below the surface of the upwelling water. When it was below the level of the surrounding ice, he changed the angle of his push, shoving sideways. The block slid under the pond ice and out of sight.

“Now we cut the next block,” he puffed, “an’ there’ll be enough room ta grab onto it with the tongs and lift it free.”

For the next hour we cut ice blocks, floated them to the edge of the growing hole, hooked onto them with the tongs and, with a long rope, skidded them up the icy slope to the waiting toboggan. It was cold, brutal work. There was no way to avoid getting wet and the wet clothing froze

almost instantly, chafing our bodies.

Gasper and I took over running the chainsaw.

Joe and Condon, being the strongest, muscled the big blocks of ice to the top of the slope. Uncle Arnold supervised. Gradually we got better at it, but it was still grueling, hand-numbing labor.

By noon we had just five blocks up beside the toboggan. Joe and Condon had the sixth block halfway up the slope while Gasper and I were busy cutting a seventh. Suddenly, Joe slipped on the wet, icy slope. As he hit the slope on his back, the taut rope snaked around his leg. By himself, Condon couldn’t hold the massive block of ice, let alone the weight of the block and Joe too. He gave a mighty tug. Joe and the block tugged back, and Condon’s own feet flew out from under him. With an unbelievable swiftness, the three of them lurched back down the slope.

With our backs turned and the chainsaw roaring, neither Gasper nor myself could hear the approaching screams of Joe and Condon. Uncle Arnold, leaning on a pickpole across the hole in the ice, could see the whole event unfolding.

Page 17

“Look out,” he said mildly.

The combined force of the ice block, Joe and Condon hit Gasper and me in the back at about 30 miles an hour. The big chain saw flew into the air with a savage shriek, narrowly missing Uncle Arnold, and landed on its side on the ice. The oldstyle carburetor, tipped sideways, quickly flooded and the saw died. All four intrepid ice cutters were plunged bodily into the open water.

Uncle Arnold had been right. The water was plenty deep. I noted this absently as my lungs seized up and my eyeballs

froze open in the icy water.

Struggling to the edge of the ice hole, I held on with all my waning energy and watched Condon heave himself out onto the ice by brute strength. One after the other, he grabbed first Gasper, then myself, by the collars of our parkas and sluiced us out into the freezing air.

In the water, Joe struggled and gurgled, still caught in the coils of the rope. “I can’t… uh…reach ‘im!” Condon wailed. “He’s gonna… uh…drownt!”

Uncle Arnold stood at the edge of the hole and (Me & Joe cont. pg 33)

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March 2024

Outdoor Sporting Three Against the Wilderness of about 150,000 bearer that had survived the improve the trapping, but Library trapline acres of wilderness in the overharvest and habitat loss to store groundwater that

by Jeremiah Wood, Ashland, ME

Many who spend a lifetime in the wilderness do so because they aren’t happy anywhere else. Such was the case with Eric Collier. Born and raised in England, Eric was destined to become a lawyer, but he hated the profession

and the Chilcotin area west of the Fraser River was wild country. Eric went to work at a trading post in the village of Riske Creek, the edge of a vast unpopulated frontier. It was there he met Lillian, along with her grandmother, a nearly

They made their living for the first few years by trapping and hunting coyotes.

It was a lean existence, and they made it work, but Eric knew it could be better. and found that he enjoyed being outdoors more than anything else. As a young man he moved to Canada to work on a British Columbia cattle farm with a cousin.

Still, Eric realized the life of a cowboy wasn’t what he was looking for either. He gravitated to wilderness. It was 1921,

century-old native who told stories of the country as it once existed.

Eric and Lillian shared a dream of settling in the woods and making a living there. Fur trapping was one of the only real income-producing possibilities at the time, and he was granted a registered

Meldrum Creek watershed.

The Meldrum Creek trapline wasn’t rich with fur as it had been in Lillian’s grandmother’s day. Furbearers, particularly beavers, had been harvested to the point of extinction in the area, and as a result the once vast network of beaver flowages, ponds and wetland complexes that supported so many other wildlife had dried up and withered away.

Eric and Lillian settled on the trapline, built a cabin, and had a son they named Veasy. Deer were abundant enough to keep them fed, and the one fur-

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in the area was the coyote. was charged with each spring’s snowmelt a n d d is c h a rg e it evenly throughout the dry summers.

Efforts by ranchers in the valley below to breach dams to get more water had unintentionally exacerbated the problem.

It was with a long term vision and leap of faith that Eric and Lillian began to rebuild the beaver dams on Meldrum Creek. They worked by hand, hauling dirt and tree branches to the washed out sections of old dams and packed them tight to hold water. With They made their living for cooperation from Mother the first few years by trap- Nature and an understandping and hunting coyotes. ing cattle rancher in the It was a lean existence, and valley, the ponds began to they made it work, but Eric fill and wetlands flooded. knew it could be better.

Vegetation grew back, and W h e n i t c a m e t o waterfowl returned, as well wildlife management and as muskrats, mink and otwatershed function, Eric ter.

Collier was far ahead of The improvements to his time. He had a unique Meldrum Creek were enunderstanding of how im- couraging, and began payportant it was to conserve ing dividends on the Collier water in the upper reaches trap line, with increases of the basin, not only to in the catch of muskrats create wildlife habitat and (Three cont. pg 19)

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Birds (Cont. from pg 7) Biologists told me they found a few turkeys dead in the snow. They stayed on the roost for days due to light powder snow and couldn’t get food or water.

The outlook for 2024 spring hunting? It can’t be anything but excellent.

That is population wise, but hunters need to get out of their trucks and into the woods. Leave the field flocks to the newbies and experience deep woods hunting. You may not see turkeys in the fields where you have in the past, but they didn’t disappear.

Biologists agree that wild turkey flocks expand their range each winter by about five miles. Draw a circle on your topo map and search out expansion flocks. It will get you away from the crowd and into the homes of Maine’s heavyweight longbeards.

Maine turkey hunters who are getting cabin fever should follow my lead and keep an eye out for turkey flocks, especially when

Northwoods Sporting Journal they begin breaking up as the mating season approaches.

Stu Bristol is a Master Maine Hunting, Fishing & Tidewater Guide; Outdoor Writer and game call maker. His outdoor features have been published nationwide for more than 60 years. He was inducted into the New England Wild Turkey Hunting Hall of Fame in 2019. He can be reached at www.deadlyimpostergamecalls.com.

Three

(Cont. from pg 18) and mink. But Eric knew there was so much more to do, and building dams by hand was slow, painful and limited in scope. He needed the beavers back. Several attempts to find beavers to stock in the creek were unsuccessful, until an understanding game warden took on the task.

Two pair of beavers were introduced to Meldrum Creek near the Col-

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Page 19

liers’ cabin in 1941. Under their watchful eye and protection, the beavers soon multiplied and after several years, there were hundreds of them, building dams, storing water and creating habitat. Much of the Colliers’ success in supporting their livelihoods by trapping was a result of the work they put in to restoring the land, but like most visionaries, their work would benefit future generations far more than them, for when the beavers

were abundant, their life in the woods was nearing its end.

Eric Collier’s book, “Three Against the Wilderness”, tells the story of the family, their lifestyle and a long journey of achieving a legacy in the backcountry of British Columbia, all because a young man couldn’t be happy anywhere else.

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Aroostook Woods & Water

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Mike Maynard, Perham, ME Spring! I’m starting to feel it; you feeling it yet?

The hard water season is down to its final push for God and country. Once more into the breach, dear friends; …once more, and this time, with harmony and feeling. Man, what a

too, while trying to fish his truck out. I’m all for a mild winter, but c’mon, we need snow to keep the economy rolling along up here.

Okay, so, to paraphrase Bullwinkle, or maybe it was John Cleese: “And now for something

Hello Dolly...

won’t bother to correct you on. The fish certainly don’t care. So, there I was, thinking a dolly was a bull; and while some of them certainly may be, they are not fish. For the obvious reasons, we don’t see dollys or bulls up here in the County. We don’t see browns or rainbows either, and that’s fine. As wonderful as they are, they aren’t

March 2024

several sub-species of east and west slope cutthroat.

Throw a few grayling in there, too. I’ve done the whole Salmon River/Pulaski thing a few times. Great fun. Weird place, Pulaski; ‘nuff said.

But we were discussing my misplaced piscine

don’t quibble with me. If you want to see what a bull trout cousin looks like, go punch in ‘Kundja whitespotted char’ and see what you get. Apparently, we have to go to Kamchatka to fish for them. I’m not going to Kamchatka, not even if you buy me the ticket.

attributions. As it turns out, a Dolly Varden is NOT a bull trout! Who knew?

They don’t even share a common ancestor. A Dolly Varden is a close cousin to our own arctic char (brookies), while the bull is somehow related to the weird white-spotted Asian char.

Yes, yes, I said they were both descended from char;

Hell, I have a hard time just getting down to the West Branch at this point.

Now, if you’re like me, you’ve always wondered how the Dolly Varden got its curious name.

Maybe you’re not like me at all, and you simply don’t care. That’s fine; it won’t hurt my feelings. It turns out that you can blame the name on none other than Charles Dickens. Yes, that Dickens. Dolly Varden was a character in his 1841 novel, ‘Barnaby Rudge’.

The name refers back to a colorful cloth that was woven for her. “A pink and grey pattern of good looks” is how it was described. We can therefore deduce from Dickens, that Miss Varden liked walking around London dressed like a fish.

The bull trout can claim no such romantic ties to antiquated Victorian literature. The name comes from the obvious; an overly large head attached (Dolly cont. pg 21)

A Dolly Varden is a close cousin to our own arctic char (brookies), while the bull is somehow related to the weird white-spotted Asian char. Yes, yes, I said they were both descended from char; don’t quibble with me. weird winter! The trails didn’t see a rideable snow until the third week in January! The snowmobile boys had to be locked up in padded sled trailers to keep from harming themselves.

Seriously, I had to help lock one of ‘em up. And the ice?

That never showed up until late. Hopefully you weren’t the guy who dropped his truck into Long Lake and then dropped his tractor in

completely different…”

What’s in a name?

You know, for a time; … okay, all my life, I had always labored under the delusion that a Dolly Varden and a bull trout were the same fish. Kind of like calling a brookie a trout, when in fact it’s really a char. No harm, no foul.

It’s an accepted practice that even the most militant of fisheries biologists

Aroostook County

supposed to be here.

Anyway, I was reading up on the trout that I’m not likely to catch at this point in my declining years. Fish like dollys, bulls, Gila, and Apache trout. I did a bunch of western fishing years ago in my juvenile delinquent phase (yes, dear; I’m still trying to outgrow it) and got a handful of bucketlist fish crossed off, but the ones I just listed were not among them. The best I can do is tell you I’ve caught

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Dolly

(Cont. from pg 20) to a skinny tapered body (sounds like a cusk to me).

“Bull-headed *#$%@!!” is probably how they were described by early explorers who tried to pry them off the bottom of whatever stream they were in.

Dogged and determined, unimaginative; the fight they’ll put up reminds you of a togue. It’s like trying to pull unwilling cordwood off the bottom with 5X tippet. Or so I’ve heard.

And while we’re discussing names, here’s one

Letters

(Cont. from pg 8) paper mill site in Lincoln.

Any plant that is built will need to fully meet the dictates of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection which we support. To have a new tribal DEP can only cause unneeded complications.

The company we are working with here is trusting that the Maine DEP will control effluent into any of the rivers.

Your view on the

we should all remember because it may not be around much longer. The Paiute Cutthroat trout. It lives in but a single stream in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness area of California, in Silver King Creek. As far as I know, it is the only species of trout that has no spots. It kind of resembles a rainbow parr, same colorations, but no spots anywhere. Like General Custer, it’s down to its last stand; blink, and it may be gone before we ever got a chance to know it.

Everybody got a good start on filling those de-

pleted fly boxes? Yeah, me neither. But I’m thinking about doing it, and that’s an important distinction. I picked up another dilapidated and misused canoe this winter; all beat to hell.

But buried under that patina of abuse is a butterfly just waiting to be released.

I had to drive down to Vermont to get it, and I got it for free-ish, but that, too, was half the fun!

Spring, it might be coming after all.

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Maine Tails

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Digesting Deer Season

of antlers hitting hardwood branches. In the morning twilight, the buck was right the freezer, my time was where he was not supposed well spent and yielded a to be - on the high ground, collection of colorful an- out in the open. I hastened along to my spot and sat ecdotes. down.

The Fisher Thirty minutes later, I As I crept along the top of a ridge towards a heard the rustle of a creastand of oaks, hints of gray ture approaching. From

By Jonah Paris, Ellsworth, ME

Since 2020, the March column of Maine Tails has been dedicated to reflecting upon the prior deer season.

As I noted then, “Just like a gourmet meal, a deer season requires time afterwards to properly digest;

After several sequences, I heard the familiar four-step faintly in the leaves behind me, then a branch snapped. A deer had circled around me. With the blowdowns blocking my view, I couldn’t see it, but I could hear it stomping.

four months appears to be ample time.” Looking back at the 2023 season, I will start at the end; I never fired a shot. However, I managed to enjoy nearly 50 hours in the woods during November. Despite no venison in

light were just beginning to weave through the woods.

Taking another step, I heard a deer spook from over my right shoulder. As it bounded off the north side of the ridge, I could distinctly hear the dull clang

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behind an uprooted pine, a large fisher came crashing through the leaves and continued towards where I was sitting. Now only twenty feet away, I stood up. Startled, the fisher froze and stared. His little black weasel eyes must have grown to the size of half-dollars.

In one abrupt movement, he turned and raced off for the next county. A boulder rolling down the ridge would have made less of a disturbance. After all the morning commotion, I was not surprised by the lack of deer movement. Even the red squirrels were quiet, but

Volume IIII

a hungry fisher might have had something to do with that.

The Scrape Early in the season, I found a fresh scrape beneath a small beech tree. What had actually caught my attention was not the scrape, but the large track pressed into it.

With anticipation, I set a camera over the scrape.

When I checked it a week later, I was greeted with a single blurry image of a lone doe. After I returned the card to the camera, I decided to freshen the scrape myself, and perhaps got carried away. Dragging my boot across the scrape, I quickly doubled its size to nearly four feet long and over two feet wide. I was sure to fling some dirt on the leaves a few feet beyond, just as any selfrespecting buck would do.

Then I poured a liberal shot

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of deer urine into the middle of the scrape, stirred it around with my boot, and shook a few drops onto the licking branch above. Well aware that deer don’t urinate in trees, it still seemed like a good idea at the time.

Another week passed before I returned to the camera. Reviewing the images, I discovered that the scrape had suddenly gone from cold to hot. Another doe had passed through, along with four different bucks. From the series of time-stamped photos, I could piece the story together. The doe came through first, and the cam(Season cont. pg 25)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

Sebec Lake Togue

It was July, a perfect summer day, in the early 1970s. For reasons that now elude me, I wound up fishing for togue on Sebec Lake, a fabled togue fish-

It was no doubt a lunker.

My fishing partner could barely move the sulking togue off the bottom. My fishing partner played the fish well, and soon, as the

Hollis Grindle with his Beech Hill togue, a longtime state record.

Tyler Strasenburg with a lunker togue caught last year at a Hancock County lake. ery at the time. My buddy, fish tired, the old Sal Trout who liked to fish but did reel began winding the not have much togue time colors back onto the spool. under his belt, asked me to Not far from the surshow him the ropes. His face, the spent togue got gear was marginal at best.

The old rod and Sal Trout reel that once belonged to my buddy’s late father had obviously laid dormant in an attic for years. What I didn’t like the looks of were the faded colors of 10 lb lead core line, but a couple hard tugs did not separate the line.

Less than 20 minutes after the old lead core line was bobbing a sewn smelt and a Murray Spoon just off the bottom, a hook up!

From hours of togue fishing with my dad as a kid and young adult, I knew this was no ordinary lake trout.

a second wind. It made a valiant run for freedom, and, dagnabit, the old lead core line parted and the big fish, free at last, scooted back to the cool depth of Sebec Lake.

We never did lay our eyes on that fish. Was it one of the 25 pounders that are known to inhabit Sebec Lake? Perhaps, but we will never know. My buddy, good-natured about the dashed expectations,

Page 23

Outdoors In Maine

by V. Paul Reynolds, Ellsworth, ME stocking of togue in the lake.

Today, according to the regional fisheries biologist in Greenville, Tim Obrey, there are indications that lake trout spawning is taking place. Obrey is convinced that Sebec Lake may hold togue as big as 25 lbs. Obrey and his team

1958 at Beech Hill pond

by Hollis Grindle. Then, in 2022, Erik Poland of Andover, Maine boated a new state record at Richardson Lake. The monster togue weighed in officially at 39.2 pounds.

For togue anglers, finding the heavies, the Mother of All Lakers, is

In Maine, the record togue was for many years a 31.8 pounder caught in 1958 at Beech Hill pond by Hollis Grindle. Then, in 2022, Erik Poland of Andover, Maine boated a new state record at Richardson Lake. The monster togue weighed in officially at 39.2 pounds. took it all in stride, much better than I. Sebec has an interesting togue history. A fish survey in 1955 revealed very marginal togue population in the lake. Biologists theorized that the fish were not native to the lake and migrated there from some other neighboring waters, and that there was no appreciable togue reproduction taking place. In 1961, the Maine Department of Fish and Wildlife conducted some serious

last fall installed PIT tags on 59 togue, which will allow the state to get a better understanding of togue habits there.

Says Obrey, “We will have very good insights into the population and exploitation of lake trout in Sebec Lake based on the proportion of recaptures, the number of wild vs hatchery fish, and an estimate of total harvest.

In Maine, the record togue was for many years a 31.8 pounder caught in

the name of the game. Who knows, Sebec Lake could be ground zero for another state record.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide and host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. He has authored three books. Online purchase information is available at www.sportingjournal.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 24

One Last Shot

The Gun Cabinet

by John Floyd, Webster Plantation, ME Frank Reinert pulled into the driveway as I was readying some fishing gear in the clubhouse. I had a full week of fishing trips behind me, as well as ahead, and I was hard pressed sorting tackle and shore lunch gear in between; early June is

out what he meant. It is too late for that canoe trip and besides, that’s big game season. Then it dawned on me.

I had been so focused on fishing that I forgot what else happens in early June – the Maine Moose Lottery.

moose’ he said. Frank was an avid outdoorsman and his illness had put a serious damper on what he enjoyed most – hunting.

‘This could be my last shot’ he told me in candor.

We took the hunt dayto-day. Walking and stalking when he felt well, driving into deep spots when he did not. Frank’s .444 Marlin was the medicine for the walks, his Remington 760

Frank was about 20 yards behind me and looking north, up the ridge, and he didn’t see my frantic gesturing. I was trying to whisper to him to get his attention, but Frank couldn’t hear me – his hearing aids nestled in their case back at camp. A few seconds later

March 2024

of the magazine going in his Remington and a second later the report as it echoed along the ridge line.

I watched the bull go down hard.

We climbed our way up to the downed moose, Frank seemingly in shock at what just occurred. ‘Did

We took the hunt day-to-day. Walking and stalking when he felt well, driving into deep spots when he did not. Frank’s .444 Marlin was the medicine for the walks, his Remington 760 pump-action .30-06 was the choice for the cuts. always busy for a fishing guide.

My first thought was that he wanted to talk about doing another canoe expedition. The previous year I guided him on a three day, two night canoe trip along Baskahegan Stream through Baskahegan Lake and Crooked Brook Flowage. It was memorable trip and he talked about it all year long afterwards.

As Frank took a seat a sly grin appeared on his face. ‘Are you busy in October?’ I paused for a moment, trying to figure

Milford

After waiting more than 30 years, Frank had drawn a bull moose permit. We were going moose hunting.

The opportunity was exciting but I was concerned. Frank had been diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer the year before – it was the impetus behind our canoe expedition. That trip was a bucket list item for him and he was sure at the time it would be his last outdoors adventure.

But thanks to an aggressive and experimental treatment plan, he was still active a year later.

I asked Frank if he was up to the task. We talked about the rigors of moose hunting and the very remote nature of it. He was adamant to try and that we should go for it. ‘I’ve waited a long time to hunt a

pump-action .30-06 was the choice for the cuts.

Like most moose hunters, Frank was set on taking a trophy bull. We were hunting in Wildlife Management District Two, behind the gate in the North Maine Woods, so I was confident that there were good 50-inch bulls around.

I was less sure however of our ability to get in the places I knew we needed to get a shot at one.

Even the healthiest of hunters can feel the toll of the moose hunt after a few days.

On Thursday of the hunt, while calling and working a road on Freeman Ridge north of Carr Pond, we walked up on a 200 pound class bear as we rounded a bend.

The problem was this;

Frank’s one last shot bull moose. the bear winded us and was I just get my moose?’ he gone. asked me multiple times Leaving camp in the as I congratulated him on dark on Friday morning, I a great shot through timber. could feel Frank’s anxiety.

I didn’t know it then, After seeing a lot of cows, but it would turn out to be some small bulls and a his last big game animal. missed opportunity at a When Frank passed away a bonus bear, he desperately year ago this month, I was wanted to fill his moose tag honored to know he trusted – his priorities had changed me for his one last shot. and he was wearing down; feeling today would be our John is a Registered last. My yoke was cast.

Maine Guide, an NRA Two hours later, I Certified Instructor and glassed a young bull with a is the owner of Tucker cow about a hundred yards Ridge Outdoors in Webup a grown-in skidder trail, ster Plantation, Maine. He feeding in the early light. is a member of the New ‘Bull on the right, cow on England Outdoor Writers the left!’ I told Frank, as he Association and can be bailed out my truck. reached at john@tuckerContinuing to glass ridge.me or on Facebook the bull, I heard the snick @tuckerridgeoutdoors

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

Season (Cont. from pg 22) era snapped a photo of her sniffing the scrape. Then she took off running down the trail, tail up. The next photos showed two bucks chasing her. An ambitious bachelor, a spike-horn, came just minutes behind her, stopped to investigate the scrape, and then continued down the trail. Another young buck, a four-pointer, was behind him, and exhibited the same behavior.

The camera captured the chase on a bright sunny morning around 11 a.m. a day that I was not in the woods, of course. This was the rut: mid-day movement during mid-month, and a doe in heat with multiple bucks in pursuit. Two other bucks, a six-pointer and a handsome eight-pointer, came through a few days later, and each stopped to paw the scrape and lick the branch.

The Roar One evening in November, I was sitting against a tangle of blowdowns looking down towards thick cover. This was the same spot where I had watched a grunting buck chase a doe by me during the 2022 season.

Hoping to lure a buck out of the cover, I began calling during the last hour of legal light. I started with my grunt tube and bleat can, then got more aggressive.

After adding in a snortwheeze, I began raking the underbrush with a stick and pounding the heel of my boot against the ground.

After several sequences, I heard the familiar fourstep faintly in the leaves behind me, then a branch snapped. A deer had circled around me. With the blowdowns blocking my view, I couldn’t see it, but I could hear it stomping.

After a few minutes of silence, I gave one more deep grunt. Then from just

behind me, a thunderous sound - something between an eagle’s screech and a lion’s roar - broke through the woods. I was stunned.

The sound came twice more in the span of a minute, followed by silence. I could not fathom that what I had heard could possibly come out a deer’s mouth.

Another hunter had to be messing with me. Doubt had settled in by the end of legal light. But as I started walking out of the woods, I jumped a buck less than 100 yards from where I had sat. After some research and talking with whitetail-savvy friends, I later learned that this unusual vocalization is one of great frustration and is known as a “buck roar.”

A four-season outdoorsman, Jonah lives in Ellsworth, ME with his wife Ashley, and beagle, Aurora. Jonah can be reached at jonaheparis@ gmail.com.

Best Shot!

I read my Sporting Journal while on vacation in Italy. This is Positano Italy. James Cherry from Machias, Maine.

Page 25

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 26

Muzzleloading Afield

by Al Raychard, Lyman, ME

The best thing about March is that April is just around the corner. For freshwater trolling enthusiasts dripping at the mouth to get out and wet a line that means ice-out on Maine’s lake isn’t far away, if it already hasn’t occurred in

Ice Out Maine

near a lake, perhaps a water or power company. On Little Sebago in Raymond and North Windham, for example, the Little Sebago Lake Association uses the state definition, defined as the ability to pass from one end of the lake to the

The 10-year average ice-out date is still in May, but the average date on Moosehead and statewide is getting sooner and sooner with each passing year. some parts of the state.

For those of us who like to hit the water early in hopes of getting into some landlocked salmon or trout, ice-out is one of the most highly anticipated natural phenomenon’s of the year.

The definition of “iceout” varies from lake-tolake depending upon who’s keeping tabs, generally a lake association, or lacking an association an individual or two that live on or

March 2024

other unobstructed by ice, in this case from Twin Brooks to Hopkins Dam. Others might define ice-out as the ability to navigate unobstructed between two points or once a lake is completely void of ice.

Whatever definition is used, because Maine is such a large state, because our geography and weather conditions vary from region-to-region yearto-year, because our lakes

(Illustration by V. Paul Reynolds)

vary in size and depth and due to a bunch of other more technical hydrologic factors, ice-out dates also vary. The date can even vary from lake-to-lake from a few days to a week or more on lakes in relative close proximity or in the same general region.

According to the Maine Department of Parks and Lands, website, Highland Lake in Windham cleared of ice on April 3 in 2023, but Horne Pond in Lim-

ington not until April 7.

Portage Lake opened April 24 and Eagle Lake in Eagle Lake Township May 1.

Some years some lakes, or parts of some lakes don’t completely freeze, as was the case with the Big Bay on Sebago Lake in 2023.

The timing of ice-out has been a topic of interest for decades, for obvious reasons especially among fishermen. Ice-out dates for nearly a dozen lakes in Maine go back more than

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170 years and many date back more than a century.

It’s fun research if such things are of interest if only to get a perspective and a general idea when it might occur.

Having done a bit of research myself a few things come to mind. The first is a given, ice-out will happen. It always has and as long as our lakes freeze over ice has to give way with the changing of the season. The second thing is over much of Maine, on average, ice-out is taking place earlier in recent years than it did back in the 1800s, even a half century ago. I can recall back in the early 1970s we didn’t dare plan our spring Moosehead outing until sometime in early-to-mid-May. But in recent years the big lake has been designated clear much earlier than the historical norm. In 2021 is was on April 16, in 2022 April 28 and last year April 26.

The 10-year average iceout date is still in May, but the average date on Moosehead and statewide is getting sooner and sooner with each passing year.

(Maine cont. pg 30))

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Trout Day Dreams

Spring is a way off, but March is when I usually begin to day dream about catching wild brook trout on delicate little dry flies.

What about you? Never too early to begin making plans for your trout trips.

If fishing for wild native brook trout in scenic wilderness is your thing, there are more reasons than ever to include Baxter

in more than 25 years, if ever. They are legally protected from stocking and the use of live fish as bait.

In fact, less than 6 percent of Baxter’s trout waters have been stocked.

Native Trout Within Baxter Park there are also 400 miles of lake- and spring-fed brooks and streams that provide ideal habitat for brook

of water in Maine that is home to rare native Arctic charr, formerly known as blueback trout (or charr) and Sunapee trout.

The following ponds have proven to me to be well worth the hike and a day of fishing, not in any particular order: Jackson Pond, Celia Pond, Lower Fowler Pond, Big and Little Rocky Pond, Kidney Pond, Daicey Pond, Slaughter Pond, Foss and Knowlton Pond and Center Pond.

Page 27

Cracker Barrel

by Homer Spit my best trout-fishing experiences took place at boundary waters, Jackson Pond and Slaughter Pond. These are so named because the Park’s West boundary intersects both waters, leaving the West end of the ponds outside of Park jurisdiction. This makes it possible for an

if you are bent on putting your fly over a large trout.

Millinocket guide Wiggie Robinson, who grew up hiking and fishing Baxter and knew the Park fishery like no other, once caught a 4 ½-pound brookie on his favorite fly, a Maple Syrup, at Celia Pond. That fish was the second largest

My all time most memorable trout fishing experience in the park was at Center Pond. No lunkers, but incredibly fast action on respectable brookies.

The late Wiggie Robinson with a Baxter Park brookie. (Photo by V. Paul Reynolds) State Park in your fishing trout. Nesowadnehunk, plans. The Baxter State Wassataquoik, and Webster Park boundaries encom- Streams; and Trout Brook pass 155 lakes and ponds. are the best known. WassaAt last count, there were taquoik Lake, in the north 41 Maine State Heritage central end of the park, Fish waters within the park. is one of only 12 bodies These are specially designated waters that are home to Eastern brook trout that are naturally reproducing and have not been stocked

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My all time most memorable trout fishing experience in the park was at Center Pond. No lunkers, but incredibly fast action on respectable brookies.

Be forewarned that it is a five mile slog to get there through bug-infested lowlands, but, if fast action on surface flies is your thing, well worth the physical sacrifice.

Boundary Waters After Center Pond,

angler to hike in to either of these ponds and camp overnight without violating park regulations. (Make sure your campsite is outside the boundary).

Maine outdoor writer, the late George Smith, an avid trout man, counted Big Rocky Pond and Little Rocky Pond among his favorite trout haunts.Celia Pond is considered a trophy water, and a good bet

square tail caught in Maine in 1992.

Whether you like a few brookies for the pan or simply enjoy catching and releasing native wild trout whose progeny dates back to the last glacial period, Baxter State Park remains an angler’s paradise.

Start making some plans. It is never too early to ponder the dream before you actually live it.

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Page 28

On Point

In my last column, we talked about buying a new puppy. We discussed the importance of the four golden words in training a dog: patience, persistence, praise and consistency.

Practice those four golden words throughout your

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Paul Fuller, Durham, N.H.

instruction in previous columns for training each obedient behavior. You can find them on my website: www.birddogsafield.com Click on Articles.

After yard work, the trainer becomes more of a coach than a trainer. A

Puppies: Their First Bird

ally just have a house pet.

That’s why good breeding (genetics) is important.

Mr. Ferrel also told me that if you put too much pressure on a puppy to perform, the puppy may turn sour and it will be hard to turn it around. One example is preventing a puppy from chasing a bird. This is a mistake often made by an amateur trainer. Puppies

Hall of Fame trainer, Ferrel Miller, often referred to as the

The future always looks bright with a new puppy. (Photo by Paul Fuller) is the most exciting part of know the genetics are there training our puppy. Birds to develop a fine hunting need to have fun and need are why we have a bird partner. to develop their instinct. dog. However, we want The first step I take Hall of Fame trainer Del- to do it right. A mistake to introduction to birds is mar Smith adds: “A dog at an early age may be to put a quail or two in a that quits chasing on his irreversible. First, don’t small mesh cage. Maybe own quits for life. One rush the the puppy. Most 10” x 12”. The pup can that’s forced to quit goes to professional trainers feel easily see and smell the his grave wanting to make six months is the right time birds but not catch the one more chase. If training to introduce birds to a pup. birds. In fact, no where in on liberated birds, use birds In last month’s column, this process do we want the the pups can’t catch.” we did our research before pup to catch the birds. The Introduction to birds buying our puppy so we cage also prevents the bird from exploding in the face of a puppy. That could be very bad and set back the process many months.

What you will see is the puppy approaching the cage with caution. Perhaps even pointing the bird(s). If pointing, it would most likely be a flash point which is fine.

They have now associated scent with the bird. A huge step forward.

The next step is exactly how I’ve developed our shorthairs. I release three or four chukars in a small wooded area near the house. I put feed down to keep the birds there. These are hard flying birds that cannot be caught. Initially, the pup most likely will chase . Or, give you a flash point and then chase. It usually only takes two or 417 Thorndike Rd., Unity, ME 207-948-5729 www.chasetoysinc.com (Puppies cont. pg 35)

“king”, states that there are two things you can not teach a pointing dog; that is to point and have desire to hunt. puppy training.

Most training is done early and is referred to as yard work. We teach obedient behavior. Obedient behavior is not instinctive.

These obedient behavior skills include recall (here or come), whoa (stand still) and heel (walking along our side). Those are the most important. I’ve given

well bred dog will have the instinctive skills (genetics) to become a good bird dog.

Hall of Fame trainer, Ferrel Miller, often referred to as the “king”, states that there are two things you can not teach a pointing dog; that is to point and have desire to hunt. What Mr. Ferrel is saying is that if those two traits aren’t there, you re-

March 2024

Central Maine Region

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

A Lesson in Poaching

Ah, the title of my column had you thinking – is this guy actually going to talk about poaching fish?

Well, yeah. Not the kind of poaching that would get you a hefty fine, but the kind that lends itself to great fish recipes.

Poaching is a unique cooking method that allows you to retain moisture and capture flavor with your fish! This method is quick and easy, which also makes it appealing as it relates to cooking methods.

The healthiest versions of poaching are either by utilizing water and wine that is perfumed with herbs or using olive oil. In both cases, the fish is not boiled or fried, but poached in a warm bath so that is cooked through over a period of 5-10 minutes. In the case of water and wine, you want

the water at 160 degrees.

For olive oil, you are looking at keeping the oil at 200 degrees. The time varies based on the thickness and size of the fish.

The herbs and broth mixture are often referred to by chefs at court bouillon. You can use fresh herbs, or fresh-dried f r o m Wi l d Cheff equally work just as well and are sometimes much easier to use as the guesswork is t a k e n a w a y, and the hassle is removed from trying to find herbs that you may/may not be able to find in your local region where you live.

This is just one of the advantages of utilizing the WildCheff methodology of cooking.

Incidentally, fish can also be poached in stock, like when you make a fish chowder, or in a pure butter bath, such as some restaurants do with fish like lobster.

One of my favorite poached recipes that I will share with you is my take on Mom’s salmon pie.

Having grown up of meager means, we had to stretch a dollar. My mom

Cookin’ With New England’s WildCheff

by Denny Corriveau, Kennebunkport, ME

book at 11:00 p.m. that night, thanking me for bringing her mom’s memory back to life. She, of course, indulged and ate a piece that she made.

It’s the little things in life that you do that have tremendous impact on others. I hope this recipe blesses your household for

One of my favorite poached recipes that I will share with you is my take on Mom’s salmon pie. mom’s recipe for salmon pie. When I shared and taught this recipe that evening, she was beyond excited that she, much like me, could now make this recipe and have fond memories of her mother. I later filmed this recipe for tv and it can be found on YouTube with a simple search using keywords such as WildCheff Salmon Pie. When the class was over, I surprised her with a salmon pie to take home that she could enjoy. This lady was so overjoyed that she went home from the class and immediately baked the pie and then reached out to me on Face-

many years to come!

WildCheff’s Wild Salmon Pie Ingredients 1 1/2 lbs. of boneless wild salmon filet, skin removed 6-8 all-purpose potatoes 1 organic or farm fresh egg 1/2 C of organic milk 1 C of white wine (Sauvignon Blanc, Reisling) 1 T of WildCheff Tuscan Blend 1/2 T of WildCheff Gin-

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ger Citrus Blend 2 T of WildCheff Blood Orange Olive Oil sea salt and pepper, to taste pie crust Directions Boil potatoes in salted water until cooked.

Drain and return to pot you cooked them in. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter over hot potatoes, crack an egg over them, pour in 1/2 cup of milk.

Mash and whip up the potatoes, cover and set aside.

In a large skillet, add enough water and wine so it will cover fish, when it is added to pan, followed by the WC Tuscan Blend and peppercorns. Bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer. (You do not want the liquid to boil with fish in it) Add salmon to pan and poach for approximately 5-10 minutes, turning once. (You will see the salmon change color.)

(Poaching cont. pg 35)

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had 6 kids to feed so she would use canned salmon, but when I was old enough to make a living, I created this poached version of her recipe with a WildCheff twist’ using wild salmon.

I taught a wild game culinary class a couple of years ago for the public.

There was a woman who attended that was brought to tears by a recipe I taught that night. When her mom passed away, she never learned or had a copy of her

Page 29

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Maine

Northwoods Sporting Journal

the more I like it.

We will see what this (Cont. from pg 26) year brings. But one way or The third thing is, ear- the other this is a good time lier ice-out dates means to start thinking about makanglers itching to get on ing sure things are ready. the open water and troll flies, hardware or bait can Al and his wife Dido so sooner rather than later. It won’t be that way ane live on 43+/- acres year-after-year. Old Man in Lyman, Maine that ofWinter still can and will fers good deer and turhave some kick to him key hunting opportunities some years and they will which they both enjoy. If be hard winters and ice-out the property had a trout dates will be closer to older steam it would be true parhistorical norms. But from adise. Al can be reached an angling perspective the at alraychard@sacoriver. sooner I can get out there net

News

(Cont. from pg 13) nine-day moose hunt starts the third Saturday in October. This year’s hunt will run from October 19–27.

New Hampshire has had an annual moose hunt since 1988, when 75 permits were issued for a three-day hunt in the North Country. The state’s current moose population is estimated to be about 3,000 animals. The annual harvest of moose provides valuable information on the physical condition and

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March 2024 for a walk in the morning with his four-year-old-son and were crossing a portion of Etna Pond when both of them broke through the ice at approximately 6:30 a.m., about a 1/3 of a mile from their house.

Howell was able to get his son out of the water and onto the ice, and told him to get his mother. The boy ran home, and notified his mother. The mom told the young boy to stay at home, she called 911, and she rushed to help her husband. On her way, she grabbed an anchor and rope and ran down to the water.

Upon reaching the shore, the mom secured the rope to the shore, then went to help her husband, but ended up breaking through the ice as well, and was unable to get out.

Penobscot Sheriff Detective Jordan Norton was in the area had heard the 911 call from the Penobscot Regional Communications Center, and immediately responded to the area. Seeing the wife in the water, he began crawling across the treacherous ice, holding onto the rope, and was able to pull the mother out of ice and get her to shore. He looked for the husband but could not find any trace of him.

Detective Norton got the mom back to the house and reunited with her son.

At that point, members of the Maine Warden Service and the Carmel Fire Department had arrived to assist.

Six Maine Warden Service divers and one State Police diver were called to the scene, and once the ice diving equipment and dive tenders had arrived and set up, two warden service divers began (News cont. pg 37)

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 31

A Humdinger

How many times have Wow! Gee Whiz! you hooked a big fish--perhaps a trophy-sized Get the Net! Holy Mackerel beauty---while trolling a lake or pond, reeled the Holy Samoleon! impressive catch up close, Gee Wilikins! while your fishing friend Land O’ Goshun!

Gosh Almighty! grabs the net, takes a look,

Count the ways! How many expressions are there just before netting that Big Ole Fish? and blurts out one of the following exclamations?

Holy Hanna!

I’ll get him net fer ya!

Holy Moses!

Wow! And Double

“Just Fishing”

Don’t That Beat All! Oh, My Gosh!

That’s a Big ‘Un! Well, I’ll be Jiggered!

Ain’t That Purty!

Well, I’ll Just Bet! What Can I Say? Well, I’ll Be Darned!

Jeepers Creepers!

I Don’t Believe It! Well, I Declare!

by Bob Leeman, Bangor, ME

Oh, Doggies!

Whataya Usin’?

That’s an Old Mauler!

Oh! Happy Day! Crime-A-Nettles!

You got him good!

We’ve got a double That’s A Laroper!

My Gracious! here!

I’ll get him net fur ya!

Took The Wind Out of They’re bitin’!

My Sales!

Postscript: Got any I’ve missed? Write the Jumpin’ Gee Whoose Afat! editor.

There’s A Beauty, If I Are You Kidding Me? Ever Saw One! Great Balls of Fire!

Jumpin’ Gee Whoose It’s a Big ‘Un Alright!

Afat!

That’s A Humdinger!

For Heaven’s Sake!

Leapin’ Lizzards!

Holy Toledo!

Well, Shiver My TimHeavens! bers!

Don’t Toledo!

I Still Can’t Believe Can’t Be True!

It! Well, The Fickle Finger of Fate!

TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SPACE CALL 207-732-4880 OR EMAIL: info@sportingjournal.com

For more than 20 years, the Maine Outdoors has been talking to outdoor people about hunting and fishing and anything related to the outdoors.

Hosts V. Paul Reynolds and Bob Leeman.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 32

Women In The Woods

by Erin Merrill, Portland, ME There is something about huddling around a hole in the ice that builds camaraderie. I am not a die- hard ice fisherman but when the opportunity arises, I am up for some time on the ice. And a

ing for some action. The wind wiped across the pond just enough to have some of us questioning the flags popping up.

Eventually, one flag went up and en mass, we walked over and watched

Team Building on Ice

up, but that was not the case. It was the one and only flag for the day.

Instead, we filled the afternoon by grilling on the ice. I think nothing tastes quite as good as food cooked outside while you are hunting or fishing.

Breakfast sandwiches, hot dogs or even the bear queso dip that I had made, all

and get outside as much as you can.

Fresh air will do you wonders – and if you can find a team to bring with you, it’s a guaranteed great day!

Eventually, one flag went up and en mass, we walked over and watched as one of the softball players tugged on the line and began to pull. It didn’t take long before a small mouth slid out from the water. It’s green-yellow body curling up with the feel of the icy air on it. couple weeks ago, I invited myself to tag along with the Thomas College softball team as they spent a day on the ice as a team.

As the sun came up and the sky turned a vibrant blue, it was evident that it would be a perfect day in the Maine outdoors.

The full team and coaches, myself and a couple other faculty drilled holes and took our positions watch-

as one of the softball players tugged on the line and began to pull. It didn’t take long before a small mouth slid out from the water. It’s green-yellow body curling up with the feel of the icy air on it. She picked it up and posed before putting it back into the cold water.

There was a new excitement among the team. We were hopeful that it would lead to more flags coming

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March 2024

have something extra when they are eaten outside. In the warm sun, the group gathered, chatted and joked about the latest TicTok trends and how they were creating videos between checking the ice in their drilled holes. Team bonding at its best!

Some of the girls had never ice fished before.

Some brought their own gear. It was a perfect mix to highlight their other interests beyond their shared love of softball. The girls were able to learn more about one other and have

a shared experience, out of their comfort zones.

Even a ‘bad’ day on the ice is a good day. You can not beat the sun, the blue sky and the cool temps of a winter day in Maine. I was so glad that they let me crash their outing and join them. Winters in Maine can be long and dreary if you do not make the best of it

Erin is a member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association, Outdoor Writers Association of America and the New England Outdoor Writers Association. She is a senior writer for Drury Outdoors’ DeerCast. You can read about Erin’s adventures and contact her at www.andastrongcupofcoffee.com

Send Us Your Favorite Game and Fish Recipes!

Most outdoor folks like to eat what they bring home from the woods or the waters. And you like to cook it yourself, too right? So what is your favorite culinary lashup with fish or fowl? The Northwoods Sporting Journal would like to know. And we invite you to help us share your proud concoction with all of our readers. Our Northwoods Sporting Journal website:www.sportingjournal.com has a new addition: Outdoor Connections, which includes “Sporting Journal’s Top Shelf Game & Fish Recipes.” It has become a popular spot for visitors to find some great outdoor recipes, not from TV cooks, but from folks like you who live it.

Email us your favorite outdoor recipe to editor, V. Paul Reynolds, at vpaulr@tds.net. We won’t send you any money, or give you a new boat and motor, but we will list your recipe with all the others, along with your name.

If your recipe catches on and goes viral, we’ll figure out some kind of reward - say a new fry pan, a crockpot, or maybe a dutch oven?

So get crackin’...

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal Guns & Ammo:

New Rifles

There are a couple of new rifles available from two of the major firearms companies. It’s nice to see that major companies are still designing and producing rifles for the average person. These reasonably priced rifles also include some features normally only found on much higher priced guns. The first rifle is priced lower than many used guns. It is called the Stevens Model 334 Walnut.

The suggested retail for this feature rich rifle is $509. Suggested retail is usually slightly higher than real world prices, so this gun should be available for less than $500. In today’s economy, that’s a b a rgain.

Here are some o f the many f e a tures that this low price gets you. It has a free-floated barrel in a walnut stock. The finish is a black matte over

Me & Joe (Cont. from pg 17) frowned thoughtfully. “If’n we leave ‘im a mite longer he’ll seize up. Then we kin clamp onto ‘im with ice tongs an’ drag ‘im out.”

I raced over and grabbed a pickpole. With the hook near its point I caught the rope and pulled it out the edge of the ice.

The four of us grasped the rope and towed Joe, feet first, up over the lip of the hole where he lay gasping and choking like a dynamited salmon. “I guess that worked alright, too,” Uncle

carbon steel. The barrel is a 20” carbon steel barrel with an 11 degree target crown. It comes with a 3 round detachable box mag-

azine. The rate of twist is 1 in 11 inches. The trigger is nonadjustable and crisp. The bolt lift is 60 degrees. It is available in .243, 6.5 Creedmoor and .308.

The r e ceiver is drilled and tapped for optics. This rifle is from the Stevens line from Savage it is made in Turkey. Savage barrels are traditionally very accurate. I expect no less from this offering.

The next new model is an enhancement of a very successful model from Ruger Firearms. It is called the Ruger American Generation II. It is still a reasonably priced rifle at a $729 suggested retail especially with this list Arnold said somewhat regretfully.

After a hurried trek across the back field, during which our clothes froze to our bodies, the four of us stripped and sat, wrapped in heavy blankets, around the big Home Clarion wood range in the farmhouse kitchen. Uncle Arnold made a big pot of tea, laced with honey and a heavy jolt of moonshine whiskey.

Joe was in the worst shape, shivering uncontrollably, his skin and lips the shade of a ripe plum. “I d-d-dunno, Uh-Uncle Arnold,” he stuttered through chattering teeth. “W-w-we

of features. It comes with a 3 position tang safety, an oversized bolt handle, durable Cerakote finish, an adjustable stock for length

of pull as well as comb height, and a removable 3 round box magazine. It also sports a very attractive 20” spiral flute barrel. This new model is available in 6.5 Creedmoor, .308, .243, 7 mm-08, .450 Bushmaster, .204 Ruger and .223. The .223 will accept an AR style magazine. This is a very practical rifle that is quite striking in appear-

Page 33

A Guide’s Perspective

by Tom Kelly, Orient, ME

my sincere hope that for all of us, there is still a bit of disposable income left after the heating bills, fuel prices and the high cost of groceries, and not to mention rent/mortgage payments.

It would be tragic if we could not pursue our shooting sports because of this tragic economy. Last year at around this time, I wrote about networking with fellow hunters and fisherman to help defray the cost of living in these hard times

ronment. Please remember to take a kid with you when you are outdoors while you still can.

Tom is a Registered Maine Guide. He is the owner/operator of Shamrock Outfitters in Orient Maine with his wife Ellie.

He is a retired police officer as well as a retired manager from two major firearms manufacturers.

He is an NRA Certified In-

I applaud both of these companies for introducing such fine products in these price ranges. It shows a commitment to their customer base. As both of these product lines mature, I am sure additional calibers will be offered. ance.

I applaud both of these companies for introducing such fine products in these price ranges. It shows a commitment to their customer base. As both of these product lines mature, I am sure additional calibers will be offered. It’s

by sharing our game harvests. In reality the strain is even greater this winter.

I would ask you all to add one more thing to your networking. Please check on your elderly neighbors and family members. They are most affected by our outof-control political envi-

structor as well as a Hunter Safety Instructor in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. You can reach Tom at Shamrock Outfitters (207) 694-2473. Please visit our Facebook Page: Shamrock Outfitters and Properties and come visit us on East Grand Lake.

may n-not be able t-to g-ggit the rest of y-yore ice.”

He took a long, shuddering pull from his mug of doctored tea.

“Don’t expect yer to,” Uncle Arnold replied.

“Lucky you boys weren’t drownt. If’n I’d realized you wasn’t ice cuttin’ material, I’d never o’ let yer git started.”

“I think we’ll (gasp) be luggy ib we don all (gasp) wide ub wid *gasp) pneubonia,” Gasper said morosely. Condon nodded in commiseration, absently pulling a chunk of ice from one ear.

“I feel bad just the

same Uncle Arnold,” I said, trying to control my shivering. “I mean, what will you do about ice this summer?”

“Oh, he said resignedly, “I ‘spect I’ll jist go an’ plug in that big chest freezer yer folks bought me last fall. That sucker sure will freeze up a mess

o’ ice in a hurry.” He gazed off out the window toward the pond as the four of us stared at him in consternation.

“But I shore will miss that pond ice. Ice made electrical in a new-fangled freezer like that; ya know, it jist ain’t the same.”

Page 34

Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

The Maine Paddling the Allagash Keeping a positive end of the trip, my 16-year- special with plenty of deliWoods attitude during difficult old grandson said he was cious food that will provide Matt LaRoche, Shirley, ME

I have never guided a group down the Allagash that didn’t enjoy their trip.

Even during the days when it rains or the wind blows, people seem to enjoy being out in the woods and on the waters of this wild and scenic river. There is something about eating food cooked over an open fire and the outdoor living

more enjoyable.

It seems like every trip has something unexpected that my customers find special. It might be the climbing of the fire tower at Round Pond, paddling Chase Rapids, an encounter with a belligerent moose or star gazing along the shore of Umsaskis Lake on a cool dark night.

circumstances is half the battle. If it is raining, just hang in there. Keep your stuff as dry as possible. It seldom rains for several days in a row. You will probably have a chance to dry out the next day. On a trip I guided a couple years ago, one of my customers emphatically told me, “My stuff is all wet.” I told him, “Everyone’s stuff is wet.” I asked him to see the bigger

having the time of his life!

When you hire a Maine Guide to lead your canoe trip, the negative things that can happen become the guide’s responsibility to contend with. Your guide should be familiar enough with the area he or

energy for the next day’s paddle.

My summer calendar is filling up fast. If you are thinking about booking a canoe trip on one of Maine’s iconic rivers, give me a call. Visit www. mainewoodsguide.com to

she is guiding in to make an informed decision and have a communication devise of some kind. I carry my InReach satellite texting devise on every trip – just in case.

It is also the guide’s responsibility to provide you with first rate equipment. Things like: Tents and canoes that don’t leak.

A well-stocked first aid kit and the knowledge of how to use it.

Food service is a matter of pride for most guides.

I try to put on tasty, filling meals and a supper that is

look at some of the trips that are available. My specialty is custom trips for groups of six or less.

Keep those paddles in the water!

Rapids that were normally easily runnable looked like the Cribworks on the West Branch of the Penobscot. This required us to scout almost every rapid, which made for slow going. At the end of the trip, my 16-year-old grandson said he was having the time of his life! that stimulates our senses.

I guided three Allagash trips last summer, only one of the excursions had near perfect weather but they all had an exceptional time. The first group had the time of their lives catching native brook trout at the mouth of one of the tributary streams.

None of those customers were what I would call expert fly fishermen but they all caught plenty of trout. I cooked a few of the trout for breakfast the next morning which made the fish catching that much

Sometimes a little adversity makes the trip special. Contending with hardship might seem difficult at the time but after the trip is over this is what people remember with fondness.

My son calls this “type two fun”. I try not to build type two fun into my trip itinerary but mother nature has a way of adding this type of fun all by herself. Let’s face it, the wind will not always be at your back, not every day is going to have bright sunshine and the river is not always going to be at the perfect water level.

MAINE WOODS GUIDE SERVICE

picture and assured him he would be alright. It ended up that we were able to dry out the next day and the rest of the trip was perfect weather.

We went on a family canoe trip last summer on Webster Stream. It was an awesome adventure that taxed our paddling skills to the limit. The water was exceptionally big due to the large amount of rain we had prior to the trip.

Rapids that were normally easily runnable looked like the Cribworks on the West Branch of the Penobscot.

This required us to scout almost every rapid, which made for slow going. At the

Matt LaRoche is a retired Superintendent of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, owner of Maine Woods Guide Service and an avid outdoorsman. He can be reached at 207695-2877 or at matt.laroche2877@gmail.com See www.mainewoodsguide.com

LOOKING FOR NEW CUSTOMERS?

• Canoe Trips • Fishing • Hunting • Wildlife Watching Matt LaRoche - Registered Maine Guide 207-695-2877 www.mainewoodsguide.com

The Northwoods Sporting Journal has been helping advertisers get their message to outdoor recreationalists for more than a quarter of a century. Between our monthly magazine and our busy website, we reach thousands of your potential customers every month!

Let us help you. Contact our sales department at 207-732-4880 or check out the advertise page on our website at www.sportingjournal.com ““We have been using the Northwoods Sporting Journal to promote our business for years.

Our message gets where we want it to go! ~ Al Elkin, General Appliance in Brewer, Maine

March 2024

Puppies

(Cont. from pg 28) three of the exposures to the chukar and the flash point will elongate into solid point. No yelling “whoa” required. The pup learns it cannot catch the bird and will remain on point. If you feel you need “whoa”, make it soft and two syllables.

If your pup is giving you a nice point on the chukar, I would now move immediately to wild birds.

Forget planting pen-raised quail which are easy for the pup to catch. Also, by-pass the desire to buy smelly pigeons. Here is an exception. If you want to break your dog to the flush or teach honoring, a few penraised birds, or pigeons, and a launcher would help.

A final comment.

There is no expiration date

Northwoods Sporting Journal on training. Progress at a speed that meets the temperament and maturity of your pup. You’ll be happy with the result.

Paul and Susan, his wife, host the Bird Dogs Afield TV show. All past episodes are on his YouTu b e C h a n n e l ( w w w. youtube/birddogsafield. com) or his website (www. birddogsafield.com). Contact: paul@birddogsafield. com

Poaching (Cont. from pg 29) Remove salmon from skillet with slotted spoon or spatula and place pieces into a large bowl so you can break the fish up into chunks after it cools.

Drizzle a small amount of WildCheff blood

orange olive oil over fish and season the fish with the WC Ginger Citrus Blend, and then toss gently with your spatula. Gently fold in warm mashed potatoes so that the filling is mixed well.

Fit a pie crust into a 9-inch pie pan, and then spoon filling over pie crust - pushing down on it so it voids of air space. Cover the pie filling with another pie crust and crimp the edges all the way around the pie pan. Cut slits into the top crust so the steam can be released during cooking.

Place pie into a 375–400-degree oven and cook until pie crust is browned, approximately 20-30 minutes until crust is browned. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

Here is a simple white

Page 35

sauce recipe to serve over and pepper, to taste. the slices that you plate.

Add cooked green beans and sliced eggs to White Sauce sauce and gently stir in.

Serve a ladle full of Ingredients sauce over each slice that 4 T of butter you plate.

4 T of unbleached organic all-purpose flour 3 C of organic whole About the author: milk WildCheff - Denny Cor3-4 hard boiled organic riveau is Award-Winning eggs, sliced Celebrity Game Chef, 6-8 oz. of green beans, Iron Chef Winner, and the cooked Founder of the Free-Range 1/2 tsp. of WildCheff Culinary Institute, the only Lemon Sea Salt national wild game cook1/4 tsp. of WildCheff ing school in the country.

Chef’s Grind White Pepper As a Wild Game Evangelist and trendsetter for wild Directions game culinary arts - Denny Melt butter in a sauce- is a nationally recognized pan over medium high heat. authority regarding his Whisk in flour and cook for “best practice” methodola minute, and then add the ogy regarding the culinary milk and whisk until sauce side of wild game. You can thickens. learn more @ www.wildSeason the sauce with cheff.com or follow him on WildCheff Lemon Sea Salt Instagram @ thewildcheff

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Page 36

Northwoods Sporting Journal

View From The River

by Laurie Chandler Bremen, ME Last month, you met my new double-layered polypropylene folding kayak. The Lake—Oru Kayak’s most basic model—is nine feet long and weighs just eighteen pounds. In December, I stowed the boat in my 23-foot camping trailer and left Maine for the winter, a first-time snowbird. The gift of months of freedom ahead to wander and explore felt unbelievable, especially as I hoped and planned to write a book about my solo journey.

I celebrated Emilia’s first Christmas in Virginia, then hurried south with snow on my heels. A 484mile towing marathon brought me to Piedmont North Carolina’s Uwharrie National Forest. The Arrowhead Campground, my home for a week and a half, is adjacent to 5,350-acre Badin Lake, an impoundment of the Yadkin River.

Winter storms meant only a couple of calm days on the lake. Assembling the boat has gotten quicker and more fluid, although the stern continues to have a small gap well above the waterline. Somewhere, I am going to run into an Oru

kayak owner who is going to set me straight on getting that last strap tightened correctly. In the meantime, the boat has stayed dry except for drips from the paddle.

At the boat launch dock, I attached a line, then stepped in carefully, keeping my weight centered. The boat met me, solid and stable.

Directly across from the narrow cove rose a high, eroded bank, bright orange, that would make an excellent landmark for my return.

I went left, close along shore, in and out of two

Exploring Southern Waters

back, or Honey Hole—resemble spiny modern metal sculptures.

The shoreline was more attractive than the water, sloping up into open stands of stately hardwood.

ary. I stopped for lunch, and the breeze turned me instantly sideways. I drifted slowly along, watching for deer.

For a while, I felt like the turtle. The sunlight carried real warmth, and I shed a layer or two. But later, in the face of a rising wind, the chill crept in. Back went the layers, plus thick fleece gloves that I had had

Badin Lake is home to channel and flathead catfish, but the biggest monsters are blue cats, the largest catfish species in North America. Over the years, Badin has produced a couple of state records, including an 89-pounder caught on a live shiner while trolling for striped bass.

coves. The smaller one I named Fish Attractor Cove and the larger Duck Box Cove. The invisible underwater fish attractor, marked by a vertical white buoy post, had been installed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

These devices—in styles named Porcupine, Moss-

March 2024

Exacerbated by the recent downpours, the water was churned a muddy brown and filled with debris, and far more trash than on our lakes back home.

The birds I saw— turkey vulture, great blue heron, downy woodpecker, belted kingfisher and even two double-crested cormorants—were all familiar.

The cormorants reminded me how we can identify birds at a distance by their behavior. In this case, one was drying his outstretched wings in classic cormorant style.

What I wouldn’t see back home were the deep green balls of mistletoe high in the oak trees. Or a painted turtle sunning contentedly on a log in Janu-

the forethought to tuck into my dry bag.

Fishing was obviously a popular pursuit. Broken lines festooned lakeside branches, and I stopped to investigate a bright orange foam float protruding from the shallows. I tugged, a bit apprehensive of what I might find attached to the other end of the line.

No rotting fish, but what was attached made my eyes go wide. It was the granddaddy of all fishing hooks. Two of my fingers fit between the shaft and tip. What lurked below my little kayak? I knew the answer, giant catfish, but the sight of the lethal hook brought home just how large they must be.

Badin Lake is home

to channel and flathead catfish, but the biggest monsters are blue cats, the largest catfish species in North America. Over the years, Badin has produced a couple of state records, including an 89-pounder caught on a live shiner while trolling for striped bass. The current North Carolina record blue catfish, caught in the Roanoke River in 2021, weighed a whopping 127 pounds, 1 ounce.

My second time out, the boat felt more natural and comfortable to paddle. It still wobbled back and forth a bit with every stroke, but I was pleased with its maneuverability as I poked into some hidden nooks. Six miles in two hours and forty minutes was not particularly speedy, but the boat handled well as conditions went from flat calm to a noticeable chop.

Today, cormorants were everywhere, huddled like gossipy old men on humped rocks or long-dead skeletons of trees. A group of buffleheads moved effortlessly along—the two males easily identified by the striking patches of white on their heads, the three females more muted.

In new territory now, the lake widened, and crows (Water cont. pg 39)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

News

key Federation (NWTF) chapter. These workshops are designed for new or (Cont. from pg 30) novice turkey hunters in preparation for the 2024 spring turkey hunting season, which opens on May 1 and runs through May 31.

T h e workshop is dedicated to teaching attendees everything required to have a safe Maine Warden Service divers and sucpreparing to go into the water to cessful tursearch for a Carmel man who broke key hunt, through the ice this winter. including diving at that afternoon. choosing a shotgun and The two divers located him ammunition, scouting for a little before 2:00 p.m. birds, how and when to The Maine Warden call, what gear is needed, Service was assisted at the the regulations that apply to scene by the Penobscot turkey hunting, and much Sheriff ’s Office, Maine more.

State Police, Northern Locations and dates of Light EMS and the Carmel instruction include: Fire Department.

• March 23: Raymond Baptist Church, 145 Route 27, Raymond, NH. NH Turkey Hunt Class begins at 8:00 a.m.

Workshop Registration is now and concludes at 4:00 p.m. open for a special tur- Lunch will be provided.

• March 23: NH Fish key-hunting program cosponsored by the New and Game Department Hampshire Fish and Game Headquarters, 11 Hazen Department and your lo- Drive, Concord, NH. Class cal National Wild Tur- begins at 8:00 a.m. and

Lincoln ACCESS AUTO / LIN LINCOLN COLN PO POWERSPORTS 265 West Broadway

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concludes at 3:00 p.m.

Bring your own lunch.

To r e g i s t e r v i s i t Events | New Hampshire Fish and Game (s3licensing.com).

The cost is $40 per person, which includes course materials, instruction, at least one turkey call to take home for practice, and a one-year membership

Page 37 to the National Wild Turkey Federation. Payment will be collected at the door in the form of cash or check payable to NWTF-NH. If you need to cancel, use the registration link above to remove your name from the event. This will free up a spot for other participants.

Moosehead Fishery Update

By Tim Obrey, Regional Fisheries Biologist Salmon are the only species ME IFW stocks in Moosehead Lake, and we’ve been able to slowly reduce the number over the years to just 5,000 spring yearlings annually. Each (News cont. pg 62)

Page 38

Maine Outdoor Adventure

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Rich Yvon, Bradford, ME

Maine is a boreal forest state. The forest is responsible for the development and prosperity of its people. In the turn of the century, Maine, with its tall conifers has fulfilled the demand for wood. Products such as toilet paper, newspaper, building supplies were sought out from countries all around the world. In fact, logging in

er, and our precipitation varies drastically from year to year. In the past years, records have been set for temperature and moisture levels. In some states such as California, records have been set with droughts and rain. The catastrophic Paradise fire in California, was the perfect storm. Having wind, lack of rain, and set by transmission lines cre-

March 2024

Maine’s Asbestos Forest

Fire prevention is key for minimizing wildfires.

Prescribed fires minimize risk of structure loss. Controlled burns go back as far as Native Americans.

Protecting structures and benefitting ecological environments is a win, win. Today, controlled burns are expensive, but also pose risk of liability due to 94 percent of Maine lands being private. Controlled burns are concerns for abutting property owners in fear of the burns jump-

a dangerous situation in our Maine woods. It is said that ninety percent of Maine wildfires are caused by people and preventable.

There are several things that can be done to prevent forest fires in Maine.

Please go to this link to find helpful ways. https:// www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/ forest_protection/firewise/ homeowners.html

and experience to anyone, for a better day of field!

On the water lessons and hunting lessons are offered

by Rich at https://twinmapleoutdoors.com/contact-us/ As always, remember to take a young person hunting or fishing to keep our outdoor heritage alive and well! In addition, please support your local tackle shops and small

If you would like more information on Maine hunting or ice, fly/spin fishing techniques/strategies for bass, pike, salmon and trout, please feel to reach out to me. I’m always happy to share my knowledge

businesses!

There is much controversy about Maine’s future in terms of wildfires. The state can be faced with the same conditions, as our earth changes temperature at an alarming rate. Luckily, as more logging roads criss cross Maine’s north woods, access had improved allowing better roadways to put out fires.

Maine began in the early 1600’s when English explores first cut trees on Monhegan Island. In 1634, the first sawmill powered by water, was built in South Berwick. By 1832, Bangor had become the largest shipping port for lumber in the world.

Today, our climate worldwide is changing before our eyes. Our world is a dynamic, ever-changing planet. We must adapt to its change if we are to survive.

The winters now are much milder, summers are warm-

ated the largest lost of life and property in the history of California. A good percentage of people are not resettling because of fires every twenty years. There is much controversy about Maine’s future in terms of wildfires. The state can be faced with the same conditions, as our earth changes temperature at an alarming rate. Luckily, as more logging roads criss cross Maine’s north woods, access had improved allowing better roadways to put out fires.

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ing property boundaries.

Following instruction from authorities and getting burn permits is the first step. Following the rules and conditions will greatly reduce risk of fires and prevent loss of life and property.

Maine’s wildfire season begins around March and ends in May. Windy, dry conditions can create

For more information about the Maine outdoors, please contact Rich at: Call: 207-907-9151 or Email: info@Twinmapleoutdoors.com

Father and son Gene and Jeremy Clark, from Princeton, with 15 coyotes they have taken so far this winter. They hunt over bait at night using Thermal Scopes on Modern Sporting Rifles.

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

A Down-East Backwoodsman

These are the stories pun pleased him.

“In all my experiof Owen Chase, who lived in Henderson, a settlement ence with bears, and as called North Brownville. often as I have run across They were published in them in the woods, I never the Lewiston Journal, and had a bear stand up to republished in the New face me but once, and that York Times on Aug. 7, was scarcely enough to be 1892. Chase, now 60 years old, of fair height, a sinewy, w ellknit fellow, with a frank bronzed face that lighted up with a pleasant welcome. He had hunted and worked in the woods since he was thirteen, and had spent twenty-five “They are natural cowards. years working in lum- They are cunning and will sneak ber camps.” around and steal a sheep or any Chase said… other animal that won’t fight, and “A bear probably would chase a human is the most being that was afraid and ran from c o w a r d - him. (Illustration by V. Paul Reynolds) ly animal in the Maine worth mentioning. I was woods, and when I hear watching an orchard where people tell how they fought bears had been plunderwith bears, or were nearly ing, one night. I waited a killed by them, or read such good while without seeing yarns, I just say to myself; anything, but at last, hear“That humbug. It’s a b-a- ing a noise, I went through r-e story. the orchard in its direction Chase had a good and suddenly came upon chuckle over that, for the a big dark object as tall as

Water

ing home, the sun shone through fanciful patterns (Cont. from pg 36) of high cloud, its reflecpecked and probed the tion striking a chord of the coarse mats of vegetation familiar for a traveler far and trash driven up against from home. the shore.

Thinking back, Laurie Apgar Chanthough, my best memo- dler is the author of ries of Badin Lake will be Through Woods & Waters, landscape views. Com- which provides an adven-

a man. It was motionless, and for a minute or two, I was in doubt what it was, it sat so still. I listened to hear it breathe, to make certain it was an animal, as I didn’t want the boys to laugh at me for firing at a stump. I was a boy then and had nothing but an old smoothbore to shoot with, but I made up my mind I’d shoot, stump or no stump,

Page 39

Old Tales from the Maine Woods

weapon to do it with, but I shouldn’t need anything to protect myself.

“Are there any other dangerous animals in the Maine woods? No, not what I call dangerous ones.

There is a time late in the Fall, in the rutting season, when a bull moose will show fight and be pretty

by Steve Pinkham Quincy, MA

Of his other hunting experiences, Mr. Chase said had killed over a thousand foxes—a good many more than a thousand, though he had never kept count of the small game as he had of the bears. He killed forty-nine foxes in a single day. He thought “that beat the Maine boy here, a lad

“Are there any other dangerous animals in the Maine woods? No, not what I call dangerous ones. There is a time late in the Fall, in the rutting season, when a bull moose will show fight and be pretty ugly, and they’ve scared some people most to death. and raised my gun to my shoulder. When I did that, as quick as a flash, the old fellow dropped on his feet and made off in such a way that I lost him. It was one of the biggest bears I ever saw. That’s the only time a bear ever sat up before me.

“They are natural cowards. They are cunning and will sneak around and steal a sheep or any other animal that won’t fight, and probably would chase a human being that was afraid and ran from him. But so far fear of them goes, I’d not go into a thicket where there were a dozen big ones, empty handed, without so much as a jack knife to defend myself with. Of course, I could kill them all very well, without some turous look at Maine’s Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, and Upwards, the story of her 2015 solo self-propelled thru-paddle of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. To purchase the books, or read more about this journey, visit www.laurieachandler. com

ugly, and they’ve scared some people most to death.

There was a story last fall of a Frenchman being cut to pieces by the hoofs of an old bull up in Canada, or near the line; but he’s the only one I ever heard of being anything more than being scared.

of twelve years perhaps, had shot three foxes in one day himself “said he with a hunter’s fatherly pride.

Steve is an avid hiker, paddler, and historian, having collected over 40,000 Maine Woods articles to date.

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Page 40

By Bob Leeman

Are some of these lines better than other flylines? Actually, despite differing in color and price, a (WF) weight forward floating flyline will do what they say they do-that is, float better and perhaps longer, if coated.

The Question Do you really know how many kinds of flylines are available to anglers today? As I write this, we

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Understanding Fly Lines

cluding sinking tip. Which one is for you? That is the question, isn’t it?

As you know, most, if not all, have a different color for each flyline product. Cortland Line Company, for instance, has a peach colored floating flyline exclusively for 444.

Now, Scientific Angler’s flylines have differing colors of flylines from top to bottom of their product.

So too, for Rio Company,

and a few flyshops that offer their generic flylinesmaybe a bit less expensive with differing colors and capabilities as well.

The Better Lines Are some of these lines better than other flylines? Actually, despite 910 Exeter Rd, Corinna

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leader---ready to go! These are generally priced for the above, but let me say, don’t laugh—I got a couple of these myself, and use ‘em often. If you’re pinched for price, and only need a “cheap” flyline, you can find these in most fly fishing catalogs, or maybe even on line, for $50.00 to $60.00 bucks, or sometimes less.

$90.00 average. Have you noticed? Almost all of the “top-of-the-line” flylines have exclusive names.

Oh, yes, you may well purchase a lesser expensive

differing in color and price, a (WF) weight forward floating flyline will do what they say they do-that is, float better and perhaps longer, if coated. Coated?

Now there’s one question for you. And YES! These lines may make a real difference in slipping thru flyrod guides

Are some of these lines better than other flylines? Actually, despite differing in color and price, a (WF) weight forward floating flyline will do what they say they do-that is, float better and perhaps longer, if coated. have (L) level, (QT) quad tader, (QT) quad tip, (I) intermediate, (IT) intermediate tip, (S) sinking, (ST) sinking tip, (DT) double taper, and of course (WF) weight forward. Among others there are also nymph flylines. Now there’s a whole other category, in-

March 2024

Top Drawer Lines N o w , the graduates, or even the masters, might well fall in line, again, no pun intended, for one of those “top-drawer” flyline that fits your pur- exclusive, master flylines pose, of maybe the “aver- on the market. These would age” fly caster who only include: Scientific Angler’s finds time to go on the Amplitude Infinity, priced water a few opportunities at -hang onto your hat!-per year. In that case, I $180.00, plus tax. Too, they would suggest you check supply “Bass Bug” flylines out a least expensive out- at about $90.00 bucks, or fit, with flyrod, flyreel, so, and a full line of modwith backing, flyline and (Fly Lines cont. pg 67)

speedily.

B u t there is no question, the top-of-theline, no pun intended, have been produced with hi-density, hi-tech, and all sorts of testing over many years. They’re hardly just “strings” anymore.

Would you believe, the average price for the top-ofthe-line is $125.00 each?

True. Whereas, the average top-drawer is hardly inexpensive either, that being

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

Page 41

Bear, Bear, Everywhere

By Jesse C. McEntee

Vermont Bears in the Press Every spring in Vermont, local news reports on black bear sightings

elevation unfragmented forests are conducive to a healthy bear population.

Another habitat conducive to bears is exurban development (low-density pockets of housing), an increasingly common form of housing development in Vermont.

History Bears were once con-

widely adopt fertilizer, and when a parcel’s productivity decreased, another chunk of forest was cleared and plowed for food or livestock production.

Vermont had a bear bounty from 1831 to 1975, with payments between $2 and $15. In 1941, the state designated black bears a game animal, and between 1941 and 1975, the state

mate to between 7,000 and 8,500. The VT bear harvest has also steadily increased since the early 1990s.

Black bear numbers are rising, and hunter harvests of these animals are also increasing, which makes sense; there are more bears around for hunters to shoot. My observations of increased reports of human-bear interactions also trends with VTF&W

ing?

What else is happen-

Bears like forests and can thrive as elusive animals in remote areas of the Green Mountains and Essex County (the most sparsely populated VT county). At the same time, it’s clear that bears living outside these zones are also doing just fine, and they don’t need large undisturbed areas (as stated in

Black bear numbers are rising, and hunter harvests of these animals are also increasing, which makes sense; there are more bears around for hunters to shoot. data.

and encounters. Bears get into trash, snatch bird feeders, wreck chicken coups, and destroy backyard beehives. Bear food sources aren’t widely available, so they’re looking for other food as they emerge from dormancy.

Human settlement encroaches on traditional bear habitat. Medium-high

sidered a nuisance species. Early settlers and bears clashed, and farms expanded further into the mountains from the flatlands and floodplains of the Champlain and Connecticut valleys. As farms replaced forests, bears were trapped, killed, and generally pushed out of the region. Farmers didn’t

paid out a total of $17,389 to people who suffered damage from bears.

According to Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s (VTF&W) Big Game Management Plan, the Department has stabilized the black bear population between 4,500 and 6,000. However, VTF&W recently revised this esti-

Source: VTF&W Big Game Report VTF&W indicates that the number of negative human-bear interactions has grown disproportionately to the number of bears, meaning that while the number of bears is generally leveling off, the number of bear incidents is increasing at a rate that exceeds any increase in bear population. In their own words, “The record number of bear-human interactions is taxing the department beyond its capacity to provide direct and effective assistance.” (VTF&W Big Game Report).

some VTF&W literature).

We may then consider ideal bear habitats not only the beech-laden forests of the Greens but also the exurban regions of the state.

As VTF&W has said, “human demographics have also shifted in Vermont with increased urbanization”; while they posit this has resulted in the effect of more interactions, it’s likely also the cause.

Consider the following statewide trends: Private property closed to hunting (i.e., “Posted”) (Bear cont. pg 68)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 42

Good Deer Winter

The Buck Hunter

by Hal Blood, Moose River, ME Winter In the north country has pretty much been a dud right into February. At the end of January, I could still walk in the woods without snowshoes.

The snow was about eighteen inches out in the open and less than a foot in the green growth. Up to Allagash, there was only eight inches of snow. We couldn’t run the coyote dogs until the middle of January as there wasn’t enough powdery snow on the crust to keep the dog’s feet from getting cut up.

The coyotes have been hanging pretty close to the baits as the snow conditions favor the deer. Even with eighteen inches of snow the deer can wander around to feed and not be confined to trails. The coyotes are up to their chests in that much snow, slowing them down when they run.

The deer made it to February without having to go the yards, so most likely most of them won’t go to them. I’ve lived north of Jackman now for ten years,

March 2024

and it is the first year that deer have stayed behind my house into February.

This winter has also not been as cold as normal.

Our usual below zero temperatures were few and far between. That also helps the deer tremendously.

Cold causes deer to burn

the cards.

After the 2022 deer season, I told you that I had found about twenty-five new signpost rubs. Well, this past season was no different. I didn’t really count how many new signposts I found last season, but it was quite a few. In my true fashion of having to figure things out, I started thinking about the why?

What is different than in the past. Did I not look as

usual? I had to come to the conclusion that there are just more mature bucks around in the areas I hunt.

Two years ago, I found the triple signpost area that had nine different bucks coming to it. Now those

This all points to that it is shaping up to be another great deer season this fall.

The season calendar also flips ahead this year, meaning the season starts on November 4th which is as late as it can. more calories which drains their fat reserves. There is aother effect of milder temperatures, is that the deer and moose hold on to their antlers longer. With the lack of snow, the moose don’t use the logging roads where a lot of the snow blows out making it easier for them to get around and feed. It will take a lot of shoe leather to find moose antlers this spring. A lot can change by spring as I have seen serious snowfall come in March and even April, but hopefully that’s not in

Greenville

hard for them? Did I spend more time hunting areas with more brown ash? I really couldn’t see that I had hunted any differently, probably mainly as I am a creature of habit. Kind of, “if ain’t broke don’t fix it!”

The things that I do know about signpost rubs are 1.

They are a territory marking communication point.

2. Since they are made by rubbing the same trees every year, there has to be older age class bucks in the area. 3. They are made on certain trees, that are chosen for any given area.

So, what could be the reason that I’ve been finding more signposts than

are not all mature bucks, but they will be. Last fall, my grandson and I sat for a couple of hours there one morning before still hunting the rest of the day. We made a big circle for the day, as is my usual way of hunting. At the end of the day, we were within a half a mile of the triple signpost, when we stumbled onto a wet run with brown ash growing in it. Well low and behold, we found three new signposts there. I’m sure some of the bucks using

this area were also going to the triple signpost, but I’m sure there were several different bucks using this area.

Sometimes I just wonder how many bucks there really could be in the woods.

Bucks travel far and wide, but they will always show up at a signpost sooner or later.

This all points to that it is shaping up to be another great deer season this fall. The season calendar also flips ahead t h i s y e a r, meaning the season starts on November 4th which is as late as it can.

This means that there is a better chance for snow at some point, anywhere in the state. So, until then we can relive last years hunts and plan for this years.

Good luck on the trail!

Hal is a Master Maine Guide and author. He lives in Moose River Maine with his wife Deb. He can be contacted at: hal@bigwoodsbucks.com

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Snowshoe Story

I think most Maine outdoors folks used snowshoes from an early age, I know I did. I never thought much about where the snowshoe “idea” first came from. But, as I started making snowshoes and writing about it I was asked to furnish an article about snowshoes, so, what follows is parts of that article.

The best guess by prehistorians seems to be that the first snowshoes appeared in central Asia about 4000 to 6000 years ago. I call this a guess, because a variation of 2000 years is not exactly pinning it down. Probably the earliest snowshoes were simply pieces of wood lashed to the users feet, which served to spread his weight over a larger surface, increasing flotation, this being the principle behind all snowshoes and skis.

At some point in time these central Asians split into two groups with one moving northward into what is now Scandinavia, and the other moving through Siberia and over the then-frozen Bering Strait to North America.

The two groups continued to develop and improve their snowshoes. In Scandinavia they eventually became the Nordic ski, while the American’s continued to improve and develop their snowshoes into what we know today.

The “new” Americans also split up as they reached the new continent with one group moving above the Arctic circle to become known as Eskimos and the others moving south into the forests of the more temperate region.

The Eskimos had no need for snowshoes because the hard packed snow allowed them to travel freely over the surface. Further south, however, it was a different matter. The people here became known as the Algonquins of the Northeast and for them snowshoes meant survival. Without some means of traveling during

The Native Americans lived close to nature, in fact they lived as a part of nature. It should come as no surprise then, that they were perceptive observers of everything natural. Their observations of animals moving over the snow must have influenced them in designing different shapes, or designs, of their snowshoes. Of course, the other major influence would be the type of ter-

Northwoods Voyager

Page 43

by Gil Gilpatrick, Brunswick, ME between them, and so all of them are a compromise in design to fit the needs of the traveler in their own part of the country. Here in Maine, we have a snowshoe called the “Maine Snowshoe.” The design falls just about half way between the long Alaskan model and the short, round bearpaw. It makes the best

tions were the birch canoe and the snowshoe, and while the white-faced newcomers brought many useful things that were readily accepted by the natives, it was the native’s own inventions that helped the whites to spread across their land.

Gil Gilpatrick is a Master Maine Guide, and

The best guess by pre-historians seems to be that the first snowshoes appeared in central Asia about 4000 to 6000 years ago.

the time of deep snows, it would have been impossible for them to hunt for food and gather the other materials necessary to live in this harsh and changeable climate.

One of the consistent things about us humans is that we want our necessities to also be beautiful. (I wonder what automobiles would look like if we only cared that they carry us from one place to another?)

The northeastern Native Americans were no different, and as their society developed, so did their snowshoes, turning from the first crude beginnings to a science and then to an art.

rain they needed to travel over.

For travel in heavily forested areas where there were sharp turns and frequent obstacles to overcome, the snowshoe needed to be short, but still with enough floatation to hold up the wearer. What we now call the “bearpaw” is the most efficient shape for this purpose. By contrast, the deep, light snow of Alaska where there is a more open terrain, demands a larger and longer snowshoe to keep the traveler on the surface. This is known today, appropriately, as the “Alaskan snowshoe.”

The bearpaw and the Alaskan are the two extremes. Other snowshoe designs fall somewhere

all-round snowshoe for travel in partly open, part thickly wooded terrain that is found in this part of the country. A very similar shape is used in the state of Michigan. You guessed it, it’s called the “Michigan.”

It is interesting that two Native American inventions made it possible for early European settlers to move over the north American continent and eventually wrest the land away from the Native Americans who were inhabiting it. These inven-

is the first living recipient of the Legendary Maine Guide award. He is a life member of the Maine Professional Guides Association, a founding member of the Maine Wilderness Guides Organization, and served as a member of the Advisory Board for the Licensing of Guides from 1996 to 2010. He is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association and is the author of seven outdoorrelated books. Contact him at Gil@GilGilpatrick.com

Page 44

Angling, Antlers & Artifacts

By Jake Scoville, Machiasport, ME

It was early February and the fog hung over West Grand Lake as thick as pea soup. Low 40s with not a breath of wind. Not your typical winter day in northern Washington County.

Colin and I had no problem battling the fog if it meant a lack of freezing temperatures and biting winds.

This was weather we had

ing our pack baskets full of traps at the truck. Armed with only jig rods and an assortment of lures; Colin’s old Tundra brought us to our first spot at about 7 a.m.

As I lifted my tungsten jig off the muddy bottom, I heard the unmistakable sound of a hook set.

Colin was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

Somethin’ ‘Bout a Trap

whitefish and lakers (combined to be six whitefish and four lake trout) by 10 a.m. We had also released a few lucky fish and missed a handful of other strikes.

To this day I haven’t witnessed a better day of ice fishing. The best part of the morning in my opinion?

No traps to tend.

Shortly after releasing another pair of whiteys, we started to hear a snowmobile coming towards us.

Slowly emerging through the now-lifting fog ap-

As I lifted my tungsten jig off the muddy bottom, I heard the unmistakable sound of a hook set. Colin was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. He didn’t say anything, but the bend in his Fenwick jig stick did all the talking. become accustomed to.

It becomes second nature when you live just a stone’s throw from the Atlantic.

Perfect ice fishing weather if you ask me.

This day was different. Not because of the elements but because of how Colin and I were going to target the Whitefish and Lake Trout we were so severely addicted to catching. The previous winter, we had jumped headfirst into the art of jigging. I had grown tired of cold fingers and frozen tangled ice lines and was begging for an excuse to leave some gear behind. After a quick discussion, we agreed and finally committed to leav-

He didn’t say anything, but the bend in his Fenwick jig stick did all the talking.

Colin was fighting what eventually ended up being another 22-inch lake trout; just one of many during this epic morning of fishing. I mean this was special. So good, that we couldn’t keep them off our lines no matter what we dropped down. We had navigated through the fog from spot to spot and only jigged if fish were on the flasher. We had landed whitefish that were as big as 18 inches and lakers that were mostly under the 23-inch mark. Nothing huge but the fishing was frantic. Colin and I had both harvested our limit of

peared a fellow angler. He was sporting the latest and greatest gear. Colin and I had unknowingly landed just a few hundred yards away from where he and a fishing partner were posted up. The pair had strategically placed 10 tip-ups off the island in about 30 to 40 feet of water. The guy couldn’t have been friendlier, and we chatted for several minutes. There was no doubt he was an accomplished angler as he told stories of huge 30-plus inch lakers he and his family had iced throughout the years. When the conversation naturally mended into how the fishing was, we were surprised to hear that they had only managed one Labyrinthia Guest House flag all morning. I started to feel guilty not knowing Ripley, Maine if he would notice the jet sled full of smoker-bound Private Rooms in a beautiful country setting fish. I of course believed we owed our success to our where breakfast is served. Entire house available for deer camp. Near ATV and winter bold tactic of strictly jigtrails. For reservations use Airbnb or call direct ging. “Man, I don’t know for full-house pricing, discounts and availability. what we’re doing right, but (207) 270-1744 Labyrinthia@yahoo.com I wouldn’t look in that sled

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if I were you” I joked. He could only chuckle when he finally noticed our creel.

“Yeah, that’s how it goes sometimes isn’t it?”, he replied. “Only on jig rods, to hell with setting traps. I don’t think I’ll set another one this year”, I boldly suggested. He nodded and as his Downeast accent seemingly got thicker he replied, “Yeah, I like jigging, but I just can’t get that into it.

I’ve always set traps and have caught a lot of fish on them, you know? Even when the fishing’s slow there’s just, there’s just..”

He paused, “….Somethin’ ’bout a trap.”

I’d like to thank V. Paul for this opportunity to write in the NWSJ. I’m humbled but excited to start this chapter in my outdoor career. Whether it’s on the ice, hanging from a tree, or picking up ancient hunting tools, I live for experiences in wild places that turn into good stories. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

Jake Scoville can be reached at jacobysco@ gmail.com or on Instagram at @jacobysco

Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

The Signal Two quick shots, ten seconds, one more. That’s the signal, somebody has one down.

I was hunting on the ledges off Sand Pond Road in Baldwin. There is an old tote road that always has a scrape line and I was creeping along looking for fresh sign. It was a perfectly quiet morning and my nostrils

tail, eye. Several minutes went by, the scent was still strong so I knew something was there. As I turned my head to the left I heard a whisper of sound and focused. I saw horns, side view, move straight down.

That buck was trying to sneak around behind me and lowered his head to scoot.

shot. The buck went uphill and I ran uphill hoping to cut him off and get a shot.

As I crested the rise the deer stopped twenty yards in front of me. Not sure who was more surprised but I had the gun up and a shot off as he rocketed to my left again. We were on rolling ground in a cutover stand full of hardwood saplings and small hemlock. I spotted him again sneaking

Page 45

Tales Of A Maine Woodsman

by Joel F. Tripp Limington, ME shots then ten seconds and a single shot. I fired the signal and got to work dressing the deer. Nobody came. My brother and two cousins were in the same patch of woods so they must have heard the shooting. When I was part way out of the woods I heard a

the sound seemed to come from everywhere. Nobody could get a lock on where I was.

If you hunt alone let somebody know where you will be and when you plan to be back. Proper prior planning, when we leave camp, everyone has a

In the days before walkie talkies and cell phones we were all taught to fire the signal. In our family it was two quick shots then ten seconds and a single shot. I fired the signal and got to work dressing the deer.

were suddenly filled with the scent of deer. I began systematically searching the land around me from right to left looking for stray deer parts. In the thick woods of Maine you almost never see a whole deer so you look for pieces, an ear, the horizontal back line,

My brother, four years older, is a former Marine and I received the benefit of Marine gun training without having to go to boot camp. In less time than it takes to read my gun was up and locked in on target.

In that split second the buck went and I didn’t get a clear

through some saplings.

I was now facing south and shot again but the bullet couldn’t find a hole through the thicket. The deer kept circling to my left and was now headed back to the thick hemlocks.

I ran to an opening in the ledges and as I looked back downhill the deer stepped clear and I connected.

In the days before walkie talkies and cell phones we were all taught to fire the signal. In our family it was two quick

shout and my cousin Rich helped finish dragging.

Nowadays we rely on technology. We can text, call or use hunting apps to locate each other. Excellent tools but batteries go dead and technology fails. It is a good idea to have an old fashioned back up. Fire the signal. Unfortunately, on this day, I had fired at the deer in three different directions and the echoes bounced all over the compass. When I fired the signal, I was in a hollow and

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rough idea where everyone else is going to be for the day. Now when we shoot a deer, we text Ray first. Ray is camp cook so appropriately “start frying onions”.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 46

From Craig Pond

by Bob Mercer, Bucksport, ME I was recently thinking about significant firsts in my history. It seems we remember firsts more than we remember the others.

First trout, deer, bird on the wing, etc.

The first trout I caught on my own was in the brook I have previously written about. I was about ten and staying at the farm with my Aunt Julia. When I inquired about going fishing, I expected her to take

rod upward simultaneously releasing the line. With practice one could land the worm just where it would do the most good.

I flipped into the spot where the riffle entered the pool, as I saw the sparkle of the gold spinner; wham, and down went my rod tip.

There was no playing the fish, I just stiff healed him into the bushes and chased him down. He was about nine inches and I was so

Life’s Firsts

appeared to be some eyes, ears and spike horns. I said to myself, “There’s a deer, no it can’t be, no I think it is a log, (the spikes looked like branches.) Well, if it’s a log it is going to have a hell of a hole in it”. I pulled down to where the forward shoulder should be and fired. Not exactly ethical, but in this case effective, as it was a nice fat spike horn.

First duck was during my first time duck hunting. We were at my brother-in-law’s family farm “Downeast”. We were

March 2024

When we picked them up, the last duck in line (mine), was a nice drake mallard.

Brain was wild, “I have been hunting for years and never shot a mallard, here on your first shot you killed a nice green head, it just isn’t right”.

Later that day I was

First partridge was no big deal. I remember it well but there is not much to tell about shooting a bird off a branch in an apple tree.

I still remember many of the later events of the bagging game, but they all seem to blend together. The firsts stand out and remain

alone and snuck up on another bank (we did a lot of jump shooting then) and a teal burst out from under the bank I pulled up and fired and much to my surprise, it fell right out of the sky. That was my first bird on the wing. I was some proud even if it was the easiest possible shot, straight away. Problem was he was about thirty feet out in the ocean. I never thought of retrieval.

As luck would have it the wind and tide were both onshore and he washed right in. Lesson learned and I became more aware of the retrieval aspect of duck hunting.

alive in my memory bank.

Of course, there is one significant first that I am sure we all remember even more vividly than all others but that one will remain private.

I hope this little treatise will rekindle some nice memories to keep you all going until spring.

When we picked them up, the last duck in line (mine), was a nice drake mallard. Brain was wild, “I have been hunting for years and never shot a mallard, here on your first shot you killed a nice green head, it just isn’t right”. me, instead she said, “Go ahead”. I went on my own, pretending to be grown up.

I fished down the brook, to no avail, until I came to a nice pool. There was a riffle running into it, boarded by a big old rock with a giant tree on top. It was deep and dark.

The brook was too small to cast, but my Grandmother had taught me to flip my worm. I made a small coil of line in my left hand, dropped the tip of my rod then flipped the

excited I just grabbed him and ran for the house. I still fish that brook and that pool once a year, with nice memories.

My first deer was out of Camp Bowman in Searsport, owned by a teacher friend. I was walking a small power line that we referred to as the cable.

For some reason, I decided to take a left into the woods. Within a very short distance I came to a small bunch of jack fir.

Right in the middle there

hunting on an island in Cobscook Bay. My brother-in-law, Brian, was a lifetime duck hunter, as was his friend Dave, but this was my maiden voyage.

We snuck to some bushes on a bank and peered out to see three ducks swimming up the shore toward us. The plan was when they came in range to take them in order of our arrangement on a count of three.

Brian counted one, two, and three. Blam! Three shots were fired as one.

Bob is a former Registered Guide and avid outdoorsman who writes from the shores of Craig Pond.

Bob and his wife Jean have raised three children and ten grandchildren there. He may be contacted at craigponder@myfairpoint.net

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 47

New Chowder Record

“I wasn’t this cold all winter,” said the lawyer from Virginia when the bow of the canoe finally scraped shore. We’d arrived at the camp of my Native colleague who had offered up the premises for days just like this one.

I had perhaps waited too

grabbed him as he stumbled, and nearly fell. I was holding the bow bag full of cook gear in one hand, and the firewood bag in the other. Both of them were glad to see what some of that firewood was for.

In the middle of the old camp was an Atlantic

bag, and touched it off with a butane lighter.

My two sports settled into two platform rockers that they’d pulled up close to the stove. I looked at both of them. The older of the two was close to stage 2 hypothermia, so I figured he’d do even more shivering once the heat hit him.

As soon as the kindling was going, I threw in a few pieces of beechwood, then took my wood bag and

The Singing Maine Guide

by Randy Spencer, Grand Lake Stream, ME local weather app said 43 degrees. Yes, it was June, but in recent years, this was less and less extraordinary. The temperature on the Fourth of July the two previous years had been colder than the temperature on Christmas Eve both of those years.

While my cook fire

chowder pot, my stopwatch said 8 minutes.

These guys were catch and release fishermen and proud of it. Nevertheless, on their menu selection cards the night before in the lodge, they’d chosen fish chowder. Maybe they’d seen the weather forecast.

I’d have done the same

These guys were catch and release fishermen and proud of it. Nevertheless, on their menu selection cards the night before in the lodge, they’d chosen fish chowder. Maybe they’d seen the weather forecast.

long. By 11:30 am, one of the two brothers had begun to speak in a slurred form of English as though he couldn’t quite get his mouth around the words.

That brother’s (the older of the two) gait was stiff as we walked over the rocks and roots, uphill, to get to the camp. A couple of times, his younger brother

wood stove, the cylindrical model with a thermostatic/ vent box on the front, which was also part of the door.

Against the wall behind the stove was an empty wood box, but in the bottom was some birch bark, the best fire starter short of gasoline. I tossed a couple of sheets in, grabbed some dry cedar out of my wood

went back out to where I’d dropped the bow bag next to the outside cooking area.

I knew that Atlantic stove well. It would be putting a crimson glow on the faces of those two sports in no time.

I’d timed myself before for the task ahead of me. My record so far was 15 minutes. If there was ever a day to break that record, it was today.

When we’d left the dock, the temperature on my

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if I were them, but then I would’ve hoped to catch my own fish for the chowder. Having got the tip from the lodge, I’d thrown in some frozen white perch filets, something I keep on hand for exactly these circumstances.

Over the course of the morning, the filets had mostly thawed, wrapped in newspaper and placed under my canoe seat. I chunked them up and in (Record cont. pg 51)

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was getting up to speed, I cut up potatoes and put them in water just enough to cover them. I’d pre-cut my salt pork into small chunks which went into a #46 tin skillet next to the chowder pot. While they sizzled, I diced up a yellow onion. The fire had shifted gears and now the potatoes were at an earnest simmer.

In went the onions. I had to shift and stir the salt pork bits so as not to scald them.

When I dumped them in the

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Page 48

Vermont Ramblings

by Dennis Jensen, Vermont There was a time, back in my youth, when I did not really think about the act of killing, that is, taking the life of a wild creature, because that is what I do; that is who I am.

But now, as I advance

and I learned he was just about my age. He told me that, only recently, he had reached the stage where he no longer wanted to kill.

And judging by the number of antlers in his garage, he did more than his share of

Hunting: The Connection

day will come when I will put away my hunting guns for good.

That does not mean, however, that I am closed to not hunting in the near future. There are other factors, mostly how many more years I have that allow me to physically pursue the sport of hunting.

While I have been almost

“As scientific understanding has grown, so our world has become dehumanized.

Man feels himself isolated in the cosmos, because he is no longer involved in nature and has lost his ‘unconscious identity’ with natural phenomena. These have slowly lost their symbolic implications. Thunder is no longer the voice of an angry god, nor is lightning his avenging missile. No river contains a spirit, no tree is the principle of man, no snake the embodiment of wisdom, no mountain cave the home of a great demon. No voices now speak to man from stones, plants and animals, nor does he speak to them believing they can hear. His contact with nature has gone, and with it has gone the profound emotional energy that this symbolic connection supplied.”

Man and His Symbols Carl Jung, 1964 into my seventh decade of life, I have become much more reflective about what it is that I do when I take my rifle into the deer woods.

Some years back, I met a really interesting man who lived one town over from me. He had read my copy in a local newspaper and sent me a very kind e-mail. We met for lunch

killing. He must have been one hell of a deer hunter.

I told him that I did not share his heartfelt decision but did say that, in the past five years or so, I have begun to think, more and more, about my role as a predator of whitetail deer.

I too have killed more than my share of deer and I have sometimes wondered if the

March 2024

exclusively a hunter who stays put in the woods, waiting for deer to come my way, I still want to get back as deep into the woods as my body will carry me.

Another factor that has me still excited about hunting are my grandchildren and their interest in the sport. I took my three

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sons to the woods and to the lakes. Now, when the end of April comes around, I will take my first grandson out for his first shot at spring turkey season — the two-day youth hunt for turkeys in Vermont.

I was at the annual outdoor show in Essex in

Jung, at least from my perspective, is that we (well, not all of us) have drifted away from the natural world and have taken up man-made devices in its place. “Man’s contact with nature,” as Jung wrote, “has gone,” but I would argue that, for those of us who

The hunt legacy evolves: will the circle remain unbroken? (Illustration by V. Paul Reynolds) January and made it a point hunt and fish, that contact to pick up a bumper sticker, is still very much in place. from New Hampshire Fish We need to get back to naand Game, which will soon ture if we are to continue to be on my truck. “Share the be truly human. past. Shape the future. Take a child hunting.” Enough Dennis Jensen is an outdoor writer from Versaid.

The whole point about mont. Contact him at d. the quote, above, from jensen62@yahoo.com

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Groups Sue Vermont Fish And Wildlife

Animal welfare groups Protect Our Wildlife Vermont, Animal Wellness Action, Center for a Humane Economy and the Vermont Wildlife Coalition filed a lawsuit in Washington County Superior Court alleging new rules regarding hunting and trapping do not conform with legislation passed in 2022 that required them.

The groups allege that new rules, which the Fish & Wildlife Board approved in December, do not go far enough to protect people and pets from risks associated with trapping and hunting coyotes with dogs.

The suit names the Fish & Wildlife Board, the Fish & Wildlife Department and Commissioner Chris Herrick and requests that the court declare both sets of regulations “contrary to the intent of the Legislature” and to nullify the rules.

The most vocal of those filing the suit is Brenna Galdenzi, president of Protect Our Wildlife Vermont, who soon after moving to Vermont, made it her mission to take on the Fish and Wildlife Department and The Board in an attempt to stop forms of hunting and trapping she deems unethical or inhumane.

The suit is no surprise as I have predicted it would happen for some time now.

It adds to the bind Fish and Wildlife is facing in dealing with the objections to four pieces of the board’s new regulations made by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) in December.

Victory, Vermont resident Will Staats, who is a retired New Hampshire Fish and Game wildlife biologist and an avid hunter and trapper, said in response to the LCAR objections, “I am proud to be a hunter and trapper. Our VTFW department and

who have been moving to Vermont in increasing numbers over recent years.

As in the time of colonialism by western Europeans, these new arrivals in Vermont seek to alter the landscape to suit their needs.

Unfortunately, these new arrivals have also brought

Page 49

Outdoors In Vermont

by Gary W. Moore, Bradford, VT

thority The statement of purpose of bill S-258 as introduced says it all. “This bill proposes to transfer the authority to adopt rules for the taking of fish, wildlife, and fur-bearing animals from the Fish and Wildlife Board to the Department The suit names the Fish & Wildlife Board, the of Fish and Wildlife. The Fish & Wildlife Department and Commissioner Chris Herrick bill would also amend the and requests that the court declare both sets of regulations authority of the Fish and Wildlife Board so that it “contrary to the intent of the Legislature” and to serves in an advisory canullify the rules. pacity to the Department of Vermont hunters and trap- with them the attitudes ‘new colonials’ to bend Fish and Wildlife. In addipers are the real advocates and lifestyles that they the behavior and ethos of tion, the bill would prohibit for wildlife. Hunters and acquired in other places. Vermonters to their own (Wildlife cont. pg 58) trappers have collectively Unfamiliar with the ways will. Maybe, in time, they given billions of dollars of sustainable harvest, they will realize the value of to wildlife conservation. condemn the practices of the mores and traditions Let’s stop this outright as- hunting, trapping, and fish- of the people who have sault on Vermont’s hunting ing, based on the tenets shaped the landscape that Market & Restaurant culture and work together of their imported culture. has drawn them here, and 7 Pinecrest Drive to achieve meaningful pro- Adhering to a modern day will come to appreciate Essex Junction, VT 05452 tection for our wildlife equivalent of the “manifest the benefits of responsible, (802) 879-3611 resources by protecting the destiny” doctrine, they are sustainable harvest and www.raysseafoodmarket.com remaining wildlife habitat trying to extinguish the his- enjoyment of our natural in our state. I would urge torical culture of Vermont resources.”

“Where the catch is LCAR to reconsider their by replacing it with that of Proposed Legislation always the best” decision, listen to hunt- their own.

Would Strip Board Of Auers and their own VTFW experts and take a much more sensible and balanced approach to the issue of hunting dogs. “ Fish and Game Board Plus all the accesories for them member Bryan McCarthy, DON’T FORGET: who represents Grand Isle Ray’s has a full line of tackle County until the end of at February when his six year North Street Burlington and term ends, wrote to his felbuys fish year round. low board members after Perch • Sunfish LCAR made its objections.

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Maple Country Outdoors

I’ll be representing Fly Fishing Team USA at the 2024 National Championships this winter. The event takes place February 26 - March 1 this year in Cherokee, NC, about the same time the magazine will be released. I’ll give a preview of the event, as well as what I expect as far as fishing and tactics, and in a future article I’ll re cap the event and let you all know my results.

This will likely be my last comp as a member of Team USA, regardless of whether I earn a spot on the team again for the next cycle or not. Life is getting busy and its time to focus on my kids activities and help them be successful. Perhaps when they get older I’ll get back into it, or better yet, help them become an elite fly fisher! I will still plan on doing one or two smaller competitions per year to catch up with old friends and stay up to date on the

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Ben Wilcox, Essex, VT

latest tactics, flies and gear to pass on to my guiding clients and readers. Believe it or not competitive fly fishing has pushed many of the advances in the sport in the past decade or so. From Euro nymphing tactics and gear, to flies, to advanced dry fly and stillwater methods, competitive fly fishing

2024 United States Fly Fishing Championship

I fished a comp on the Upper Nantahala and Raven Fork in late October this year, but have not fished the lower Nantahala or either lake. The rivers all have pretty high fish densities of both wild and stocked fish, with some big stockers up to 24+” mixed in. I don’t fish in the winter so I’ll be pretty rusty and

rivers. I expect most fish to be in the deeper pockets and pools, but with high fish density I’m hoping small pockets will have a fish or two. The question will be how actively fish

them feeding.

The two lakes are what I am most looking forward to. There are lots of great river anglers, but far fewer good lake anglers. Lakes are the what got me onto

The event will take place on the upper and lower Nantahala, the Raven Fork, Wolf Creek Lake, and Tanasee Lake. I am hoping to get 2-3 days of practice with my teammates prior to the event so we can dial in a game plan for each venue in the tournament. has pushed our ability to successfully target trout to new levels.

The event will take place on the upper and lower Nantahala, the Raven Fork, Wolf Creek Lake, and Tanasee Lake. I am hoping to get 2-3 days of practice with my teammates prior to the event so we can dial in a game plan for each venue in the tournament.

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have to adjust to winter tactics, I was really hoping that the tournament would be in the spring or summer.

The Raven Fork is in the “trophy” water where lots of big fish are stocked.

This is the venue I am least looking forward to. I only fished it for a short time in practice. The water is lower gradient with bigger deeper pools. I also found that the freshly stocked big fish are pretty hard to get to eat. I anticipate the majority of the fish to be caught on egg patterns, mops, worms, and small jig streamers fished slowly. Perhaps there will be some midges that fish key into, especially the wild fish, or small beatis patterns. I caught lots of fish on dry flies in late October, but I do not anticipate much, if any dry fly activity. The upper and lower Nantahala are water types I prefer more. The upper river is what I would call a mid sized stream with pretty good gradient.

Similar to many Northeast

Fly Fishing Team USA member Ken Krane with one of many North Carolina Rainbow Trout.

Ken and I will be teammates at the 2024 United States Fly Fishing Championship in North Carolina Feb 26- March 1. feed in winter down in NC compared to the northeast.

The Lower Nantahala is a pretty good sized river that is a tail water. The water fluctuates from low to high when they generate power.

I am hoping we fish it on low flows because it didn’t look fun to wade at high flow, especially in the cold of winter. Flies should be the same for all river venues, with each having its differences when it comes to exactly what the fish want and where we find

team USA in the first place.

I’ve never laid eyes on the lakes but I believe they are both stocked with rainbow trout. I sure hope that we get a practice session on the lakes but often there is not. If thats the case I hope I do not draw a lake first. If I can get intel, or practice on a lake I feel pretty confident I can win any session, but if I go in blind, its a crap shoot whether I can find where in the lake the fish are, what level they are (Championship cont. pg 51)

March 2024

Record

(Cont. from pg 47) they went. In no time, they turned white as the driven snow. In went a chunk of butter, then some Half ’n Half, and I slid the pot to the side for milder heat.

I knew that my Native friend kept clean bowls on a shelf and spoons in a drawer. When I picked up the pot and headed for the camp door, I killed the stopwatch at 13 minutes, 50 seconds. A new record!

When I stepped into the camp, the heat off the Atlantic stove hit me like an August afternoon.

“Did you slip a mickey into this chowdah?” the younger brother vamped.

Championship (Cont. from pg 50) feeding at, what presentation they want, and lastly, what fly they want before the other competitors. I anticipate fishing mostly small and micro buggers, from drab to fluorescent, with varying retrieves to entice both reluctant fish and also draw reaction strikes. I’ll let you know how it all goes down soon!

Ben Wilcox is owner of Maple Country Anglers, located in Northwest Vermont. He is a current member of the USA Fly Fishing Team. He is a registered Maine Guide and graduate of the University of Maine.

He also owns a large Maple Sugaring Business, Amber Ridge Maple.These occupations allow him to be in the woods or water nearly every day of the year. He can be reached at maplecountryanglers@gmail. com, or on instagram @ benwilcox_maplecountryanglers.

Northwoods Sporting Journal When I looked at both of them closely, I knew instantly why he’d asked.

Not only were both of their faces red and glowing, but each had a euphoric grin stretching from ear to ear.

I’d seen it before. It was the high following a close brush with hypothermia when the core temperature returns to normal. They looked like they’d been hit-

ting the hookah alongside Alice’s caterpillar. I was relieved, but also gratified at having a new record to beat.

Randy Spencer is a working guide and author.

His award-winning books are available on Amazon.

Visit www.randyspencer. com or email Randy at randy31@earthlink.net

Page 51 DISTRIBUTOR NEEDED!

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Page 52

Kineo Currents

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Suzanne AuClair, Rockwood, ME March is a kind of noman’s land on Moosehead Lake. There is still plenty of winter for die-hard winter fans, but it’s in-between full-on winter and spring fishing, which begins about 10 days after ice-out. Iceout usually takes place somewhere between the last week of April and the

for native brook trout, lake trout, and for the landlocked salmon (introduced in the late 1800s) has been absolutely phenomenal.

Small-mouth bass are also now well established. Bass lovers will have a fine time here, though locally they are considered a scourge, illegally introduced years

first week or two of May. In March, there is usually plenty of snow still, and snowmobilers take good advantage of that. But many locals are already setting sights on spring, antsy for the long winter to be over. Those who can often get away in March or April before the spring-summer seasons hit full-on.

This year, anglers can bet on great fishing, again.

For some years now, the fishing on Moosehead Lake

ago to this cold-water fishery, a last stand for wild native brook trout. But, here, they are. There is no limit for the taking of bass. It seems that many bass anglers practice catch and release. But, whether you fish specifically for bass or not, it would do well, if you don’t care to keep them for yourself, to throw them out into the woods for animals to feast on. It was a sad day for this region when they became

March 2024

March on Moosehead Lake

established, but, now, as always, time marches on.

And March is the time to plan for your June fishing trip to Moosehead Lake.

We have had plenty of water this past year, ending what was a terrible drought. In a recent spring work report, Regional Fishery Supervisor Tim Obrey wrote that the smelt forage to feed our popular game fish, including lake trout, salmon, and large brook trout, ought to be pretty

This year, anglers can bet on great fishing, again. For some years now, the fishing on Moosehead Lake for native brook trout, lake trout, and for the landlocked salmon (introduced in the late 1800s) has been absolutely phenomenal.

Ice fisherman Eric Ward with a handsome Moosehead brookie. the Great Lakes. It is pains- over two to three weeks.”

He said the lowest estaking work, whereby he describes it “as capturing timate there was in 2020, at a sample of out-migrating just over 3,000 smelt — not smelt fry, just after hatch- much forage for all the lake ing, and expanding the trout and salmon. But, last catch to estimate the total spring, they counted their production of that tribu- highest estimate, at over 15 tary.” Their work takes million smelt. With all this place on North Brook in food, Obrey is predicting Lily Bay, which he said some pretty nice looking historically has a smelt run gamefish over the next year of varying magnitude each or two.

To keep the balance, year. “A plankton net is Obrey is encouraging anset in the brook around 11 p.m. to midnight, which is glers to take their limit of the peak time for hatching. smaller lake trout, which We count the captured fry helps to keep lake trout and under a microscope and the smelt populations in good catch rates are expanded shape. The bag limit is five to determine the total out- lake trout; only one can be migration for the day. It can over 18 inches, all five may range from just a few smelt be less than 18 inches. to millions per day, and the Suzanne AuClair lives hatch usually takes place near Rockwood. She has been writing about the Moosehead Lake region for 29 years and produced the state anthology, “The Origin, Formation & History of Maine’s Inland Fisheries Division.” She is an award-winning member of the New England Outdoor Writers Assn. www.LUNAFAMILYAUTOSALES.COM 817-0125

good. Smelt are widely known to be the preferred forage for Moosehead’s lake trout and salmon, and those trophy Moosehead brook trout. Mr. Obrey writes that the smelt populations are so important that records show if smelt numbers turn very low, it appears that gamefish might just as soon starve than to eat anything else. In his typical hilarious turn of phrase, he writes, “Yellow perch and lake chubs must be the piscatorial equivalent of holiday fruitcake.”

For this reason, smelts have been monitored for decades, with thousands upon thousands of fish stomachs examined. Over the past seven years, he said they have conducted a new study, based on work that was first performed in

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 53

Against The Current

There and Back Again

by Bob Romano, Rangeley, ME

As a young man, I read Hemingway and Steinbeck, Harrison, and McGuane. Along the way, the fly-fishing raconteur, Richard Brautigan, brought tears to my eyes while the rabid environmentalist, Edward Abbey, had me raising my fists in outrage.

In his thought-provoking book, Practice of the Wild, poet-turned-Buddhist, Gary Snyder, mused that “The wild requires…we learn the terrain, nod to all the plants and animals and birds, ford the streams and cross the ridges, and tell a good story when we get back home.”

Over the years, I’ve followed the advice of the beat poet-turned-Buddhist, attempting, from time to time to tell a good story when returning home from western Maine. It is a part of the country that has not changed much. The rivers, streams, and ponds surrounding our cabin haven’t changed much since Johnny Danforth and Fred Baker decided to spend a winter hunting and trapping the land above Parmachenee Lake. The fish are still here.

On average, they are not as large as they once were, but a sixteen-inch native brook trout is not uncommon and landlocked salmon continue to dance upon their tails

since being introduced in the latter part of the 1800s.

When we first arrived, I cast large streamers and weighted nymphs in a manic search for ever-larger fish. I wore a vest with more fly boxes than Samuel Carter had little liver pills and a pack heavy with reels containing lines that sunk at different rates and clothing for the constantly changing northern New England weather. Such angling requires time on the water, especially after the spring thaw. This is when the smelt, the region’s principal bait fish, leave the lakes to make their spawning run up the larger rivers, with brook trout and landlocked salmon following closely behind. In the latter days of September, the trout and salmon once again swim upriver, this time on their own spawning runs, providing a second opportunity to take fish measured in pounds rather than inches. It goes without saying, this is when most anglers are on the water.

But there is another type of fishing that is productive from May when the ice leaves the lakes through the end of September when our season concludes. One that can be employed on the many tannin-stained brooks that slip across the

Canadian border, streams that bend and twist through balsam and spruce for mile after mile, some of them headwaters of those larger rivers where the majority of anglers continue their search for trophy fish. Along these secret

times do, in a set of sunlit ripples. These are fish that have rarely heard the splash of an artificial fly.

This type of fishing requires the angler to heed the words of the legendary American naturalist, John Muir, who wrote, “Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness.”

No longer do I feel compelled to wing heavy nymphs past my ear, or make sixty-foot casts until my shoulder aches. Instead,

the moment, perhaps even to stop time, if only for an instant, as a six-inch brook trout slips from my moist fingers back into the cool current.

With less distraction, this uncomplicated method of fishing allows me to enjoy the creatures found along the edges of running water—the colorful flash of a tiny warbler or the song of the secretive thrush.

I’ll catch myself smiling at the splash of a frog or while staring into the eyes of a bashful toad. Along

The rivers, streams, and ponds surrounding our cabin haven’t changed much since Johnny Danforth and Fred Baker decided to spend a winter hunting and trapping the land above Parmachenee Lake. The fish are still here. rills, I can cast to brook trout without coming upon another angler. To be sure, the fish here are diminutive compared to the trout in the big rivers, a few no larger than my pinkie, the largest fitting snuggly in the palm of a hand. In these narrow ribbons of water, under the shadows cast by a vast conifer forest, I’ve come to appreciate what Thoreau described as “…these jewels…these bright fluviatile flowers, made beautiful, the Lord only knows why, to swim there!”

On the losing side of middle age, I now seek out those waters too small to gather serious attention from other anglers; those forgotten places, where trout live out their secret lives in the lee of boulders, under the branches of spruce and pine, balsam and birch, or as they some-

I carry a single metal tin that fits nicely in the pocket of my canvas shirt. Once holding cough drops, these days it contains a handful of flies. For fishing upstream, there are pheasant-tail patterns, ones with parachute wings, and perhaps a few elk hair caddis accompanied by fixed-winged and soft-hackled hare’s ear wet flies if working down.

While casting a rod constructed of cane by the Pennsylvania rod maker, the late George Maurer, my mind is free to be in

the way, I’ve seen otters, mink, and beaver and even the occasional deer, black bear, and moose that have lumbered down out of the forest.

Our time in western Maine has remained an escape from the madding pace of modern life. It has allowed me to trod a trail less traveled—one alongside a stream with brook trout willing to play tag with a bit of feather and fur and return home to tell a tale or two.

RIVER FLOWERS - by Robert J. Romano, Jr. "Lyrical, poignant, and sometimes fantastical angling tales from the Maine woods and beyond, written in the great storytelling tradition of Sparse Gray Hackle and Robert Traver..."Stephen Sautner, author of A Cast in the Woods and Fish On. Fish Off.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 54

Spring Outdoor Doings

New Hampshire Outdoors

by Peter St. James, Warner, N.H. To say it’s been an hour later on Mar 10, than interesting winter thus far they were the day before would be putting it mildly. but, there will be more light Snowmobiles encountered in the evening. Yea! If you’ve been champspring-like conditions in January, there were sketchy ing at the bit (yes, champice conditions across the ing at the bit has been state into February and a around for at least 600 peckish bear roused from years while chomping at his winter’s nap to pilfer a the bit didn’t appear until bird feeder in New Boston the turn of the 20th cenduring that same time. But tury.) to get back out doors, it’s time to turn a big cor- then check out the New ner. And around that corner Hampshire Outdoor Expo: is a return to Daylight Sav- Friday–Sunday, March ing Time on Sunday, March 8–10, at the Hampshire 10 at 2:00 a.m. when the Dome, 34 Emerson Road clocks are turned forward in Milford. See the latest one hour. So sunrise and in freshwater and saltwater sunset will be about an fishing, hunting, camping,

kayaking, and boating. Try out the best gear, talk to top manufacturers and guides, and learn from industry professionals. The NH Fish and Game Department will have a booth where you can talk about fishing at your favorite Granite State waterbodies. To learn more visit www.nhoutdoorexpo. com I’m jumping ahead a

bit but The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation-Upper Valley Chapter Banquet will be held on Saturday, April 27 at Fireside Inn &

Where do you read your copy of the Sporting Journal? At camp, in the boat, at the ice shack? We’d love to see a photo of you with your copy of the Journal at an unusual place. If we like it, we will publish it in the Journal. If we select your best shot for publication, we’ll send you an exclusive Sporting Journal hat created just for the occasion. Send your Jpeg photo and a short blurb to vpaulr@tds.net.

Please include your contact information, too. www.sportingjournal.com

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Suites in West Lebanon, NH. For ticket info, email Ian Dewey at ian.dewey@ yahoo.com I wanted to get that information out now because Saturday, April 27 is the opening day for trout fishing in all trout ponds and wild trout ponds in the state. So, fish in the morning and attend an Elk Federation banquet at night.

That’s a full day!

In a recent article, he opined that the best trout fishing places in America are the ones that you appreciate most, often times for reasons other than how many fish you catch.

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT!

HUNTING

March 2024

Huge Photo Gallery of Big Critters and Record Fish!

Kirk Deeter is the editor of Angling Trade, an editor-at-large for Field & Stream magazine, and editor-in-chief of TROUT magazine, the publication of Trout Unlimited.

He once wrote a story on “America’s Best Fly-Fishing Towns” for Field & Stream magazine. In a recent article, he opined that the best trout fishing places in America are the ones that you appreciate most, often times for reasons other than how many fish you catch.

His list: “Wherever I’m fishing at the time, The place where I learned to fish, The trout river closest to my home now, The place where my family likes to fish with me, The river where I meet my friends, The lake where I can fish and throw a stick for my dog, The stretch of river so familiar, I could almost row

it blindfolded, The place where I see moose, deer, bears, eagles and others that share their water with me, The place where the drakes hatch, and every fish on the river feeds off the surface. The place where I teach others to fish.”

Too often we get caught up in the commercialization and competition of fishing that we sometimes need to be reminded about why we’re there in the first place. I think Mr. Deeter did a nice job in grounding us.

Just saw an ad for my dream job. Well, would have been my dream job if I could set the clock twenty years. “Lee’s Ferry Anglers, a fly fishing outfitter on the Colorado River in picturesque Marble Canyon, Arizona is seeking an experienced and passionate Fly Fishing Guide.” Eight years ago I spent a day with Lee’s Ferry Anglers catching trophy-sized rainbow trout in a stunning desert landscape. It was truly one of my most memorable fishing days…ever! Who wouldn’t want to do that everyday?

Peter St. James is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association, Outdoor Writers Association of America and a licensed NH Fishing Guide at outsideinsides603@gmail.com

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 55

Winter Camping

If you have done a few overnight campouts in the cold and decide you want to start getting more serious, this article will get you started in the right direction. You will need to do some reading and learning

Part 2

pounds, and a 3 person or a gear sled can carry 100+ pounds. There are plenty of directions online of how to make a pulk.

When you pack your pulk, the heaviest items should be on bottom. The

are bigger and heavier than summer bags. They are also more expensive.

This is the first place you should invest in winter gear. Get a bag that is rated for however cold you expect to be out in.

Also, get a larger bag than you think you need. You will want enough room in your sleeping bag for your electronics, your first layer of clothes in the morning, a hot water bottle to keep you warm, and your boots if you can. Invest in an ex-

Basics Of Survival

by Joe Frazier, Bangor, ME not work nearly as well in cold weather. The colder it is, the worse it works.

White gas stoves work fine because you can pressurize them. Be very careful of the fuel. It will not freeze, but it will get as cold as the outside temperature. If you spill it on your hands it can cause instant frostbite.

NEVER refuel a hot stove, and never use open flames

Most tent stakes will not work in frozen ground.

Landscape spikes or heavy duty nails work well. You will need a hammer to put them in and pull them out.

Most food that is good for winter camping needs hot water. Freeze dried food, Oatmeal, instant soups, etc. are dry so they will not freeze like canned food. You will want a LOT

If you sleep directly on the ground you will need good insulation under your sleeping bag. If you are sleeping on snow, be sure to pack it down as smooth and level as possible. Once snow starts to freeze there is no changing the shape.

Lots of hot water can take off the curse when winter camping (Photo by V. Paul Reynolds) before you invest in winter equipment.

Cold weather camping does have another advantage; you don’t have to carry your gear. Cold weather gear is very bulky and very heavy. In summer a 25 pound pack might be just fine for a few days.

In winter you are looking at 100 pounds of gear or more. Carrying your gear in a Pulk, or gear sled, is the only way to carry that much weight. It slides along behind you in your snowshoe or ski trail and pulling is nothing compared to carrying. A kids plastic sled can carry 50+

most often needed items on top. Be sure your jacket and insulating layer of clothes are handy, you will need them the minute you stop for a break or camp.

Some people swear by sleeping in hammocks, even in the winter. I have no experience with hammocks so you will have to do your own research on them. There are several advantages to using them so they are worth looking into.

I like using a cot to get up off the frozen ground.

You should put your extra insulation ON the cot under your sleeping bag.

Winter sleeping bags

tra large hot water bottle.

Trust me.

If you sleep directly on the ground you will need good insulation under your sleeping bag. If you are sleeping on snow, be sure to pack it down as smooth and level as possible. Once snow starts to freeze there is no changing the shape. Put a tarp directly on the snow, and your tent on top of that.

A hot tent is usually made of canvas, and designed to use a wood stove inside. There is a fireproof panel in the wall for the chimney to go out through.

It is also a good idea to put a welding blanket under the stove on the floor to protect it. Practice setting it up, taking it down, and safely using the wood stove inside the tent in your yard.

Get comfortable with your gear before you go into the woods.

Canned propane fuel for camp cook stoves does

inside a tent.

A plastic or aluminum snow shovel is very useful.

A compact shovel is ok, but if you have room in your sled a full size snow shovel is better. You can use them to clear your tent area of snow, use snow to build walls around your tent to block the wind, or build a primitive shelter (snow cave).

You will need a folding saw or bow saw to cut firewood with. You will need a LOT of firewood.

Be sure to protect the blade.

of hot drinks too. Bring a couple of cooking pots as large as you have room for. You can never have too much hot water. A thermos for each person is a good idea. At the end of each meal, fill your thermos with a hot drink, soup, or hot food so it is ready the next time you need it with no preparation.

Joe is a Husband, Father, Author, and Marine. Joefrazier193@ gmail.com

Bangor 72 Target Industrial Circle, Suite 1 • Bangor Maine 04401 Tel: 207-941-1920 • 800-941-1920 (ME) • Fax; 207-947-7578

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 56

March 2024

March Question Of The Month

Is Vermont’s Historical Culture in Peril?

By Bryan McCarthy

Nearly 400 years ago, western Europeans first began the colonization of what has since become known as New England.

The colonists were driven by their need to survive in this new land, at first by stealing from the winter stores of food cached by the indigenous people, and then by cultivating the land to support their newly im-

or mechanical cultivation of land for their crops.

They did not believe in the same deity that the colonists did, and did not believe in the subjugation of nature for the exclusive benefit of themselves.

With the rapidly increasing numbers of colonists, these differences eventually led to the demise of the native people, due to the superior weapons of the

residents of Vermont have developed a culture and a way of life that have evolved into a sustainable co-existence with the natural world. For hundreds of years, Vermonters have hunted, trapped, fished, and gathered the natural bounty of the land in an ever-changing landscape.

Over the years, we have learned to adapt our practices to meet the needs of

This historical culture is now under attack by “colonists” who have been moving to Vermont in increasing numbers over recent years. As in the time of colonialism by western Europeans, these new arrivals in Vermont seek to

and knowledge is a regrettable shame. Imagine how much richer, more diverse, and vibrant our current culture would be if we had managed to co-exist with the indigenous people of America in mutual respect, instead of defeating them.

The indigenous people’s traditions and livelihoods did not conform to the same conventions of society and beliefs that the colonists had brought from Europe. They did not recognize the private ownership of land in the same way that the colonists did…. ported crops and livestock.

Soon, as the practices and even the presence of the indigenous people became an obstacle to the expansion of the colonists settlements, the colonists began dividing the land into their own privately held tracts of property. There, they set their own laws and strictures of society based on the tenets of faith and government they had brought with them from Europe.

Once the colonists had become well-established and able to support themselves, it became evident that their way of life was hindered by the presence of the native people on this newly usurped land. The indigenous people’s traditions and livelihoods did not conform to the same conventions of society and beliefs that the colonists had brought from Europe.

They did not recognize the private ownership of land in the same way that the colonists did, they did not practice animal husbandry

colonists and the influx of European diseases. The native cultures were virtually eradicated within a couple of hundred years.

We all know the progression of the fall of the Native Americans’ culture.

The doctrine of “manifest destiny”, the “civilization” and “education” of the native tribes, the sequestration of the indigenous people into “reservations” all led to a regrettable state of affairs. Today, the entire way of life of the First Nations peoples has been wiped from the landscape.

Almost all of their culture and most of the people themselves have disappeared.

I find it difficult not to draw a comparison of the scenario above to how the current influx of people to the Green Mountain State from urban areas is affecting the culture of the people who have lived in Vermont for many generations. Like the indigenous people before them, the

both humankind and the landscape. By trial and error, we have learned that we cannot over-harvest the animals of the forests or the fish of the waters, that we cannot alter the landscape in ways that degrade the environment without suffering dire consequences.

Where mistakes have been made, we have worked to remedy the situation. In modern times, sportsmen have willingly and enthusiastically supported the creation of harvest management practices in order to sustain the populations of animals and to limit the deleterious effects of unwise resource management with better practices and restorative initiatives. Endangered wildlife species have been restored with the support of funding derived entirely from sportsmen. Access to the outdoors has been greatly increased through the acquisition of public lands with funds derived from sportsmen.

Adhering to a modern day equivalent of the “manifest destiny” doctrine, they are trying to extinguish the historical culture of Vermont by replacing it with that of their own. (llustration by V. Paul Reynolds)

alter the landscape to suit their needs. Unfortunately, these new arrivals have also brought with them the attitudes and lifestyles that they acquired in other places. Unfamiliar with the ways of sustainable harvest, they condemn the practices of hunting, trapping, and fishing, based on the tenets of their imported culture. Adhering to a modern day equivalent of the “manifest destiny” doctrine, they are trying to extinguish the historical culture of Vermont by replacing it with that of their own.

The wanton subjugation of the native peoples is a national embarrassment.

The loss of those people, their history, their lore

To stand idly by and watch the traditions, lore, knowledge, and livelihoods of Vermont sportsmen disappear in another cultural usurpation would be unconscionable. We must resist the efforts of the “new colonials” to bend the behavior and ethos of Vermonters to their own will. Maybe, in time, they will realize the value of the mores and traditions of the people who have shaped the landscape that has drawn them here, and will come to appreciate the benefits of responsible, sustainable harvest and enjoyment of our natural resources.

Bryan McCarthy is a Vermonter.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

Page 57

Spring Turkey Tips

Even though we’re not totally certain just yet, spring is just around the corner, and right behind it comes another spring turkey hunting season in New England! So, let’s get this

own, the hard way! I hope that something here will be helpful and maybe give you a jump-start as another season quickly approaches!

Scouting - Doesn’t matter how good you get

consistently. A few years back, during an incredibly challenging spring season, I finally locked in on a cocky, tough to call, spring gobbler coming straight into my decoys.

The approaching tom had no idea I was on him, and when he popped up over the rise, it was over! This was my third, and final, bird of that year. However, this hunt—and the entire season—was far from easy. It took weeks of early scouting before the season started, and more scouting during the season, to turn the tide, which included a full month of hard hunting, in three states, to change my luck. So, never take scouting for granted. And don’t wait until right before the season to get started.

The time to start is now!

Get out and listen in those pre-dawn hours. Search for roost sites, tracks, strutzones, scratching, droppings! And remember, (Photo by V. Paul Reynolds) when your scouting, leave party started with a few of at this game; scouting will those turkey calls at home! the best turkey hunt tips I always be the equalizer The worst thing you can do know, passed on to me by when it comes to consis- during pre-season scoutsome of the best turkey tently having opportunities ing, especially this early, hunters in the country, plus for success. And that’s is to be continually calling a few I had to learn on my a key word not to forget, to turkeys. Their already

On The Ridge

by Joe Judd Shelburne, MA smart enough, and the more bogus turkey calls they hear in pre-season, the less likely they are to respond when it really counts!

Keep it soft - Those early morning hours are so important as we attempt to fill those tags. Many turkeys are lost during this time, simply because of over-calling! After setting

there are times when you’ll want to. But those early morning hours are the time to keep it soft and subtle.

And don’t get discouraged if a tom flies off the roost in the morning and is pulled away by real hens. Now’s the time to stay calm and try not to move. After a few hours, he’ll want to “get after it” again. Some of the

Keep it soft - Those early morning hours are so important as we attempt to fill those tags. Many turkeys are lost during this time, simply because of over-calling! After setting up, use soft tree calls to get a gobbler’s attention. up, use soft tree calls to get a gobbler’s attention.

Work at keeping it soft and subtle, particularly during the crack of dawn! If a gobbler responds, ease off calling for a while and see what happens. He knows exactly where you are and by playing a little hard to get, you’re taking the game to him. Remember, you can always call loud and aggressively as you, and you only control that call, and

best turkey hunters I know have consistently taken their gobblers after 9 a.m.

Hunt smart - Don’t let that “cocky son of a gun” get into your head to where you become obsessed with him. If you can’t kill him after a couple of days of hunting him smart, I can’t kill him either, which could be for many different reasons!

This is when I would move (Tips cont. pg 58)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 58

Wildlife (Cont. from pg 49) the hunting of coyote with dogs.”

This bill disbands the Fish and Wildlife Board and dismisses all current members. It then creates a new twelve member advisory board and gives the authority to appoint eight of the board members to the legislature, leaving four for the commissioner.

“The purpose of the Board shall be to serve in an advisory capacity to the Department of Fish and Wildlife in the establishment of Department policy

and rules.”

“Four members of the Board shall be appointed by the Commissioner, four members of the Board shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House, and four members of the Board shall be appointed by the Committee on Committees.”

In describing qualifications to serve on the board, the legislation states the board must include, “members of the public representing both consumptive uses and nonconsumptive uses of wildlife.”

It then adds, “No person shall pursue coyote with the aid of dogs, either for the purposes of training

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a dog or taking a coyote. A person shall not take coyote by using bait. As used in this subsection, ‘bait’ means any animal, vegetable, fruit, or mineral matter placed with the intention of attracting wildlife.”

Sponsors of the legislation are, Senators Christopher Bray, Ruth Hardy, Richard McCormack and Rebecca White.

As I write this column in late January, the bill is in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy. This is the second half of the biennium and a lot can happen in the last four months of the session during an election year.

Stay tuned.

March 2024

Tips

(Cont. from pg 57)

on and look for another bird to hunt. But I would also plan on coming back a few days later and striking that bird again from a different location, with a completely different call, and running a completely different call sequence.

This is a great tactic that was taught to me by a great turkey hunter, and believe me when I tell you, it can often work like magic!

Decoys - Where decoys are legal, try to use a hen and a Jake set-up when possible. If you get the chance, try placing the Jake in the direction you anticipate a gobbler will Syndicated columnist come from. Don’t get hung Gary W. Moore is a life up about getting your delong resident of Vermont coys into perfect formation. and a former Commis- Just get them in the ground. sioner of Fish and Game. If it’s late in the season and He may be reached by e- you only have time to get mail at gwmoore1946@ up a single decoy, get the icloud.com or at Box 454, Jake up. The gobbler will Bradford, VT 05033. hear the hen (you) but see

the Jake (decoy) which can often lead to an immediate challenge from a dominate male. And don’t be afraid to get up into a receptive hen set as well. Placing that hen decoy in this position can lead to amazing results, not to mention a filled tag!

Finally, stay safe, hunt smart, and have some fun as you prepare for another springtime season of chasing these Monarchs of the Hardwoods in this wonderful New England of ours!

And hopefully our paths will cross sometime soon, somewhere, On the Ridge!

Joe Judd is a lifelong hunter and sportsman, He is an outdoor writer, seminar speaker. Member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association, and a 2019 inductee into the N.E. Turkey Hunting Hall of Fame. Joe is also on the Quaker Boy Game Calls and Bass Pro/Cabela’s Pro-Staff.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

Vermont Stocking Issues March! My father’s voice still rings in my formative years. It meant one thing; hurry up or get a whuppin’. It’s taken decades of self-work to reframe those words. But now, when I think of March, I think of the last few days of

does, they call everyone over to circle round and keep them biting. This is one time, perhaps the only time during the season, that there are so many fish its “all hands-on deck” to bail them up and out of the hole.

VT F&W has declared the

room and pack themselves in like cordwood then fill the bathtub with the “whiteys” If you can get some good intel on the ice condition this year, which may not be ideal with the unusually warm and wet one we’ve had, it’s typically the second or third week of the month that the bay is overrun with these piscatorial, yet highly edible

Green Mountain Report

Page 59

by Bradley Carleton, Charlotte, VT sports finds himself in the and he wants it shut down. crosshairs of his constitu- It’s just like the military. ency. He is wrestling with When your boss tells you a budget quandary that has to do something, you don’t led him to put the Salisbury ask questions, you just do Fish Hatchery on the chop- it.” On the VTC website ping block. My dear friend, Mr. Covey goes into much Commissioner Chris Her- greater detail and I invite rick, has become the whip- you, dear reader, to read the

The fire of budgetary politics has been lit. It all started at the Yankee Sportsman’s Classic in January when the first spark of discontent landed on the kindling and the feelings of betrayal fanned the flames. Governor Scott, who is a genuine champion of traditional outdoor sports finds himself in the crosshairs of his constituency.

rabbit season and the tenuous possibility of solid ice in St Albans Bay, where we daringly walk across the planks to get up on what’s left of the degrading ice.

It’s usually thick enough but once the sun gets up into midday, the warmth of the late winter sky globe is magnified by the retreating surface. Nonetheless, if there are a half dozen hard cores out there, myself and my crazy posse of misfits, will venture out for the white perch spawning run.

It takes a while to find them, but once one person

white perch (a relative of the striped bass family) an invasive species, and thus, there is no limit for the daily creel. We’ve watched guys fill entire jet sleds full of these fish. There’s always a group of fun-loving and whacky Bosnian refugees that live in New York City and come up here every year to catch as many as they can and throw a great party on the ice. Burgers and hot dogs on the grill.

Plenty of adult beverages and lots of laughter.

I’ve been told that these guys rent a hotel

pests. Check with local bait shops first, and if they say the ice is still okay, pull up a bucket – or better yet, a sled – and start bailing!

The fire of budgetary politics has been lit.

It all started at the Yankee Sportsman’s Classic in January when the first spark of discontent landed on the kindling and the feelings of betrayal fanned the flames. Governor Scott, who is a genuine champion of traditional outdoor

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ping boy that our fishermen are singling out for an apparent comment made during the show. When Vermont Traditions Coalition’s Executive Director, Mike Covey, asked Commissioner Herrick what was going to be done, the Commissioner is quoted

by Mr. Covey as saying” “I think you know the answer to that.

We’re doing nothing.

The Governor is my boss,

entire piece. The website states “The hatchery is a National Historic Site, and as such would need to be maintained and curated. It is also Vermont’s “broodstock station,” producing approximately nine million trout eggs annually for other state and federal fish hatcheries. It raises and spawns five different trout species for Vermont’s lake and streams, rears and (Stocking cont. pg 63)

Page 60

On The Prowl

by Justin Merrill, Cherryfield, ME It’s not uncommon for my mind to revert back to the quality time spent hiking and fly fishing in the mountains of Maine. Docile, obedient, lovely, generous, pleasing, captivating, tolerant, masterful, and godly are not the everyday

hole, hunting stand or camp site. Now where do you want to be? How might you describe this place? Taking a moment to reflect on the place you have chosen will bring feelings to mind and make your heart fonder.

This will be like giving

Northwoods Sporting Journal

March 2024

Bigelow’s Brook Trout

way, fulfills a void only a true outdoorsman and outdoorswoman might understand. Take a drive along U.S. Route 27 to Stratton, Maine during the early fall and the Appalachian Trail (AT) thru hikers will tell you about their piece of heaven on earth. Thru hikers on the AT know the aforementioned adjectives place in and on the moun-

tains. You can sit upon the Horns summit to have lunch while embracing the true meaning of masterful and lovely. Once upon The Horns peak, the eyes capture Horns Pond, Flagstaff Lake, North and South Branch of the Dead

the descriptor.

What constitutes being adventurous and wild?

Your backyard very well may be enough of an adventure and wilderness for your blood. Let loose a little and take all necessary steps to get your-

River, Sugarloaf U.S.A., mountain peaks and hills dotting Maine, New Hampshire and Canada. Let your imagination soar like the Bald Eagle you very well may see in your travels to the Bigelows. You can be

self into the Bigelows to feel your veins pump with heart throbbing memorable adrenaline.

Buttock and leg strengthening are not the only satisfactory benefits.

Bigelow Mountains generously give up lovely brook trout. You’ll find through exploring the confines of the masterful Bigelow’s that its waters have been obedient to the fish gods and especially Horns Pond.

Bigelow waters support a pleasing brook trout fishery. You would do the right to get your line wet here.

Pack your Tevas, nylon pants, wool socks, pack rod and a box of flies. You would make a memorable decision to wade into Horns Pond in your nylon pants, wool socks and Tevas to seat a dry fly onto the boil-

Pack your Tevas, nylon pants, wool socks, pack rod and a box of flies. You would make a memorable decision to wade into Horns Pond in your nylon pants, wool socks and Tevas to seat a dry fly onto the boiling surface. These Bigelow brook trout are ferocious and extremely hungry fish. You might want to kiss your fly goodbye. run of the mill adjectives for describing a mountain range tucked away in the heart of Maine. You might be thinking, “What does words like obedient, generous and godly have in common with mountains”.

Think about where you are right this second. OK, now think about your favorite place, whether it be a wilderness hiking trail, fishing

good medicine to your soul. Reminiscing about your favorite place on earth is making you feel really good right now. A smile has come to your face and you feel all giddy inside.

Maine public reserve land in Wyman Township, Maine supplies the lovely framework for the captivating Bigelow Mountains, which in only some godly

tains. Just ask someone whose passion is backpacking through mountains and they will tell you.

The motivated adventurous individual can take U.S. Route 27 to Stratton Brook Pond road and park at Stratton Brook Pond to set off on foot to discover a docile piece of heaven right in Maine.

Be obedient to your needs by putting yourself into the masterful and captivating Bigelow Moun-

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(Trout cont. pg 63)

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Get-Sonar-Courses-Online Best Bassin’

It seems the key factor to successfully locating and catching bass has and continues to be knowing where they are holding during their entire seasonal life cycle. According to Professional Bass Angler Mike DelVisco, “An angler’s sonar unit is the numberone tool for locating bass effectively and efficiently!

Yet, it never surprises me how many anglers really are not completely familiar with their individual

sonars’ capabilities.”

Tennessee Pro Angler Mike DelVisco has spent the last thirty-years sharing his detailed sonar seminars with bass anglers across the United States. His Sonar Seminar accolades have made Mike a popular speaker in high demand at outdoor sport shows, fishing specific shows, including The B.A.S.S. Bassmaster University educational seminars. “There have been multitude major changes in Sonar Technol-

ogy occurring every year.

Anglers who fail to adapt to these changes, become frustrated and confused.

Never utilizing all their sonar’s functional resources,” states DelVisco.

When it comes to sonar technology and adaptability Mike DelVisco is extremely compassionate towards his sonar students.

Always striving to develop teaching techniques, that generate excitement, ease of operation framed with

positive results! “Today’s anglers require multiple avenues for retrieving information. “My New Get-Sonar Courses are formatted to provide this information either on or off the water.

Get-Sonar is Web Based with easy access to the Internet, Mobile Friendly for hands on operation in the boat on or off the water.

Plus, the instructional techniques and applications apply to All Brands of Sonar,” advises DelVisco.

Listening to Mike

DelVisco educate me on his Get-Sonar online courses, I was amazed with his detailed programs outline! “Get-Sonar Course to Understanding Sonar is formatted with 5-Modules, 32 individual lessons. each Module is broken down into individual lessons covering the high points within each Module. At the end of each Module there is a quiz.”

Get-Sonar…Course to Understanding Sonar

(www.get-sonar.com Price $69.99) ·Module 1- 2D Sonar (This is the base for all other sonar techniques) ·Module 2- Down Scan, Side Scan and 360 (How to read, all 3, identify fish vs. cover) ·Module 3- Forward Facing Sonar (Live Technology) ·Module 4- Mapping (Understanding why and where to fish) ·Module 5- Take it to the water (Actual on the

by Bill Decoteau, Hampden, MA water demonstrations of techniques) “Every aspect of sonar technology is covered within my Get-Sonar courses. What makes these Get-Sonar programs extremely individual-friendly, every student can log unto the courses as often as they want. Since, the courses are web-based they are available 24/7 no matter where you are. Students learn at their own pace,

course that would pick up where Understanding Sonar leaves off. Bringing students through practical on the water applications during all four seasonal transitions, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Each seasonal transition has its own separate Module with numerous lessons including a variety of shallow and deep patterns and everything in between. It is the ultimate learning tool

Tennessee Pro Angler Mike DelVisco has spent the last thirty-years sharing his detailed sonar seminars with bass anglers across the United States. His Sonar Seminar accolades have made Mike a popular speaker in high demand at outdoor sport shows, fishing specific shows, including The B.A.S.S. Bassmaster University educational seminars.

when and where they want to,” states Mike DelVisco.

An additional bonus is DelVisco will update the courses as new Sonar Technology becomes available.

“Speaking of additional video content”, DelVisco scrolled down on his computer, clicked, and up popped a picture titled Get-Sonar-Four Seasons of Sonar. Mike DelVisco explained, “While, formatting my Understanding Sonar course, it became obvious I needed another

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Page 61

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to compliment my original Understanding Sonar Course!”

Mike DelVisco informed me as each Seasonal Transition occurs, he will be adding their individual Modules and Lesson plans.

Get-Sonar…Four Seasons of Sonar (www. g e t - s o n a r. c o m P r i c e $69.99) Module 1- Winter Patterns In this module we will look at a variety of winter(On-Line cont. pg 63)

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Page 62

News

(Cont. from pg 37) spring the hatchery trucks roll into the Junction Wharf, the Rockwood Boat Launch, and the Lily Bay Barn to unload their cargo.

The fish spread their fins and travel throughout the lake over the coming years.

They’re all clipped in the hatchery so we can tell which salmon are wild and hatchery origin with a quick glance. In Moosehead Lake, a hatchery salmon that can successfully avoid the fry pan and loons can live to age 4 or 5 before naturally shedding their mortal coil. Our hatchery salmon are 8-10 inches long at the time of stocking and are immature. They typically mature at age 2.

They behave much like

Northwoods Sporting Journal

their wild counterparts and “home” back to the stocking location at the onset of the spawning season. This gives fisheries managers a great opportunity to collect data on these prize gamefish by setting trapnets.

Trapnets are used to live-capture fish so they can be examined and then released. Fisheries staff have sampled landlocked salmon at the Junction Wharf stocking site each fall since 1976 to get a snapshot of the age and growth conditions of these fish. We can determine age of the fish by the fin clips or by reading a scale sample under the microscope. We monitor trends in mean length and weight for each age class of salmon. We also calculate a “Condition Factor” which is simply

a mathematical relationship between length and weight. Condition factors generally range from 0.6 to 1.2 for our salmonids. The higher the Condition Factor, the fatter the fish. We celebrate robustness and have a management goal of 0.85 for our salmon. Below is a graph showing trends in Condition Factors since 1986. Recently, we’ve had some very good years for salmon growth. Our fish are fat and sassy. As you can see, we are well above our management objective (red line). There have been some bad years for growth too, and that is due to poor year classes of smelt that are the primary source of food for our salmon. We have a very strong year class of young smelt in the lake this year so we are

hopeful that our salmon will be impressive over the next few years.

I think we can all agree that the fishing has vastly improved over the past 15 years since we thinned the lake trout population.

But there is still work to be done. We need to keep our lake trout population in Fisheries Biologist Jeff Bagley weighs up a nice female salmon at the Junction Wharf - 2023 check to maintain the smelt abundance, good growth, and good survival. We encourage folks to harvest their limit of smaller lake trout in the summer and winter on Moosehead Lake. The bag limit is 5 lake trout; only 1 may be over 18 inches and all five may be less than 18 inches. This is where anglers can really

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Submitted by: Tim Obrey, Regional Fisheries Superviso 2024 Moose permit lottery applications will be accepted online only beginning April 1 until May 15, 2024 at 11:59 pm.

Maine Moose Lottery Opens April 1st

Applications for the moose permit lottery will be accepted online starting April 1 and ending May 15, 2024 at 11:59 pm (ET).

The new application period will now allow moose hunters to know how many permits are issued and in what zone, as well as shorten the waiting time from when people apply until the day of the lottery on June 15th. The application period is similar in length to the antlerless deer lottery.

The 2024 moose permit lottery drawing will take place Saturday, June 15 in Fort Kent. Those who do not attend the in-person drawing can view lottery results at mefishwildlife. com by 6 pm on June 15.

For more information about moose hunting in Maine and the moose permit lottery, please visit: mefishwildlife.com (News cont. pg 64)

March 2024

Stocking (Cont. from pg 59) maintains the oldest and largest fish of the hatchery program. The stocking impacts with the closure of Salisbury hatchery will have disastrous implications on our trout fisheries in the state as explained in the 2020 plan. Based on the 2020 report, decommissioning of the Salisbury Fish Culture Station in fiscal year 2025 would have the following programmatic impacts: The need to move broodstock to other state fish culture facilities to provide eggs for the VT fish culture program - Given the fact that Salisbury Fish Culture Station has a prevalence of having the fish disease furunculosis, the only way that a full

Trout (Cont. from pg 60) ing surface. These Bigelow brook trout are ferocious and extremely hungry fish.

You might want to kiss your fly goodbye.

Don’t forget to bring your alcohol stove along and your favorite fishing knife. The three sided shelter located at Horns Pond doesn’t only serve to lay your sleepy head down but also makes a good wilderness kitchen when you decide to eat a hearty trout meal.

I’ve made it a tradition to trek through the Bigelows at least once every year to get a taste of the Bigelow brook trout.

Horns Pond is tolerant of me, since every year I’ve caught more trout than the previous year. In the fall

Northwoods Sporting Journal

swap of broodstock could occur would be with the distribution of eggs to be grown out for broodstock for other hatcheries. This would result in one of two scenarios, the first of which, VTF&W would need to forgo stocking fish statewide until the new broodstock (could) grow to the point that they reach sexual maturity and can produce eggs for statewide stocking. Gaps between stocking would be as follows. Brook trout – no catchable sized trout stocking for 2027 and 2028 seasons. Brown and rainbow trout – no catchable sized trout stocking for 2027 – 2029 seasons.

Steelhead – no yearling steelhead stockings for 2027 - 2030 seasons. Lake trout – no yearling lake trout stockings for 2027 – 2032 seasons. Eggs would

need to be purchased or secured from out of state sources.” Mr. Covey goes on to say, “In 2018, fishing was responsible for about $141M in annual economic activity to the state, up from $131.2M in 2012.”

Folks, it is time to stand up for what we all cherish. To get involved contact Mike Covey, Executive Director, Vermont Traditions Coalition at 802-461-3786.

Visit the website and write to Governor Scott. There comes a time when we all must stand, united by our passion, to maintain the priceless resources of our state.

of 2022 I caught 16 brook trout in approximately two hours of fly fishing. Do you tie your own flies?

Have you ever invented your own type of fly? If so, then Horns Pond won’t let you down. Like mentioned earlier, don’t forget to kiss your fly goodbye. The rings left behind from a rising trout are plentiful and you would do well to introduce your new fly to the last ring it will ever see. Hold the rod tip up, gently and gracefully lift upward on the handle and you’ve got ‘em. Good fishing.

On-Line

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Bradley Carleton is the founder and Director of Sacred Hunter.org which teaches the public respect and empathy through hunting, fishing, and foraging.

(Cont. from pg 61) time patterns for bass. ·Dissecting Bluffs ·Winter Ditches and Drains ·Suspended Fish ·Shallow Transitions ·Blue Bird Day Cold Snaps ·Warming Trends Anglers’ may Bundle both the Course on Sonar and Four Seasons of Sonar for $74.99 High School and Jr. High School Bass-Team Coaches take note, Pro Angler Mike DelVisco has developed an affordable Licensed Sonar Program specifically to include all team members, coaches, and captains.

Log unto www.Get-Sonar. com for Frequently asked questions. Contact Mike for additional information at mjdelvisco@aol.com

Page 63

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 64

News

(Cont. from pg 62)

Andover Man Dies In Snowmobile Crash

An Andover man died when his snowmobile crashed into the trees along a snowmobile trail in northern Franklin County this winter.

Frank Clifford, age 69 of Andover, was traveling northbound on his 2019 Ski Doo 850 Enduro snowmobile with friends on snowmobile trail ITS 89 in Lang TWP when he drifted across the center of the trail and then crashed into the woods on the left side of the trail, colliding with several small trees.

Maine Game Wardens and the Rangeley Fire Department responded to the scene, and found Clifford deceased alongside the trees and near his crashed snowmobile. Clifford was transported out of

understand smelt population dynamics is one of the most vexing problems we face as fisheries managers.

Smelt are the primary forage for our lake trout and salmon. Large brook trout will also feed on smelt.

In the winter, our prized gamefish feed almost exclusively on these tiny schooling baitfish.

When the smelt are low in abundance, growth for lake trout and salmon declines. If smelt are really low, we might actually see survival of our gamefish decline. It seems lake trout and salmon would rather starve to death than feed on other baitfish species available. Yellow perch and lake chubs must be the piscatorial equivalent of holiday fruitcake… We Moosehead Smelt saw growth and survival of Studies our lake trout and salmon

By Tim Obrey, Regional languish in the 1990s and Fisheries Biologist early 2000s when the smelt Update on the just couldn’t rebound from Moosehead Lake Fishery the over-population of lake (Spring work) Trying to trout in Moosehead Lake. the woods by snowmobile, the transported to Wiles Funeral Home in Farmington where he will be examined by a state medical examiner.

The initial investigation indicates that speed appears to be a factor in the crash. Clifford was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. The crash remains under investigation by the Maine Warden Service.

It took a great purge in 2008-2010 to finally thin down the lake trout numbers and restore the smelt population. For decades we have monitored the smelt population by examining stomach contents from angler caught lake trout and salmon in the winter months. Yes, the fish biologist will clean your fish for you on Moosehead at no extra charge! It is very revealing data, and we can detect strong and weak year-classes of smelt as they become available as forage. For the past 7 years, we have conducted a new study based on work that was originally performed in the Great Lakes. It involves capturing a sample of out-migrating smelt fry, just after hatching, and expanding the catch to estimate the total production for that tributary.

Our work takes place on North Brook in Lily Bay which historically has a smelt run of vary-

March 2024 ing magnitude every year.

A plankton net is set in the brook around 11pm to midnight, which is the peak time for hatching.

We count the captured fry under a microscope and the catch rates are expanded to determine the total outmigration for the day. It can range from just a few smelt to millions per day, and the hatching usually takes place over 2-3 weeks.

The results have been a fascinating rollercoaster ride. In 2020, we had our lowest estimate of recruitment from North Brook at just over 3,000 smelt. That made for some slim pickings for the lake trout and salmon. We had very good news this past spring when we had our highest estimate at over 15.6 million smelt!

This group entered the food chain in late summer and will help fatten our gamefish over the next two years. We should see some fat and happy fish over the (News cont. pg 67)

To Military Personnel Worldwide!

In these troubled and divisive times for our country, we at the Northwoods Sporting Journal remain proud to be Americans. We still stand for the National Anthem and thank our lucky stars that we live in the land of the free.

And we still salute our military men and women, who have served and continue to serve their country, here at home and in faraway lands. To them we owe our gratitude and appreciation for what they do, and for safeguarding our American way of life, which we value deeply.

March 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Yellow Flag vs.

Red Flag Debate

In the few days following the Lewiston shooting, press outlets from around the country arrived in Maine to report on the events of October 25, 2023. The headlines were swift, and before much was known, the stories started

Restrictions Order process to give law enforcement better tools when dealing with individuals suspected of being in a mental health crisis and deemed a threat to themselves or others.

The word “Yellow” in the context of a stop light

ILA, Governors Lepage and Mills, and nearly the entire Maine Legislature, can be accused of having blood on their hands for not passing a more extreme gun control measure like “Red Flag,” and other favorites of the national gun control groups. Because SAM is seen as the most

Page 65

SAM News

by David Trahan, “Executive Director” Flag” law, the shooting could have been prevented.

I received countless hate mail messages and even death threats alleging I and SAM were responsible for the shooting, and the blood of the dead and wounded was on our hands

How Maine’s “Yellow Flag” Legislation Came About The following historical timeline tells a story of remarkable political courage and collaboration, and is the product of this state’s most brilliant legal

It makes no difference whether it is true or not, what gun control activists and their professional consultants have done is create a political image of an impotent, ineffectual law, which is, in fact, a lie. Their goal is to create an environment in which every shooting or suicide can be blamed on “weak” gun laws.

to run criticizing whether Maine’s Yellow Flag law was weak and cumbersome. Gun control activists asserted that this tragedy proves we need Red Flag laws. Bizarre, given no facts were available yet to confirm what had happened or what systems may have failed. It might surprise you to learn there is no such thing as a “Yellow Flag” law. It is another made-up term to create a predetermined image that some in the press and gun control activists want the public to believe that Maine’s Protective Custody Statute and Weapons Restrictions Order processes compromise your safety. Odd, both have been around for decades.

What we did in Maine in 2018 was reject the traditional “Red Flag” approach. A year later, we reformed our existing Protective Custody statute and streamlined the Weapons

means “in the middle”. It makes no difference whether it is true or not, what gun control activists and their professional consultants have done is create a political image of an impotent, ineffectual law, which is, in fact, a lie. Their goal is to create an environment in which every shooting or suicide can be blamed on “weak” gun laws.

At the same time, those who legislated these improvements, i.e. SAM-

powerful advocate for gun rights in the state and that we negotiated the 2019 law, we are the easiest to blame. By default we became the target for hate and frustration after October 25. Gun control advocates will then just sit back and wait for the next tragedy and use the press to direct the public’s pain and grief on their adversaries—a perverse strategy to weaken their opposition. After the Lewiston shooting, the press stories and messaging from gun control extremists all had the same theme: if we just had “Red

because SAM did not support stricter gun control.

Threatening my family, and others affiliated with SAM in the name of politics is a very dangerous game. This scorched earth-win- at- all costs—strategy reflects the worst kind of sleazy politics, and it has no place in civilized political discourse.

minds coming together to build a better law and a safer state. On March 23, 2018, Senator Mark Dion, D-Portland sent out a press release stating he had six Republican and four Democrat co-sponsors who were in support of Red Flag legislation. Among firearm rights supporters, (Debate cont. pg 69)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 66

March 2024

The Difference Between Wild and Native Trout

By John Bolland

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) is committed to protecting and enhancing its native and wild brook trout populations. This was clearly evident at last year’s Eastern States Brook Trout Initiative in West Virginia, where representatives from all states from Maine to Georgia met to identify the causes for the loss of native

and Maine is held in high regard when it comes to protecting its native trout populations.

In addition to Maine’s native brook trout populations, there are hundreds of lakes and ponds, and perhaps thousands of miles of brooks and streams with wild populations. For anglers seeking opportunities to fish for native or wild brook trout in the

brook trout populations in the United States and secondly to prepare plans to address these problems.

While it’s obvious that brook trout populations in southern Maine and central Maine have been compromised over the past century, most populations in western Maine and northern Maine are still intact.

Other states aren’t so lucky,

US, Maine is the preferred destination. It’s easy to understand why MDIFW’s fishery division, established in 1953, has long recognized the importance to preserving this resource.

With all this discussion about native and wild trout populations, perhaps we need to step back and describe the difference between wild and native

With all this discussion about native and wild trout populations, perhaps we need to step back and describe the difference between wild and native brook trout.

Whether wild or native, all Maine brookies are much sought after by anglers.

(Photo by Matt LaRoche)

brook trout.

Native brook trout: These populations exist today as they have for thousands of years.

These waters have never been stocked with brook trout, and still produce healthy fishable populations. Maine has identified nearly 300 lakes and ponds that support native brook trout populations. Allagash Lake is a good example of a pond that supports a native brook trout population. There are many other lakes and ponds that support relict populations of

native brook trout that have not been added to this list.

Unfortunately, our stream inventories are not as complete as our lake inventories. Consequently, while there are likely many hundreds of streams with native brook trout populations we cannot ascertain an exact number at this time.

Last winter, legislation was enacted to protect native brook trout populations in Maine’s lakes and ponds. We identified brook trout as Maine’s Heritage Fish, and developed a list

that contained 295 native brook trout lakes and ponds. We agreed legislatively to prohibit stocking in these waters and to ensure that live bait restrictions are in place on all of them. Prohibiting stocking in these waters will insure that the genetics of these populations will remain intact for years to come.

Wild Brook Trout: These are brook trout populations that are supported by natural reproduction, but have been stocked in the past. Many of Maine’s premier trout waters fall into this category. Sourdnahunk Lake and Kennebago Lake are good examples of wild brook trout waters.

Both of these waters have been stocked with brook trout in the distant past, but now support wild brook trout fisheries. Many of Maine’s wild brook trout waters were stocked in the late 1800’s by the federal government, or in the mid 20th century by this Department. Again, there are likely many hundreds of streams with wild brook trout populations, but we cannot identify an exact number at this time.

Although not classified as native, wild fisheries are extremely important and IFW takes extra precautions to protect them.

Even though we can’t guarantee that the genetics are unaltered, these waters are unique and deserve special attention. Recently we’ve developed a committee to more accurately identify Maine’s wild brook trout waters, and to develop policies to address their future management. This com(Difference cont. pg 67)

March 2024

Difference

(Cont. from pg 66) mittee will be reporting its findings to the legislature next session.

Whether wild or native, this department is committed to protecting the state’s brook trout resource. We fully recognize their importance to the ecology and the economy of the state of Maine, and will continue to work toward the enhancement and protection of these populations.

John Boland is the former Director of Fisheries for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Fly Lines

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Also, let us not forget Lee Wulff famous flylines guaranteed best for roll casting.

As mentioned above, Cortland Flylines, Cortland, New York, has been in the business since “Rex was a pup”, and still produces one of the finest lines for fly casting, highly recommended by this writer, including the famous 444, peach-colored (WF), and double taper at around $60.00.

If all of this has been a bit confusing, all the average fly caster needs to use most often on his reel, would be a floating line, matched-up to size of your flyrod, a five-weight flyline for mid-weight, 9ft. .to 9ft. flyrod, and/etc. check on the side of the rod near the handle.

Oh, and most flylines today have a loop end for knot to backing. If not looped, then use leader to line with a nail knot, use surgeon’s knot for tippet to leader.

Class dismissed!

(Cont. from pg 40) erately priced flyline products.

Rio Creek Flylines is another top competitor in the field, selling a full array of high-grade lines for all, also, covering the Bob Leeman is a Massaltwater flycasters and those super-sports seeking ter Maine Guide, outdoor pike, musky, and stripers. writer, naturalist, book

author, and a co-host of the MAINE OUTDOORS radio program on Sunday evenings from 7-8 p.m. His three books are all available, in soft cover only, at several bookstores and fly shops, or directly from him.

For information, see ad in this publication or call 207-573-1468.

News

(Cont. from pg 64) coming year.

Vermont Habitat Stamp Raises Big Bucks

The Vermont Habitat Stamp raised $238,513 dollars in 2023 and leveraged a $417,912 federal match, totaling more than $656,000 for the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s land conservation and habitat improvement efforts.

“This is one of our strongest years for the Habitat Stamp since the program was established in 2015,” said Fish and Wildlife’s Director of Wildlife

John Austin. “The growing support for habitat conservation and managing land for wildlife habitat over the past nine years is encouraging.”

The Vermont Habitat Stamp is designed to allow anyone who cares about wildlife to help improve habitat for diverse species on private lands and the department’s more than 130,000 acres of Wildlife Management Area (WMA) lands. Habitat Stamp funds also go towards both land acquisition projects to expand or create new WMAs and to making improvements on existing WMAs. In 2023, the department spent $189,355 dollars from the Habitat Stamp Fund. These dollars contributed to habitat improvement assistance with private landowners and conservation partners to benefit native pollinators, songbirds, amphibians, bats, white-tailed deer, turkeys, and other wildlife. A dam on the Saxtons River was removed to restore natural habitat and allow passage for trout and other aquatic organisms. A total

Page 67

of 68 acres of invasive plant control was done on six Fish and Wildlife Department WMAs. A total of 355 acres of wetlands, floodplain and riverbank were added to Otter Creek Wildlife Management Area in Wallingford.

The Habitat Stamp was inspired by the Vermont Migratory Waterfowl Stamp and Federal Duck Stamp which raise funds for wetland conservation from waterfowl hunters who are required to display a stamp along with their license. The Habitat Stamp is a way for conservationists who do not typically purchase a hunting, fishing or trapping license to contribute to the state’s habitat conservation efforts.

“Although we can be proud of the Habitat Stamp Fund’s accomplishments this year, there is still room to grow,” said Austin. “We especially invite Vermonters who do not contribute to conservation by buying a hunting, fishing or trapping license to consider buying a habitat stamp this year.

It is one of the most direct (News cont. pg 68)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 68

Bear

(Cont. from pg 41) state

Fewer hunters in the

Vocal opposition to bear hounds (hunting or pursuing bears with dogs elevates a bear’s fear of humans) Compost widely available Abundance of birdfeeders Forest fragmentation is increasing, the perfect SELLERS LANE

BUYERS ROAD

cover for a bear that wants to hide between food sources.

Bears are adaptable, and they are adapting to Vermont’s changing landscape, similarly to other states. For example, New Jersey’s bear population has steadily expanded over the past 30 years to the majority of the state.

Like Vermont, New Jersey’s bear population has grown; bears find suitable habitats as hunter num-

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bers decrease and exurban development increases. Do bears need extensive, undisturbed forests to thrive?

It doesn’t appear so. Data is available indicating that low-density housing is a habitat bears benefit from since there’s a “refuge of large hardwood forests and a scattering of homes just dense enough that a tasty snack from a garbage can or backyard bird feeder is only a short distance away.” (UConn Today).

Simply put, “bears are adjusting to living in a habitat shared with humans.”

(UConn Today) Wildland-Urban Interface The wildland-urban interface (WUI) “is the zone where human development meets or intermingles with undeveloped wildland vegetation”

March 2024

(USDA Forest Service) and is a measure of urbanization and forest fragmentation. The USDA’s analysis of the WUI in Vermont indicates that development converted forests to WUI conditions at a rate of 5.5% per decade between 1990 and 2010 (Vermont Forests 2017). Forest fragmentation and exurban expansion have increased during this period, with non-WUI forests shrinking from 3.6 to 3.0 million acres. Borrowing from Uconn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources definition of exurban areas (areas with between 6-50 houses/ km2), VT is predominantly an exurban state with all counties except Essex County meeting these criteria.

Data compiled from the 2020 US Census.

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As statewide initiatives to expand housing stock gain traction, we should expect to continue heading in a similar trajectory as other states in the northeast like New Jersey and Connecticut, not only regarding exurban development and forest fragmentation but also increased human-bear encounters as we create conditions they’re welladapted to thriving within.

“Jesse C. McEntee, a freelance writer in northern Vermont, is passionate about the outdoors.

Visit jessemcentee.com to learn more about his work.”

News

(Cont. from pg 67) ways to funnel your dollars to supporting biodiversity in our state in 2024.”

The 2023 Habitat Stamp Annual Report highlighting the conservation work done through the program is available online at www.vtfishandwildlife. com Matching funds for habitat projects sponsored by the stamp have come from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program.

AROOSTOOK SPORTSMAN'S SHOW IS AT PRESQUE ISLE FORUM ON MARCH 23rd & 24th

March 2024

Debate (Cont. from pg 65)

Northwoods Sporting Journal firearm What we did in Maine in 2018 was reject the traditional “Red Flag” approach. A year later, we reformed our existing Protective Custody statute and streamlined the Weapons Restrictions Order process to give law enforcement and due process for firearm owners. Our commitment to due process has not changed.

this was the equivalent of being dowsed in ice water.

A chill reverberated across the state and gun control groups rejoiced. That a gun control bill of this nature would pass with both parties in support was significant. Full disclosure: the SAM-ILA has always strongly opposed Red Flag David Trahan Execulegislation because of its tive Director of the Sportslack of due process for man’s Alliance of Maine.

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Page 69 Lindsey Brann, Associate Broker cell:207-441-9317 office:207-213-6650 lindsey@integrityhomesregroup.com

www.integrityhomesrealestategroup.com/lindseybrann

OLD TOWN: *Owner financing is available* This fully remodeled home on 29 acres is awaiting its new owners! Showcasing a beautiful new kitchen with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and ample amount of cabinet space! Simple maintenance with a metal roof, new furnace, hot water heater, new vinyl siding on both the home and garage. The spacious 2100 sq. ft., two story garage boasts a separate 200amp service w/15' bay ceilings, 12' garage doors, 10' ceilings in the partially finished living area above that would make an excellent in-law apartment. A sand pit is located on the property as well. MLS#1574709 $339,999.

BEAVER COVE: This year-round log cabin nestled in the village Circle neighborhood of Beaver Cove, has so much to offer! Located just steps away from Moosehead Lake with 250' + of shared beach waterfrontage, docks, a picnic & playground area and trail rights. The cabin comes fully furnished and equipped for four-season easy maintenance living. Step into the open concept living and kitchen area boasting abundant natural sunlight. Additional living space could be finished in the basement, if desired. Freshly painted wraparound deck to entertain guests and enjoy Maine's beauty. Snowmobiling and ATV trails nearby - leave right from your front yard. Annual BCA fee of $75/yr. and water/sewer fees of $175/qtr., term vacation rental history. MLS#1571169 $399,900.

BRYON: Once in a lifetime opportunity in an astounding spot! Just minutes away from Tumbledown Mountain, along the Swift River in a secluded tranquil spot, you will discover three furnished cabins along with a garage, shed, and out buildings. Full equipped for efficient year-round off-grid living with a well and two septic systems. Property is powered by gas, solar panels, and a generator shed. The main camp boasts 3 bedrooms, 1 bath and the two front cabins each contain one bedroom, one bath and one being open-concept living. This is the ultimate sportsman's dream showcasing what the beautiful state of Maine has to offer. Leave right from the front door on your snowmobile or ATV and hit the ITS, enjoy excellent hunting in both zone 7 & 12, hike the Appalachian trail, or take a drive to Coos Canyon! MLS#1574474 & 1574475 $499,000.

www.edssheds-cabins.com Email: edwardl@edssheds-cabins.com Bangor 207-738-5315

274 Main Street Madison, ME 04950

Embden; New 3BR, 2 bath ranch on 33.5 surveyed acres with beautiful views.

Access the trails for easy outdoor fun. Custom home, very high quality. Lots of great upgrades to the home. Stream frontage. Really a must see. $325,000

Solon; Serene 6.4 acres with brook running through t h e p r o p e r t y.

Recreational opportunities abound! Close to ATV trails, fishing, hiking, swimming, cross-country and snowmobile trails, ice fishing locations and more. Possible owner financing. $53,500

Skowhegan; Investors take note: two buildings side by side in up and coming downtown Skowhegan. This location has high traffic. Lots of character and special features not found anymore.

Views of the river gorge and dam are gorgeous. Ready to be finished off for your needs. Includes 16+ car parking lot and a 2-story building with commercial space and apartment. $649,900 M a d i s o n ; Affordable acreage on Jones Brook!

4.88 surveyed acres.

Must see. Possible Private or Public Water and Sewer. Power and phone at roadside.

Nice lot, now offered at a discounted price. $44,900

Ed’s Sheds SUPERIOR Construction!

CABINS-SHEDS-GARAGES-HORSEBARNS

Judd Goodwin Well Co

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL

"We Do It Right The First Time"

Complete Well & Pump

Installation, Service and Repair Residential • Commercial Camps • Cottages

P.O. Box 17 Greenville, ME 04441 Office: 207-695-3645 Cell: 207-280-0923 goodwinjudd@yahoo.com www.juddgoodwinwell.com Member Maine Groundwater Association

Our Past. Your Future

P.O. Box 72 Houlton, Maine 1-800-341-1566 www.wardcedarloghomes.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 70

March 2024

Houlton Office 207-532-4500 Hermon Office 207-605-0556 Scot Walker, Broker

doug@brockwayinsurance.com

For all your recreational needs!

First Choice Real Estate Land, Cabins, Acreage, Waterfront and more.

Doug Brockway Agent

SUNRISE REALTY

SELLERS LANE BUYERS ROAD

80 Penobscot Avenue Millinocket, Maine 04462 207-723-9086 www.northwoods-realestate.com

“Serving Maine and the Katahdin Region Since 1984” A 21.6 acre undeveloped island. Located on T1R9 WELS in Piscataquis County near Millinocket. It includes 2 large sand beaches. Price $425,000. Dan Corcoran, Agent

Like a good neighbor, "State Farm is there" P.O. Box 628 Main Street Machias, ME 04654

www.firstchoicerealestate.com www.mainelandbroker.com Pemadumcook Lake Island

136 Moosehead Trail Newport, ME 04953 Bus 207-355-3252

REAL ESTATE

Office Tel. & Fax: (207) 255-3039 Email: anitaj@midmaine.com Website: www.sunlist.com Anita Johnson

JONESBORO: This 28x52 double wide is in ex. cond & has a new shingled roof. There are three bdrms & two baths w/one bath in the master bdrm.

Laundry rm right off the kitchen, nice views of the back yard, a deck to sit on to enjoy the peace & quiet of the area, a deer might come strolling out. Nice wood stove for cold nights, it's nice to hear the crackling fire. Have to have at least a 2-day notice as it is rented. Super great price of only $139,000.

CALAIS: This three bedroom home has 1 1/2 baths with the 1/2 downstairs. Nice fireplace in the living room, this room goes right into the kitchen, then another room that could be used for a bedroom.

Small garage in poor condition. This home is close to stores, eating places and banking. Home sits on a quiet street. Super great price for only $89,999.