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Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Jacob’s Grand Slam

By Jodi Haskell

This guy! My son! A true Sportsman! This boy grew up in a home with just his Mom and sister!

I did my best as a single Mom to instill my love for the outdoors into my son’s heart! When he was a little guy my Dad, his Gramps, and myself would

From helping him set up blinds, teaching him how to call wildlife in, teaching him how to properly use a firearm, you name it, people were there to help to get this boy started! put out stuffed animals in the woods so he could find them and shoot them with his little toy rifle! Along with myself, his Gramps would take him out hunting any chance we got.

Jacob has been blessed to have met many male mentors along the way that have helped him gain

knowledge of the sport. His first opportunity was when he won his lifetime license and we were invited to the Maine Inland And Fisheries to receive it! Growing up, we’d have to go to the Maine wildlife park at least twice a year so Jacob could film, photograph, and learn about Maine’s wildlife!

Jacob had the opportunity to meet Maine Game wardens, Maine registered guides, and mentor hunters that were more than willing to help this boy out in any way they could!

From helping him set up blinds, teaching him how to call wildlife in, teaching him how to properly use

Page 3

a firearm, you name it, people were there to help to get this boy started! He has teamed up with some amazing hunters who have t a u g h t him hunting morals and ethics!

They have taught him what camaraderie is all about!

He has made many lifelong friendships! We were blessed to have so many step up to help us!

Then it happened at the age of 12, Jacob got his first buck and I was there to experience the event with him! We both shed tears of happiness and I knew in the moment that my son

would be forever in love with hunting! It was in his blood and in his heart! The tradition was about to be carried on.....by this guy!

From there on out, Jacob self taught himself everything else he wanted to know! He’d research, study, and apply! He has tracked deer on his own!

He has called in turkeys for many junior hunters and friends as well! Just recently he quartered his moose and backpacked it out on his own!

Jake is humble and knows that his hunting capabilities are a gift. I’ve taught him to have faith and thank God above for his harvests! He is a provider! Our family is never short on meat thanks to him.

This year Jake did it.

He completed his Grand Slam and I could not be more proud. Hard work, persistence, patience, love for the sport, dedication, and a good shot.....got him to where he is today!!

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Page 4

On The Cover

Joe Takes Norton Longshot Hunting The Buck - Pg 16 Why Do We Hunt - Pg 56 Jacob’s Grand Slam - Pg 3 Another Sled Season - Pg 9 Camps, Cottages and Land for Sale - Pg 69-70

Contents

3. Jacob’s Grand Slam - Jodi Haskell 6. Young Blood - Jake Guay 9. Snowmobile Trails - Al Swett 9. Leavitt’s Legacy - Bud Leavitt 10. A Hiker’s Life - Carey Kish 11. Muzzleloading Afield - Al Raychard 14. Outdors In Maine - V. Paul Reynolds 15. On Point - Paul Fuller 16. The Adventures Of Me & Joe - Bob Cram 18. Outdoor Sporting Library - Jeremiah Wood 19. The Bird Perch - Karen Holmes 20. Aroostook Woods & Water - Mike Maynard 22. Maine Tails - Jonah Paris 23. Cracker Barrel - Homer Spit 24. Maine Outdoor Adventure - Rich Yvon 26. North Maine Woods - Bill Greaves 27. Everything Maine - Greg Burr 28. From Craig Pond - Bob Mercer 29. The Back Shelf - Wilmot Robinson 31. Warden’s Words - Kale O’Leary 32. Tales Of A Maine Woodsman - Joel Tripp 33. Guns & Ammo: A Guide’s Perspective - Tom Kelly 34. The Gun Cabinet - John Floyd 35. On The Ridge - Joe Judd 36. View From The River - Laurie Chandler 37. Old Tales From The Maine Woods - Steve Pinkham 39. The Singing Maine Guide - Randy Spencer 40. Green Mountain Report - Bradley Carleton 42. New Hampshire Outdoors - Peter St. James 44. Scenes From The Wild - Ryan Brod 45. Angling, Antlers & Artifacts - Jake Scoville 46. Basics of Survival - Joe Frazier 47. Cookin’ With New England’s WildCheff - Denny Corriveau 48. Vermont Outdoors - Dennis Jensen 49. Outdoors In Vermont - Gary Moore 52. Northwoods Sketchbook - Mark McCollough 53. Against The Current - Bob Romano 55. Kineo Currents - Suzanne AuClair 56. Question Of The Month - Ken Baer 57. Marsh Island Chronicles - Matthew Dunlap 58. Maple Country Outdoors - Ben Wilcox 59. Slipstream - Scott Biron 61. Best Bassin’ - Bill Decoteau 62. Huntin’ & Fishing With The Ole Man - Dave O’Connor 63. A Feast For The Wolves - V. Paul Reynolds 64. The Maine Woods - Matt LaRoche 66. The Trail Rider - Dan Wilson

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 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 12 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 Associate Editor - Donna Veino ing stories to tell.

Arts Manager - Gayleen Cummings Our aim every month is to capture Graphic Subscription/Distribution Manager - Alicia Cram the essence of Northern New England’s Operations Manager - Annette Boobar remarkable outdoor heritage by stirring Webmaster - V. Paul Reynolds Sales Department; Thomas Schmidt, Paul Hatin, Traci Grant, memories, portraying outdoor humor, Joe Ferris, Michael Georgia, Mike Brown and Joshua Kane and sharing experiences and outdoor 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.

Outdoors In Vermont - Pg 49

by Gary Moore

The Maine Woods - Pg 64

by Matt LaRoche

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

Cover Photo:

December Buck

(Photo by Tim Flanigan)

Old Tales From The Maine Woods - Pg 37

by Steve Pinkham

Cracker Barrel - Pg 23

by Homer Spit

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 6

Young Blood

by Jake Guay, Phillips, ME The journey to my first deer was one of the most tumultuous, abusive, and gratifying lessons I ever learned. After spending my entire childhood pursuing deer without luck and watching the sun go down on voided doe per-

I rushed the shot.

We found the tracks, no blood, and spent hours looking for him to no avail.

I was with my Papa, and I must’ve been 13 by then.

The next deer came only a handful of days after. He came striding over a hill on

Perseverance

in the middle of the afternoon, a whole ton of does walked out, and I grazed one’s stomach. We found white hair all over the ground but no blood trail.

Later that year, after snow had hit the ground, Papa noticed a spikehorn trailing a specific doe all around his property like clockwork.

He decided to save the deer and offer it to me when I

out. He looked like he had swallowed a barrel, and his antlers were shiny in the sunlight. I was using my grandmother’s bolt-action .243, and when I shot, the buck hopped a bit but tried to keep his cool. I shakily put a new round into the chamber, and shot again.

In the evening sunlight, a beautiful buck walked out.

He looked like he had swallowed a barrel, and his antlers were shiny in the sunlight. I was using my grandmother’s bolt-action .243, and when I shot, the buck hopped a bit but tried to keep his cool. I shakily put a new round into the chamber, and shot again. mits countless times, I found it hard to overstate my satisfaction when my hands wrapped around my buck’s sturdy antlers for the first time. I was 14 years old, a month away from my birthday. I had missed a handful of deer beforehand, too, which made things worse. The first deer I missed was an absolutely majestic eightpoint. He stepped out into a planted field Papa had spent the summer cultivating, and he was just barely within range. I saw him turning into the woods, and

my left, all 8 tines on his majestic antlers gleaming in the fiery orange afternoon. I was bored senseless on the tail end of a long week, and only after I fired and walked out to where he had stood with Papa did I realize I had shot too early again; the tracks we found and followed were easily 300 yards away, and I was using a .308. I was determined to try again the next year.

After winning myself a doe permit, I went again with Papa for some more blind hunting. Eventually,

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came for a hunting trip. Before I had a chance to come, another relative decided to come and hunt, as he often did every deer season. Papa very clearly stated that that specific spikehorn was mine, and made sure the relative understood that he was not to take my deer.

Needless to say, when Papa helped that relative trail blood to a spikehorn, he was very unimpressed.

When I arrived a week or two later, I was bummed to hear what had happened, but still optimistic. I hunted relentlessly for as long as I could every day of that week, until one day, the impossible happened.

In the evening sunlight, a beautiful buck walked

The deer took off, and Papa and I looked at each other. I knew better than to get excited, and papa was trying to match my attitude. I knew he was pretty wound up though. I picked up my shell casings, and put them on the shelf, just in case they went up onto the brag board (a board with a uniform array of nails, some of which had shell casings on them, with scribblings like “Jeremy, .243, 11/22/17, six-pointer!” next to them), and tried to make the time go by faster by talking. After several

December 2024

minutes, we finally got out of the blind. There was a decent amount of snow on the ground, so we quickly spotted blood in the snow.

Papa and I moved ahead excitedly, and not even 100 yards away, my first deer was wedged between two young spruce trees, dead as a doorknob. I had finally succeeded.

After gutting it, we got it tagged and weighed it (164 pounds), and Papa and I brought it home.

After a short and surreal conversation that night, it was decided that we’d arrange for the butcher to save the cape and skull for our taxidermist, Sherm O’Brien, to mount. I was elated. When I went to bed that night, I realized that killing that deer truly illustrated what can be done with perseverance. I don’t know if it’s ever been that cut-and-dry to me, but I’m glad I got to see my persistence finally pay off.

Jacob Guay is a homeschooled teen who loves creation as much as he loves to write. Curious readers can learn more by emailing him at jaguay26@gmail.com

Merry Christmas! & Happy New Year!

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 7

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Editorial

The Margaree Regulation Moosehead Lake, Maine’s largest lake, is still a fabled cold water sport fishery. Landlocked salmon, Lake Trout and record-book Eastern Brook trout attract recreational anglers from around the globe.

For those of us who value the legacy and look to the future, the presence of an invasive species, smallmouth bass, in the lake is a disappointment and a source of concern.

The theory is that the lake’s smallmouth population came to be in Moosehead Lake through the irresponsible act of some bucket stockers. Suzanne AuClair, a seasoned outdoorswoman who writes a monthly outdoor column about the Moosehead area in the Northwoods Sporting Journal, recently wrote this: “The smallmouth bass that were illegally introduced here at Moosehead Lake in the mid-1970s. Most locals consider them a scourge. They are now thriving throughout the Moose River/ Moosehead Lake waterway. It is unknown when and how they will effect the native wild brook trout fisheries.”

AuClair poses an important question that can best be answered by fisheries biologists and, perhaps more significally,

by Mother Nature. One thing we can be sure of it that the presence of smallmouth bass in this fabled fishery will do nothing to

advance the cold water sport fishery.

What to do?

As AuClair reported after a visit to the famous Atlantic salmon river, the Margaree in Nova Scotia, the Canadians are wrestling with a smallmouth bass problem as well in the Margaree in Cape Breton. Unlike us, the Margaree fishery managers have taken the bull by the horns. She writes, “The Canadian approach, with the blessing of the Margaree Salmon Association, for trying to keep the bass population in check is to institute a mandatory catch-and-kill fishing regulation. Along with that comes a stiff fine of $100,000 if you are caught releasing a bass back into the Margaree.

Yes, you read that right. A second offense brings a $500,000 penalty, and possible jail time.”

As AuClair observed, here in Maine there is divided sentiment among anglers about how best to deal with the Moosehead smallmouth issue. Bass anglers are just as passionate about their favorite angling experience as trout and salmon advocates.

Moosehead has already experimented with a catch-and-remove policy on Lake Trout in an effort to reduce laker numbers and impose balance on the predator/ prey populations. From all reports, the policy bore fruit. “Today, the lake trout, brook trout, and

landlocked salmon in Moosehead Lake are the best that have been seen in recorded history,” asserts AuClair.

Perhaps there is a compromise fisheries management policy that could nurture common ground between the bass community and the salmon/brookie acolytes.

One would think that even the bass anglers would not want to see smallmouth populations endanger the Moosehead cold water sport fishery.

There can be a difference, or a middle ground, between a mandatory catchand-kill policy on all smallmouth and a regulation that encourages a thinning of smallmouth numbers. It worked on the big lake with over populations of lake trout, so why not bass?

Fish biology and fisheries management is at best is an imperfect science. In time, the Maragaree hardline experiment and catch-and-kill regulation will be evaluated for its effectiveness in getting an unwanted species out of the famous salmon watershed. There may be, or there may not be, lessons that can be applied here at home in managing unwanted species in Moosehead Lake.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Another Sled Season

out track studs, ski carbide runners’ lights anything else that may be broken or worn out.

Trailers should be checked out. Be sure to look for cracks in the framework our Maine roads are known for destroying them. Trailer tires turn pretty fast look for cracks and tread wear. If their cracked I suggest but new ones. It’s no fun changing a tire on the side of the road on the cold snowy windy day or night. Also check the wheel bearings and grease them.

Make sure all the lights work as well.

Snowmobile clothing is just that don’t head out on the trail for a day of Another riding season fit. Your snowmobiles can riding in sweatpants and is fast approaching. It’s be and should be serviced windbreaker. Snowmobile time to get your sleds and by a qualified dealership clothing is designed for trailers checked over before or a responsible trained riding a snowmobile. Wear we hit the trails. And, how person. Preseason is the the right apparel you’ll be about your clothing, helmet time to look for bad bear- much more comfortable and boots? Everything still ings, ripped track, pulled and safer.

Leavitts Legacy

By Ralph (Bud) Leavitt

Page 9

Snowmobile Trails

By Al Swett Don’t ride alone, don’t drink and drive, respect the landowner’s property over 90% of our trail’s are on private land. Stay on the marked trail. Many situations arise from riders disrespecting landowners, we lose many miles of trail every year because of riders going through restricted

and signing during the daytime hours. Use caution.

Join a snowmobile club they are always in need of help. Our members are getting older, and we need some young folks to help out. Let’s hope we get lots of cold weather along with a mountain of snow this season. Maine has so much

Don’t ride alone, don’t drink and drive, respect the landowner’s property over 90% of our trail’s are on private land. and off limit areas.

Be on the lookout for groomer operations day and night. While the majority of grooming is at night don’t be surprised to see a large piece of equipment dragging the trails anytime.

Also, many club members may be out trimming trees

to offer the best way to see our outstanding scenery, wildlife, many supporting businesses off the beaten path with is on a sled!

Be safe out there!

Al Swett is director of operations for the Maine Snowmobile Association.

Old Time Conservation

and either made into soup Dish towels eventually beor boiled until, after stand- came dish rags and when And those frugal and flower blossoms be- ing, there was a delicious, the dish rags became tatdowneasters never had came sugared confections. nutritious gelatin. tered, they were sewn into The chicken’s breast enough cans, bottles, jars, dust mops, and I don’t I get a kick out of or kegs for pickles, sauI get a kick out of people today who turn their noses up at erkraut, wine, preserved beef, or salt pork. They pre- the prospect of eating chicken feet. When conservation was served fish by drying and practiced by the old-timers around here right after the turn salting, pickling some, and of the century, chicken feet were something of a luxury. cold-packing the tenderest morsels in their own juice. people today who turn their feathers went into the pil- recall what happened to No carrot or celery top or noses up at the prospect of lows, and the wing feath- the dust mops because I potato peel was wasted, eating chicken feet. When ers were used to clean ash cannot remember of one and if there was no dish in conservation was practiced pits, stove tops, or to dust wearing out. which it could be immedi- by the old-timers around the parlor which was kept Old clothes at my ately utilized it was saved here right after the turn of closed winters to save heat. grandmother’s house never for the soup kettle. Beet the century, chicken feet Talk about conserva- really became too old or tops and watermelon rinds were something of a lux- tion in those days. Flour out of style. When they were carefully preserved ury. They were scrubbed sacks became dish towels. couldn’t be patched any

longer, they were sewn into a quilt, became potholders, rag rugs, or used as liners for the brooders to keep day-old chicks warm.

Leaves were never burned in the fall.

I mean they were saved – not kept from a match in fear of polluting the crisp autumn air – but to insulate the house around the foundation and to protect the rose bushes. And what kind of a compost heap would you have if you didn’t include well-rooted leaves?

Page 10

“A Hiker’s Life”

Northwoods Sporting Journal

By Carey Kish, Mt. Desert Island, ME Bordered by Penobscot Bay, the Bagaduce River and Smith Cove, Holbrook Island Sanctuary encompasses 1,230 acres— including the namesake 115-acre Holbrook Island—on the north end of the Cape Rosier peninsula in Brooksville. The sanctuary is owned by the state of

Hunter tells the story of Holbrook Island and Anita Harris in her 2012 book, “Anita’s Island: A History of Holbrook Island.”

Eight miles of old roads, footpaths and animal trails turned into formal walking paths lead visitors through the sanctuary’s diverse ecosystems and

December 2024

Holbrook Island Sanctuary

picnic tables and a large grassy field. Indian Bar just beyond is a narrow neck of land connecting Penobscot Bay and Smith Cove.

A short trail leads from the bar’s gravel beach, a popular swimming spot and mooring for boats, to Penobscot Bay and nice views of Holbrook Island, White Head, and Ram and Nautilus islands. From the dock on Tom Cod Cove at the end of Dock Road,

On the Summit Trail, just before reaching the 275-foot top of Backwoods Mountain, there’s a bench on an outcrop that offers views through the trees out to Penobscot Bay and

for area farmsteads. On the pond’s south shore, looking out past the cattails, water lilies, wood duck houses and beaver lodges, there’s a fine look back at Backwoods Mountain.

across to the harbor at Castine. The Mountain Loop Trail, as its name implies, makes a pleasant circuit around the base of the peak and through some nice mature stands of spruce.

Big cedars, spruce, yellow birch and red maples dominate the canopy along the Ice Works Trail.

Beyond, the Fresh Pond Trail wends around the pond, once a source of ice

Numbered signs along the path correspond to the Fresh Pond Interpretive Trail guide that describes the abundant flora and fauna found around the pond. Download and print a copy to bring with you to enhance your time in this wild spot.

Holbrook Island was settled after the American Revolution by Captain Jesse Holbrook of Truro, Massachusetts and once supplied white pine logs used as masts for the sailing ships built in nearby Castine, which occupies a commanding location at the confluence of the Penobscot and Bagaduce rivers; it’s well worth a visit post-hike.

On the Summit Trail, just before reaching the 275-foot top of Backwoods Mountain, there’s a bench on an outcrop that offers views through the trees out to Penobscot Bay and across to the harbor at Castine.

Maine and operated as part of the state park system.

Holbrook Island Sanctuary was the gift of Anita Harris, a longtime resident of Holbrook Island, who acquired the land through the 1960s and donated her holdings to the state in 1971 “to preserve for the future a piece of the unspoiled Maine that I used to know.” The local author Reta Farnham

wildlife habitats, from the estuary and salt marshes of Goose Pond and the rocky shores, mudflats and sandy beaches of Penobscot Bay and Smith Cove to the volcanic rocks of Backwoods Mountain and the beaver and muskrat lodges, eagles and ospreys around Fresh Pond.

The park’s headquarters are on Indian Bar Road, where there are

boaters and kayakers can launch for the short trip over to Holbrook Island.

From several trailheads a short distance apart on Back Road, hikers can explore a variety of terrain and natural features in the sanctuary’s interior on a continuous walk of about four miles by connecting the Mountain Loop and Summit trails with the Ice Works and Fresh Pond trails.

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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

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Hail the Round Ball The first muzzleloader whitetail I ever killed was taken with a .round ball gun loaded with 80 grains of blackpowder pushing a .490 round ball. It wasn’t a long shot, under 50 yards and it wasn’t a big deer, a

The arrival of the modern inline back in the early 80s and onslaught of cleanerburning and more reliable substitute propellants and saboted bullets that followed saw to that. And I’m as responsible for the

deer in Maine is probably at 50 yards or less. That’s ideal and well within a .50 caliber round ball’s killing range. Even out to 100 yards and well beyond in the right hands under the right conditions, the round ball is a deadly projectile considering it retains sufficient energy and holds together well upon impact and creates impressive wound channels.

There are any number of reasons and factors why the round ball has waned

Page 11

Muzzleloading Afield

by Al Raychard, Lyman, ME

aging eyes aren’t what they use to be but even the open sights were doable.

Holding it in my hands again reminded me how much fun it was to hunt with it despite the various advantages its modern counterparts offer.

Perhaps I’m getting old, or going through a nostalgic period, but hail to the round ball and round

have a place in the Maine hunting woods for those looking for a fun, one-shot muzzleloading challenge.

The next time I hit the woods I think I’ll find out.

Al Raychard and his wife Diane live on 43+/acres in Lyman, Maine that offers good deer and turkey hunting opportunities they both enjoy. If the

Even out to 100 yards and well beyond in the right hands under the right conditions, the round ball is a deadly projectile considering it retains sufficient energy and holds together well upon impact and creates impressive wound channels.

spike as I recall that dressed out around 110 pounds or so. But watching through the cloud of smoke I’ve never forgotten how the small buck just dropped. It just crumbled. Years later I would take my first Maine black bear, first caribou in Quebec and woodland caribou in Newfoundland, first elk in Wyoming and first pronghorn in Montana all with the same gun shooting the same amount of powder and round ball.

Not many muzzleloader hunters hunt with slow twist round ball guns these days. The same can be said of patched round balls and blackpowder.

round ball’s demise as the next guy. I jumped into the inline craze early on and haven’t hunted with my round ball gun for years.

The only time I take it down off the living room wall is for its annual cleaning.

Which is really a shame because it’s waste of a perfectly good muzzleloader that shoots round balls extremely well that has proven a deadly combination on numerous occasions. Unless hunting the clear-cuts up north, powerlines or somewhere where a 150, 200 yard or beyond shot might be required, the average shot at

in popularity over time.

Better propellants, more ballistic coefficient, faster, flatter-shooting, better energy-retaining projectiles, in-lines that can be scoped and are more comparable and familiar to conventional hunting guns, and in many ways guns more user-friendly. The list goes on. I understand them all and understand why the vast majority of today’s muzzleloader hunters have made the switch.

On a dark, blustery rainy day recently I decided to stay out of the woods and keep the wood stove going so I took down that old round ball gun of mine to give it its annual go over.

As familiar as my in-line feels and has become over the years, I was reminded how comfortable that gun is in my hand. How balanced it is, how it comes up and fits just right when I threw it to my shoulder.

How it felt just right. My

ball gun and all their comparative ballistic and userfriendly disadvantages.

Both may have lost their luster in recent years, but I like to believe both still

property had a year-round trout stream it would be paradise and no reason to ever leave it. Al can be reached at alraychard@ sacoriver.net

Maine lost another well-known outdoorsman with the recent passing of Charles “Pete” Norris in Thousand Oaks, CA. An outstanding college and high school athlete as well, Norris grew up in Dixfield, ME. A Maine Guide and President of the Maine Sporting Camps Association, Pete and his wife Chris own and operated the fabled Red River Camps in northern Maine for many years.

Later, he hand built log cabins at Duck Lake and Nicatous Lake. He also operated a sporting camp at Nicatous Lake. He is survived by his wife Chris and two children.

Page 12

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Outdoor News - December 2024 Edited by V. Paul Reynolds

December. A good month in Maine to black powder hunt for that elusive November buck, chase rabbits with hounds, or- for the most intrepid outdoorsman - a time to hunker down in coastal duck blinds with hot coffee and lovable old Labs. Many outdoorsmen will get out the flytying vices, or merely sit close to the fire with family and some good outdoor catalogs. From all of us at the Northwoods Sporting Journal, a very Merry Christmas to our loyal readers and advertisers.

And may your New Year be full of health, happiness and memorable hours in New England’s Great Outdoors.

Bluefin Bonanza Continues Support for Tuna Research

The Casco Bay Bluefin Bonanza tuna tournament recently awarded $25,000 the University of Maine Foundation to support research and internships atUMaine’s Pelagic Fisheries Lab, located at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Bluefin Bonanza President Bob Humphrey presented the check to Liz Erickson, Director of Philanthropy at the University of Maine Foundation, Dr. Walt Golet, Assistant Professor from the UMaine School of Marine Sciences and Research Scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and Diane Rowland, Dean of the UMaine College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences, which oversees the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine.

“We greatly appreci-

ate the support and opportunities that the Casco Bay Bluefin Bonanza provides for both our UMaine faculty, like Walt Golet, and our students. The event is an amazing opportunity for our students to gain hands-on experience in gathering critical data about the fishery. As part of the tournament, students are engaged in maneuvering, sampling, cataloging, and breaking down the tuna brought in each morning by various fishing boats.

In the process, they are interacting with and providing information to the fishermen, the public, and the scientific community,” said Rowland.

One of several projects the Bluefin Bonanza supports involves tagging and tracking tuna. Golet’s team deploys tags that provide crucial information on the behavior and movements of this iconic species. “Any one of our tags could be the key that unlocks the mystery of tuna migration,” said Golet.

Another project involves food habits, which provides information on the relative abundance and importance of various forage species.

“The recovery of bluefin tuna stocks is an incredible conservation success story,” Said Humphrey.

“This research helps ensure the stocks and the fishery remain healthy and sustainable.

This marks the fifth year of support for the Pelagic Fisheries Lab and its interns, and brings total contributions to over $100,000. “We are very proud to be able to give back to the community that supports us,” said Humphrey. Our support

of the GMRI students and staff ensures that the best available science is applied in managing our valuable bluefin tuna resource, which in turn, supports local fishermen and the countless businesses associated with their infrastructure.”

The Casco Bay Blue-

Advisory for two different areas in portions of Unity, Unity Township, Albion and Freedom. These advisory areas are in addition to the current advisory area in Fairfield and parts of Skowhegan.

The two new consumption advisory areas were based upon the testing

advisory in 2021. The new advisory areas are a result of extensive wildlife sampling in the eastern Kennebec and western Waldo counties in order to examine the impact of PFAS on wildlife in the area.

The advisory areas encompass areas that have been contaminated by high levels of PFAS through the spreading of municipal and/or industrial sludge that contained PFAS. Deer and turkey feeding in these contaminated areas have ingested these chemicals and now have PFAS in their meat and organs. For more information on PFAS and wildlife, please visit our website and FAQ. Per- and PolyfluoroJane Humphrey, CBBB Secretary; Diane alkyl substances (PFAS) Rowland, Dean of the UMaine College of Earth, have been used for decades Life, and Health Sciences; Bob Humphrey, in a variety of household CBBB President; Liz Erickson, UMaine and consumer products, Foundation; Walt Golet, UMO/GMRI including non-stick cookPelagic Fisheries Lab. ware, carpet, waterproof fin Bonanza is a 501 (c) of 54 Deer and 55 turkeys clothing, and food packag(3) is an independent, in eastern Kennebec and ing products such as pizza non-profit organization western Waldo counties for boxes and microwave popcommitted to the purpose the presence of PFAS. One corn bags. of raising and expend- advisory area is 5.5 square ing funds in support of miles in area, and the other educational scholarships to advisory area is 4.3 square deserving individuals, giv- miles. ing charitable donations to The Department samthose in need and building pled wildlife throughout a better community. For the Unity/Thorndike/Almore information, vis- bion area, and research Known as “forever it: www.bluefinbonanza. showed that wildlife samorg or email bluefinbo- pled within a mile of areas chemicals” since they are nanza@gmail.com with high PFAS soil con- very slow to break down, centration levels resulted PFAS persist in the enviin animals that had levels ronment and are found in Venison of PFAS in their muscle soil, water, plants, and aniConsumption tissue that warranted an mals. Over time, exposure Advisory advisory. The Department to these chemicals have The Maine Depart- and the Maine CDC recom- been known to increase ment of Inland Fisheries mend that no one eats deer the risk of some types of and Wildlife, in conjunc- or wild turkey harvested in cancer, decrease infant and tion with the Maine Cen- these wildlife consumption fetal growth, increase choter for Disease Control advisory areas. lesterol levels, and impair and Prevention (Maine MDIFW issued the the immune system.

CDC), is issuing a Do Not first wildlife consumption (News cont. pg 13) Eat Wildlife Consumption

December 2024

News

(Cont. from pg 12) Under the leadership of Governor Mills, the state has taken extensive action to address PFAS contamination, including over $100 million over the past three years to address PFAS issues, including the testing of fish and wildlife, as well as establishing drinking water standards, funds to assist impacted farmers, providing safe drinking water, establishing wastewater sludge testing requirements and eliminating the land spreading of contaminated sludge among others.

The Department plans to continue to work with the Maine CDC, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry concerning PFAS and testing. The Department will continue to test deer, and other wildlife in the area and beyond, to try and determine the extent of PFAS in Maine’s wildlife. New Hampshire, Michigan and Wisconsin are states that have also issued consumption advisories concerning PFAS and deer. New Hampshire and Wisconsins advisories are for nonconsumption of the liver, and does not include meat

Processing Deer

Vermont is one of the most rural states in the country, and Vermonters have a proud heritage of living close to the land.

Hunting is highly regulated and provides a way to connect with the land, connect with nature and connect with a healthy, sustainable food source that is rooted in Vermont.

Making the most of the meals provided by

deer taken in hunting seasons starts with processing them quickly and correctly which is why the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has three online videos demonstrating how to process deer. Finding the videos is easy on the Fish and Wildlife website (www.vtfishandwildlife. com). Click on “Hunt” and then “White-tailed Deer” and scroll down to “Processing Your Deer Videos.”

The educational videos are titled Field Dressing, Skinning a Deer and Butchering a Deer.

“Correctly processing game can make a big difference in the taste of the meat,” said Hunter Education Program Coordinator Nicole Meier. “Taking the time to do it correctly assures that you and your family will have many enjoyable meals ahead.”

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department held its annual permit lottery for muzzleloader antlerless deer permits on September 11 and says it still has unallocated muzzleloader antlerless deer permits available for use in the antlerless-only October 31-November 3 muzzleloader season and the December 7-15 muzzleloader season.

These permits can be purchased for $10 on Fish and Wildlife’s website or at any local license agent on a first come, first served basis.

Here are the Wildlife Management Units that still had muzzleloader antlerless permits available online and at local license agents statewide as of October 21: A, B, D1, F1, F2, G, J1, K, N, O, and Q. A person may only hold one antlerless permit at a time. After taking an

Northwoods Sporting Journal antlerless deer with their permit, they may purchase an additional unallocated permit if they are still available.

Lynx in Vermont

After a rare Canada lynx was confirmed in Vermont last August for the first time in years, biologists with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department have continued to receive verifiable photos and videos of what they believe is the same individual wild cat.

Reports indicate that the lynx has moved about 60 miles north of where it was first sighted in Rutland County into Addison County, traveling around a

dozen miles at a time and then staying in the same general area for several days before moving on. Juvenile lynx will often travel long distances searching for new territory, a behavior called “dispersal” by biologists.

“We’ve had 15 confirmed lynx sightings since August and signs point to these all being the same dispersing juvenile male,” said Brehan Furfey, furbearer biologist with the department. “The lynx has moved steadily north from Rutland County into Addison County. That’s a conservation success in its own

right because Vermont’s network of protected lands is what makes this journey possible. We’re rooting for this lynx to keep heading north where it will find more young forest habitat and plenty of snowshoe hares to eat.”

Because Canada lynx are a federally threatened species, the department says it is important for anyone who sees a lynx to give the cat a respectful amount of space. The individual lynx currently being seen by Vermonters appears skinny but healthy and is not a threat to people.

However, it is probably stressed by being in unfamiliar habitat and needs to be allowed to continue its

Page 13 dispersal without disturbance.

“The rule of thumb is always to keep a respectful distance from any wildlife you’re observing. If they are changing their behavior in response to you, then you’re too close,” said Furfey. “Keeping a respectful distance is especially important for threatened or endangered species like Canada lynx which are protected by state and federal law. That said, we do want your photos or videos if you think you have crossed paths with a lynx and are able to get a clear view on your phone or camera without disturbing it.”

Vermonters who think they have a photo or video of a lynx are encouraged to take two steps. First, learn how to tell Canada lynx from the closely related bobcat, which is much more common in Vermont.

Second, if confident your photo or video is a lynx, email it to the department at fwinformation@vermont.gov “The chance to use citizen science observa(News cont. pg 21)

FLY PATTERN OF THE MONTH Sponsored by Eldredge Brothers Fly Shop

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Tail...Long section of mottled turkey quill Body...Flat gold tinsel Wing...4 long cree neck feathers, or 2 brown neck feathers.

Head...Spun natural grey/brown deer body hair, front part clipped to bullet shape leaving a collar of hair at rear of head.

Comment...This is the same as the regular muddler minnow except for the wing, which has been adapted for trolling.

All patterns reprinted from “Trolling Flies for Trout & Salmon” by Dick Stewart and Bob Leeman.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 14

Outdoors In Maine

by V. Paul Reynolds, Ellsworth, ME Donn Fendler was a 12-year-old boy who became famous for surviving a harrowing nine-day ordeal in 1939 when he got lost on Mount Katahdin.

His story of survival captivated the nation. Fendler grew to manhood, distinguished himself as military warrior and during his later years came back to Maine many times to tell his story.

He co-authored a book

a guest on my weekly radio program, Maine Outdoors, on the Voice of Maine News-Talk Network.

Cook revealed that he had known Donn Fendler for a number of years and always aimed to tell Fendler’s story by producing a movie. As producer, Cook had to find investors and raised millions of dollars to produce the film.

Ironically, according

Cook is emphatic that this movie is more than a story about a desperate youngster with remarkable resilience and determination, but is also about family love and the role that it, as well as spiritual faith, played in young Fendler’s survival. titled Lost on a Mountain in Maine with Joseph Egan.

Finally, after all of these years, there is a soonto-be-released motion picture about Fendler, his family and his amazing and inspiring survival story.

Ryan Cook, a native of Waterville, is the producer of the movie titled Lost On a Mountain in Maine. Recently, Cook was

to Cook, the movie was not filmed in Maine. “There were significant tax advantages for us to shoot most of this movie in New York state rather than in Maine, which we did,” said Cook.

Most of the on-location filming was done about 50 miles north of New York city in the Catskills. Of course, the film included actual footage of Mt. Ka-

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December 2024

Lost on a Mountain in Maine

tahdin and other areas near the mountain.

The film stars Luke David Blumm as Donn Fendler, with Caitlin Fitzgerald and Paul Sparks playing his parents. Ethan Slater is also part of the cast. The film is produced

by Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions.

Cook gives high marks to the young David Blumm and his performance as Donn Fendler.

Cook recalls that it was a difficult role physically for Blumm as he played the role of a 12-year- old boy whose ordeal left him emaciated with few clothes left, badly cut bare feet and carrying the ravages of bug bites and brush bruises.

Cook is emphatic that this movie is more than a story about a desperate youngster with remarkable resilience and determination, but is also about family love and the role that it, as well as spiritual faith, played in young Fendler’s survival.

As those of us who read Fendler’s book as either grade school students or adults will recall, it was, in all probability, one correct decision by the former Boy Scout that ultimately saved his life: Finding that stream and following its

flow in hopes of finding civilization. A group of searchers found Fendler near the East Branch of the Penobscot River. In nine days he had walked more

is yet another dimension. “..it’s not what’s in your pack. It’s not even what’s in your mind. Corny as it sounds, it’s what’s in your heart,” asserts Gonzales.

As a youngster or an oldster, Donn Fendler was quite a human being and worthy of legacy status. He passed away in 2016, but his story continues to inspire generations. Word is that Lost than 50 miles through some On a Mountain in Maine of the toughest woods ter- was released in the theaters rain that Maine has to offer. in early November.

The movie attempts to address the question many The author is editor of us ask: What was it that of the Northwoods Sportallowed Fendler to survive ing Journal. He is also a an ordeal in which many Maine Guide and host of healthy adults would have a weekly radio program perished or gone mad? Sur- “Maine Outdoors” heard vival expert Laurence Gon- Sundays at 7 p.m. on The zales may have come as Voice of Maine News-Talk close as anyone has to pro- Network. He has authored viding an answer: “Mental three books. Online purpreparation, as well as sur- chase information is availvival gear, equals survival able at www.sportingjoursome of the time. There nal.com

Let us know your opinion. Send letters to the Editor to: NWSJ P.O. Box 195 W. Enfield, ME 04493 or Email to: info@sportingjournal.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

A Good Grouse Year

Page 15

On Point

by Paul Fuller, Durham, N.H.

What a difference a year makes. Last year, after nasty weather during brood season, grouse numbers were pathetic. Many old-timers felt it was the worse they had seen in 30 years. Although this is not exactly a bonanza year, bird numbers have been sufficient enough to keep both bird dogs and bird hunters busy..

As Susan, the dogs and I have done that past several years, we began our grouse hunting in the North Maine Woods. Weather was pleasant, fall colors perfect and bird contact almost immediately. Regarding bird contact, your author must confess that after several years of hunting the North Maine Woods, both Susan and I have identified several excellent grouse covers. I mention this because I’ve met many hunters who

drive around for a day and complain about not seeing many birds. Some hunters even leave and go home after poor bird sightings after a day of driving. Bird contacts are not simply going to fall into your lap. You need to work at locating good cover and, if hunting with dogs, let the dogs do the remainder of the work.

If the hunter invests the time, you’ll develop a series of grouse covers that will consistently produce birds. Your author has at least a half dozen covers within a 45 minute drive which consistently produce birds. If you’re not willing to invest the time, stay home. In last month’s column, I described what to look for when searching for good grouse habitat.

Early successional growth is the secret. Cover thick enough to provide safety

Andrew Hammond from Limerick, Maine bagged this big bull during the second bull hunt. The bull sported a 55 and ¼ inch spread.

from flying predators such as hawks and owls. However, cover mature enough to provide buds for winter feeding. Also, before frost kills all the leaves, raspberry patches are outstand-

every year she points a grouse in that cover. Since the cover is thick, half the time I don’t get a shot and the other times I usually miss. It’s a great way, however, to start the season. It gets both Cordie and me excited for the remainder of the season.

After a fun and busy week in the North Maine Woods, we then packed

land. The only other hunters you encounter are other guests at the camp.

Since we had a- sevenmonth old puppy (Macky) with us, we were anxious to kill a grouse so he could get a could whiff of grouse feathers. Unfortunately, neither Susan or I killed a grouse. We had the opportunities, but simply missed.

For both Susan and me, our

If the hunter invests the time, you’ll develop a series of grouse covers that will consistently produce birds.

Your author has at least a half dozen covers within a 45 minute drive which consistently produce birds.

ing. This year, Susan and her dog Blaze had great success locating grouse in raspberry patches. The leaves were still fresh and tasty.

One of my most successful covers this year, and many other years, is a very thick cluster of low growing conifers along an old logging road. Over the past five years, on our first day of hunting the North Maine Woods, I take my little grouse super dog, Cordie, to that cover. And,

up and dropped down to Tim Pond Camps to Eustis, Maine. Last year, Tim Pond Camps saved the season for Susan, me and the dogs.

This year we didn’t need saving; however, Tim Pond Camps again produced very well. Grouse were plentiful. One day, in a 30- minute period, we had six grouse flushes. Dog work was excellent from both Cordie and Blaze. The beauty of Tim Pond Camps is that they have several thousand acres of private

standards are to shoot only at birds in flight and fly in front of dog work. For me, maybe I’m getting slower with my swing into the flying grouse. Or maybe I need to go to a range before the season. I haven’t done that it several years.

As of writing this column, overall, Susan, the dogs and I are happy with our season. And, we still have two weeks remaining for woodcock.

Page 16

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Adventures of Me and Joe “I dunno how I got myself into this!” Joe turned from the hot frying pan on the wood cook stove and pointed a fork at me accusingly. “You got any idea how I got myself into this?”

I nodded slowly, eyeing the fork cautiously.

“Yup. You told the folks down at S.A.M. you’d guide whatever hunter won their big money-raising raffle. Norton Longshot won the raffle. He’ll be here tomorrow and you got to guide him onto a decent buck.”

Joe turned back to the stove and I sighed in relief. “I know what I agreed to,” he said as he flipped the medallions of venison tenderloin searing in the cast iron frying pan. “I jist thought some flatlander from Portland or the coast would win and I could take ‘im over to Angus Holstein’s back pasture and shoot one ‘o them bucks been comin’ out to the winter apples. Git it done an’ over with. That George Smith kind talk a man into a coma. I dunno how I got myself into this!”

As Joe slid the meat onto plates I went over and

by Bob Cram, (Alias T.J. Coongate) Medway, ME opened the barrel stove, throwing another chunk of rock maple onto the glowing coals. I knew what was bothering Joe and it had little to do with guiding a hunter for A.A.M. Joe had been a guide since he was 18 and even with the lower deer population this year I knew he could likely put the average hunter onto decent buck.

The problem was Norton Longshot, the New York industrialist who had won the raffle. Longshot was a hunter of international renown. He had hunted extensively in Africa. He’d hunted in Australia and South America. He had just returned form an Alaska expedition during which he had bagged a Boone & Crockett caribou with one shot at a published 520 yards. Joe knew and I agreed that such an accomplished hunter wouldn’t be satisfied with a run of the mill northern Maine buck.

“Where you gonna take him?” I asked.

“The bottoms along Malcolm Branch. They’s a couple of big bucks workin’ the acorns on the flats back of Spencer Ridge. One old

December 2024

The Deer Hunter

Norton nodded and Joe released his arm. They both lifted to their knees and the clump of cedars lay before them, much closer than Norton had realized. At the same instant, the buck saw the two heads above the grass. He came to his feet and stood for a moment, tail raised. honker, by the size of his tracks. Longshot won’t be here ‘til mid-mornin’. By the time we git him settled in’ll be afternoon, but we kin do some scoutin’ and maybe luck out the next mornin’.” He sliced a bite of venison and chewed morosely. “Think I’m gonna kill me that George Smith.”

The next morning we met with Norton Longshot at the Five N’ Diner in

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.

Mooseleuk. Longshot was a big man with an impressive physique. His face was deeply tanned and he exhibited the self assurance and slight impatience I had witnessed before in corporate executives.

“What have you got for me Joe? Can I call you Joe? I’d really like to put one of these big northern Maine bucks in my trophy room. It would fit nicely between the wildebeest and that big Idaho elk.”

“Well, Mr. Longshot…”

“Call me Norton.”

“Okay…Norton… they’s some big bucks workin’ the acorn mast on the bottoms along a river ‘bout 15 miles from here. But first, I’d like to take you out to eh pit back of town an’ make sure yer rifle is still sited in.”

Longshot smiled in-

dulgently. “I’m confident the sights haven’t moved, but I know you guides always want to check, as well as see how a client shoots.

Let’s go.”

At the makeshift range we’d set up in the gravel pit Longshot fired three shots from the bench rest, putting all three into one ragged hole at a hundred yards.

“Wish you had a long range shooting facility,” he said patting the exquisitely engraved bolt action affectionately. “This baby is a long-range shooting fool. It’s a Magnum Mania Model 5 in 7mm Nuke.

Shoots a 150 grain bullet at 3500 feet per second muzzle velocity. I like the ballistic coefficient of the long 7 millimeter bullets.

They drop slow and penetrate really well. Did I tell you about my Alaskan (Me & Joe cont. pg 17)

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

ing a buck hadn’t entered his thoughts before this.

Tendrils of fog lifted (Cont. from pg 16) from the river bottoms caribou?” as we made our way up“ U h … r e a d a b o u t wind through scattered it someplace,” Joe said. oaks and silver maples. The “Where we’ll be huntin’ slow-moving rover lay to you’ll likely git a long shot. our right and the densely Probably won’t be 500 wooded uplands lifted to yards, but it might be 300 the left. Through the huge or more.” trees along the damp bot“Excellent! I really toms we could see for some like hunting at long ranges! distance.

Love the challenge.”

We moved at a crawl, Early the next morn- coming on droppings and ing found us pounding tracks from a number of along a woods road in deer. The hours passed Joe’s ancient Jeep. Norton slowly. Near noon, Joe Longshot spoke up over the stopped in mid-stride. We whine of the tires. edged up close to him.

“I forgot to tell you He pointed down into the that I have to fly out to a swale grass. There in the board meeting in New York soft ground was the fresh tomorrow morning.” track of a monster buck.

Joe’s jaw dropped.

“Jist come out of He stared at Norton until I the river,” Joe whispered. was afraid he was going to “See the water on the taller drive off the narrow road. grass? Swum acrost from Finally, he jerked the wheel thet island in the middle.” back to center.

He pointed out into the “One day? We got river. just one day to git a trophy “He’ll likely be feedbuck?” in’ on some o’ these acorns “Yes. Is that a prob- an’ he don’t know we’re lem? I know it would be a around yet. Let’s us git over problem for most guides, the bank to the shore of the but George Smith said you river an’ sneak upstream. wouldn’t have any prob- We’ll be cross wind from lem with it. I don’t want him an’ we ought to git to leave, but this merger a shot if we’re quiet and meeting is critical and I careful.” have to be in Botswana on We moved stealthily Monday.” down over the bank and Joe hunched over the eased along the scattered wheel and swore softly gravel shingle of the river’s under his breath. “Norton, edge. I had to hand it to all I kin do is the best I can. Norton. He could be quiet But I ain’t guaranteein’ and follow orders to a T. nothin’. This here is huntin’ Finally, Joe held up not pen shootin’. We might a hand. As we stopped, see a buck an’ we might he removed his hat and not. That’s all I kin offer. very slowly raised his head “That’s all I ask.” above the level of the cut Norton nodded emphati- bank. He stared for a long cally. “You show me the minute, then slowly lowbuck and I’ll do my part. ered his head. We gathered If we don’t see anything, around him. well, that’s all part of the “He’s there,” Joe said game.” But I could tell with a grin. “Biggest buck from his tone that not see- I’ve seen in a while an’ he’s

Me & Joe

feedin’ on acorns about 250 yards away. Don’t know we’re anywhere around.”

Norton started to stand, but Joe pulled him back down.

“They’ve a big silver maple blockin’ a really good shot ringer here.” He gestured upstream. “Ease up to that oak on the bank.

You kin use one of its roots for a rest.”

Norton nodded.

Slowly he crept along the shoreline, rifle balanced in his right hand. Just before he reached the oak he stepped over a fallen limb and his left leg sank in a hole to the knee. Norton sprawled onto the gravel.

The rifle flew from him hand and landed with a clatter on the rocks a few feet away.

I stared for a second, then snuck an eye up over the cutbank, just in time to see the buck’s tail flouncing off through the trees.

Me and Joe hurried over to Norton, who was now standing and cursing slowly and fluently. Joe looked down.

“Beaver’s dive hole, he commented. “Covered with dead leaves an’ hard to see.” He looked at Norton. “You all right?”

“Yeah, just wet to the knee. Where’s my rifle?”

I went over and picked up the Magnum Mania Model 5. “Oh, oh.”

“What?” Norton hurried over.

“The muzzle hit that rock. Look.”

Longshot stared at the barrel in dismay. The steel of the muzzle was dinged and one ear of displaced metal extended into the bore.

“Oh no! I can’t shoot the gun this way!”

Joe was standing by the cutbank, staring off across the bottoms.

Page 17

“No you can’t. You got you a choice to make, Norton.”

“What’s that?” Longshot asked, looking up from his damaged gun.

Joe glanced at him.

“You got to decide how bad you want that buck.”

“But he’s run off!”

Longshot said in dismay.

“And now I can’t use my rifle.”

“We might be able to find the buck,” Joe said.

“And you kin use my gun.”

He held out his old, longbarreled Winchester. Longshot looked dismayed.

“I haven’t shot an open-sighted rifle in years.”

He took the old gun gingerly, noting that most of the bluing was gone from the action. “What’s it chambered for?”

“Ain’t open-sighted,” Joe said. “Got a receiver sight. Jist center the front bead and she’s dead on.

Chambered for .38-55.” “.38-55?” Norton’s mouth opened comically.

“Do you have any idea how much a .38-55 bullet will drop at 300 yards?”

Joe nodded. “Yep. Guess we’ll jist have to git closer. Now let’s hide yer rifle in that hollow tree of there an’ git to trackin’.”

We paused at where the buck’s bounding tracks slowed to a walk. Joe peered off through the trees thoughtfully.

“He knows somethin’s wrong, but he don’t know what. He’ll be watchin’ his back trail. Let’s ease over to the base of the ridge an’ sneak along. Keep quiet now.”

We s n u c k a l o n g through scattered fir and scraggly cedar. Finally Joe stopped. He looked through the screen of evergreens to the tan expanse of river bottom.

“Somethin’ ain’t right.

You two stay here.” He eased through the trees and was gone. A few moments later, he slipped back, shaking his head.

“He circled back to see what was behind.

C’mon.”

We followed our own trail back for 200 yards before Joe stopped. He pointed down at the tracks of a huge buck crossing our trail at right angles.

“Got our scent. He’s headed up on the ridge.”

Longshot couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“What do we do now?”

“Now we got our (Me & Joe cont. pg 25)

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

Marty

Shown actual size

Name

Don Daigle

Address

(Marty was found on pg 54)

City

State

Phone I found Marty on page

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 18

Outdoor Sporting Library

by Jeremiah Wood, Ashland, ME

Imagine running a wilderness trapline the same way they did it back in the old days. No machines to get you from place to place, no chainsaw to cut your firewood, no electricity, roads or neigh-

sled with all your gear from cabin to cabin, put up makeshift shelters, and cut up all your firewood with an axe and hand saw.

I’d love to spend a winter in the Alaska wilderness, but I think I’d prefer

December 2024

Alaskan Wilderness: A Soul’s Journey

traces of wilderness in North America seek to escape. For some of them, the painful work and slower progress are part of the point. After all, if it wasn’t hard, it wouldn’t be quite so rewarding. And you sleep good after a sixteen hour day of cutting trail on

The added benefit of living so close to the land without distraction is the almost unlimited time for thought. This would drive some of us crazy, but for others, it allows them to explore ideas, philosophy and their basic beliefs in serious depth, and maybe emerge with a bit of clarity on life. bors.

These days, going without any of the modern luxuries we all enjoy would be quite a task. It certainly wouldn’t be efficient in terms of catching a high volume of fur. It would be hard on one’s body too. It can be backbreaking work to snowshoe and haul a

to do it in style – snow machine to travel long distances, chainsaw for the wood, and a small generator for lights, and heck, why not put up a Starlink dish and keep connected with the world?

But it’s the modern conveniences of life that many who go to the last

snowshoes.

The added benefit of living so close to the land without distraction is the almost unlimited time for thought. This would drive some of us crazy, but for others, it allows them to explore ideas, philosophy and their basic beliefs in serious depth, and maybe

emerge with a bit of clarity on life.

Way up the Porcupine River in Interior Alaska there’s a man who still does it the old fashion way. His

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only modern accommodations are a plane ride in and out and a satellite phone for emergencies. Other than that, he’s on his own in the middle of nowhere with nobody to rely on but himself. He’s been doing it for decades, and even at an advanced age, receives immense satisfaction from the hard work and long days.

The guy is so into the old ways, he’s been able to fly under the radar…..most don’t even know his name!

But even the most recluse can have that innate desire to share their world with others. So he wrote a book.

“Alaskan Wilderness: A Soul’s Journey” was recently published by the Alaska Trappers Association and available for purchase from the ATA website. The author prefers to remain anonymous, but his unique journey is now something we can all enjoy.

J e re m i a h c a n b e reached at jrodwood@ gmail.com

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

The Rough-legged Hawk

I always start looking for two species of hawks once December arrives.

With the leaves off the trees and the barren landscape of winter, these raptors are easier to locate. I search open areas like farm fields, marshes, meadows, airport runways. These are similar to the mostly treeless tundra areas they inhabit in the high Arctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America.

The Rough-legged

prey.

If any movement has been spotted on the ground or under the snow, the bird will hover with its large arched buteo wings. It will then move its head from side to side until it will plunge straight down, feathered legs extended to

If any movement has been spotted on the ground or under the snow, the bird will hover with its large arched buteo wings. It will then move its head from side to side until it will plunge straight down, feathered legs extended to catch the prey in its talons.

to find than another circumpolar visitor, the Gyrfalcon. About the size of a raven, this is the largest of all the falcon species.

Its large size, superb flight capabilities, and fearlessness is why it is called the Prince of Falcons. From a height, they will swiftly

Page 19

The Bird Perch

by Karen Holmes, Cooper, ME common in the northern Quebec and Labrador regions. Light gray is widespread through northwestern Canada, Alaska and northern Europe and Asia.

In Scandinavia and Russia the blue gray variant can be seen. If I do see a white Gyrfalcon here in Downeast Maine, it will be a prized addition to my life list of birds I have dis-

covered during my 74 years of birding.

Karen Holmes is a resident of Cooper, Maine.

She lives on 74 wooded acres with her husband Ken and Australian Cattledog they named Dingo.

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catch the prey in its talons.

They are such handsome birds and have two color phases. The light phase Rough-legged Hawk is dark brown on its upper body and the head and breast are sandy colored and streaked. The belly will be blackish. A dark phase Rough-legged Hawk Hawk and the Gyrfalcon is all black. Both will have are circumpolar species white tail bases and the and migrate down to areas distinctive field marks of like Maine to spend the black wrist-like patches winter. This is necessary to underneath the wings. avoid starvation caused by I know that this spelower populations of prey cies is more likely for me such as ptarmigans, mice, and lemmings in the areas above 55 degrees latitude of the northern hemisphere.

I usually find Rough(See pg 47) legged Hawks. These are large buteos, about 18-23 inches in body length and having wingspans of 48-52 inches. They are larger in appearance than Red-tailed Or check us out Hawks. I love to watch online at them hover in place like www.sportingjournal.com a kestrel when they locate

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stoop down and overtake ducks, even Canada Geese.

They have awesome speed, strength and endurance.

The plumage of Gyrfalcons varies. The most striking color variant is white and is common in the eastern regions of Arctic Canada and Greenland.

A black variant is

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Page 20

Aroostook Woods & Water

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”, says Ralph Waldo Emerson. I’ve just gone into deer season with a different rifle than the one I used the year before. So, by using a different rifle every year, does that means that I

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Mike Maynard, Perham, ME

flattery. It doesn’t take much to turn my head.

The supple feel of a wellcombed piece of walnut, the racy lines of a perfectly contoured receiver/barrel intersection, a pimped-out Lyman peep sight.

I came this close to

How Many Deer Rifles Do You Need?

The Savage isn’t tapped for bases and I’m not about to start drilling holes in the perfection that is a Savage model 99. No, instead I opted for a 1963

the gun cabinet, and went to work. I put a good Nikon scope on her, bore-sighted it, and after a few dial-in shots, I had a fantastic three shot little group at 100

Remington 742 in .30-06.

Now, lest you think I’m a fool for taking a 742 ‘jamomatic’ into the Big Woods, this rifle hasn’t seen a box of shells run through it, literally not a box. The receiver and the lugs are all pristine, and nothing’s been chewed to smithereens yet.

I found a couple of boxes of Winchester silver tip in 150grain in the bottom of

yards. Sweet! I didn’t step it out to 200 yards. I didn’t want to tempt fate and give the gods of ballistics a chance to stomp me into a little grease spot in the grass. And the recoil was minimal. A nice surprise indeed.

Last season’s rifle of choice never got out of the cabinet, for reasons that I made clear last month.

I came this close to walking into the woods with a 1926 Savage 99 in .30-30 this year. But at this point in the festivities, my eyesight is all wonky and I need a scope to keep the total sight picture together. don’t fall into the ‘foolish consistency’ column? .

I know people (my wife is one of them) who have been shooting the same rifle for the last 40 years. I can’t do that. I’m not wired that way. I need variety in my life. Commitment to anything other than my wife and my dog, is a four-letter word around here. I’m also a sucker for shiny beads and shallow

walking into the woods with a 1926 Savage 99 in .30-30 this year. But at this point in the festivities, my eyesight is all wonky and I need a scope to keep the total sight picture together.

I can either see the iron sights and not the deer downrange, or see the deer and the sights are a mere figment of my imagination.

You old dudes out there will understand perfectly.

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Hell, I don’t even remember what rifle I had my heart set on last year; probably a cute little thing in .308. I have a serious soft spot for anything in .308.

Some people are all like, the .308 is just a pedestrian round, not all sexy like a .264 Win mag! Well, let me tell you; the .264 Win mag may be the 1995 version of Salma Hayek in Desperado, all sultry and exotic, but the .308 ain’t nothing to sneeze at.

I know David Petzal says that the .30-06 is the greatest cartridge ever to be, but I was never a big fan. My introduction to the hallowed cartridge came through my great grandfather’s 1958 Savage 110. I still have it. It is in virtual mint condition. I took multiple deer with it when I was young and ridiculously virile and stupid. I don’t think my great grandfather ever shot a damn thing with it. The gun doesn’t weigh more than half a pound, soaking wet. Then, when you load up some 180grain core lokt’s and touch one off…, you get a mule kick that leaves you sore and bruised for the next twenty years. I hunted with that rifle for the simple reason that it was my great grandfather’s, and by doing so, honored my lineage.

Having said all that, shoot what you love, and shoot it every chance you get; consistency is your friend. Joyeux Noel, everybody!

Mike Maynard can be reached at perhamtrout@ gmail.com

December 2024

News

(Cont. from pg 13) tions to follow this juvenile lynx on its search for new territory is really unusual and really exciting,” said Furfey. “Vermonters can be proud that decades of land protection and management for connected habitats have allowed this rare wild cat to make its way through our state. It’s a sign that conservation is working.”

NH Moose Hunt Review

New Hampshire’s 2024 moose hunting season ran from Saturday, October 19 through Sunday, October 27. In advance of this year’s hunt, 33 permits were issued in June through the annual lottery process and one permit each was donated to the Dream Hunt Program and to the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of New Hampshire for a total of 35 either-sex permits.

In 2024, hunters harvested 23 moose, 19 bulls and 4 cows, for an overall success rate of 64%. Hunters have experienced an average success rate of 68% over the past 5 years.

“The weather dealt hunters a challenging hand this year,” said Henry Jones, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Moose Project Leader. “Although there were a few cool and calm periods during the season, which are conducive to moose movement, many hunting days were either warm or windy, which reduces moose activity and thus hunter success.”

The heaviest moose weighed 802 pounds dressed and was taken in Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) A2 by James Martin. The largest antler

Northwoods Sporting Journal

spread was 55.5 inches, taken in WMU A1 by Charles Teravainen. This year more hunters than usual chose to quarter and pack out their moose. This was likely due to the warm temperatures because removing the hide and quartering the moose allows the meat to cool faster than leaving it whole, preserving meat quality.

There was one hunting party that stood out this year. Michael Pryor had been applying to the lottery for 17 years, and when he finally drew a permit, he chose his son, Hunter, as his subpermittee. The pair immediately got to work to take full advantage of this rare opportunity, adopting a do-it-yourself approach to their hunt in all aspects of their experience, from scouting to the hunt itself and eventually meat care.

They reviewed maps, regulations, and meat processing in addition to taking five camping trips from July to October to scout.

Their preparation was evident when they pulled into the check station with a homemade cooler large enough to accommodate moose quarters. The hunter and his subpermittee, age 13 and the youngest hunter in the 2024 field, harvested an impressive mature bull with a 53.5-inch antler spread and plenty of weight to boot.

Several Arrested for Wildlife Crimes

In December 2022, Conservation Officers with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department received information of illegal hunting activities in the Town of Gilmanton.

Based on evidence found during the initial investigation, Conservation Officers and the Gilmanton Police Department executed a

search warrant on a cell camera and cell phone belonging to Thomas Kelley of Gilmanton. During the search, evidence of illegal hunting activity was found implicating Kelley as well as various other individuals.

On January 12, 2023, Conservation Officers, US Fish and Wildlife Service Agents, Gilmanton Police Department, and Webster Police Department executed multiple search warrants. One in the Town of Gilmanton on suspect Thomas Kelley, one in the Town of Loudon on suspect Sherwood Dubrey, and one in the Town of Webster on suspect Randy Inman.

Multiple firearms with video recording scopes and infrared lights attached, archery equipment, electronic devices, wildlife pelts, and mounts were seized during the search warrants.

While reviewing the digital evidence collected on those three warrants, two more suspects were identified regarding wildlife violations committed in New

Hampshire. They were Jonathan Carroca from Dracut, Massachusetts, and Gerald Williams from Canterbury, New Hampshire.

This case involved several suspects and covered multiple jurisdictions, requiring the involvement of three different counties, three courts, and numerous personnel from various County Attorney’s Offices.

These factors, combined with a large volume of digital evidence, resulted in a lengthy investigation lasting many months. The Officers’ persistence and determination led to multiple arrests.

• In March of 2023, Thomas Kelley, 33, of Gilmanton, NH, was arrested at the Gilmanton Police Department for multiple wildlife crimes.

On May 16, 2024, Kelley pled to 7 violations to include Illegal Night Hunting, Hunting under Suspension, Illegal Baiting of Wildlife, and Illegal Baiting of Black Bear. A .22 rifle with video-record(News cont. pg 60)

Aroostook County

Page 21

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 22

Maine Tails

By Jonah Paris, Ellsworth, ME “Tell me, lads, what’s important to a Maineman?”

The captain, Peters, and I looked at each other.

Nobody had ever asked us that before - or referred to either of us as a “Maineman.” But, I suppose, if they were Englishmen, naturally, we were Mainemen. Silence ensued, awkward and drawn out. Peters shifted in his chair.

Deliberately avoiding politics, I spouted off a generic response. “Uhmm.

Small independent businesses, infrastructure lots of roads here, and an affordable grocery bill.

Healthy food is expensive.”

My reply was shallow, but

I had broken the deafening silence with something.

Now I could take my time and generate a follow-up.

“Clean waters and public land are very important to Mainemen.” Peters nodded in agreement.

The Englishman were Neil and Ray, fishing buddies from across the pond.

Hailing from the outskirts of London, they were in the States on “holiday” for two weeks of big game fishing.

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December 2024

Fishing Across the Pond the Teazer. (They achieved their goal of catching and releasing a giant by noon.)

The following week, they were off to California to chase yellowfin tuna.

Neil’s world revolved around fish. He was an ex-fisheries enforcement officer, currently working at the local university in

Most lakes in England are smaller than 10 acres, and fishing is done from the bank. Single fish are worth many pounds - thousands of American dollars. Large carp are given names and caught many times over.

Neil showed me a photo of him cradling a massive mirror carp. “It’s all good

sive in Maine, and limited to Merrymeeting Bay and several of the rivers that feed it. I thought of the old adage: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

Neil neatly rolled a cigarette and explained his fishery. “We fish for carp, tench, roach, chub, perch, and pike back home.” He

Neil neatly rolled a cigarette and explained his fishery.

“We fish for carp, tench, roach, chub, perch, and pike back home.” He produced photos of colorful European perch, essentially our yellow perch on steroids, tench, and roach. the aquaculture department raising carp and tilapia.

Carp, he emphasized, were sportfish. Tilapia were food fish. Ray was a commercial builder, a long-time friend of Neil’s, and an avid angler.

Neil explained that nearly all lakes in the United Kingdom are privately owned and most fishing is catch and release. Hatcheries raise carp, then lake owners buy them to stock in their waters. Owners establish fishing clubs, then charge membership fees.

sport, mate.” Ray echoed his sentiment. “Really, that’s not too different from those big money bass tournaments here,” I thought to myself.

While carp reign king across Europe, the story is different in the United States. Carp are considered “trash fish” here. Bowfishing and spearing carp are common in the U.S., and they range from simply a nuisance to dangerous considering the jumping silver carp of the Midwestern rivers. Carp are inva-

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produced photos of colorful European perch, essentially our yellow perch on steroids, tench, and roach.

Both tench and roach belong to the carp and minnow family, Cyprinidae.

Shiners are from the same family, and to my eyes, the roach resembled an oversized golden. “Those are pike bait here,” I noted.

“Do you fly fish?” I asked. “Izaak Walton was from England, wasn’t he?

The Compleat Angler.”

Ray smiled at Neil.

“The bloke is well-read.

And no, actually. We fish light gear on fixed-spool reels. Bait fishing, mate.

Worms, maggots, and cheese paste. Really terrific chub bait.”

My head was spinning. I had to untangle this last string of statements. First was the reels.

“Fixed-spool reels? What are those? Like conventional gear?”

“No, like those, mate.” Neil pointed to a rack of spinning reels in the cabin used for striped bass.

Next was the bait.

Maggots are a relatively (Pond cont. pg 32)

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Fly Rod Crosby

This fall at the annual banquet of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM), two Maine outdoorswomen, Alexandra Conover

woman was born in 1854 and died in 1946 at the age of 92. A delicate child with health issues, not unlike Teddy Roosevelt, time in

she hunted deer, moose and caribou.

Not unlike other legendary figures her life and accomplishments were not without some embellishments, if not downright myths. It was said over the years that Crosby was the only woman to shoot a caribou, and that the bull caribou that she shot at Square Lake in 1897 with her trusty 38-55 Winchester was the last caribou

Cracker Barrel

by Homer Spit authoritative historical account in his book “Early Maine Wildlife,” A Mrs. Dwyer bagged a caribou in 1893, four years before Crosby’s bull was taken at Square Lake.

Additionally, Krohn reports that Crosby did not kill the last caribou in 1897.

model for outdoorswomen, even for today.

These words from her famous notebook, capture the essence of her legacy: “ I have found that if a woman loves the woods she is sure to make a good camper, to find pleasure in the little discomforts, to smile

Although Fly Rod was best known for her angling articles and accomplishments in the fishing realm, she was an able and enthusiastic hunter as well. A friend of Annie Oakley, Crosby could shoot, and she hunted deer, moose and caribou.

That happened in 1908.

As you might guess, Crosby who apparently had some hubris like the rest of us, let the caribou myths ride and never disavowed them publicly, according to McCollough.

On balance, though, Fly Rod Crosby was a marketing powerhouse for the state of Maine, like no other. She was also steadfastly anti-suffrage and a

In 1897, Fly Rod bagged her first Maine caribou at Square Lake with her 38-55 Winchester.

over the unexpected difficulties, and quickly adapt herself to circumstances, and keenly and with much enthusiasm enter into the sport of life out-of-doors which seems to me, brings out one’s true nature better than anything else.”

Homer Spit lives on a the outdoors Fly Rod Crosby, a six foot woman lake in Maine. He likes to was a pre- from Phillips, became an outdoors keep a low profile. scription for legend in her own time. improving her health. She eventually ever harvested in Maine.

Not so according to left her job as a bank clerk and distinguished herself Northwoods Sporting Jouras an outdoor writer and nal columnist Mark Mcpublic personality who at- Collough. McCollough disSee page 47 tended national sportsman covered that in Bill Krohn’s shows and promoted Maine as a destination spot for anglers, hunters and anyone who wanted to “get away” to the out-of-doors.

We are now proud to offer our readers a wonderful Although Fly Rod collection of digital issues from the archives of the was best known for her Northwoods Sporting Journal, the most angling articles and accomcomprehensive sporting magazine in the Northeast. plishments in the fishing Our archives feature the latest issues, as well as the realm, she was an able and oldies and goodies from years past. enthusiastic hunter as well.

A friend of Annie Oakley, Crosby could shoot, and

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Bennett and Tenley Skolfield, were presented with the Fly Rod Crosby Lifetime Outdoor Achievement Award by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

This is a new award that not only serves to recognize deserving recipients but also serves to pay homage to a legendary Maine outdoorswoman, who cut a wide swath early on and became recognized as a foremost advocate for Maine outdoor tourism and an accomplished angler and hunter.

Fly Rod, whose real name was Cornelia Thurza Crosby, was a native of Phillips. The six foot

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Page 24

Maine Outdoor Adventure

History is being forged right before our eyes here on earth, as nature does what nature is doing. Our earth is changing rapidly, affecting our fish, animals, and humans.

Visiting a good friend this fall was very sobering, as we discussed our present problems at hand with our own east coast striper fishery, including lobsters, and horseshoe crab. As with many things here on earth, temperature is critical to the survival of life. As we have been experiencing, our oceans have been warming, which is causing problems with sea life populations as well as the relocation of fish species.

Captain Kalil Boghdan of Hamilton, Massachusetts, is an accomplished teacher and administrator with a Ph.D. in Biology, saltwater fishing

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Rich Yvon, Bradford, ME guide, as well as an advisor for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries – Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission. He was also named the Orvis endorsed 2012, Fly Fishing Guide of the Year.

When I asked Captain Kalil, “Why are we seeing such a drastic decrease in juvenile striped bass sur-

Environmental Change

duced rainfall amounts combined with pollution, have drastically increased hypoxia. Hypoxia, (low oxygen content), negatively affects striped bass and other fish. We cannot change the water temps, so our only tool is conservation, if we are to see any survivability of our fish.

With the increase in water temperature and predation of invasive fish species, the fish reproductive threshold is being brought down to

When I asked Captain Kalil, “Why are we seeing such a drastic decrease in juvenile striped bass survival? His response goes back to, ‘Environmental change is affecting the striped bass index” vival? His response goes back to, ‘Environmental change is affecting the striped bass index”. After the rebuilding, of the bass index in the 1990’s, increased unfavorable conditions, such as reduced winter snowfalls and re910 Exeter Rd, Corinna

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all-time lows. The Chesapeake Bay has experienced six straight years of below young of year, thresholds.

When I asked his opinion about instituting a moratorium on the harvesting of striped bass, both commercially and recreationally, he said, “I would be in favor of a moratorium until the striped bass stock was once again rebuilt and stable”.

Striped bass is an anadromous fish that is born and grows for two years in freshwater, then to mature in salt water.

Approximately seventy

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percent of striped bass can be sourced from the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The remaining thirty percent are sourced from the Hudson River. If conditions are unfavorable, baby

a moratorium is the answer and will help save what’s left of our striped bass fishery for future generations.

If you would like more information on East Coast Striper, please reach

Kalikl Boghdan - Ph.D, Fishing Guide bass will not survive to see maturity. According to the 2023 New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC), the 2023 young-of-the-year (YOY) abundance index – a geometric mean number of striped bass per haul through weeks 29-45 for striped bass collected in the Hudson River – has come in at a near all-time low. A future striper survey will reveal if this is a trend or a simple anomaly. As with any fishery, man needs to develop sustainable methods to preserve our wild future fish stocks. Perhaps,

out to Captain Kalil at his web site : DownRiverCharters.com Rich is a full time Registered Master Maine Master Guide. He owns and operates Twin Maple Outdoors guide service and sporting lodge located in Bradford, Maine. He is a “Certified Yamaha G3 Guide” that runs fly and spin fishing trips with a G3 Jet boat and Stealthcraft drift boat. Rich also guides Maine Partridge, Turkey, Moose, Deer hunting and recreation adventures.

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Me & Joe

Northwoods Sporting Journal

again.” He pointed into a thick tangle of swamp to (Cont. from pg 17) our right.

“He’s gone in there. work cut out for us. Let’s go.” Joe led off the way we This stretch of swamp is about 200 yards acrost. The had just come from.

“But the buck went problem is it stretches for that way!” Norton said, a couple of miles north an’ south. We can’t go around pointing.

“Yep,” Joe agreed. it. So we got to crawl along “An’ he’ll be watchin’ his an’ follow his trail at least back trail. We got to get until he clears the swamp. ahead of him.” Without If he does.”

We edged into the another word he strode of quickly upstream. We fol- swamp. It was a nightmare.

At times we were knee lowed along.

A mile further along deep in icy water. At other Joe turned and led us up times we crawled on our and over the ridge, all the bellies through the sodden while watching the for- moss and swap grass. At est around us and peering last the dense undergrowth at the ground. When we began to thin and we could reached the bottom of the see the buck’s tracks leaddownslope on the other ing through the last of side, he paused and we the swamp and onto clear ground. Joe stopped. caught up with him.

“They’s a small mead“No tracks, so either we’re ahead of him, or he ow out there. He might turned off. I’m thinkin’ he of just crossed it an’ kept on goin’. I’m bettin’ he’s turned off.”

“But how do you waitin’ on the edge of the know?” Norton asked. Joe meadow, off to one side, to see who comes out of the looked at him.

“I don’t. We have to swamp. The breeze is from go on our best guess. But the north, so he’ll be to our I’m guessin’ from years left. They’s a little island of of trackin’ bucks in this scrub cedar between this country. If I’m wrong, we meadow an’ another one to don’t get him. Like I said; the south. I’m thinkin’ he’s no guarantees.” Longshot holed up in that island of trees, waitin’ an’ smellin’.” nodded reluctantly.

We set off back along He looked at Norton, who the western base of the was washed in sweat and ridge, all the while know- soaked to the skin.

“We’re gonna sneak ing that we were heading downwind and also down through the swamp knowing there was little ‘til we’re downwind of we could do about it. Half him, then crawl through a mile along Joe stopped that meadow until we’re once more. At his feet were close enough for a good the tracks of the big buck. shot.”

“What if he hears Joe looked at Norton.

“If’n we was to back track us or sees us?” Longshot this deer we’d see where asked. “What’s to keep him he stopped from time to from sneaking away back time an’ fishhooked back. to the north?”

Joe turned to me and Prob’ly stood in some small trees acrost from where grinned. “That’s where you we’d come into a clear come in.”

I sighed in resignaplace on his trail. Then he’d of been off and runnin’ tion. “I kind of thought that

was the case.”

“Give us three quarters of an hour. Then ease around the north end of this meadow. Stay out of sight, but go far enough around so he’ll git your scent.”

I nodded, and watched as they crawled off through the swamp. Later, Joe told me how the stalk had gone.

He and Longshot finally reached a point along the edge of the lower meadow.

By then both of them were drenched with sweat and exhausted.

“All right,” Joe said.

“Now comes the hard part.”

Norton crooked an eyebrow. “Oh, the easy part’s over now, is it?” he said with a tired grin. Joe grinned back.

“We got to crawl over that meadow ‘til we’re close enough for a decent shot. Put the rifle across yer forearms and crawl beside me. Stop when I stop.

Crawl when I crawl. Don’t do nothin’ I don’t tell yer.”

For Norton, it had to be an education. He noticed that they only moved when the light breeze rustled the tops of the high grass.

When the breeze died, Joe squeezed his arm and they stopped. Once a hawk flew overhead and Joe froze.

The hawk continued undisturbed. Another time a tiny field mouse came out of the grass, stared at their frozen figures, then continued into a tunnel in the grass. Norton lost all track of time.

Finally, Joe grasped his wrist and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

“The buck ought to be gittin’ the scent about now.

That clump of cedars is 40 yards ahead of us.”

“If he hasn’t left already.”

Joe grinned. “I’m bettin’ he’s gonna hold right there an’ wait for whoever’s to the north to cross

an’ move on. We can’t get no closer without givin’ ourselves away. Grass is about chest high on a kneelin’ man. When I let go yore arm, git up on yore knees.

One smooth motion. You got yore breath back?”

Norton nodded and Joe released his arm. They both lifted to their knees and the clump of cedars lay before them, much closer than Norton had realized.

At the same instant, the buck saw the two heads above the grass. He came to his feet and stood for a moment, tail raised.

Longshot raised the old Winchester and fired, all in one motion. The buck humped and then gave a leaping bound toward the eastern line of the trees across from the clump of cedars.

Norton swore and levered another round. Swingin, he caught the bead front sight in the circle of the peep, with the buck’s chest in line, and squeezed the trigger. At the roar of the gun, the buck folded into a heap at the edge of the trees.

“Longshot staggered to his feet and jacked another shell into the rifle. For some reason, he was out of breath again, panting heavily, distantly aware of Joe clapping him on the back.

“Got ‘im, boy! That first shot was a killer but both of ‘um were right where they had to be.” He took the old Winchester from Longshot’s suddenly trembling hand and held out his own. “Congratulations!”

I came down into the lower meadow just as Joe finished dressing the deer.

It was a heavy 10-pointer with thick beams and long tines.

“Congratulations, Norton!” I shook his hand.

Page 25 “This buck will dress 250 easy. He’s a great trophy.

Looks like you’ll be able to make your plane tomorrow.”

Norton seemed almost in a daze. “I’ve never done anything like this,” he said wonderingly. I mean, I’ve gone with guides that tracked before, but…I don’t know. We always finally sighted the animal and I took my time and made a good long shot.

This…this was…I mean, I could hardly breathe!”

Joe nodded in understanding. “You done good in the past, Norton. But what you really been doin’ before this is some real good shootin’. This here is called huntin’. The shootin’ part’s jist the final act.

Longshot nodded slowly. “I guess I’ll always enjoy those long shots. But from now on, well…dang it Joe! You’ve spoiled me!

Tell you what. Can I book another hunt right now, for next fall? Same time?”

“Sure Norton. It’d be my pleasure.” He looked at the big buck and shook his head.

“What?” I asked.

Joe lifted his hat and rubbed the sweat from his forehead. “This turned out pretty good, but I think I’m still gonna kill that George Smith.”

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North Maine Woods

by Bill Greaves

North Maine Woods, A Multi-Use Forest

state that forests produce “How fortunate am I the recreational activities multiple serto be able to use the North within the 3.5-million-acre vices. Apart Maine Woods”! Have you boundary, and the KI Jo from the most ever said that before? For Mary Forest of approxi- c o m m o n l y me, maybe a thousand mately 280,000 acres. A c o n s i d e r e d times. Everyone knows fair piece of ground that wood prodthat North Maine Woods “we” have access to for u c t s , t h e y also provide a is comprised of over 3.5 many reasons.

When I say “we”, it range of other million acres of land owned by private, and public includes not only sports- services, including reclandowners. North Maine men, but woods workers, reation, aesthetics, clean Woods Inc. is a company professors, researchers, air and water, carbon secreated by these landown- historians, foragers, and questration, forage, flood ers in 1970 to manage many more. It is a cliché to protection and soil erosion

prevention. North Maine Woods is a place which draws many people for many reasons. I know it is an old term, but the description of multi-use-for-

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est applies so well. There was a time when Indian Tribes lived here, and settlers had homesteads along the St. John, Allagash, and Aroostook Rivers. The junk cast aside many years ago is now called antiques or artifacts.

Some have become destinations, such as the “Ghost

North Maine Woods Inc. alone employs almost 70 people and has issued 131 commercial use permits to guides and other recreational professions thus far in 2024.

Trains”. Now “we” come here for many reasons.

Now, as sportsman, our interests may include chasing a big buck, or catching a 5 lb. brookie.

But we can not exclude the value in sitting on the edge of a pond during peak foliage in the fall. Picking chaga or fiddleheads, and maybe foraging for edible plants such as Indian Cucumber, could be on your agenda.

That being said, it is a reality of life that the North Maine Woods as a region, is also a large part of our state’s economy.

North Maine Woods Inc. alone employs almost 70 people and has issued 131 commercial use permits to (Forest cont. pg 51)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Are Humans a Part of Nature?

(Illustration by V. Paul Reynolds)

Back in the 90’s, I got a call from ice fishermen on Eagle Lake in Bar Harbor that activists were out lecturing them about the ills of ice fishing on lakes and ponds on Mount Desert Island. Apparently, a group of students were roving from party-to-party chiding anglers because they felt these fishermen were catching and hurting fish.

These IF&W customers were furious. And frankly I didn’t blame them. They were out there fishing to enjoy the weekend with friends and family, and not out to hurt anyone. There was no malice intended in their legal activity and they had purchased a license to do so. They had worked hard all week and the last

thing they wanted was to be the violators were given a accosted by environmental stern warning not to bother people who were legally extremists.

Page 27

Everything Maine

by Greg Burr Addison, ME

to as the hippies. Apparently, this must have been the theme at the time for zealots trying to be relevant in the outdoor scene. Their assertion was that I was inflicting pain and suffering on innocent fish for my own selfish pleasure. They didn’t mind me catching a fish for a meal, but thought I was a bully for practicing catch and release. To them I was an animal, much

Their assertion was that I was inflicting pain and suffering on innocent fish for my own selfish pleasure. They didn’t mind me catching a fish for a meal, but thought I was a bully for practicing catch and release. To them I was an animal...

My reaction was quick and decisive. Call the Warden Service and have these misguided young people ticketed for harassing fishermen. (Yes, Virginia there are laws on the books in Maine that say you cannot harass hunters and fishermen in pursuit of legally harvesting fish and game from the waters and woods of our state.)

Which, the fishermen did.

They promptly called the district game warden, and

fishing, or the next time they would have to forfeit their Saturday laundry money.

Around the same time, I experienced the same treatment while I was fishing Cathance Lake in Washington county. I was having good luck that day and had caught several stocked salmon, releasing most of them on the way to picking out one for a meal. My perpetrators were a group fondling referred

like a cat playing with its food. (Just for the record I am not a “Furry” and I am against placing litter boxes in public restrooms) My first thought was that these beatniks had just rolled out of a smoke-filled

micro-bus. My reaction was to laugh the group off the lake, which I did, turned my back, and kept on fishing.

But wait a minute, maybe these beloved flower power children had a point. Their argument was thought provoking. I pondered this ethical question, and it reminded me of a similar inquiry I had made years earlier to one of my wildlife professors at Unity College. I asked him, “Do you consider humans a part of nature?”

His answer was no. He went on to explain that because we are so much more intelligent than the animals, we must always be mindful of their needs before ours and that their environments need to be protected. This meant that (Nature cont. pg 30)

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From Craig Pond

Northwoods Sporting Journal

by Bob Mercer, Bucksport, ME This article is the final installment based on the book Braiding Sweetgrass

by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

In the last piece I focused on the women’s role as the keepers of water. Now we look to the men’s role; keepers of fire.

Ms. Kemmerer’s father taught the young generations how to build fires.

The first goal was to build a fire using just one match.

It began with the gathering of tinder, materials that burn easy, quick and hot.

Birch bark was gathered by removing already loose pieces from the tree, never cutting into the bark with a knife. Then is a layer of dry softwood sticks, the finer the better. The next layer is of bigger softwood sticks and when all this is going

December 2024

Braiding Sweetgrass (part 3)

well, adding the hard wood.

Next came building one match fires in the rain and in the snow. The real experts then learned to build a no match fire using a bow and drill. The expert stage takes extreme knowledge

and drill.

There are several different kinds of fires. There are ceremonial fires, work fires and cook fires. In the indigenous traditions of which Ms. Kimmerer wrote, the smoke from ceremonial fires carried messages to the spirit world.

and patience. The key is the wood used for the drill and the board base. The base has to be notched just right, so that the spark created by turning the drill back and forth in the notch, can fall out onto the tinder. We learned all these same techniques in Boy Scouts but I only know of one scout that could successfully build a fire by friction with a bow

This process was enhanced by adding “sacred tobacco” to the fire. It, in some traditions, was important to have the ceremonial fire to be continuous, to never really be extinguished.

When moving from one area to another a coal from the ceremonial fire was encased in shkitagen, today known as chaga. Chaga is a fungus that grows on

dead birch trees and an ember encased in it would not burn out. We call these special fires “camp fires”, when we sit by them, we tend to stare into them and let our thoughts wonder.

Often times our minds bring up things long forgotten or even new things we

There are several different kinds of fires. There are ceremonial fires, work fires and cook fires. In the indigenous traditions of which Ms. Kimmerer wrote, the smoke from ceremonial fires carried messages to the spirit world. did not even know about.

The flickering of the flame and the crackling of the wood burning seems to take us into a dreaming state, kind of like meditation. When our family goes to Big Eddy, the camp fire is referred to as “Big Eddy TV”.

Work fires for the indigenous were to burn over areas to promote the

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growth of birch trees for the harvest of the bark and in wetter areas willows.

Birch bark for the making of cooking utensils, baskets, and canoes. The willow bark and inner layers are used for medicinal purposes. Today, work fires are mostly for burning blueberry fields. We older folks remember when it was a spring ritual to burn off any field not used for hay to keep down the incursion of alders and poplar, which would quickly over grow the field. This practice has mostly ended, which is why so many open spaces, other than hay fields, are growing in. (or being covered with solar panels… to me, better that they grow in) We do not actually cook on a fire, but a bed of coals. For the indigenous, they not only cooked over the coals, but they also encased meats like fish in clay and buried the clay in the coals to cook. We burn down a good bed of hard wood coals, and do the cooking over them.

Sometimes folks will make packets in aluminum foil and put them directly on the coals. Hamburg Patties (Sweetgrass cont. pg 30)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

More Woodcock Days

By Wiggie Robinson

Put your hands together and help me congratulate Stan Gott. He lives in Southwest Harbor and is the winner of half a dozen Maple Syrup flies for guessing the “secret” pond in my trivia contest in the July issue of NWSJ. The clue, that only Stan picked up on, was “it could

We all know that Maine (and many other states in the Flyway) does not allow Sunday hunting.

Therefore, we are NOT getting 30 days; we are getting 25 or 26, depending on how the calendar reads for each year. be a Saturday night pond.”

Stop and think about that and what Saturday night is noted for? BEANS! Good thinking, Stan! All of the other entries guessed Celia Pond. Admittedly Celia Pond has a one-fish limit and an 18-inch minimum length limit, but the ‘Saturday night’ clue was the key to the answer. Thanks to everyone who sent me letters.

The Advisory Council will set the dates for duck season at a Public Hearing after the August 16 Public Hearing, so should be firmly established by the time you read this. I suspect they will follow the Federal Guidelines and few if any changes will apply from the 2005 season. Not being an avid duck hunter, I can’t help but notice that the daily limit on black ducks

might be 2 per day. One of the best things being done in recent years is to designate a Youth Day prior to regular season. September 23 is that day for 2006.

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Woodcock seasons are on the agenda for this Public Hearing, but sadly the many who follow bird dogs for this sport will not have a say in the season or bag limits. Surprised?

Page 29

THE BACK SHELF

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

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.

The reason for this is the Feds have already established woodcock season, long before this Public hearing. In fact, when I was at the annual OWAA conference in June, the final curtain was about to fall on when and how many. I will now get up on the “Stump” and preach my thoughts and goals about woodcock hunting season.

The framework for this season in the Atlantic Flyway is established by the Feds in order to ensure that each state in the Flyway gets a ‘fair shake’ on

the migration. The allotment to Maine is 30 days (and I suspect to all the other states in the Flyway.)

That sounds like a fair enough deal, right? NO! I say. My reason for this negative response lies in the fact that for woodcock hunting the Feds count Sunday as one of the 30 days. We all know that Maine (and many other states in the Flyway) does not allow Sunday hunting.

Therefore, we are NOT getting 30 days; we are getting 25 or 26, depending on (Woodcock cont. pg 38)

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Page 30

Nature (Cont. from pg 27) we always need to tread lightly on the earth and to leave no trace. What I have found over the years since the lessons on environmental theory in college, is that to aspire to these teachings is admirable, but that in reality they are a bit unrealistic. Of course, we are a part of nature, and even though we have evolved to a high intellect we still have the basic needs of air,

water, sustenance, shelter, and reproduction. But the idea that we were somehow beamed down by aliens to hover over the landscape and the natural resources, but not touch them, preserving everything as if it were in a museum, and leave no trace is ridiculous.

The concept of catching and culling our food is not new. The indigenous people routinely did this as well as manipulated the landscape to encourage the resources they liked to flourish. They altered

streams and rivers to make it easier to trap fish, but through it all they always left some for seed.

In the August 17 th th -18 addition of the Bangor Daily News, V. Paul Reynolds quotes two very profound and grounded conservationists that are worth quoting again, and again, and again.

“As you learn about animals, you will also learn that the presence of hunters in the animal world is natural. A hunter is a predator participating in

December 2024

a world where predation belongs. Just as predators belong to the natural system, an ethical hunter also belongs to the natural system. That sense of belonging becomes real when you hunt.” Jim Posewitz, Montana wildlife biologist and ethicist.

“I thought about life, and I thought about death and how one chance encounter, one single moment, holds the difference between the two. And, like so many other humans have, I pondered what does

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it all mean? And I realized that question is partly why I hunt. No. 1 is the protein and No. 2 the introspection, the indecision, the chance to reach out and touch the bare, cold truth that life feeds on life, to feel a visceral connection to the uncertainty of life and the frightening certainty of death.” Heather Fraley, senior editor, Bugle Magazine.

Today we tend to change our environment on a large scale to accommodate our ever-increasing population. However, we must do this with balanced conservation in mind to ensure our existence.

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(Cont. from pg 28) with layers of thinly sliced potatoes, and onions make a great meal for ice fishing. There is an exception to the coals, which occurs when using a reflector oven to make biscuits and other goods. This requires the high intense heat from flames. A pile of splints of hard wood burned right in front of the oven accomplishes this, but one needs a large supply of splints because they burn up fast and you have to keep feeding the fire to keep the flames and heat up.

I hope this series has sparked an interest in the book, Braiding Sweetgrass and will encourage folks to check it out. Maybe even give it as a Christmas present.

Bob writes from his camp at Craig Pond where he and his wife have raised their three children and enjoyed ten grandchildren.

He is an avid outdoors man and former registered Maine Guide. You can reach Bob at craigponder@myfairpoint.net

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Lost Bird Hunters

During the late summer and early fall of 2024, my fellow Wardens and I in Aroostook County worked on several largescale search and rescue operations. These included a weeklong search for an elderly gentleman in Presque Isle, an ongoing search for a female juvenile near Caribou, along with several other searches that required mult i p l e Wa rdens and use of the various resources we employ to bring people back to their loved ones when they become lost in the woods of Maine.

Statewide, it has been a very busy year for search and rescue calls and Wardens from every corner of Maine have been deployed on hundreds of these calls.

During the Presque Isle search in late September, I was sitting in the “command post”, taking a break from the several miles I had just completed walking and awaiting my next grid assignment. You could probably say I was daydreaming, but I recall looking around the command post area at my teammates, bustling back and forth, sharing thoughts and ideas, downloading and uploading new GPS coordinates for the next track, reviewing surveillance camera footage to hopefully narrow down a search area, reviewing OnX imagery on phones to identify areas that should be searched next, coordinat-

ing via radio with aircraft units on where they should focus with FLIR units (heat seeking imagery), a drone was actively being deployed by the Maine Forest Service providing video footage from the treetops, K9 teams were bustling about. It dawned on me in this moment, the high level of sophistication that has become a search and

had left camp near Oxbow that morning to go bird hunting. Family was now very concerned that they still had not returned by 8:00 p.m. that evening.

Like Clark Kent in a phone booth, I jumped into my green garb, brewed a fresh cup of coffee, and pointed my Ford F-250 for the big woods of Oxbow, Maine.

Sergeant Bill Chandler, Warden Ed Christie and

Page 31

Warden’s Words

by Game Warden Kale O’Leary, Ashland, ME they are always the least prepared. Often they have little more than a light shirt and a round or two in their shotgun. Unlike a deer hunter who becomes lost, they are usually still carrying essentials like fire making equipment, multiple

the dense softwood cover, I remember thinking to myself that it felt good to find someone the tried and true, “old school Game Warden way”. A shot in the dark is always a good feeling for a Game Warden! The funniest part of

As I hiked through the dense softwood cover, I remember thinking to myself that it felt good to find someone the tried and true, “old school Game Warden way”. A shot in the dark is always a good feeling for a Game Warden!

rescue effort in 2024. I have spent several months going over the case file from the Bob Smith search, which I wrote a recent article about, from 1997. At that time, Wardens were sent out with volunteers and once a grid was searched, it was highlighted with a different color marker on a printed topographical map and then threehole punched and placed in a three-ring binder. It dawned on me how fast technology has changed the game in less than 30 years.

Like so many things in this day and age, manpower has been substituted to a large degree for technological advancements that make the job easier and more efficient.

In early October, I received a call well after dark. A father and his twelve-year old daughter

I began searching road systems that the father and daughter usually hunted in that area. It is common however, for the road systems shared by family as their “favorite” hunting spots, to range anywhere from Oxbow to Houlton, and this case was no different. It feels a lot like a needle in a haystack search when these types of calls first come in. I began driving out area woods roads, when good news finally came over the radio around 11:00 p.m. that night. A group of family members, who came out to help us look for the father and daughter’s vehicle, had just located their truck on a road several miles south of the camp.

I was the first Warden to arrive at the location of the truck. The truck had been left right in the middle of the road and it appeared as though the two hunters had just jumped out for a moment to chase a grouse off the road and had become disoriented. In my experience looking for lost hunters, when a bird hunter goes in a little too far after a bird and becomes lost,

rounds, warm clothes and usually a compass.

The family members told me that they had fired a round from their shotgun and heard a return shot that appeared a long way off. They had also heard both of them yelling in the distance. I yelled and also heard an answer response.

It was a cold, clear night but I knew now that within the hour, the young girl and her father would be getting warm in their own vehicle.

As I hiked through

the rescue was as I neared the location of the father and daughter, I yelled that I was almost there. The young girl shouted back “who are you?’ I responded “A Game Warden!” and I laughed when she shouted back “Wow, you’re a life saver! Literally!”

Kale O’Leary has been a Maine Game Warden since 2016. He lives in Ashland and covers the Masardis/Oxbow district in central Aroostook County.

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Page 32

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Tales Of A Maine Woodsman

Eating hardtack, seems a little masochistic.

Why would anyone eat something with the consistency of a rock?

Before sitting down to write I broke up two hardtack biscuits and ladled hot venison stew over them to steep. In 10 to 15 minutes the hardtack will still be crunchy but soft enough to eat.

Hardtack by definition is flour that has been baked to prevent it from spoiling. In this form it is so hard it cannot be eaten.

I have found that there are three basic ways to ingest hardtack.

First; break up the hardtack into small pieces.

This is best done by placing the biscuit in a handkerchief and hitting it with a

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Eating Hardtack

typically salt pork and hardtack. The most common recipe was Hellfire Stew. Cut up the pork and render it in a pan. Add broken up hardtack and wait for the fat to soften it. I have tried this and it is tastier that you might think.

The hungrier you are the better it tastes.

stand how our forebears lived then food is the first step.

Now back to that venison stew. Well, it sat for a half an hour but it is still warm. The hardtack chunks are still a little crunchy and some of the flour has soaked into the stew and made a gravy. Wow, that

and burgers. Blue cheese - nothing too fancy - runs between 12 and 30 dollars a pound. The men before me were in the habit of feeding seasoned blue cheese to chubs.

“You actually target chubs?” I asked Neil in disbelief. Chubs are “trash fish” or bait here. The European chub is strikingly similar to our Maine fallfish.

“Yes, excellent fighters on light gear. Great fun.

Primarily a winter fishery.

Takes place at night with a headlamp, sometimes in the snow. You walk downriver and throw little balls of cheese into the holes, then fish each hole on your

way back upriver.”

I was immediately reminded of the crowds that line the banks of our streams at ungodly hours in early spring. Adorned with waders and headlamps, and armed with oversized nets, they peer with glazed eyes into the frigid water waiting on the schools of finger-long fish that might swim by. I, too, have been part of the smelt dipping crowd.

“Just to be clear, you chum for chubs with cheese?”

“Yes, exactly. Look here, I belong to a chub society.” He pointed to the yellow logo on his green sweatshirt. “We are con-

Hardtack 1 cup Flour

by Joel F. Tripp ½ teaspoon Salt Limington, ME 1 teaspoon Thyme, dried. Not traditional but rock. Put a piece in your a little flavor goes a long cheek and wait for it to way. soften up. This is great if ½ cup Water you are on a track and don’t Mix dry ingredients. want to stop for a meal. I Add half the water and prefer to have a little piece mix. Continue adding water until a stiff dough is The most common recipe was Hellfire Stew. Cut up the pork formed. Turn onto floured and render it in a pan. Add broken up hardtack and wait for surface. Divide into four. the fat to soften it. I have tried this and it is tastier that you Roll into balls and flatten to 3/8 inch thick. Prick might think. The hungrier you are the better it tastes. with a fork. Bake at 250F Third; beat the biscuit disappeared fast. Granted, for four hours. Cool. Store of jerky along with the into a powder and use like it was venison stew but in sealed plastic bag. For a hardtack.

Second; Break up as flour. Add water and a lump the hardtack gave it a new more palatable biscuit bake before and soak in water of fat and you have a stiff flavor. for two hours. and/or fat. Dehydrated dough. Form into cakes I am looking forward venison stew is ideal. Just and fry in a pan or bake on to a crisp late fall day with Joel F. Tripp is a add water. When the heated a rock. hardtack and jerky in my Master Blacksmith and Agreeably, nobody is pocket, a fresh track and Maine Woodsman who stew is reconstituted add the hardtack. During the going to get a Michelin star nothing to hear but the hiss rarely misses a meal. For American Civil War sol- here but to fully experience of snow beginning to fall. more information go to; diers would draw rations, history and begin to undertrippsend.com

Pond (Cont. from pg 22)

TRIPP’S END

December 2024

common bait when targeting panfish and trout.

Worms are almost synonymous with fishing everywhere. But cheese? “So, you fish with cheese from the supermarket?” I inquired.

Neil replied, “Yes, you mix it into a paste. Mix several cheeses with garlic and other spices into a big ball. Lots of garlic. Blue cheese and cheddar are my favorites. Keep it in the fridge.”

I considered my latest excursion to Hannaford. I enjoy blue cheese on salads

nected through Facebook.

People from across the U.K. meet up several times a year. We chat, drink ale, and discuss chub fishing.

Oh, they’re terrific sportfish, mate. Aren’t they, Ray?” Ray nodded with conviction.

I understood. “It’s different, but actually the same. Fishing is fishing.”

Neil grinned, “That’s just it, lad. Fishing is fishing.”

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

Merry Christmas!

Northwoods Sporting Journal Guns & Ammo:

December 2024

Guns and Calibers for New Hunters

I frequently share my opinions in this column, that doesn’t mean you need to agree with me. I would,

first block always being safety. The second block, sight alignment. The third being proper stance and

If you believe that someday your novice shooter will ever hunt a bear or moose in addition to whitetail, choose an appropriate caliber. I mean something like a .30/30 as a minimum, but preferably more like a 7mm/08, .308, .30/06, .270, etc.

Personally, I would not spend a lot of money

Page 33

A Guide’s Perspective

by Tom Kelly, Orient, ME

and at the top of the line would be the Ruger #1.

These are all great choices, but not exactly low-cost options. There is another option that has become one of my favorites. It is the CVA Scout. This rifle is rich in features and on the low side in price. It comes standard with a removable

an excellent recoil pad. For those of you who are recoil sensitive, it’s mind over matter. My daughter, who is now well into her 40’s was shooting .44 magnum handguns at the age of 7.

She now hunts deer with a .30/06 and bear with a .450 Bushmaster. She is about 5’6” in height. So, the ba-

Personally, I would not spend a lot of money on a new hunter’s first rifle. Many start out with a hand me down from grandpa or Uncle Zeke and that is great. However, today, many new hunters do not come from hunting families.

Alicia shot this deer in 2019 with her 30.06.

(Courtesy of Alicia Cram)

however, ask that you at least consider my point of view based on the reasons I am about to relate. If you have an opposing opinion, so be it. This is still a free country, and you are entitled to that opinion.

When teaching young hunters/shooters about our sport, it is important to understand that they need to learn the fundamentals of shooting before the hunt.

I have been a firearms and Hunter Education instructor for many years. I have taught both novice youngsters and veteran police officers. What I have learned from this is shooting skills should be taught using a building block method. The

grip. The next being trigger control and consistency. In my opinion, these building blocks are best taught with a single shot firearm, or one loaded one round at a time.

If you give a 15-year-old a semiauto, it becomes much harder to master those basics. It also eats up a lot of ammo.

The other opinion I would like to share is if the shooter has learned the basics of shooting, there is no reason to not shoot an adequate big game caliber.

on a new hunter’s first rifle.

Many start out with a hand me down from grandpa or Uncle Zeke and that is great. However, today, many new hunters do not come from hunting families. In these cases, a new rifle is in order. I can assure you this first rifle will not be the same one they are hunting with in 10 years.

It will however be a fondly remembered spare rifle, and hopefully passed on to the next generation. Further, the next gun should be their choice. One they have researched and talked about and saved their afterschool job money to get.

So where do we start with a first hunting rifle?

Fortunately, there are several excellent choices.

There are single shot rifles from a number of good manufacturers. Henry has a new single shot that looks interesting. Thompson Center is back in the game

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(See page 47)

muzzle break. A picatinny rail for optics mounting and a hammer extension to cock the hammer with a scope on. The triggers on these guns are excellent.

Both crisp and relatively light. The barrels are excellent and very accurate.

They are available in .350 Legend, .300 Blackout, .35 Whelan, .450 Bushmaster, .44 magnum, .444 Marlin and a.45/70. CVA has been purchased by Bergara corporation, makers of the outstandingly accurate Bergara barrels. I would add a note here.

Single shot shooters generally choose a caliber at least one notch above their normal calibers. This, as a result of the absence of a follow up shot. To that end, these also have

sics pay off. Practice pays off. No matter what they shoot, let’s all get those new shooters and hunters to the range.

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 Instructor 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.

Page 34

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Gun Cabinet

The Neck Shot for Bears

by John Floyd, Webster Plantation, ME When clients arrive for bear camp on Tucker Ridge we perform an orientation and safety briefing to acclimate them to the hunting area. We also cover a variety of topics relevant to the bear hunt and answer a lot of questions from first time bear hunters. By far, the most frequently asked question

December 2024

nerves, the nervous system is the command and control center of the body’s function.

A shot that contacts or impairs the spinal cord through bone trauma will shut a bear off like a light switch. Along with severing the connection to the brain, the radial nerves in the front legs and tibi-

A traditional lung shot is certainly viable, especially for bow hunters. But in my experience, bears hit in the lungs run. Remember the amount of oxygen in those big lungs.

Tracking wounded bears into cedar swamps and heavy blow downs isn’t my idea of a good time. I prefer to roll them into the game sled right at the bait site.

these two takes a hit, the heart will pump blood out quickly.

Taking a neck shot might sound risky. In my practical experience how-

the bear is quartering or head on, it will not be a good option. I would not recommend the neck shot on bears for archery hunters; the traditional vitals

When I give my answer, eyebrows raise, lips part and hunters get a puzzled look on their face because my answer is this: the neck shot. Here are three good reasons why. concerns shot placement.

When I give my answer, eyebrows raise, lips part and hunters get a puzzled look on their face because my answer is this: the neck shot. Here are three good reasons why.

Nervous System

The nervous system in black bears is very similar to that of humans. Comprised of the brain, spinal cord and a network of

al nerves in the rear legs lose their ability to ‘tell’ the extremities to move.

Respiratory System

The lungs and trachea (also known as the windpipe) make up the most critical parts of the respiratory system when taking the neck shot. Bears have very large lungs, hence the ability to retain large amounts of oxygen.

When a hunter hits the trachea, the bear in effect loses the ability to take in air. As opposed to a lung shot, the bear will go down hard and stay down.

Circulatory System

Massive and rapid blood loss is a sure-fire way to anchor a bear. If the hunter’s shot does not sever the spinal cord or cause mortal trauma to the trachea, the round is sure to hit the network of veins and arteries that direct blood flow from the heart to the head.

A direct shot to the neck area will cause a rapid and massive blood loss.

Both the jugular vein and carotid artery pass through the neck to deliver much needed blood to organs of the head. If either of

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The author’s client Jacob took his guide’s advice and anchored his bear with one shot to the neck. ever, it has proven to be the most effective way to put a bear down quickly and humanely. If you look at the target size of the entire neck from the base of the head to above the shoulder, you’ll see that is roughly the same amount of real estate that a traditional vital shot occupies.

When a bear is broadside and gives a clean presentation, I’ll advise the neck shot every time. If

shot would be the ethical choice.

John is a Registered Maine Guide, an NRA Certified Instructor and is the owner of Tucker Ridge Outdoors in Webster Plantation, Maine. He is also an active member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association. Reach him at john@tuckerridge.me or on Facebook @tuckerridgeoutdoors

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

On The Ridge

Grandpa’s Memory Everyone has special memories of Christmas!

And for me, I can’t enter a Christmas season without remembering my grandfather with great enthusiasm!

Grandpa was always there!

When Father grew tired of the pitch-and-catch games, grandpa would always have a few throws left in his arm for me. And grandpa would always take the long way home after a day’s upland hunt, no matter how worn out he was, only because he knew it pleased me to be walking home with him after dark.

As a boy during deer season, I would sit at the kitchen table and watch grandpa and dad prepare for the days hunt. And I would wait there, peering through the window, until the orange hats and vests moving out across the pasture in the pre-dawn light, disappeared. Yet, grandpa would always pause and take off his hat, waving it back and forth toward the house, just before the darkness stole them from my view. Grandpa knew I would sit in that window, watching, until he waved…and he always did. As a young boy growing up there was no one, outside of mother and dad, who I loved more than that old man. And during Christmas, memories of him come full circle!

Grandpa had a way about him that seemed to make Christmas so special.

I can remember sitting in front of the wood stove on Christmas Eve watching him make Chestnut Men until I fell asleep. I would just delight in watching him turn chestnuts into

little men. He would take a chestnut and scratch a face on it like you would do for a jack-o-lantern… that would be the head!

Then he would take a bigger chestnut and cut two or three places in front for buttons, and he would stick toothpicks in for legs and arms. And, magically, he

that mothers, in general, simply aren’t happy unless they’re fretting over such things during the holidays!

He told me not to worry about it, and just let her enjoy herself. Now, I thought about that for a while… and eventually took his advice to heart. Even now, I wouldn’t even think of not

The feeling of being with them at that moment, just the three of us surrounded by God’s nature, is a feeling I still wish for, even today. would somehow fasten the head to the body and “TaDah” there’s your Chestnut Man. He would hide them all over the house and I would hunt for them the next morning until I found each one. And I would play with them for days!

On Christmas Morning, we would open gifts, then grandpa and dad would go out after breakfast to do some simple chores. And when they returned, grandpa would usually dump an armful of wood in the box, then take my face into his huge cold hands and rub my cheeks until they hurt. At times, I can still catch the scent of those huge hands! Later, we would just relax, and grandpa would sometimes tell stories until it was time for the afternoon feast that mother had prepared. I can remember how mother would smile when dad and grandpa remarked about some delicious portion.

And she would always get so worried about everyone getting enough to eat that I often wondered if she was getting enough herself?

One year I mentioned this to dad, and he explained

Page 35

letting my wife, and others who fuss over such things, enjoy themselves during the holidays! After the meal, we would head out for our “Christmas Hunt”!

But I learned early on that it wasn’t hunting as usual. We would just walk, and talk, and I would listen to dad tell grandpa about things he wanted to do, and places he and mother would like to visit, and the talk would

by Joe Judd Shelburne, MA just go on and on. Yes, it wasn’t hunting as usual, but it was Christmas, and we were together, a family, like so many others, just enjoying each other and being at peace at this most glorious time of the year.

The feeling of being with them at that moment, just the three of us surrounded

by God’s nature, is a feeling I still wish for, even today. And then, during the evening, we would gather with neighbors and sing carols, play games, eat popcorn, and just be into the season. I would fall asleep listening to conversations about hunting, and without fail, after dad had carried me upstairs for the night, grandpa would slip in and place a candy cane into my hand while saying, “This is for you, but don’t eat it till you’re wake.” Half asleep,

I would smile and say, “I love you, grandpa”, and I did, and still do, to this very day!

May the joys of this Holiday Season bring to you and yours new happiness every day. And when this Christmas Season becomes a memory, my wish for each of you, is that the memory becomes a treasure.

Merry Christmas 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.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

View From The River

by Laurie Chandler Bremen, ME “Have you met Ponik, our lake monster?” asked the vivacious young woman working at the tourist information center. Kym had grown up there, in the small Québec town of Pohénégamook (Poay-nay-ga-MOOK). Last year, she saw the monster swimming, leaving behind a tell-tale long, dark wake.

zine (August 2019) about Estcourt Station, “a speck of a village at the northernmost tip of Maine, (sometimes literally) the place you can’t get to from here.”

Intrigued, we planned a visit in early July. The simplest way to get there was through Canada. We crossed the border at Fort Kent, driving my F150 for

One Dooryard, Two Countries

killdeer and woodcock on our evening walk rounded out a fun day.

In the morning, the GPS took us from paved to unpaved roads, the dirt ones often smoother than the humped and potholed asphalt. The distinctive metal steeples on the corners of picturesque Église catholique MarieMédiatrice d’Estcourt announced our arrival in

December 2024

the border, and visitors can cross between countries without checking at a crossing station.

Beyond the flower gardens, picnic pavilion, and historical displays, a

park were entirely in the United States. We already knew that the border went through houses and yards further up the street. Here, Canadian residents may wander freely around their

wooden footbridge arches across the St. Francis River, back into Canada. Within the park, a shiny metal obelisk marks the northernmost point in Maine on the U.S.-Canadian border.

Stern signs and a video camera ensure that no one ventures beyond the park boundaries.

The homes along quiet Rue de la Frontière are a mix of tired paint and tidy gardens. Some appear lived in, others abandoned. Wandering back up the street, we discovered a smaller granite border marker. Lining it up with the one in the park, it seemed that the two houses closest to the

bit of the United States, provided they remain on their own property.

While we were puzzling all this out, a friendly couple arrived. Bernard’s mother had been born in one of these houses, most likely the well-kept one with the wide white porch and granite marker in the side yard. Back in her time, residents freely crossed the border to shop, visit, or attend school.

Tr a v e l i n g h o m e , we would drive through Maine. At the Canadian border crossing station, the friendly agent came out to say hello and wave us (Countries cont. pg 38)

The distinctive metal steeples on the corners of picturesque Église catholique Marie-Médiatrice d’Estcourt announced our arrival in Pohénégamook, across the border from Estcourt Station, Maine.

One theory says Ponik is a giant sturgeon raised by a local priest in the 1870s.

However, a 1977 article in the Montreal Gazette describes “a creature up to 15 metres long, with humps and a tail as big as an airplane.”

Perhaps it was providential that we did not have time to go swimming.

This jaunt up north was my friend Claire Ackroyd’s idea. You may remember Claire—author of Murder in the Maple Woods—from last year’s camping trip at Big Moose Pond. Claire had read an article in Down East maga-

the rugged Maine logging roads we’d navigate on the way home. After encountering a detour, we relied on the cheerful voice of the GPS lady, with her hilarious French pronunciations.

One narrow, charming country road after another eventually delivered us to A-85.

Parc du Mont-Citadelle in Saint-Honoré-deTémiscouata offers camping, cabins, and yurts. Our room in the main lodge appeared recently renovated.

We even had to take the tags off brand-new towels.

A swim in the sparkling pool, pub dinner, and a

Pohénégamook, across the border from Estcourt Station, Maine.

The town lies at the east end of glacial Lac Pohénégamook, home of Ponik and headwaters of the St. Francis River. From there, the St. Francis flows east and south along the international border to join the St. John River in the town of Saint Francis, Maine.

The border here is downright confusing. Rue de la Frontière, a short residential street, starts in Canada. Within a couple of blocks, it crosses the border into the United States. At the end lies Le Parc de la Frontière. This pretty little park sits astride

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

A Couple of Panther Stories

The Pittsfield Panther Originally from the Pittsfield Advertise, and reprinted in the Phillips Phonograph on April 18, 1884, this tale relates that Mr. Bowman Carr of Pittsfield, had set a large trap in one of the sheds to catch an intruding panther.

“One night recently one of the hired men, hearing a disturbance in the shed, got up to see if the trap was sprung, and he found to his satisfaction that the animal was in the trap, for it waltzed around him so numerously, that he soon concluded it was more healthy for him outside.

In a short time, Mr. Carr heard a disturbance in that direction, and proceeded to investigate, not knowing that the hired man had proceeded him. He stepped out into the shed barefooted, and in the dark, whereupon the wildcat fastened its teeth in one of

his bare feet. The animal was eventually killed, and it was found that four oneinch teeth had been set into Mr. Carr’s foot.

A Panther Story This tale, called “A Panther Story,” was written by J. Stanley Estes of Caribou, and published in the Madison Bulletin in the 1870s.

“A story is current in Aroostook,” says Mr. Estes, “which will bear repetition. It is a tale of a hunter who went into the woods after big game. One day he had gone away by himself and when night overtook him he concluded to camp where he was until morning.

“He built a fire, cooked his supper and sat down to smoke his pipe. It was then quite dark. There was no moon and the few stars in the heavens made little impression upon the gloom that enveloped him.

Page 37

Old Tales from the Maine Woods

by Steve Pinkham Quincy, MA

hillside, and he knew that it was an Indian devil, or panther that was looking down at him. He was a dead shot with a rifle, but, for all that, he didn’t feel like having a tussle with an Indian devil. So he took deliberate aim and fired.

It was a lonely place, but He waited until the smoke he was used to the woods had cleared away and then and for a long time was in peered into the darkness to a peaceful and most happy see if he had dislodged the

times he shot at those eyes of fire before they disappeared from sight. No sleep was his that night.

He piles the wood on the fire and tramped around it until morning broke. Then he climbed the hill and found the bodies of seven panthers piled in a heap beneath the stump of the tree. Behind the tree was a cave in which the beasts

He stepped out into the shed barefooted, and in the dark, whereupon the wildcat fastened its teeth in one of his bare feet. The animal was eventually killed, and it was found that four one-inch teeth had been set into Mr. Carr’s foot. frame of mind. All of a sudden he had a feeling of impending danger come over him. On the other side of the stream from where he was sitting the bank rose to a great height.

“About half way up the mass of rock was the stump of a tree with a forked crotch, as he discovered the next day. When the scent of trouble came to him he looked up at the towering mass of rock before him. He saw a sight that nearly froze his blood, and he quickly reached for his rifle and prepared for action. Two glaring eyes blazed at him from the

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vicious animal.

“Again he saw the blazing eyes. Once more his rifle rang out and the sound echoed over the hills. He thought that this time he had succeeded in hitting the beast. But he was disappointed. The glowing eyeballs were still rooted in that same spot on the bleak hillside. Seven

had made their home. After shooting the first animal the other in succession took its pace in the tree and met the same fate.”

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

Old Tales of the Maine Woods Steve Pinkham Maine Woods Historian, Author and Storyteller

617-407-0743

steve@oldtalesofthemainewoods.com www.oldtalesofthemainewoods.com

Page 38

Countries

Northwoods Sporting Journal

ange barricade. Beyond, we could see the gated entrance into Maine. Soon, (Cont. from pg 36) the customs agent emerged, on down the road to U.S. getting his boots on. He customs. wrestled the barricade There, we found the aside, and I pulled up, passenger vehicle lane passport in hand. blocked with a large orUpon hearing our

planned route home, he said with surprise, “But those are gravel roads.

You might meet logging trucks!” He seemed amazed that we actually wanted to go through his gate. Finally convincing him that we were experi-

enced backwoods travelers, he let us through.

Claire tracked our progress in The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer, checking road signs, bridges, and other landmarks. At times, long straight sections offered gorgeous views, and we found several campsites in the vicinity of the Little Black River.

I had called my friend Sue Kelly from Tylor Kellys Camps in Allagash village for directions. Following Estcourt Road to Camp 106 Road, it was thirty-four miles to the Dickey Check-

December 2024

point. I just wished we had a way to let that customs agent know that we had made it!

Laurie Apgar Chandler is the author of Through Woods & Waters, which provides an adventurous 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 learn more or purchase the books, please visit www. laurieachandler.com

even as we Woodcock Unfortunately, spoke, the season was being

(Cont. from pg 29) how the calendar reads for each year. Wow! Did you

know that?

Rewind to the OWAA conference in June. I’ve been hammering on this for too many years, and trying to get the attention of some of the Feds who come to this conference. In June (finally) I got my first positive meeting. There were 3 Federal Reps at the conference. One of them, (Josh) had been to Maine, even to the Katahdin area. We struck up a good friendship and I told him of my concerns about woodcock seasons. I hit the jackpot because he arranged for me to meet and talk to Mr. H. Dale Hall, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I told him to call me ‘Wiggie’ and he said I should call him ‘Dale.’ Right then I knew he was one of the ‘good guys.’

He was surprised to learn about the “Sunday counting.”

Especially when I pointed out that Sundays are NOT counted when figuring the 60day Duck hunting season. His words were “I wasn’t aware of that! That doesn’t sound fair.” I was elated to finally find ears that heard my words.

Our meeting ended with his promise to call Washington and have someone look into this right away, which he did.

established and it was too late to have any impact on it for 2006. The only relief we got is (as in last year,) they are not counting the last Sunday as one of the 30 days. I thank IF&W Wildlife Biologist and Migratory Project Leader Brad Allen for getting this extra day.

Mr. Hall gave me his business card with his email address and we have corresponded several times since that day in June. His suggestion is to contact our Representative to the Atlantic Flyway Council as well as Brad Allen and have them bring up this subject at next year’s meeting. This meeting is usually held early in the year.

It behooves each and every woodcock hunter to stand up and be counted on this issue.

It could mean another four or five days to enjoy in the coverts with our four-legged companions.

“Wilmot “Wiggie” Robinson is a Master Maine Guide and Active member of the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America (OWAA) and a Patron Member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Readers can contact him by mail at 147 Medway Road, Millinocket, ME 04462. E-mail -- wiggie@ midmaine.com

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

The Pushback Factor You knew it before you even opened your eyes this morning. This was going to be an uphill day. One paddle stroke and you’d be in white water. When this happens, it is so undeniable, that at this deer camp anyway, it has a name. It’s called, The Pushback Factor, aka, the PBF. As if it weren’t self-explanatory enough, it means that you’re going to be swimming in mud today, dodging bullets, running against the wind. The stars have been misaligned unfavorably against you and there is simply no fighting it. This is no day to buy a lottery ticket.

What causes this?

What is responsible when the PBF is off the charts?

What kicked it into motion?

Did it start last night when Paul put his prosthetic eye in your beer glass when you went out to water the horses? There it was when you went to take your next swig, staring up at you like a guilty conscience. It was all in good fun, and the party was full of joviality like first nights in deer camp almost always are.

Kurt told everyone he’d been so busy leading right up to deer camp that the only thing he’d sighted in was his shot glass.

So things started out fine. Until this morning that is. You stumbled getting into your long underwear and knocked your coffee off the nightstand.

It landed on the socks you were about to put on. It wasn’t your day to cook, so you were at least glad of that. Then, when you stepped up to get your

flapjacks, you discovered they all had liquid centers.

As in, uncooked. You were reminded of the standard moose turd pie gag: knowing that whoever complains about the cooking is the next cook, the chef of the day made moose turd pie in camp. The first guy to bite into it exclaimed, “My God, that’s moose turd pie!” But after two seconds, he added, “It’s good though.”

Stepping out into the cold, crisp morning, you’re reminded of the area you scouted and then decided to put up your stand. There was a giant scrape in a perfect shooting lane, less than 25 yards from where you’d be sitting. Now, if you could just get in there without making any noise and get settled, there should be reason for optimism. It wasn’t to be. Try as you might to soft step your way in, you couldn’t keep quiet.

The beech leaves were the worst. They were six inches deep and wherever you stepped, it sounded as if you were walking on bags of ruffled potato chips.

You weren’t done though. Right before you got to the first rung of your ladder stand you managed to find the only birch limb lying under those beech leaves and when it snapped, you were sure it alerted a square mile of wildlife. On a scale of one to ten, the PBF was already at an eight. Let’s see if we can bump it up to 9… The metal ladder stand, now fifteen years old, hadn’t quite settled yet when you set it up and ratchet strapped it to the spruce tree you’d

chosen. When you got to the top and were turning around to sit down, that’s when it decided to settle.

“CLANK!” You held on for dear life as those silent woods were treated to a cacophony of creaking metal.

You made it to 9.

Page 39

The Singing Maine Guide

by Randy Spencer, Grand Lake Stream, ME

The next sound you heard was exactly the one you longed for: a shuffle of leaves. It was a slow shuffle coming in off your left shoulder. That view was partially screened by

So things started out fine. Until this morning that is. You stumbled getting into your long underwear and knocked your coffee off the nightstand. It landed on the socks you were about to put on.

It wasn’t your day to cook, so you were at least glad of that.

Great start. Could the woods forgive such a clumsy and hamfisted entrance into its quiet cathedral?

Nothing to do now but sit, breathe, and reflect on what in the world brings on the Pushback Factor out of the blue? Did Socrates tackle this? Or Aristotle?

It’s a real head shaker, but ruminating this way buys you almost an hour of quiet when you hear the first sound of the morning not made by you. It’s nothing but a “snap!” but it focuses your mind like nothing else can. The animal that made it stopped right there as if knowing it had sent out an alert.

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some hemlock limbs, so you felt safe in putting your head on a slow rotisserie turn to the left. The shuffle stopped. Had this deer seen movement? It’s scary how little it takes to tip them off.

But lo and behold, it started up again, slow and steady.

The air is obviously in your favor. Ten more yards and you should get a view, that is if this deer doesn’t hear your heartbeat.

Your rifle is already at port arms. Enough sunlight has just peaked over the ridge behind you to light up the tall tines of an impressive rack walking right into

your shooting lane. This must’ve been the buck that made that scrape. You can’t believe the luck. In extreme slow motion, you make ready to position the crosshairs when the ringtone of “Sweet Home Alabama” trumpets out of your cellphone and the shock of it lifts you six inches off the deer stand. You idiot! You forgot to turn the sound off!

The animal in front of you has vaporized as you finally reach 10 on the PBF scale.

Or, does the scale reach 11, because five minutes later the report of a rifle reaches you when your buck walks in front of one of the other hunters.

The Pushback Factor.

You can’t believe the luck.

Randy Spencer is a working guide and author.

All of Randy’s award-winning books are available on Amazon, and all songs from his six albums are available on the streaming services. Reach Randy at randy31@earthlink. net or www.randyspencer. com

Greenville

Page 40

Northwoods Sporting Journal

What Really Matters

Green Mountain Report

are 32 states and 4 Canadian provinces that have this terrible disease. Do not think that it can’t happen here. There are reports coming in every week from other states- even across the pond in New York, which could easily be transmissible to our herd. You may think “Oh yeah, but that’s never gonna happen here if I use just a few drops to “freshen a scrape.”” We defend ourselves against

by Bradley Carleton, Charlotte, VT

Getting outside and connecting to our incredible world of hunting, fishing, and foraging brings us peace and a sense that no matter who sits in the Oval Office, the world will keep spinning. The sun will keep rising in the east and setting in the west. Fish will

December 2024

buddies’ beagles to trudge through the snow pursuing the wily snowshoe. For others, the sound of loud burping on the surface of the ice cheers us on, knowing that “she’s makin’ ice again” and the yellowbellies will be plentiful. Whatever your medicine, know

The introduction of wild turkeys in 1969 and 1970 which has proven to be “one of VT F&W’s greatest success stories has recently been called into question concerning the effects of turkey populations on ruffed grouse (or

I don’t think we ever considered that this tremendous success story might have any negative effects. I will seek some answers to these questions from David Sausville, and report back to you, reader. With all due respect to the extraordinary

pah’tridge as the locals like to call them.) Many upland hunters claim to notice a continued decline in the “King of the Woods.”

There has always been talk of the “7-year cycle” for Bonasa Umbellus, but lately there has been some chatter about how turkeys’ prey on grouse eggs and can out-forage them in the same way that white perch and alewives have impacted our lakes. With sincere apologies to my old friend, Doug Blodgett,

dedication and knowledge of our VT F&W staff, I think we might begin to examine this angle. In the meantime, dear reader, get out and find some peace in the woods or on the ice!

As we sit in the dark woods before sunrise, high up in the Green Mountains, snowflakes drifting down slowly and landing on our nose in the darkness, we will still have that hope of seeing that bruiser walking through the hemlocks as the dawn begins to draw silhouettes on the horizon. still swim underwater and muzzleloader season will still offer us that last chance at the big buck of which we all dream. Who knows?

Maybe this year we will actually have enough ice to have a great season on the hardwater. As we sit in the dark woods before sunrise, high up in the Green Mountains, snowflakes drifting down slowly and landing on our nose in the darkness, we will still have that hope of seeing that bruiser walking through the hemlocks as the dawn begins to draw silhouettes on the horizon. Or maybe this year we will travel up to the Kingdom with our

the anti-hunters by claiming that our hunting and the need for population control are “based on solid science and not emotional nonsense.” Well, look at the statistics. This IS science. The same argument we use to defend our right to hunt, we must now look in the mirror and face our own actions and how we justify them. I invite you to read more about it on the VT F&W page: https:// www.eregulations.com/ vermont/hunting/chronicwasting-disease-cwd You know, as long as we’re standing in this bathtub of hot water, here’s another one to think about.

that it is just that. Medicine.

The outdoors is the tonic for our health. Sop whatever your favorite potion is, get out there and share it with a friend – maybe even someone who voted for “the other guy.”

OK, we are going to wade into some water here that some of you may find a bit hot. The topic is CWD and the use of real doe pee.

The law states that “It is illegal to use deer urine lures. They present a serious threat of introducing CWD to Vermont. CWD infectious prions can be present in deer urine lures.

Use synthetic alternatives instead.” Currently, there

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Page 41

Northwoods Publishing Director Passes On Diane Reynolds, 82, passed away peacefully Nov. 2, 2024 at her Branch Lake home in Ellsworth with her family by her side after a short battle with cancer. She was born Dec 12, 1941 in Milo. Wife of Northwoods Sporting Journal editor and co-publisher V. Paul Reynolds, she was a director of Northwoods

the times spent at her folks’ camp at Schoodic Lake and a summer cottage at Sandy Point, Maine. She was an avid birdwatcher and outdoor photographer, loved long walks, gardening, wild berry picking, and kayaking with friends at Branch Lake. Following her teaching career, she took up hunting and fishing

woods Sporting Journal, a new England hunting and fishing monthly magazine.

A devoted wife, mother and grandmother, her love and pride in her family was foremost in her life. For her husband Paul, she was an editor, a valued “sounding board” for his publishing business and a constant outdoor compan-

For her husband Paul, she was an editor, a valued “sounding board” for his publishing business and a constant outdoor companion who shared her mate’s love of camping, hunting and fishing.

Publishing Group.

Diane was a graduate of the University of Maine, Class of 1964, and Milo High School.

An elementary public school teacher for many years, Diane taught in Barrington, RI and Hampden and Newburgh, Maine.

In the fall of 1964, she married her fiance, Navy Ensign V. Paul Reynolds in Newport, RI. The newly weds made their home at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Oceana, VA until 1967 when they returned to Maine to raise their family.

An outdoorswoman by nature, some of her best childhood memories were

with her husband and the couple camped, hunted and fished Maine, Maryland, Florida, Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and Labrador.

Diane was a director of Maine’s Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) program and taught fly casting. She was also a longtime board director of the New England Outdoor Writers Association ( NEOWA). Her wildlife photography won a number of First Place awards in NEOWA’s New England photography competition.

She was also a director of Northwoods Publishing Group, which owns North-

ion who shared her mate’s love of camping, hunting and fishing. A few years ago, she and Paul spent the fall traveling about the West and Southwest with their camper. She liked to boast about the fact that she, not he, drove the camping rig the entire 6,000 mile trip.

A memorial service will be held December 8th at 1 p.m. at the Discover Church in Hampden. A Celebration of Life will be held later that day from 3-5 p.m. for her friends and family at the Lucerne Inn in Dedham.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 42

NH Deer Season: Jury Still Out

New Hampshire Outdoors

by Peter St. James, Warner, N.H. Well, the calendar may say December but as baseball legend Yogi Berra uttered during the 1973 National League pennant race, “it ain’t over till it’s over”. It’s not quite time to head indoors and hang by the woodstove for the next four months. Bowhunters have until December 15th

December 2024

Hard to tell at this point what kind of deer season it was. Mast production was spotty. Some places were swimming in acorns but in the next zip code, you couldn’t buy one.

It’s years like this when pre-season scouting pays dividends.

Then of course are the

distance before he expired.

He was deer colored but that’s no excuse for mistaking him for a deer!”

No matter how hard Fish and Game and the fish and game clubs work to teach safe and ethical hunting, there are still some slob hunters that think it’s all a joke. They don’t deserve the title “hunter”. That’s reserved for those of us that

the back of a truck. The picture was taken about thirty feet away so you can’t really tell that it’s a shark. The second shot is the shark on it’s back in

/ Snowmobile Safety Education Courses in Milton, Pittsburg, Tuftonboro, Holderness, Charlestown and Candia. State law requires that all operators 12 years

Hard to tell at this point what kind of deer season it was.

Mast production was spotty. Some places were swimming in acorns but in the next zip code, you couldn’t buy one. to fill their deer or Fall turkey tags. (Archery season closes one week early in WMU A). Pheasant and ruffed grouse season runs through December 31st and the regular firearms season for deer closes on December 8 th. Again note that this season also closes one week earlier in WMU A.

stories that no real hunter wants to hear. Ted Tichy of West Milan, a former Fish and Game commissioner from Coos County had a prize bull calf shot in his pasture earlier this Fall. As he put it, “There were no signs of predators killing him, He was gut shot and traveled quite a

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Big Foot photo submitted by David Laurie of Underhill, Vermont. Bigfoot is actually his grandson Asher.

value nature and respect the game that we seek.

And safety and ethics are always part of our decisionmaking. I remember years ago seeing a farm in Grafton County where a farmer had spray painted the word “cow” on one of his cows.

When I finished laughing, I thought, “Nobody can be that stupid”. I’ve since learned that every time I think we’ve hit the bottom for stupidity and disappointment, somebody steps in to lower the bar. Sure hope that the cow killer is caught and prosecuted.

I know that some people are offended at many things and it doesn’t take much to offend their tender sensibilities, but when is enough is enough? I saw a story on Fox News in October that had to do with a great white shark that had washed ashore on Cape Cod. Before I could get into the story, it read, “Editor’s note : This story contains graphic photos that may be disturbing to some”.

There were three photos included in the story. One was of the shark loaded in

The hunter is Shawn Upton and he took the deer with a bow in WMU-I1. the bed of the truck. The of age and over must posmouth is open and there sess either a valid Motor appears to be some dried Vehicle Driver’s License blood on the snout. The or must have successfully third picture is a reverse completed an approved angle shot that shows some OHRV or Snowmobile blood around the gills and Safety Education Class maybe some loss of skin when operating off their by the frontal dorsal fin. own property. The safety That’s it. It’s not gory, the certificate is valid for both shark’s not in pieces and, at OHRV and snowmobile the time, scientists were at operation; two separate a loss as to how the shark courses are not required. may have died. So, what’s For more info, go to : wilddisturbing? life.nh.gov Now, extrapolate that It’s been an interestout to what the hunting ing year but I hope that and fishing community you’re all able to enjoy the are exposed to. People of- coming holidays with famfended because they see a ily and friends. Because deer, bear, moose, turkey, that’s what’s really imporstriper or cod in a truck, at tant. Merry Christmas and a check-in station or com- Happy New Year! ing off a boat. As British comedian Ricky Gervais Peter St. James is a said, “Just because you’re member of the New Engoffended doesn’t mean land Outdoor Writers Asyou’re right.” sociation, Outdoor Writers With snowmobile sea- Association of America, son in front of us, I see that a licensed NH Fishing there are still some open- Guide. Reach him at : ings for traditional OHRV stjames.peter@gmail.com

BRING THEM ALONG!

Maine has a proud history of local fish and game clubs that continue to serve sportsman and their communities. With your membership and support, these organizations are the best hope for perpetuating and promoting our hunting and fishing legacies for younger generations to come. The Northwoods Sporting Journal, along with those sponsors listed below, urge you to become part of this important state network by joining a fish and game club near you, and bring them along......

If you have a youngster who needs guidance in learning to hunt or fish, contact a Maine Fish and Gun Club in your area. They can help!

Ancient Ones of Maine-Livermore Androscoggin Cty Fish & Game Assoc. – Auburn (207) 777 5200 Arnold Trail Sportsmen’s Association – New Sweden Auburn Rifle Club – Auburn (207) 78 6084 Big Pine Gun Club – Guilford (207) 695 3830 Boothbay Fish & Game Club – Boothbay (207) 633 5929 Bowmantown Association – Topsham (207) 522 1504 Bryant Pond 4-H - Bryant Pond (207) 65 2068 Bucks Mills Rod & Gun Club – Bucksport (207) 469 195 Buxton & Hollis Rod & Gun Club – Hollis (207) 329 7096 Calais Rod & Gun Club – Charlotte Camp Ellis Rod & Gun Club – Saco Capital City Rifle & Pistol Club – Augusta (207) 582 4928 Carrabassett Valley Trappers – North Anson(207) 265 2397 Cumberland Rifle & Pistol Club – No. Yarmouth (207) 655 7681 Durham Rod & Gun Club – Durham (207) 353 4030 Falmouth Rod & Gun Club – Falmouth (207) 781 593 Fin & Feather Club – Millinocket (207) 723 9632 Fryeburg Fish & Game – Fryeburg (207) 935 9222 George T. Files Post 20 Brunswick American Legion – Brunswick Kennebunk Fish & Game Club – Kennebunk (207) 205 1331 Kezar Falls & Game – Parsonfield (207) 625 4347 Knox County Fish & Game – Hope (207) 594 9065 Lake Thompson Fish & Game – Oxford Lincoln County Fish & Game – Waldoboro Lincoln County Rifle Club – Damariscotta (207) 832 5524 Lisbon Fish & Game Association (207) 208 7111 Maine B.A.S.S. Nation Maine Bowhunter’s Association – Augusta Maine Trappers Association Maine Youth Fish & Game Association (207) 852 2485 Monmouth Fish & Game Association – Monmouth (207) 312 1736 Montville Rod & Gun Club – Montville NAVHDA, Sebasticook Chapter (207) 620 6724 No. Berwick Rod & Gun – N. Berwick (207) 646 3472

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If you would like to be a sponsor call Paul at 207-745-3133

Page 44

Scenes From The Wild

by Ryan Brod When the sleet storm stopped, every inch of forest was covered by tiny white orbs. My muck boots, camo pants, boltaction .308, everything shimmered in dimming late-afternoon light. Day after Thanksgiving, and already winter was visiting. My rifle rested on my ladder stand’s shooting rail.

A breeze passed from my left to right, away from the buck, who leaned forward, dropped his hind quarters and urinated, looking about as he did, not unlike a leashed dog on an evening stroll. Finished, the buck took a few more steps, then pawed a scrape 20 yards from me, broadside.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

After the Storm

manage. A last resort.

The buck heard me and froze. Seventy yards, tail toward me. I found his back-end in my scope. No shot. I waited. He turned: one step, two, until he faced me head-on. Scanning for the doe he’d heard.

Through the scope, the buck’s rack, black nose, white apron, chest. I placed the crosshairs on the base of his neck and fired. He fell like a bag full of groceries, dropped.

December 2024

passed. My toes ached with cold. The forest darkened until I could no longer see the buck’s antlers anymore, not even through my scope.

I stood and shoul-

belief. I held its antlers; the burrs were wide, jagged.

The tallest 6-point I’d seen.

Then I heard the familiar rumble of my father’s fourwheeler.

dered my rifle. I scrunched my toes and felt the waning heat of my foot-warmers.

I flipped on my headlamp and descended the ladder stand carefully. At the base of the ladder, I hoisted my pack, then headed in the direction of the fallen buck, warming as I walked.

I found the buck before my father arrived.

I rested my gun against a nearby tree and knelt down beside the buck.

Had a quiet moment with it, grateful and still in dis-

He parked it at the end of the trail and walked the rest of the way, taking his time, leaning on his walking stick. I savored those few moments, waiting for him. Knowing he’d arrive and congratulate me, that he’d help me as I field dressed the buck.

He got to me and admired the buck with the beam of his flashlight. I stood and he high-fived me.

“Well?” he said, his wide eyes visible in the glow. “Tell me the story!”

And I began.

Through the scope, the buck’s rack, black nose, white apron, chest. I placed the crosshairs on the base of his neck and fired. He fell like a bag full of groceries, dropped.

I took off my gloves and breathed into my hands to warm my fingers.

When I heard the buck, a few moments after the storm settled, he was so close I didn’t have time to lift my rifle. I wondered, later, how he’d snuck up on me unnoticed.

I saw the antlers first-a tall 6-point. I thumbed off my safety. The buck stepped fully from beneath a cedar bow, head down, sniffing. Large-bodied.

He didn’t spook as I lifted my rifle in slow motion, resting it silently back on the rail. What spooked him was the crunch of sleet beneath my boot when I shifted forward to find him in my scope.

The buck leapt at the sound, quartering away-big bounding leaps through a copse of firs and birches.

I cursed under my breath; I’d blown it.

Without thought, I let out the loudest bleat I could

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I sat there stunned.

It took a few minutes for reality to set in. Through my scope I could see the tips of the buck’s antlers extending from the ground.

He was dead.

Adrenaline-warmed, I realized I was shaking not from cold then, but from some primal reaction to having reacted with instinct, at having harvested an animal. I texted my father, on whose property I was hunting.

“Got him,” I wrote.

He’d seen this same buck a few weeks earlier but didn’t get a shot. He texted back immediately that he’d be out as soon as he could, with the four-wheeler to help me drag the buck out of the woods.

The adrenaline Est. 1995

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Made in Maine

Ryan Brod is the author of Tributaries: Essays from Woods and Waters (2023). He teaches first-year writing and creative nonfiction at University of New England, and he guides between semesters.

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 45

A Lesson in Lithics

Yo u ’ v e p r o b a b l y learned the three basic types of rocks in middle school: igneous, metaphoric, and sedimentary. But unless you are a rockhound in your free time, that’s about as far as you likely ever thought about rocks and stone. Well, besides

gists much about the people making the points or tools.

Lithic analysis can provide insight into activities and technological advances in those cultures. As an amateur, identifying specific lithics and materials proves tricky but insightful when accomplished.

arrowhead, the right person could look at the lithic and tell you exactly where the stone originated from. How incredible is that?

Sourcing suitable materials was essential and often required traveling great distances. Maine has a handful of distinct locations where native people relied on being able to harvest high-quality material for thousands of years.

Arguably, the most famous is Mount Kineo. Mount Kineo is a massive deposit of rhyolite. Rhyolite is

Angling, Antlers & Artifacts

By Jake Scoville, Machiasport, ME

came from, at minimum, around 150 miles away. If only that rock could talk…

Material transported 150 miles from its original source is fascinating, but other examples are even more extreme. Author and archeologist Bruce Bourque conducted several archeological digs throughout Maine, often examining evidence of the Red Paint

more egregious examples.

These are just a few of the materials that were used for tools here in Maine.

Kineo rhyolite, Munsungun chert, and Ramah chert have color variations, making even the standard or well-known lithics tricky to identify. Since I am familiar with most materials in my area, I can pick out even the minor pieces.

Sourcing suitable materials was essential and often required traveling great distances. Maine has a handful of distinct locations where native people relied on being able to harvest high-quality material for thousands of years.

moments such as picking out your new countertops.

Usually, in our everyday lives, a rock is a rock. Native Americans didn’t have that luxury. They had to identify stones that could easily be turned into tools for their survival. In my search for artifacts made by prehistoric Mainers, I have also been learning and identifying different lithics used by our state’s first inhabitants.

Lithic, as defined by Merriam Webster, is “relating to or characteristic of a (specified) stage in humankind’s use of stone as a cultural tool.” Many folks use lithic, material, and stone interchangeably when referring to the “type” of stone a tool was made from, as will I. Different lithics can tell archeolo-

Only certain materials can be precisely manipulated to make arrowheads, scrapers, or knives. It takes a piece of high-quality material that can be predictably knapped to make a proper tool. Some workable lithics, like chert, are found widely across North America. In contrast, obsidian is only found naturally in portions of Western North America. Chert can come in many forms, some of which you may be familiar with. For example, flint and jasper are types of chert. Here’s where it gets interesting: individual outcroppings, quarries, or places where people have obtained material often have unique attributes produced only from that specific location. All this to say, if you were to find an

a volcanic rock that has similar properties to flint.

Some will even refer to it as “Kineo Flint.” Kineo rhyolite was quarried, distributed, and utilized throughout Maine and New England. Kineo rhyolite is the dominant lithic that I have encountered in my adventures. Another unmistakable source of high-quality material is Munsungun Chert. Munsungun Chert is sourced from, you guessed it, Munsungun Lake. As well as other exposures in northern Maine. This lithic usually is red but also appears in greys to greenish coloring. Although less common, it was highly sought after and prized, especially during the Paleolithic period. Tools made from ‘Munsungun’ are almost always displayworthy and have also been found in sites across New England. If you encounter these materials, you know someone had a long journey to that location. Since I’m Downeast, the material

People’s Culture. Among other amazing artifacts at these sites, projectile points made from Ramah Chert were found. What makes this lithic so unique? Ramah Chert is only found in one location, on the north coast of Labrador.

Extensive trade networks thousands of years ago brought Ramah Chert here to Maine—a voyage of roughly 1,000 miles. There are other examples of materials traded throughout Maine, New Brunswick, and the rest of New England, but this is one of the

This comes in handy when scouting a new location.

If I spy a piece of Kineo rhyolite, I know it was brought there by a human, and it’s not a natural rock.

Knowing the lithic adds to the artifact’s story, and having context to where the material came from only deepens my connection and interest with the artifacts I encounter.

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

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 46

Basics Of Survival

by Joe Frazier, Bangor, ME There are many advantages to winter camping. The main disadvantage is the gear is bulky and heavy. If you are going to be out for a week you need a heavy tent, a stove, and extra tools as well as your sleeping and cooking gear.

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Building a Pulk

ing a lot of gear, you want a sled that is longer, not wider. The sled should ride in your ski/snowshoe path as you go.

Professional Pulks can cost well over one thousand dollars, but I’m going to explain how to

Professional Pulks can cost well over one thousand dollars, but I’m going to explain how to make one for about one hundred dollars.

This can weigh a couple hundred pounds or much more. The solution is a Pulk (or gear sled).

A Pulk is a sled designed to hold your gear.

You drag it behind you as you snowshoe or cross country ski. They are about 18 inches wide and anywhere from 35 to 66 inches long. Some of the wooden sleds and specially made plastic pulks are 10 or 12 feet long. If you are carry-

December 2024

make one for about one hundred dollars.

Start with the sled. A 66 inch plastic toboggan is a good size. If your toboggan doesn’t have holes along the outside edge (top) you should drill 4 holes evenly spaced along both sides. On the front you need 3 holes, one centered And one on either side a couple inches in from the sides. The back holes should be the same as the

front. Be sure the insides of the holes are smooth so they don’t cut the rope.

Use either 550 (parachute) cord or 1100 cord and find the middle. Fold the rope in half at the center and pull it part way through the hole in the center at front. Tie an overhand loop so you have a small loop when you tighten it. Form loops in the holes in front and down both sides until you get to the back. Tie the last loop in the center at the back. The cord should run under the plastic lip and come up through the holes to form the loops.

Use a small, heavy duty carabiner (not a Keychain type) in the front and back center loops, and the 4 loops on both sides.

This is where you will tie down your load. You can just use the loops but carabiners make it easier to tie and untie.

Next, take a 10 foot piece of half inch PVC pipe and cut it evenly in half. Sand the ends inside and out so the edges are smooth. Pull cord through both pipes so you have about 6 inches on one end and 1 foot on the other end.

Put a fender washer on the end that is shorter, then tie

a loop and pull the cord so the washer is tight to the pipe. Put a fender washer on the other end and tie an overhand knot so it is very tight to the pipe.

You will want to be able to pull your sled with your hands free. You will need ski poles with either snowshoes or skis so you can’t hold the poles. The easiest way to do this is with a harness. Buy a fall protection harness that has chest straps, a waist belt, and metal loops on both hips. You will only be using this harness for your sled so cut off the leg straps. The harness should cost $30$40 online.

Attach the poles to the sled at the front outside loops with carabiners using the loops on the poles.

You then cross the poles to form an X between you and the sled. This helps you maintain more control during turns. Use the long cords and tie the poles to the metal loops at your hips with a bowline knot.

Be sure your harness has a belt you can release quickly if you need to.

If your sled gets out of control on a hill, or breaks through ice; you want to be able to release it and not be

tied to it.

To load your sled, start with a tarp that is big enough to fold over your load. This will keep snow off everything. If you use different color bags or duffle bags to sort gear it will make it easier to find what you need. You want your heaviest items on the bottom and in the back. This will keep your sled stable and it will not nose down into the snow. Keep food and items you will need first towards the top. Once you fold the tarp over you can put your snow shovel on top.

After you tie on your load you should put bungee cords across the front 2 carabiners. You will want to start out wearing just your base layer on top because you will get hot fast. You will want your insulation layer and outer shell available as soon as you stop.

Tucking them under the bungee cords make them easy to get to.

If you need a pulk that is easier to store, a plastic deer drag for hunting also works great.

Joe is a husband, father, author and marine. Joefrazier193@ gmail.com

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Finding Gratefulness in Your Game

As a seasoned game chef, I have always tried to find gratefulness with my game. From simple to complex recipes, they all matter. Having grown up during a time when we were grateful for what was placed on our plate, our

How you enjoy your game is of a personal nature.

Every person needs to respect the fact that no matter how you decide to prepare it, you are ultimately the one that has to eat it, so have it your way! focus was more on the fact that we had a meal to eat, and we were grateful for it.

When you are fortunate enough to be blessed with wild game for your table, there is always a sense of gratefulness. In New England, we all exert a lot of effort to pursue spe-

cies of game, and when we are able to have some to enjoy, those meals become very meaningful. Even a humble venison burger can be relished.

How you enjoy your game is of a personal nature. Every person needs to respect the fact that no matter how you decide to prepare it, you are ultimately the one that has to eat it, so have it your way!

Are there nuances and methodologies? Of course!

There are always better approaches to everything in life. This includes how you cook certain cuts or types of game. These “best practice” methods that I developed 30+ years ago certainly do elevate how one can enjoy a meal of wild game.

Some individuals gravitate to learning more about the culinary side of game, while others like it their way. I have never faulted others for enjoying their game the way they desire to enjoy it, even when I know there are better ways

to prepare it. If the way you make it brings happiness to you, then march on. It is all about gratefulness.

It is important to share what we learn with others, to usher them into the hunting lifestyle.

Like any skill, people excel at varied levels. I have worked diligently at showing people how to cook elevated wild game in a manner that is relatable to them, so they learn improved skills, yet have a comfort level that it’s not overwhelming for them.

This builds confidence in the wild kitchen and helps people to understand that they are capable of expanding their imagination of more ways that they can enjoy food from the wild.

I would encourage you to explore, try new things and discover how far you can go with cooking your game. You may surprise yourself.

You are the author of your wild cooking destiny.

Treasure the moments you can prepare and

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consume game with those that matter to you.

As we approach the end of the year, I hope you enjoy wilder meals, and appreciate how special those moments.

Be sure to take time to smell those roses, or shall I say the game, as it cooks on your grill, in your pan, in your crockpot or in your Dutch oven.

Find joy and gratefulness in your Game!!!!

WildCheff’s Christmas Venison Mincemeat Cookies Ingredients 2 C of venison stew meat (often neck roast meat) 2 C of uncooked apples (Macoun, McIntosh, Cortland), peeled and small diced 1/2 C of Currants (dried fruit aisle at store) 1 Tsp. of Cinnamon 3/4 C of Molasses 1 1/2 C of organic

sugar 2 Tsp. of WildCheff Pie Spice Blend 1 C of beef suet or duck fat 1 bottle of pure cane root beer + water as needed Making the mincemeat On the stovetop, heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

Once pot is heated, add canola, sunflower or avocado oil to pan, followed by pieces of venison.

Sear the meat so it is browned on all sides. Set pieces on plate until all is done.

Once this is accomplished, add meat and any juices back to pot, and then pour a bottle of root beer over the meat and bring to a strong simmer, and stir.

Simmer for 90-120 minutes, adding water or beef bone broth if needed until venison is tender. Remove from stove and cool to (Game cont. pg 50)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 48

Vermont Ramblings

by Dennis Jensen Vermont Looking up from where I work, in my study, is a very nice 9-point buck I shot in Maine. Behind me is another mount, this one a spectacular, non-typical 9-point buck I shot in the Adirondacks more than 25 years ago. I am really proud of both mounts but, truth be told, it is highly unlikely that I would ever have another big buck mounted and stuck on a wall.

This is, by no means intended to ridicule anyone who has any number of mounted heads or anyone who hopes to kill a buck good enough for the wall.

This is merely my feelings about my future as a deer hunter and the “pride” remark made by one of the

greatest American writers ever.

This is all about my own personal vanity, of course, and wanting to serve that emotion, warned about in the Holy bible. Did I choose to have those two great bucks mounted so that I could always remember the day I shot them? I suppose that is true. Did those two deer go on to feed my family? Yes, of course.

But that particular paragraph in Hemingway’s great novel caught my attention. I picked up “The Old Man and the Sea” at my local library and read it for the second time a few weeks ago. And it was greater upon the sec-

The Vanity of a Deer Hunter

ond reading. And when I came upon those words something clicked inside me. It was vanity, after all, that was foremost in my younger mind that forged that decision. I am simply

at least one deer and often two deer every year. I am proud of that.

Yet, with each passing year, I begin to question why it is I still love deer hunting. I have always

“You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought.

You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman.”

-The Old Man and the Sea/Ernest Hemingway looking at my motives, in my older years, about what deer hunting really means to me.

This is something that has been on my mind ever since about a decade ago.

I have been thinking about my place in the deer woods and about the whole idea of killing. Here in the Jensen household, for five decades we have been blessed with

been of the mind that I am a meat hunter, first and foremost. If your purpose in the woods is in the pursuit of antlers, that is just fine with me. But I love shooting a decent buck or a good, mature doe and then giving thanks for the fact that I could do what I do, then gutting the great gift and dragging the deer out, butchering it myself and

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then giving more thanks as my boys and their children consume a meal of venison.

But each year, with every kill, as I approach the now-still creature that only a minute or so earlier was living its life, I have an uneasy feeling. I don’t believe this is a bad thing.

Or a good thing. It just is.

The Vermont December muzzleloader season is upon us and there is no question that I will go forth with the old smoke pole in my arms, hoping for yet more fresh venison. But the killing is getting more and more difficult, to tell the truth.

I met a Vermonter a few years back, a guy who had an impressive display of deer antlers hanging in his garage. And he told me, when we met, that he gave up deer hunting, that he no longer wanted to kill. For him, the deer hunting days were past.

I am not yet in that place. But I have my days, days when I wonder if the urge, the wonderful, primitive drive to hunt and kill deer are numbered.

Who knows? But that time, vanity or no vanity, has not yet arrived.

Dennis Jensen is a freelance writer who lives in Vermont.

Vermont Outdoor Guide Association hosts Vermont's most complete directory of outdoor recreation services, guided tours and adventure travel resources. https://www.voga.org/

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 49

Muzzleloader Season Starts Month Off

There is still time to bag a deer. The regular November firearms deer season ends December 1 but the muzzleloader sea-

to see.

Gray squirrel are also legal through December 31 and their numbers are higher this year than in

son runs December 7-15 statewide. A hunter may take one legal buck defined as having at least one antler having two or more points anywhere in the state if they have not already taken one in a previous season.

In addition, those with an antlerless permit may take an antlerless deer within the wildlife management unit for which the permit is issued.

A hunter may take four deer in a calendar year provided they have sufficient licenses but only one may be a buck.

December Small Game Hunters Have Little Competition P a r t r i d g e ( r u ff e d grouse) are the most popular and the most populous upland bird we have. During December few hunt for the partridge so those that do have no competition.

Partridge can be found throughout the region and the season is open until December 31. The leaves are off the trees and thus the elusive birds are easier

recent memory.

Don’t overlook snowshoe hares, we incorrectly call them rabbits, which are found throughout the wooded regions. The season continues through March 9. I head for the big wooded swamps in Essex County which hold good populations of snowshoes or to Groton State Forest in the southern end of the region.

Raccoons are plentiful in the farming areas and the season is open until December 31. Most farmers welcome coon hunters as a lot of corn is lost to the nocturnal animals.

A good test for your hunting skills is the coyote.

Once virtually unknown in the region, coyotes now are found statewide. There is no closed season and many hunters work the swamps and edges of fields at dawn or dusk.

The Fishing Is Still Good With Little Competition Want a meal of fresh

fish? Head to the Connecticut River, Lake Champlain or a lake or pond that is not a closed trout water. You are likely to have the fishing all to your self.

The Connecticut River offers more fishing opportunities than any body of water in Vermont with

Outdoors In Vermont

by Gary W. Moore, Bradford, VT

can be great until there is an extra thick covering of ice. Keep in mind that most of the river is but a series of reservoirs backed up from dams. The water level fluctuates and the ice is constantly being broken

New Years Day, a new one is needed.

Syndicated columnist Gary W. Moore is a life long resident of Vermont and a former Commissioner of Fish and Game.

His latest book, Four Season in Vermont, is available A hunter may take four deer in a at many bookstores and calendar year provided they have sporting goods shops or sufficient licenses but only one from him directly. He may may be a buck. be reached by e-mail at gwmoore1946@icloud.com the possible exception of near shore. or at Box 454, Bradford, L a k e C h a m p l a i n VT 05033. copyright 2024 Lake Champlain.

The river is open to which forms much of Ver- Gary W. Moore fishing all year from the mont’s western boundary confluence of the Upper is open to trout and salmon Ammonoosuc in Northum- fishing year round. Just be berland, NH, across from very careful if on the waGuildhall, VT to the Mas- ter. The big lake can turn dangerously rough quite sachusetts border.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 50

Game (Cont. from pg 47) room temp.

In a separate pot, add the suet, diced apples, currants, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, and pie spice.

Heat pot to medium heat and add some of the venison cooking broth and simmer until suet is melted into mixture, sugar is completely melted, and apples are cooked down.

You will notice that the mixture may need a small amount of the braising liquid added during the cooking process.

The right consistency you are looking for is

that the apples are cooked down, the mixture is resembling a pie filling type of consistency while maintaining some moisture/ liquid. Once this is accomplished, remove from stove to cool down.

Using a meat grinder, add the braised venison and some liquid to your grinder, and grind the meat with a fine grind attachment.

Important Note: Be sure to add some braising liquid to the venison when you grind, or it may seize up your grinder due to the lean nature of the meat.

Place the ground meat into a large stainless mixing bowl, and then add the fruit mixture you cooked

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to it and stir so that all is well mixed.

I like to do this while the fruit mixture is still warm. Set mixture aside and use to stuff your cookies. Any remaining mincemeat can be canned and given out as gifts or used at a later time.

soda

1/2 Tsp. of salt

To make the cookie dough Using a mixer, beat butter until soft, and then add sugar, blending until creamy.

Add egg and continue mixing, Add vanilla.

Cookie dough Sift flour. ingredients Mix together the sour 1 C of sugar cream, baking soda and 1 stick of butter, soft- salt. ened To the sugar mixture, 1 egg add half the dry, the entire 1 Tsp. of vanilla sour cream mixture, and 2 C of all-purpose the last of the flour. Be sure flour to not overmix.

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December 2024 On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a thin layer.

Making the cookies Cut rolled dough into 2-2 1/2-inch circles. Use a thin spatula to remove half the rounds to a cookie sheet covered with parchment or a silicon mat.

Place a teaspoon of mincemeat on each round and top with a second, sealing the edges gently with your finger. Don’t overfill.

Make a little slit on the top of each for steam to escape.

Bake at 350 degrees until just browning on the edges, around 20 minutes for the 2 1/2-inch size.

Let cookies cool five minutes on the cookie sheet then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

WildCheff - Denny Corriveau is AwardWinning Native American Game Chef. He is a Wild Game Evangelist and a nationally recognized trendsetter and pioneer for preparing wild game. He is also the National Game Chef for TenPoint Crossbows. You can learn more @www.wildcheff.com or visit him on Instagram @ thewildcheff

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT!

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

December 2024

Forest (Cont. from pg 26) guides and other recreational professions thus far in 2024. Our sporting camps cater to not only locals, but people from across the globe. With about 70,000 visitor days each year, we can’t help but envision the economic impact on surrounding communities.

When we use the term multi-use-forest, a significant factor relates to the objectives of the diverse landownership. While they all support recreation, they are also responsible for the largest sector of Maine’s economy. The Forest Products Council reports that in

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2024

• AMMO • SANDWICHES • SNACKS • BEVERAGES • HUNTING SUPPLIES

Northwoods Sporting Journal 2019 the forest products industry put 8.1 billion dollars into the Maine economy. They employed 31,000 people and held 1 out of every 25 jobs. The trees they own are harvested by local people, transported by local people, and milled by local people. This is a huge responsibility and at times needs to be prioritized over other uses.

The interaction between such a large group of diverse users in this multi-use-forest has been managed very well by all those involved. Sportsman, harvesting contractors, and truckers have all worked together successfully for years. Let’s not change that now. When you read the Rules of the Road, follow them. When you see a sign

that says active harvest operation, no hunting, just turn around and enjoy the rest of the 3.5 million acres.

When you see a sign at the gate that says no ATV’s, bicycles, or horses, just leave them home. When the gate attendant says that the over all length of a truck and camper can’t exceed 48 feet, don’t try to sneak a 52-footer in. If there is

Page 51 anything that jeopardizes the use of this unique multi use forest, it is those people who argue with the gate attendants regarding the few rules that are in place, or their rights to private property.

Bill Greaves is executive director of North Maine Woods.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 52

Northwoods Sketchbook

Fly Rod Crosby’s Caribou

In December of 1887, Cornelia Crosby raised her Winchester rifle, took careful aim at a bull caribou and squeezed the trigger. With a mighty crack that echoed across Square Lake, the last legally-harvested caribou shot in Maine collapsed and died. Or did it?

Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby (1854-1946) was a tour-de-force, and her legend grows larger-than-life.

She was born and raised in

hunting and fishing in the 1890s. She also promoted herself as an outdoor personality. She wrote a regular outdoor column for the Phillips Phonograph and many national outdoor periodicals. She was employed by the railroad companies to write glowing reports of northern Maine.

From 1895-98, she organized the Maine exhibition at the Annual Sportsmen’s Show in New York City

riosity. Numerous historic accounts claimed she was the first woman to shoot a caribou in Maine. Some writers claimed that she was the only woman to shoot a caribou in Maine.

Others claimed that she shot the largest caribou in Maine. But her most frequently-cited and (in) famous claim to fame is to have shot the last legally-harvested caribou in Maine. Cornelia only shot one caribou, so which accolade is true, if any?

Fly Rod’s celebrated caribou hunt happened

Phillips, Maine just south of the sportsmen’s paradise of Rangeley. Nearly forgotten, her legend enjoyed a renaissance after Julia Hunter and state historian Earle Shettleworth’s 2000 biography, Fly Rod Crosby, The Woman Who Marketed Maine. Her statue now casts a flyrod and dangles a stringer of “speckled beauties” in the hallways of Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in Augusta.

She is also the subject of a recent exhibit at the Outdoor Heritage Museum in Oquossoc, and the High Peaks Alliance named a new hiking trail after her.

Her fame increases as an outdoor writer, public relations genius for Maine hunting and fishing, and the first registered Maine guide in 1897. These days, folks just can’t seem to get enough of Fly Rod. Cornelia was an ardent promoter of Maine during the golden-age of

and similar shows in Boston. It featured a real log cabin “Camp Oquossoc,” Penobcot Indians in full regalia, dozens of mounted heads of deer, moose, and caribou, and of course the celebrity-du-jour Fly Rod herself; rifle in hand and sporting a daring kneelength doeskin skirt.

Fly Rod’s prowess as an angler spread far and wide. In 1892 she claimed the women’s record of landing 52 trout in 44 minutes. She began hunting in 1883 and shot both moose and deer, but never a caribou. She tried in 1896 but was unsuccessful after not seeing a caribou in a ten day hunt. Time was running out in 1897. Caribou populations were declining, and rumors were circulating that the Maine Commissioners of Fish and Game may soon close the caribou season.

Her exploits concerning caribou piqued my cu-

at the close of the 1897 caribou season at Game Warden Daniel Cummings’ Camps on Square Lake in Aroostook County. She wrote a lengthy narrative My Caribou Hunt for the Maine Central Railroad, likely the most complete and colorful account of a Maine caribou hunt. In her words: I don’t know how far we had walked thus, expecting every second to see the caribou, when among the trees a few hundred yards away I realized there were caribou. My heart made such a thump I thought a bass drum was being pounded, and expected the whole herd would take for the mountain. We changed our course so as to go around and come up nearer. I saw something coming and dropped on my knee in the snow, raised my rifle ready to fire. They came along in no hurry, but some way as if danger

by Mark McCollough, Hampden, ME

December 2024

was near.

“Shoot Fly Rod, Shoot,” said Fred [Cummings her guide] as a big cow came within sight.

But not until I saw horns would I ever shoot, I had vowed. Such a disappointed expression as came over

Dwyer of New York shot a caribou at Portage Lake in Maine about 1893. There were other women who likely shot Maine caribou (legally or illegally). Nor,

by Cornelia Crosby’s own admission, was her Square Lake caribou by any means

Fred’s face as the second cow came in sight.

“I tell you to shoot, it is your last chance,” said Fred, who by that time thought I had the buck fever and could not shoot.

Soon there was another in sight and from my .38-55 Winchester the cartridge went clear through his neck. He gave a big bound into the air, I rushed between the trees a little way and fired again, this time the beautiful creature fell…My first caribou.

There he lay dead at my feet, a beautiful head, but as he was only four years old, not large horns.”

Fly Rod Crosby was not the first woman or only woman to shoot a Maine caribou. Author Bill Krohn’s Early Maine Wildlife documents that a Mrs.

the largest in Maine. She had the head mounted by taxidermist Sumner Crosby in Bangor. Later it was part of the New York exhibitions.

Was Fly Rod Crosby the last person to legally shoot a caribou in Maine?

Alas, this fable is also untrue. I read, and re-read Fly Rod’s columns in the Phillips Phonograph. Her account and that of other newspapers of the day are clear that she shot her caribou on December 10, 1897. However, the last caribou season in Maine was the following year in the autumn of 1898. Even Ralph Palmer’s carefullyresearched 1938 article Late Records of Caribou in Maine repeated the incor-

Her exploits concerning caribou piqued my curiosity.

Numerous historic accounts claimed she was the first woman to shoot a caribou in Maine. Some writers claimed that she was the only woman to shoot a caribou in Maine.

Others claimed that she shot the largest caribou in Maine.

(Crosby cont. pg 65)

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 53

The Fly Fishing Show

By the time the December holidays have come and gone, I’ve organized and reorganized each of my fly boxes, cleaned my fly lines, lubricated my reels, checked each fly rod for wear and tear, and dog-eared the three or four fly-fishing catalogues that

the little stream to see what I can see, perhaps catching sight of a beaver, otter or bobcat. After dinner, evenings are spent seated by the woodstove, a good book lying open on my lap while I visit the Land of Nod. January has always

on various aspects of the Rangeley Lakes Region.

I sat out the show season during COVID, had hoped to return last year, but the loss of a favorite dog and a health-care emergency once again kept me away. After a two-year absence, I’m scheduled to attend THE FLY FISHING SHOW held in Marlbor-

Against The Current

by Bob Romano, Rangeley, ME

proven techniques when casting to the native brook trout and wild landlocked salmon of the region.

Everything from the traditional streamers created by Carrie Stevens, Herbert Welch, and Frank

TROUT BLUES, THE RIVER KING and RIVER FLOWERS will be available while supplies last.

I’m also very happy to advise, my latest flyfishing novel, RETURN TO RANGELEY, will be

January has always been a time when I attended many of the fly-fishing shows that arrive like traveling circuses, each year. The largest of these is THE FLY FISHING SHOW begins its circuit around the country ..

have arrived unsolicited to my mailbox. Mornings are spent pecking away at the keys of my laptop, afternoons, filling the bird feeders and splitting and stacking billets to be seasoned for the following year, occasionally strapping on a pair of snowshoes, tramping into our woodlot and crossing into the surrounding hardwood forest or along the bank of

been a time when I attended many of the fly-fishing shows that arrive like traveling circuses, each year.

The largest of these is THE FLY FISHING SHOW begins its circuit around the country and does not end until sometime in March.

Attending these shows is a way for me to connect with readers and sell my books.

To help promote the books, I’ve often given programs

HOT OFF THE PRESS!

ough, Massachusetts on January 17th, 18th, and 19th, in Edison, New Jersey on the 24th,25th and 26th, and in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on March 15th and 16th.

Each afternoon, I’ll be providing a brandynew program at the show’s Destination Theater featuring fly patterns favored by local guides and fly tyers of the Rangeley Lakes Region. Attendees will not only learn what flies work in the lakes, rivers, and streams of the region, but when a pattern is most efficient as well as a few

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Hornberg to modern patterns such as the Klinkhamer and spotlight Caddis Emerger will be discussed.

In addition to my favorites, noted fly tyers, Scott Biron, Leslie Hilyard, and Selene Dumaine have graciously provided two of their favorite patterns as have well-known local guides, Brett Damm, Bob Duport, and Scott Whitaker, and fly-fishing author, Lou Zambello to name a few.

When not providing my program, I’ll be at the author’s table signing books and at the bookstore booth trading yarns with anyone who wants to stop by and say hello. As some of you may know, a few of my earlier books have gone out of print and are now hard to find; however, inscribed copies of BROOK

out in time for the shows.

This will be the final chapter in the Rangeley Lakes series of novels. Many of the characters from the previously books make return appearances along with a number of new ones.

As with all of my books, you’ll find sports casting their flies to the same waters you have waded during your visits to the region as well as guides, wardens, poachers, sporting camp owners, and locals, all of whom have made the Maine North Woods a destination for those of us seeking solace among the spruce and balsam.

More information about the shows, including times when I’ll be presenting will be posted on the show’s website: flyfishingshow.com

RETURN TO RANGELEY – by Robert J. Romano, Jr.

Bob Romano’s newest novel is once again set among vast lakes, unrestrained rivers, backwoods ponds, and little rills found only by following a logging road into the heart of western Maine. If you enjoyed his other books, you’ll agree this one is also a keeper.

For orders placed before 4/1/25, free shipping and a free notecard featuring artwork by the author’s daughter, Emily Rose Romano. To purchase an autographed copy, make your check in the amount of $25.00 payable to West River Media and send to Andora and Romano, 15 Essex Rd., Suite 406, Paramus N.J. 07652. For more information email Bob at magalloway@mac.com.

Page 54

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Messages from Moosehead, In October’s edition of the North Woods Journal, I gave some messages from Moosehead that were written by the men who spent their lives working

Part II

ly 1867 to 2012, and are mostly first-hand, conversational accounts by those who conducted the work.

Part I provided some end-of-career insights by

to have spent my entire fisheries career working in the Moosehead Lake region and to have done so during the time when the Fisheries Division made the transition from the first generation biologists to the third generation who manage Maine’s fisheries today.

The Division’s first biologists were exceptional mentors who passed along

Page 55

Kineo Currents

by Suzanne AuClair, Rockwood, ME joined IF&W’s Fishery Division, the Hatchery Division, or the Warden Service, while others have moved on to work in other jobs related to fish or wildlife conservation.”

Some final thoughts about the Moosehead Region came from Scott Roy, who moved beyond what

Some of the stand-out memories are a spectacular moon rise while sitting on the beach at Holeb Pond and the time I was serenaded by competing families of coyotes at Baker Lake, or sipping cold spring water dripping from a moss covered ledge outcrop after an exhausting hike through

The Division’s first biologists were exceptional mentors who passed along to us their knowledge, their skills, and their love and dedication to conserving not only Maine’s inland fisheries resources, but all of our natural resources.

Pic is of retiree Roger checking out trap netting operations at West Cove in the Junction. Scott Roy is measuring and weighing salmon and trout. day-in and day-out in the field of fisheries here. As mentioned, I do this every once in a while to go back and remember what it is they found most important in the early years of surveying and recording the life of Maine’s freshwater inland fisheries.

All of the major inland fisheries projects in the state are written into the 2014 reference anthology, “The Origin, Formation & History of Maine’s Inland Fisheries Division,” which spans from approximate-

Roger P. AuClair and by Bill Meyer, first and second generation fisheries biologists, respectively.

Part II finishes with a few thoughts in a glance back at 30+ year careers in this region by Paul Johnson and by Scott Roy, both of whom assisted AuClair, then bridged management into a third generation, under current Supervisor Tim Obrey.

Paul Johnson worked in the Moosehead Lake Region from 1969 to 2005: “I feel very fortunate

to us their knowledge, their skills, and their love and dedication to conserving not only Maine’s inland fisheries resources, but all of our natural resources.

My generation has attempted to do the same for those who worked for and with us, and I am very content in the knowledge that we have succeeded.

Throughout my career, many college students worked for us seasonally, both winter and summer.

Seasonal work within the Division has been a tradition for obtaining the training and experience required for full time employment. It is gratifying that over the years many of the Moosehead Region’s seasonal employees have

only inspired the work to what made being at Moosehead itself inspiring, “My entire 34-year career was spent in the Moosehead Lake Region. There are a few reasons for that.

The area has some of the most beautiful scenery in the state. Most of the region is fairly remote and undeveloped. The vast majority of sports that we encountered appreciate many of the same regional attributes that I do and are generally friendly, helpful, and interested in our work.

There is no way to rate the non-work highlights that I experienced because of the job. Some were quite simple moments, others were probably once-in-alifetime events.

a large blowdown by the Bean Ponds, and releasing 18-inch brook trout while trying to catch a smaller one for breakfast at Allagash Lake. I remember wading around a salmon spawning area on Caucomogmoc Stream with fish at my feet while an adult eagle sat perched in an old pine waiting for a chance to catch his lunch.

Once on a cold August night at Weldon Pond while sitting by a campfire, I watch the Perseus meteor shower. I watch a stunning display of the northern lights from the vantage point of an old log cabin on Round Pound.

What was accomplished as part of the job (Messages cont. pg 67)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 56

December 2024

December Question Of The Month

By Ken Baer

This is something that I have pondered before.

With the recent happenings at the statehouse and after reading in V. Paul’s article last month, Paul asked this specific question. I decided it was time for me to answer it. There are many reasons why we

Why Do We Hunt?

survive. Those that learned how to hunt survived, those that didn’t died. The ones that survived passed on their genes, down to even the smallest predator. This

and go down. It clears the mind. Sitting on a stand in the early morning before the sun comes up, the woods are quiet. As it starts to get light the

created a drive to hunt to survive. This “drive” is stored in the most primitive part of the brain,the reptilian part of the brain in the stem, the oldest part of the brain and it controls basic survival functions. My first answer to the question is “Basic survival instinct.”

It drives me to the woods, it is ingrained in me, it is part of my genetic makeup.

I must do it to fulfill a primordial urge.

I like the peace. I like to hear the sun come up

woods come alive. It is a good day when you start to hear nature return from the dark. The birds come out and flicker about. If you know how, you can call in the chickadees and have them land on you. A keen eye will pick out the movement of the forest critters.

A chipmunk might stir you as it rummages through the forest litter looking for breakfast. A flock of turkeys may amble by. Or you might catch a glimpse of a fox as it hunts its way along a stone wall. All the while the perturbation of everyday life gets flushed away. We relax. Nothing

I like the peace. I like to hear the sun come up and go down. It clears the mind. Sitting on a stand in the early morning before the sun comes up, the woods are quiet.

As it starts to get light the woods come alive. hunt, but only so many can fit into this article, I needed to whittle it down.

My father is a biologist. I grew up hearing about biology and all living things, naturally I came to understand it. We all live as part of nature. Nature is built by Mother Earth and the Creator. We are all part of that cycle. Whether today’s society likes that or not, you can not get away from it. All things have evolved over billions of millenniums. Being part of that, we evolved as predators, “an organism that primarily obtains food by the killing and consuming of other organisms.“ This is built into the genitic sequence. Only the fittest

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matters. I was able to bow hunt Caribou in Alaska with my father. We spent ten days hunting inside the Arctic Circle, but we were not successful. I will quote my father about something he told me at the end of our trip. He said, “It was about nothing but the hunt.” For ten days we lived on the tundra, we spoke of nothing but of that day’s hunting experience and what our plan was for the next day. We spoke of nothing else. The tundra is extremely quiet and you are alone.

In one of the most brutal environments in nature, it is peaceful.

F a m i l y. M e n t o r s .

Growth. Camaraderie. I grew up in a hunting family. Both sides hunt. As a child I would dream about the day I would be able to accompany my family members afield to hunt. I spent hours in the woods behind my parents house with my pellet gun stalking all kinds of prey, practicing for the day it would become real. Then one day it happened. My parents’ neighbor, Ed Berube, came over to my father while we were working in the garden. He said to my dad, “ I want to take the boy to Vermont hunting this fall, we will bow hunt in October then rifle hunt in November.” I replied, “I don’t shoot a bow.” He said “ No problem, I will teach you, and I have an old bow I will give you. You can work off the price of the bow while working for me in the yard.” That was the end of the conversa-

tion. I started hunting that fall and haven’t missed a season since. At 94, I still hunt with Ed. In doing so, I “grew up” in an ‘A’ frame in Dover,Vermont.

It helped to teach me about life. Listening to stories old and new. Several of those men became my mentors and friends. Now it is my turn to pass along the knowledge and skill to others. It is enjoyable to see a smile come across a young hunter’s face as they approach their first downed deer. It is fun to watch a panicked youngster realize they made it when they see you on stand after walking through unfamiliar woods.

It builds character and confidence and teaches them to rely on themselves at times. The camaraderie just happens. When you spend a lifetime hunting with a family, it grows support for one another. It builds friendships and social support structures. Hunting is a natural social aspect to life.

These things that drive me to hunt I find I have no control over, it is a natural state. I try to roll with what my natural instincts to survive tell me to do. All these parts rolled into hunting release endorphins, nature’s way of operant conditioning and purpetuating the species. I will not fight Mother Earth and the Creator.

Take that kid out, talk to them about the natural state of life and how it works. Let them know about the importance of living within nature and not outside it.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Page 57

Is Enough, Enough?

At this writing, we’re still sorting out the results from the November elections. The people spoke and added an exclamation point, re-electing President Donald Trump decisively and sent Republicans to re-taking the United States Senate, among other key races. In Maine, Democrats took a hit, but not as badly as in other sections of the

everything in his power to ban them.

It was a startling and surprising pledge. The day of the press conference where he made the announcement, the newsletter of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine had just hit mailboxes, and it included a quarter-page ad from Golden extolling his productive relationship with

Marsh Island Chronicles

either Golden or Theriault from reaching the fifty percent plus-one vote margin to gain a majority, delaying the final result until a ranked-choice tabulation can be completed under Maine’s ranked choice voting law. Even before that revelation, Theriault was petitioning for a recount, which now can’t happen until the RCV tabulation is

by Matthew Dunlap, Old Town, ME crats in Congress pushed through the Brady Act and the assault weapons ban, they paid a heavy price at the polls, with 8 U.S. Senators and 54 House members being shown the door by the folks at home.

If Golden survives, does it mean the Second Amendment is a less powerful issue for sportsmen than in past years?

I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion. In 1994, there were other issues in play—the economy was down, and it was a midterm election in Clinton’s first term as President, which nearly always goes badly for the party in power.

In today’s world, Golden has worked hard on veteran issues, small business development, and other issues that affect working families, and has reached vigorously across the aisle, sometimes to the chagrin of more left-leaning Democrats. In other words, he’s done a better than passable

Many sportsmen were nonplussed by Golden’s change of heart, many privately accusing him of simply trying to shore up his progressive left flank and head off any rumored primary challenge. country. One race whose story has not yet been fully told is the 2nd Congressional District race between three-term incumbent Jared Golden, a Democrat, and insurgent newcomer Austin Theriault on the Republican ticket.

For our purposes, the party politics are beside the point. For sportsmen, the operative question is the impact of sporting issues on the outcome of the race. Golden was always pretty strong on Second Amendment and conservation issues in his time in the Maine Legislature and in Congress. After the mass shooting in Lewiston on October 25th, 2023, where 18 people were murdered and 13 more were wounded by a shooter using an AR-10 platform, Golden publicly reversed his position on so-called assault weapons, apologizing for his prior commitment to them, and pledged to do

SAM and his commitment to conservation and our Second Amendment rights.

As a result of his new position, his ratings from the National Rifle Association and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine took a strong hit.

Many sportsmen were nonplussed by Golden’s change of heart, many privately accusing him of simply trying to shore up his progressive left flank and head off any rumored primary challenge. Golden has stuck to his position, in any case, and the operative question has been whether or not he would pay a political price for the switch in the overwhelmingly rural 2nd District.

At this writing, the situation continues to evolve, with the late news that an independent from Surry, Diana Merenda, running as a write-in candidate for the 2nd District, polled enough votes to prevent

Have a SAFE and Happy New Year!

complete. Mathematically, with a current lead over Theriault of over 2,500 votes, it still seems likely Golden prevails, unless Theriault did far better than Golden in the rankings by Merenda’s voters—which, for those of you keeping track at home, is exactly how Golden unseated incumbent Bruce Poliquin in 2018. We may not know by the time you see The Northwoods Sporting Journal in your mailbox. Even then, there’s still a lot to watch.

In 1994, after Demo-

job. Despite that, though, he’s nearly lost, and that outcome is still possible.

Golden, in his campaign, still made an effort to court sportsmen, touting his time in the Marines and vocally supporting Maine’s hunting heritage.

Was it enough? Time will tell. In any case, sportsmen can only hope that if Golden does prevail that he reflects on how the votes of sportsmen almost helped a first-term member of the Legislature with virtually no prior political experience unseat a former member of legislative leadership running for his fourth term in Congress.

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.

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Page 58

Ohh, it feels good to take a big mature Vermont buck again! On the evening of October 11, 2024, I was fortunate enough to be a part of what I consider the perfect archery hunt. Even more special to me, was that my family and a few friends were involved.

I’ve known about this buck for a couple of years.

In 2023, he was a solid 8

Maple Country Outdoors

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Big October Success

he had become very camera shy, and all of the pictures

by Ben Wilcox, were of smaller bucks with Essex, VT him in the background. I forward to 2024 and he did some scouting to deterwas on the same program. mine where he was coming Besides adding some width from and how to set up. I and beam length, his rack found his big track and a looked the same. The big small rub in early Septem8’s body had filled out even more, looking like a high end 4.5+ year old. For our woods, he was now sporting above average antlers for any age deer.

The challenge in October was encountering

had my scent dropping and, luckily, they didn’t detect me. I watched the deer for about 20 minutes when I noticed the 3.5 year old 7 point looking up the hill. I knew the 8 had to be close.

Soon I heard 5 loud grunts moving perpendicular to

Knowing a storm was coming I decided to go for it hoping they would feed early. I had a good feeling and told the kids I might need their help later, though I’d never killed a buck out of a food plot. point and I believe he was 3.5 years old. According to the few trail cameras scattered around, he spent a lot of time in our sugarwoods. He frequented a food plot and group of wild apple trees on one corner of the woods. Aside from November, that was the only place I got a picture of him, always at night. Fast

the buck in daylight. I theorized that we needed more cover around the food plot and apple trees so we planted less and let more area grow into golden rod and brush. In September, daylight pictures confirmed that he and his bachelor group had been in the area just before dark on a couple of occasions. I also noticed

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December 2024

The author and his kids with their October 8 point. ber. That was all the intel I needed, no need to spook him with a camera. I felt if we waited for the right conditions, we may see him before dark. I needed a south wind or dropping thermal to hunt him. I wasn’t planning on hunting that day with a NW wind, but by 3 p.m. the wind switched solidly out of the south. Knowing a storm was coming I decided to go for it hoping they would feed early. I had a good feeling and told the kids I might need their help later, though I’d never killed a buck out of a food plot.

At 5:55, the two smaller bucks in the bachelor group entered the plot.

Soon I noticed a doe and fawn 60 yards to my north.

I thought the hunt was over with the south wind, but cooling thermals must have

the plot above me. As the light began to fade I saw his rack in the brush. He surveyed the entire area and when he saw all of the deer in the plot were relaxed, he confidently walked into the open. He looked like a different species compared to all of the other deer. He stiff leg walked to the 7 point and postured aggressively, the smaller buck turning away in submission. The buck then walked under an apple tree and made a scrape 2 steps short of my shooting lane. The entire scene was something I’d only witnessed in other states and to see it happening on my own land was surreal.

When he stepped into my lane, the 40 yard shot felt good and he instantly disappeared. I called home and the kids were scream-

ing with excitement. I was worried as I’d never shot a deer at that distance, and the kids wanted to track the buck. What would I do if the hit was not good and the track was ruined?

I called two friends, one with a dog, to go over the scenario. They all decided to come out in 2 hours, that way the kids could follow behind the dog without fear of ruining the track if my shot was not perfect. The dog, and kids locked onto the blood trail. 60 yards in, the light went out up ahead, and I knew the deer was down. The kids, oblivious to what the dog was doing ahead, followed the trail and discovered the deer on their own. It was quite and amazing experience, and something I’ve been dreaming about for a while.

The excitement, from track to drag was overwhelming, bordering on chaotic, and so well worth it. I didn’t get my moment alone with the deer in the woods, but late that night after getting him hung up in the garage, I thanked the old boy for the lifelong memories.

Ben Wilcox is owner of Maple Country Anglers, located in Northwest Vermont. He was a member of the USA Fly Fishing Team from 2020-2024.

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

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Not What We Thought

The late June float tube trip to a remote pond had an interesting twist.

Float tube fishing is a bit of a hidden jewel. It is a different way to fish and it allows the angler to cover a lot of a pond fairly easily.

All float tubes have slight differences but for the most

sometimes the brook trout hang out there.

I started with an Ora Smith pattern called the Beetle. I’ve always had luck with that pattern but not today. I went through my casting streamer box trying a number of patterns and covering a good part of

closely. Several minutes went by and there was another large rise. Chuck saw it also…..am I missing some sort of hatch I asked?

Chuck confirmed, nothing coming off the water.

The storm was getting closer and I knew we only had a little more time to fish so I grabbed my dry fly box. Earlier in the week I had got some old

Page 59

Slipstream

By Scott Biron, New London, NH fish and I slowly turned it away from the hazard. It was risky but I knew the large fly had good hooking ability and strength.

The fish began to turn and I played it toward my tube.

It had to be a brookie and I was excited to see its

fishing is great, everyone should give it a try.

Scott Biron learned to tie flies and fly fish back in the1960s in the North County of New Hampshire.

He is a regular contributor to the American Fly Fisher

This was a sizeable fish and I slowly turned it away from the hazard. It was risky but I knew the large fly had good hooking ability and strength. The fish began to turn and I played it toward my tube. It had to be a brookie and I was excited to see its size.

part they allow you to sit on them and you wear fins on your wading boots which propels you in the tube. My tube has backpack straps which are great for hiking in and out of ponds.

It had been unusually wet and most of the hike down to the pond seemed to be sliding on mud than a walk. Just before reaching the pond, we met three anglers who had trolled the pond before we arrived.

They had a boat stored on the shore and they were lugging 2 batteries and a trolling motor back to their truck.

The report on their fishing was not encouraging. One fish, a small salmon in 15 feet of water. We really were not targeting salmon as it was late June and figured they would be down deep. We were trying to stir up some brook trout.

Our plan was to use small streamers and cast them around any in or outflow of water. Usually, the water is cooler in those spots and

the lake. Chuck was with me and he was catching very small brook trout just off the shoreline.

Nothing of any size and we knew the pond held some large brook trout.

As the day progressed the weather became an issue.

Off in the distance we could see the skies getting darker and felt at some point we might get some stormy weather. We moved closer to the trail in case we needed to get out of the pond fast.

In my mind I went through everything I had tried. There was nothing hatching, in fact the pond was like glass. I was preparing myself to be skunked when I heard a splash off my right shoulder. Once I pivoted the tube so I could see where the splash came from as the rings from the splash were easy to see.

My first thought was “big fish” or some sort of bird that dropped down to the water then flew away.

I began to watch the water

Partridge hooks that they stopped making years ago.

They were close to the hooks that Lee Wulff used to tie his Wulff patterns. I had tied some of those dry flies earlier is the week for a display.

Right on the top was a size 2 White Wulff. This fly usually is good in the fall but I grabbed it even though it was oversized. I tied it on and witness two more monster rises. The fish was traveling about 20 feet between rises. I got into position and got my line in the air. Looking for one more rise and then I needed to guess which direction the fish might move.

I guessed to the right and laid the fly on the water. Once it landed it took two seconds for the fish to attack it. The line straightened and the fish made its way toward a submerged tree. It had fallen over the winter on the ice and had partially sunk. Behind me Chuck’s voice stated what was going through my mind….”don’t let it get to the tree”.

This was a sizeable

size. Net ready I got the fish close to the tube and saw a silver flash. It was a salmon.

Thunder clapped in the distance as the fish slid into the net. A quick photo, released the fish and we high tailed it out of the pond. On our hike out of the pond we both discussed how we never thought a dry fly would have caught a fish today. Float tube

and Atlantic Salmon Federation Journals. Scott 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, The American Museum of Fly Fishing and Partridge of Redditch. Ewing has come out with a signature series line of feathers under Scott’s name.

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 60

News

(Cont. from pg 21) ing scope and infrared light and a bobcat mount were forfeited. Kelley was fined $4,991 and lost his hunting privileges for 3 ½ years.

On March 26, 2023, Sherwood Dubrey, 46, of Loudon, NH, was arrested on multiple wildlife crimes.

On May 21, 2024, Dubrey pled Nolo Contendere to 10 Illegal Night Hunting charges, all Class B Misdemeanors. Dubrey was ordered to pay $2,790 in fines and restitution. His hunting privileges were

suspended for 3 ½ years.

An additional $9,341 in fines was suspended pending 5 years good behavior.

On March 26, 2023, Randy Inman, 47, of Webster, NH, was arrested for multiple wildlife crimes.

On September 20, 2024, Inman pled guilty to 13 Illegal Night Hunting charges, all Class B Misdemeanors and 3 violations of Illegal Possession of Deer.

Inman was fined $3,720 in fines and $1,725 in restitution along with a loss of hunting and trapping privileges for 10 years. In addition, $7,494 in fines and

$1,425 in restitution was suspended pending 5 years good behavior. Inman’s .22 caliber rifle with nightvision scope, iPhone, and iPad that were used in the commission of his crimes, were forfeited to the State.

Inman was also convicted of Obstruction of Governmental Administration, a Class A misdemeanor, with 12 months in the House of Corrections, suspended for 2 years pending good behavior.

In September 2023, Jonathan Carroca, 35, of Dracut, Massachusetts, was served with 3 Black Bear Baiting violations and 1 violation of Taking a Black Bear illegally in 2022. On May 17, 2024, a trial was held in the 4th Circuit District Division Court in Laconia. On May 21, 2024, Carroca was found guilty on all charges.

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December 2024

Carroca was fined $992 and like to thank all local, lost his hunting privileges State, and Federal agencies that assisted with this case. for 1 year.

On March 5, 2024, Maine Warden Gerald Williams, 68, of Canterbury, NH, pled to 2 Service is now hiring seasonal Deputy counts of Illegal Trapping, was fined $248, and lost Game Wardens his trapping privileges for These positions 1 year. are part time positions, All five individuals from May 9, 2024 to the have been entered into the end of August. Deputy Interstate Wildlife Viola- Game Wardens are astors Compact (IWVC). signed to specific bodies The IWVC is an inter- of water to enforce recrestate compact among all ational boating rules and 50 US states and creates regulations. reciprocity among memDeputies will be asber states for purposes of signed to the Sebago Lakes hunting, fishing, and trap- Region, Belgrade Lakes ping license suspensions. Region, or Moosehead These individuals will be Lake Region depending suspended in all 50 states on operational need. It for the equal type and time will be expected that these period as their New Hamp- Deputy Game Wardens shire suspensions. Federal will work in state issued investigations are ongoing watercraft, patrolling speand charges are still pend- cific bodies of water. The ing.

Deputy’s primary mission This investigation will include, educating the also identified addition- boating public, handing out al suspects with wildlife department-sponsored litviolations in other states. erature, and issuing warnThese individuals are ings and summonses for facing charges in the re- boating violations. This is spective states where the certified, uniformed, law violation(s) occurred. This enforcement work as a was one of New Hamp- member of Maine Warden shire’s largest poaching Service. cases in recent times. The The hiring process is New Hampshire Fish and open until December 20, Game Department would 2024

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

Stop the Bleeding

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Page 61

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 62

Huntin' & Fishing With The Ole Man Late August to the middle of September is a dead time outdoors. The salmon craze is by the summer peak and not yet into fall. Hunting has not yet started for the year and the days of shooting trap are still ahead.

People like you and I are not bound to the back lawn or the Navy surplus hammock slung between two trees though. We want to be outside where the concrete is far behind and the telephone is not to be heard. No kids will shout (and I like kids as much as the next guy, but I want peace at times too), and no one will call to ask us to dump the garbage.

Out there, we are free of these daily events.

It’s time for a customized “scoutin’ trip” with the Ole Man. The day will start on an impressive note. He will ask if there is garbage to be dumped, or a lawn to be mowed. Ever see a time when your wife answered “No” to either of these

December 2024

Before You Bust A Cap

By the late Dave O'Connor

questions? Herself doesn’t either.

Having suitably gotten on the good side He will then cleverly make a comment about it’s a good day to help out the environmentalists by cleaning up some more trash. He’ll ask for additional garbage bags and head for the Jeep.

“I’ll be back after I get my good deed done”. The two bags of roadside liter will be gathered in fifteen minutes and the rest of the day is ours.

We don’t need any guns, rods or duffle. He has a pail of tea makings right

duck camp. We can get in a day of checking Black Hole, looking over the moose at Swift Brook, or even seeing if the lies about the clutches of partridge are right. The liars are always

be a pack of outright liars.

The morning was reserved for home Base around Merrymeeting Bay. It would smell slightly salty around the marsh.

The fresh water smell of

The liars are always saying that they saw sixty-four birds on the road’s edge on the way out from Stump Pond. Now, I never saw sixty-four partridge on one road in my life. behind the driver’s seat.

I pick up the can of stew at the corner store while waiting for Him to arrive.

I am off “visiting some old friends I haven’t seen for awhile.”

As planned we head back for the deer country behind Home Base, the

saying that they saw sixtyfour birds on the road’s edge on the way out from Stump Pond. Now, I never saw sixty-four partridge on one road in my life. Today we would only see thirtyeight birds in family groups on the Stump Road, and that would prove them to

Ragged Pond would be the only tonic. And after a hard walk up that ridge we would need some Magic Want to quiet our protesting throats. Funny how the old camp seemed to long for our company, or was it the other way around?

From the back door I

could see a family of young blacks making their way through the green lush of a summer marsh cover outside. Already they were beginning their scattering process. The mother was no longer careful about how close they banded together. They fed as they wished and it was fully ten minutes before the troupe made their way past the dock’s edge.

An American bittern was the next guest to register. He was picking his way through the reeds in search of a meal of freshwater insects in a pond like spring over by the (Cap cont. pg 67)

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

By V. Paul Reynolds

Memories!

Page 63

A Feast for the Wolves

You would think that I would learn after a while.

Big game can be hit hard with a high velocity bullet and leave no trace.

When my wife Diane shot a cow moose a decade or more ago with a .35 Remington, the animal disappeared into a fir thicket.

There was no indication on the ground of a hit at all. No hair. No blood. Not a drop.

She said she heard the distant death crash. We eventually found the lungshot critter, which ran about a fifty yards and expired.

A few archery seasons ago, an 8-point September buck bounded off with my deflected arrow in its vitals, though I didn’t know it until we found the deer hours later. Same deal. Nothing on the ground at the point of impact. Not a hair, or a drop of blood.

In each of these cases, though, some careful tracking, retracking, and meticulous detective work, led us eventually to the kill.

That was not the case this past October in Colorado’s Routt National Forest.

It is the opening day of Colorado’s first rifle season for elk. As the warming sun cascades over Pagoda Peak, a small group of elk, moved by other hunters, shows up on cue, almost as I had planned it. As they high-tail it by me in an aspen grove, I shout, “Hey!” The lead cow brakes hard and turns to pinpoint the danger. At 40 yards, I have a quartering shoulder shot between too closely spaced aspen trees that are between me and the elk.

The cross hairs line up and the Ruger # 1 .270

barks. The elk scatter up the aspen-studded knoll above me. As they get to the top, they turn and travel parallel along the edge of the dark timber. The biggest elk, the one that I think I shot, does not appear to be hit.

The smoke clears. I wait and listen. Everything is quiet. Then I search for sign, for a cut hair or a drop of blood. The departing elk leave hoof prints in the grassy ground that are easy to read. I track them for a hundred yards or more.

There are gray aspen deadfalls chris-crossing their track. No blood, though, not even a pin prick. My heart sinks.

I cross examine myself. “Is it possible that you missed, that you “pulled” the shot?” I conclude that it was possible but not likely. The sight picture is, even today, still vivid. “The crosshairs were dead on,” I tell myself.

Back at the place of the elk encounter, I get on my knees and carefully study the ground and scrutinize the high grass for a spot of blood. Beyond the aspen grove, on up the hill, there is a maze of old dead fir and aspen. For the next three hours, I clamber about and crawl over and

up the hill from where I fired. Encouraged somewhat, I search all afternoon, leaving enough time for the hour hike back to the truck. Darkness comes on.

No elk.

The next day we are hunkered down at “elk camp,” waiting out a 24hour mountain blizzard.

grove, I sit down and break out a sandwich. I try to reconstruct, to put all the disparate pieces together, to think outside the box.

Then I hear a crow circling above, off to the left, caw... caw...caw.

It was a sledgehammer blow. My elusive elk!

Pinpointing the crow’s

It is day three. There is a 6-inch blanket of snow on the mountain. I am back at the scene of my elk encounter. There is a set of canine tracks that look big enough to be wolf. around the maze of dead trees. I also do a concentric search around the perimeter of the aspen grove.

It is noon. Discouraged, I meet up with Diane, who insists that she heard my shot. “You must have hit it,” she says.” Right after you shot I’m pretty sure I heard the death crash!

Sounded just like when my cow moose went down for the last time.”

Her recollection is that the sound came from

It is day three. There is a 6-inch blanket of snow on the mountain. I am back at the scene of my elk encounter. There is a set of canine tracks that look big enough to be wolf.

The tracks lead up the hill where Diane thinks she heard the death crash of my elk. I follow the tracks for an hour or so. Nothing. (As it turned out, I should have backtracked the canine tracks.)

Back at the aspen

position, I find the elk easily. The 350-pound animal is upside down wedged between the cribwork of dead aspens piled upon each other. I am heartsick.

The elk’s hindquarters are gone, presumedly eaten by the wolf. The viscera stinks. In a futile, desperate act, I skin back the hide and hack out a backstrap.

Rolling the backstrap in cleansing snow, I give it the sniff test. No dice. The (Wolves cont. pg 69)

Page 64

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

The Maine Moose Hunt 2024 to call my discomfort of rain. We got I noticed a set of antlers Woods uswifeuseforthea phone ride back to our Matt LaRoche, Shirley, ME

I love a good moose hunt, especially when a plan comes together. This year’s moose hunt was the hunt of a lifetime for a father and son that asked me to guide them.

My Pastor and friend, Ron Reamer was drawn for a bull permit in zone 9 – which is east of Moosehead Lake and north of Greenville up to the Golden Road.

tain. In fact, we saw a nice bull on that scouting trip.

On that particular outing, we heard a loud clucking sound similar to what a crow will make just before we saw the moose. I had never heard a moose make that noise before – I think that he heard us coming and was telling us where he was. It was a very interesting sound!

truck. I did learn a valuable lesson on that adventure, never rely totally on technology to get out of the woods.

I went back out scouting later that week to make a few ambush locations and put some flagging up so that we could quietly get into these spots in low light conditions. I did see a really nice bull with a cow and calf and another lone bull on this scouting

to our prime location before light so we waited in the truck until we could see to walk into our ambush location. After walking quietly into our spot, we sat overlooking a several

sticking up above the raspberry bushes. There was a nice bull laying down only a few feet from the cow.

The excitement level ticked up a few notches with the sighting of these antlers!

I went back out scouting later that week to make a few ambush locations and put some flagging up so that we could quietly get into these spots in low light conditions.

I did see a really nice bull with a cow...

This is a great zone with plenty of moose and not too far from home. Ron asked me to guide him and his son on their hunt. I agreed, plans were made and dates were reserved. Ron’s son, Sam was to be the shooter and provide the muscle for dragging the moose out as we planned to quarter the moose in the field.

Ron and I went for our first scouting foray on October 7th in the Sias Hill and Prong Pond areas.

We found three good locations, the best of which was in a grown-up harvest area on Elephant Moun-

One thing that didn’t go as planned was that we got turned around on this scouting trip. I was using my new On X hunting app and couldn’t get our location to come up on the screen. As it turned out, it was just a case of me being unfamiliar with using the maps offline. Anyway, what should have been a half hour walk back to the truck ended up being a four-hour hike in the woods ending at the Little Lyford Lodge. The AMC folks were very friendly and helpful – they gave us something to drink and let

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trip so I was really excited that this was going to be our spot!

The first day of the hunt dawned with a steady rain. I called Ron and we decided to postpone our start time from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. It only showered off and on during the rest of the day but it was cold, windy and foggy at the higher elevations. We went to our prime spot first that morning and saw absolutely nothing. In the afternoon, we went to our two secondary locations and saw one lone cow moose.

Day two dawned cool and windy but without the

Hunters Ron Reamer and his son Sam. acre cutover area laced with moose sign. I called about every 15 minutes doing my best to sound like a cow moose looking for a suitor. After about an hour and a half, I suggested that we move to lower ground where it might not be so windy.

On our walk to lower ground, we noticed a cow moose standing among a patch of small evergreen trees. She was contently feeding on hardwood tips about 150 yards away. I was scanning the area looking for other moose when

After some discussion, we decided that the best plan was for Sam to walk down the game trail towards the moose and shoot him when he stood up. Sam got within about 50 yards of the moose but he could not see them because of the topography.

I decided to call and rake the bushes like I was another bull trying to make my presence known. The big bull immediately got up and the cow made a few steps in our direction.

I made myself look like (Moose cont. pg 65)

Get Hooked on the Sporting Journal! www.sportingjournal.com

December 2024

Moose

(Cont. from pg 64) I had a set of antlers by waving a moose scapula and birch bark call over my head. That kept the moose interested but they did not come any closer.

Meanwhile, Sam (the shooter) is below and downwind from the moose only about 50 yards away.

He can see the bull’s antlers but he can’t make out the body. Eventually, the

Crosby (Cont. from pg 52) rect information; “the last caribou taken legally anywhere in the state, as far as I have been able to ascertain, was one secured at Square Lake, Aroostook County, on December 10, 1898, by Miss Cornelia T. Crosby of Phillips, Maine.” Cornelia did not hunt in 1898. From May to December of 1898, her columns in the Phillips Phonograph document that she convalesced from knee surgery in Portland. The Commissioners of Fish and Game reported 160 caribou were killed in 1898 before the season was closed for good.

So, Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby did not shoot the last caribou in Maine.

That dishonor goes to one of many poachers who continued to shoot caribou into the early 1900s. There are records of caribou being shot illegally on Katahdin in 1899. Charles Wilson acknowledged to Ralph Palmer that he illegally shot a caribou at Chases Carry on the Allagash in 1901. Many others succumbed to the poacher’s snare and Winchester until they were gone by 1908.

I shared my findings with Zachariah Selley, Cu-

Northwoods Sporting Journal moose figure out that something is not right. The bull turns and runs downhill right in front of Sam and he puts a 30-06 round right in its chest. The moose runs about 30 yards and disappears into the bushes. At about the same time as the bull spooks, another cow with calf jumped up and head towards the tree line and disappeared. After a short search, we find a magnificent looking bull moose piled-up just like it

shows in the picture.

After photos and congratulations, the work began. Ron and I went to work skinning and quartering the moose while Sam went out to get the sleds, game bags and saw.

After about four hours, we had the big bull skinned, quartered, and hauled out to the truck. The handsome looking animal had a 48inch antler spread, with 20 points and weighed an estimated 850 pounds. We

rator of Archives at the Maine State Museum. He also noted the discrepancy in Fly Rod’s accounts. He said around 1910 that articles began to appear that Cornelia shot the last caribou in Maine. She started to repeat the articles, and changed the year of her caribou hunt to 1898. She did not disavow the false assertions that she shot the last caribou in Maine. In her last will and testament she bequeathed the famous mounted caribou head to the Maine State Museum, which at that time was just a room managed by the Inland Fish and Game located in the State House.

In her will, she repeated the false claim and year.

This was picked up by the newspapers when she died in 1946. The myth became “fact,” until now. Selley is preparing an exhibit featuring Crosby for the Maine State Museum’s reopening that will acknowledge her caribou hunt more accurately and show the breach of her other accomplishments. There was false news” then, just as there is false news now.

This is not to belittle any of Cornelia Crosby’s many achievements and contributions to promote hunting and fishing in Maine, which were remark-

able for a woman of her time. She was a trailblazer who embraced a largerthan-life persona. After all, she was a contemporary and friend of Annie Oakley who in 1898 gave Fly Rod a backstage tour of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show in Boston. Had she not severely injured her knee, who knows where life may have taken her?

Most important, she used her fame and influence to champion catch and release fishing, advocate for a hunting license to support conservation and the use of red hats to make hunting safer. In her columns she supported the Game Commissioners proposals for bag and possession limits on fish and game. Fly Rod invented Maine’s promotional slogan “the Playground of the Nation” and helped create the Maine State Museum. Crosby penned a summation of her life, “I am a plain woman of uncertain age, standing six feet in my stockings...I scribble a bit for various sporting journals, and I would rather fish any day than go to heaven.”

Mark McCollough is a retired wildlife biologist from Hampden, Maine who can be reached at markmccollough25@gmail.com

Page 65

were all tired but elated and reliving the hunt for the rest of the day.

Each day of our hunt started with a short prayer thanking God for the opportunity given to us and the joy of spending the day out in His creation. After the successful harvest, many thanks were given for the animal provided.

To be part of this hunt was truly pleasure for me.

What an awesome gift for a father to give his son!

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

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“The Trail Rider”

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Sleds in the Barn

by Dan Wilson, Bowdoinham, ME I’m confident there are not many barns you’ll come across with trees growing in the middle of them. I can remember when this tree was just a sapling, small and manageable, and persistent. It is an offshoot of an old, large tree on the perimeter of our property.

The parent tree has shaded us though many picnics, naps on the lawn, and survived many hurricanes.

the gentle giant. While the majority of the tree is still hanging on, it’s sad to think that it might be the end of an era soon. Many years ago now, my Dad bought a saw mill, and harvested logs from our property, cutting them into boards. This gave us an opportunity to Snowmobiles stored in an open barn with tree growing in the middle. strengthen and re-side the barn, reinforce the rafters, snippers and widen the hole or through the barn with in from the open side.

When we drive into and lay metal roofing to to accommodate the new our machines. Three out of the four snowmobiles the barn from the open side, replace the tar paper of yes- growth of the tree. we have are equipped with this usually means we will The bay of the barn where the offshoot tree has reverse, but the “little one,” be reversing out… oddly grown is a perfect spot for our mini fleet of snowmobiles. the Puma, does not have enough, I don’t think I’ve reverse. We park the Puma driven out of the cubby One side of the barn is open and the other side is closed, behind the tree, as it is easy door before, only in. Not but we have a little cubby door that we can lift to enter, enough to drive through sure why that is, perhaps providing us opportunity to drive in or through the barn the cubby door, then when easier to navigate one way with our machines. ready to ride again, the or the other. Reversing the Perhaps we always knew teryear. During this renovaThe bay of the barn Puma is light enough to snow machine can somethat someday we would no tion came an opportunity to where the offshoot tree has maneuver by lifting/drag- times be difficult. There is longer have this tree, so it keep our offshoot tree part grown is a perfect spot for ging/pulling slightly to the no snow where it’s parked, became even more critical of the picture and thriving. our mini fleet of snowmo- side, so we can aim the only dirt, plywood, and to give this offshoot in the By simply cutting a hole in biles. One side of the barn skis pointing out, and ride some boards to help keep barn a chance. the metal roof, the tree now is open and the other side off. My Dad and I park our the skis dry and off the Storms this year have had an opportunity to reach is closed, but we have a snowmobiles to the left or ground. It can be icy and taken a toll on the old tree to the sky and continue to little cubby door that we right of the tree, sometimes the track might be apt to and this past April, we lost thrive. Every few years, my can lift to enter, providing driving in from the cubby spin if enough traction isn’t a large leader branch from Dad will take out the metal us opportunity to drive in door, or sometimes driving made, causing the snowmobile to slide to the side.

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Cap

(Cont. from pg 62) tool shed. It wasn’t a big pond, but he had no fear.

Not many sounds of human life were to be seen around Home Base in the summer months.

When I tried to get too close to the bittern he struck his classic fear pose.

Head held high in the air he dared me to notice him.

Of course, standing there in a sparsely colored pond he looked a bit foolish, but often his classic pose will blend with the background.

At those times he is impossible to see until you practically trip over him.

We ate our lunch and headed for the Jeep. It would have to be another afternoon on Swift Brook.

Some of our days are spent there in trout season, but this was to be different. Our quarry as the big Maine Moose. No shots were to be fired other than with my

Messages (Cont. from pg 55) made a significant contribution to the inventory and knowledge of the natural history of the Moosehead Region and the State of Maine. However, these were not my individual accomplishments; they resulted from the combined efforts of our permanent staff with help from dozens of seasonal helpers.

These are the things that gave 34 years with the Fishery Division a purpose.

What made the 34 years interesting and rewarding on a personal level was being with friends and experiencing all of the wonderful things that nature laid out before me nearly every day in the field.”

35mm camera and slide film. I like to use these trophies to start a slide show, even if the topic of the presentations is as far out as snowmobiling. Moose slides seem to go with anything.

Often while angling for trout we’ll see a moose, sometimes close enough to get caught in a backcast.

I never have my camera with me at these times, and so we have to return to the area for another trip.

It just makes extra work to do this, or so my wife says, and one of these seasons I’m going to remember to bring my camera in the spring so I don’t have to return again in late summer for a fresh supply of moose slides.

The Jeep slid to a stop in a mud puddle at the edge of the brook. We were five miles away from regular roads. The four wheel drive unit bounced us up and over the tote road stumps In closing, a littleknown fact is Maine’s Inland Fisheries Division was one of the first in the nation and a gold-standard bearer.

It was begun and developed

by Dr. Harry Everhart, who co-wrote the U.S.’s first university textbook about the life cycles of freshwater fish, about which very little was known before, and developed freshwater fisheries management as a science, which also had not been done before.

Suzanne AuClair is an avid outdoorswoman.

She lives near Rockwood and has been writing about the Moosehead Lake Region for the past 29 years.

She produced Maine’s reference anthology, “The Origin, Formation, and History of Maine’s Inland Fisheries Division.”

to get us there.

When I got out I noticed that the Ole Man had no puddle to jump over on His side. He was riding high and dry with a firm grin from ear to ear as He watched me scramble. You get used to things like that with Him along. He’s got a way about Him. There were a whole series of sloughs in this section of the brook. It would be impossible to go very far without getting a glimpse or two of moose.

They hang around these sideshows to eat the water plants and get away from flies. The insects bother them badly in late summer. I think if I were they I would hang around these waters too.

I generously sloshed on the fly dope. We made our way up the road to a cedar point of land that was heavily favored by moose. A glance over either shoulder and you had your choice of natural feed beds for moose. The muddy bottoms would act like quick sand to you or me, but to the moose it was a giant supermarket.

I had snuck over three quarters of the way out the point when a rushing roar

of free flowing water reminded me of what it was that I was looking for. A mature cow with calf stood up about a hundred yard to my left. She knew that something was up there, but not quite exactly what it was. She held her nose up and waited.

My scent was drifting the other way. The telephoto lens was successful in getting some pretty good slides, especially after she went back to feeding. After a full twenty minutes of ignoring us standing there she finally decided that there still was something odd about those two “trees” on the bank of the slough. No need to worry, she galloped away with a small tailing following close behind.

The next hour was dry moose hunting. We saw some ducks, heard a crow call, watched a squirrel chomping on some kind of nut we couldn’t identify, and saw a deer bound across the stream. I wasn’t able to “shoulder” the camera quickly enough to get off an aimed shot. So what else is new?

Dark was fast approaching. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun.

Page 67 At the second to the last slough we found a young bull waiting for our approach. He already knew that we were coming. You could tell by the raised hair on his neck that we left no doubt in his mind that we were “people”. It wasn’t that he wanted trouble. He just knew that man scent was bad stuff, and was ready to flee or fight. He would elect the former as moose always did. During the rut they might get a bit frisky, but posed no real danger.

I grabbed two shots.

The low light would probably mean a less than adequate slide, but the chance was always there. With the sound of the second shutter trip he was off and running for one more follow up shot.

The Ole Man arrived home to much “praise” from Herself for being so valiant at getting the roadside litter cleaned up.

Supper was burned a little.

I called my wife to explain the trouble I was having getting away from all my good friends I had found and we went coon hunting until near dawn. Hard work this love of the outdoors.

$24.95 Send a check for $29.95 ($24.95 plus $5.00 for postage) along with this ad, to Maine Outdoor Publications, 51 Branchview N., Ellsworth, ME 04605

Page 68

Northwoods Sporting Journal

My daughter’s name is Kendall Sparks. She just turned 16 in August and was drawn this summer for a moose permit. We live in New Gloucester, but have a camp in Medford, which is in the zone she was drawn for (zone 18). Many trips up there this summer paid off and on Thursday morning around 8:00 a.m she got a beautiful bull in Seboeis Plantation. We were not able to drive to where the moose was, so we quartered it on site and packed it about 1/2 mile out to the truck.

It took 3 of us 3 trips. She carried 1/3 of that moose and helped cut it in the field as well as butcher it and package for freezing when we got home. I’m a very proud dad! (Photo by Josh Sparks)

December 2024

Sarah Sparks is 43 years old and has been hunting for 20 years. This year she was finally able to connect with this 110 lb spike on her own property in New Gloucester.

(Photo by Josh Sparks)

Northwoods Sporting Journal

December 2024

Wolves

of rear leg, the animal was better. Yes, there were all but invisible. conspiring circumstances, (Cont. from pg 63) Fellow hunters, trying some bad luck that misto be comforting, assure directed the focus of my meat is sour, gone bad.

I leave it all to the me that, “this is hunting. search. But that does not wolves and who-knows- Things happen.” I know exonerate me. I should "Tate" Aylward - 207-794-2460 what critters, and walk Peter Phinney - 207-794-5466 away. Glancing back, I Kirk Ritchie - 207-290-1554 realize with a shake of my 5 Lake Street, P.O. Box 66, Lincoln, ME Email: cwa@cwalakestreet.com head that I had walked 207-794-2460 within a few feet of my elk Lincoln: This large lakeside home has an oversized garage, lawn to the lake and a on the first search. It had paved driveway right on Mattanawcook Lake. departed in the opposite Many mechanical updates completed, leaving direction of the other fleecosmetics up to you to make your own. Come ing elk. I never saw it go, take a look today. $175,000. so fixated was I on the other T3 R1 NBPP: Cute camp is nearly finished elk. Except for a protruding with nice views of Bill Green Pond. Full septic system installed and open from the cabin rear hoof and a few inches to the lake. If you’re looking for a reasonably priced lakefront property. This is it. $179,000.

KINGFIELD, RAPID STREAM RD:

Cabin with large porch on 18 acres along Rapid Stream. 1 Bed plus loft. Outhouse. Rapid Stream Road is a trail that snowmobilers, hikers, ATV and bikers use. 20 mins to Sugarloaf! $187,000.

Page 69

have tried harder and got- a weekly radio program ten my head out of the box “Maine Outdoors” heard earlier in the search.

Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. He has authored The author is editor three books. Online purof the Northwoods Sport- chase information is availing Journal. He is also a able at www.sportingjourMaine Guide and host of nal.com

REAL ESTATE

SELLERS LANE

BUYERS ROAD

Pemadumcook Lake Island 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

www.edssheds-cabins.com Email: edwardl@edssheds-cabins.com Bangor 207-738-5315

207-265-4000

259 Main Street, Kingfield, ME

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Northwoods Sporting Journal

Page 70

REAL ESTATE

Judd Goodwin Well Co

"We Do It Right The First Time"

Complete Well & Pump

$319

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

December 2024 Lindsey Brann, Associate Broker cell:207-441-9317 office:207-213-6650 lindsey@integrityhomesregroup.com

www.integrityhomesrealestategroup.com/lindseybrann 424 Sanborn Road Acton, ME: Calling all golf enthusiasts, developers, and/ or investors! Opportunities await you here along the Southern Maine Lakes Region! Whether you want to pursue a business venture as a fully functional 9-hole golf course and/or prefer to develop this exceptional 41+/- acre parcel, the possibilities are endless. Several man-made ponds, gorgeous rock walls, and multiple signs of wildlife throughout the property. Access the land by two maintained gravel roads or establish your own. Remodel the post and beam gambrel home into a clubhouse or leave as is and live & operate a business. Sellers are willing to purchase and negotiate additional materials and equipment for the right offer. Verify permitted uses with the town of Acton zoning ordinance. See residential listing MLS#1592890 $2,200,000 75 Grant Road Litchfield, ME: First time on the market is this meticulously maintained cape located within the Tacoma Lakes region nestled on Sand Pond. This fully furnished waterfront home boasts a spacious and functional layout over 3 floors including a partially finished basement and expansive loft space. Open concept living perfect for entertaining guests on the first floor along with the primary suite in the back. An entertainment room and bar set up in the walkout basement. Ample space in the loft for sleeping quarters or turn into a room of your choice and enjoy the convenience of the half bath. A vacant 1.03-acre lot across the street conveys with the sale. This exceptional property has been adored by the current owner and extended family for many decades. Now it is time for your family to create memories here! MLS # 1607507 $599,000 398 Estes Avenue Palmyra, ME Simple living and Maine homesteading at its finest! Over 2,000 sq. ft. of living space within the farmhouse, massive barn with hay lofts & stalls, and a total of 85 acres of prime land! Here is your opportunity to bring this farm back to life and enjoy all that country living has to offer. Centrally located 7 minutes from Pittsfield, 13 minutes to Newport, and 35 minutes to Bangor. See land listing MLS# 1608165ingle Family Residence $375,000

December 2024

Northwoods Sporting Journal

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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.

A digital subscription to the Northwoods Sporting Journal makes a wonderful gift for your military person serving in far away places. www.sportingjournal.com

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.

C’mon down, neighbor! The coffee pot’s always on!

1206 Hammond Street • Bangor, Maine WEBB’S RV CENTER Has an extensive selection of makes and models to choose from. C’mon down and take a look at our motorhomes, vans, pop-ups, travel trailers and fifth-wheels. We’ll help you find a unit that suits your lifestyle and finances and you can help yourself to a fabulous cup of Danny’s coffee the coffee pot’s always on!

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