The Maine Sportsman December 2024 Digital Edition

Cold-Weather Hunting & Fishing Special

Sportsman The Maine

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For Over 50 Years!

Muzzle-loader Hunting for Whitetails P. 19

Get Your Bobcat P. 41, 45

Get Ready for Ice Fishing P. 27, 30

Best Maine Hunting Gun? P. 58

New State Bear Record

Christmas Tree from Hell P. 49

and Bear Trophy Photos P. 42, 48, 70

Reader Poll Results P. 4, 34

2 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————

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4 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————

Editorial

Reader Poll Shows Concern of Losing Gun Rights, and Growing Environmental Awareness Hundreds of outdoorsmen and women took the time to review and thoughtfully respond to our annual Readers’ Opinion Poll. See complete results on page 34; here are some highlights.

Outdoor organizations continue to enjoy strong support. Readers commented on the value of local rod and gun clubs, and they strongly support (76% to 24%) the Sportsmans Alliance of Maine’s federal court challenge to the new 3-day waiting period on firearms purchases.

Likewise, 65% of readers oppose any proposal to prohibit possession of large-capacity autoloaders, even though we’re limited to 5-round clips when hunting big game.

Part of the reluctance to pass judgment on what others can possess or carry may derive from the fact that our readers are using a wide variety of hunting tools – more than 18% of responders used a crossbow during the last 12 months; more that 40% hunted with a muzzle loader; and 85% of our readers support DIF&W’s decision to permit crossbows during archery season.

Equally noteworthy is the gradual acknowledgment of warming temperatures, and their effect on the environment. Over the years, more and more readers are responding “yes” to the question “Do you believe global warming is the result of human activity on earth?” – from 30% and 40% in the 1990s and early 2000s, to 56% in our most recent poll. In fact, one reader asked: “Given the warmer weather we’re experiencing, should opening day for deer be moved back to later in November, or even to December 1st?”

The campaign to get lead out of fishing – and to some extent, hunting – has gained traction each year, with the majority of readers having removed all remaining lead sinkers and jigs from their tackle boxes, and nearly 40% of readers having hunted with non-lead ammo.

Simplifying the fishing and hunting laws remains in the forefront of sportsmen’s minds, with an overwhelming majority (75%) agreeing that the price of a Maine hunting license should include the right to hunt all game animals except moose. Hunters’ ages were also an issue – one reader suggested automatic doe permits for anyone 75 and over, while a majority of readers (64%) – apparently uncomfortable with images of 3-year old deer hunters in Maine – suggest establishing a minimum age for hunters.

And on the venerable question of whether non-resident hunters should be able to hunt on Mainers’ opening Saturday, although the overall vote was very close – 51% in support and 49% opposed – we saw a predictable split between in-state readers (70% opposed) and out-of-state readers (70% in support).

Finally, we received many good suggestions for questions for our next poll, raising issues of hunting over food plots, limiting cell-phone camera technology in hunting, and using advanced military-grade sonar in fishing.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to share your opinions, raise important policy questions, and help shape future reader polls.

¶

On the Cover: Maine’s muzzle-loader season runs December 2 - December 7 in all Wildlife Management Districts, and an additional week (December 9 - 14) in the more southerly WMDs (12, 13, 15 - 18, 20 - 26, and 29). A permit is required for hunters 16 years of age or older (the muzzle-loader permit is included in the junior hunting license, and the senior (age 70+) lifetime license. Hunter orange laws (two items of clothing – a hat, as well as a jacket/ vest/coat/poncho) apply, as does the one-buck rule. Here’s hoping for some fresh tracking snow. Good luck!

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ISSN 0199-036 — Issue No. 625 • www.mainesportsman.com PUBLISHER: Jon Lund MANAGING EDITOR: Will Lund will@mainesportsman.com OFFICE MANAGER: Carol Lund carol@mainesportsman.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Kristina Roderick kristina@mainesportsman.com ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Nancy Carpenter nancy@mainesportsman.com DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR: Jon Mulherin distribution@mainesportsman.com Second class postage paid at Scarborough, ME 04074 and additional entry offices.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Almanac by Will Lund.................................................... 12 Aroostook - “The County” by Bill Graves..................... 35 Big Game Hunting by Joe Saltalamachia.................. 24 Big Woods World by Matt Breton & Hal Blood............ 23 Editorial.............................................................................. 4 Freshwater Fly Fishing by William Clunie...................... 52 Get Out There by Staci Warren.................................... 59 Jackman Region by William Sheldon.......................... 45 Jottings by Jon Lund........................................................ 9 Katahdin Country by William Sheldon......................... 43 Letters to the Editor.......................................................... 6 Maine Wildlife by Tom Seymour................................... 18 Moosehead Region by Tom Seymour......................... 47 New Hampshire by Ethan Emerson.............................. 64 Outdoors & Other Mistakes by Al Diamon.................. 68 Petzal Logic by David Petzal........................................ 39 Quotable Sportsman by Will Lund................................ 15 Rangeley Region by William Clunie............................. 62 Ranger on the Allagash by Tim Caverly...................... 38 Riding Shotgun by Robert Summers............................. 67 Saltwater Fishing by Bob Humphrey............................ 50 Sebago to Auburn Region by Tom Roth..................... 57 Self-Propelled Sportsman by Jim Andrews.................. 40 Shooter’s Bench by Col. J.C. Allard............................. 55 Smilin’ Sportsman by Will Lund...................................... 67 Snapshots in Time by Bill Pierce.................................... 11 Southern Maine by Val Marquez................................. 58 Tales from the Warden Service by Ret. Lt. Doug Tibbetts. 54 Tidewater Tales by Randy Randall............................... 49 Trapping The Silent Places by David Miller.................. 41 Trading Post (Classifieds)............................................... 69 Trout Fishing by Tom Seymour....................................... 51 Vermont by Matt Breton............................................... 66 Western Maine Mountains by William Clunie.............. 60

GUEST COLUMNS & SPECIAL SECTIONS Deer Hunting in Maine by Jim Andrews...................... 19 Ice Fishing........................................................................ 27 Cutting Holes in the Ice by Jon Lund...................... 30 Proper Care of Fish by Nolan Raymond................. 27 Snowmobiling by Steve Carpenteri............................. 31

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6 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————

Letters

Island Nation To the Editor: Many thanks for Al Diamon’s article in the September, 2024 issue (see “Hot! Wet! Horrible! – Climate Change Hysteria,” p. 81).

I was particularly struck by his reference to the possibility of rising seas resulting in oceanfront property in Lewiston. You will remember when they laughed at Al and Tipper Gore when Al Gore invented the internet and alerted us to this global warming phenomena.

They ain’t laughing now.

To The Editor

Clears Up Survival Knife Mystery

To the Editor: In the November, 2024 Sportsman, Randy Randall includes a photo of a mystery knife given to him by his fatherin-law (see Tidewater Tales, “The Long Lives of Knives,” p. 59).

Mr. Randall wrote that he is uncertain of the manufacturer, since the name had been honed off over the years.

I think I can help solve the mystery, since I have an identical knife. It’s one my father carried while flying for the U.S. Marine Corps, in Korea. He left it to me. It’s a PAL RH36 Survival/Fighting knife. USMC Aviators carried them.

I found the blade a bit unwieldy for a hunting knife, but it’s great for allaround use and as a keepsake.

In small letters on the sheath is my Dad’s name, D.V. Thompson. Also printed on the sheath is “VMA 333,” which was the squadron he flew with in Korea.

A final note: This knife has tough

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The letter-writer’s Dad carried this PAL RH36 knife while flying for the Marine Corps in Korea.

steel. It takes a good edge if manually sharpened with care, but can be quickly ruined on a grinder.

Scott Thompson, Freeport, ME —

Will warming weather make Maine a tropical paradise?

In the 1950s and 60s, my late parents invested every penny in underground “end of the world” fallout shelters. Later (Continued on next page)

�������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 7 (Continued from page 6)

they went bankrupt, and deprived me of a college education.

I have come up with an idea to extend their dream.

As the water continues to rise, I intend to buy the useless top 1/3 of Maine’s many mountains. When the rising waters cover the state, these peaks will become highly coveted islands.

And don’t worry about the ski industry – ski resorts will become super-marinas. Add a few casinos, and Maine will earn the moniker “the Monaco of North America.”

Thanks, Al Diamon!

Max Hembley ***** Editor’s response: It’s great to hear from you, Max. Please say hello to the rest of our many readers in Winkumpaugh Corners (southeast of North Orland, and northwest of West Ellsworth). Thanks also for donating your collection of vintage copies of The Maine Sportsman, including issues from the 1970s and 1980s. We receive near-weekly requests for information from old issues, especially annual Biggest Bucks in Maine listings, so readers – please let us know what’s in your libraries!

—

Another True Fish Story

To the Editor: The unusual fishing stories included in a recent “Snapshots in Time” (see “Fishing Stories from

1904,” by Bill Pierce; October 2024, p. 14) reminded me of an incident that happened to me some years ago when I was fishing a lake in northern Manitoba, near Flin Flon.

I hooked what we called a “snake” – a northern pike of about two pounds. Just right for the four of us for supper.

But then, about fifty feet behind, appeared a fin, making a wake pointing directly at “my” fish.

Seconds later, in a beautifully choreographed sequence, my fish disappeared, the bigger fish with practiced precision like a loon flipping a fish and catching it head-first to swallow it, flipping the smaller fish so that it would go down easily without catching in its throat or esophagus.

I debated what to do, since I didn’t need nor want a 10-pound northern, nor did I need to salvage a 35-cent spoon.

So I cut the line!

Birney Dibble, Eau Claire, WI —

More on ATVs on the Sanford Trail To the Editor: The letter in the October issue regarding the ATV Club closing in Sanford (see “End of the Trail in Sanford, October 2024 issue, pp.

7-8) is accurate as far as it goes, but there is a little more involved regarding the closing of the Rail Trail to ATVs. (Continued on next page)

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8 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman —————————————————————————————————————————————

Letters (Continued from page 7) The Rail Trail is a former railroad line that bisects the city in the Springvale part of town, and its 5 miles is the most significant and used part of our 30-plus city trails system.

As Chair of the City Trails Committee, I was involved in the meeting that triggered the formation of the Club and a subsequent Task Force that attempted to come up with ways to allow ATVs to remain on the Trail.

The City Council made the decision to prohibit ATVs on the Rail Trail. Although issues like dust, noise, and speed came up, the really significant issue was damage to the trail. Deep ruts were created from the ATVs throwing up dirt and gravel. There was no crown, and the outer edges of the trail were much higher, causing water to pond in the center.

The trail wasn’t good for walkers and bicyclists.

The ATV club did try to make repairs, but the work needed was much

more than they could handle.

Since the ATV closure, we have spent over $41,000 on the trail, mostly for grading, adding gravel, and compacting. We are not yet finished, and we’ll be spending more.

I sincerely regret the necessity of the closure and understand the frustration of ATV users, but use by walkers, runners, bicyclists and horse riders has greatly increased since motorized vehicles were excluded.

Lawrence Furbish, Sanford, ME —

Witnessed a Wildcat

To the Editor: The Sportsman’s recent Readers’ Poll included a question about whether anyone had seen a cougar in Maine. I believe I did. Here’s what happened.

It was in the autumn, four years ago.

I was driving west on Route 4 between East Wilton and Wilton on an early Saturday afternoon.

I saw a large cat-like animal with a long thick tail and muscular legs walking along the four wheeler/snowmobile

ATVs reportedly made deep ruts in the surface of the Sanford Rail Trail. The vehicles caused the crown of the gavel roadway to erode, so water pooled in the center of the trail. These conditions negatively affected other users, including walkers, runners, bicyclists and horse riders. Photo: Maine DIF&W

trail on the right side of the road.

I had a clear view of it, as the leaves were off the trees at that time.

Vickie Carrier, Dixfield, ME

¶

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Hunter Orange In a follow-up to Bill Sheldon’s “Jackman Region” column last month (see “Thoughts on Hunter Orange,” November 2024 issue, p. 43), the author provides a glimpse into the law-making process that led to the first hunter orange law in the 1966 legislative session. taking “sound shots” in a diner crowded with out-of-state hunters. But it really was not a joking matter.

Maine would regularly chalk up a dozen or more accidental hunting deaths during the fall season. It may be hard to believe today, but it is true.

During those years, I was elected and served several terms as Kennebec County Attorney, an office that’s today called the District At-

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torney. It was our job to enforce the criminal law, and in the case of a hunting death, the statutes explicitly directed us to carry out those duties in person.

We had a couple of hunting fatalities in Kennebec County during my tenure. On those occasions, I got a call from a warden to go to the scene and interview the shooter.

Those cases still stick out in my memory.

The shooters whom I interviewed were in

INC.

Not many of today’s deer hunters can recall what it was like to hunt Maine whitetails before wearing hunter orange became mandatory.

There was a time when a Maine hunter might feel some caution before pressing boldly through a dense thicket of evergreens. We had no hunter-safety training programs nor blaze orange hunter clothing requirements.

Hunters would sometimes refer jokingly to

★

Hunter orange (fluorescent orange) shows up incredibly well in Maine’s often- shaded deep woods. Hunters are required to wear two articles of hunter orange clothing – the first, a hunterorange hat; and the second, an item that covers a major portion of the torso, such as a jacket, vest, coat or poncho. Photo: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife

shock, speaking rapidly – almost incoherently – in describing what had happened.

On one occasion, several buddies were hunting a small, dense covert on a foggy morn-

ing where someone had spooked a deer.

The shooter saw what he thought was a deer, marked with a small patch of white. He shouldered his Win(Continued on next page)

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10 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Jottings

tion’s case, we dressed a mannequin in the dead man’s clothing, and carried it feet first into the courtroom. The defendant broke down in tears, and the judge called a recess. When the hearing resumed, the defendant quickly pleaded guilty.

(Continued from page 9)

chester .405 self-loading rifle and fired one shot, killing his friend.

Our investigation revealed that the victim was wearing a redand-black checked wool jacket. A white T-shirt triangle was visible at the jacket’s collar. To the shooter, that white triangle looked like a

deer’s white tail.

We charged the defendant with negligent shooting, and he pleaded not guilty. Trial was held in the Winthrop Municipal Court.

In court, we knew the shooter’s defense was that the victim had looked like a deer. So to present the prosecu-

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islature, and whenever possible, focused on issues with which I was familiar. Hunter safety was one, but I was unable to convince my fellow legislators of the effectiveness of hunter orange as a safety step forward.

In my second run, I was elected to the Senate, and another legislator carried the torch on the hunter orange issue. His bill was defeated in the House and arrived in the Senate.

In the course of the debate in the Senate, one of the opposing senators allowed that he might support some change, but could not support a hunter orange requirement for the whole state.

Using the Procedural Rules Maine’s Procedural Rules give priority to a motion to table, but do not allow debate on a tabling motion. So, I asked if some senators would table the bill to give me the opportunity to offer an amendment

limiting the hunter orange bill to a test zone.

The tabling motion was successful, and when the bill came off the table, an amendment was passed limiting the hunter orange requirement to a test zone in what was essentially Oxford County.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife cooperated admirably, and the “test zone” experiment was a success. We had a scattering of hunting accidents in the rest of the state, but ZERO hunting accidents in the test zone.

In the next legislative session, the hunter orange requirement was expanded to apply to the entire state.

Shootings and fatalities dropped significantly, aided also by the addition of hunter safety education requirements and programs.

I was proud to have played a role in making the woods safer during deer season.

¶

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

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 11

“Snapshots in Time”

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

We’ll begin with a short article found in the January 12, 1883 edition of the “Phillips Photograph”:

A Caribou Hunt Under date of Dec. 27th, 1882, Kennedy Smith writes as follows from Tim Pond: I have often told my guests in the summer that if they wanted some good shooting when the law was off, if they would come at the right time, I could show it to them, and knowing that Mr. E. W. Davis, of Providence, R. I., had a desire to shoot a caribou, I wrote to him to come here and spend Christmas at Tim Pond.

He, with a friend, arrived here on the 22nd.

We went to the pond with a pair of horses and sled, and son Edgar as guide. Spent the first night very comfortably in camp.

The next morning after breakfast, Ed looked around the pond for a few minutes, and then came into camp and told Mr. Davis he would show him some fun. They started out and walked slowly around the shore. In all, Mr. Davis counted 15 caribou.

He then fired five shots and killed five caribou. He said he had gotten enough – all that two horses could haul – and would not shoot any more, although we saw several other groups and could have got more if we had wanted.

We startled several deer on the buck-board road between the Smith farm and Tim Pond. Mr. Davis is a good shot and a sportsman who doesn’t believe in killing more game than he can take care of.

(It is hard to imagine a time where someone could bag FIVE Caribou in Maine in one outing like Mr. Davis here, and still be labeled a “sportsman,” but it was a different time, and the resource was considered inexhaustible.)

Caribou were once so numerous in Maine they were considered an inexhaustible resource. Photo: Canadian Broadcast Corporation, Ottawa

Killed Three Birds Without Knowing It From “Maine Woods,” July 29,1883 The partridge story related by one of the Italian bosses on the line of the Phillips & Rangeley railroad reminds me of what Mr. E. P. Littlefield of Wilton did several years ago.

While hunting partridge, he saw one standing on the ground and fired at it, and when he went to pick it up, he picked up three that he had killed after seeing only one. The other two were just ten feet beyond the one he saw, right in range, and he killed them all.

Pretty good for not moving around a bit to “line them up,” as many a Maine “ground swiper” would do.

And we’ll close with two short dispatches from the August 14, 1903, edition of the “Maine Woods”:

Bear In Harness The following odd affair is alleged to have occurred to Lena McLaughlin of Rangeley when she was a small girl living in Nova Scotia.

She was one day playing with a younger sister in the road near an apple orchard some distance from the house. They had a large St. Bernard dog harnessed into a cart in which they were both seated.

Suddenly, a large black bear rushed from the orchard and attacked them.

The dog, feeling that he was the

guardian, met the bear with all the fury his 150 pounds contained, but was handled so roughly by the bear that he was glad to beat a retreat for the house.

The bear gave chase, but in the mix-up, the dog had gotten out of the harness, and the bear in some way had gotten his head into it. Consequently, the girls found themselves being taken swiftly home in a novel fashion.

So set was the bear on catching the dog that he did not abandon the chase until he was in the dooryard, when he suddenly wheeled about, upsetting the cart with its load, and made off for the woods.

(Now, THAT one is so good that it’s “bearly” believable!)

Not Very Good Fishing A State of Maine young man who went fishing the other day, caught forty-five nice trout. In referring to the day’s outing, he remarked that he didn’t call the fishing very good, as he had to fish all the time to get the forty-five fish.

Old Fly Rod Crosby herself once caught one hundred trout in an hour, so this young man’s lament is somewhat understandable for the time.

We hope you’re having a terrific early winter, and until next time, be sure to get yourself outside as often as you can to make some great Maine outdoor history of your own!

This late 1800s dog cart from a Rangeley camp is similar to the one accidentally harnessed by a bear, as featured in one of this month’s “Snapshots in Time” episodes.

Photo provided by the author www.MaineSportsman.com

Almanac

12 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Three Minutes with a Maine Guide

by Lisa DeHart

The Long Walk Back to the Canoe Big rapid. Maybe a gorge, a couple of tricky ledge drops at the top that descend into big standing waves – I know I’m gonna take on some water, but if I can slow it down and ride the seam in those haystacks, I’ll make it through long enough to eddy out and bail. OK, that’s the plan. And now comes … … the long walk back to the canoe.

Need to get a drink, definitely need to pee, then I’ll be ready.

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve done it – there is nothing like the long walk back to your canoe after scouting a rapid.

As a Guide, I always run it first, to make sure there are no surprises. Plus, rapids always look 10 times worse, until you see a canoe go through.

The mental game is real. Focus on

Compiled and Edited by — Will Lund —

the plan, harness the fear, and remember – it’s a beautiful rapid, so don’t forget to enjoy it.

For me, any fear or hesitation disappears once I’m in the boat. I grab my pole, and pull my hat down low. I stop the canoe at the top of a big rapid for as long as I can hold it, to look at those lines, current, rocks, holes, open chan-

After slowing her canoe upstream while she determined the best path through the rocks, the author drops down into the whitewater. Jeff DeHart photo

nels … OK, I can read the line.

Once I lift that pole and start to run it, EVERYTHING slows down. My eyes and mind focus in like tunnel vision.

There’s no fear; I’m just reacting.

I drop down the first big ledge and watch my boat completely fall away from my feet, and until the day I die, that’s my drug of choice.

Now comes the pop I’m gonna take when I hit those waves; got to slow the boat, so I ride with the crest of the wave instead of knifing into it and filling with water.

Slow the boat, find the seam, slow the boat, find the seam.

All is good. Took on enough water that it’s ankle deep, but that’s not bad, and I can see the eddy.

Good run. Fact is, anything you run with the boat upright is a good run.

I love that long walk back to the canoe.

— (Continued on next page)

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������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 13 (Continued from page 12)

Guide Talk

by John LaMarca

lution” rounds. This modern twist on the old caliber shows incredible results.

The “Makeover” of a Marlin 30-30 Lever-Action The Marlin 336 lever action rifle has an iconic reputation as a perfect whitetail bush/woods gun. It shoots 30-30 Winchester cartridges, and these days, with “new and improved” 30-caliber cartridges seemingly coming out every year, some folks discount the Winchester design. This is the case even though the 30-30 has likely killed more deer than any other single cartridge available today.

Most folks concur these rifles are effective only up to 100-200 yards, since the bullets are flat-nosed. That flatnosed design is purposeful, however, since in rifles with a long, tubular magazine, the tip of one bullet is in contact with the primer of the cartridge in front of it in the magazine. For safety, therefore, the nose on the slug was made flat so there’s no sharp metal point pressing into the primer of the next bullet.

This flat nose, however, causes the slug to lose some of its ballistic performance, especially at longer distances. In fact, the slug is subject to about a 7-inch drop at 200 yards.

Luckily with modern ballistics and technology, new bullets are being made that change the game for the 30-30 and give it new life.

Take a look at Hornady “LeverEvo-

Hornady’s LeverEvolution 30-30 bullets allow for modern ballistic performance out of this old caliber. The soft, pointed tip allows cartridges to be loaded into a tubular magazine without fear of one slug activating the primer on the cartridge in front of it. Photos by John Lamarca

Their important innovation is the soft polymer tips on their FTX bullets.

This allows for a more traditional bullet shape that vastly improves ballistic coefficients, but without concern for magazine ignitions, since there’s no danger of the plastic tip triggering the primer in front.

With these rounds, I can comfortably shoot 400 yards accurately out of my 3030. I have turned my “brush gun” into a tack driver.

Ammo First; Rifle Next The 30-30 Win Cartridge got a makeover, so why not the 30-30 itself? I own my dream rifle – a Marlin 336 XLR in 30-30, stainless steel with a 24” barrel.

I thought it would be a fun project to overhaul this already fantastic rifle. (BE FOREWARNED: Marlin lever action purists should avert their eyes!)

I started by taking the rifle 100% apart, and giving it a thorough cleaning.

I then sandblasted and sent out those parts that could be “black nitride” coated, a process that gives the rifle even better corrosion resistance, as well as providing the black matte finish.

I then ordered upgraded internal parts (see Ranger Point Precision, RangerPointStore.com), including a new trigger, loading gate, magazine tube end and plunger, and dovetail filler. I had the barrel threaded, and got an oversized lever loop from Wild West Guns.

The lower photo is the author’s stainless steel Marlin 30-30 before he upgraded it to match some high-performance ammo. The upper photo shows the same lever-action rifle, re-born with a big hoop lever, black matte finish, a custom stock (by Mark C. Donovan Fine Woodworking), new internal mechanics, and a 3x9 scope.

Next, I acquired an unfinished stock from Boyds Custom Stocks, and gave the rifle and stock to a friend, Mark C. Donovan, who does custom rifle fit and finish.

Once everything was assembled, I paired the rifle with the Leupold 3-9X40 CDS scope, and sighted it in. My 30-30 (Continued on next page)

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14 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Almanac (Continued from page 13) has a new lease on life, and it’s ready to accompany me into the woods for many years to come!

—

DIF&W To Get a New Home For more than 50 years, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) has leased space in a variety of locations, with multiple offices hosting employees, because they never had a building that was spacious enough to accommodate staff, equipment and visitors (their main office welcomes about 7,000 visitors each year).

Over that time, the department has paid several times more in lease costs than it would have taken to purchase or build a permanent headquarters.

That’s about to change, Mark Latti, IFW’s communications director, recently told The Maine Sportsman.

In early 2027, the Department is expected to move into a new, $39.5 million, state-owned headquarters, a building that will allow the department to coordinate staff and resources from a central office.

open green areas and the Kennebec River, enhancing the department’s ability for additional outreach and educational programming.

The core of the facility is a fully renovated CETA building, the former AMHI nurses’ quarters. Additions on the north and south end of the building will house offices, labs, storage, conference rooms, and the Department’s licensing and merchandise programs. A new barn will be built to store equipment for biologists and game wardens, including snowmobiles, ATVs, boats, and other equipment used by Department personnel.

The project will be bid later this fall, awarded to a contractor in early 2025, and be completed over a two-year period.

—

Fishing Club Thrives at UNE

Students who attend college in a mountainous area are likely to join the school’s hiking club or ski club. Likewise, those enrolled at a school along Boston’s Back Bay may gravitate toward the sailing club or rowing club.

So what do you do if you attend University of New England’s Biddeford campus, located on the banks of the Saco River where it empties into Saco Bay between Biddeford and Camp Ellis, home to some of the best saltwater fishing the state has to offer?

Well, you join the fishing club, of course!

Sawyer Ohman caught this cod, which was kept for a meal of fish tacos.

bass, or any other popular gamefish,” she recently told The Sportsman. “But at UNE, members of the fishing club enjoy this perk before morning classes, during their lunch break, and even after dark.”

According to Stiles, slightly more than half of current members – 36 out of 68 – are women. The club was founded in 2019 by Kaylee Townsend, and its current members make a concerted effort to ensure the club welcomes experienced and new anglers alike.

In September, the club held its first

The conceptual “west aerial view” of the planned new headquarters of Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The property is located on the east side of the Kennebec River in Augusta, in proximity to other complementary departments. Source: DIF&W

The move will allow IFW to consolidate major department functions and staff currently dispersed among multiple locations in Augusta and Bangor into one central facility. It will also locate IF&W next-door to natural resource agencies on the East Campus, including the Departments of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Marine Resources; and Environmental Protection.

The new facility will include offices, conference rooms, wildlife necropsy lab, equipment, fish health lab, printed material storage, and storage for work vehicles such as ATVs, snowmobiles, boats and trucks. There will be room at the new building for over 100 IFW staff members – double the capacity of the old IFW headquarters on State Street.

The new office is close to several www.MaineSportsman.com

Kristof Roth, with a cod and a pollock for the post-trip fish fry.

Grace Kistner holding Photos by Evan Kamoen

a

haddock.

And more and more UNE students – including a surprising number of women – are doing just that, according to Deirdre Fleming Stires, of UNE’s communications office.

“There are not many colleges or universities in the nation where students can fish right from campus for striped

Alexis Weaver holds a cod, which also was kept for the team dinner.

(Continued on next page)

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 15 (Continued from page 14)

Amelia Burbidge, and club president Evan Kamoen, both holding pollock.

catch-and-release striped bass tournament, which required those who entered to use their phone to snap a photo of stripers, with the campus in the background. Then, in October, a dozen club members went on a deep-sea fishing trip in pursuit of groundfish, like Atlantic cod, haddock, and flounder.

When they’re not fishing, they are learning how to tie flies, how to fillet and cook fish, and how best to release fish in a manner that ensures maximum survivability.

The photos accompanying this piece were taken during the October 19 deepsea trip by club president Evan Kamoen.

—

Quotable

Sportsman

by Will Lund

“People … just cannot believe that a friend of the club who rode with us would do this to us.”

Timberland ATV Club President Eric Spear, of Turner, speaking to WGME television, after the club’s treasurer was charged with theft for allegedly embezzling upwards of $15,000, including money set aside for a scholarship.

Eels Part 2 In our November, 2024 issue, we told you of a reader’s question about why eels weren’t generally treated as game fish, and why state records weren’t being kept for the largest eels caught (see “Should Eels Have Their Own “One That Didn’t Get Away” Patch Club?”, Almanac, pp.

14 – 15).

In that piece, we told you we had reached out to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and that we’d report back what we learned. And we will.

But before getting to that, we also heard back from the reader who’d asked the original question, Timothy Costello, and he told us that his interest in eels was piqued as the result of an early encounter – an encounter that got his name in the local newspaper back in 1979. Here’s Tim’s follow-up note to us: ***** To: Editor, The Maine Sportsman From: Timothy Costello Re: Why I asked about eels My reason for asking about eels was because I recently started lake fishing again, and returned to fish the lake where I caught a huge eel more than 40 years ago.

Here’s the story…

It was July 1979, and I was 16 years old. I was fishing in the early evening with my family off the dock at our camp

in north Belgrade, Salmon Lake.

Then I saw what appeared to be a large snake swimming on the bottom and coming near shore. I had no idea what it was.

I yelled to my family to see. It looked as long as the dock! The “snake” left, and I hurried to get my pole.

I cast out, and sure enough I had a bite. It was heavy! I slowly reeled it in, with great excitement. My family gathered to watch. My brother assisted with a net.

Eventually, I got the “snake “to land.

It was huge! I removed it from the hook and net, and it tried to wiggle back to the water. It was so slimy I could barely hold it.

Tim Costello and his 4-foot eel, circa 1979.

(Continued on next page)

The loss was discovered when Spear tried to rent an excavator to perform trail maintenance, but the club’s bank card was declined. He asked the bank to transfer funds from the club’s savings account, but was told “There’s no money there, either.”

— “On the final push, Dower went 129 miles over two days with only 23 minutes of sleep.”

Laura Lancaster, writing in OutdoorLife e-magazine about Tara Dower, who completed the Appalachian Trail in the fastest known time ever – 40 days, 18 hours and 6 minutes. She averaged more than 50 miles a day on the 2,189mile trail. She and her small pacing/support team slept along the trail, and she hiked from 3:30 a.m. each morning until 9:30 p.m. each night.

— “Winner of World Conker Championship Accused of Cheating” Headline in the London, England Daily Telegraph, after a contestant was found with a metal conker in his pocket.

According to the Telegraph, conkers is

Conkers. Source: Historic UK/Forgotten Ireland

a game in which two competitors take turns using a horse chestnut attached to a string – known as a “conker” – to attack their opponent’s conker. Points are scored for breaking the opponent’s conker without damaging one’s own conker, making the inherent advantage in a metal substitute obvious. An opponent complained, “My conker disintegrated in one hit, and that just doesn’t happen.

Now it turns out [the champion] had a dummy steel conker.” www.MaineSportsman.com

16 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Almanac (Continued from page 15) We secured the fish, and held it until the next morning. We thought this had to be some sort of record catch, so we drove the snake to Charlie’s log cabin bait shop in Oakland.

They weighed and measured it, and identified it as an eel. Charlie’s immediately called the local paper, the Morning Sentinel, and they arrived and took pictures. I remember that as I held the fish outside, drivers slowed their cars for a better view.

On July 6th, 1979, the picture and write-up of the fish hit the sports section of the Morning Sentinel. 10 pounds, 4 feet long! ***** What do you think, readers? Have you ever caught a 4-foot eel? Have you ever seen or heard of a 4-foot eel? Let us know.

Meanwhile we received some additional information from the state. You may recall from last month that we saw in the statute that eels are legal baitfish, but also that it’s illegal to possess baby or juvenile eels without having an elver license.

We reached Joe Overlock, a DIF&W Fisheries Management Section Supervi-

sor. He responded: Dear Editor: My initial reaction to your question was that you cannot harvest or use eels as bait if they are less than 9 inches. To confirm my impression, I wanted to find a clear section of rule or statute to refer you to, so I consulted with Capt. Colin Macdonald, of Maine Marine Patrol. He pointed me to a regulation of the Department of Marine Resources; specifically, Chapter 32, Eels and Elvers.

Within Chapter 32, DMR defines three life stages of eels: 1. An eel means a member of the species Anguilla rostrata in that stage of its life cycle when it is 9 inches or more in length.

2. An elver means a member of the species Anguilla rostrata that will pass through a 1/8” non-stretchable mesh net.

3. A pigmented eel means a member of the species Anguilla rostrata in that stage of its life cycle when it will not pass through a 1/8” non-stretchable mesh but is less than 9 inches in length.

Farther down in the chapter, the rule states: It shall be unlawful to fish for, take, possess, or transport elvers unless properly licensed under, and in accordance with 12 M.R.S. §6505A, §6302-A, §6864, or §6865.

It shall be unlawful to fish for, take, possess, or transport pigmented eels, except that eel and elver harvesters, licensed in accordance with 12 M.R.S. §6505A, §6505-C, and §6302-A, shall not be in violation when encoun-

NEVER COMPROMISE

tering pigmented eels as “by-catch,” provided that the pigmented eels are immediately released upon culling the catch at the harvest location.

So, anglers cannot possess (and therefore can’t use) an eel less than 9 inches in Maine.

Regarding seasons during which eels may be fished for and kept, recreational angling season dates for eels are the same as they would be for any other fish species caught in inland waters. The season would follow the General Law season dates for whichever zone the angler is fishing in (North Zone or South Zone). If a particular water has specific regulations that deviate from the general law, then those water-specific regulations would apply.

Eels are regulated by DMR and NOAA, with a 25-fish daily bag limit, and a minimum length limit of 9 inches.

MDIFW mirrors that regulation for any eels caught in inland waters.

American Eels are not commonly sought after by recreational inland anglers in Maine, so catch is typically incidental in nature; however, angling for and harvesting within the bag and length limits is permitted.

They are also a legal baitfish to be used in Maine. By far, most of the use as a baitfish is by striped bass anglers.

Because stripers are occasionally targeted above the rise and fall of the tide (i.e., inland waters), MDIFW has retained American Eel as a legal baitfish species.

I’m not aware of much use of eels as bait for inland sportfish; however, it would be legal to use, for example, as a piece of cut bait (taken from an eel 9 inches long or longer) to target lake trout (and who knows – it might be worth a try!).

Joe Overlock, Maine DIF&W ***** So there you have it, readers – as much as (and quite possibly more than) you ever wanted to know about the rules and regulations, seasons, bag limits and minimum lengths, of American Eels in Maine.

— Wilderness First Aid

by Stacey Wheeler, RN

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������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 17

er present additional challenges in your goal to stay safe while you’re trying to hook your dinner.

If driving on the ice, keep the windows open, and do not overdrive your headlights.

December 2024 Sunrise/Sunset

Final Tips

Here’s the author, fishing at Range Pond with her family. Before traveling to the spot in their snowmobiles, they carefully checked the thickness of the ice.

Crucial for safety is knowing the thickness of the ice. Remember that thickness can vary dramatically in different areas of the pond or lake, so be sure to check frequently to avoid breaking through. Clear ice is safer than cloudy, and stay off slush. You can check for thickness with an auger, chisel, or drill.

• 3 inches or less – STAY OFF! • 4 inches – Usually safe for foot traffic • 5-6 inches – Usually safe for ATV or snowmobile • 8-12 inches – Will usually support a small car or light truck • 12-15 inches – Safe for midsize trucks

Always Fish with a Friend. If a medical emergency arises or you fall through the ice, it can be lifesaving to have someone who can provide assistance or go for help.

Keep Your Eye on the Skies.

Keep a close check on weather conditions. Weather in Maine changes at the drop of a hat, and you can be caught out in dangerous winds or freezing rain that cause hypothermia to set in quickly.

Layer Up! While you don’t want to catch a chill, you don’t want to be hot and sweaty, either. Layers provide the ability to dress up or down to match the conditions and activity level. Sitting and waiting for that flag will make you much colder than running for them. Protect yourself from sunburn, windburn, frostbite and hypothermia.

Be a Gear Junkie. Wear ice grippers on your boots, carry ice picks to help get traction if you fall through, have a whistle to call for help, and a rope for your friend to pull you to safety. Flotation snowmobile suits are a great addition to ice fishing safety.

By following these simple guidelines, your family can bank hours of fishing memories like ours has over the years. Fish on!

¶

Ice fishing chart, with examples. This chart is accurate only for new, clear ice.

Bangor, ME DATE RISE SET 1 Sun 6:51 3:57 2 Mon 6:52 3:56 3 Tue 6:53 3:56 4 Wed 6:54 3:56 5 Thu 6:55 3:56 6 Fri 6:56 3:56 7 Sat 6:57 3:56 8 Sun 6:58 3:55 9 Mon 6:59 3:55 10 Tue 7:00 3:55 11 Wed 7:01 3:55 12 Thu 7:02 3:56 13 Fri 7:02 3:56 14 Sat 7:03 3:56 15 Sun 7:04 3:56 16 Mon 7:05 3:56

DATE RISE SET 17 Tue 7:05 3:57 18 Wed 7:06 3:57 19 Thu 7:06 3:58 20 Fri 7:07 3:58 21 Sat 7:07 3:59 22 Sun 7:08 3:59 23 Mon 7:08 4:00 24 Tue 7:09 4:00 25 Wed 7:09 4:01 26 Thu 7:09 4:02 27 Fri 7:10 4:02 28 Sat 7:10 4:03 29 Sun 7:10 4:04 30 Mon 7:10 4:05 31 Tue 7:10 4:06

December 2024 Tides Portland, ME DATE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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

HIGH AM PM 10:44 11:26 11:21 — 12:04 11:59 12:43 12:40 1:25 1:25 2:11 2:15 3:03 3:10 3:58 4:11 4:55 5:14 5:52 6:19 6:50 7:24 7:46 8:25 8:40 9:22 9:32 10:16 10:23 11:08 11:14 11:59 — 12:04 12:48 12:53 1:37 1:42 2:27 2:33 3:17 3:27 4:08 4:21 4:58 5:17 5:48 6:15 6:38 7:12 7:27 8:06 8:13 8:54 8:56 9:39 9:38 10:21 10:19 11:03 11:00 11:42

LOW AM PM 4:31 5:10 5:08 5:48 5:47 6:27 6:28 7:09 7:13 7:55 8:02 8:44 8:58 9:37 9:58 10:32 11:01 11:28 — 12:06 12:27 1:11 1:26 2:12 2:22 3:08 3:15 4:01 4:07 4:53 4:58 5:43 5:49 6:33 6:38 7:21 7:28 8:09 8:20 8:58 9:14 9:47 10:10 10:36 11:08 11:25 — 12:06 12:16 1:04 1:08 1:57 1:56 2:44 2:41 3:26 3:23 4:07 4:04 4:47 4:45 5:28

www.MaineSportsman.com

18 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Maine Wildlife:

Fisher

by Tom Seymour

Except for those who spend lots of time outdoors, most people encounter fishers, Pekania pennati, only in the form of accidental sightings. In summer, these furbearers are active at night, primarily around dusk and dawn. Then, in wintertime when few are looking, they hunt prey during daylight hours.

Let’s dispel two common but erroneous misconceptions concerning fishers. First, fishers, although having a varied and all-embracing appetite, do not eat fish. And second, fishers are not even remotely related to felines, despite their common mis-designation as “fisher cats.” In fact, fishers belong to the same family as weasels, mink, martens and otters.

One thing that may be true, fishers are probably guilty of killing and eating housecats. A fisher’s diet includes mammals of all sizes, from small rodents to Canada lynx. To my surprise, and perhaps yours as well, fishers rank as significant predators of lynx in northern Maine. In a 12-year period, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife attributed 14 of 65 lynx mortalities to fisher.

Just imagine how vicious a fisher must be to go toe-to-toe with a lynx.

Lynx are ferocious fighters in their own right, and anything that can conquer and kill one ranks as a truly mean customer.

Chance Encounters Despite their elusive nature, it is not unusual to have a chance encounter with a fisher. People occasionally call me, asking if I might identify an animal they just saw. It’s usually an easy ID, since few other animals fit a fisher’s description. Fishers have elongated bodies, short legs, rounded ears, dark brown coats, and long, bushy tails.

Adult males average around 10 pounds, but some attain double that weight. Peterson’s Field Guide to Mammals lists fisher bodies being up to 25 inches long, with 13- to 15-inch tails. There are no other animals in Maine that fit that description.

Fishers often cross roads and highways, and many become roadkill in the process. Perhaps 50 years ago, I was involved in a car/fisher collision. It was www.MaineSportsman.com

The fact that fishers are seldom seen by most folks, says the author, lends them an aura of mystery, and likely accounts for much of the inaccurate folklore about them. But, he says, a little mystery in the woods is not a bad thing.

This immature fisher made an appearance on a gravel road in Piscataquis County.

Photo: Eric Holbrook

dusk, and I was driving about 50 miles per hour on U.S. Route 1, when a large animal jumped off a roadside bank onto the road. Before it hit the pavement, it collided with my front bumper, killing it instantly.

I was shattered, but there was nothing to do about it. Besides, it was illegal to possess a fisher out-of-season and without the correct permit, so I was constrained to leave it. I have seen other fishers while driving, but that was the only fatal encounter.

Fishers hunt during the day in winter. Once, I noted fisher tracks around my house on a newly-fallen snow. I live in a small town, but my backyard sits upon the base of a mountain, where various kinds of wildlife live.

bad reputation among those who are unaware of their beneficial habits. That often stands true for so many otherwise valuable wildlife species. But the more we learn about the wildlife around us, the more we can begin to look upon it in a new light.

While thanks to coyotes, there are no longer large concentrations of snowshoe hares where I live in the northern tip of Midcoast Maine, the same does not hold true for more northern regions.

Although beloved by hunters, snowshoe hares damage young fir trees by eating the tender tops. This they do in winter, atop a deep snowpack. Fishers to the rescue. Fishers help keep our forests healthy by holding the hare population in check.

Beneficial Predators Far from being undesirable predators, fishers are highly beneficial to the health of our woodlands. Fishers, along with bobcats, have the knack of killing porcupines without getting a face filled with quills. Of the two, fishers kill more porcupines. Anyone who owns a woodlot with white pine can attest to the terrible damage that porcupines inflict upon young trees. By girdling the bark, porcupines disconnect a tree’s life-support system. Therefore, I consider anything that kills porcupines as beneficial.

Fishers also eat small rodents, many of which cause damage to farm crops. In addition, they serve as nature’s sanitation workers, preying upon deer and moose carcasses.

Fishers, then, get an undeserved

The Unseen Fishers rank among those wild Maine animals that go largely unseen by the general public. A significant number of Mainers have never seen a fisher. To someone accustomed to spending lots of time outdoors, that may seem strange, but think of this – even veteran outdoors folks may go for many years without ever encountering a fisher.

With fishers, their lack of time in the public eye lends an aura of mystery.

That probably accounts for the inaccurate folklore about them. This is not a bad thing. We need something out there to stimulate our imaginations. Such as this keeps life interesting. So thanks, fishers.

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 19

Ten Great Reasons to Hunt the Late Season

by Jim Andrews

I know you’re tired.

I’m tired too.

It’s been a long deer season. Three months long, if you started in September with the expanded archery season. But what if someone had whispered a hot tip to you last August – about how you could score an additional week of deer hunting time in the northern districts, and two weeks in the southern? We would have jumped at the chance!

Modern Longer Seasons are Tiring It was a long drive to the restricted archery zone back in September. Lots of time spent on the

Muzzleloader season is a bonus opportunity for those deer hunters who did not fill all their tags during the archery/crossbow season and the regular firearms season. There are many advantages to December hunting, and the likelihood of tracking snow is just the start! road. Lots of time in a tree stand listening as your brother-in-law’s neighborhood came to life. Dogs barking, doors slamming, and smarter deer than you expected.

October was a tough month too. You were sneaking out early and late, before and after work, and never did end up on precisely the right deer trail to the green field. Meanwhile the chores at

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home were piling up and needed to get done because November – the real deer season – was coming up.

Opening Day was kind of a bust – work interfered. The annual trip up north last month held all kinds of promise at first. Then the weather turned balmy and wet. Deer sign was everywhere, but the woods had that empty feeling that they get sometimes.

The next thing you knew, it was Thanksgiving week – cold and windy. The end of deer hunting was in sight, and you could feel the season slipping away.

So, you hunted harder and longer during that final week.

You skipped work, angered your boss, and showed up late for

Thanksgiving dinner.

It was even colder and windier on the final two days. It seemed like everyone else had already tagged out and gone home. When you got home after dark, your own dog didn’t recognize you.

Ten Reasons to Get Back Out There You’re tired. The fridge is full of Thanksgiving leftovers; the couch and television are calling from the living room. The last two things you want to do is dish out $14 for a resident muzzleload(Continued on next page)

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Bucks continue seeking does in December, and a mini-rut can occur, since previously unbred does may be in estrus. All photos: Jim Andrews

December’s muzzleloading season usually features tracking snow.

Deer Hunting (Continued from page 19)

er permit, and go back out into the cold.

We all need some motivation at this time of year. Here are ten facts about muzzleloading season that

will spark your enthusiasm and keep you warm while you lug the smokepole around: 1. Tracking snow!

Not the crusty sleet that passes for the

first snow, but honest-to-God snow with staying power. If it’s not on your lawn this month, you can almost certainly drive to it.

2. It only takes a minute to shoot a deer.

The big buck that you surprise in his bed on

Snow vastly improves visibility in thick woods, as a deer’s dark appearance contrasts with the white background.

Opening Day of muzzleloader season will not know what a complete failure your late autumn and early winter have been thus far.

To that buck, you will be the most skilled hunter in all the world.

back together this month, as the last of the rut fades, and they move to wintering areas. Find one deer, and you will likely find others.

3. Deer

(Continued on page 22)

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group

4. The deer are tired and hungry, too.

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22 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Deer Hunting (Continued from page 20)

They will be gathered near the equivalent of Thanksgiving leftovers. With the rut over, bucks will be focusing on food sources to recover body fat in time for the long winter ahead.

5. A minor rut will occur when does, not previously bred, come into estrous about a month after the November breeding peak.

Observant muzzleloader hunters know that December rubs signal deer activity.

6. If you have not

hunted with a muzzleloader before – it’s easy. Buy an in-line rifle with the starter kit, for everything you need to begin hunting.

You can familiarize yourself with the rifle in a short afternoon at the local gravel pit.

7. Extreme cold with wind, or snow deeper than ten inches, will concentrate deer in winter sheltering areas. Hunt mature conifer stands with a heavy

canopy of branches – particularly near food sources.

8. S o u t h - f a c i n g slopes provide cover from wind and warmth from the sun on bright blustery days. Try to hunt across the slope, to avoid being detected on the down-sloping winds.

9. A deer’s sense of smell and vision are both adversely affected by falling snow.

With the added benefit of silent footing, a December snowstorm is the best time to stillhunt for deer.

10. There will be plenty of time to rest over the ten long months before deer season starts again.

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������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 23

Muzzleloader Hunting Requires Patience While Tracking

by Matt Breton; Introduction by Hal Blood Introduction It takes a lot of time and practice to develop the skills necessary to be consistent at putting your tag on a buck. There is no substitute for the trial-and-error education you’ll experience when you go it alone.

You will make lots of mistakes and you will make lots of right decisions, but the mistakes are where you learn the most. Especially what I call “painful” mistakes. They are the ones that cost the biggest bucks, and are usually the ones you knew you shouldn’t do.

Those mistakes are often made later in the day when we let our guard down or are too tired to do that little extra walk around an obstacle or up a hill.

Quite often our goof-ups during the regular firearms season ensure that, come December, we will be lugging our muzzle loaders around. That’s not a bad thing, but it makes killing the old buck about twice as hard. Now you’ll be down to a single shot, which means it’s critical to make the first shot count.

When your shot opportunity comes, the hardest part is deciding whether to make a quick shot, or wait and hope for a better one. I’ve done both, and sometimes it worked and other times it didn’t. In my experience, a muzzle

I painstakingly worked through the spruce top, finger on the safety, knowing that it would happen, just not when. … I was so present in the moment that I had ceased to exist – all that was there was the tension of a predator. I took that last step, and the big buck blew out of its bed.

To be successful, a hunter must analyze the woods “with every sense available, [being] receptive to every bit of information coming in,” writes Matt Breton.

Photo provided by Matt Breton

loader slug will not plow through brush as well as a rifle bullet.

Do you shoot anyway, or delay and hope the buck moves into an opening? It’s usually a split-second decision, but it must be made. I’ve taken many

of those shots, thinking they were easy, but ending up with the buck running off unscathed, or – even worse – standing there looking at me.

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Patience While Tracking

Without a hunting trip west, I had more October time on my hands. I hunted grouse and waterfowl more than I had in a while, and got to assist on a VT moose hunt.

I even got my bow out to archery hunt a few times. It had been quite a while since I sat in a stand for any real length of time.

While I still don’t love it, it was good to reacquaint myself with that style of hunting.

I remembered all the minute details that require attention and skills that are emphasized.

Patience was one of the first things I re(Big Woods World continued on page 26)

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December Scouting for Next Season The morning was cold, definitely below freezing, but not uncomfortable.

Because the snow had recently melted off, the leaves were frozen, making it impossible to walk silently.

My eyes scanned the woods ahead, intently searching for sign and movement. As I stepped over a large downed tree, the woods erupted. A good buck jumped from his bed, quickly putting

The author learns a great deal by walking the woods in December, after the close of muzzle loader season. The leaves are off the trees, making rub-lines visible from a distance. Rubs can tell you which direction to go to find the whitetails’ food sources, and which direction to go to find their beds. distance between us.

I raised my binoculars to get a better look. The buck made a mistake and stopped to look back at me.

A beautiful, mature buck. There would be

no shot, however.

Muzzleloader season had ended a couple of days earlier, and my schedule allowed me time in the woods for an extended period. My favorite time to

scout is when there’s no snow on the ground, immediately after muzzleloader season ends. There are no worries of disrupting a buck from his daily habits or making him

“go nocturnal.” There is no worry of jumping him to another hunter, or pushing him off the property.

With no snow on the ground and freezing temperatures, every bit of the sign left by bucks is preserved and highly visible. On that particular walk, I was able to find multiple scrape and rub lines. I walked confidently into thick cover in search of core (Continued on next page)

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bedding areas. Every move was made without a care.

Searching for Sign Some of my best stands were located after deer season ended. Scouting in September or October is very different. Yes, sign discovered before the season is fresh and is likely made by a buck that’s still alive.

There’s always a risk another bowhunter scored early, or the buck has been hit by a car. Sign found in December doesn’t offer the same odds. However, sign is often made in the same area by bucks year after year, because of cover type and topography.

Deer love edge habitat. Edge habitat can be obvious, such as

swamp/forest borders, or clear cut/heavy wood covers. Edge can also be subtle and caused by changes in soil type or topography.

Hemlock/hardwood breaks in my area are my favorite places to sit. I’ll often find rub-lines 10-30 yards inside the hardwood cover, and paralleling the hemlocks, when the hardwood cover is on the eastern or southern side of the hemlocks. Prevailing winds allow bucks to walk in thicker cover with a wind either crossing their path or hitting them from the backside. I believe this allows a buck to travel with confidence during daylight.

The bedding areas I find are normally discovered by locating large numbers of rubs.

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When the author locates multiple rubs near a bedding area or in lines, leading to food or a known doe bedding area, he’ll document the rubs on a map, and makes plans to to hunt those spots the following season. Photos by Joe Saltalamachia

Some call these “rub clusters.” I look for spots with five to ten rubs, visible from a slightly elevated bare or worn spot, that’s located in heavy cover. Often there will

the

be deer hair in a bed that’s used regularly.

It’s rare to find these, but when discovered, there are often rubs headed off in multiple directions, with one area favored more

When scouting in December, the author looks for rubs on trees that are larger than 4” in diameter. Photos by Joe Saltalamachia

heavily than others.

Travel direction will be the opposite direc(Continued on next page)

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Big Game (Continued from page 25)

tion a rub is made on a tree. After marking the bed with my OnX Hunt app, I start to mark rubs, in an effort to find a line of travel. Walking slowly and glassing ahead in search of new rubs, often continuing along those edges of cover, I often discover travel lines.

When a rub line cannot be easily located via bedding areas, my attention switches to “destination

food sources.” In my area, destination food sources are large corn fields, clover fields or even oak ridges/islands (especially when there’s a heavy acorn crop like we had this year). By searching the perimeter of these food sources for rubs and scrapes, a hunter can walk these back toward bedding areas. Following a rub line backward is more difficult and time consuming, because rubs

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will now be located on the opposite sides of trees. Be careful here.

Bucks will also make rubs when exiting a field. These are more easily followed, but are not the lines we want when looking for a spot to sit on evening hunts. These rub lines will often lead back to doe bedding areas, however, and can provide us with other useful information.

Use This Time to Learn the Land When learning a new property, this time of year is the

absolute best time to walk around. Similar to searching for a wounded deer, a grid search of a property is an excellent way to spend time. Learn the cover, topography changes and food sources. Sometimes, hidden gems like clusters of apple, beech or oak trees can be located.

No scouting mission should be undertaken without a map.

As mentioned, my preference is using the OnX Hunt app. Every bit of sign discovered is marked, labeled and

saved for future use.

The Tracker function is used to mark where I’ve traveled. Heavy runs and subtle runs are marked and saved when they lead me to good sign.

Mid-December is an excellent time to scout. Cooler temps mean we won’t sweat much. Dead plants and no leaf cover mean it’s easy to see. But most of all, there’s no worry about spooking deer to other hunters.

Here’s hoping we can all make this month productive!

¶

a limb. The hunter must be Big Woods World by receptive to every bit of infor(Continued from page 23)

called. Hunters who lack the patience to sit well often find their way to tracking deer, like I have.

It isn’t that trackers can’t or won’t sit, but generally none of us likes to.

Patience is an important part of being a tracker. My favorite application of a tracker utilizing patience is when there’s a buck bedded nearby. The hunter needs to read the sign right, and have a little luck with the wind, but knowing a buck is lying there and being able to sneak in on the animal takes fortitude to do what needs to be done. To achieve what I think is the highest art in tracking, killing a buck in its bed, usually takes excellence in the craft of being patient.

Tension Skill as a predator is the most important thing a hunter can develop. That’s why I always recommend that people new to hunting chase lots of critters. Sneaking in to jump-shoot a duck on a beaver pond takes the same creeping skills as stalking in on a New England buck, just on a different scale. Knowing when to go fast, when to stop, and when to go slow are important.

Attention to detail matters, picking apart the woods with every sense available. Always sight, often hearing, sometimes smell.

Even touch plays a role when feeling sticks under foot or brushing

mation coming in, and must react appropriately, while trying to spot a piece of the buck.

I tracked a buck a couple of years ago that I called the Tip Toe buck. He was one that got away, but the tracking job was as good as I’ve ever done – I just didn’t finish the job with the shot. He tiptoed his way up a mountain, checking does on every bench. It was later in the season and once he fed, it was game on. My pace dropped to near nothing, and I was acutely aware of every move I made, to the point that the snot ran down my face without being wiped because I wanted no extra movement.

I painstakingly worked through the spruce top, finger on the safety, knowing that it would happen, just not when. It might have been ten minutes, or a lifetime. I was so present in the moment that I had ceased to exist – the only thing that was there was the tension of a predator. I took that last step, and the big buck blew out of its bed. I was on him in a bound, shooting where I thought he’d be on the second one, but I guessed wrong.

As we wind our way into the tail end of the season, including for all you muzzle loader hunters, I hope each of you gets to experience being immersed in your role as a predator. Remember to be patient, except when it’s time to go!

¶

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 27

Proper Care of Fish Caught through the Ice

by Nolan Raymond From the moment a fish leaves the water during ice fishing season, it is vitally important that you treat it appropriately, depending on your plans for the catch. Many anglers fish for food, and wish to harvest legal fish. Others may wish to return them below the ice, while still others may wish to have a trophy taxidermied.

No matter your intended practice, it’s important to complete the task of fish harvest quickly, safely and humanely.

Tools of the Trade Regardless of whether you plan on fishing for food or catch-and-release, it’s important to be prepared before you bring any fish through the ice. Become familiar with the laws, including limits specific to each species and each body of water. Have needle-nose pliers or

Releasing the fish? Then move quickly and deliberately to return it through the ice and back into the water. Keeping it for a taxidermied trophy? Then know how to treat your catch in order to make the craftsman’s job easier.

The author and his brother work together to quickly measure a native brook trout. Having a second set of hands is a big help. All photo provided by the author

a good dehooking tool, as well as a knife or snippers, handy.

It’s important to plan what you’re going to do, not only for

the expected catch, but also for other contingencies, including dealing with foulhooked fish, or catching non-target species

(for example, determine the steps you’d take if you’re set up to release a togue, and instead a cusk comes up, gut-hooked, leav-

ing your gear slimy and tangled).

You should be ready to take accurate measurements, if you intend to keep the fish.

A tape measure from the hardware store is typically adequate, although there are multiple alternatives out there. For example, we have started using measuring boards or troughs – basically, it’s a trough you can slide the fish into, butt the snout against the end, and get a precise measurement from the location of the tail.

Fishing for Food If you plan to keep your target fish for food, it’s important to handle the meat properly, to ensure safety and quality.

Initially, you must verify that the species is legal to keep, according to seasons, slots, and bag limits.

If legal, you’re in luck, (Continued on next page)

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personally enjoy treating my fishing party to a lunch of freshcaught fish on the ice, cooked over a fire or propane grill. That’s a sure way to ensure the fish is eaten fresh!

The author’s brother caught this large salmon, and later had it taxidermied.

A morning’s catch in the author’s shack, along with the measuring board he has found to be convenient for making quick, accurate measurements.

Ice Fishing (Continued from page 27)

as you’re standing on top of a giant ice cooler. In most cases, it is completely adequate

to gut the fish (while keeping the head and tail intact, so it can be measured) and store it

on the ice or snow for the day, until you are ready to leave.

However, if it’s warm out (as often happens in the late season), you may want to store the fish in an ice cooler or on the shaded side of an ice shack. If practical, I

Preparation for Taxidermy If you harvest a trophy or unusual fish, you may wish to have it taxidermied. If so, you’ll want to handle the fish with care in order to best preserve it until you can get it to a taxidermist.

Start by minimizing the amount you handle it, since rough handling can wipe off the scales. If it’s not practical to remove the hook, cut the line and leave the hook in place.

You can lay the fish flat on the ice, taking time to make certain the fins are flat, and the fish is straight.

The best practice I’ve seen is to wrap the fish in a damp towel, and freeze it, occasionally dampening the towel to prevent it from drying out. This method keeps the fish protected, moist, and in the ideal position until taxidermists can work their magic.

Also, if you have cell service, a call to your taxidermist of choice will be valuable, as the taxidermist will certainly offer their recommendations.

Ice fishing is a lot of fun, and can be a good way to keep some fresh and healthy meat for food. Knowing how best to handle fish through the ice is important, since it keeps the venture legal, ethical and productive for you and your fishing companions.

¶

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207-647-8100 BRUNSWICK

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274 West Broadway • 207-403-8000

Shot Guns • Rifles • Pistols • Ammo Smelts • Suckers • Shiners • Worms • Ice Tackle Open Mon-Thu 9AM-6PM • Fri 6AM–6PM • Sat 6AM–4PM

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51 Park Street • 207-594-2916 • 7 Days

Shiners • Smelts • Suckers • Crawlers LIVE BAIT Sun–Tue 5:30am–Noon, Wed–Sat 5:30am–5:30pm Shiners • Bloodworms • Night Crawlers 1 Pleasant Street Worms • Jiffy Ice Augers • Ice Fishing Supplies 207-458-0246 or 207-716-1494

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Complete Line of Ice Fishing Tackle Shiners • Suckers • Worms • Crawlers SMELTS • SHINERS • SUCKERS • WORMS • CRAWLERS Full Line of Ice Fishing Gear Packed in oxygen-filled bags for travel 48 State Street, Mill Mall • (207) 667-2511 Bait Shop Open Mon–Wed 9am–5pm, Thu–Sat 5am–5pm www.willeyssportscenter.com Exit 197 Off I95 East 1/2 Mile • 207-827-7032

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— Live Bait & Tackle — Smelt, Shiners, Suckers, Worms, Dillies, Crawlers 143 Emery Mills Road, Rt. 109 • (207) 636-1325 (on Lower Mousam Lake) Open Tue–Fri 8am–4pm, Sat 5am–4pm, Sun 5am–Noon

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www.MaineSportsman.com

30 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

— Ice Fishing —

Cutting Holes in the Ice

by Jon Lund

The number of ways to cut ice-fishing holes is limited only by an angler’s imagination and access to equipment.

For many, many years, when an angler decided to take up ice fishing, one of the first questions to ask was, “What do you plan to cut the holes with?” And for many, many years, the answers were limited: a spud or ice chisel, either store-boughten or homemade.

A spud or ice chisel does not rely on fuel or electricity, but it’s a slow way to cut a lot of holes in the ice. If you use a chisel, says the author, make certain it has a wrist strap, so it does not plunge to the bottom when you break through the ice.

DIF&W photo

Every time a dam went out on a pond offering ice fishing, the bottom would be littered with various devices used to cut the ice holes. That is why a well-designed ice chisel is made with a back-up wrist-cord or strap to catch it, because ice chisels have a habit of punching through the ice when a punch-through is least expected.

Spoons; Auger Drills But then ice fishers got lazy, or maybe smart, and a variety of other devices were used to cut the hole. Some used spoon-shaped cutters that cut a circular track. Others used ice-augers that lifted the ground-up ice and slush clear of the hole.

Scandanavian-made spoon- or scoopshaped augers carve out circular holes as they are turned. One edge of the scoop is extremely sharp, so a safety guard is attached to the blade when it’s disassembled and packed for travel.

Photo: Iron Charlie

But it was still a lot of work, and some smart guy mounted a small two stroke engine and used that to drive the auger. These early units were heavy, noisy and pricey, but they could cut a lot of holes in a short time, and proved to be popular. Some folks had so much fun cutting with them that they would cut holes in the ice for other, nearby anglers, just for the hell of it. Or just to be a good neighbor.

Gasoline-powered augers then gave way first to propane-powered units, and later to models powered by lithium batteries.

Probably Not in the Owner’s Manual On the other hand, if an angler does a limited amount of ice fishing and has access to a chainsaw in good working order, it can be a useful tool for cutting ice. You make four vertical plunge cuts to end up with a block of ice that you break up or pry out of the hole with an old-fashioned ice chisel, or that you push down through the hole until it’s free of the underside of the ice and drifts away.

When cutting holes in the ice with a chain saw, use metal boot cleats, since footing can be slippery. Because hole depth is limited by the length of the bar and chain, some anglers equip their saws with really long bars, as shown here.

Photo: iBuilders-en.techinfus.com

At the end of each cut, be sure to run the saw a bit to clear all the ice and water off the chain and bar, or it will freeze up. Stay clear of the chain and bar.

I haven’t used a battery-powered chain saw for this purpose, but it might work well, for a while. At least it should be quieter.

¶

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������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 31

White Rock Motorsports

by Steve Carpenteri White Rock Outboard at 351 Sebago Lake Road in Gorham, has been serving the Sebago Lake area since 1969. The company was recently acquired by Portland Yacht Services, a full-service boatyard that has been in business for more than 40 years.

According to Mike Soucie, White Rock Outboard manager, the shop will continue to provide top-level sales and service for Maine’s multi-season recreational enthusiasts.

“Snowmobile season is generally from November to March,” Soucie noted. “We specialize in Arctic Cat, but we’ll gladly take in any sled that needs service or repairs, year-round.

Unless there are extenuating circumstances or parts delivery delays, we can usually turn a sled around in two days.”

The Mike and Mike Show Customers new to White Rock Outboard will be greeted by two enthusiastic, experienced Mikes – Mike Soucie, and Mike

Mike S. and Mike M. are at your service, at their facility on the Sebago Lake Road in Gorham.

The new 858 engine is lighter and more powerful than its predecessor, providing Arctic Cat sleds with speed and maneuverability. All photos courtesy of White Rock Outboard, Inc.

Merola.

Mike Soucie brings over 30 years of snowmobiling riding, racing and sales experience to the shop. He has worked at Bangor Motorsports, and participated in the Ricky Craven events in Belfast. For several years, he worked at Alaska Motor Sports (in our northern-most state,

of course!) and participated in several 200mile snowmobile races, before returning to Maine in 2010.

In addition to his mechanical and riding background, Soucie worked 12 years at Eastern Coach Company in Pennsylvania, maintaining and repairing luxury motor coaches.

Long-time rider and certified mechanic Mike Merola manages the service department, which is equipped to provide parts, repairs and maintenance for any brand of snowmobile.

These Mikes know their stuff, particularly when it comes to snowmobiles.

Why Arctic Cat? For most motorsports dealers there are any number of reasons why they sell and service particular models, but The Mikes agree that Arctic Cat was a logical choice for their operation – and their customers.

“We have found that Arctic Cat sleds are excellent trail sleds,” said Merola.

“Their chassis is ‘ergonomic’ and comfortable. Plus, they are rider-friendly.

They are also designed to be easy to work on, which is important during the winter, when riders want their sleds to be on the trail and not in the shop.”

Best-Selling Model Merola said the Arctic Cat Riot 600cc sled is their best-selling model. “It has Arctic Cat’s updated catalyst chassis, which is very light and fast,” he said. “It is Kevlar belt-driven, so it has no gears.”

Merola said that the Model 858 is the “Cadillac” of Arctic Cat sleds, featuring a built-in GPS system, heated seats, and steering and inte(Continued on next page) www.MaineSportsman.com

32 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Snowmobiling (Continued from page 31) gral speedometer and gauges. “It’s almost like driving a car,” he noted.

Arctic Cat’s newest models feature futuristic yet functional components.

Accessories and Features According to Soucie, one of the best innovations at Arctic Cat is that the integral GPS systems (which include Maine’s Interconnected Trail System [ITS] maps) can be connected to riders’ helmets, giving everyone in a party the opportunity to stay on course and communicate with each other during a trip.

Among the “hottest” innovations for

2025 are the exclusive, made-in-Maine, five-fin “trackers” that attach to the front runners. According to Soucie, the trackers’ unique design helps keep sleds on the trail, and are especially useful when making turns on ice or snow.

“The fins dig in and really give operators more control over the direction they want to go,” Soucie enthused.

“There’s no ‘darting’ or sliding with these trackers, which are far more stable and responsive than standard tracks.”

Also new for 2025

is the Ride Light, which attaches to the sled and allows riders to use red, green or yellow lights to signal on-coming sleds.

“Green means you are alone, flashing yellow is for caution, and red means to slow down or stop,” Soucie said, adding that the new lighting system is far more visible and effective than current hand-signals, which often cannot be seen by oncoming trail traffic, especially at night or in stormy weather conditions.

The Buzz For 2025 Mike Merola is cautiously optimistic about the snowmobil(Continued on next page)

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141 Main Street, Stratton, ME 207-246-4276 Cell: 207-313-3534 tlenterprises@roadrunne tlenterprises@roadrunner.com Rides: East Kennebago Mt., Rangeley, Jackman, Bigelow Lodge, Caribou Valley, Quill Hill

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������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 33 (Continued on next page)

ing outlook for 2025 and beyond.

“Realistically, snowmobiling in southern Maine is not what it used to be 30 years ago,” he said. “Trail conditions have really deteriorated over the last several seasons.

Some dealers have gone out of the snowmobile business, and Yamaha has quit making snowmobiles.

“Trail conditions have not been good in this part of the state for a few years, but that hasn’t stopped the most enthusiastic riders,” he added. “Most folks now trailer their sleds up north, and spend the weekends riding on the ITS trails.”

Sleds, ATVs & Boats In addition to their complete line of Arctic Cat snowmobiles,

accessories, clothing, parts and service, The Mikes at White Rock Outboard begin turning their attention to ATV sales and service in March, and specialize in boating services, including maintenance and repairs, pick-ups and delivery, for any size watercraft.

“Earlier is better for anyone wanting ATV or boat services,” Merola pointed out.

For more information on White Rock Outboard’s complete line of Arctic Cat snowmobiles, clothing, accessories and service, give Mike or Mike a call at (207) 892-9606, or stop in to the shop at 351 Sebago Lake Road in Gorham.

And be sure to ask them where the name “White Rock” came from!

¶

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*Terms and conditions apply. See your Arctic Cat dealer for details. WARNING: Arctic Cat snowmobiles can be hazardous to operate. For your safety, all riders should read and understand their owner’s manual and safety instructions. Always wear an approved helmet and other safety apparel.

Be aware of natural hazards you may encounter and don’t drink and ride. All scenes depicted or described were performed by professional riders under carefully controlled conditions. Never attempt to duplicate these maneuvers or encourage others to do so. Arctic Cat recommends that all operators take a safety training course. For safety and training information, please see your local dealer. ©2024 Arctic Cat Inc. All rights reserved.

— See Your Polaris Dealer for Details Today! — See Your Local Yamaha Snowmobile Dealer for Details!

SKOWHEGAN TOPSHAM Whittemore & Sons MOMS Topsham 257 Waterville Rd. 70 Topsham Fair Mall Rd. 207-474-2591 207-729-1177 www.whittemoreandsons.com www.topsham.moms73.com * - Customer Cash offer good on select 2022-2024 models between 10/1/2024 - 12/31/2024. Amounts vary by model. See dealer for additional details. 1 - Offer available on approved purchases of new 2022-2025 Yamaha Snowmobiles made on the Yamaha Credit Card issued by WebBank. Offer valid 10/1/2024-12/31/2024. Account must be open and current to be eligible for this offer. Promotional 3.99%, 7.99%, 10.99%, 14.99% APR with minimum payments of 1.86%, 2.05%, 2.19%, or 2.38% respectively of the purchase price balance, based on your creditworthiness, are effective until the purchase is paid in full. Minimum interest charge $2 per month. Standard APR 15.99%23.99%. Offer good only in the U.S., excluding the state of Hawaii. Dealer remains responsible for complying with all local and state advertising regulations and laws. Yamaha Motor Finance Corporation, U.S.A., dba Yamaha Financial Services, is an affiliate of Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. offering financing solutions to support Yamaha Dealers and loyal Yamaha Customers nationwide. Always wear an approved helmet and eye protection. Observe all state and local laws. Respect the rights of others.

Ride within your capabilities. Allow extra time and plenty of distance for maneuvering. Do not perform stunts. © 2023 Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. All rights reserved.

TOPSHAM MOMS Topsham 70 Topsham Fair Mall Rd 207-729-1177 www.topsham.moms73.com

JACKMAN Jackman Power Sports 549 Main Street 207-668-4442 www.jackmanpowersports.com

LEWISTON Central Maine Powersports 845 Main Street 207-689-2345 www.centralmainepowersports.com

GORHAM, NH MOMS Jericho 461 Main St. 603-466-5454 www.momsjericho.com

* Terms and conditions apply. See Polaris dealer for details. Polaris recommends that all riders take a safety training course. Do not attempt maneuvers beyond your capability. Always wear a helmet and other safety apparel. Read, understand and follow your owner’s manual. Never drink and ride. Polaris is a registered trademark of Polaris Industries Inc. © 2024 Polaris Industries Inc.

www.MaineSportsman.com

34 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

2024–2025 Maine Sportsman Readers Poll Results Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond to our Readers Poll! Please look over the results, and send your comments and questions to our editor at Will@MaineSportsman.com.

1. Do you hunt with non-lead ammo?

YES 39%

NO 61%

2. Should Maine establish a spring bear hunt to help reduce the bear population?

YES 60% NO 40% 3. Should the applications filed by landowners for preference in any-deer permit drawings be open to public inspection?

YES 57% NO 43% 4. Have you removed all lead sinkers, lead split shot and lead jigs from your freshwater tackle boxes? YES 62% NO 38% 5. Did you hunt coyotes within the past year?

YES 16%

NO 84%

6. Do you support the efforts of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to challenge Maine’s new 72-hour waiting period for firearms purchases?

YES 76% NO 24% 7. Virtually all of Maine’s navigable rivers and streams have been channelized, bulldozed, dynamited, straightened, or otherwise altered to facilitate driving of logs, which ended in 1976. Should the state initiate a program to restore our rivers to provide better habitat for fish and wildlife?

YES 73% NO 27% 8. Did you hunt with a crossbow within the past 12 months?

YES 18% NO 82% 9. Did you hunt with a muzzleloader within the past 12 months?

YES 42% NO 58% 10. It is unlawful to hunt in Maine with an autoloading rifle with a magazine with the capacity of more than five cartridges. Should it be unlawful to possess an autoloading rifle with a magazine having a capacity of more than five cartridges?

YES 35% NO 65%

21. Should income from bear bait hunting sites leased by landowners be taxed, with the revenue going to DIF&W? YES 20% NO 80% 22. Should a system be developed to allow an any-deer permit to be used in more than one Wildlife Management District?

YES 54% NO 46% 23. Do you believe DIF&W wardens are spread too thin to deter poachers?

YES 74% NO 26% 24. When wardens spend time on search and rescue activities unrelated to fish or game activities, should the state’s General Fund pay for their time?

YES 87% NO 13% 25. Do you approve of DIF&W’s current practice of stocking brook trout in marginal, put-and-take waters where these fish cannot survive warm summer water?

YES 39% NO 61% 26. Did you spend time fly-casting in the past 12 months?

YES 44% NO 56% 27. Should mechanized gold mining in Maine rivers and streams be ended, to protect trout and salmon spawning areas?

YES 71% NO 29% 28. Only 3% of all bears killed each year are harvested by trapping. To remove an emotional issue from future bear hunting debates, should the state end the recreational trapping of bears?

YES 33% NO 67% 29. Should municipalities that regulate bow hunting in the expanded season zones be barred from charging fees for permits?

YES 58% NO 42% 30. Should landlocked salmon be managed to promote larger fish?

YES 76% NO 24%

11. Do you believe global warming is caused by human activity on Earth?

YES 56% NO 44%

31. Should DIF&W regulate winter-feeding of deer?

YES 45% NO 55%

12. Do you believe global warming is a real environmental threat?

YES 61% NO 39%

32. Should nonresidents be permitted to hunt deer on opening day of the firearms season?

YES 51% NO 49%

13. Should DIF&W establish a program to improve spawning habitat for trout and salmon?

YES 90% NO 10%

33. Were you checked by a game warden within the last 12 months?

YES 28% NO 72%

14. Should ice fishing be allowed on some salmon and trout waters now closed each winter, if anglers are required to use only artificial lures?

YES 57% NO 43%

34. Do you agree with the state’s recent decision to allow the use of crossbows wherever archery is permitted?

YES 85% NO 15%

15. Did you hunt or fish outside of the state of Maine in the past 12 months?

YES 40% NO 60%

35. Do you believe many hunters in Maine tag deer they didn’t shoot?

YES 41% NO 59%

16. Has the turkey population expanded to the point that the state should end the seasonal tag limits for the spring season, and allow the taking of one tom turkey each day?

YES 45% NO 55%

36. Should the owners of land with conservation easements be required to post online maps showing the land and the location of the public’s right of access?

YES 53% NO 47%

17. Is the dumping of household goods and tires causing landowners to post their property?

YES 88% NO 12% 18. Should buyers of auto and truck tires pay a returnable deposit, as we do on beverage bottles, which we would get back when we returned the used tires?

YES 71% NO 29% 19. Pike are an exotic invasive species that have the potential to wreak havoc with our native trout and salmon. Should anglers be required to kill any pike that are caught?

YES 77% NO 23% 20. Would you support a proposal to expand the instant background check of purchasers of firearms to include sales between private parties?

YES 29% NO 71% www.MaineSportsman.com

37. Should Maine’s law permitting children of any age to hunt under supervision, be modified to establish a minimum hunting age?

YES 64% NO 36% 38. Have you utilized the online turkey tagging process now offered by the state?”

YES 11% NO 89% 39. Should the price of a Maine hunting license include the right to hunt all game animals (except moose) without additional fees?

YES 75% NO 25% 40. Have you (or has anyone you know) seen a cougar in Maine?

(If you answered “Yes,” write will@mainesportsman.com and tell us about it.)

YES 17% NO 83%

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 35

Aroostook Outdoor Options Weather-Dependent Blame it on fickle Mother Nature or the oft-doubted “global warming,” but Aroostook’s unusual weather the last three years is fact. There was a green Christmas last year for the first time in over 20 seasons; and for more than two weeks in February, you could wander through yards and fields in shoes without getting your socks wet from snow. Great conditions for wild game survival and lower oil bills, but perplexing for fishing and hunting options for sportsmen.

Last Chance Venison Here in the northern districts, the first full week of December offers a reprieve from a freezer empty of deer meat, but snow cover or lack thereof will dictate how well muzzle loader season will go.

My rule of thumb for hunting “black powder bucks” is fairly simple: If there are at least 8 to 12 inches of snow on the ground, head to the deep woods for tracking and trailing tactics. Bare ground or less than four inches of snow means easy feed options for rural whitetails in regional fields, so stick to openground options.

Smokepole hunters might want to locate the East Blaine Road in Bridgewater, and follow it north for a spot-and-stalk or field-scouting trip that

The author is ready for whatever December weather conditions Mother Nature dishes out.

Snow on the ground? Easier tracking during the one-week whitetail deer muzzle loader season. Bare ground? Best for pushing into the puckerbrush in search of birds, while white snowshoe hare are simple to spot as their fur contrasts against dark cover.

Chip Hafford of Presque Isle hunts rural food fields like this patch of corn, where whitetails occasionally show up for an easy meal. All photos provided by Bill Graves

will circumvent Mars Hill Mountain via Mountain Road. Hun-

dreds of agri-fields and small woodlots may be explored along the sec-

Allagash Lakes Region

ondary roads, as well as a multitude of farm roads and two-tracks.

When deer are spotted, if a shot doesn’t ensue, investigate for rubs, scrapes, and heavily traveled trails to decide if a ladder stand or pop-up blind is a good idea. Peruse Delorme’s Atlas and Gazetteer, Map 59, grids A-4 and B-4.

Farther north, muzzleloader gunners will find a lot of secondary growth pastures and cut grain field in the Stockholm, New Sweden and Blackstone triangle.

After last year’s mild winter, deer survival was up, and therefore more fawns were born this spring. Summer whitetail numbers reported by anglers, campers and loggers have been very encouraging. Sitting overwatch at dawn and dusk on scouted fields, wild apple trees and (Continued on next page)

The Most Remote Hunting in the North Maine Woods Wilderness

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36 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Connor Cushman and his father Garrett of Mars Hill ignored lack of tracking snow and kept checking agri-fields near their home to fill a tag on Youth Day.

Audrey Rooney of Easton made the best of bare ground to hunt grouse during December in woodlots that might otherwise be inaccessible.

The County (Continued from page 35)

natural food plots is often more productive on bare ground than woods stalking. DeLormes Atlas Map 64, A-4 and A-5 will orient newcomers to many open ground locations for muzzleloader hunting.

North Woods Snow It’s not unusual for Central Aroostook to be void of snow, while an hour or so drive north, 3 or 4 inches of white will coat the

ground. If you just have to have some white powder to go with your black powder, I’d suggest Allagash or Escourt. I began hunting the very tip-top of Maine over 60 years ago when logging operations had just begun in that region. Deer were so plentiful it was nearly impossible to drive the roads or still-hunt and not see a deer or two every day.

Loon Lodge in the Allagash Lake Region

My first buck was a 203 lb., 8-pointer shot at just over 200 yards on Pocwoc Hill, so far north in Escourt it was almost Quebec There have been many deer and even more memories since. When snow cover is available, I highly recommend the area around Boatlanding Mountain and Beaver Brook Road near Little Black River.

Lots of logging roads and old skidder trails offer great still-hunting opportunities for last chance muzzleloaders.

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suggest exploring the spider web of back roads and two-tracks between the Allagash River and Pelletier Brook, south of town.

Go through Allagash Checkpoint on the other side of the river, and drive Michaud Farm Road to reach more remote, heavily wooded whitetail country that’s perfect for tracking a big buck for a close shot with a black powder rifle.

Check DeLorme’s Gazetteer, Maps 70 and 66, for an overview of those great late season locations.

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Grouse and Hare Partridge season goes to the end of December, and rabbits are fair game until March 31st. Very few Aroostook sportsmen need to drive more than fifteen minutes to hunt either quarry. I’m of two minds when it comes to snow cover this month; it’s certainly an advantage for filling a deer tag, but bare ground increases access to prime covers, ease of woods walking, as well as spotting and shooting success. Hunters who don’t have the aid of a well-trained dog will still enjoy regular action, especially since each white snowshoe hare will stand out like a cotton ball in a coal bucket.

Grouse gunners will enjoy dry, easy access to deep woods roads, rural field roads and urban edge woodlots that even a few inches of snow may curtail. Hunting pressure is notably reduced this month throughout the Crown of Maine, but birds remain fairly plentiful due to a mild (Continued on next page)

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 37

small Central Aroostook ponds and lakes wore a four-inch coat of clear blue ice by midmonth, having started to freeze by late November. Glare ice with no slush or snow cover makes for treacherous walking, but determined hard-water anglers donned ice cleats and set tip-ups. I spotted a couple of family groups that even wore ice skates for quick-

(Continued from page 36)

winter and dry spring.

Keep your eyes up this month as Ol’ Pat enjoys budding and spends more time aloft on tree limbs than on the ground, especially if there’s any snow cover.

Despite last December’s bare ground, lack of snowstorms did not mean lack of low temperatures. Several

er travel and some fun between checking flags.

One local spot, easy to reach with well-plowed roads and parking area, is Arnold Brook Lake, about a five-minute drive from Main St. in Presque Isle. Well stocked with brook trout, the early ice fishing is top rate, and although there’s a twofish limit, 12- to 16-lb.

brookies are common.

This is a great spot to introduce youngsters or an ice fishing rookie to the sport.

It’s possible to visit your vehicle to warm up, have a sandwich, and view your traps only 25 yards away!

DeLorme’s Atlas, Map 65, E-1 offers a view of approach routes to this first chance, manmade ice fishing location.

Regardless if you are among the prosnow or no-snow faction, Ma Nature will be making the final decision on our hunting and fishing conditions this month. There will be options and exciting outings for everyone, and hopefully Santa will find your chimney.

Happy Holidays and health in the upcoming year.

¶

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Watson Belly-Dump Gravel Wagons In the 2024 North Maine Woods magazine, readers will find a piece titled Treasures of the Allagash. The article discusses the logging history of the area.

One such historic site is at the Long Lake Dam campsite in T12R13. There, visitors will find relics of horse-drawn belly dump gravel wagons, which were used to build the dam that was chartered in 1907.

This impoundment was 700 feet long, with a 15-foot headwall of water that flooded south for eight miles, reaching Umsaskis Lake. When water surged from its 18 eight-foot-wide flowage gates, the impact was felt over one hundred miles away at Van Buren.1 After the impoundment was completed, the wagons were abandoned, leaving the wood to decay and the steel frames to rust.

In 1995, I was approached by a couple who asked permission to salvage old Long Lake Dam wagon parts, in order to reconstruct the wooden-spoked transports.

Abandoned and deteriorated bellydump gravel wagon. All photos from the author’s collection

Sometime later, the couple reported they had retrieved, cleaned, and painted the rusted steel – even swimming in the frigid water below Long Lake Dam to retrieve a rim. The metal work and new lumber had been assembled, creating a partially-finished replica.

Volunteers retrieve a wagon wheel rim from the cold waters below Long Lake Dam. www.MaineSportsman.com

“However,” they said with disappointment, “the wagon wheel’s metal rim didn’t have any wooden spokes.”

They asked me whether I knew where they could find a facsimile from which to build the wheels.

With a smile and a nod, I replied, “I just may be able to help you.”

The Rest of the Story When Maine voters approved the bond issue to purchase the land along the Allagash, included was the purchase of buildings within the state’s 500- to 800-foot-wide ownership.

One such structure was the Page Camp, located on the east shore of Long Lake, south of Glazier Brook in T11R13.

A sturdy log home with a screened-in porch, fieldstone fireplace and a cook stove, it also featured a wagon wheel chandelier that hung over a dinner table. The light was held in place by three lengths of two-inch diameter chain bolted to log beams. The homemade light had once served as a back wheel from one of the Long Lake Dam dump wagons.

Passing by the Page Camp, I noticed the porch’s screen door was open, yet there didn’t appear to be anyone nearby.

Landing on shore, I entered the structure, only to find that the lock on the interior door was missing, and the living room door had been kicked in.

Inside, I found that the wheel chandelier now dangled by a single chain.

The table was broken, and a nearby chair smashed to smithereens. It was apparent that someone had attempted to steal the wheel, and after loosening two chains, the heavy light had swung down, hitting the perpetrator and destroying the furniture.

To protect the artifact, I took the wheel to Churchill Dam for secure storage. Since it was too heavy to lift alone, I hailed a passing canoeist for assistance.

We unbolted the remaining chain, and rolled the wheel to my 20-foot Grumman canoe. From there, I motored south to the Reality Road bridge, and loaded the chandelier into my pickup.

At Churchill, the wagon wheel was kept in a locked room, until the volunteer restorers asked if I knew where they could find a wheel like the ones at Long Lake Dam. The wheel shown in this photo, formally a chandelier, is the one I rescued from the Page Camp.

The Page camp, 1955.

For years, the camp was used to house volunteers and students from the University of Maine at Fort Kent while they conducted environmental studies.

The building was padlocked when not in use.

Over the years, rangers found that during storms, canoeing parties would not only occupy empty buildings, but also build unsafe fires in old fireplaces and woodstoves, as they attempted to warm themselves up or cook a meal.

A couple of years before the folks began restoration of the Watson Wagon, Long Lake was experiencing heavy use.

At the time, the Umsaskis-Long Lake ranger was on day’s off, so I patrolled the district in his absence.

Partially-restored Long Lake Dam gravel wagon, featuring an original wheel.

In my next column, I’ll discuss further adventures at the Page Camp – what else could happen to an empty building?

1.

Judd, Richard W., AROOSTOOK, a Century of Logging in Northern Maine, page 158

Tim Caverly has authored thirteen volumes about Maine, and gives presentations statewide; www.allagashtails.com

¶

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 39

Tracking Wounded Game Hopefully, this will be a year in which you get a shot at a deer.

Hopefully, said deer will go down in a heap.

Realistically, you’ll probably have to track it, before you can take out your hand-held device and start snapping photos. The following will help.

Anything Can Happen The only unfailing rule about whitetails is that they do whatever they please, whenever they please, for reasons we will never understand. This includes how they behave after they’re shot.

Deer drop when oxygen no longer reaches their brains.

A heart-shot or a lungshot deer falls because its breathing or circulation has been shut down. But this may not happen right away.

Deer may have only a few seconds of life left, but some of them can demonstrate a great deal of resolve even in that short period of time. I’ve seen wounded bucks pull their dying breaths and then fling themselves into brush so dense you couldn’t see more than an inch or two into it. Other deer appeared to run wildly. I’ve seen a lungshot whitetail run into a tree headfirst, killing itself, a buck go over a cliff, and two other deer jump between the forks of trees and catch themselves at the withers. Once you send the shot, any-

If you shoot a deer and it runs off, your long day of hunting may have just begun. The author tells you how to approach the task methodically and successfully. thing can happen, and probably will.

Exact Location So, you track. Your first job is to note exactly where the animal was when you pulled the trigger. I don’t mean roughly, or more or less. I mean down to the single yard.

You should make note of this as you’re getting ready to shoot.

When you send the shot, you ignore your case of terminal excitement and see exactly how the animal reacted. A great many fatally wounded deer show no sign of being hit. Some of them stand stock still. If so, shoot again. Who cares if it’s a one-shot kill of a two-shot kill. End it.

And if it runs off, exactly which way did it go?

Wait five minutes.

I’ve heard that you should wait as long as a half-hour, but whatever is going to happen will take place in the next 300 seconds.

When you start tracking, make sure that your scope is turned down to its lowest power, and that you have a live round in the chamber; safety on. Go to the spot where the animal was hit, and tie a big streamer of orange surveyor’s tape to the nearest tree. That’s your starting point.

Maine is one of the toughest states in which to move quietly through the forest, and spot wild game.

If you can successfully track a deer in the dense woods of our state, according to the author, “you’ve accomplished something.”

Follow the Blood Then, you look for a blood trail. If you find drops, that’s good.

If you find increasing drops, punctuated by splashes, that’s very good. If you find one big splash after another, you’ll need your knife shortly.

And wherever you find blood, you mark it with tape. Blood trails can vanish, but tape stays where you tied it.

If you find nothing, you keep looking.

Sometimes bleeding doesn’t start immediately. Sometimes it starts, and the hide shifts over the bullet hole, and it stops.

The best track-

ers are the most persistent. Wayne Van Zwoll, who is the most accomplished hunter I know, once shot a buck that ran off, despite what Wayne was sure was a fatal hit.

He pulled the trigger at mid-morning, and looked for the deer the rest of the day, through much of the night, and then all of the next morning … and found it, not 100 yards from where it was shot. It had hurled itself into a tangle of brush, and vanished.

Deer-Tracking Dog If all else fails, and you’re still sure you connected, Maine allows you to contact the licensed owner/ operator of a trained deer-tracking dog.

These pooches can work wonders.

I once saw a dignified, elderly yellow Lab named Bobby find, in seconds, a buck that had eluded six experienced trackers for an entire morning. He picked up the track immediately, and went to their source like a heat-seeking missile.

Bobby was paid with a piece of raw venison, of which he was very fond.

You’ll have to pay the licensed tracking-dog handler, and he will inform the local game warden that he’s going to work,

and where. You can, if you wish, get your unlicensed friend and his pet Labradoodle to take on the job, except that an untrained canine will run around the woods, barking and peeing on everything, and you’ll get in considerable trouble because it’s illegal to use an unlicensed tracking dog.

When you find the deer, look at its eyes.

If they’re wide open and glassy, it’s finished. The sure test is to touch an eyeball with the muzzle of your rifle; if there’s no reaction, the animal is done. If they’re closed, there’s probably some life left. End it by firing a shot into the heart just behind the front leg. Then, you unload your rifle, and that’s how it stays.

The Challenge of Maine Hunting For what it’s worth, Maine is one of the toughest states in which to hunt big game, and I’ve hunted in most of them.

There’s so much stuff lying on the ground, and it’s so dense generally, that seeing game, or moving quietly, or tracking, all present you with the maximum opportunity for exasperation.

This is not all bad; it adds to the value of what you are able to do. If you pull off a successful tracking job in the Pine Tree State, you’ve accomplished something.

¶

www.MaineSportsman.com

40 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

A December Wish List for Canoe Trippers Canoe campers inhabit a kind of netherworld in the outdoor gear industry. We’re not interested in the ultralight, cut-the-toothbrush-handle-off, gear of long-distance hikers. But we also don’t have the space for ginormous cabin tents and collapsible kitchens that are associated with base camps accessible by motor vehicles.

During a recent multi-day canoe hunt on a remote northern river, I got to test out some new gear that any three-season canoe camper might like to see under the Christmas tree.

Fire Hiking Hot Tent I own, and have camped in, a lot of different tents. From one-person bivy sacks to huge base-camp behemoths that require real acreage to set up.

But I have shied away from single-wall, tepee-style tents that are all the rage among a certain part of the online bushcraft community. I like to be able to stand up in a tent to put my pants on as much as the next person. But the idea of a floor-less tent with no bug screening has always seemed out of place for the Maine woods. What’s the point?

Fellow columnist Lisa DeHart hosts an excellent video channel on You Tube called “Three Minutes with a Maine Guide”. Lisa’s vast experience as a canoe trip guide makes her short videos required viewing for Maine canoe campers.

Based on DeHart’s review, and several videos posted on her channel, I recently purchased the 2–4-person Fire Hiking tent online ($230). The single-pole design permits easy set-up, the entire tent bag with the pole weighs less than 10 pounds and packs easily into the canoe.

And the point is?

Remote hot FireHiking

tent

camping.

www.MaineSportsman.com

Photo:

of the stove as a cooking surface. A nineinch diameter cast-iron frypan fits comfortably atop the stove. A coffeepot boils water incredibly fast when set down near the stovepipe at the back of the flat surface. Could any Maine camp cook ever need more?

Two Door Design. Photo: FireHiking

Only Three Problems Shoulder-season canoe camping for fishing and hunting in Maine has only three problems. Cold temperatures, wet weather and less daylight. Wonderful things can be done with campfires and tarp configurations, but getting warm and dry, staying warm at night, drying wet gear, and cooking food under shoulder-season conditions can be difficult.

The Fire Hiking tent includes a stovepipe-jack – and I paired it with the online purchase of a Danchel outdoor portable titanium tent stove ($299). The entire stove, with stovepipe and accessories, weighs only six pounds - and it folds flat into a laptop-size carrying case.

Real World Conditions On a 5-day canoe hunt in northern Maine this past October the tent and stove combination made the trip a success. Camped on remote beaches and gravel river bars, the tent provided a warm spot to cook breakfast and warm up in pre-dawn darkness. During a day of cold, windblown rain, two hunters could dry off - comfortably seated in camp chairs inside the tent - while coffee perked on the stove. And the 12-hour October nights seemed less long and dreary with the stove ticking along, and the heat rolling upward without the need to dodge smoke from a campfire.

Danchel woodburning tent stove. Photo: Danchel Corp.

The tiny stove heats the closed tent to sauna-like conditions in a matter of minutes. In a backyard trial run, burning just a few handfuls of broken maple branches and storm debris in the stove, immediately required opening a tent door to remain comfortable. The tent accommodates stove use in warmer weather by having a large door on each side of the tent panel that contains the stove jack. Even with both doors open, the stove remains protected from any precipitation but can still be operated in comfort.

Which led me to explore the flat top

Danchel Stove in use. Photo: Lisa DeHart

Everything else about off-season canoe camping is gravy. No crowds, no bugs, no hot muggy weather, good river levels, excellent fishing and hunting opportunities. This tent/stove combination will vastly expand the length of the available season for these adventures.

I can hardly wait to try the combination during the ice-fishing season.

¶

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 41

Trapping Edges for Bobcat There are edges to many things, such as a knife’s blade, the side of a river, or even the end of our universe.

Then there are the edges that we as trappers need to pay attention to – those found on the trap line. These are important, as they may be the travel-ways of many different species of furbearers that we are out to capture.

In the July 2024 edition of The Maine Sportsman, I wrote about the topography of different types of land, and referred to setting traps in the forest along edges of logging roads and clear cuts, when trapping coyotes.

The edges are of importance when trying to target many specific species. In late November and early December, some furs are just getting to their peak of primeness. Three of these are currently some of our more valued furs in Maine.

They are the pine marten, fisher, and bobcat, each of which should be trapped in the latter part of our general trapping season. This will allow the trapper to receive the best price for the fur.

The Bobcat The bobcat is a prized furbearer that can be taken along what trappers refer to as edges. Maine currently has a healthy population of bobcat.

Much like hunters, trappers are encouraged to seek game along natural and manmade “edges,” such as the borders of clear cuts, logging roads, streams and beaver bogs. That’s where Maine trappers will find the bobcat – among the most prized of all the state’s furbearers.

A well-spotted, prime fur bobcat in WMD 13. Photo by Jim Taylor

They range from one end of the state to the other.

It appears that the largest populations are currently found in central, coastal, western, and southern Maine.

There are also plenty of them in the northern part of the state, but trapping them has been made far more difficult, due to the requirements of the federally-issued Incidental Take Permit (ITP). The ITP is a set of rules that apply to a number of Wildlife Management Districts (WMDs) in upper Maine, due to Canadian Lynxes being classified as a threatened

species. It has, to some extent, affected trapping throughout the State of Maine.

Bobcat have a home range the size of which depends in part on food availability. Within this range, they have regular routes that they follow. These routes include edges along old logging roads, edges of fields and clearcuts, along streams, places where cross-overs on streams occur such as logs and beaver dams, and along other water edges such as a beaver pond.

Cats also like cover, so the edges between soft- and hardwood growths, and up

tight against ledges and cliffs, are places to look for sign.

Finding a cat toilet is a sure sign that cats travel the edges you are prospecting along.

These are prime trap set locations.

Cats also like high places to sit looking out from, or to lie in the sun. These are all areas to look for scat, hair, or tracks.

Trap Sets Trap sets may include large dirt holes, baited cubbies, and scent post or blind sets. The use of visible attractants (outside of the WMD lynx zones) such as CDs or can lids dangling where a

breeze will cause them to move, can help draw in a cat.

There are many good lures commercially available that help draw in a cat, including urine lures. Guiding a cat into the trap with sticks or small stones is important with blind sets in narrow places they pass through, increasing the probability that the bobcat will place its foot on the trap pan. Don’t get discouraged when checking traps, as cats can take up to a week or two before coming through the area again.

In the past (before the ITP), trapping bobcat was commonly done by the use of a size 220 body grip trap being set on a leaning pole or log, four feet or higher above the ground surface or snow level. The use of the body grip traps under this restriction (before the ITP was in place) was to ensure the safety of hunting dogs.

The other method to trap the bobcat is by the use of foothold traps. The only changes (outside of the WMDs affected by the ITP) to the use of the foothold trap in Maine are statewide requirements that apply to any size foothold trap set on land.

The current statewide foothold trapping regulations are as follows: (Continued on next page) www.MaineSportsman.com

42 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Trapping (Continued from page 41)

1. Foothold traps must not be set above snow or ground level.

2. It is unlawful to use a trap with teeth on the jaws un-

less when set, placed, and tended, the trap is completely covered with water.

3. All foothold traps set on dry land

must have at least three swiveling points, and the chain must be centrally mounted at the base of the trap.

One swiveling point must be at the base of the trap, one midway in the chain, and one

at the trap’s anchoring point.

These restrictions limit the use of a small trap for some species, because of the swiveling requirements.

There are other trapping restrictions

that apply in specific WMDs. One should always thoroughly review the current Trapping Summary, which is published annually.

¶

Trophy Gallery

Anthony Douglass of Acton dropped this smasher of a bull moose (762 lbs; 47-inch antler spread) on September 26, 2024 in Portage, ME. The hunt was guided by Ron Ricciadi, of North Maine Woods Guide Service. Tony used a .308, loaded with 150-grain bullets. Photo by Bree Douglass

New State Record Sow Black Bear

Lauren Hewett of Readfield joined the Black Bear Patch Club with this impressive 314.5-lb. (field dressed) sow, taken September 13, 2024 in Parker Town, Maine. Lauren, a Maine Sportsman subscriber, used L&S Guide Service and their excellent hounds.

The big bear’s weight was certified by Danielle Ellis at River’s Edge Sports, in Rangeley. www.MaineSportsman.com

On September 10, 2024, Brian Stephens of Hillsboro, Missouri was hunting in Pleasant Ridge Plantation, which is located along the western banks of the Kennebec River northwest of Bingham.

Using his 12-ga, he dropped a 356.5-lb (live weight) sow black bear. The huge bruin broke the State of Maine existing record of 355.5 lbs. for a live weight sow bear, by one pound.

The bear was weighed on state-certified scales by Sharon Flannery at the Bingham General Store. Stephens was guided

by Rough Country Guide Service.

Said Stephens: “The fellas at Rough Country Guide Service, including Steve Fleetwood, Brandon Gallant, Ken Martineau and Joe Wolf, are a fine bunch of gentlemen. They are great conservationists, and great houndsmen. The big bear I harvested was the cherry on top. I’ll never forget those hunts, and I’ll be back with my kids to share the experience with them, as well.”

Congratulations, Brian!

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 43

“64T” Training Next-Gen Campers!

My grandson James and I recently did an overnight in my canvas bell tent we call “64T”. The 13-foot diameter tent received the nickname “64T” because when it’s not on assignment – as in pitched along a river, or off-grid – she stays set up in my back yard. Since my house number on our street is 64, the tent becomes “64T” – an abbreviation for “64 (Tent).”

I am a big believer that folded up, stashed away tents have a death sentence. Mold and mildew do their best work in the confines of canvas rolled up and stored on some nameless concrete floor. Stake them out, and let that canvas or synthetic breathe.

That goes for all flavors of tents.

Also, backyard camping allows me to get the next generation involved. 64T sports Wi-Fi, wood stove heat, and nearby bathroom facilities. It’s an easy sell to grandkids and newbies alike.

Other than the fact that I keep tinkering with the floor plan layout, when she goes on the road, there’s no guesswork.

James and I picked a not particularly chilly night, but one where the wind howled and blew its deepest breath straight at 64T.

experiences interior condensation.

A great way to get youngsters and beginner campers into tent camping, is to stay overnight in a tent in the back yard. You’ll learn a lot about what it takes, and it’s comforting knowing civilization is nearby.

Beating the Weather So, what was James’ take on the windy night in a flapping tent? He loved it.

The best, according to him, was the, at times, violent flapping of the fly and tent. And, he bragged, we survived and beat the weather.

He summed up the way I’ve felt for years.

It’s a great feeling to beat lousy weather.

Not just beat what Mother Nature throws our way, but to enjoy it, while sitting in total comfort. That challenge has kept me winter camping since the mid-1990s.

For hardy adventure types looking to get into the rewarding sport of winter camp-

The author believes backyard camping serves an excellent platform for introducing the next generation of campers to the great outdoors. Here, James Sheldon, the author’s grandson, poses with his grandfather in front of the family tent they call “64T”. Young James has spent a few wild and windy nights in 64T. Being close to home, the tent also provides some next-gen requirements like WiFi and a nearby bathroom. Bill Sheldon photo

The tent shook, rattled and flapped well into the wee hours of the morning.

64T held tight. It was no worse for the wear when the friendly rising sun lit up the canvas walls. Morning had dawned, and the wind was no more.

It’s amazing how well these canvas tents do in all sorts of crazy weather.

Tent Fly Most backpacking tents have a fly. This extra layer over the tent serves two purposes. It helps dramatically with condensation. Hot breath on a cold night can line the

inside of a tent with hoar frost that quickly melts and gets everything anywhere from damp to downright soaked.

This is a common concern with single-walled bell tents.

However, I found out the manufacturer, Elk Mountain Tents, offers a nylon fly to fit 64T. Best accessory I could have purchased.

The fly overhangs the sides by a foot or so, and creates a layer of air between it and the tent’s roof. It also came with a stove jack that lines up with the existing stove pipe hole. It was a very

inexpensive solution, but the result is that 64T never gets wet or

(Continued on next page)

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44 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Katahdin Region (Continued from page 43)

ing, please conduct a backyard trial before heading off to parts unknown.

Quality Gear Even with a durable tent like 64T that’s set up with a wood stove, life is still a lot easier if you have a good sleeping bag and a few accessories.

When doing below-zero winter camping with the Boy Scouts of America, I witnessed a certain mistake over and over; namely, parents

would show up with their scout, along with a cheap Walmart tent and sleeping bag. I always got a kick out of the bag with the Peanuts character “Snoopy” on it. It was probably rated for 55 degrees.

We would tell the parents to go home and come back with properly rated bags.

Of course, there were always a few who insisted on giving it a go. After spending a miserable night, their

first action in the morning was to head to the local REI store, and spend the money on some quality bags.

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument After multiple backyard trial runs have built some confidence in both ability and gear, it’s time to go off-grid. Camping in the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument requires no reservations.

With that said, it’s not for everyone. Experience counts for a lot here. Only competent,

well-outfitted campers thrive in the face of a Maine winter snowstorm. A visit to www. nps.gov will reveal the details and legalities of camping in the National Monument during the challenging Maine winter.

It’s not a winter camping event without a campfire. Campfires bring out that inner survivalist, as the flames lick the sky and push back the darkness. In most cases, however, these soul-warming fires require a campfire permit.

A call ahead to the

Maine Forest Service at 207-435-7963 will put campers on the legal side of warming up the campsite.

Winter camping absolutely requires preparation and planning. Some pretty good YouTube videos recording the efforts of cold weather campers are well worth a look.

Bear in mind that summer camping gear will not usually suffice.

Quality gear equals a comfortable experience for those trying to beat the Katahdin Region’s cold-weather challenges.

¶

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������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 45

Speaking Bobcat Quite a few years ago, I picked up a bobcat on a trail camera.

This long, lean feline put harvesting a bobcat in the back of my mind. Recently, as I was purging the junk out of my brain, the phrase “bobcat hunt” came up, and I decided not to throw that one away.

While at Grand Lake Lodge last year, I talked to Paul Laney, lodge owner and Registered Maine Guide about his specialty – bobcat hunts.

Laney uses a specially trained pack of hounds to chase and tree these elusive felines.

Using a guide with sharp-nosed cat-finders equals the fastest way to bobcat hunting success. These guides have the real-time pulse of the local cat population, plus they

To attract bobcats, the author recommends using a call that mimics a rabbit or bird in distress. But keep your options open, since the same calls will also bring in coyotes and foxes. have the dogs to get the action rolling in a hurry. Do-it-yourself types will have a challenging time replicating this level of professionalism and results.

Do-It-YourselfAnyway But, as readers know, Bill Sheldon is a do-it-yourself kind of guy, no matter that the results are often less than stellar. That stems from being a jack of all trades, and a master of none. In my defense, I have a lifetime of experience doing lots of cool stuff.

Hunting bobcats falls nicely into that category.

After reading up on the finicky art of

bobcat hunting, I realized there was more than one way to “skin a cat.” Out West and Down South, calling bobcats has developed a respectable following.

Basically, these folks have mastered the art of calling in reluctant bobcats. I raised an eyebrow when I learned that these cat hunters use equipment that Bill Sheldon already has on the shelf.

Finding Cats Bobcat season opens Dec. 2, and stays that way until Feb. 21. One of the key ingredients to success – snow – coats Jackman in generous amounts.

Fresh-fallen snow lets hunters in on where these secretive animals hang out.

Experts claim the average bobcat has a home range of plus or minus 30 square miles. And, of course, they like thick cover loaded with rabbits.

No argument that the hills of northwestern Maine have plenty of thick cover and a healthy rabbit population.

The preferred method for zeroing in on a bobcat’s location involves finding a road or trail that dissects thick cover, just after a fresh snow. The hunt starts at the first set of tracks that crosses the

virgin snow.

From here it’s a slow, steady stalk.

Eyes open, as cats tend to meander and wander about. Rarely do they walk a straight line. Often this indicates a bobcat on the prowl looking for a meal. It’s easier to call in a hungry cat.

Finding a spot with decent visibility in thick cover rates as the challenge. Working the very edges of the super thick stuff takes some willpower.

It’s easy to get lazy, and work only the wide-open spots.

Calling All Cats Both mouth calls and electronic calls have their followers.

Dedicated cat callers also use decoys to create some attraction-getting motion.

(Continued on next page)

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46 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Jackman Region (Continued from page 45)

Most hunters agree that a rabbit or bird in distress call wins the day.

Calling is a feel kind of thing. Think minimalistic.

Overcalling and too much volume can spoil the hunt. Cats like to stalk. They take a few silent steps, then stop, after which they sit silently for an extended time, analyzing the calling commotion.

Low, short calls in the 30-second range followed by two minutes of silence makes a realistic pattern. Cat hunters will repeat this sequence half a dozen times before tracking the cat for

another 100 yards. At this point, it’s time to reset and start calling again.

This run-and-gun style of hunting takes patience. Movement needs to be slow and methodical. It’s definitely a stealthy approach. Of course, one other problem exists.

Coyote and Fox Problem?

This approach has similarities to the way fox and coyote hunters call in their quarry.

While the cats don’t come easy, if the wind is favorable, the fourlegged canines will try to take advantage of a perceived dying rabbit or bird. It’s a good

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Hunting bobcats usually requires a good guide with specially-trained dogs.

However, a growing number of hunters have turned to calling in these elusive predators, using calls similar to those employed for coyote and fox. The author has decided to take up the challenge. Photo: Shutterstock

problem to have.

The key difference between canine hunting and cat hunting involves wind direction.

Bobcats are known as sight hunters, and they have little interest in what’s blowing in the wind. Whereas coyotes and foxes rely on their famous noses, cats use their eyes.

Expect all three Jackman residents – bobcats, coyotes and foxes – to respond to

calling. Deciding to squeeze the trigger on a “yote” or fox is never a bad idea. However, the echoes from the shot will effectively end the bobcat hunt.

Choices, choices, choices.

Another choice, firearm selection, should be easy. Because the shooting will be close and in the thickest of cover, many cat hunters employ a scattergun.

A 12-gauge shotgun with No. 4 buck will cut through the nastiest of brush.

Heavy grained, brush busting centerfires also have a legion of followers. I’m thinking a Ruger 44 magnum carbine semiautomatic might make the perfect tight-quarters rifle.

Wish me luck!

¶

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Looking Back on a Banner Year Bob Lawrence of Rockwood has hunted and fished the Moosehead region for many years, and he knows from whence he speaks. So for him to say that this year was the best for fishing he had ever seen on Moosehead Lake, you can take it to the bank that it truly was a banner year.

Indeed, I can recall many years past when you would consider it a good day on the lake if you took 5 or 6 fish per day. Today, you might accomplish that in an hour.

Tandem hookups, something rare in the past, no longer raise eyebrows. This last season even brought triple hookups, something virtually unheard of until now. So what gives?

A perfect ratio of forage fish to preda-

The trout, salmon and togue at Moosehead were large this past summer, and they were plentiful. A smallmouth bass fishery has also been established, and that has both positive and negative aspects. tors has produced not only lots of coldwater game fish, but also bigger, healthier fish – finny footballs. Sometimes upon netting a fish, it will regurgitate freshly-eaten smelt, a sure sign of a healthy predator/forage fish balance.

Brookies, Too Brook trout continue to make the news here, too. In recent

years, oversized brook trout have appeared in the big lake, much to everyone’s delight.

What spurred this fantastic growth? Why now? The answer is, no one really knows. The brookie phenomenon happened suddenly, all by itself. Certainly the current, robust smelt population contributes to fat, healthy fish, but there’s more to the story, and no

one really sees the full picture. If someone tells you they have the answer, they are probably just guessing.

But let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth.

The obvious questions, from where did they come from and how

long will they remain, pale in importance to the basic fact that they are here – native brook trout weighing, in some instances, up to 7 pounds. Even better, these worldclass brook trout are becoming more prevalent around the lake, not just in a few select locations. There was a day when in order to catch 4-pound-plus (Continued on next page)

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48 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Moosehead Region (Continued from page 47)

trout, you would have to book a trip to northern Canada. Now you can accomplish the same thing right here in Maine.

Sure, you are not going to catch a wall-hanger every trip out, but you have a good chance of landing smaller fish, up to 18 inches, on most any outing. Before the recent explosion of huge brook trout, when was the last time you could go out for a half day and catch a 17- to 18-inch brook trout?

I’m pretty old, and for most of my time, any brook trout over 15 inches was a truly nice fish.

Here’s something else to consider. Like togue, brook trout are native to Moosehead

Lake. Salmon, probably the most popular fish, are in fact exotics, introduced to the watershed rather than naturally occurring.

Long before salmon ever set fin in Moosehead Lake, brook trout and togue swam in the lake’s frigid waters. Of course, salmon have long since acclimated to Moosehead, and as such, represent a major and beloved fishery. All good, but just remember, brook trout came first.

Bass Intruders Smallmouth bass first began appearing in Lily Bay, and later showed up in Moose River. Now they are spread around the entire lake. This is bad news, since bass are an illegally introduced,

spiny-rayed species that no one, barring the criminal or criminals who introduced them, wanted. Among other transgressions, bass vie with brook trout for spawning areas, not a good thing at all.

The bass invasion has now gone full circle, and much to longtime Moosehead regulars’ disbelief, the place has become a destination water for bass anglers. Specialized bass boats now ply Moosehead’s waters, something no one would have ever dreamed would happen. And with the new fishery, comes a new threat. Plastic lures, big ones that end up in fish stomachs.

This summer, while trolling with my friend Jamie Cooper, I hooked a togue.

Upon examining it,

The author removed this large white plastic bass lure from the stomach of an underweight Moosehead togue. Tom Seymour photo

I was puzzled as to why it was so skinny, as compared to some already-boated togue.

Since the fish was deeply hooked, I added

Trophy Gallery

Maine Sportsman subscriber Aaron Cook, of Sparks, Nevada (on the right, wearing a headlamp) worked with Master Maine Guide Paul Reed, of Durham (left) to tag this 155-lb. boar while hunting in T6R7. Cook carried a 30-’06 during the August 27, 2024 hunt. www.MaineSportsman.com

Maine Sportsman writer Staci Warren shot this 150lb. boar over bait on September 18, 2024.

it to my daily bag. Later, upon eviscerating the fish, the answer to its thin condition became clear. A huge, plastic bass lure took up most of its stomach. This prevented the fish from fulfilling its nutritional needs.

Recently, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries, in its effort to protect loons, has imposed bans on lead split shot and lead jigheads. I wonder if, in keeping with a similar sentiment, the department might consider banning plastic lures on Moosehead Lake, in order to protect its coldwater game fish population?

After all, trout, togue and salmon are equally as valuable as loons, and as such, deserve our protection. All of Maine’s wild animals, fish and birds, deserve equal protection.

Bass aside, however, Moosehead fishing is the absolute best it has ever been.

¶

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 49

The Christmas Tree from Hell My dear wife Jean has always had a big Christmas tree. She wants the biggest, tallest, fluffiest spruce or balsam we can wrangle into the living room.

Her father was the same way. For him, Christmas was all about a big tree.

So much so that he planted his own Colorado Spruce trees in the backyard.

When they were big enough to harvest, he inspected each one, deciding which tree would be selected for the holiday.

For the past many years, we’ve visited the Boiling Spring Tree Farm in Dayton, where we roam the rolling hills in search of the largest tree that will fit inside the house. We did this partly because Clem, who owns the tree farm, was Jean’s classmate at Thornton Academy. Most years, we’ve been able to indulge her desire to have the biggest tree that would fit through the door – that is, until a few years ago, when we cut a monster.

Monster Tree It was easily a ten-footer, wide and perfectly-shaped. The tree farm workers could not force it through the netting machine.

Back home, it took three of us to tug it into the house. We used the largest tree stand L.L.Bean sells, but even at that, we had to trim the butt so it would fit. We did all that, and when all the furniture had been moved and the rug rolled back, we squeezed and shoved the monster tree through the door into the sunken living room.

Ominous Snap and Crack We’d measured, and figured the top of the tree might just clear the cathedral ceiling. But first we had to lift the tree straight up and drop it into the tree stand.

My sons Matt and Jeremy and I circled around, figuring out how to get the best grip. When everyone was ready, we said “Lift!” and wobbled around, trying to line up the butt of the tree with the hole in the tree stand.

We let the tree drop, and heard an ominous snap and crack. The tree would not stand up.

We had to grapple with it again, lift it out, lay it down on the floor and survey the damage. The tree stand had

fir tree leaning like a drunken sailor against our living room door. It was sitting in a bucket full of water, and it was threatening to tip over and spill at any moment.

Christmas cheer was in short supply that afternoon. Normally, we’d put the old angel on top of the tree where she could look down on the Christmas festivities. We’d tune the radio to some Christmas carols, and all enjoy a cold beer for a job well done.

But not this year.

The author’s sons made their mother and father a tree ornament so they could all commemorate the Christmas Tree from Hell.

fractured, and the break extended down the side. It would never hold water or support the tree.

A Bucket and Cord Now what? We had this monster balsam fir in our living room. It needed water, or it was going to dry up and become a fire hazard. Christmas was looking a long way off. That’s about the time Jeremy declared, “This is the tree from hell.”

“We’ll have to order a new stand,” I said.

“How will the tree stay fresh?” Jean asked.

What should have been a simple Christmas tradition had turned into a hassle. We weren’t about to haul the tree back outside. We found a pail, and one more time grunted in unison to lift the unwieldy tree and stuff the butt end into the bucket. It wanted to fall over, but we leaned it against the picture window.

“Be careful of my curtains,” Jean yelled.

So we dragged it to the corner, and let it gently lean into the door. The tree kept trying to roll over.

I found some 550 cord, and the guys trussed the tree up against the door by tying it off to the hinges.

No Cold Celebratory Beer This Year We were stuck. We had a ten-foot

Try Again I used the laptop to order another extra-large size tree stand from our friends in Freeport. Each morning, I’d make sure the cussed tree was still upright and sucking water.

This went on for about 10 days. The boys would drop by and discuss how maybe next year Mom should think smaller. Meanwhile, all the decorations and lights and ornaments languished in the boxes scattered about the living room.

Eventually, the new stand arrived.

We knew we could just as easily break this new one if we didn’t drop the butt of that big tree perfectly straight down into the hole. “Suck it up,” Matt said.

For the last time, we hoped, we circled the giant tree, grabbed the limbs, and gave a mighty lift. While we held the tree up, Jean positioned the stand directly underneath the butt end.

“Try that,” she said, and we ever-so-gently let the tree down into the stand. We heard the plastic pieces click together. We carefully let go of the branches, testing to see if the tree was going to stand up or fall over. Much to our relief, it stayed put, standing erect.

“Merry Christmas,” Matt said.

The branches spread out and filled the corner of the living room. “It’s a beautiful tree,” Jean said. “You guys put the lights on, and I’ll get the ornaments.”

Never again, the boys declared. Tell Mom to buy a fake tree.

She would never do that, but I must admit she has cut back a little. Last Christmas, our tree was only nine feet tall.

¶

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50 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Gift Ideas for the Anglers in Your Family It’s the holiday season, and many a well-meaning gift giver is challenged with the daunting task of choosing something that will be useful to – and well-received by – the angler or anglers in their family. The list of potential items is almost limitless and can vary depending on age, preference and application, but here are a few safe bets that will suit most.

1) Sabiki Rods Mr. Sabiki must be a multi-millionaire, because the rig that bears his name is one of the most versatile and effective types of terminal tackle available. It catches a range of fish from striper bait to tuna bait, including herring, mackerel, squid, pollack, cunner and even larger haddock, cod and whiting. But the tree of tiny hooks can be a nuisance when strung on a conventional rod where loose hooks also catch lines, hats, hands and anything

As a public service, the author suggests holiday presents in all price ranges for the anglers on your shopping list.

4) Sunglasses Good sunglasses are nearly a necessity.

They protect anglers’ eyes from the harmful rays of the sun and a range of sharp, flying objects. Of equal importance, polarized lenses cut the glare and allow you to see into the water. Here is nowhere to scrimp.

Get good ones with a hard case. Lens cleaning kits also make a nice stocking stuffer.

Instead of hard goods, considering gifting an experience, like a fishing charter.

else they come in contact with. The Sabiki rod consists of a hollow tube into which

the rig can be reeled, safe and contained.

While you’re at it, pick up a few Sabiki rigs for anglers’ holiday stockings.

2) Fishing Pliers Every angler should have at least one good set of fishing pliers, but what defines “good”?

Materials, for one thing, and that means aluminum or stainless steel, or some combination thereof. Water, especially salt water, can wreak havoc on tools. Accessories are

www.MaineSportsman.com

one will last a long time, if properly cared for. For the less-meticulous anglers, cheap filet knives that will last a season or two can be had for under $10.

another thing. In addition to basic pliers, they should have some type of line cutter, and a split-ring tip. A tether and belt holster are handy features as well.

3) Knives Knives are like boats – no single example will suit all purposes. A small folding knife is handy for a range of general cutting tasks. Then they’ll need a filet knife for processing fish. Spend the extra money, since a good

5) Action Camera If you want to get a little more extravagant, you can get them an action camera like the GoPro. Everyone has a smart phone with a camera, but you can’t fish and hold your phone at the same time. You can attach a GoPro to your body, head, gunwale, or almost anything with the right accessories. Then your anglers can catch memories along with fish, and share them long after the catch has been consumed.

6) PFDs Here’s one that shows you really care.

A personal flotation device could save your loved one’s life, but only if they’re wearing (Saltwater Fishing continued on page 53)

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 51

Things To Remember For me, every trip out stands as a learning experience. Whether or not fish bit, what they bit on, when, where and everything associated with the day, can teach important lessons for future outings.

We learn, or we should learn, from personal experience and by listening to others.

Both add to our arsenal of fishing knowledge, and can be called upon in the ensuing years to save the day.

Here are some things to remember, culled from my own personal experience and from my fishing buddies.

Lure Selection We’ll begin with lure selection. That salmon slayer spoon that worked so well last week should make a good choice to begin the day with. But if you’ve trolled for an hour with no results, it’s time to retire that lure and tie on another. From then on, a lure that’s not producing should be replaced every 15 minutes. In that time, numerous fish should have seen the lure, and if they chose not to bite, then it’s time for another offering.

Lure size matters, too. Some say the larger the lure, the larger the fish it will take. But sometimes a too-large lure will completely fail, even with large fish. Why? Because it probably

Many different elements go into a successful trolling trip on the lake. Here, the author shares his vast knowledge and experience on the subject, from lure selection and size, to the best speed and depth for each cold-water species.

Paying attention to details brings trout like this to the net. Photo by Eric Holbrook

doesn’t match the size of the forage species in the water where you are fishing. If you run a large lure and don’t even get a tap, then exchange it for a slightly smaller lure. In fact, in late summer and early fall, baitfish, including smelt, run quite small, because they are primarily the young of that year and as such, outnumber the mature

individuals.

Depth Matters Fishing at the wrong depth probably means you won’t catch anything. I’ve seen people wasting their time in early spring, trolling for trout out in the deep water. They didn’t know that warmer water of south-facing shores draws trout in and holds them there.

While others were going fishless while plumbing the depths, I was taking fish after fish, trolling in no more than 10 feet of water Likewise in summer, after water in lakes and ponds stratifies and fish seek that “Goldilocks layer,” where temperatures and dissolved oxygen are just right. It’s

called the thermocline, and its location has little bearing upon overall depth. For instance, you might be fishing in 150 feet of water, but the fish are strung out at the 45-foot depth.

A fish-locator goes a long ways toward helping locate the thermocline, so it makes sense to pay close attention to the screen, not only to mark fish, but also to note changes in depth so as not to get hung on bottom. Another way to locate the thermocline in most Maine lakes is to ask a fisheries biologist from the region where you plan to fish. These people will likely have just the information you need.

Also remember that as per depth of fish, nothing is chiseled in stone. Water temperatures can change quickly, especially in fall, when cool nighttime temperatures can bring otherwise deep-holding salmonids near the surface. Try starting out a bit shallow in the early morning, and work your way down as needed.

Speed, Too Here’s another critical factor regarding success – speed.

The speed at which you troll has a direct bearing upon whether or not you will take fish. For instance, a lake may contain both (Trout Fishing continued on page 53) www.MaineSportsman.com

52 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Downsizing the Bulk of My Fly-Fishing Gear Now that most all fly fishing has ended, what’s an angler to do? At this time of the year, I like to reflect on the previous season and fix any problems I was having so I’m ready to go next year.

One thing I certainly need to do is downsize and reconsider another system of carrying my gear to the water. The vest I own served me well when I was guiding, but is too bulky for me now. While guiding, I wanted to have everything on hand to serve my clients. If the fishing client needed any piece of fishing gear, I wanted to be able to pull it out of my vest.

Now that I’m not guiding, I don’t have to do

When he was actively guiding, the author had to carry all the gear a customer might need – flies, leaders, more flies, extra sunglasses, and still more flies. Now that he’s fishing for himself, he’s thinning out the contents of his pack, working toward the goal of becoming a “minimalist angler.” that.

I chose to exchange my old, heavy vest for an Orvis Chest Pack.

Now, I just need to decide which items I don’t need to carry with me when I’m fishing.

Too Much Stuff First on the list of items I don’t need to carry are my large boxes of flies. I’m downsizing the boxes by cutting down on the number of flies I carry in each box. I just

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looked and realized I have thirty Royal Coachmen flies in one box. Nobody needs to carry that many flies of one kind.

I also have a large box of streamers, a smaller box of terrestrials, a small box of caddis, and a small box of mayflies. I’m combining a few boxes of a smaller size, and saving some space. In some of those boxes, I have whole rows of flies I’ve never used.

Time to thin out the unused flies.

I also have way too many packs of leaders – I stuff used leaders back in their packs for later evaluation, but then never go back to check to see if I can use them again. And, I have several packs of leaders that I will

hardly ever use – wire and heavy monofilament leaders for pike and musky. A thorough cleaning of my leader selection is definitely in order.

There are plenty of other items that can go, including the gloves I use for rowing the boat, extra containers of bug spray and sun protection, extra sunglasses, and several tools for tying knots.

Another space-saver is for me to utilize smaller-sized spools of line. I carry several large spools of line that I use a lot of, but switching them for smaller spools makes more space, less weight, and a more efficient use of the smaller chest pack.

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My System I also bought a small backpack that holds everything I need for fly fishing for trout and salmon.

I have another backpack and chest pack system containing everything I need for smallmouth bass fishing. I do a lot of bass fishing, and I want to keep those items separated from the trout and salmon gear.

The trout and salmon backpack is waterproof and will carry my fly rod in a tube, my chest pack, several other boxes of flies for resupply to the chest pack, an extra hoodie, rain suit, lunch, a net, and the gear I removed from my old heavy vest (mentioned above).

I keep the waterproof backpack in the truck throughout the fishing season, just in case I find myself near fishable water. When I get to a fishing location, I wear the chest pack, and leave the backpack at the truck (minus the fly rod and chest pack). If needed, I can return to the truck for the supplies in the backpack.

I also plan to take the backpack with me if I move farther up or down a stream, or if I go out in a canoe or boat. The waterproof backpack makes a great boat bag, keeping everything dry during a rainstorm or if the canoe/boat takes (Continued on next page)

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 53 (Continued from page 52)

on a little water on the deck.

If I’m out in a canoe or boat, or walking up and down a stream, I’ll have my lunch with me. I pack a sandwich in a soft-sided cooler bag with one of the small blue ice packs.

I also carry an apple and a bottle of water in the backpack, so I can stay out all day if the fishing is good.

It’s a difficult tran-

sition – changing from carrying everything possible, to carrying only what is necessary.

For the upcoming fishing season, I’ll become a minimalist angler, kind of like a ninja angler – light on my feet, and deadly. Those fish had better watch out next season – I’m downsizing and hitting it hard come springtime 2025.

¶

Saltwater Fishing (Continued from page 50)

it. Forget those bulky orange cubes, and get them an auto-inflating vest.

They’re light, compact, and qualify as meeting safety requirements so long as they’re being worn.

7) Charters It is sometimes said that it’s better to spend your money on experiences

Trout Fishing (Continued from page 51)

salmon and brook trout. In spring, Salmon often hug the mouths of brooks and streams, if those waters have spawning smelt. But you can also find them by surface trolling in just about any part of the lake.

No matter where you find them, salmon require a faster trolling speed than most salmonids, especially when pulling streamer flies. It takes some considerable speed to compress the wings on a streamer to make it resem-

Now, the author has to fit the flies in the large boxes (above) into the smaller boxes (below). William Clunie photo

than on stuff. If you agree, consider giving that special fisherman in your family a gift certificate for a fishing charter. Most charters are for multiple anglers, so there’s more than a small chance the gift-giver will be invited along for the adventure. Web sites for the Maine Association of Charterboat Captains or the Maine Professional Guides Association have plenty of reliable options to choose from.

8) Gift Cards Yeah, it’s a bit of a cop-out, but you can always fall back on the old, reliable gift cards. That way anglers can choose what they want or need, or think they need. If you take that route, consider your local tackle shop as opposed to online shopping. Maine businesses could use the extra support, and the proprietors are also good sources for information and tips.

ble a fleeing smelt. Even in summer, when salmon hang deep, you can troll quite fast with wobbling lures and do very well. The only time you might want to go slow for salmon is when trolling baitfish, especially behind a dodger or a set of trolling spoons.

When trolling for trout, which includes brook trout, brown trout and rainbow trout, remember that brown trout have habits similar to salmon, and will eagerly slam a fast-trolled lure. Rainbows not so much, and brook trout mostly go for a medium speed.

These slight differences can make or

break a fishing trip.

None of this is to say that you won’t catch salmon while going slow, or brook trout while going fast. However, most of the time these suggestions will help you catch more fish.

¶

Always Learning In addition to these specifics, I suggest adopting a learning attitude. Consider each and every fishing trip as a learning experience. You can always find some little thing to add to your bag of knowledge. Happy fishing.

¶

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54 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

He Can’t Do That The moon was full in the night sky. I was crouched down behind a large rock. I was breathing hard. My heart was pounding.

And I knew that if I let my supervisor down, I’d never be able to live with myself.

It was approximately 1:30 a.m. on October 21st, 1971. I had accompanied my boss, Virgil Grant, on a night hunting stakeout in the Town of Merrill. We were at the intersection of Town Line Road and Clark Road. I had thoughts of calling it a night, but when Virgil asked if there was any coffee left in the thermos, I knew we’d be staying a little longer.

Because the moon was so bright, we’d had to park well off the road, down along the tree line of a field on the westerly side of the Clark Road.

Shortly after I’d poured out the last of the coffee, we both spotted a bright beam of light that flashed across the sky to the northeast of us, in the area of the Clark Road.

Soon, we saw the light again, and this time it was closer. “Someone is night hunting on the Clark Road,” Virgil declared, “and they’re coming our way.”

Getting Into Position Virgil made the decision that we would drive to the intersection of the two roads and wait for the huntwww.MaineSportsman.com

A tale from the days when Maine’s municipal judges were given a great deal of leeway.

After the arrests, the author noticed he was very cold. That’s when he remembered that, while hiding behind a big rock in the pre-dawn darkness, he’d taken off his red warden’s jacket so he’d be able to run faster. Doug Tibbetts photo

ers. He said he would cut them off at the intersection. He told me to go on foot to a position just up from the intersection, and hide. Then, when the vehicle went past me, I was to run out behind it, and he would cut them off.

My job was to come up behind the vehicle just as it came to a stop, and capture anyone who was bailing out and trying to make a run for it.

I found a large rock on the easterly side of the road. The vehicle was getting close, using a spotlight as it approached. I needed to be ready to run and wanted every advantage I could get, so I shed my red wool jacket, and placed it behind the rock.

Now is the Time The vehicle, a large sedan, rolled slowly past me. I sprang out into the road behind it, and followed it at a sprint. Right on cue, Virgil’s blue lights came on, and the sedan’s brake lights lit up. I was closing the gap as the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. Just as I approached the passenger’s side in full stride, the door swung open, and a man carrying a rifle tried to make a quick exit.

The timing was perfect. I jammed the guy between the door and the vehicle. In no time flat, the situation was all in hand, and Virgil had made a believer out of me.

The Plot Thickens As we took the two suspects into custody, we noticed that stuck

to parts of their clothing were deer hair and spattered blood. And in the car’s trunk was more deer hair, as well as fresh blood. They tried to tell us they had killed a pig, but that story didn’t hold up very long.

While we were en route to the jail in Houlton, they agreed to take us to a residence in the town of Hodgdon, where they had stashed a deer they’d shot earlier in the evening. The deer, a large dressedout doe, was located hanging in a woodshed on the Westford Hill Road.

Wrapping Things Up The deer was dropped off at a residence in Houlton, where Virgil knew the family would make

good use of it. By now, it was about four in the morning, and I noticed there was a chill in the air. Something suddenly dawned on me. I told Virgil, “We need to go back there.”

He asked why, and I replied, “I left my red jacket behind that rock.”

Court Day On October 28th, our two culprits were present for arraignment at District Court in Houlton, with Judge Julian Turner presiding. After they pleaded guilty, the judge asked if they had their hunting licenses. They both said they did, and the judge asked them to hand them to me.

Judge Turner then asked me to hand the licenses to him, on the bench, at which point he ceremoniously ripped them into two pieces and stated, “You don’t have them anymore.” Then he gave the pieces back to me to keep.

I left the courthouse and went over to Virgil’s house to report on the results from court. Virgil always liked the wardens to stop over after court and fill him in, as he sat in his rocking chair, sipping coffee.

When I showed him the ripped-up licenses and told him what the judge did, he exclaimed, “He can’t do that!” I replied, “Well, he just did.”

¶

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 55

Seventy-five Years Old, and Still Going Strong It took some time, but the author got his hands on a Ruger Mark IV 75th anniversary edition.

Here’s his report on the iconic .22 semi-automatic sporting pistol, which is still in production, outlasting others in its class such as the Colt Woodsman and the High Standard Model B. The call came just in the nick of time.

Well, the call came in the nick of time so far as this column is concerned. Art St. Laurent, of Art’s Ammo & Firearms in Pittsfield, New Hampshire called to tell me that the Ruger Mark IV pistol I’d been seeking all year arrived in a shipment from his Chattanooga, Tennessee distributor.

I’ve been seeking a Mark IV ever since Ruger announced a special edition of their iconic .22 Rimfire semi-automatic to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the pistol and of the Sturm, Ruger Company itself.

More precisely, I’ve wanted one of these superb pistols since I was a teenager, and the pistol was the first in the series, the Mark I. Somehow, other priorities always intervened, and I waited until this year to commit to a purchase.

Launched in 1949 when Alexander Sturm was still alive and Bill Ruger was a youthful 33-year-old, the semi-auto .22 pistol made possible the host of innovative, top-quality firearms brought forth by Ruger and company. Every Ruger product in the decades since 1949

owes its existence to the initial success of the little semi-automatic without much of a name.

Embraced from the beginning by small-game hunters, trappers, and target shooters, the Ruger .22 has seen mechanical improvements and alterations to its features, such as an option for stainless steel, but it always has been elementally the same pistol since the beginning. And it beat the odds by remaining in production for 75 years, long after its competitors, such as the Colt Woodsman and High Standard Model B, ceased.

From the beginning many have thought the Ruger appears to be a design copy of the famous German Luger. This, despite the Luger’s toggle bolt system ver-

sus Ruger’s straight back-sliding bolt. The story associated with Bill Ruger is that he found his inspiration in a portable electric drill that he owned, leaving Alexander Sturm to design the fledgling company’s logo and advertising materials.

Form & Function During 1999, Ruger produced 55,000 Mark II anniversary units to commemorate the 50th year in business. In 2019, they released a mere 5,000 special 70th anniversary Mark IVs. The Mark III versions never corresponded to a commemorative milestone.

The Sturm, Ruger reputation is based on performance in the field and at the shooting range, not on notions of collectability. Certainly, someone somewhere takes

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For the hunter or target shooter, Ruger’s 75th Anniversary iteration of its iconic Mark IV pistol is a sleek addition to any shooter’s battery. Photos by J.C. Allard

great pride in a collection of Ruger-made firearms, but any mystique surrounding Ruger branding is based on workhorse performance. I committed to searching out this year’s 75th anniversary variant because of its features, not because it is somehow ‘special’ and on the road to rarity.

The anniversary model handles the same ten-shot magazines for .22 Long Rifle rounds as its predecessors. It incorporates a six-and-threequarter-inch barrel, as well as adjustable target sights. Most notably, the Mark IV utilizes a one-button disassembly system (Continued on next page)

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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ An afternoon plinking with the Ruger Mark IV Anniversary model sharpens dormant skills and provides family fun.

for easy cleaning and servicing. This version also mounts checkered walnut grips, with the famous Ruger medallions in silver.

The pistols carry subtle 75th anniversary markings on the rear bolt face and on the right side of the receiver, neither of which detract from the allabout-business look of the piece. The bolt and trigger assembly are stainless steel. The receiver and tapered target barrel carry a deep blue finish, so deep it is almost black. The receiver is drilled and tapped for installing scope bases.

A follower button located on the left-side of each magazine permits drawing down magazine spring tension, making loading the two provided magazines a breeze. Snap a loaded magazine into the well in the grip handle, release the bolt, and the Mark IV is ready to fire after flipping the ambidextrous safety switch to the ‘fire’ position.

Complete Package Compared to Remington, or Winchester, or Browning and a few other American arms manufacturers, 75 years in business seems mere adolescence. However, it is a milestone worthy of note, especially when www.MaineSportsman.com

considering today’s Mark IV pistol. Here is Bill Ruger’s vision 75 years on, evolved for certain, but still every bit the product envisioned all those decades ago in rented Connecticut shop space.

I first fired a Ruger Mark I on the indoor range where the University of New Hampshire rifle team practiced. With the standard four-inch barrel, that little gun was loud when fired indoors, but it started me thinking, and it kindled a desire that took 54 years to fulfill.

When Ruger first announced their lineup products (the Mark IV pistol, two versions of the 10/22 rifle, and an LCP pistol) to celebrate three quarters of a century in business, I knew it was time to stop looking, and go for the purchase.

I tried various sources all year, but no one could come up with the anniversary models, reminding me of earlier attempts to find Ruger’s Gold Label shotgun. Writing about an anniversary special after that year expires seems silly.

So Art’s call really did come in the nick of time.

Season’s Greetings and Happy Holidays, one and all.

¶

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 57

Fishing and Hunting Still Active in this Region The holiday season is upon us, and many anglers and hunters have hung up their gear to settle in for the winter. No need to do that – there’s still plenty of sport to be had!

Winter Fishing After a spectacular spring and summer season on Sebago Lake (Delorme’s Atlas, Map 5, C-1), the lake completely quiets down in winter months, even when there is no ice.

But not for guide Glen Gisel of Sebago Sport Fishing in Raymond.

Glen has been fishing the lake forever, and he brags that he’s fished it every month.

Sadly, warm and ice-free winters help his claim, so if you can’t ice fish, take the old boat out of storage!

This year, Glen hopes to fish for cusk, if the ice doesn’t form.

I’m hoping for ice for ice fishing, as we haven’t had a full freeze on Jordan Bay in the past two winters, but I’m following Glen closely to watch his success, and to cheer him on, too.

Winter Rules Apply Winter anglers on Sebago are subject to a different set of laws. To begin with, bait of any kind is off limits. Anglers must drag lures; however, artificial bait such as Gulp minnows are allowed by the regulations. Second, salmon are off the list, so any salmon caught

Open-water fishing before the freeze starts, muzzleloader or bow/crossbow hunting for deer, and upland hunting for partridge or released pheasants – December is a busy time for Sebago-region anglers and hunters. must immediately be released. Lake trout can still be harvested, if caught on artificial lures. Anglers must also be familiar with closed areas, such as the mouth of the Songo River. Check the law book for exact details and boundaries.

Trolling in December is the same as trolling in the summer, but you should try fishing the shallows. Lake trout, especially the larger ones, spend more time in the shallows in the winter months. Fisheries Biologist Jim Pellerin spoke recently at a meeting of the Sebago Lake Angler’s Association, and provided detailed spin-net survey results.

His conclusion was that larger fish were in shallower water. Some of this is due to the large bait balls of alewives, with fish coming up shallower to eat the prey, and then moving back to the bottom to digest their meal.

Spoons such as the Northeast Troller Wonder Bread pattern, Orange Crush, and Pink Ice patterns, work well on Sebago.

I would troll slower in the winter, as cold water slows the fish down

The author’s Lab, Luke, was game for bird hunting any time of the year, including in December’s snowy conditions. Photo by Tom Roth

some, but it doesn’t hurt to vary your speed until you find the right zone.

Hey, Glen – after fishing, swing by and pick me up with my water skis. I’ll throw on a wetsuit!

Deer Season December still sees deer hunters in the woods, but they really have the woods to themselves this month with much less competition. For the muzzleloader crowd, the season runs from December 2 through December 14 in this region.

I bought a modern muzzleloader last year, because our farm in Cumberland is regulated by a town ordinance that allows shotguns or muzzleloaders.

This new gun is as accurate as a standard rifle to about 150 yards – more than enough distance for me to use in the fields.

Additionally, crossbows are now considered regular archery equipment, so hunters in the Expanded Zone can take advantage of that season, which also runs until December 14.

I hunted a few days last year, and although I didn’t tag out in December, I did see deer. They did not seem on high alert like in November, but appeared to me settling back into a routine.

Sadly, their routine was just outside of a safe shooting distance for me!

This year was a bumper acorn crop, so check those oak trees to see whether there are remaining nuts. If so, deer will be there at some point before snow flies.

Bird Hunting A ruffed grouse taken in southern Maine is a true trophy in my book. A grouse taken in December is the Holy Grail! Birds here are scarce, skittish and crafty. My last two southern Maine grouse taken were from birds that

flew into windows.

Likely they consumed fermented berries, and were flying while impaired.

Whatever the cause, I enjoyed a meal, thanks to their misfortune.

Ironically, one season I was in Rangeley hunting birds when such a situation happened again. My girlfriend sent me a picture, and I instructed her how to breast the bird. She enjoyed a nice meal before I came home with my limit.

And keep an eye on the calendar – bird season runs until December 31, so the last two weeks of the month, hunters with dogs can be assured of no firearms hunters or bowhunters in the woods.

Hunting the woods around pheasant release sites may prove productive this month.

I’ve stocked those birds for hunters in Southern Maine in years past, and I can attest that they sometimes lock up and fly long distances after they explode out of the stocking crate. Just find a release site, and don’t be afraid to hunt anywhere within a mile of the site.

December brings holiday parties, preparation and good cheer, but it can also be productive on the water and in the woods. Get out there and enjoy it, before the snow flies!

¶

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58 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

The One Gun That’s Perfect for All Hunting in Maine Doris gets a little sour whenever I decide to go to Kittery Trading Post, and with good reason – I generally return home with something I really don’t need. Then we get into the “want vs. need” discussion that she always seems to win. With time, things calm down again in the Marquez household.

This purchase was different, however – it wasn’t a shiny new gun or bow, I didn’t need to use the credit card, and I had to wait for three days to bring the gun home.

The time wasted was a pain in the butt, because during the two day trips it took to get the gun, I spent more on gas and my time than I paid for the gun.

The gun was a wellused Mossberg bolt action 12-gauge shotgun that cost me less than $150. But, considering the two trips, time and gas, I figure I have about $350 invested in the gun. Isn’t Maine’s “three-day waiting period” a great thing?

That’s another column all together.

Versatile Gun Why would anyone want this 80-year old, weird looking, oddball gun? One reason is versatility, since with the proper ammo (bird shot, buck shot, or slugs), a person can ethically hunt every game bird and animal in Maine, from snipe to moose.

Most Mossberg www.MaineSportsman.com

Need a single firearm that can do it all in the Maine woods, regardless of the quarry? Consider a Mossberg Model 185 series bolt-action, 12-ga shotgun with a “C-Lect” exterior choke. While not the most beautiful gun ever made, it’s sturdy, reliable and inexpensive – and for all our state’s game birds and animals, it will get the job done in a workmanlike manner. bolt actions were fitted with a “C-Lect” choke – hunters simply turn the choke to adjust from cylinder (no choke) to improved cylinder to full choke, and then chamber the proper shells. The gun is capable of dealing with any game bird or animal in the state.

This versatility is an advantage during the four-month long Maine hunting seasons, because many hunting seasons overlap, such as deer, grouse, snowshoe hare, squirrel and bear. With a pocket full of different shotsize shells, buck shot and slugs, hunters can adapt to whatever game they encounter.

If they see bear sign while grouse hunting, then they change from shot to slugs, and adjust the choke to cylinder. If a friend calls and wants you to go sea duck hunting, you simply set the choke on full, grab a few boxes of number-6 shot shells, and you’re ready. Another reason I wanted the gun – I needed a slug gun to hunt in “shotgun-only areas” along the coast (with

Mossberg’s old discontinued bolt action is the author’s idea of a perfect gun – suitable for any Maine game animal, upland game, or waterfowl. Photo by Val Marquez

the choke opened fully, to the “Cylinder” setting).

Mud Gun The bolt doesn’t jam up under severe hunting conditions; hunters can toss the Mossberg in the bot-

tom of a boat while duck hunting, or part brush with it in a deepdark swamp, and not worry about mud or scratching the stock.

This gun is a “blue collar” gun, developed to hunt, not look beautiful on a gun rack.

Mr. Mossberg developed this gun in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. It cost $10 at the time.

Winchesters and Remington pump shotguns were much more expensive. Oscar Mossberg was an engineer and a smart businessman. His first bolt shotgun was chambered in .410. Why? Cost of ammo was lower, and also the gauge was perfect for rabbit and squirrels, which were table fare for struggling folks at the time. Later, the 20-, 16- and 12-gauge guns were added to the line.

Today, used Mossberg bolt shotguns run anywhere from $45 to $150, and there are thousands of them available. They are good for hunters on a budget – one gun that can do it all; inexpensive; a working man’s gun.

Some Limitations This gun isn’t for long-range shots; I wouldn’t recommend it while hunting on a power line or a field edge. Also, I wouldn’t use it while still-hunting or sitting on stand in an open-hardwood ridge – a scoped rifle is a better option. However, in thick cover at ranges under 50 yards, where most deer will be during hunting season, the old bolt will work.

Another issue – it’s difficult to see the front bead. The gun does have a crude rear sight ramp, and both front and rear sights can be painted for better visibility. Still, old eyes will have issues.

I put a snap-onto-thebarrel florescent sight on the front behind the choke, and added a rifle sling. This transformed the Mossberg into a gun that comes on target quickly.

Combined with its versatility, I enjoy hunting with this old ugly-duckling.

Our home is back to normal now. Doris is busy preparing for Christmas, and working on her shopping list, I’m not on her list; she thinks I have “too many toys already.” I do see issues coming soon, though – I just checked KTP’s website, and they have a Mossberg bolt action .410 at a great price.

¶

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 59

Making the Switch to Non-Lead Ammo Since 1991, nonlead ammunition has been required for any type of coastal waterfowl hunting nationwide. Maine’s laws haven’t added any other restrictions; however, several states have now included upland game species in their rules. In fact, California has implemented a complete ban on the use of lead ammunition for hunting.

Non-lead ammo has actually been around a lot longer than most people realize. In fact, it was introduced about 1989, when former CEO and owner of Barnes Bullets, Randy Brooks, created one of the first non-lead bullets.

The company is now one of the leading manufacturers of nonlead ammunition, and it wasn’t long before other popular brand companies followed suit. With interest and demand, better availability and more education about its effectiveness, non-lead ammo is increasingly becoming a viable and affordable choice for hunters.

Non-lead ammo for big game hunting is made from solid copper, also called mono or monolithic, and is the standard now.

Advantages Copper bullets are non-toxic, so you don’t have to worry about a scavenger such as an owl or eagle getting lead poisoning. Copper

The performance and availability of copper ammo has improved, and the price has dropped.

Copper resists fragmentation, and is safer for animals that may feed on gut-piles of field-dressed game animals. For those reasons, the author has started hunting with non-lead ammunition.

The bottom line with many hunters is whether or not non-lead ammo will expand properly and drop a deer efficiently. Once it’s proved its effectiveness in the field, more hunters are likely to make the switch. Photo of Rebecca Warren Sucy, by Aaron Sucy.

bullets shoot faster, because they’re lighter than lead. They also leave less fouling, i.e., residue in the barrel.

Copper got a bad rap for barrel fouling, but changes in their composition mean they now cause no more fouling than lead options.

Copper bullets maintain 100% of their weight, so there is less fragmentation,

and they are accurate.

According to Guns and Ammo magazine, “Mono-copper bullets are much better at controlling the rate of expansion, due to the higher strength of the copper and the relatively thick petals.

Mono bullets expand and transfer energy at a slower rate than softer lead-core bullets. Because of this, they produce a deep-

er maximum-diameter wound cavity than lead-core bullets, and they offer more penetration.”

Availability of non-lead bullets has improved, particularly with specialty gun shops, so if you can’t find your ammo at one of the larger retailers, you can probably get it at a smaller one. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

also provides a list of retailers where nonlead ammunition can be purchased either locally or over the internet. To find the list, search online for “Maine Places to Purchase Non Lead Ammunition”.

In a 2022 article titled The Future of Lead-Free Ammo, written by Alan Clemens, the author reports on a conversation with Leland Brown, a longtime hunter and the Non-Lead Hunting Education Program director with the Oregon Zoo. Brown said, “Any change in ammunition requires some adaptation to the characteristics of the new bullet and load. Ballistic charts change, and learning the drops for the new ammunition makes for a more effective hunter. Nonlead bullets shoot at the same velocities and pressures as any other bullets, so any differences tend to be in line with any other differences between ammo types. They do tend to be slightly longer for the same bullet weights, so a hunter can often drop down in weight to achieve better accuracy and higher velocities, which means flatter shooting out to medium range.”

Brown added: “As with any bullet, no matter what material, know the minimum velocity for expansion (Get Out There continued on page 61) www.MaineSportsman.com

60 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Emergency Kits Critical for Cold-Weather Hunting If the regular firearms season ends and I have missed my chance to shoot a deer with my new (to me) Savage 99F in .308 Win., I plan to pull out the muzzleloader and give it a try.

On some December bird hunting trips, the snow is so deep that I can’t get back into some of my favorite hunting territories – if the loggers aren’t working that section of woods, they usually don’t plow the roads. If this December brings us too much snow, I will look at trying to take a deer with my black powder rifle, an old MDM “Buckwhacka” in 50 cal.

Hunting in cold weather always has me thinking, “What if I get stuck out here in the woods and have

What happens when you don’t check the contents of your emergency kit for a decade? Well, for one thing, you may discover – as the author did -- that your fire-starting kit won’t start a fire!

Following the discovery that his fire-starting kits had deteriorated over time and were unusable, the author promised himself he’d check over the contents of his emergency kit at least once a year from now on. William Clunie photo

to stay overnight?”

It wouldn’t be a comfy night in the north woods in freezing weather conditions, so I always make sure to carry a fire-starting kit in a waterproof bag.

The kit contains waterproof matches, a Bic lighter, a 35mm film container stuffed with petroleum-soaked cotton balls, and a water straw that purifies drinking water.

Most anywhere I’ve ever hunted, there has been enough wood lying around to keep me warm for a night.

I carry this fire-starting kit in my deer hunting jack-

et. I also have one in my bird hunting vest, since an overnight in the October bird woods could be uncomfortably cold, too.

Good Lesson A lot of folks, me included, make a practice of being prepared in the manner I have described above. You never know when something might force you to stay overnight in the woods. The situation could arise in many unforeseen ways, including an injury, getting lost, or a vehicle breakdown.

While bird hunting this past October, our hunting party decided to meet up in one location for a lunch out in the woods. One fellow brought a propane griddle. He wanted to make grilled burger (Continued on next page)

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������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 61 (Continued from page 60)

and cheese sandwiches for the group. When he asked if anyone had a lighter to start the stove, the group went into action looking for a lighter.

Not one single person in the group of four had a lighter, other than me. I was feeling a little proud of myself, until we couldn’t get the lighter to work – it was out of fuel. I tried lighting one of the fifty “waterproof” matches, also without success.

When I checked the film canister, to my surprise, there was a little wisp of cotton stuck in the cap, and the rest had disintegrated. It was then that I started trying to remember

how long ago I put the little fire-starting kit together. My best guess was at least ten years ago, maybe more.

When I got home from bird hunting camp, my first course of action was to gather the fire-starting kits and update them for further use. The new kits have a “Sharp N Spark” pocket sharpener/fire starter from Sharpens Best (sharpensbest.com), as well as a Bic lighter.

The Sharpens Best fire-starter won’t ever fail … the ferrocerium rod produces a shower of sparks, even when completely soaked with water. I also replaced the petroleum-saturated cotton balls with a

more stable fire-starting compound, and made a vow to recheck the kit each year to make sure the supplies in the kit were still working.

Major Failure The biggest reason for the fire-starting kit failure appeared to be the short “shelf life” of the plastic baggies I used for holding everything. The thin plastic bags degraded over time and lost their ability to keep the contents waterproof.

I upgraded the fire kits containers by purchasing a real waterproof container that looks like a downsized version of a dry bag used for canoe camping. The container is

about the size of a large cell phone, holds all the gear for starting a fire, and seals at the top of the bag by rolling and clipping the top shut to keep out all moisture.

The waterproof matches are also in the bag, but they have their own waterproof container that will keep them away from any moisture. I also put a Bic lighter in the bag as a third “backup” firestarter … the handy lighter is easier to use than the sticks, but may lose pressure after a few years of storage.

I’ll change them out annually.

Let me just end this with one note of importance for those readers who might

not be “in-the-know.”

The wood to select for a fire should be dry of course, but what if it is raining heavily and all the available wood is soaked?

Most coniferous trees contain a sap that lights up easily and burn even when soaked.

Most birch branches will also light up easily.

In all fire-starting situations, gather a huge pile of this wood to add to the fire over time, keeping it fairly close to the fire and under an overhead tarp. Tuck yourself under that lean-to style tarp, and stay warm and dry all night.

¶

Get Out There (Continued from page 59) – generally 1,800-2,000 fps – and keep shots within that range to ensure they work as intended.”

Disadvantages Believe it or not, I struggled to find disadvantages of non-lead ammunition. The only disadvantage mentioned by many hunters is that copper ammunition is expensive. However, once your rifle is sighted in, how many bullets do you actually use in a season? One, two, maybe three? A box of 20 bullets can last a long time.

In just a quick shopping comparison, prices didn’t seem that much different from the cost of traditional leadcore bullets. Ammo seems to cost about $2 - $4 per cartridge in 20-count boxes, depending on what caliber you are using.

Mono bullets are harder and tougher than lead-core bullets. They will stop expanding effectively at shorter ranges and higher retained velocities than a cup-and-core bullet (Clemens, 2022).

This is why it’s important to stay within the shooting range of your selected bullet.

Thomas Conner of the findahunt. com blog, recommends testing different brands. “Not all non-lead ammunition is created equal,” he writes. “Test

Barnes was the earliest major company to produce copper ammo, and they are among the current sales leaders.

Here is a selection of Barnes copper slugs, showing their distinctive design.

Photo: Ammo.com

different brands and bullet designs, to find the one that performs best with your firearm. Accuracy and bullet expansion are critical factors to consider. Switching to non-lead ammunition may require some adjustments to your shooting technique and rifle setup.

Spend time practicing with your chosen non-lead ammunition to become proficient and confident in the field.”

Premium Non-Lead Ammunition, per Ammo.com • Barnes Vor-TX – Ammo.com called this the “best overall” • Winchester Deer Season Copper Impact (“best for deer hunting”) • Hornady CX (“best for moose and elk”)

Winchester also offers a growing line of non-lead ammo in a variety of calibers.

When large, national companies carry copper ammo and distribute it across the country, availability is vastly improved, at large retailers and small gun shops. Photo: Winchester Ammunition

• Federal Premium Trophy Copper (“best for bear”) • Nosler Ballistic Tip (“best for varmints”) • Fiocchi Golden Waterfowl 1-3/8 oz. #2 Shellshot (bismuth shot) (“best for waterfowl”) ***** I plan to make the change, and hunt with non-lead ammunition in the future. I’m excited to see the progress made in developing non-lead ammo, and I’m more than happy to give up the lead, if copper can be shown to perform equally.

Have you made the switch? Write to me or the editor with your experiences.

¶

www.MaineSportsman.com

62 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Giving (and Receiving) Awesome Outdoor Gifts This Christmas What does a hunter or angler really need for a Christmas gift? I feel blessed, knowing that I probably have more gear for the outdoors than I’ll ever really need, but I still do enjoy giving gifts.

Many of us are in that same boat … we don’t really need anything. How does someone shop for a person in this situation? I can answer that for you, because I fall into that category. My wife constantly mentions this around my birthday, or Christmas time.

When family or friends call and ask her what gift would be good for me, she answers them with the same line – “I haven’t got a single clue for

What do you give the outdoorsperson who has everything? And how do you properly express gratitude for a great gift? Our columnist reveals these timely holiday secrets. you … he already has everything he needs for hunting and fishing.”

Over the course of time, I realized that I was receiving many gifts of socks, fruit cakes, hats, shirts, and candy. Now, don’t get me wrong … I like new socks as much as the next guy, but I only have so much room in my sock drawer.

So, what I do now is to make sure that if these loving gift givers want to give me a gift, I help them with the choice by telling

them to simply get me an e-gift card to one of my favorite outdoor stores. This has worked perfectly, because then I can order exactly the item that I want or need.

Get Creative Gift buyers also can simply get creative or “think outside the box.” Don’t focus on hunting and fishing items only. Most hunters and anglers also like other outdoor activities.

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kind of camping, so I am greatly excited about getting any kind of camping gear, and I’m sure other hunters and anglers would agree.

One of my latest acquisitions would have made a great gift for me until I spoiled it by purchasing it on impulse. I have always had trouble with spilling fuel out of five-gallon gas containers because the spout always leaks, either while pouring the gas, or when the container is bouncing around in the pickup bed on the way to the camping location. I ordered a kit for replacing the spout and vent cap on all my plastic gas containers.

They work perfectly, and haven’t leaked a single drop of gasoline in my truck bed or while refilling other

tanks.

The DYI Option Another way to become the greatest gift giver for those who have everything is to create your own gift – personalize the gift by making it with your own two hands.

It doesn’t take a lot of artsy talent to buy a picture frame, fill it with a nice photo of your hunting pal and his dog, or a fishing buddy, and then add personal touches like feathers, shotgun shell brass, or a fly or two that hooked the fish in the photo.

Modern cell phones come with some excellent cameras built into them. The most basic modern cell phone creates just as clear an image as my expensive Nikon cameras. Think ahead of the Christmas season, and always carry your cell phone for creating the perfect Christmas gift of a photo of your hunting or fishing pal.

(Continued on next page)

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 63 (Continued from page 62)

Thoughtfully Thankful Hopefully these few tips will help you be a great gift giver, but remember, when someone gets you a great gift, try also to be a thoughtful gift receiver. I’m not just talking about a verbal “thank you.”

I mentioned above that my family has started getting me e-gift cards for some of my favorite outdoor stores. I collect the e-gifts and store them on my Gmail account.

When I get enough of them, I place an order using the e-gift cards.

Then I take a photo of the purchase, and send

it to the kind gift-giver. That way, they get the pleasure of seeing their purchase, as well as the satisfaction of seeing me with the item.

Other thoughtful ways of receiving a gift with kindness include a return gift with some creative thought.

You know your family members’ or friends’ passions, right? Why not get them something exciting like a gift certificate for taxidermy service, or guide service, or gunsmithing, or lodging at a five-star fishing or hunting camp?

Above all, think of the person who will receive your gift, and think of the things

Burl, feathers and shotshells – a project the author has been working on as a gift for Christmas. William Clunie photo

they probably won’t purchase but really want to buy. Most of us look at a product and think, “Yeah, that’s nice, but I don’t need it that bad.”

Take a high-end knife sharpener, for

instance – most people I know don’t want to spend big money on an item like that. If you have ever owned one of these excellent sharpening systems, you will understand that every penny spent on

such a precision tool is well worth it. Getting a friend or family member an item like this will put you on the favorite gift-giver list for sure.

¶

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64 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

A Different Kind of Hunt Two of the most phenomenal woodsmen I know come in a husband-and-wife pair of houndsmen whom I’m lucky to call great friends. They have a passion and drive for the outdoors that rivals my own. Except they really don’t care about deer hunting. And I don’t really care about their passion: bear hunting. We maintain a spirited rivalry regarding the two species of critters.

On quite a few occasions, I’ve gone with them during training season in the summer. On one occasion, I sacrificed a day of muzzleloader season to tag along in pursuit of a giant bear whose tracks I’d seen the day prior. (The dogs ended up catching a different, smaller bear that day.)

Excuses Though I’ve enjoyed my time with friends, getting into the woods, and seeing some new country, the idea of a bear in a tree with dogs baying at the bottom didn’t really excite me. If anything, that part of the hunt kind of turned me off – the deafening barking and shredding of the tree trunk seemed so destructive to the serenity I typically seek in the woods. And coming from a deer stalking/ tracking background – where tact, discipline, and stealth are paramount – casually conversing as you swiftly crash through the woods toward a GPS point isn’t the most demanding or rewarding experience.

Lastly, the idea of shooting a bear that’s high up in the crotch of a tree, doesn’t do it for me. After all, I don’t bait, field-hunt, or even sit during deer season, because I’m all about the experience, pursuit, and dramatic moments of pure adrenaline that occur when giving chase and shooting at a jumped buck.

This is all to say that when my friends invited me to join them and carry a gun during kill season, it was easy to politely decline. They’ve been inviting me for years, and I’ve politely declined for years. After hearing about their hunts, though, where they’ve caught big boars on the ground (and where things have gotten a bit western), my interest was piqued enough to leave the possibility open this year.

Additionally, my wife experimented with canning a few jars of deer meat last www.MaineSportsman.com

The author, a dedicated whitetail hunter, tries something new – trading the quiet and stealth of a deer hunt, for the noisy and challenging sport of pursuing a bear with hounds.

What happens when a bear gets stuck in the tree? You climb up with spikes and a lineman’s harness, and lift it out. All photos: Ethan Emerson

fall – and it was delicious – so we really wanted to make sure to get some more meat to can this year. A bear would can well, and would also take some of the “meat pressure” off me during deer season.

So, this September I checked an isolated cluster of remote oaks that I knew of (oaks are exceedingly rare in the North Country of NH). I found some acorns, and notified my friends. A few days later, I was filling out my permit to take a bear over hounds – just in case.

The Hunt Begins I led my friends into my special spot, letting the best dogs roam on their own ahead of us, and walking some of the “trashier” dogs on leashes, so they didn’t get too eager and start off on a non-target critter such as a coyote or a fisher. On the walk in, I enjoyed telling my friends about the woods we were going through and my experiences in them, pursuing deer.

The dogs struck the second they hit the first oak tree – just like I planned it! Off they went, as we watched on the GPS. It wasn’t a long chase. They treed in a spot I am intimately familiar with, having killed a 10-pointer right nearby a few years ago.

We hustled into the maple to find a beautiful bear about 50 feet up. We hitched the dogs back away from the tree, and took some time to assess and discuss the next steps. It’s notoriously difficult to judge the size of a bear. And it’s even harder when they are 50 feet up in a tree. We all took our guesses of the size and sex of the bear. After talking it over for a long while, we decided to take the bear. And I was the one holding the rifle.

Doing the Deed Even though it wasn’t a Wild West situation of a giant boar approaching on the ground, like I’d hoped, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. The bear was in “my” spot. I had a great open shooting lane (not always the case with bears way up in limby trees). It was early in the morning, with lots of time and beautiful weather to get it packed out. And it was the perfect size to get us a bunch of meat to can, but not overburden our backs or freezers.

Lastly, I’d been wanting to “christen” an old Remington Model 81 in .35 Rem that I’ve owned for quite a few years, but have never killed anything with. The old peep-sighted rifle was the perfect tool for the job. (I also have a rule that I don’t sell guns I’ve used to kill game with, so this would ensure that I get to keep the gun from temptations to sell or trade.)

So, I waited for the perfect angle and timing, and did the deed with the big 200-grain round nose. The only problem (Continued on next page)

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 65

A special aspect of this hunt was that the writer’s wife and young daughter hiked in to participate in the extraction.

(Continued from page 64)

was, well, the bear didn’t fall. He was dead, but stayed lodged in the crotch of the tree.

My friend and I made haste out of the woods to retrieve his climbing spikes and my lineman’s harness. I also had my wife and young daughter come out to meet us where we’d parked.

A while later, we were all back at the tree.

It took a lot of effort and sheer strength, but my friend was able to

The best way to get notoriously hardto-drag bears out of the woods is to cut them up and pack them out.

shimmy himself 50 feet up and above the bear, then lift and pry him out of the crotch. Down he came.

We made sure to get some nice photos to remember the time by, and got several special ones with my wife and daughter included. Then we got to work skinning, quartering, and carrying. The warden was kind enough to come and meet us right at the trucks, and was waiting to seal it when we got back.

Sizzling Sunset We capped the day off with something special that I’ve always wanted to

The writer has always wanted to cook a rack of game ribs over an open fire. This bear provided a great chance to do that, and to enjoy them with friends while taking in the view from the writer’s new homesite.

do – we cut and packed out the two racks of ribs, put a good dry rub on them, and let them cook over a smoldering smoky campfire. Perfectly, we ate them while enjoying a gorgeous mountain view sunset at the location of our home I’d worked all summer building.

It wasn’t the kill that made this hunt. Rather, it was the place, the experience, and the people I shared it with that made this day as memorable as any day on which I’ve killed a big buck.

¶

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66 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Chasing Winter Grouse Vermont’s deer hunting season will wrap up December 15th of this year, for both archery and muzzleloader hunters. After that, the full transition to winter hunting takes place. I have all of January through March to go after snowshoe hare, so I often focus on chasing grouse until the season on them closes on December 31st.

We love eating grouse at my house, and haven’t strayed too far from simple preparations lately – what we call “grouse bites.” Slice the grouse breasts up into bitesize pieces. Generously salt and pepper all sides, and put in hot frying pan with olive oil, searing them until two sides are a golden brown. Add a small bit of cream cheese to a tasty cracker (we favor the rosemary and olive oil Triscuit) and place a bit of partridge on top. Shove into your mouth and enjoy!

Add a beer and a wood fire to that tasty bite of delectable grouse, and you’re talking about a lovely way to spend a long winter’s eve around the solstice.

Changing Habits As the weather turns colder and snow starts to accumulate, ruffed grouse change their habits from their fall routines. I find them nearer to more dense softwood covers that border good feedwww.MaineSportsman.com

The author celebrated last New Year’s Eve with a snowshoe trip into an area he knew held grouse.

He was not disappointed.

The author believes that wearing snowshoes to hunt late-season grouse makes them taste better. Photo by the author

ing areas. They are up in birch or aspens where they are in the trees budding, later in the morning and early afternoon. I’ve also seen maple buds in their crops.

If the snow is thin or absent, they can still be on the ground, though there is less food. They need grit for their gizzard, so an open brook or roadside will attract them.

While they might bury themselves in deep snow to hide for a night, they don’t walk around as much if it is deep and fluffy. When cold, they favor getting some sunshine, usually on south-facing openings, in areas that are relatively safe to be exposed.

In the right conditions, tracking a grouse is a real possibility. Often, I follow tracks to a spot where the bird lifted off. If I haven’t already flushed the grouse, I’ll start scanning the trees in the direction of travel for the bird feeding. My preference is to take the bird on a limb if I can.

I always find flushing grouse out of trees a hard shot to make.

The tendency, as I understand it, is to miss over these birds, so I try to get ahead of and below them, and remember to follow through. I also think that the flush out of a tree is much quieter than one off the ground, so there isn’t

the normal stimulus to react and shoot.

I favor my standard pump 20-gauge shotgun for this hunting, though any shotgun will do. There are some folks who hunt late-season grouse with a .22, which is reasonable, but make sure of safe shots with good back drops, especially if the bird’s up in a tree.

I don’t have a dog, so these winter birds can take some footsteps to find. There are fewer of them due to a fall of hunting pressure; those that are around are much cagier; and they know that they are more exposed in the wintertime – all making for tougher birds to hunt. If the

snow is deep, getting around on snowshoes makes it a fun and different challenge.

Satisfied Last winter I made a New Year’s Eve foray into the woods behind my house for one last grouse hunt. I made a couple of loops in areas I know hold birds, but didn’t flush any.

As I started to make my way back down the hill toward the house, out in front of me I spotted three birds up in an old birch, grabbing some seeds.

I snuck around to get a better angle for my shot. I took one bird off the limb for our evening hors d’oeuvres. One of the other birds flushed without a shot. I contemplated taking a shot at the third one and as I was pondering, it took off as well.

It didn’t hurt at all to leave those two birds for seed for next season. Winter grouse will start to drift back together into groups, and hunters could thin the local population down pretty quick if they are not careful.

I try to hit different spots every time out, rather than hammering a single location with multiple birds.

Being satisfied with a single to end the season, ensures there will be birds there to chase next fall.

¶

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 67

Smilin’ Sportsman A Maine logger took a day off work to go to court to contest a minor traffic charge. He arrived at 8 a.m., and then waited impatiently the entire day while all the other cases were heard. At 4 p.m., his name was finally read, and he stood up, only to have the judge tell him that court was adjourning, and that he had to come back the following day.

“C’mon, man!” he complained to the judge.

“Contempt of court – $40 fine!” yelled the judge.

The man took out his wallet and began counting bills.

“You don’t pay here – you pay the clerk out front,” said the judge.

The man replied, “I’m just seeing if I have enough cash for two more words.”

— A husband prepared to go up to Monson for hunting season.

“I don’t want you sneaking up to the bar in Greenville with your buddies every night,” said his wife. “You’ll have to

pay me $20 the first time you break this rule, $40 the second time, and if I catch you a third time, you’ll owe me $80!”

Inquired the husband, “How much for a season pass?”

— A wife came back from a medical appointment.

“What did the doctor say?” asked the husband.

“The doctor said I had the body of an 18-year old,” replied the woman.

“Did he mention your big ass?”

“No – your name did not come up.”

— A man was in critical condition in the hospital after nearly drowning in a vat of beer.

“My poor darling,” said his wife to one of her husband’s co-workers. “He must have been in such distress!”

“Not really,” replied the co-worker.

“In fact, he got out twice to pee.”

¶

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68 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Help! – My Kid Wants a Pet Fisher Cat ...and other dumb problems our columnist isn’t qualified to address Bobcats are cool. Yellow-nose voles are cool. Ospreys are very cool. Moose, not so much.

Q: You read the headline, so you already know the first question is about whether this guy should get his little brat a fisher cat as a pet. I bet you think you already know the answer.

You just lost that bet.

A: Yes, by all means give junior a pet fisher. You’ll save plenty of money on pet food if you let the little beast run around at night, since fishers eat most everything they encounter. So not only will you not need to worry about porcupines chewing your canoe paddles, you’ll also no longer be troubled by the neighbor’s little yappy-dog, or by stray cats that howl all night and keep you awake.

Q: The Boston Globe reported that a large sturgeon swimming off the Massachusetts coast leaped up and slashed the face of a woman in a small boat, an injury that required stitches. We have big sturgeon right here in Maine. What’s the best way to cook them?

A: For too long this state has ignored the grave threat posed by such overlooked species as hyenas, rhinoceroses and sturgeons. While the first two are limited by their habitat (mostly the State House in Augusta and an occasional town hall), sturgeons can turn up in nearly any waterway, and are also commonly found in hospitals after surreptitiously removing the second letter in their name.

But to get to your question, there’s no good way to cook sturgeon. They’re too boney. Get some nice fish ’n’ chips instead.

Q: When snowshoeing, is it permissible to do the hokey pokey?

A: Yes, but be warned. Combining these two activities is one of the leading causes of wintertime injuries. If you recklessly put your snowshoe-clad right foot in and then take that clumsy assemblage out without great care, you may require the services of a sturgeon. And that’s what it’s all about.

Q: Chipmunks have stolen my pickup truck. Does my insurance cover this?

A: In most cases, it won’t. While no one www.MaineSportsman.com

Q: When settled into your ice-fishing shack for a long day of avoiding freezing to death on the lake, what are the proper proportions for that iconic Maine cocktail composed of Allen’s Coffee Brandy and Moxie?

A: You do realize that combination is supposed to be a joke, right? It was invented by a bar in Portland that called it the Burnt Trailer. If you ordered it with Diet Moxie, it was called the Unhoused Person’s Potation. Hardly anybody ever asked for either one, so there’s no way to know if those drinks are any good, but we can reasonably estimate their grossness.

In any case, the proportions are sort of irrelevant. Allen’s, when not being used as an insecticide, is normally mixed with Oakhurst milk in a cocktail called the A-OK, and Moxie is best (using the term loosely) when combined with equal parts of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey. That one is called Pants on Fire. is downplaying the seriousness of chipmunk-related crime, insurance companies are reluctant to pay claims related to the theft of motor vehicles by gangs of small rodents, due to statistical evidence showing the victims of such crimes are likely to recover their trucks in their own driveways once they sober up and stop hallucinating.

Q: I hear people using the expression “cool as a moose,” but are moose really cool?

A: Moose used to be cool because lots of them were beatniks, but beatniks stopped being cool around 1966, so the moose population needed to find a new schtick. But recalcitrant moose failed to up their game by losing the berets and bongos. They flopped at being hippies.

They stumbled at doing Michael Jackson-inspired moonwalks. They should have been naturals for grunge, but refused to give up their Perry Como albums. With those antlers, they were too upbeat for goth. And they’re also too happy-go-lucky for punk. Brat? Forget it.

Q: Maine used to have lots of caribou, wolves and mountain lions. Is there any way to blame their loss on Elon Musk?

A: Sorry, but poor Elon wasn’t even born when the last caribou left the state in 1948 to protest the short-lived antler tax (which also nixed plans for Antelope Inc. to move here). Even though the Legislature eventually reversed that ill-considered decision, the caribou refused to return, preferring to work for Santa Claus (free gifts) and Jäegermeister (free shots). As for wolves and cougars, they may still be around, but like free parking places in downtown Portland, they’re tougher to spot than a Cybertruck.

Q: Can you get through an entire column without at least one disparaging reference to Taylor Swift?

A: No. So, shake it off, loser.

Al Diamon writes the monthly column Politics & Other Mistakes for The Bollard magazine.

¶

������������������������������������������� The Maine Sportsman • December 2024 • 69

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SUBMIT AD AND PAYMENT BY THE 30TH OF EACH MONTH AND YOUR AD WILL APPEAR IN THE NEXT ISSUE.

CAMPS FOR RENT

Saturday. 207-399-131. www.Buckspointsportinglodge.com.

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CAMP RENTAL IN SOLON, ME Deer and Bow hunts.

Small game hunting.

Fishing. Camp sleeps 6. Full amenities, WiFi. $1000.00, plus tax, for 7 days Sunday to

DOGS DRAHTHAAR PUPS German registered and tested since 1984.

Spectacular duck

dogs, stylish upland pointers, wounded big game trackers. $1800 to $2200. www. deutschdrahthaar.us QUAIL HOLLOW KENNELS BRITTANY’S Simply the best per-

sonal shooting dogs and family pets. Puppies and started dogs.

Woodcock training November through March. Forty years of excellence. Call after sunset 856-935-3459.

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Caryn Dreyfuss, Broker • (207) 233-8275 124 Harris Lane, Farmington, ME 04938 Office: 207-779-9000 Adrian Harris: 207-778-1444 • Jeff Harris: 207-491-6001 Trudy Johnson: 207-778-1141 • Christine Libby: 207-779-6100

www.HarrisRealEstate.net

Field Trial & Hunt Test Bloodlines True Gun Dog Labs Owls Head, Maine Puppies, Started & Finished Dogs

David Eaton

(207) 542-1485

www.MillPondRetrievers.com

SCREEN PRINTING & EMBROIDERY T-Shirts $6.00 Heavyweight 100% Cotton Pre-shrunk

FREE set-up on orders of 72 pieces or more!

Prices on 36 pieces ($20 set-up) Price includes garment and 1 color 1 location screen print Rush Service Available ~ Call for free catalog

Hats $7.00

caryndreyfuss@morton-furbish.com www.realestateinrangeley.com

ALDER STREAM TWP – This like-new Maine Pine Log Cabin offers 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, sunny open kitchen/living area, added living space in partially finished walkout basement, elevated deck overlooking river/mountain views. Private rear yard with lawn to stairs down to the North Branch of the Dead River. 10X16 storage shed for your gear. Hunt, fish, swim, or paddle from your door.

MLS #1606367 – $375,000 DALLAS PLT – Ideally located 2.21 acre parcel offers elevated panoramic mountain views, glimpses of Haley Pond and Gull Pond. Shale driveway in place, building site cleared, 3 bedroom septic plan available, UG power. Enjoy snowmobile/ ATV access from your door. Plus just minutes to Rangeley amenities, Saddleback ski area, 4-season recreation. MLS #1606041 – $169,000 DALLAS PLT – Build here and be minutes to Rangeley amenities and Saddleback ski area!

Lightly wooded 1.14 acre parcel offers potential elevated mountain views, UG power, easy snowmobile/ATV trail access from your door.

Quiet spot of the beaten path and yet close to 4-season recreation. Don’t miss out on this one, inquire today! MLS #1607461 – $125,000

Ed’s Sheds & Cabins CABINS • SHEDS • GARAGES • HORSE BARNS

WHY RENT When You Can Lease-to-Own One of Ed’s Sheds?

Handcrafted in Maine

T-Shirts-Jackets-Sweatshirts-Sweatpants Hats-Aprons-Totes and more

BERG ACTIVEWEAR 852 DEXTER ROAD • CORINNA, MAINE

Bangor (207) 738-5315

WWW.BERGACTIVEWEAR.COM

www.EdsSheds-Cabins.com

1-800-242-2374 • 207-278-7740

edwardl@edssheds-cabins.com

WANTED SKI DOO, ELAN OR TUNDRA Any Condition. Have Cash. Will Travel. Call or Text 207-522-6940.

¶ The Genuine.

The Original.

Serving the Bangor Area Since 1948

Residential & Commercial Garage Doors & Openers Sales, Service & Repairs

56 Liberty Drive Hermon, ME

(207) 848-2866

www.overheaddoorofbangor.com

★★★★★

★★★★★ Discover Maine’s outdoors on-the-go with The Maine Sportsman’s

DIGITAL EDITION ONLY $14 FOR 12 ISSUES!

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MaineSportsman .com

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www.MaineSportsman.com

70 • December 2024 • The Maine Sportsman ————————————————————————————————————————————

Trophy Gallery “I recently shot my 1st bear after six years of hunting,” wrote Kelli Laflin of Readfield. “My husband is a guide and my brother is a guide, and my friends had tagged bear, but it took me a while.”

Year after year, Kelli – who had experience hunting deer, turkey and moose – persevered, despite not seeing a large bear.

After five years, at her husband’s suggestion, she tried a bear blind. It was there that she first saw this massive bear. On opening day of trapping season, she set a trap in the Rangeley region, and the next morning, she had her bear – a monster (253-lb) bruin that she registered at River’s Edge, in Oquossoc, ME. “Trust your guide,” she concluded in a note to The Sportsman. “Hunting in a blind may not have given me the shot I needed, but it gave me a chance to see the bear, and the courage to keep hunting for it.”

Matthew F. Tippin, of Tabernacle, NJ was hunting in Kingsbury, ME on September 5, 2024 when he tagged this 320-lb (dressed weight) sow black bear, using his .308. The weigh-in was witnessed

by Brandon Berry, at Berry’s General Store, 2944 Rte. 201, West Forks.

PALMYRA – 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# 1608165 MLS #1608163 – $375,000 LITCHFIELD – First time on the market is this meticulously maintained fully furnished cape on Sand Pond. This home boasts a spacious and functional layout over 3 floors, including a partially finished walkout basement with bar set-up, and expansive loft space with a half bath. Open concept living and primary suite on the first floor. A vacant 1.03-acre lot across the street conveys with the sale.

MLS #1607507 – $599,000 ACTON – Business Opportunity! 41+/- acre parcel with several manmade ponds, gorgeous rock walls, and lots of wildlife throughout the property. Remodel the post and beam gambrel home into a clubhouse or leave as is and live and operate a business. Sellers willing to purchase and negotiate additional materials and equipment for the right offer.

Verify permitted uses with the town of Acton zoning ordinance.

MLS #1592882 & #1592890 – $2,200,000

Lindsey Brann Associate Broker, REALTOR® cell 207-441-9317 | office 207-213-6650 lindsey@integrityhomesregroup.com www.integrityhomesrealestategroup.com Specializing in building lifelong relationships with buyers and sellers, representing their best interests in Maine real estate!

Lincoln – This large lakeside home has an oversized garage, lawn to the lake and a paved driveway right on Mattanawcook Lake. Many mechanical updates completed, leaving cosmetics up to you to make your own. Come take a look today. $175,000 T3 R1 NBPP – Cute camp is nearly finished with nice views of Bill Green Pond. Full septic system installed and open from the cabin to the lake. If you’re looking for a reasonably priced lakefront property - this is it. $179,000

R E A L

E S T A T E

5 Lake Street, P.O. Box 66, Lincoln, ME 207-794-2460 • 1-800-675-2460 • cwa@cwalakestreet.com — Call any of our brokers to work for you! — “Tate” Aylward 207-794-2460 Peter Phinney (207) 794-5466 • Kirk Ritchie (207) 290-1554

Visit www.cwalakestreet.com for more listings! www.MaineSportsman.com

Be Sure to Follow Shane Patrick | 907-317-0888 | www.whitetailproperties.com

The Maine Sportsman on Facebook and Instagram!

– Building Opportunities – Dennistown PLT – Nestled amidst the tranquil wilderness, this unfinished camp offers a rustic retreat with endless possibilities. Two cozy bedrooms awaiting completion, a shared full bathroom seamlessly integrated with a convenient laundry room, and an open concept kitchen/living area. Seller has left building materials to help you begin this transformation (4 brand new windows and assorted lumber). Its prime location grants direct access to ATV and snowmobile trails. Nature enthusiasts will revel in the abundance of recreational opportunities, from trapping, hunting to fishing and scenic hiking trails, all within reach. Despite its serene setting, this hidden gem remains conveniently close to town, ensuring both seclusion and accessibility.

Embrace the potential of your piece of Maine, where the allure of outdoor escapades meets the comfort of home. MLS #1591508 – $180,000 Dexter – This 84-acre wooded lot is on a town maintained road.

What a perfect area to build your camp or dream home! Explore the many miles of trails that wind around two small pond that surround you.

No matter the season, bring your ATV, snowmobile, skis, snowshoes, hiking gear and take in all this property has to offer. Gather your creativity, thoughts, ideas and create your own homestead or retreat destination!

MLS #1579300 – $199,000

Readfield – This 8.1acre lot is situated in the tranquil town of Readfield, where you’ll benefit from a close-knit community and the charm of rural life. Enjoy nearby recreational opportunities and the beauty of nature right at your doorstep. MLS #1598994 – $94,000

Julian Harwood

Your Maine Guide to Real Estate juliantharwood@gmail.com | 207-592-7223 www.LaerRealty.com

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