Backtrack

Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook By V. Paul Reynolds From Islandport Press, a seasoned Maine outdoorsman retraces his steps with precision, poignancy and pluck. “Backtrack” will deepen your connection to the outdoors, bring a smile, and may even stir your soul. From deer camps and green drakes and tips and recipes, to outdoor calamities and astonishing … Continued

Finally, Trout Season Opens

By Gary Moore We open water trout anglers get real antsy by the end of March, often casting on the lawn and dreaming of opening day.  This year that occurs on Saturday, April 13.  Like so many others I will be plying the waters of local streams hoping to entice a trout to hit. As I … Continued

Atlantics: The King Clings On

BY V. Paul Reynolds “Chase the fish, boy..yer down to the backin’..chase the fish,”shouted my guide. The Medalist reel sang as the 9 weight line wound off the spool with authority. The tip of the Sage fly rod pulsated as the 18-pound Atlantic salmon lived up to its reputation, leaping and twisting above the frothing … Continued

Never Cry Wolf

By Mark McCollough It was the wee hours of the morning at the dead-end of a rutted logging road deep in the vast Ragmuff clearcut in northern Maine. A carpet of stars blanketed the moonless night. We stepped out of the truck, set up the speakers, and played a recorded sequence of wolf calls that … Continued

New Rifles

By Tom Kelly There are a couple of new rifles available from two of the major firearms companies. It’s nice to see that major companies are still designing and producing rifles for the average person. These reasonably priced rifles also include some features normally only found on much higher priced guns. The first rifle is … Continued

Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook

  By V. Paul Reynolds For the diehard deer hunter: A 181 page authentic Maine hunting book, loaded with photos. A keepsake edition written by veteran hunter and Northwoods Sporting Journal editor V. Paul Reynolds, “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook” has been a popular book with readers of the Northwoods Sporting Journal and continues to … Continued

First Moose Hunt

By Ron Joseph In late September 1980, Maine’s annual moose hunt resumed for the first time in 54 years, but not without controversy. In 1979, the six-day hunt was preceded by several highly contentious legislative hearings in Augusta. In packed hearing rooms, the Legislature entertained passionate testimonies from anti-hunters, hunters, business owners, state senators and … Continued

Deer Season Wrap

  By Ben Wilcox   The 2023 deer season was maybe the most anticipated I can remember, and will go down as probably my toughest season yet. I say most anticipated because my 2022 season was really hampered by lack of mobility while recovering from major foot and ankle reconstruction surgery that summer. While I … Continued

Deer Season Snapshots

By V. Paul Reynolds. My deer season started this fall in late September during the expanded bow season. As amazing as it seems to me, this was nearly my 70th year in the Maine deer woods! Imagine. During this long stretch, only one season was sacrificed when I was serving in the U.S. Navy during … Continued

My Grand Slam

BY Erin Argraves This year’s grand slam started with my bear. I harvested a nice sow on a bait on September 6th. I shot it with a .300 win mag. I was sitting in a ground blind with my husband as we watched the bear come in. The bear was harvested in Mapleton and tagged at … Continued

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