Is Maine having trouble with deer numbers in the northern and eastern parts of the state? Sure is.
Are there still plenty of big bucks roaming the hills and valleys of the Pine Tree State? Absolutely!
That’s a fact you will learn by checking out the February issue of The Maine Sportsman. In this issue you will find a listing of all the bucks weighing over 200 pounds that were registered in the Biggest Bucks in Maine Club for 2011, along with photos and information about the 10 biggest bucks of the year.
If that doesn’t satisfy your hunter to see trophy bucks, the photos of deer with huge racks that are scattered throughout the issue should do the trick.
Naturally, that’s just the beginning of the offerings in the February issue. For example, we are offering up a special article on the best boats for trolling in Maine waters. And the regional columnists are giving you a boatload of expert advice about where to catch trout, salmon and togue.
All the great usual features are there too including a challenging wildlife quiz and a huge Almanac section that is crammed full of tips and information to help you enjoy the great outdoors.
Sure, it’s plenty cold outdoors in Maine during February, but that’s all the more reason for you to sit back in a nice warm spot and enjoy all the great reading this issue of The Maine Sportsman has to offer.
Posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 by Maine Sportsman Categories:General
February Offers Superb Winter Fun, But We Pine for Spring
On Dec. 22 during the winter solstice, we had less than nine hours between sunrise and sunset, but by Feb. 1, 40 short days later, that time expands to 10 hours, eight minutes.
Yeah, wow! Spring comes fast, but not fast enough for impatient folks longing for spring’s viridescent explosion.
By February 28, we have 11 hours, six minutes between sunrise and sunset. By the spring equinox, the time between daylight and sunset hits 12 hours and actual daylight hits 13 hours.
Despite playing with clock figures, the sun warms the February landscape plenty, and ice anglers and snow sledders worry about sunburn in the second month. By the third month, folks get major-league sunburns on their faces.
Ice anglers have solid ice now except around spring holes and currents, and snow sledders, rabbit hunters, snow-shoers and cross-country skiers find snow galore, particularly in the northern half of the state. Life looks fine for the outdoors crowd who love the white season.
One group of outdoor enthusiasts live for nights in an ice shack, jigging for smelts. In February, smelters do have safe, dependable ice for a favorite Maine pastime that provides a delightful meal and also huge smelts for dangling through the ice for lake trout and northern pike.
Ice-fishing for salmonids has slowed since the first two weeks of January, but in February, some blue-ribbon salmonid waters closed to ice-fishing in the year’s first month now open to the hard-water crowd.
Tunneled conifer thickets and swamps hold rabbits now, and that group lives for days when the hound’s yodel and the soft, rustling wind create a symphony.
A handful of hunters with cat hounds chase bobcats through winter woods, too. This game ends at mid-month.
Wildlife photographers target bald eagles and coastal waterfowl, and folks more interested in shooting photos in warmth stick to songbirds at the feeder. They sit indoors and get images at feeders within feet of a window. Folks do live for the images they get now, and the wise ones wire limbs above the feeders so it looks like a natural setting.
Fly tiers and rod builders work hard now in preparation for spring, and once, that’s all they could do – tie and build rods. Now, though, many waters stay open all winter. As long as ice doesn’t form along river edges, the open-water crowd is in business.
Serious anglers head south to places like the Keys, Costa Rica and Caribbean to fool with bonefish, tarpon, permit, barracuda and far more. What a glorious break for snowbirds getting away from snow and cold.
Sportsmen shows also offer a diversion now, and just about every week, folks can head to someplace in the Northeast for these fun offerings.
Despite the fun a Maine winter offers, though, even the most hardcore snow lover pines for spring when a southwest wind blows from Pennsylvania and the air smells like the new season.
________________________________________________________________________________________Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 by Maine Sportsman Categories:Almanac
As Christmas looms but a few days away in Central Maine, a scenario repeats itself most years as the ice-fishing crowd looks toward Jan. 1, when salmonids become legal to kill in many waters. Folks notice ice on big lakes has yet to form a safe mantle, so the hot-stove league complains bitterly that nature will derail opening day.
When New Year’s Day dawns, though, most years find ice pretty much everywhere in Central Maine, and if open spots of blue exist, and they always do, at least coves are frozen enough to hold ice anglers. Up north, ice is always frozen by January 1, although residents up there looking at open stretches of Moosehead and Chesuncook would debate that adverb — “always.”
Television’s public announcements warn people to drill test holes as they move out from shore. Apparently, many folks do just that because drowning in winter takes darned few outdoorsmen. When someone does die from an icy plunge, it’s rare enough to generate news coverage with talking heads wringing their hands and shaking their heads.
Ice-fishing once ranked as the top winter story in January, but these days, snowmobiling has eclipsed the hard-water crowd as huge mobs of sledders head north. In rural hamlets catering to snowmobilers, it’s imperative to have a lodging reservation for weekends or risk sleeping in a snow bank.
Snowmobiling spurs rural economies in Northern and Eastern Maine every winter, and even in the bottom third of the state, convenience stores, restaurants, coffee shops and bars do a brisk business with sledders if snow piles deeply. In this weak economy with high gas prices, snowmobilers prefer traveling less to reach trails, so that makes doing this sport close to home appealing.
Rabbit hunting once ran a close second to ice-fishing, but these days, lack of bunnies in the bottom third of the state has hurt the sport. A hound is a big expense if old Mr. Long-ears is scarce. In the North Country, rabbits thrive in clear-cuts that have grown back to the right height for food and cover.
Lots of people do not think of this topic, but birdwatching really picks up in winter. In morning, we may sip hot tea or coffee and watch the birdfeeders intensely. Some days, birders look at their feeding stations like they’re viewing a feathered version of a large, international airport.
Folks talk coyote hunting, but few stick with it and even fewer shoot just one coyote. However, if high fur prices spurred participation, coyote hunting could get so big that DIF&W would need to have bag limits.
Coyotes, foxes and bobcats draw a small following now, offering them a chance to get out. Winter in Maine can have brutal temperatures and harsh winds, but often, we just get so bored with indoors that going out is no problem. The elements feel more pleasant than a day with walls crowding in.
Fly tiers do most of their tying in winter as they replenish boxes of flies. It’s a fun hobby to tie and dream of greenery coming in a few months.
And who doesn’t like leisurely meals on long winter nights, preparing gourmet meals from the spoils of the forest, and who can forget the joys of reading when north winds sough under eaves.
And speaking of reading…. This writer lives in an area where the power goes out every time three snowflakes fall and the wind exceeds five miles per hour.
An E-book works perfectly when the power goes out because readers can easily read them in the dark. The page is bright enough with little glare, and font size can be enlarged – the perfect entertainment tool for a state that has so many power outages.
________________________________________________________________________________________Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 by Maine Sportsman Categories:Almanac
January is prime time for ice fishing derbies in Maine and when it comes to covering these exciting events, nobody does it better than The Maine Sportsman. This month’s issue brings you all the details on the seven biggest and best derbies in the state, including how you can get in on the action to win great derby prizes.
Of course, it’s not enough just to tell you about the derbies. You also need the inside scoop on where and how to catch the big ones; fish that will win the top prizes. That’s where our writers have delivered the goods, proving you with information to make you a contender.
Maybe you don’t ice fish, but would like some information to make you more production during next year’s open water season. We’ve got you covered there too. For example, our fly fishing section features article explaining how stripping really big flies super fast pays off with strikes from jumbo striped bass.
Plus, there are plenty of times in January when the weather is too cold or it’s too dark to head outdoors; a perfect time to do some reading. That’s when you’ll really enjoy the January issue because we’ve packed it full of great reading … everything from book reviews to how to tie a Bead Head Prince Nymph and my favorite of the month, Joe Salty’s Big Game column on wild game recipes!
Posted on Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 by Maine Sportsman Categories:General
As December heads toward Christmas, daylight lasts 9 hours and 47 minutes per day, counting the half hour before and after sunrise and sunset. Because the sun has sunk further and further into the southern sky, outdoors types out for a day of it notice that even at noon, shadows still stretch out long and harsh.
Believe it or not, though, the glaring, yellow blob offers warmth at mid-day, unless an icy wind comes out of the northwest, common in the dark, festive month.
For hunters and anglers, short days of less than 10 hours fly by, particularly when action picks up. When weather conditions are conducive for fast sport, ice-trap flags fly, beagles push hares around thickets, bird dogs find grouse, open-water anglers keep a bend in the rod, ducks offer blistering shooting and on and on it goes. The non-blood sports also offer fast times.
Snowmobiling starts booming in the North Country when snow falls deeply, and motels and sporting camps fill up – particularly on weekends – with crowds known for spending money. This sport has become so popular that it helps rural economies in Northern and Eastern Maine.
Hiking picks up in December because folks enjoy walking in snow, particularly shallow snow. This crowd loves deciphering critter tracks in such a perfect medium. Even the most casual observer can see the story, often made the previous night.
Cross-country skiing attracts a handful of participants, small potatoes compared to the motorized crowd, and in fact, certainly less than bicyclists in the 12th month. Bikers try to get in those last few pedals before winter slows down the sport considerably, but it’s not the cold that bothers them as much as all the sand on the road edges after snowstorms.
Wildlife photographers hit the woods hard before snow piles too deeply, and favorite targets include bald eagles, waterfowl along the coast, deer, grouse and songbirds. Any critter is fair game, though.
Certain spots earn a reputation for holding half-tame critters that prove especially cooperative to work with a camera – say whitetails around deer feeders, an especially friendly fox or owl, Harlequin ducks off Cape Elizabeth or you name the place and species. Photographers flock to camera spots where pickings – although never easy – can be easier.
Outdoors types love to read in winter, and a big part of the allure is all the books piling up through the busy fall. Many of us can’t wait to get at them after a leisurely meal by candlelight.
One endeavor starts booming along toward New Year’s – tying flies. Nothing beats an evening at the vise, constructing flies while sipping tea or coffee and dreaming for spring.
All these and more are happening in Maine right now.
Is Maine having trouble with deer numbers in the northern and eastern parts of the state? Sure is.
