September 2006 Almanac
This Month: Check Out All These Hunting and Fishing Dates
“Try to remember the kind of September/When life was slow and oh/ so mellow,” Harry Belafonte crooned in the 1950s, and most people living in Maine thought for sure he was thinking of this state when he sang it. These days, though, life is anything but slow paced in pine-tree land.
The last day of the general fishing season ends Sept. 30, and all month long, folks who think fall fishing produces solitude haven’t fished the Roach, Kennebago or East Outlet of the Kennebec in recent years.
We still have hundreds of waters open in October and November, but many options close on Sept. 30.
Northern brookie ponds cool in the ninth month, and action picks up for startlingly colorful trout.
Northern rivers pick up as line storms bring rain that raises water levels. This initiates brookie and landlock runs.
Brooks rise as September rain falls and anglers can find solitude aplenty in these small, backwoods waters.
Trolling for salmon, lakers, browns and pike attract a handful of devotees now, and they do well, tangling with fish you describe in pounds, not inches, a cliché, but a cliché that evolved because it is ever so true.
Black-bass fishing picks up in more shallow water as temperatures cool.
Pickerel, perch, crappie and sunfish action picks up considerably.
Saltwater action for stripers, mackerel and maybe bluefish continue this month, and solitude reigns up and down beaches now because summer crowds have more or less left.
Partyboats still go out now, looking for cod and haddock.
Bear season rocks big in Northern and Eastern Maine. The baiting season began Aug. 28 and runs through Sept. 23. Hunters using hounds start Sept. 11 and continue until a half-hour after dark on Oct. 27. The fair-chase crowd who still-hunt and sit over natural bait and trails has from Aug. 28 to Nov. 25.
The second half of the split crow season kicked off last month and ends Sept. 30.
Migratory shorebirds and waterfowl seasons won’t be set until mid-September, but allegedly, folks can hunt rail and snipe, beginning Sept. 1. Check with a game warden first, though.
The expanded archery season starts Sept. 9 and ends Dec. 9. Opening day can be warm and summer-like to the core, but by Dec. 9, winter snaps at the heels of a dawn wind.
The first half of the split moose hunting season goes from Sept. 25 to 30 by permit only in WMDs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11 and 19. The second half runs next month from Oct. 9 to 14 in WMDs 1-14, 17-19, 27 and 28.
September is not a bad month to call coyotes, particularly in early morning and late evening when the air cools and feels so pure and sweet.
Backpacking, canoe tripping and car camping shine this month with cooler days and few bugs.
Bicyclists hit the roads this month, the last really good month for consistent warmth, although some days can chill a cyclist.
Gardens produce big time now — the staples such as potatoes, carrots, winter squash, parsnips, Brassica fruits and more.
Wild-food gatherers have raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, apples, hazelnuts, potherbs, tender roots, mushrooms and more. An outdoors type could quit fishing and hunting in the ninth month and stay busy collecting veggies and fruits.
Next Month: Tenth Month: Time to Get Serious About Hunting
Tom Shoener, who anchored down the Information and Education Division at the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife so well for years, once said, “It all happens in October.” That’s an understatement in this state.
Grouse hunting begins Oct. 1 and runs through Dec. 31, the second most popular critter hunted in Maine.
Hare hunting starts Oct. 1, too, and the season goes clear through to Mar. 31.
The statewide deer season for archers kicks off Sept. 28 and ends Oct. 27.
The youth deer day is Oct. 21.
The Maine resident only day is a week later — Oct. 28 — for the regular firearms hunters. The four-week season for resident and non-resident deer hunters begins Oct. 30 and closes Nov. 25, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
The expanded archery season started way back on Sept. 9 and continues until Dec. 9. Check the law booklet for details.
Bear hunters with dogs have until Oct. 27 to chase bears. Those who choose still-hunting or sitting over natural bait or trails have October and most of November to hunt bears. Their season closes Nov. 25.
The second half of the moose season is scheduled for Oct. 9 to 14.
As of this writing, the woodcock season nor duck and geese seasons have been set. Pity the poor waterfowl hunter trying to schedule vacation around hunting dates. Heck, the snipe and rail seasons begin before the season dates are scheduled!
Gray squirrel hunters have Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 to get the fixings for a squirrel stew or pie.
Fox season goes from Oct. 16 to Feb. 28.
Raccoon season starts Oct. 1 and ends Dec. 31.
Skunk and opossum hunters, all three of them, can hunt from Oct. 16 to Dec. 31.
As of this writing, DIF&W has not set the fall turkey season, a sham anyway. Unless black-powder hunters are allowed in this special season, this hunt will not achieve its goal of reducing the turkey population around farms, where turkeys bother farmers.
