Christi’s Loaded for Ruffed Grouse, and She’s Also Loaded for Bear!
Ruffed grouse season begins September 26, 2020 and extends through the end of December, with a daily limit of 4 and a possession limit of 8.
And if you are an experienced hunter (and registered Maine guide) like Christi Holmes, who appears on the cover of The Maine Sportsman’s September issue – and especially if you have a well-trained Brittany like Christi’s gun dog Argos to signal the birds’ locations – you may have to remain mindful of those bag limits.
Christi is our publication’s “Maine Sportswoman” columnist, and in her regular column this month she follows up her cover photo by describing a completely different type of hunt – for bear – using a different type of hunting dog – brindle Plott hounds.
Bear season begins August 31, so we continue the bruin theme with Steve Carpenteri’s special section, “Guns and Loads for Bear,” starting on page 23. Steve has a great deal of respect for modern high-powered ammunition, but he also respects a hunter who waits patiently for a broadside opportunity and who knows exactly where to place the shot to end the hunt quickly.
Our “Big Game” columnist, Joe Saltalamachia, echoes the message about the value of careful shot placement in this month’s offering, titled “Sight In Now and Recognize the Importance of High Percentage Shots” (page 30). Joe casts doubt on the ethics of most “neck shots” for whitetail deer, based on the extremely narrow margin for error presented by such shots.
Cooler water temperatures get salmon and trout moving again, and Tom Seymour, Bill Graves, Lou Zambello and William Clunie describe the gear and tactics needed to land an autumnal trophy.
All this, plus twelve letters to the editor (thank you to those who make reading the Sportsman a participatory sport!); humor (Al Diamon, Ed Pineau and our stable of cartoonists and joke-writers); a game warden’s true tales of catching poachers; and much, much more (84 pages – count ’em) to inspire, educate, inform and entertain you all month.
So please enjoy and share this issue. And get out there and (safely) give your business to guides, sporting camps and outdoor supply stores as they work to offer curbside service and/or safe-distance shopping, expertise and accommodations.
We are still delivering or mailing our magazines each month to stores, so look for us at your nearest newsstand. And it’s also a great time to ensure your own copy (or a gift for your favorite outdoors-person) each month by ordering a subscription on our website, or by calling 207 622-4242.
Thank you for your continued readership support, and please take care of yourselves while enjoying all that Maine – and The Maine Sportsman – have to offer.
– Will Lund, editor
The Maine Sportsman magazine
