Three dozen outdoor leaders spent December 13, 2010 at the Augusta conference center of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to help create recommendations to rebuild and sustain a large deer herd throughout the state. The group gathered at the invitation of Senator David Trahan. I organized and facilitated the meeting. Dave and I continued to […]

It’s called the citizen’s initiative because it is supposed to come from the citizens, not national well-funded or even state well-funded groups who buy their way onto our ballot. Over the years we’ve tried to take the money out of the process, including making it illegal to pay people to gather signatures. The Maine Supreme […]

I got my exercise today. A hearing by the Environment and Natural Resources Committee on the DEP’s proposed mining rules kicked off on the second floor of the State Office Building at 9 am and lasted all day. At the same time, the Appropriations Committee, in the Capitol building, opened a hearing on the budget […]

It was an interesting afternoon with the legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee, hosting hearings on four issues highlighted by Representative Danny Martin’s bill, LD 134, calling for more research on moose mortality from ticks. That was the only bill I testified on, and I will provide my testimony at the end of this column. […]

Coming up in George’s Outdoor News this week: Today, a look back at many of the deer plans and recommendations from task forces and working groups. Tomorrow (February 24), a report from the legislature where the IFW Committee hosts public hearings on four interesting bills: one on the impact of winter ticks on moose, another […]

The newsletter from Bradford Camps arrived just before another snow storm and was just the ticket to while away another snowy day in Mount Vernon. This is probably the best sporting camp newsletter I’ve ever read. From a tame fox to the annual ice cutting event, the newsletter is both entertaining and informative. And when […]

Dahlov Ipcar’s book, Animal Hide & Seek, was a perfect choice for the 25 very active 4th graders at Mount Vernon Elementary School. I’ve been spending an afternoon each month teaching writing to these students and it’s been a lot of fun. The kids are enthusiastic and really enjoying our afternoons together. So far they’ve […]

Maine harvests about the same amount of deer as New Hampshire and Vermont combined. But those states do a better job of compiling and publishing their harvest information on a timely basis. As we near the end of February, we still don’t know what the deer harvest was last fall. The delay is blamed on […]

As New Hampshire debates the use of drones and live-action game cameras for hunting, Maine acted years ago to prohibit them. But there is one use of drones that may be legal here. I remember clearly the time I saw a news report on the use of live-action game cameras to locate wildlife and kill […]

You’ll be very proud of the Maine Warden Service when you read Kate Flora’s true crime book, Death Dealer, published last year by New Horizon Press. You’ll also be proud of their dogs. Lieutenant Pat Dorian led the group of wardens, along with volunteers from the Maine Search and Rescue Dogs group that traveled to […]