Reynolds backtracks hunting and fishing memories

Who among us doesn’t spend a lot of time backtracking on our trail of hunting and fishing memories? I certainly do, and so does V. Paul Reynolds.

It was a real pleasure recently to backtrack through Paul’s memories, in his new book Backtrack, published this year by Islandport Press. Paul’s tracks can be found all across Maine, in his jobs as general manager of the Bangor Daily News, spokesman for Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and editor and publisher of Northwoods Sporting Journal.

Despite all of that, his has been a life lived outdoors. More than 50 great memories and moments, presented in these stories of his outdoor adventures, will entertain, inform, and inspire you – perhaps to write your own book of memories, perhaps to just get outside that day to hunt or fish. Or just maybe you will head to the kitchen to make Diane’s beerburger soup. Yummy!

Approaching my 65th birthday, I paid close attention to Tree Stands for Seniors. Good advice, Paul!

So many names, places, and events flow through the book that are familiar to me, and I enjoyed every one, from stories about Bud Leavitt to fishing the Magalloway River. But Paul’s stories about his adventures outside Maine, especially his Colorado elk hunts and his fishing expeditions in Labrador, were my favorites.

Friends and family are found on many of Paul’s backtracks, especially his wife Diane. From deer camp and green drakes and tips and recipes, to outdoor calamities and astonishing success in the field, it’s all here.

I’ve read the book once already, and I plan to take it with me to read Paul’s deer hunting stories again in my deer stand in November. Perhaps some of his success will rub off!

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.