Monthly Archives: October 2013

Purely anecdotal report: Birds aplenty

Brad Allen, the biologist who serves as bird group leader for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, has given me plenty of good advice over the years. Among the nuggets of wisdom that he (and other state biologists, for that matter) have handed out is an explanation of how biologists think … and […]

Lack of permit doesn’t hinder catch-and-release moose hunt

For 33 years, Maine’s moose hunt participants have been determined at a popular lottery. After that, celebration … Or disappointment. You don’t win a permit, you don’t hunt. Or do you? My buddies and I got tired of waiting. We missed hunting camp. Wool jackets hung on nails … cutthroat games of cribbage … lonely […]

Bangor hunter bags ‘North Woods Law’ bear

Every year, hunters in Maine end up shooting several bears that are sporting official Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife jewelry: Numbered ear tags that indicate the bear has been handled by biologists in the past. Some of those bears have been captured as part of the state’s research efforts. Others are outlaws, or “nuisance […]

Catch-and-release moose trip a success

Later this week, I’ll tell you more about a trip some pals and I enjoyed late last week. Consider this a tease. And for now, let’s just say that the Third Almost Annual Catch-and-Release Moose Hunt (Birds Not Necessarily Included) was a huge success. Friend Chris Lander came up with the idea a few years […]

3 hunts, 3 hours, 3,000 pounds of moose

Thirty-three years ago — just about the same time that Francis “Frank” Roy began applying for a Maine moose permit, he gave his two sons gifts that neither have ever forgotten. “He had an Ithaca double-barreled shotgun and took it to a gunsmith in Winn,” one of his sons, Travis Roy, explained. In exchange, Frank […]