Category Archives: Opinion

Is it time to change the way we talk about hunting?

There seems to be an ever widening chasm between hunters, trappers and fishermen to some degree, and the non-sportsman populace of the American public. Is this deepening rift caused by simple ignorance of wildlife management, hyper sensitivity or is it something more sinister?

Committee to hunters: You don’t have the right to feed your family

I have three words for the Maine Legislature’s Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife – shame on you. By bowing to anti-hunting activists and out of state interests, you have sold your own constituents down the river. And for what good cause?

Maine bear hunters might get a second shot

This question on the survey really got my attention – “Currently you can harvest 2 bears, one while hunting and one while trapping. If the law allowed you to harvest two bears while hunting, would you attempt to harvest two bears?” I had no choice but to answer ‘yes’. There simply wasn’t an option for […]

Beware of the Canada Mountain Bob-Lynx Lion

“I looked right out of this window…he was right down there at the bottom of that field. It wasn’t no coyote and it was for darn sure no house cat. It was way too big!” My neighbor down the ridge swore she saw one of Maine’s elusive mountain lions on the edge of her property […]

How sportsmen pay the way for wildlife management

When Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Regional Biologist Mark Caron pulled into my dooryard, I was processing the front quarters of the buck I had taken a few days earlier. As he got out of his truck and grabbed his gear, I jokingly remarked that it sure took him long enough. I ribbed him because […]

Trump tweet is much ado about nothing

Trump really crossed the line this time. His detractors, the Never Trump movement and liberals across America are up in arms over his latest statement. It’s hard to say if he can even rebound from such depravity. What did he do? He encouraged people to buy American. President-elect Donald Trump set the Twitter-verse afire when […]

3 easy ways you could break the law fishing in Maine

Ever since the introduction of laws regulating the taking of game and fish, people who rely on wild game for subsistence along with those who fish for sport have unwittingly broken those laws. What started out to be a reasonable and noble attempt at conserving wildlife has morphed into a complex bureaucracy replete with complicated […]

Peaks and valleys: A year in the life on Tucker Ridge

We all seem to reflect this time of year on things past while looking forward to a fresh start. Triumphs and achievements are warmly regarded, while our defeats and setbacks continue to needle us. From Tucker Ridge, I’ve observed and in some instances been involved in some of the major issues Mainers have battled for […]

How Trump’s visit to Bangor could turn a blue state red.

How Trump's visit to Bangor could turn a blue state red

When Donald Trump hits the stage at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Wednesday afternoon, he will be attempting to do what no other presidential candidate has done in Maine since Richard Nixon in 1972, turning the Pine Tree state from blue to red.

5 reasons why the proposed Katahdin region national monument is a bad idea

The proposed national monument in the Katahdin region east of Baxter State Park is a bad idea. It’s bad for sportsmen, bad for recreation, bad for timber and bad for Maine. Here are my top 5 reasons to back it up. 1. Federal land use restrictions There are many differences when hunting on federal land […]