The start of the Maine ruffed grouse season is rapidly approaching and, as is typical of most years, I find myself in possession of largely aging gear and barely a fistful of loose change to spend on guns, ammo, and…
Among the many minor hazards the outdoor enthusiasts is bound to encounter in his or her travels, the various burrs that exist concealed in forest underbrush are one of the most irritating. They become embedded in clothing, often poking through…
During a bird hunt last October, I found that a short-barreled shotgun of the type usually relegated to home defense offered a number of advantages when pursuing ruffed grouse in the thick woods of eastern Maine. The short, 18.5-inch barrel…
For the sake of accuracy, I may need to rename my DIY mackerel rig in light of the fact that I’m mostly catching pollock on it. A lot of pollock. In spite of persistent rain showers yesterday, my wife (who…
One of the most tedious and least glamorous parts of the whole hunting, fishing, and shooting game is gear maintenance. Though it can be a lot of work and will typically be the last thing a hunter or angler will…
The acquisition of a new firearm is not regular occurrence for me and such an event typically only takes place after a rare windfall or the liquidation of unneeded and unused personal property. It follows that on those exceedingly rare…
My wife and I made another trip down to the Schoodic Peninsula yesterday for the dual purpose of fishing and escaping the heat. We’ve been enduring a rare period of hot, sunny, and humid weather recently and the temperature is…
After moving from landlocked Vermont to the coast of Maine a few years ago, I became enamored with fishing for Atlantic mackerel during the summer months. In late June or early July every year, large schools of these sleek,…
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, in recent years my weapon of choice for all game large and small has been a smooth bore shotgun of one type or another. Admittedly, one of the reasons for this is financial in…
Rainbow trout rival landlocked salmon in terms of how difficult they are to catch through the ice. This is not a result of rainbow trout being inactive during the winter or difficult to locate (they’re not) but rather due to…