Sporting Journal’s Top Shelf Game & Fish Recipes

Bear (or Pork) & Pumpkin Stew This is a great and easy recipe to make with a fatty and rich meat like bear, and if you don’t have any of this- pork will do. Works great for stew cuts of venison as well. Ingredients: pretty simple and usually around 1-2 lbs. of chunked bear or … Continued

Love at First Bite

BY V. Paul Reynolds No matter how many years you visit a place like this, you do not take it for granted. Most remarkable is how this particular place has changed little in more than a half century. The fishing is almost as good as it was when I first fished it so long ago. … Continued

Muzzleloading Black Bears

BY Al Raychard Although there is little doubt that light muzzleloader bullets will kill a bear with proper shot placement, one thing I have noticed in these camp talks and discussions is the general consensus among experienced bear hunters is the heavier the bullet the better. September is just around the corner and for a … Continued

Hiring a Moose Guide

By Erin Merrill and John Floyd Hiring A Moose Guide: Some Tips Erin Merrill has hired a few guides to help her; most recently, in 2021 when she drew a moose tag. John Floyd is a Registered Maine Guide and the owner of Tucker Ridge Outdoors in Webster Plantation, Maine. Together, they discuss thoughts, questions … Continued

Last Stand at Papa’s Point

BY V. Paul Reynolds “How does a man know when he’s just too damned old to hunt elk?” I asked. “Well, sir, when he stops going.” Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Nov.-Dec. issue of Bugle Magazine, which is published by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF). It is reprinted here with permission … Continued

The Green Drake Hatch

Matt LaRoche The green drake is one of the most geographically widespread mayflies in North America and an important part of the food chain in clean unspoiled lakes and ponds. Have you ever been on a wild brook trout pond during the green drake hatch? If so, you are probably still talking about it! … Continued

Furnace Brook Knives

By V. Paul Reynolds Although Vermonter Scott Hawley made his living crafting fine furniture, making things out of iron -blacksmithing – always held a fascination. Hawley’s Dad was a machinist and his grandfather was a blacksmith by vocation. Around 2008, Hawley was asked by a friend to fashion a hunting knife for him. On the … Continued

Fooling Finicky Fish

By: V. Paul Reynolds

By V. Paul Reynolds Fish psychology- why fish behave the way they do- holds fascination for just about every serious angler, but especially fly fishermen. Just when you think that you have the fish finally figured out, presto, the fly or lure that was working like a charm gets ignored by the same fish that … Continued

Summer Fishing Spots

By Al Cowperthwaite The first of July usually is prime time for the green drake hatch and larger fish in these waters become as aggressive then more than any other time of the season. With all the rainfall in June, water levels are above normal for the month of July. Canoeing should continue into the … Continued

Conversations with Tim and Buzz Caverly

By: Tim Caverly

. “Conversations” is Tim Caverly’s latest book, the 12th of the Allagash Tails series. Brothers Buzz and Tim Caverly have spent a lifetime working in the Maine outdoors. Both are, indeed, bonafide legends in their own time and both dedicated their working lives to public service and outdoor recreation, Buzz as a ranger and director … Continued

Reader Feedback

The Northwoods Sporting Journal is the largest hunting & fishing magazine in the Northeast.

"Just want to complement all of you on an excellent magazine. I have my subscription sent to my office and have found that clients grab the Northwoods Sporting Journal first over the dozen or so other magazines in our waiting area.
I have enclosed subscriptions for myself and five friends that I think will enjoy your magazine. I especially like the Outdoor News sections for keeping up to date with statistics and changes going on in the state."

Jay Deane

"I used to subscribe to several outdoor magazines in the past until one day I picked up a copy of the NWSJ at LL Bean in Freeport, Maine. After reading the journal I have to say I never subscribed to any other outdoor magazine. The journal had it all and the thing is it only gets better every month! The articles are informative and very well written by what I consider experts in the field. I have to say if one does not subscribe to the journal or picks up a copy of the journal “they do not know what they are missing!” Unfortunately, I am not a resident of Maine but after reading the journal I feel I know more about your great state than my own regarding the opportunities of hunting and fishing, very good writers."

Tony Ostrowski

"Good morning, I have to write this…because your magazine deserves it. Every couple last winters my family has gone up to Maine after Christmas for a couple days. This always coincides with a stop at KTP, where I buy a copy of your magazine. Well, this Christmas I asked my kids for one gift, a subscription to NWSJ. I’m 57 years old, I grew up cutting and chopping cords of wood every year for my family’s two vermont castings stoves, and fishing and hunting extensively. especially loved tying my own flies and selling them in my local Connecticut hardware store when I was 12. When not doing those things I was salivating over field and stream, outdoor life, fin and feather, you understand…those were great mags, but I don’t like how they’ve changed over the years…they’re selling to the masses now, not to who I think is their core audience. You guys are different, and good different. You’re old school. You actually do not care what people think of what you’re writing, and that reeks of important values like HONESTY, COMMON SENSE, PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, AND KNOWLEDGE. Your articles are SO good that I refuse to read more than one at a time. no joke; I leave each issue open on my kitchen table, and read one article a day. Why? Because every single article is fantastic! I don’t want to ruin the digestion of the last one by reading the next one too quickly…yes, you guys are that good. So here it is, my first feedback; you have the best outdoor magazine I have ever read..and will continue to read it till I can’t read. "

Alexander Pflomm

"I enjoyed reading Ms. AuClair’s article on Mount Katahdin.  I had also enjoyed the mountain and knife-edge trail twice when I was in my late 40s - early 50s. It’s an unbelievably beautiful environment. The quiet is God-like. Thanks very much. Keep up the great reading. I look forward every month to the Sporting Journal."

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