Featured Articles
Lever Guns for Deer
By John Floyd The biggest drawback in the past when hunting with a lever gun has been ammunition. Most guns used a tubular magazine which meant having to load only round or flat nosed bullets like the .30-30 Win and .45-70 Govt. When most folks think of lever action rifles, the first thing that comes … Continued
Best Maine Deer Guns
By V. Paul Reynolds Recently on my statewide Sunday night talk radio program, Maine Outdoors (on the Blueberry Broadcasting Network), I chatted by phone with John Floyd. He is a guide-outfitter and gun writer for the Northwoods Sporting Journal. Floyd had agreed in advance to focus his comments on one of the most hotly discussed … Continued
October: The Sportsman’s Gift
By Dennis Jensen The month of October is a gift, a gift of memories and the gift of today. Sitting at the desk, staring into the vertical, empty white space on my computer, I am trying to come up with a good topic for, arguably, the most challenging month of the year, at least for … Continued
Sneakin’ a Peek
By V. Paul Reynolds The happy angler with all the hookups could simply smile back, like Betty Lou, at your nervous query and with a smile say, “I’ll never tell.” Or even worse, “It ain’t none of your business, Bub.” More than enough books have been written about fly fishing to fill the shelves … Continued
Gunning for Grouse
By John Floyd
This month bird hunters are making their way into the logging roads and field edges in pursuit of that ever elusive, fighter jet of a game bird – the ruffed grouse. Getting back to these basics will help you put more birds in your bag.
Bucky Owen: A Good Guide
By Mark McCollough One of Bucky’s outgoing graduate students took me aside and confided, “Here is the secret of surviving as Bucky’s graduate student. Bucky will have 10 ideas. Your job is to figure out which one is the best!” If you are fortunate, you will meet generous people in life who will take … Continued
Tactics for Big Moose
By Nathan Theriault You have been drawn for a once-in-a-lifetime moose tag. Or maybe, second, third or fourth. If that is the case, you are extremely lucky or blessed. There’s nothing wrong with a little of both, if it gets you a tag. However, being lucky alone does not work so well today with … Continued
Message from the Editor
The Sporting Journal’s “New Normal” Some sage once said that in life “change is the only constant.” How true that is. The Covid-19 era underscores the profound nature of change like nothing we have seen in many years. Uncertainty, confusion, and anxiety have seemingly combined to put fear as the central emotion that seems … Continued
The Cougar Sightings
By V. Paul Reynolds For almost as long as I have been writing about the Maine outdoors, this fascinating question has persisted: “Are there mountain lions (cougars) in Maine?” In a way, the elusive and mysterious cougar has become somewhat of a Maine folklore icon, the Maine equivalent of Bigfoot in the Pacific Northwest. … Continued
Cougars: Are They in Maine?
By V. Paul Reynolds The question persists. More than 25 years ago, as editor of the official magazine for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W), the same question was addressed by me in an article that sought to dig deep and find credible answers. At the time, despite a number of … Continued