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Northwoods Sporting Journal > Articles > Featured Articles

Featured Articles

Lost Hunter: The Untold Story

By V. Paul Reynolds In mid November of 1982 in Maine’s Grant West Township, a few miles East of the Greenville Airport, an experienced Massachusetts deer hunter got turned around later in the afternoon, and it began to snow. An extensive search party that included his own hunt companions, trained ground personal and search aircraft … Continued

Big Bad Bogs

By Homer Spit For me, Maine bogs have always held an allure. It may be the deer hunter in me. The buck of my dreams is always seen in a bog, ghosting its way silently on the mossy ground, weaving slowly between gnarled old cedar trees and grey, weathered deadfall. There is a dusting of … Continued

The Cross Bull

By Nathan Theriault Blessed is the best way to describe what we do. The reason we can afford to guide, and hunt is because of the sacrifices that so many have made. This realization has always kept me wanting to give back to the people who gave so much for the love of this country … Continued

Crossbows: The Purchase Decision

By V. Paul Reynolds Recently passed, Maine has a new crossbow hunting law that, is not only sweeping in scope, but makes sense. Crossbows, the use of which has been very restrictive, are now included in the legal definition of archery equipment. This is a big deal! For it means that, in Maine, all hunters … Continued

Spectacular Spring Bears

BY Erin Merrill In October, I met Jim Shockey during his stop at Cabela’s on his book tour. We talked writing, the outdoors and hunting. He invited me to come up to his Pacific Rim Outfitters on Vancouver Island and hunt spring black bears. I couldn’t say no. The gray, rainy weather reminded me of … Continued

Fly Fishing the Hex Hatch

By V. Paul Reynolds This is the time! Not next week or the week after, this week! It will be tonight at about the time the late afternoon sun slips beneath the spires of spruce on the mountain, or maybe tomorrow night, or the night after – if it’s going to happen at all. The … Continued

The Mystery of the Lost Hunter

BY Warden Kevin O’Leary Garfield Plantation, a small Aroostook County town that neighbors Ashland is the scene for one of the most puzzling and baffling unsolved lost persons case in Maine Warden Service history. Since I first heard the bizarre story behind a man who simply vanished after an extensive and exhaustive search, I have … Continued

Best Trout Lures

By Peter St. James Well, with the spring gobbler season set to end on May 31st and the Moose Lottery applications due by midnight on May 31st, we can now turn our attention to fishing. New Hampshire offers two free fishing days each year, (The first Saturday in June and The third Saturday in January) … Continued

June Fly Fishing

BY Matt LaRoche Oh! How I look forward to the month of June- it is the best month for fly fishing of the year. The water has warmed up a bit, the fish are active and the insect activity is at its peak. Landlocked salmon and brook trout will “zero in” on whatever insects are … Continued

Spring Fishing Report

Sebago Lake Region From Fisheries Resource Supervisor James Pellerin, 3/18/24 Where to fish: Most of the lakes and ponds in southern Maine experienced ice-out by mid-March, so many anglers will have already been fishing by the time this report hits the press.  For early season lakes and ponds, I would suggest focusing your efforts on lake … 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."

Warren Seddon