If you’re planning to fish with me and guide Dan Legere as the winner of this year’s “Win a Drift Boat Trip” contest, your deadline is approaching: We’ll draw the name of this year’s lucky angler on Tuesday, March 24. All you have to do to enter is follow the link and fill out the form. You can also find the link on our Bangor Daily News Facebook page, find a mail-in coupon in print editions of the BDN, or sign up in person at the BDN booth at this weekend’s Presque Isle Fish and Game Club Sportsman’s Show.
We’ll announce the winner of this year’s contest in “Word from the Woods” next week. That way, our loyal newsletter readers will get the news first. Good luck!
— John Holyoke
A tradition worth savoring: Trapping helps bring Carmel family closer
In some ways, the semi-frozen swamp is a classroom for 11-year-old Micah Shamlian: He is homeschooled by his mother in neighboring Carmel, and completed a study unit on muskrats before he ever stepped foot on the ice with his stepdad, Kevin Smith.
Not that Micah thinks of it that way. To him, heading outside to check and set traps is more like recess.
“[I] get to get out and just have time with [Kevin], and get out in the woods,” Micah says, nodding toward his stepfather. “It’s really nice.”
Still, there are lessons to be learned. Gently, unobtrusively and constantly, Smith slips into the role of teacher.
Bangor’s Jim Fahey named game warden of the year
Fahey, who has been a game warden for nearly 22 years and now patrols the Bangor district, explained that though he walked away with the day’s top award, the accolades could have been directed to any of his colleagues who do the same job he does.
“There’s only one [of these awards given out] per year, but as I said, everyone who works [as] and who has been a warden has to somebody, somewhere, in some situation, been a warden of the year in their eyes,” Fahey said. “And not just one time.”
Expert canoeist offers tips, tricks for Maine’s upcoming whitewater races
Maine’s whitewater racing season is fast approaching, with the first event of the series scheduled for March 28 on the St. George River. Experienced paddler and racer Jeff Owen of Orono offers a few tips to be successful in the upcoming season.
Blog log
Act Out with Aislinn: 1-minute hike: Moxie Falls near The Forks
Aislinn tags along with The JD Foundation’s Connecting with Nature program on their trip to Moxie Falls, which at 90 vertical feet is one of the tallest waterfalls in New England.
George’s Outdoor News: Governor puts the brakes on two dozen conservation projects
The room was packed, most unusual for a meeting of the Land for Maine’s Future Board. Extra chairs were squeezed into the small room, but some folks still had to stand. The news that Gov. Paul LePage was refusing to permit the LMF Board to use bond money to complete its projects drew attention from the media, environmental and sportsmen’s groups, landowners and legislators.
On the horizon
The first-ever Sugarloaf Fat Tire Festival is scheduled for April 3-5, and in anticipation of the big event, BDN reporter Aislinn Sarnacki tracked down a couple Bangor-area cyclists to learn more about the sport. Stay tuned for her report. Also, John joined forces with off-duty game warden Jim Fahey, BDN visuals editor Brian Feulner (and two eager beagles) to try to track down some snowshoe hares. The hunt was an eye-opening experience, and the beagles were the stars of the show. John will share that tale later this week.
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