SATURDAYS Free Wagon Rides 2 to 4 p.m. in Bethel During the Country Christmas in Bethel celebration, there will be free horse-drawn wagon rides in Bethel, leaving from the Bethel Common. Other festivities fill the town during the month-long celebration. For more information, go to www.bethelmaine.com. SATURDAYS Bird Walks 8 a.m. in Freeport Geared toward […]

It’s a long way from happening and certainly no guarantee, but after six years of uncertainty, lawsuits and questions, Maine may become the first state to be given an incidental take permit for trapping by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Public hearings last week were one of the final steps in the service’s review […]

All my life, Maine’s varying-hare season has run from Oct. 1 to March 31, one of the few hunting-season constants when one reaches my age. When I was 10 to 13 years old, my hare hunting kicked off during the 2½-week Christmas vacation from school and continued through March. (We call hares “rabbits” in northern […]

I was at a postseason get-together for one of my kids’ soccer teams recently when a parent approached me and asked, “When is hunting season over?” They were most concerned with when it would be safe to go outside without wearing orange. I advised them that the regular firearms season was over, which seemed to […]

Lift lines. Crowded slopes. Tracked-out powder. As important as a bustling community of skiers is to the feel of the sport, haven’t you ever wished you could have a mountain to yourself? Thanks to the California-based outfit Liftopia, now you can. Starting this winter, the company is offering Full Mountain Rental packages at five ski […]

Anyone who enjoys the outdoors loves new gear, and the holidays truly are yet another “opening” day. While some years may bring that “must-have” item, this year, outdoor shoppers are going back to the future. “The thing that jumps out this year is that there is a trend toward the traditional hardgoods, such as rods, […]