An Unusual White-Tailed Deer From Maine's 2018 Hunting Season
By Scott McLellan, Regional Wildlife Biologist Wildlife biologists with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) spend countless hours each deer hunting season interviewing hunters and collecting a multitude of information from white-tailed deer. This information includes, but is not limited to, collecting a tooth for aging, sex, harvest date and township, antler measurements and number of points, and retropharyngeal lymph nodes for testing of Chronic Wasting Disease. Our goal is to evaluate 15% of the harvested deer from each wildlife management distr
Efforts to Determine Maine’s Wild Turkey Population
By Allen Starr, Assistant Regional Wildlife Biologist Establishing a wild turkey population in Maine has been a biological success story. A few captures and relocations from other states followed-up by in state captures and relocations has resulted in a thriving turkey population in many parts of Maine, but, depending on whom you’re talking to, Maine has either too many turkeys, too few turkeys or about the right amount. To properly manage turkeys in Maine requires solid information on numbers of birds in various parts of the state.
Katahdin Forest Management Helps Out Wintering Deer in Rockabema Deer Winter Area
By Allen Starr, IFW Wildlife Biologist Maine winters can be critical period for wildlife survival. Fortunately, Maine’s wildlife has developed adaptations and strategies to get them through long periods of cold temperatures and deep snow. White-tailed deer have developed a strategy of seeking out mature, coniferous forests that contain trees at least 35 feet in height and provide dense cano
For A New Generation, Are These The Good Old Days Of Deer Hunting?
By Chuck Hulsey, IFW Wildlife Biologist I grew up in southern Maine in the 1960s. Nobody in my immediate family hunted. That said, my father grew up in Depression-era Arkansas and Oklahoma and hunted small game to help put food on the table. Later, with the exception of ports of call in foreign countries during WWll, he never again picked up a gun until I was 11 years old.
Looking For Areas To Hunt? Check Out The Sebasticook Woodlands WMA and the Carlton Stream WMA
By Keel Kemper, IFW Wildlife Biologist As a regional wildlife biologist one of the most common questions that we address this time of year is “I am not a landowner so where is there a place for me to hunt”? As posting of land has become more prevalent the sense that some sportsmen get is that there is no longer any good place left to hunt. Oh contraire!
Black Bear Hunting Opportunities in Southern Maine
[caption id="attachment_1126" align="alignleft" width="300"] Rob Hussey provided this photo of a bear in his backyard in Wells this summer.[/caption] By Regional Wildlife Biologist Scott Lindsay Though it is no secret that southern Maine has a healthy and productive deer population, it may come as a surprise to some that black bear are regulars as well.
Win IFW logo gear in our #HuntME Instagram contest!
It's hunting season and we want to know how you make memories in the Maine outdoors! Share your favorite photos from the field or from the stand on Instagram and use the hashtag #HuntME for a chance to win an IFW logo camo hunting tote full of IFW logo apparel and goodies!
Boiler Up! For Wildlife – Podcast series
If you have read any of my previous blog posts, you know that I am Purdue University Alumnus, and as such, I have participated in several projects with the University in the past, including a podcast about trail cameras on the Got Nature? Podcast series.
Changes to the Maine Moose Hunting Hours?
By now, you might have heard a bit about some "changes" to the legal hunting hours for Moose in Maine. Recently, the Department discovered a long-standing error in the Maine Moose Hunter's Guide.
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