MDIFW Blog

Next-Step Hunting Workshops on Swan Island Led to First-Time Deer Harvest

By Public Relations Specialist Katie Yates and participant, Jennifer Padera

Throughout summer 2020, the Department hosted several next step hunting programs on Swan Island in Richmond, Maine. The goal of these programs was to educate new adult hunters on how to blood track, field dress, and butcher deer. For many, getting into hunting for the first time can be challenging.

Maine’s Hunters and Trappers are Conservationists

By Wildlife Promotional Coordinator Lauren McPherson

Maine Warden Service & Friend and Friend Inc. ATV Partnership

By Maine Warden Service Corporal John MacDonald

Thanks to a continued partnership with Friend & Friend Inc. in Ellsworth, the dealership is lending the Maine Warden Service a new recreational vehicle to assist game wardens in the course of their work. As part of the Kawasaki User Relations Loaner Program, a new recreational vehicle has been made available at no charge to Maine Game Wardens.

Is Your Catch Stocked or Wild?

The crisp morning air fills your lungs with oxygen and your soul with serenity and anticipation all at once. The water is flat and calm, depicting a perfect mirror image of the brilliantly colored foliage intermixed with deep evergreen that skirts the lake and makes you feel like you just fell into a watercolor painting. Each time you cast the line your heart jumps a little with anticipation of a bite and a sense of wonder surrounding what you might pull in from the depths.

Join Judy Outside: Fall Migration

Sunday morning, I was vacuuming the living room, and over the drone of the vacuum I heard the telltale song of a black-billed cuckoo… “cu cu cu cu”…“cu cu cu cu.” I paused for a second, and thought “did I just hear that?”

Three Black Bear Recipes to Try

You may have heard a myth that black bear meat isn't as palatable as other game meat... But with proper care and the right recipe, it may just become your favorite game to eat with friends and family!

K9 Luna and K9 Gordon are Certified!

We have concluded our 10-week basic search and rescue K9 detection school with our two new K9 teams, Warden Michael Latti and K9 Luna along with Warden Preston Pomerleau and K9 Gordon. Both teams recently passed their field certification tests in obedience, article search, tracking, and air scent searches. Along with the field proficiency standards, each handler must successfully pass a written test outlining the fundamentals of their training, K9 health, and deployment strategies.

Try turkey hunting this fall!

The fall wild turkey hunting season begins on September 14! With a bag limit of up to five turkeys in some Wildlife Management Districts, there is plenty of opportunity for wild turkey this fall! We've got some tips to get you started.

K9 School: Evidence Search

The last discipline we introduced to K9 Luna and K9 Gordon were evidence searches or “article searches.” Evidence searches are used to locate anything from a hat to a firearm and everything in between. The K9s have been trained to indicate on anything with human scent. This is an extremely useful tool for fish and wildlife enforcement. The more common articles that we search for are shell casings, shotgun shells and wads, knives, and other outdoor equipment.

A New Fishing Tool: FLOAT

I’m sure many of you have hit the road at the crack of dawn to start a fishing trip and realized you didn’t have your fishing lawbook. Did you go out of your way to stop by a gas station or town office hoping they’d be open and have a copy? Or turn around to head home and waste even more of your precious fishing time? To me, neither of those options are ideal, and I’d rather not worry about remembering the lawbook along with my fishing gear, life jackets, snacks, sunscreen, bug spray…the list seems endless. I guess I could put a copy in my boat that never leaves the boat and remains in pristine condition? Yeah right!