OT: Anyone ever been to the Maine North Woods?

[Ranger Dan]

I'm thinking about taking a trip there this fall to hunt grouse. Is it really as isolated as it sounds, or is there pretty good infrastructure and services because of the logging or other industries? If coming from PA on 95, what is the best entry point? For those that weren't hunting, what other recreation opportunities did you take advantage of?

 

[toobadface]

I'm sure you can get more complete information from other posters here more familiar with Maine than I; however, after being into the interior of Maine on a handful of trips, it is very isolated in my opinion. It's not as isolated as some of the desert areas out west, but certainly one of the most isolated areas in the eastern half of the country. The areas east of 95 are moderately populated, but once you start getting north and west of Bangor, the population and infrastructure really begin to thin out quickly.

As far as hunting goes, you may want to keep in mind that much of the land up there is privately owned by paper companies, in other words, there is not a whole of state land like there is in say New York, or even PA. I believe that most of the land owned by the logging companies is generally open to the public for fishing, hiking and camping but I'm not sure about hunting. If you do wander up that way, be sure to have a GPS device and a current Delorme Gazeteer atlas of Maine. Exploring all that woods on those logging roads is a cool experience but the roads are always changing. Old ones are constantly growing over and new ones are constantly being cut it. Also, sometimes bridges are out without any warning prior to the bridge approach. That's why I stress the importance of a current atlas. It is very easy to get lost if you're not familiar with navigating in that type of terrain. Another thing to keep in mind if you've never been in rural Maine is that the logging truck drivers haul ass.

Good luck man!

 

[OldTiredLion]

Doesn't Stephan King go there for inspiration for half his books?

 

[fairgambit]

I'm sure you can get more complete information from other posters here more familiar with Maine than I; however, after being into the interior of Maine on a handful of trips, it is very isolated in my opinion. It's not as isolated as some of the desert areas out west, but certainly one of the most isolated areas in the eastern half of the country. The areas east of 95 are moderately populated, but once you start getting north and west of Bangor, the population and infrastructure really begin to thin out quickly.

As far as hunting goes, you may want to keep in mind that much of the land up there is privately owned by paper companies, in other words, there is not a whole of state land like there is in say New York, or even PA. I believe that most of the land owned by the logging companies is generally open to the public for fishing, hiking and camping but I'm not sure about hunting. If you do wander up that way, be sure to have a GPS device and a current Delorme Gazeteer atlas of Maine. Exploring all that woods on those logging roads is a cool experience but the roads are always changing. Old ones are constantly growing over and new ones are constantly being cut it. Also, sometimes bridges are out without any warning prior to the bridge approach. That's why I stress the importance of a current atlas. It is very easy to get lost if you're not familiar with navigating in that type of terrain. Another thing to keep in mind if you've never been in rural Maine is that the logging truck drivers haul ass.

Good luck man!

Very interesting post.

 

[Nitt1300]

Where specifically are you thinking of going? The area around Moosehead Lake is beautiful but so is the Rangely region. Both would be considered as being within the North Woods- as is half the state.

 

[Nitt1300]

95 is one way in, but if you're going to western Maine you might consider traveling north through NH and into Maine on RT 2- depends on how much time you have and how much country you want to see- the White Mountains in NH are spectacular.

 

[bwifan]

Yes used to go up near Moosehead Lake and other places. As others posters have said it gets very remote. Many places on the logging roads you had to sign in that way if you didn't show up somewhere and a week later someone notified authorities they had a starting point to look for you.... Logging roads are very tough so better have a very good 4x4 preferably truck with a lift kit/suspension. Yes the logging trucks haul ass so your head should be on a swivel. Take a good GPS and latest atlas and let people know if you can where you most likely are going to be hunting. There are all types of animals up there obviously and remember you may not be at the top of the food chain anymore which I am sure you have dealt with most likely in the past out in the woods. It is a fantastic place to hunt and fish and be in the outdoors. Just have to prepare for it and have good hunting clothes as well as your equipment to be out in nature. I can speak from experience you can easily get lost on those back roads especially on the logging roads. Have fun it's a blast up there. Very remote but lots of fun.

 

[Ranger Dan]

Thanks for all of the replies thus far. The "Maine North Woods" is actually an entity... It's privately owned, but they allow use for hunting, fishing, or whatever, but you must enter through certain checkpoints and there are fees for use. I've read that the logging trucks do have the right of way, and are not bashful about enforcing it. BTW, there is talk of it becoming a National Park, but who knows when/if that will happen.

What I don't know if there are actually towns/services within this entity, or if you would have to head out through a checkpoint to get more gas, food, ice, etc. I guess I could post this on another board better aligned with Maine or hunting, but I've never seen a topic where this board couldn't be helpful.

 

[Marshall30]

If you want to hunt grouse, try Murrysville or Smithton Pennsylvania.

 

[paulrandythomas]

I'm thinking about taking a trip there this fall to hunt grouse. Is it really as isolated as it sounds, or is there pretty good infrastructure and services because of the logging or other industries? If coming from PA on 95, what is the best entry point? For those that weren't hunting, what other recreation opportunities did you take advantage of?

I've taken a few trips to fish the Penobscot near Lincoln, about 30 miles north of Bangor. We always stayed at South Branch Lake Camps, they have a website, check it out. While there one year, there was a guy on a grouse hunting trip who we had a chance to chat with over supper each day. He said that the hunting was tough because the woods were so thick, he flushed plenty of birds but never got any good shots off. He did say though that the peacefulness and isolation were worth the trip. I'd suggest calling South Branch, they can tell you what is available in terms of land access or even guides if you're interested.

 

[bwifan]

Thanks for all of the replies thus far. The "Maine North Woods" is actually an entity... It's privately owned, but they allow use for hunting, fishing, or whatever, but you must enter through certain checkpoints and there are fees for use. I've read that the logging trucks do have the right of way, and are not bashful about enforcing it. BTW, there is talk of it becoming a National Park, but who knows when/if that will happen.

What I don't know if there are actually towns/services within this entity, or if you would have to head out through a checkpoint to get more gas, food, ice, etc. I guess I could post this on another board better aligned with Maine or hunting, but I've never seen a topic where this board couldn't be helpful.

My friends live up there and are outdoorsman (as pretty much everyone is if you live in Maine) I will run it by them and see if they have any input.

 

[Sviatoslav]

Where specifically are you thinking of going? The area around Moosehead Lake is beautiful but so is the Rangely region. Both would be considered as being within the North Woods- as is half the state.

I have vacationed in both of these areas in the last few years and we are considering another Moosehead excursion this summer. To me (and I'm not a Mainer), the northwoods begins as you hit the mountain ranges that are on a northeasterly diagonal line through the state. Maybe to coastal locals it begins in Bangor, but I doubt it. It strikes me that Maine has three distinct zones.. Coastal, northwoods and for lack of a better term "interior". Coastal is obvious, northwoods is mountain ranges, lakes, pines, etc. The "interior" looks like backwoods PA and there are seemingly endless stretches of it.

But take this with a grain of salt, I'm basing it on my own observations after driving through different regions the last few years and I am always sleep deprived after driving all night to get up there.

 

[Nitt1300]

I have vacationed in both of these areas in the last few years and we are considering another Moosehead excursion this summer. To me (and I'm not a Mainer), the northwoods begins as you hit the mountain ranges that are on a northeasterly diagonal line through the state. Maybe to coastal locals it begins in Bangor, but I doubt it. It strikes me that Maine has three distinct zones.. Coastal, northwoods and for lack of a better term "interior". Coastal is obvious, northwoods is mountain ranges, lakes, pines, etc. The "interior" looks like backwoods PA and there are seemingly endless stretches of it.

But take this with a grain of salt, I'm basing it on my own observations after driving through different regions the last few years and I am always sleep deprived after driving all night to get up there.

I grew up in Maine, and I didn't know that there is now an "official" designated area called "North Maine Woods"- but I agree that your definition is as good as any.

We used to do a lot of fishing and hunting north of Moosehead. We used a jeep with winches mounted at both ends and welded to the frame. There are places you don't want to go without a winch. Cell phones won't work, and going into the woods without a compass and a good map isn't a good idea. I suppose a GPS would be as good- until the battery dies, anyway. We always carried whistles- the big metal ones that cops used to carry- if you need to signal where you are, they are more effective than firing shots in the air, and you won't burn through all of your ammo..

 

[doublehaul]

I'm thinking about taking a trip there this fall to hunt grouse. Is it really as isolated as it sounds, or is there pretty good infrastructure and services because of the logging or other industries? If coming from PA on 95, what is the best entry point? For those that weren't hunting, what other recreation opportunities did you take advantage of?

I have been snowsledding and ATV riding in northern Maine for almost thirty years near Caribou. A lot of my friends there hunt grouse or "partridge" as they call them. Most of the hunting is done driving on the countless logging roads or trails on ATV's or pickups , looking for birds on the road eating grit. Shooting must be done outside the vehicle or off the ATV. A lot of them have their own camps, but I've heard them talk of hunting the Allagash Region and staying for several days.
Ashland, on Rt. 11 is a good entry point to that region, which you can access off I95 at Sherman. There are hunting lodges on Rt. 11 but I don't know what they specialize in for game. I'm going up in late June or July to ATV, so I'll ask my friends for some info.

 

[royboy]

Dan, I realize your question specifically relates to hunting and fishing in the north woods area.

But, one suggestion, as long as you are headed to Maine. Acadia National Park is a don't miss. Great for hiking, biking, or just plain sight seeing. IMO, the best part of the park is actually the "other" part of it, which is a separate entrance to the Schoodic Peninsula, way less crowded than the main part of the park. Accessible off Route 1, maybe an hour off I-95.

 

[Ranger Dan]

I have vacationed in both of these areas in the last few years and we are considering another Moosehead excursion this summer. To me (and I'm not a Mainer), the northwoods begins as you hit the mountain ranges that are on a northeasterly diagonal line through the state. Maybe to coastal locals it begins in Bangor, but I doubt it. It strikes me that Maine has three distinct zones.. Coastal, northwoods and for lack of a better term "interior". Coastal is obvious, northwoods is mountain ranges, lakes, pines, etc. The "interior" looks like backwoods PA and there are seemingly endless stretches of it.

But take this with a grain of salt, I'm basing it on my own observations after driving through different regions the last few years and I am always sleep deprived after driving all night to get up there.

Like I said, there is a specific area that is defined as the Maine North Woods. Obviously these words could also be understood as a wooded area in the north of Maine.

 

[Ranger Dan]

Dan, I realize your question specifically relates to hunting and fishing in the north woods area.

But, one suggestion, as long as you are headed to Maine. Acadia National Park is a don't miss. Great for hiking, biking, or just plain sight seeing. IMO, the best part of the park is actually the "other" part of it, which is a separate entrance to the Schoodic Peninsula, way less crowded than the main part of the park. Accessible off Route 1, maybe an hour off I-95.

Thanks, but I've been to Acadia, it's nowhere close, and it's not a "vacation", as opposed to a hunting trip (singular purpose).

 

[Sviatoslav]

Like I said, there is a specific area that is defined as the Maine North Woods. Obviously these words could also be understood as a wooded area in the north of Maine.

Yeah I see what they did there, calling it the "North Maine Woods" recreational area. I'm sure its located within the much larger area also referred to as the north woods. Everything up there is called north woods something-or-other. It's like prefacing everything in Centre county with "Nittany".

 

[Steve G]

I'm thinking about taking a trip there this fall to hunt grouse. Is it really as isolated as it sounds, or is there pretty good infrastructure and services because of the logging or other industries? If coming from PA on 95, what is the best entry point? For those that weren't hunting, what other recreation opportunities did you take advantage of?

black flies!!! Bring lots of high;y toxic insect repellent

 

[ILLINOISLION]

Well, Hillary Clinton went to Maine South (Park Ridge, IL).....I suspect she spent some time in the woods where Maine North was built many years later!

 

[doublehaul]

black flies!!! Bring lots of high;y toxic insect repellent

I believe they are pretty much over by the middle of June.

 

[throw2oj]

I went hiking in Baxter last summer, loved it up there. Millinocket has stores and restaurants and all that, but didn't get to go any further up. Went straight up 95 and it was a comfortable day trip from the mid-atlantic to that point.

 

[Mary QBA]

Without a doubt contact The Maine Professional Guides Association at http://www.maineguides.org/
South Branch Camps are wonderful, and the area around Moosehead Lake is relatively populated. Everyone is correct that most of the land in northern Maine is paper company owned and like a maze. The comment about partridge ('paaaat-ridge') hunting being challenging is correct, you need a bit more scrub than tall trees for that.
If you're up for something great, though, check out the duck hunting on the Androscoggin River in central Maine. You take I-95 up from the south. You can stay around Bath, Brunswick, Freeport or Falmouth even and have a bit of nightlife and some excellent restaurants.
Here's a link to the Maine migratory bird season: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/hunting_trapping/laws/mig_birdlaws.htm

 

[manatree]

If you are a literary type, read Thoreau's Maine Woods.

 

[Ranger Dan]

Without a doubt contact The Maine Professional Guides Association at http://www.maineguides.org/
South Branch Camps are wonderful, and the area around Moosehead Lake is relatively populated. Everyone is correct that most of the land in northern Maine is paper company owned and like a maze. The comment about partridge ('paaaat-ridge') hunting being challenging is correct, you need a bit more scrub than tall trees for that.
If you're up for something great, though, check out the duck hunting on the Androscoggin River in central Maine. You take I-95 up from the south. You can stay around Bath, Brunswick, Freeport or Falmouth even and have a bit of nightlife and some excellent restaurants.
Here's a link to the Maine migratory bird season: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/hunting_trapping/laws/mig_birdlaws.htm

Thanks for the reply, but I was asking specifically for info about the entity that refers to itself as the "Maine North Woods". This is the vast acreage with a maze of roads that is owned by the paper company. Also, I am specifically interested in Grouse hunting...

 

[bwifan]

Thanks for the reply, but I was asking specifically for info about the entity that refers to itself as the "Maine North Woods". This is the vast acreage with a maze of roads that is owned by the paper company. Also, I am specifically interested in Grouse hunting...

I miss grouse hunting in PA... haven't been in a few years... Grew up going in north central PA and miss the area dearly up there.

 

[Ranger Dan]

I miss grouse hunting in PA... haven't been in a few years... Grew up going in north central PA and miss the area dearly up there.

PA grouse hunting has really gone down hill. I don't even take my dogs now... I've not given up hope, though, as I follow up every report of multiple grouse flushes with a request to be shown around that area.

 

[bwifan]

PA grouse hunting has really gone down hill. I don't even take my dogs now... I've not given up hope, though, as I follow up every report of multiple grouse flushes with a request to be shown around that area.

What is the reason it has been struggling in PA? Haven't seen any research articles on why the decline.

 

[Nitt1300]

Thanks for the reply, but I was asking specifically for info about the entity that refers to itself as the "Maine North Woods". This is the vast acreage with a maze of roads that is owned by the paper company. Also, I am specifically interested in Grouse hunting...

I was confused, there is now an area that is being referred to as "North Maine Woods"- and I think that is what you're looking for info on. I never heard of this growing up in Maine, but I've been gone for a long time now, and this is a more recent creation. It appears to be the area centered around Moosehead Lake much of which has been proposed to become a new National Park. I'm not sure how good the bird hunting is there these days, but I'd think it would be better in areas where there are at least some active farms. You won't find farms up there.

The "North Woods" is pretty much the entire northern half of the state, less the coast- and it's the same in New Hampshire.