Doe-permit deadline a reminder fall hunting drawing close

With the arrival of August we know that within only a few weeks summer tans and foliage will begin fading and wilting. In fact, signs of summer waning are already showing. Last weekend, for example, my oldest offspring Jeff, Ed Homstead, and I fished for mackerel but our conversation was hooked solidly to deer rifles, shotguns, dogs, decoys, deer camps, and ordering hunting paraphernalia from fall catalogs.

The subject of deer hunting reminded me the deadline for applying for “doe permits” was just over the hill, Aug. 15 to be exact. Hence, this reminder for hunters who wish to take the track of a permit that will allow them to set their sights on a deer without antlers. The free permits will be allotted thorugh a Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife computer drawing in late September.

Doe permits are allocated among 18 deer-management districts based on local deer populations. This year, the DIFW will issue about 29,450 permits. Last year’s allocation was 33,020. For the second consecutive year, no permits will be issued in management districts 1 and 2 in northern Maine and district 17 in Washington County.

Doe permit application forms are available at town offices, license agents, and DIFW regional offices and Augusta headquarters. If you have any questions about the doe-permit system, call 1-800-262-2215.

Obviously, more and more people are becoming irritated with the increasing number of personal watercraft, commonly referred to as “jet-skis,” roaring and spewing rooster-tail wakes on Maine waters. Simply put, protests about the watercraft that is the latest trendy recreational toy to denigrate the peace and solitude of Maine’s outdoors are constant.

Because of complaints focused, for the most part, on violations of the 200-foot shoreline safety zone, game wardens recently were assigned to crack down on craft operators. The assignments, of course, take the wardens away from their primary duties of enforcing fish and game laws.

Frankly, I see these personal watercraft as a contradiction to the reason for owning a camp on a lake or pond: enjoyment of the quiet, relaxing atmosphere provided by a body of water and surrounding woodlands and wildlife.

Aside from that and the aforementioned safety zone violations, complaints regarding the craft include wakes and washes causing boats to bob and chafe on docks, erosion of shorelines, and harassment of wildlife, mainly loons and waterfowl. Little wonder that, among game wardens, camp owners, and sportsmen, the watercraft have earned a reputation as being the most controversial outdoors-recreation issue to come along in decades.

You may know that the numbers of these personal watercraft have more than doubled on many waters since last year. Not surprisingly, camp owners are circulating petitions for regulations regarding the swift, churning, sign-of-the-times watercraft whose design, speed, and aquabatic capabilities are made to order for attracting attention.

And they have succeeded in doing exactly that. Accordingly, you can expect to see bills proposed for the regulation of the watercraft in the next session of the Legislature. For my money, such regulation is overdue.

Speaking of game wardens, Dave Peppard, a 21-year veteran of the Warden Service, has been named head guide of the DIFW’s Operation Game Thief and the Landowner Relations program. Previously, Peppard’s dual responsibilities were separate assignments. Recently retired warden Charlie Marshall served as Landowner Relations coordinator, while former warden Chuck Allen directed Operation Game Thief.

A native of Eddington, Peppard is a 1974 graduate of the University of Maine where he majored in wildlife management. He has served as a district warden in the Richmond area for 20 years.

If I were going to bet on who will be named warden lieutenant in charge of Division D headquarters in Greenville, I’d put my money on Sgt. Pat Dorian. Pat has left a well-marked trail in his years of patrolling the Greenville area. Who will take the warden lieutenant position left vacant by the retirement of Langdon Chandler at Division C headquarters in Bangor? I’d say it’s a toss-up between Warden Sergeants Mike Marshall of Princeton and Tim Lipscomb of Houlton.