Hunting in Maine
 

Has anybody hunted for Grouse and woodcock around the town of Calais? For a change of pace my brother and a couple of his buddies thought they would like to try a Maine hunt after getting back from the UP a couple of weeks ago. Also: Is there better hunting spots to go in Maine than Calais? Thanks!

Do they want to hunt out of a settled town for the convenience of access for travelers?

And, do they want cabins or an "American Plan" sporting camp?

For Calais, Maine area, there is Leen's Lodge, if considering a sporting camp, in Grand Lake Stream, Maine. But their season is over on the last Thursday of October, every year. Next year they will begin what will be a 5-week Grouse and Woodcock season.

Grouse was down there in 2023, but Woodcock was reportedly very good. The heavy rains during the Spring and Summer 2023 hurt the Grouse numbers apparently more than the Woodcock.

Hunting Eastern Maine has you closer to civilization than when hunting Northern Maine.

For Northern Maine sporting camps you should consider The Bradford Camps, and for Western Maine Grant's Kennebago Camps.

For cabins-only lodging, that is, not "American Plan", where you cook your own meals, I have no experience on which to base any recommendations.


https://leenslodge.com/

I was at Leens two weeks ago just to see the place, great folks. They are pretty much booked year to year unless you're lucky to get in. We did Weatherby's this year. A lodge with meals, sort of do it yourself, but yes the grouse numbers were very bad while woodcock were thick as skeeters. This is late to go now I'd think but I'd look for an Air BnB or something. BTW Leens will be the newest advertiser in Parker Pages for 2024 so we welcome them on board.

They got 8" of snow midweek, last week and woodcock numbers fell off the charts. Saturday, my friend, a guide, moved 4 grouse, and 4 woodcock. A few weeks earlier saw double digit woodcock flushes.

I think it's about over for this season fellas.





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Thanks for all the inquiries. The biggest reason they are going now is that one of the guys won a guided trip for this week. They are only going to hunt with the guide for a couple of days because he doesn't allow you to use your own dogs. They are going to freelance for the rest of the week. They had some other buddies go farther north into Canada a few weeks ago and had a very good hunt. Some of the grouse must have not been hunted much as they would flush straight up into the trees and weren't real wild.

John:

Chris at Leen's Lodge helpfully suggests Canal Side Cabins, also in Grand Lake Stream, Maine, which is open this time of year.

Your friends can check availability with Mary at Canal Side Cabins. Most of her cabins have hunters in them now.

Address: Canal Side Cabins, 31 Canal St, Grand Lake Stream, ME 04637
Phone: (207) 796-2796

Nice work getting their business, Andy!

Thank you Garry. I told them it was a good fit given they are a higher priced premium camp, and Scott agreed. He was also very delighted in PP's fee structure which I feel is a tremendous value to our advertisers. I sent him two copies of PP's and I think he was very impressed by the quality, as anyone should be.