Maine

Maine fall turkey season opens Monday

Published

6 months ago

September 13, 2025

Fall turkey season kicks off on Monday. Depending on the zone, hunters are able to shoot up to five birds for the season.

Wildlife management zones 1, 2, 4, 5 and 9 are closed to the taking of turkeys.

Maine’s fields and forests weren’t always filled with these entertaining game birds.

In the early 1800s a combination of intense farming and unregulated hunting eliminated turkeys from the state.

Decades of failed reintroduction attempts followed, including the release of 24 birds on Swan Island in Sagadahoc County in 1942 and the introduction of both wild and game-farm stocks in the 1960s.

It wasn’t until 1977, when 41 wild birds from Vermont were released into York and Eliot, that the population began to grow. Additional releases in Waldo and Hancock counties helped further rebuild the population.

In the late 1980s, birds obtained from Connecticut’s wild turkey population helped augment the increasing one in Maine.

Turkeys are now found in all of Maine’s 16 counties. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife generated population estimates from harvest data and a recent banding study, placing the current spring population at 70,000 birds — this does not include poults hatched during the current year.

Unlike spring turkey hunting where the focus is on shooting toms, fall hunting allows for either sex. These regulations allow for more flexibility, but also possibly more challenges. Without the opportunity to call birds into range like you can during the breeding season, hunters must rely more on group behavior and movement patterns.

Hunting turkeys helps control numbers in wildlife management zones where populations are strong, preventing issues such as agriculture damage, competition with other ground-nesting birds and rising conflicts with landowners.

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Related Topics:Featured Turkey Hunting update

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Maine

Lawmakers advance bill to provide death benefits after two DOT workers killed on the job

Published

6 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Lawmakers advance bill to provide death benefits after two DOT workers killed on the job

After a fatal car crash in Waterville killed two Maine Department of Transportation employees in January, state lawmakers are backing a bill to expand death benefits to the families of DOT workers killed on the job. The Labor Committee unanimously voted Tuesday to advance LD 669, which will make DOT employees eligible for the same […]

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Maine

Maine man accused of lighting bed on fire after fight with girlfriend

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Maine man accused of lighting bed on fire after fight with girlfriend

WISCASSET, Maine (WMTW) – A Maine man has been arrested after police say he intentionally set a bed on fire after a dispute with his girlfriend, while they were still in it.

Police responded Monday, March 9, to a report of a fire that had been intentionally set inside a home on Beechnut Hill Road, according to the Wiscasset Police Department.

Investigators say the homeowner, Terry Couture, 41, set the bed on fire following an argument while both he and his girlfriend were in it. Authorities said the fire was extinguished and no serious injuries were reported.

Couture was arrested and charged with attempted murder, arson, aggravated criminal mischief, and domestic violence criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon.

The investigation is ongoing.

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Maine

Celebrate Maine Maple Weekend at Williams Family Farm

Published

2 days ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Celebrate Maine Maple Weekend at Williams Family Farm

CLIFTON, Maine (WABI) – Maine Maple Sunday is less than two weeks away, and the Williams Family Farm in Clifton is gearing up for one of the sweetest seasons yet.

A long stretch of frost and snow meant a late start this year, but the first boil of sap has finally run through the evaporator, and maple season is officially underway.

At Williams Family Farm, everything is done by hand:

Fresh maple syrup, bottled on-site
Maple sugar, carefully extracted in small batches
Baked candied pecans, cashews, and more

The Williams family has spent years working with whatever weather sends their way.

Long winters, surprise warmups, and everything in between—they’ve learned how to adapt so community members can enjoy their products.

As co-owner John Williams explains, the key is in the temperature.

“You need to have it warm during the day and still freezing at night, so typically that’s the middle of February,” said Williams. “We have a lot of trees, so we have to start tapping them before the conditions are ideal, so we start tapping way before it’s time for it to run just so we can get them all tapped. If you have ten trees in your backyard, you want to wait until roughly now, the middle of February to now, and when it’s actually running and put them in then because you can put all your taps in, in one day.”

They’re excited to welcome the community during Maine Maple Weekend on March 21 and 22.

They will be boiling up sap, hosting demonstrations, and providing free samples.

Locals can also join them for their third annual pancake breakfast where all proceeds are donated to Holbrook Recreation.

Follow the link to find out their hours for March and more.

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