There is nothing better than swapping hunting stories with another hunter. It’s a part of the Maine (and hunting) culture that connects one generation to another. A story can bond people, no matter how diverse their backgrounds are. I don’t know of any other culture in which I could strike up a conversation with someone twice my age from the backwoods of Maine and the next day compare riffles with a business owner who travels around the world. I am under 30 and female. And because I hunt, I am a part of a tradition that transcends sociopolitical, economic and physical boundaries. I belong to a club that lets anyone join and listens enthusiastically to everyone’s stories.

I revamped this blog because I was interviewed by the Rabid Outdoorsman back in October about being a woman who hunts and writes about it. Since then, I have thought about what interests me and how to keep those of you who read this blog more often than others, entertained. In a blog post from January, I set a goal to interview the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Chandler Woodcock.

I met Mr. Woodcock my freshman year of high school. He was my English teacher (Disclaimer: my spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. were bad before he got to me and many others have tried since, so please don’t hold all of my errors in this post and others against him). Fun fact about Mr. Woodcock… he use to go bowling with us. There was a group of 2 or 3 guys and me who were on a league (don’t judge, I have trophys!) and every once in a while, Mr. Woodcock would go bowling with us after school. In order to get into his head, I took a campaign bumper sticker and black electrical tape and made an “Anti-Woodcock” shirt. It worked, I won and he asked that I come into his classes throughout the next day and show them this piece of art. I obliged but had kids all day giving me a hard time because ‘how could I not like the guy???’

Fast forward some years and Mr. Woodcock is the Commissioner of IFW and took time out of his busy schedule to let me ask him a few questions about hunting in Maine for this little blog.

Over the course of the next week, I will post the great conversation Mr. Woodcock and I had about hunting, issues facing the Maine outdoors, the goals that he hopes to achieve in the next 5-10 years and what keeps him up at night.

Stay tuned… its good stuff!