hunting and the beach, both in same area? (Portland, Scarborough: living in, shop)

[reneeapril]

Hi! My husband and I are relocating to Maine in about a year. He loves to hunt (deer and bear, turkeys) and fish; I adore the beach and also fishing. Is there an area that has both woods where he can hunt and that is also close to an ocean beach? We also prefer something not far from a good hospital and shopping. Also, are there any private hunting/fishing membership communities in those areas? Tall order? Thanks!

[forest beekeeper]

It all depends on what you mean by 'near'?

If you wanted to live on the beach, or would living 10 miles away be okay.

Maine does have a lot of rivers and lakes. Would a lake beach be okay?



"any private hunting/fishing membership communities"? I do not know anything about that topic.

We have lots of hunting, lots of fishing.

I see eagle flying overhear all summer long. We have wild turkey so thick they commonly block the road as flocks of turkey slowly cross the road. I have stopped many times for moose to cross the road. I have stopped twice because beaver were dragging trees across the road and to hit the tree would have wrecked my car [so both times I got out and assisted the critter to drag it's tree across the road]. I have seen bear here. I have seen moose in my driveway, and of course deer. We have a lot of deer. I have seen the DOT setup road blocks to divert traffic off the freeway, because the deer herds are so thick as they cross the freeway.

[RANGER.101ST]

hunting on the beach that would be awsome.bellfast has a beach and it allso has deer 8 or 9 miles away there is the town of swanville with a lake and a bunch of deer.but i still think hunting on the beach would be awsome.or just seeing rachal hunter on the beach.

[Maine Writer]

My husband hunts in Castine if he's going to fill his any deer tag.

[crb01]

We live in a small town in central York County and I'm able to start hunting as soon as I walk out my back door. Plenty of deer, turkeys and the rabbit population is making a rebound. Not a lot of Bear though. We are about 5 miles from a new shopping area and 15 miles from the ocean, with lots of sand beaches. So yes, there are places in Maine that have exactly what you are looking for.

[givemeoob]

Old Orchard Beach has the longest sandy beach in Maine, is 20 minutes from Portland and 1/2 way between the Kittery and Freeport outlets. I see guys in town packing up their hunting gear all the time, not sure exactly where they go to hunt, but I know there is countryside not far away. I consider living in OOB the best scenario - we can even walk to the Amtrak station and be in Boston in 90 minutes.

[AlisonL]

OOB is okay if one is younger and into the carnival scene. I vote for further up the coast.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by AlisonL

OOB is okay if one is younger and into the carnival scene. I vote for further up the coast.

Agreed. I spent a while in OOB, and while it's ALRIGHT, it's sort of "eh" in my book. The summer crowd is maddening (and I like busy areas, it's just the TYPE of people that are attracted there for a weekend away bother me- not the Canadians, though... they're fun) and it's sort of bland. It's nowhere near as pretty as the rest of the Maine coast, it's busier than most Maine communities in the summer, it's deserted in the winter, and while the beach is sandy, it's just too cold to do much swimming. It really has a generic feel to it. I've seen the same types of community in Maine, NH (Hampton Beach), MA (shares a lot in common with Revere Beach), RI (Scarborough Beach), NJ, MD, VA, etc, etc, etc.

I'd say head further North OR South, but OOB is not my top pic to live.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by AlisonL

OOB is okay if one is younger and into the carnival scene. I vote for further up the coast.

Does OOB host a carnival?

Is it a nice carnival?

[lrfox]

^The center of town has "Palace Playland" on the beach next to the pier which is essentially a permanent carnival complete with the usual suspects in terms of rides (the exceptions being a little roller coaster and a little log flume) and arcade games and the typical food (fried dough, fries, etc). here's a link: http://www.palaceplayland.com/

It's even built on top of what clearly was a parking lot. It's probably what you'd expect from a mid-size carnival. Fun for the teens and tweens I guess.