PORTLAND, Maine — Had his life taken a slightly different turn, Tom Roth might have spent his career as a Maine game warden rather than as a police officer.
“The year I applied [to be a game warden] I had a motorcycle accident and broke my arm,” he recalls. “I couldn’t complete the agility test.” Off he went to a law enforcement career on the streets instead of in the wild. “I have friends who are game wardens,” he muses. “I think I would have enjoyed that career.”
Roth, a registered Maine Guide, has spent plenty of time in the woods and on the waters, experiences he writes about in “A Sporting Year in Maine,” which takes the reader through the year month by month, from ice fishing in January to turkey hunting in May to grouse hunting in December. Along with the memories are tips he picked up from some generous mentors. “We are too small a community not to share,” he writes. Watch our interview to find out more about the sporting opportunities Maine has given him in a life spent outdoors.