USA: 2017 Maine Bear Hunt X2!

Whiskey1

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I have been back from my adventure in Maine for a few days now and have finally found the time and nerve to post my first hunting report on this excellent forum. It is a bit intimidating as so many here are very talented writers.

I first hunted Maine last year. I hunted with Ryan Shepard of Shepard Hunting Company located near Patten, Maine and killed a very nice bear on Saturday, an hour or two before the end of the six day hunt! We had such a good time that a return trip was scheduled for this year but one week later in the season in hopes of cooler weather...which did not exactly pan out. Ryan offers both bait and hound hunts and both of my trips with him have been with hounds. I also became friends with a local houndsman from southern Maine and he generously invited me to bring one of my kids to hunt with him the week before my outfitted hunt. What a great opportunity! It is not legal for a non-resident to hound hunt in Maine without employing the services of a registered Maine hunting guide so he made the arrangements for a 3 day hunt for my daughter, provided his services and his hounds completely free of charge, and let us stay at his place. It worked out perfectly as the week we scheduled was fall break for my daughter's high school. With any luck we could fly up, get her a bear, put her on a plane for home, and she wouldn't even miss any school. I could then drive north to meet my companions for a week of hunting the big woods of northern Maine. Turns out it worked out exactly that way...

Lily and I left, Sept. 20th, the day after my wife's birthday, flying ATL to Portland, ME via Delta. My wife, Cindy, and Lily's twin brother, Joseph, were going to spend a couple days at the beach crabbing and surf-fishing with my parents once he finished high school football practice. By all accounts they had a nice vacation, too. I do now owe him a spring bear hunt, though. The airport and flight were uneventful except for my guncase being 3 pounds over weight which cost me an extra $100 and the ticket agent scolding my for packing jackets, shirts, pants, etc. in the case. She told me there "isn't s'posed tu be nuthin' but weapons in the case". Then asked how I was going to unpack all that stuff to show her the guns were unloaded. I explained I had always packed clothes in the case as extra padding and under no circumstances would I be brandishing a firearm for any reason inside the ATL airport as getting shot would undoubtedly hinder my travel plans. She just handed me the orange card and I put it in the case and went to TSA like normal. Strange...
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We landed in Portland where airport personnel an the rental car folks were obviously very used to visiting hunters and fishermen, picked up the car, and drove 60 miles north to meet my friend Matt. We were greeted by a gorgeous Maine sunset on the way.

A typical day begins early on a bear hunt with hounds. You are up around 0400, a quick breakfast, drive to the hunting area and either check trail cameras on bait sites or drive woods roads waiting on the hounds to strike. Maine bears tend to be nocturnal so the sooner after legal hours the hounds can start a track the better your odds for success. Also, the bears have great noses and I firmly believe that they understand everything the hounds are doing when they are being scent trailed. Some of these bears are very smart! On our first day we enjoyed an excellent run, several miles long, the hounds did a great job, but the bear took them into some very steep rocky cliffs where they simply could not follow. It is a fact that bears can climb places that dogs simply can't follow and we were hunting the mountains only 20 or 30 miles from the New Hampshire state line in the vicinity of the Appalachian Trail. It is pretty rugged terrain. After a good drive and hike to catch all of the hounds we called it a day and enjoyed a nice seafood supper at a local restaurant. The sunsets in Maine this time of year are a sight to behold.

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Day two began with a hot strike right off the bat and resulted in a split chase! Two of the hounds headed for the same rock cliffs as the day before but ended up (according to their tracking collars) with a treed bear just short of the cliffs a little less than two miles from the nearest road. The other three hounds trailed out almost a mile, made a circle back to the right, and treed just under a half mile from where we turned them out. The best news was they were only about 250 yards from the nearest woods road. We made a fast hike 600 yards down the road, cut into the woods, and could hear the frantic baying of the three hounds. I could see Lily was very excited! This quick approach to a bear in the half light of a Maine morning with all of the noise in the thick woods was enough to get any hunter's heart pumping! As we approached the tree, I could see the dogs and soon spotted a big bear about 30 feet up a large pine. As my houndsmen friends tied the dogs back Lily and I maneuvered so that we could get a clear view of the bear and have everyone else behind us. I am no expert at judging bears in trees but could tell this one was definitely mature and quite a bit bigger than the Maine average of 130-150 pounds. Lil was shooting my Ruger #1A 30-06 with Freedom Munitions "Tagged Out" 165 grain Accubond bullets that she had used to take her warthog in South Africa and I had my 1972 manufactured Marlin 45-70 loaded with Speer 300 grain HotCor bullets at 1950 fps. As soon as Matt gave the word she made a great shot into the bear's chest and it fell from the tree behind a large boulder. Houndsmen are very protective of their bear dogs and a wounded bear that gets to the dogs can injure or kill them very quickly. Even though her shot was lethal the bear got up so I followed up her shot with two from the Marlin that anchored her bear just feet from the tree! Hugs and smiles all around...there are not many dads who ever get the opportunity to back up their daughters on dangerous game and this had turned out great. The other two hounds had held their bear in the tree for almost an hour while we were dealing with the photos, field dressing, and loading of this one but it eventually jumped the tree on them and got back into the cliffs. (A side note- I'd never thought of black bears as really dangerous until I started hunting them with hounds. In my next camp there would be a guide and a houndsman that both carried bear scars and, of course, the dogs are in constant danger. Five hounds from one pack were put out of commission by the same little sow the Friday before I got to camp. Hound hunting is a very exciting way to hunt black bear.) After catching the last two hounds, we took the bear to the check station and then to the local butcher to prepare and freeze the meat and trophy bear skin for the plane ride back to Georgia on Sunday.
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On the afternoon after Lil killed her bear she bought herself a Maine fishing license, borrowed some gear, and I drove her to a local pond where she caught a couple pretty nice largemouth bass.

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Day three we accompanied some local hunters out with Matt's hounds and got to be present for another successful hunt! We had another nice meal as a local sushi restaurant and packed up as she would be flying home the next day while I drove to the north woods for my chance at a big Maine bear...
 
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On Sunday, I drove Lily back to Portland to put her and her bear on the plane for ATL where her mom would pick her up. Delta got me for an extra $200 for REALLY overweight baggage as her cooler of meat and hide was almost 90 lbs! I was a thoughtful dad and made sure that we got her one with wheels on it. I had a good time reminiscing about our hunt on the 2 1/2 drive north to Bangor where I was to check in my rental car and meet my buddy Jansen for our long awaited return hunt with Ryan Shepard, Donnie, George, and Brian the West Virginia Houndsman. Ryan (http://www.shepardhuntingcompany.com/bear-hunts/fall-bear-with-hounds/) has been outfitting bear hunts in Maine for a lot of years and runs one of the more well known and successful outfits in the Big Woods. We got into the new cabin Sunday afternoon and I was immediately in awe of the view of Mt. Khatadin from the back yard.

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Khatadin is, of course, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail and the southern terminus is on Mt. Springer about 45 minutes from my house in northern Georgia. I've got a buddy through hiking somewhere between the two right now.

That evening the whole crew from last year returned to camp after freshening baits, checking cameras, and generally preparing for the week's hunt. We were introduced to Jared and Kelly, a husband and wife team, from NH that run an absolutely awesome pack of bear dogs as I was soon to find out! We made the usual small talk about how the hunting had been, bears killed during bait season, and heard about the little sow that had bitten five of six hounds before charging Ryan two days previously over a supper consisting of perfectly grilled medium rare ribeyes with all of the fixings. I did warn Ryan and the others that it would take a pretty special bear (either in size or markings like a big white blaze on the chest, etc.) for me to shoot bear on the first day since I really love watching and listening to the hounds work, chasing the bears, and did not want that to end too soon. Famous last words as the sun set over mighty Khatadin. What a great first night in bear camp!!

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On the first day I went with Maine Guide Donnie and houndsmen Jared and Kelley while Jansen went to check another area with Ryan and WV houndsman Brian. We only had one small bear strike a bait in our area but about 0900 Ryan called Donnie to tell him that they had turned the hounds out to cold trail a "pretty good bear" just after legal light at 0620. The bear had been going for almost three hours with no sign that it was thinking of treeing. We went to the area to assist if needed. Maine law only allows six hounds on the ground to trail a bear at once. To make a very long story short(er) the chase lasted 9 1/2 hours. Before it was over we would have cycled through most of the hounds with only Smoke staying in (and leading the chase) the entire time! Jansen, Jared, and Ryan made a very long hike straight up a mountain, halfway down that mountain, around the side of a second mountain, got to within 20 yards of the bear and couldn't see it because the woods were too thick! I made a shorter hike with Brian and Donnie, the bear was coming to us with the hounds right behind when the wind shifted and he turned again. Jansen's second hike was shorter but no less rough and ended with the bear bumped and moving at a faster pace- hounds still in pursuit. Donnie managed to get us around about 8 miles of logging roads and in front of the bear just as he tried to cross a cut patch of woods on a shoulder of yet another mountain. I made an easy shoulder shot at about 40 yards as he walked about 10 feet in front of Smoke and the other four remaining hounds in the chase. Though he went straight down with the 300 grain bullet high through both shoulders he was still snapping his jaws and swinging both ferocious forepaws at the dogs who had surrounded him, smelling blood, dashing in and out, and barking furiously. Closing to 10 yards I shot him again in center of the chest, barely rocking him. I then moved up to about 10 feet with Donnie right beside me and Brian off to the left pulling hounds out of the fight. The dog Smoke had gotten between me and the bear and I needed to be able to shoot over him. I fired my last two shots into the bear's chest and was loading a fifth from my pocket into the chamber when the great beast laid his head down for the last time! He was indeed, and still is, a very special bear. He wouldn't quit for 9 1/2 hours or until hit hard with four big bullets...He will be honored as a full mount in my new trophy room.

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Kelley, me, Donnie, Ryan Shepard, Brian- not pictured Jared who was feeding the hounds a well deserved meal.

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Two days later Jansen ended up with a nice boar of his own- a little bigger than mine- which is only fitting given how much he had sweated and worked for me to get the opportunity that I had. In between we had a couple more good bear chases and even had a smaller bear nearly jump in our laps in it's haste to avoid the hounds. We got to share camp with a first time hunter and retired career Marine combat vet who chose this as his first ever big game hunt. The priveledge of sharing a beverage with him while he told the story of his hike to the tree and shot was made even more special after having seen the braces on both his knees courtesy of an unfortunate incident with an enemy improvised explosive device.

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Jansen and I with his bear that had to be skinned and quartered in the woods as it was the better part of a mile over rough terrain to get it out.

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Maine was calling to me for next season even as I dug the first bear steak from the Dutch oven the very night I got home from this trip.

I hope you guys enjoyed this report. I already see that I need to do a better job with the photos next time...
 
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Great report, thanks
 
AWESOME!!! Bears are a lot tougher to hunt with dogs than over bait...a LOT!
My goal is still to try calling one in which that and spot and stalk are pretty much my options in Colorado.
Wonderful you took your daughter and even more wonderful she wanted to do it!
Excellent report! Thank you for taking the time to share this hunt with us!
 
Nice bears!
 
Congrats and thanks for sharing!
 
Quite an adventure for both you and your daughter. Thanks!
 
Sounds like a great time. Thanks for sharing.
 
Thanks everyone for the nice comments. On her hunt I was the only other person with a firearm. What a compliment it was to be the sole back-up for my 15 year old on her first bear hunt. I will always appreciate the houndsmen and guide for that vote of confidence.
 
Congratulations on both your hunts.
Great write up. Keep hunting and keep writing.
Thanks
 
Just reading now, but congrats to you and your daughter!
 
Great story. Hunting bears with dogs is underrated, I have done it a few times and it gets in your blood.

You got to work on your happy face for your pics, haha. Congratulations to you and your daughter.
 

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