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Maine Black Bear
Jul 2023 9

The best wild game dinner

By | Conservation, Eating Wild Game, Hunting in Maine, Maine Black Bear, Maine Hunters, Maine Moose, Women Who Hunt | 0 Comments | 2 min read

Hunters are always asked if they eat the animals that they hunt.  Bear is one of the most asked about animals. After I accomplished my grand slam, I offered to host a wild game dinner for people to try some of the meat that I had hunted.  My friend, Candace agreed to be my chef.  The result was some of the best wild game dishes I have ever eaten. Candace and I picked out the cuts that I had and built our menu around that.  It was an incredibly hot day here in Maine, so that altered a few of our plans.   Here was our menu: Apps - Cheese, crackers, pickled fiddleheads, sauteed moose heart with onions, BBQ moose heart flatbread topped with mushrooms, garlic scrapes and chive blossoms, smoked Alaskan salmon and spicy black bear queso...

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Jan 2022 24

Reflecting on my 2021 grand slam

By | Adventures in the Woods, Hunting in Maine, Maine Black Bear, Maine Hunters, Maine Moose, Whitetail Deer, Women Who Hunt | 1 Comment | 3 min read

When I was drawn for my moose tag, I set the goal of going for my grand slam. I needed a bear, moose, turkey and deer between September and November.  Now, the hunting season is over and I find myself reflecting on my 2021 grand slam and the people who helped to make it happen. Mom and Hubs managed childcare/school pick ups and drop offs and sometimes full days of babysitting so that I could be in the woods. Jeremy at Fit To Hunt went to work and helped me customize a training program that would get me into shape for walking through the Maine woods to get my moose.  I would load weights into my backpack and walk for miles.  Sometimes with the kids and sometimes alone. When it came time to hike those choppin's looking for a moose, I was...

Keep Reading

Sep 2021 22

Bear hunting can be exhausting

By | Adventures in the Woods, Maine Black Bear, Maine Outdoors, Maine Trapping, Winters in Maine, Women Who Hunt | 2 Comments | 5 min read

I need to start by thanking my friend Staci and her husband for making this happen. They helped to get the bait site up and running.  Staci was as determined as I was to get me a bear. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a hunting partner like her!   The 2021 Bear Hunting Season kicks off! My limited view of the bait site Bear hunting season opened on Monday, August 30th, and trapping season opening on Wednesday, September 1st.  With my trapping license and Staci and John’s help, I planned to initially hunt over bait and try trapping.  The first night with the traps out, we watched as a bear tripped my trap, looked at the cable and walked away. The next afternoon, Staci and I headed out to reset the trap and sit.  We adjusted...

Keep Reading

Oct 2020 1

The unlikely bear hunter

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 2 min read

Jesse Phillips had no intention of bear hunting.  He was along for the ride with friend and host of Blood Origins, Robbie Kroger, who was on his annaul bear hunt with Grove Hill Outfitters. Being convinced that he should go hunt, Jesse grabbed the 45-10 and headed into a treestand.  He wore his cowboy boots, jeans and flannel, "the only thing I didn't do was put on deoterant" Jesse laughed.  Climbing up into the stand a little before 2pm, he held no expectations for seeing his first bear in the wild.  He was doing this just to apease the guys in camp. At 4:02, a bear appeared. "He was about 40 yards away," explained Jesse, "and he was just walkeding around, sniffing and eating.  He wasn't interested...

Keep Reading

Aug 2019 26

Another bear, another amazing experience

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 4 min read

I watched the crack in my windshield grow slightly as the heater kicked on.  It was still dark and the temperature gauge read 27 degrees.  I took a sip of coffee and exhaled; it was a perfect September morning to go bear hunting. I met Bill Dereszewski, owner of Hollaback Guide Service at the gas station in Princeton.  We drank coffee and planned out the day as we waited for more people to join us.  Bernie was the first to arrive.  A local retired hunter who assisted Bill, his truck was filled with shortbreads and coffee to keep us filled as we chased bears.  Bill Gillespie and his pup Tawny joined the group and finally Matt Mcdonnell and a group of hunters from New York arrived.  They had been...

Keep Reading

Feb 2018 14

Love those bear cubs!

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 4 min read

Yearlings run.  That was the caution that Randy Cross told Staci (MyMainelyGirlAdventures) and me as we met with the Maine bear crew to prepare to head into the woods.  This particular den that we were going to had a 16 year old sow, who had had four cubs with her last year when they checked her den.  There was the potential for four yearlings plus Mama in the den.  I was a little giddy with the idea of so many bears! It is easy to brag about the bear crew. Aside from their decades of experience working with Maine’s bear population, they are a study in how team should work.  They know their strengths and weaknesses and support one another to ensure that they have a plan and back up plans for every den...

Keep Reading

Aug 2017 25

The most exciting hunt, you’re not going on

By | Maine Black Bear | 1 Comment | 3 min read

I blame my friend Steve.  I cautiously agreed to go with him and learn how to hunt them so that I could have some first-hand experience when I write.  I would have never guessed that in agreeing to go with him, I would now look at August in a whole new way; it’s bear season! There are roughly 10,000 of us who buy our bear permits every year.  Compared to the 180,000+ deer hunters and we basically have the woods to ourselves to hunt bear. Guess what non-bear hunters?  You are missing out on one of the most exciting hunts you could possibly go on! And that should change.   Why would you want to hunt bears? Easiest reason is management and keeping the population in check with the biological and social...

Keep Reading

Jun 2016 24

Spring Black Bear Management

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 4 min read

In Maine, it is easy to brag about our bear biologists.  I did some quick math and with conservative estimates, Maine's bear biologist Randy Cross has spent more than 72,000 hours studying and working with our black bears.  That blows Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hour rule out of the water.  I was lucky enough to tag along with Randy and his bear crew, including Lisa Bates, as they started running their trap lines to check the health of our bears.   I met Randy and two of his team mates, Preacher and Roach, as they headed out on day 3 of the 2016 trapping season. Their goal during the six week season is to collar as many females as possible while also getting the stats (weight, length, canine tooth size etc)...

Keep Reading

Show Me More Articles
Jul 2023 9

The best wild game dinner

By | Conservation, Eating Wild Game, Hunting in Maine, Maine Black Bear, Maine Hunters, Maine Moose, Women Who Hunt | 0 Comments | 2 min read

Hunters are always asked if they eat the animals that they hunt.  Bear is one of the most asked about animals. After I accomplished my grand slam, I offered to host a wild game dinner for people to try some of the meat that I had hunted.  My friend, Candace agreed to be my chef.  The result was some of the best wild game dishes I have ever eaten. Candace and I picked out the cuts that I had and built our menu around that.  It was an incredibly hot day here in Maine, so that altered a few of our plans.   Here was our menu: Apps - Cheese, crackers, pickled fiddleheads, sauteed moose heart with onions, BBQ moose heart flatbread topped with mushrooms, garlic scrapes and chive blossoms, smoked Alaskan salmon and spicy black bear queso...

Keep Reading

Jan 2022 24

Reflecting on my 2021 grand slam

By | Adventures in the Woods, Hunting in Maine, Maine Black Bear, Maine Hunters, Maine Moose, Whitetail Deer, Women Who Hunt | 1 Comment | 3 min read

When I was drawn for my moose tag, I set the goal of going for my grand slam. I needed a bear, moose, turkey and deer between September and November.  Now, the hunting season is over and I find myself reflecting on my 2021 grand slam and the people who helped to make it happen. Mom and Hubs managed childcare/school pick ups and drop offs and sometimes full days of babysitting so that I could be in the woods. Jeremy at Fit To Hunt went to work and helped me customize a training program that would get me into shape for walking through the Maine woods to get my moose.  I would load weights into my backpack and walk for miles.  Sometimes with the kids and sometimes alone. When it came time to hike those choppin's looking for a moose, I was...

Keep Reading

Sep 2021 22

Bear hunting can be exhausting

By | Adventures in the Woods, Maine Black Bear, Maine Outdoors, Maine Trapping, Winters in Maine, Women Who Hunt | 2 Comments | 5 min read

I need to start by thanking my friend Staci and her husband for making this happen. They helped to get the bait site up and running.  Staci was as determined as I was to get me a bear. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a hunting partner like her!   The 2021 Bear Hunting Season kicks off! My limited view of the bait site Bear hunting season opened on Monday, August 30th, and trapping season opening on Wednesday, September 1st.  With my trapping license and Staci and John’s help, I planned to initially hunt over bait and try trapping.  The first night with the traps out, we watched as a bear tripped my trap, looked at the cable and walked away. The next afternoon, Staci and I headed out to reset the trap and sit.  We adjusted...

Keep Reading

Oct 2020 1

The unlikely bear hunter

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 2 min read

Jesse Phillips had no intention of bear hunting.  He was along for the ride with friend and host of Blood Origins, Robbie Kroger, who was on his annaul bear hunt with Grove Hill Outfitters. Being convinced that he should go hunt, Jesse grabbed the 45-10 and headed into a treestand.  He wore his cowboy boots, jeans and flannel, "the only thing I didn't do was put on deoterant" Jesse laughed.  Climbing up into the stand a little before 2pm, he held no expectations for seeing his first bear in the wild.  He was doing this just to apease the guys in camp. At 4:02, a bear appeared. "He was about 40 yards away," explained Jesse, "and he was just walkeding around, sniffing and eating.  He wasn't interested...

Keep Reading

Aug 2019 26

Another bear, another amazing experience

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 4 min read

I watched the crack in my windshield grow slightly as the heater kicked on.  It was still dark and the temperature gauge read 27 degrees.  I took a sip of coffee and exhaled; it was a perfect September morning to go bear hunting. I met Bill Dereszewski, owner of Hollaback Guide Service at the gas station in Princeton.  We drank coffee and planned out the day as we waited for more people to join us.  Bernie was the first to arrive.  A local retired hunter who assisted Bill, his truck was filled with shortbreads and coffee to keep us filled as we chased bears.  Bill Gillespie and his pup Tawny joined the group and finally Matt Mcdonnell and a group of hunters from New York arrived.  They had been...

Keep Reading

Feb 2018 14

Love those bear cubs!

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 4 min read

Yearlings run.  That was the caution that Randy Cross told Staci (MyMainelyGirlAdventures) and me as we met with the Maine bear crew to prepare to head into the woods.  This particular den that we were going to had a 16 year old sow, who had had four cubs with her last year when they checked her den.  There was the potential for four yearlings plus Mama in the den.  I was a little giddy with the idea of so many bears! It is easy to brag about the bear crew. Aside from their decades of experience working with Maine’s bear population, they are a study in how team should work.  They know their strengths and weaknesses and support one another to ensure that they have a plan and back up plans for every den...

Keep Reading

Aug 2017 25

The most exciting hunt, you’re not going on

By | Maine Black Bear | 1 Comment | 3 min read

I blame my friend Steve.  I cautiously agreed to go with him and learn how to hunt them so that I could have some first-hand experience when I write.  I would have never guessed that in agreeing to go with him, I would now look at August in a whole new way; it’s bear season! There are roughly 10,000 of us who buy our bear permits every year.  Compared to the 180,000+ deer hunters and we basically have the woods to ourselves to hunt bear. Guess what non-bear hunters?  You are missing out on one of the most exciting hunts you could possibly go on! And that should change.   Why would you want to hunt bears? Easiest reason is management and keeping the population in check with the biological and social...

Keep Reading

Jun 2016 24

Spring Black Bear Management

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 4 min read

In Maine, it is easy to brag about our bear biologists.  I did some quick math and with conservative estimates, Maine's bear biologist Randy Cross has spent more than 72,000 hours studying and working with our black bears.  That blows Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hour rule out of the water.  I was lucky enough to tag along with Randy and his bear crew, including Lisa Bates, as they started running their trap lines to check the health of our bears.   I met Randy and two of his team mates, Preacher and Roach, as they headed out on day 3 of the 2016 trapping season. Their goal during the six week season is to collar as many females as possible while also getting the stats (weight, length, canine tooth size etc)...

Keep Reading

Show Me More Articles
Enjoy these Maine Black Bear articles
Jul 2023 9

The best wild game dinner

By | Conservation, Eating Wild Game, Hunting in Maine, Maine Black Bear, Maine Hunters, Maine Moose, Women Who Hunt | 0 Comments | 2 min read

Hunters are always asked if they eat the animals that they hunt.  Bear is one of the most asked about animals. After I accomplished my grand slam, I offered to host a wild game dinner for people to try some of the meat that I had hunted.  My friend, Candace agreed to be my chef.  The result was some of the best wild game dishes I have ever eaten. Candace and I picked out the cuts that I had and built our menu around that.  It was an incredibly hot day here in Maine, so that altered a few of our plans.   Here was our menu: Apps - Cheese, crackers, pickled fiddleheads, sauteed moose heart with onions, BBQ moose heart flatbread topped with mushrooms, garlic scrapes and chive blossoms, smoked Alaskan salmon and spicy black bear queso...

Keep Reading

Jan 2022 24

Reflecting on my 2021 grand slam

By | Adventures in the Woods, Hunting in Maine, Maine Black Bear, Maine Hunters, Maine Moose, Whitetail Deer, Women Who Hunt | 1 Comment | 3 min read

When I was drawn for my moose tag, I set the goal of going for my grand slam. I needed a bear, moose, turkey and deer between September and November.  Now, the hunting season is over and I find myself reflecting on my 2021 grand slam and the people who helped to make it happen. Mom and Hubs managed childcare/school pick ups and drop offs and sometimes full days of babysitting so that I could be in the woods. Jeremy at Fit To Hunt went to work and helped me customize a training program that would get me into shape for walking through the Maine woods to get my moose.  I would load weights into my backpack and walk for miles.  Sometimes with the kids and sometimes alone. When it came time to hike those choppin's looking for a moose, I was...

Keep Reading

Sep 2021 22

Bear hunting can be exhausting

By | Adventures in the Woods, Maine Black Bear, Maine Outdoors, Maine Trapping, Winters in Maine, Women Who Hunt | 2 Comments | 5 min read

I need to start by thanking my friend Staci and her husband for making this happen. They helped to get the bait site up and running.  Staci was as determined as I was to get me a bear. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a hunting partner like her!   The 2021 Bear Hunting Season kicks off! My limited view of the bait site Bear hunting season opened on Monday, August 30th, and trapping season opening on Wednesday, September 1st.  With my trapping license and Staci and John’s help, I planned to initially hunt over bait and try trapping.  The first night with the traps out, we watched as a bear tripped my trap, looked at the cable and walked away. The next afternoon, Staci and I headed out to reset the trap and sit.  We adjusted...

Keep Reading

Oct 2020 1

The unlikely bear hunter

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 2 min read

Jesse Phillips had no intention of bear hunting.  He was along for the ride with friend and host of Blood Origins, Robbie Kroger, who was on his annaul bear hunt with Grove Hill Outfitters. Being convinced that he should go hunt, Jesse grabbed the 45-10 and headed into a treestand.  He wore his cowboy boots, jeans and flannel, "the only thing I didn't do was put on deoterant" Jesse laughed.  Climbing up into the stand a little before 2pm, he held no expectations for seeing his first bear in the wild.  He was doing this just to apease the guys in camp. At 4:02, a bear appeared. "He was about 40 yards away," explained Jesse, "and he was just walkeding around, sniffing and eating.  He wasn't interested...

Keep Reading

Aug 2019 26

Another bear, another amazing experience

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 4 min read

I watched the crack in my windshield grow slightly as the heater kicked on.  It was still dark and the temperature gauge read 27 degrees.  I took a sip of coffee and exhaled; it was a perfect September morning to go bear hunting. I met Bill Dereszewski, owner of Hollaback Guide Service at the gas station in Princeton.  We drank coffee and planned out the day as we waited for more people to join us.  Bernie was the first to arrive.  A local retired hunter who assisted Bill, his truck was filled with shortbreads and coffee to keep us filled as we chased bears.  Bill Gillespie and his pup Tawny joined the group and finally Matt Mcdonnell and a group of hunters from New York arrived.  They had been...

Keep Reading

Feb 2018 14

Love those bear cubs!

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 4 min read

Yearlings run.  That was the caution that Randy Cross told Staci (MyMainelyGirlAdventures) and me as we met with the Maine bear crew to prepare to head into the woods.  This particular den that we were going to had a 16 year old sow, who had had four cubs with her last year when they checked her den.  There was the potential for four yearlings plus Mama in the den.  I was a little giddy with the idea of so many bears! It is easy to brag about the bear crew. Aside from their decades of experience working with Maine’s bear population, they are a study in how team should work.  They know their strengths and weaknesses and support one another to ensure that they have a plan and back up plans for every den...

Keep Reading

Aug 2017 25

The most exciting hunt, you’re not going on

By | Maine Black Bear | 1 Comment | 3 min read

I blame my friend Steve.  I cautiously agreed to go with him and learn how to hunt them so that I could have some first-hand experience when I write.  I would have never guessed that in agreeing to go with him, I would now look at August in a whole new way; it’s bear season! There are roughly 10,000 of us who buy our bear permits every year.  Compared to the 180,000+ deer hunters and we basically have the woods to ourselves to hunt bear. Guess what non-bear hunters?  You are missing out on one of the most exciting hunts you could possibly go on! And that should change.   Why would you want to hunt bears? Easiest reason is management and keeping the population in check with the biological and social...

Keep Reading

Jun 2016 24

Spring Black Bear Management

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 4 min read

In Maine, it is easy to brag about our bear biologists.  I did some quick math and with conservative estimates, Maine's bear biologist Randy Cross has spent more than 72,000 hours studying and working with our black bears.  That blows Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hour rule out of the water.  I was lucky enough to tag along with Randy and his bear crew, including Lisa Bates, as they started running their trap lines to check the health of our bears.   I met Randy and two of his team mates, Preacher and Roach, as they headed out on day 3 of the 2016 trapping season. Their goal during the six week season is to collar as many females as possible while also getting the stats (weight, length, canine tooth size etc)...

Keep Reading

Show Me More Articles