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Maine bears
Maine bears

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A once in a lifetime Black Bear

I was glad that I had brought extra layers when we stepped into the 29 degree October air.  It was going to be a perfect hunting day with bright sun, cool temps and a great view that showed off Maine's fall foliage. Tim Cote of Cote & Sons Guide Service was taking me out on a guided bear hunt with his friends Al, Scott and Scott's two boys.  And Tim's six Walkers, pups Boy and Lady, Jill, Emma, Garth and Moose.  We headed for the Maine woods when it was still dark out and as the first light was breaking, we turned off the paved road and started to head deeper into the woods on some old dirt roads.  Tim let the dogs out to stretch and run around the truck as we slowly drove down the road. I was taking in the view and talking to Tim...

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Black Bear Hunt in Maine

A trap will catch a bear

Right? While I get the blog about my last hunting adventure edited and ready to go, I wanted to share with you some photos from those same sites that show a trap that Steve has put out.  According to Maine law, you must check your trap every day and as a result of Steve doing this, we are getting some huge bears coming in. An argument that those who are in favor of banning our effective hunting methods like to make is how easy it is to get a bear.  As you have seen, we have a lot of bears coming into the sites.  And they are big bears!  Bait is helping to bring them in but (spoiler alert) I have not shot a bear.  Neither have Steve or Lorri.  The bears are there, are coming in almost daily but unless you...

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Let’s get a bear

After we struck out on the first night, we planned to go out again and get us a bear.  The photos that were were seeing showed incredible bears coming in all the time.  It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. The day before I was going to drive up to meet with Steve and Lorri, I got a text from Steve: "GET MORE BULLETS."  We had a behemoth bear coming in on a regular basis and when he compared it to his 420lb bear, he figured it was 500-600lbs. This bear is huge! 500-600lbs probably. Maybe an old Sow by the look of the back stomach area that could be worn out from nursing cubs? Big head, nice barrel like frame.  This is an incredible, healthy Maine black bear. I was more comfortable now...

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We took to the woods

I was nervous. Ridiculously so.  I was seeing the big bears that we had coming in on the cameras at each site and I knew that I had to make a damn good shot if a bear came in. I has shot three times to get my gun sighted in and knew that it was right where it needed to be - and I was comfortable making those shots. I packed all of my clothes, which were washed in anti-scent detergent and properly washed and stored with anti-scent dryer sheets. I showered with my anti-scent soap and put everything into the car.  As I sat in the driver seat of the car going through my mental checklist, I realized that my gun was still inside.  A quick run back inside and I was really ready to go this time. At Steve's, I prepped some bait...

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Back to Baiting

Lance and Lorri putting some bait into an empty bucket The good smelling bait... mmm strawberry I was sure that beaver was the grossest smell ever, but I was so wrong. It is easily rotten lobster bodies - the kind that are put into black trash bags and left out in the sun and forgotten about.  I dont think any of us didn't gag, hold our breathe or pull our shirts up over our noses in an attempt to stop the smell from penetrating into our nostrils.  We added it to one of the beaver carcases and for the first time, I really had to question a black bear's eating preferences.  Of course, there is also the 'good' smelling bait that looks like it could be a bunch of $7 granola bars from Whole Foods dumped together and mixed...

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We are in business now!

Here they come!  Site 1 and 2 now have bears coming in.  Steve said that they are very good looking bears and healthy, too.  These are from the trail camera memory chip that Steve puts into his camera.  He then takes these photos, of the camera screen, with his phone.  Don't worry - in a few weeks there will be a photo of the real thing 😉  ...

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We have bears!!

Steve went back out to the sites four days after we had and there were pictures at site 2.  Not the best pictures but there are bears around and coming in! We have a couple more weeks until the hunting season starts and then it runs for 14 weeks.  I'm trying to work my schedule to get out and help bait one more time before I head into the woods on the last week of August to try my hand at bear...

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There is nothing easy about baiting bears.

On left, unopened sweets.  On right, the goodies ready to be put out. I was lucky that it was only 73 degrees out!  I would have melted after we headed to the first bait site. I carried buckets filled with bait and some secret ingredients to keep the bears coming back again and again.  While I was glad to not be carrying the bucket with the cut up dead beaver, I was reminded of my position down wind of it after every few steps.  Making a bait barrel While I support bear hunting as it is now in Maine, I did not know a lot about it and felt that if I was going to support this fight, I should know what I was talking about.  So, I told Steve that I would try everything, including preparing bait buckets.  If...

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