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Maine Black Bear

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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...

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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...

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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)...

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Mar 2016 21

Aging a bear by its skull

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

When you kill a bear in Maine, you are legally required to submit a tooth to IF&W so that the bear can be aged and logged into the records.  Each tooth is cut, like a tree, and the rings are counted. Biologists can learn about the health of the bear and it's age. Assuming that the tooth gets to where it needs to be. Typically, it takes a year for the data to be published.  The link to the information is usually posted all over social media and eager hunters share how old their bear was.  I couldn't wait to find out how old this guy was. The popular vote was about 8 years old. When the data was posted, I searched.  I looked up my name.  I looked up my guide's name. I looked up the tagging station and the...

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Nov 2015 6

My bear is home!

By | Hunting in Maine, Maine Black Bear | 2 Comments | 2 min read

Lori let me know last week that my bear was done and I could come get him!  When we dropped him off a year ago, there were a lot of problems, namely his head being cut in half.  But, when all was said and done Jim and Lori did the following: 1. Piece the skull back together. 2. Remove the bald patch in the center of his back that the bear got when he was being hauled off the mountain. 3. All paws were removed and turned 180 degrees because the pelt was not cut right when it was butchered. 4. Flaps of skin above his shoulders were removed and sewn back onto his sides were they belonged. 5. All of the normal taxidermy stuff like preparing and working with the pelt, getting the fake head to go into the rug and felting the...

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Sep 2015 7

I survived my first solo bear hunt

By | Hunting in Maine, Maine Black Bear | 1 Comment | 6 min read

Everything was going just fine until I realized that I had the wrong gun. I had packed everything that I would need and was getting comfortable with the idea of sitting by myself in the tree blind. It was 90 degrees.  The odds of a bear coming in were really not good. Plus, when Steve dropped me off and checked the cameras, there were no pictures and the bait had not been touched.  I was a little more relaxed about it but I was still weirded out about having the wrong gun. Me, my awesome Kryptek Helios top and the wrong 30-06 I'm couldn't believe that it happened. I had assumed that my gun was in my gun bag and switched it with the gun sitting right next to it. The different strap never registered when I grabbed the guns. I...

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Sep 2015 4

Here goes a second season

By | Hunting in Maine, Maine Black Bear | 1 Comment | 1 min read

With these trail camera photos becoming a common occurrence, I am excited and still a little nervous for bear season.  I have developed a very healthy respect for these animals and there is still some caution when I head into the woods to hunt one. Even if I do not get one, these photos are a clear indication that the bear population in Maine is healthy and thriving.  These are not small bears and by the time we head into the woods, they will have had a few more weeks to put on...

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Aug 2015 28

The bait sites are getting slammed!

By | Maine Black Bear | 0 Comments | 1 min read

After Steve and I tweaked the bait sites and refilled the barrels and crates, we waited to see if and when the bears returned to the sites.  Three days after we were there, Steve went back to check: bam! bears at both sites and no food left. Other hunters have been seeing the same thing; lots of bears (many of them good sized bears) are already hitting the bait sites hard this season.  When Steve and I were up the first time, we noticed that the blackberries and raspberries were not looking good.  Without a lot of fun and rain, the berries were small and still very green.  The temperature has dropped a few times down to the 40s at night which could kill some of the bear's food source.  There are plenty of...

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Mar 2015 20

Part 2: Gimmie the bears!

By | Maine Black Bear | 1 Comment | 4 min read

So we made it to King's den.  Now the fun starts. Once King was sedated and out, Jake and Mitch got ready to pull the cubs out.  We stood closer to where they were in a semi-circle and watched.  Lisa explained what was happening and the fact that this was more than likely, the first time the cubs had ever seen day light. Mitch taking the first cub out of the den. Mitch put the first cub against his chest and let go.  The cub stuck to the wool jacket with it's claws, like Velcro.  Jake handed him the second cub  and Lisa stepped in to help.  As Jake got King ready to come out of the den, Mitch tagged the cubs in each ear, weighed and measured them and described them for Lisa to write down. Lisa and...

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