Here we go, here we go...starting out our 10th Black Bear Hunting season since buying Ross Lake Camps! This is one for the history books, not to mention the toughest we've ever had.
The big story with the weather in Maine this year (as it pertains to hunting) was the Greenhouse Effect that we had from unusually high rainfall totals in late spring and early summer mixing with way above normal temperatures for an extended period of time. The result of this weather was natural food crops beyond the wildest imagination. Raspberry, Blueberry, Elderberry, Fox Berry, Mountain Cranberry, and a bunch of other berries we weren't even familiar with in this part of the state came in full force...and they stayed all the way through the bear hunt. Things were absolutely ideal for the bear population. They had all the things they needed to grow fat and healthy and they had plenty of water to boot. Things were absolutely miserable for Bear Outfitters, Guides, and Hunters statewide. Since the bears had everything they needed in the deep cover of the woods they prefer to stay in, there was no need for them to spend a lot of time at the bait sites. We were pulling our hair out from the start this year! Still, we don't give up so easy so we figured a little more elbow grease (and some cooking grease too!!) was in order.
Just to make things a little more challenging, Hurricane Irene came to town with high winds and heavy rainfall predictions going into opening day of bear season 2011. So....350 gallons of used fry oil, 115 gallons of molasses, 55 jugs of vanilla extract, and I'm not even sure how much Anise later, we were 24 hours and counting. Things were very touch and go at the hunting stands, so we were apprehensive with the opening week hunters arrival, but some things did work out. Monday morning while hunters sighted in weapons and milled around camp anxiously awaiting hunting hours, we were out in teams with chainsaw's in hand clearing roads and paths into the hunting stands. Mother Nature did cut us a break on this one, and the rain was less than predicted and tree damage turned out to be light.
Opening night of season had us very hopeful that things were going to start swinging our way with some really good action at the stands. The first bear down on the season was a very nice 196 pound boar taken by junior hunter, Tommy Robison who was hunting with his father Tom.
That trip made from Ohio was already worth the ride, but Kathy Robison (Tommy's mom) is an accomplished hunter as well and she opted to let a young bear walk away from her stand on Monday in hopes of taking a more mature animal. The Robison's group was 11 hunters strong and another of their group also let a shooter bear walk, as well as a sow with twin cubs that made an appearance. Heading towards evening hour, Don & I heard a shot ring out and we were discussing exactly which hunter that shot came from when more shots came from behind us! We took off to find Jeremy Rauf from New York state with a smile on his face and a bear on the ground! He also had quite a story to tell as we discovered this was the 5th bear that had made an appearance at this hunting stand. We took a few pictures, loaded up, and headed to the other shot where a beautiful 221 pound boar was shot by Jeremy's brother, Joel. It was hard to believe, but more shots came while snapping a few field pictures so we continued on to find that a buddy of the Rauf family had drawn blood on another bear. After following the trail for a little more than 1/3 of a mile, I decided to break the track on this one and pick it up in the morning. We got back on the blood and went about another 1/4 mile in the morning before the trail dried up, so we unfortunately lost this one. Further action for the night included Juli Kimball who let 2 bears go from her stand. Lastly to report is 2nd time hunter, Roxanne Kline from Pennsylvania hunting with a crossbow when a huge Bruin walked directly past her ground blind set and continued into the heavy brush before a shot was presented. All told for opening night there were 14 bears sighted on stand, 1 wounded, and 3 brought back to camp.
Tuesday night had potential with 18 more bears sighted at the stands, but quite a few of those were sows with cubs or young adult bears that the hunters decided to pass on. The exceptions that night were Mike Kline, who like his wife the previous night, had a big bear make a momentary appearance and then hang back in the brush just out of sight before leaving the area. Ike Van Dyne from Ohio had a large bear at his hunting stand, but he opted not to take a questionable shot with his bow that night. Jeff Hansis, also with the Ohio group, reported some excitement as he had 2 bears on the ground fighting at his stand just after legal shooting while he was waiting for his guide. Wednesday action was fairly slow with Ike seeing the same 2 bears on his stand from the previous night (still no shot presentation), one hunter with an unfortunate miss, and 2 bears that made appearance's just past legal shooting. The only kill on the night was Shawn Good with the Ohio crew who took a 134 pound sow. Congrat's on your first bear kill Shawn!
On Thursday 3 more bears fell to our patient hunters. A pat on the back goes to Ike Van Dyne for going toe to toe with the 242 pound boar that was giving him fits at his stand. A shot was finally presented on Thursday, the 3rd night in a row that this same bear appeared, and Ike capitalized on the opportunity. Also tagging out on Thursday were Juli Kimball taking her second black bear with us here, and Jeff Hansis tagging his first bear ever. Sadly another bear was wounded and lost this night as well. We skidded across the finish line Friday night with Bill Pransky and Kathy Robison both tagging out with very nice 2 year old bears that coincidentally both had the genetic white "V" on their chests. In addition there were 2 other hunters that gave reports of very large bears on the stands that night that just wouldn't come out in the open and give up a shot opportunity.
Final tally for opening week comes in at 46 separate bear sightings, 2 wounds, 1 miss, and 9 tag outs. It was readily apparent by the end of the week that the bear population was healthy and thriving, but their main intention for coming to the hunting stands was to check on the available supply of food to have later on when the natural food sources started to dwindle. That day couldn't come soon enough for us.
More good news to start off the second week of season. Hurricane Irene was being followed right up by Hurricane Katia. She was not nearly so kind to the eastern seaboard, with catastrophic rainfalls causing mass flash flooding in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Katia's remnants were dumping rain by the inches on us as well, but got to hand it to our hunters for wanting to tough it out in some pretty awful hunting conditions Monday night. Downpours kept the wildlife holed up under the thick spruce cover in the woods, but there's always one that has to change the rules. A sad hunter returned to camp that night after having missed the shot on a bear that came into his stand during the rains...the only sign of life seen that night.
Tuesday was a slight improvement with 2 hunters reporting shooter bears on their stands, but no opportunity at a shot, but we did also have 2 tag outs. Frank Kane with his second bow kill on black bears with us, and his buddy Art Duceman with a rifle both took home nice boars. Wednesday continued with slow action. Only 2 bears were seen on stand that night, but both were brought back to camp by a pair of ready hunters. Father and son, Travis and Tyler Moats on their 3rd trip with us here both tagged out their 3rd black bears. Some day Travis, you'll get a bigger one than your boy!
On Thursday's hunt the stars and the planets seemed to align and they smiled kindly on us all. Eight different hunters put a shot on a black bear that night, and a ninth hunter spotted one but couldn't get an opportunity to pull the trigger. Seven were brought into camp that night, including a 295 pound Bruin shot by Dennis Molesevich Jr.!! The other bear was shot with a bow by Shawn O'Neill from Pennsylvania, and the night time track was no good without a blood trail, and wet ground in the dark. I took a party with me the next morning, and we recovered a gorgeous 197 pound sow for an excited Shawn. Hope it was worth the over night stress buddy!
Coming into the gates on Friday night and there's just a little more action to report. Vince Yuskoski was the final tag out of the week with a 2 1/2 year old boar just before the end of legal shooting hours. Another bear reported to be huge in stature was seen on a hunting stand by Brian Acri, but this old monster bear must have been wise to the game and he kept circling in the brush without ever coming into the open for a shot. We would like to shout out for a job very well done by our second week hunters. There wasn't a ton of extra action on the stands with the continuing tough hunting conditions, but 13 bears were still tagged this week by some ready hunters that capitalized on the chances they were given.
Half way there now through the most challenging bear season we've ever seen, but signs of the Raspberry crop finally drying up started to show with the brown tips on the leaves, so we kept our spirits up. Week 2 turned out some decent hunting and we were hoping that the season was still on the upswing, and then we jumped right outta the gates on Monday night. We had a repeat junior hunter with us this week, Travis Bennett, scored on his second bear kill with us in as many years. Way to go Travis!! Also coming into camp on Monday was some high excitement with the biggest bear of the year and the biggest sow that we took this season. Ray Cochrane of Iowa took top honors at our camp this year with a 358 pound Boar, and his first ever black bear. The Sow was shot by Mark Zegar of Pennsylvania, and she tipped the scales at 221 pounds. Many congratulations on your accomplishments.
Wednesday night there were 2 more tag outs on a 1 1/2 year old and a 2 1/2 year old.
On Thursday we had Andy Hakes take his 3rd black bear with us, a very respectable 126 pound sow, and another hunter from Kentucky had a shooter bear make a quick appearance at his stand but walked into the surrounding trees before a shot could be taken. Moving right along to Friday night now and there was one more tag to be filled by Mike Triebsch, and congratulations to Mike on his first bear kill.
Fourth week of season proved to be the highest success rate week of the year, but due to a couple cancellations we were a little light on hunters unfortunately. Only 6 regular hunters in camp, and I deferred all the guiding this week to my very capable staff. I am proud to say that my time was not spent taking it easy, but I was occupied with a US Army Veteran that Don & I donated a fully guided hunt to through the "Wounded Warriors" Project. Our warrior was able to get a glimpse of a black bear on stand the last night of his hunt, but we weren't able to get a shot opportunity. I believe we have added another hunter to our ranks through this worthwhile donation, and I would like to thank Butch for his service and sacrifice to our Nation.
The rest of the hunters made quick work with their action on Monday and Tuesday night that week, with 5 early tag outs from our 6 hunters. The natural food sources in the woods were finally progressing and only 1 hunter did not have an opportunity during this last week of the season. The highlight reel goes to Curt Altman from South Carolina with the 186 pound sow that was his first ever bear kill, and Mr. Dave Jennings of New Hampshire with a powerful 268 pound boar that he took on Tuesday's hunt. This was Dave's second successful hunt with us here, and most importantly he beat his brother's 263 pounder from last season!! Many congratulations to Dave and all the other hunters.
So...final tally on the season puts us with 56 hunters taking 34 bears. There were 2 wounded bears and 2 missed bears this season as well, with a total of 83 different bear sightings on the stands. We finished with a success rate of 66% percent for our hunters this year...some 25% lower than the average of what we normally come in at. Until we were half way through the season we were quite disturbed with the results...and then we started hearing the reports coming in from the tagging stations and other outfitters and guides that we know throughout the state. Randy Cross, Maine's black bear biologist, posted an article in the Bangor Daily News noting the freakishly low bear kills on the season, and attributed those numbers to the excess natural food sources that were overly abundant this season. Exactly the case of what we saw evidenced in our hunting area during the 2011 black bear season. After hearing the news, I had a spark of pride in what we accomplished here this year, as our success is among the top in the state of Maine in what has been noted as the worst bear hunting conditions in over 30 years. The bright spot to all of this, that must be recognized, is that the bear population is thriving and healthy, and will undoubtedly continue that trend through the winter denning season with all the nutritional elements that were provided to the bears this summer and fall. I am not a biologist myself, but I will go out on a limb and predict that the winter den surveys will reveal higher than average cub weights, higher than average cub production, and higher than average den weights over all because of the great health of the bears going in to den for the winter. That should absolutely translate into one heck of a hunting season next year for both bear numbers and bear weights since Mother Nature is hard pressed to produce the same conditions 2 years in a row...especially to the level she produced this year.
Every year there is hard work and long hours put in by everyone here at Ross Lake Camps, but this year that level was stretched to the limits with efforts to provide the best success possible for those that trust us with their hard earned dollars. We thank every last one of our hunters this year for your patience and understanding through this most trying of our guiding career's. A special thank you must also be given to our team, Master Guide Bill Orne, Maine Guide Dan Roeder, Camp Cook Cindy Soucier, and helpers Garrett Walker, Chris Walker, and Brandon Saucier for your tireless efforts this summer and fall.
......SEE YOU NEXT SEASON!
To inquire about any plan or hunt or to make a reservation please fill out the form below:
