I am intrigued by this guide..

[bigbore442001]

http://www.bearoutfitter.com/

This past weekend I drove and chaperoned a group of adolescent males on a whitewater rafting trip to Maine. When I had free time I drove up to Jackman Maine and saw this advertisement on the side of Bishop's One Stop Store.

Any comments?

 

[No Grease]

Hmmm appears to me like shooting fish in a barrel, but that is just my outlook on it others may vary.

 

[BrownBear]

Bait stands for blackbear are legal in parts of Alaska, too. Pretty controversial among some hunters, accepted by others. There's quite an art and science to it. I've never tried it and haven't formed an opinion. On the one hand it's kind of like waiting at a stock tank in the desert for doves to fly in or antelope to walk in. On the other hand, in really dense cover there are limited opportunities to get bears without bait.

I'm not bothered by it, but then again, I wouldn't do it myself, and I especially wouldn't pay a guide for the privilege. I'll just hunt somewhere else with terrain better suited to stalking.

 

[bigbore442001]

The thing about New England is that the terrain and vegetation make spot and stalk a useless proposition. As an example, the state of Massachusetts outlaws dogs as well as baiting. There are 3000 bear permits issued and about 100 bear shot each season. I also heard that a number of them are taken on illegal baits, so go figure.

I've shot three bear over bait in my life and I like it. It isn't like shooting fish in a barrel.If it was, everyone would be getting a bear. There are many things that can go wrong and the bear may show up late at night when you can't shoot.

I kind of like the area and the tent camp idea. I think it would be a lot of fun to do.

 

[BrownBear]

There are 3000 bear permits issued and about 100 bear shot each season.

Interesting coincidence of little significance, other than to help make your point about how tangled things are there.

Kodiak has a population of 3,000 brown bears, give or take. They issue 300 hunting permits, again give or take. And yet a little over 100 bears get popped each year.

In fact much of Kodiak is brushy, but with lots of hills and mountains. You might not see the bear right in front of you, but you can easily spot ones on the hillsides or the opposite sides of draws from you. That's why spot and stalk hunting is the big deal.

The ole nutshell sezz that it takes ten times as much effort in Mass as in Kodiak to get a bear.

 

[rabjr]

I hunted in Jackman out of a camp on Spencer lake once back in 87'. Was a gorgeous place but the 7 or 8 hours on stand everyday sucked, never did see a thing come in except those damn bugs. We had one bear taken out of 5 hunters. I believe that area which was mostly paper company land, was all logged off a year or two later basically destroying that camps lively hood. Which was a shame too as it was a beautiful place.

 

[bigbore442001]

The Jackman area is beautiful but hard to hunt in. Big woods and the game populations are less dense than in southern Maine. Bear are the exception. This is one of the better bear areas.

I kind of like the tent camp idea. Something where you know you are in a real wild area and a real break from the trappings of civilization.

 

[BrownBear]

I kind of like the tent camp idea. Something where you know you are in a real wild area and a real break from the trappings of civilization.

Careful about that, and I'm not kidding. Before coming to Alaska so long ago, my hunts usually involved public campgrounds with all the people, noise and hassles that came with them.

Been doing the remote camps and cabins up here for over 30 years now. Almost never anyone nearby unless they are in our party.

Today I just couldn't go through what I see in fall campgrounds and hunting fields in the lower 48. I'm not saying it's bad at all, but it's just not me any more. I'd be nervous as a three tailed cat in a rocking chair factory going into the woods with some of the yahoos I've seen. Bad enough sharing a campground with them.

However you can get away from people in campgrounds and in the field, you'll be doing it again. Whether you're paying to use someone else's camp or packing your own on your back, that will be your new gold standard.

 

[10 gauge]

20 tons of honey? The hell with the bears let me get at all that honey. :grin:
So the buddy plan means what for $800? Two people for $800 or $800 each.
Sounds cheap in price, in AZ running bear with hounds and horse is going to run you more then that.
Oops, read more. Its three people minimum at $800 each. Still not that bad of a price.