looks like that sucker lived at MacDonalds

The idea never even crossed my mind, eb. My intention was to freeze and save these beaver carcasses for the upcoming trapping season but finding a reasonably priced freezer for that purpose didn't work out. Never gave it a second thought as I was hoping to get cat pics, not bear.

All them pictures of big bears gets the blood going. It sucks sometimes here in MN when a person has to wait 5 yrs to get a tag. Might just need to go back to Canada and hunt bears in the spring again. Skip trying to draw and go north every couple of years.

I avoid that setup like a plaque. There is NO WAY a novice can judge a bear size in that tight cover in low light.
Heck, I've had 100' s at less than 20 yards and can't always tell what I'm seeing towards dark.

Good bears tho fellas

I've avoided the place myself the past two seasons due to how hard it is to get into and retrieve bear from. It's worth the effort. Bears move about much more freely in there than they do some of the more open sites I have.

Novice bear hunters aren't particularly picky as to the bear they are willing to harvest. I'll oftentimes set with the greener hunters.

Nowadays I pass on the big bears.My preferred bear for useable fur and meat is 200lb +\- 50.

Lol! There ain't enough cedar in that swamp to fill that void. I noticed you mentioned you like a two hundred poundish bear for your take. Maine has an annual bear harvest of around three thousand animals. The vast majority of those taken are under three years of age, with many being under two. We're talking 125-150ish pound bears.

It's the odd bear harvested that makes it to the double digit age mark and the oldest bears taken are more often than not, female. The oldest I've ever taken was a seventeen year old male based on the tooth analysis by our biologists.

Bear " unless" heavily pressured can and will move anytime. Why people think their some kind of secrative animal is beond me .

I used to take the big ones when commercial hunting them.5.5 ft skins and up paid premium.Biggest I took was 7ft 2''.Never weighed any but the big ones were 300+ in spring.The big one had hardly any teeth left.
Oh- and corduroy don't fill the muskeg lol,it floats you over.Dont take much to make a matt for a 4 wheeler.I even use tag alder from time to time.

The reason I think people find them so secretive is because they move about so much while on stand they never get to see a bear. You rarely hear a bear before you see it. Not a hard and fast rule but it's the norm. They lay downwind and sniff, look and listen before they commit to coming in. That's bear hunting in Maine.

Got two baits in today.

When do you start hunting?

Season opened on the 15th, I usually start hunting around the first week in May.

This is true, I always say that if you hear a bear coming it's because he intended to be heard. Add to that most people do not understand the importance of location when they bait. Bears do not like to expose themselves to open areas during daylight when approaching a bait. Good bait sites are in thick cover with water nearby.

Here in Minnesota, the average bear shot is 3 years old and 150 pounds or less. That's because most people don't take the time to learn how to do it right and they just want to get a bear, any bear. It's only going to get worse now that the DNR is reducing the tags so much, you wait 6 years between bear tags, most people will shoot the first bear they see because they are afraid of not getting one.

All of our baits are at barrels. If a bear can walk into a barrel you might want to let to pass.

Oct. is dog time in Northern Maine. The problem is the dogs take a hot track not necessarily the big one you want.

556. I shot him on the 9th after a 5 or 6 hour chase.

Dogs did good, as this was the last photo of the bear. BTW this 16 year old bear had an old bullet in the middle joint of its left front leg.



"Track is kind of cold, but let's try it". This was the last bear we could find in 2012 all the others were denned up by 10 Oct that year.



"Maybe more dogs will get him out of that swamp".

I've sat in a tree stand and listened to a bear knocking over stumps and blowdowns in an effort to intimidate other bears competing for the bait. That's rare and the bear thought the coast was clear, even when it wasn't. I've sat in stands and listened to them splash around in the water where my partner had earlier dropped me off by canoe. They know how you're entering and exiting a site.

Bear are an incredibly smart animal and are rarely suicidal. They know and want to know what is going on at a bait site before they ever commit. That's especially true of an animal that has some years on it. Bear baiting has been going on around here for decades and these animals were weaned on bait, they know the deal.

That's a big bear, eb. I think I've read you're about ten years older than me. I'm 59 and don't have the stamina to do that anymore. Sucked too many pollutants into my lungs over the years. Hats off to you!