Well my hunting buddy and friend George and I are back from our Maine Black bear hunt.
We had a great hunt.
We drove 14 hours on Saturday the 23rd to Maine, we stayed in Caribou Maine the first night and
went into Wade Maine on Sunday. We met the Outfitter/Guide Pete Koch and his family. We
also met the other hunter in camp with us, Marty Thomas. We went over the rules of the camp
and had one of the local game wardens, that is friends with Pete come by and go over some rules
and safety items, then we sat down to a great feast his wife and daughters prepared for us.
The next day we went to a friend of Pete’s to make sure our guns were still on, and we also
brought a few of our hand cannons for Pete and Marty to try out. I brought my Gary Reeder 510
GNR revolver, my BFR 500 Mag, BFR 45-70 and my Encore with another one of Gary Reeder’s
510 GNR barrels.
I shot all the guns making sure all were ready for the hunt. After I was done, I turn over the guns
to Pete and Marty to shoot, They had a blast shooting the guns. Pete was getting use to the recoil,
but was shooting well for a guy that was not use to hand cannons, now Marty is a crack shot, I
was very impressed with his pistol skills, he is an avid recurve bow hunter.
After they shot my guns, George got out his S&W 500 Mag and his S&W 460 Mag. He checked
his sights out, and again turned the guns over to Pete and Marty to shoot.. I think we got them
hooked on big bore hand cannons.
Well now for the hunt. We met with our guide Pete at 12:30, he drove me to my stand about 10
miles away from camp, we walked in about a little over a 1/4 mile to the bait sight. I got into the
ground blind and got set up. I got my video camera on the tri-pod and was ready in a matter of a
few minuets. Pete gave me the thumbs up sign and left. At 2:30 I heard what sounded like a
Moose call, Pete had told me, there was very large sow, that came to this bait sight that was very
vocal and sounded like a Moose. The sound got closer and it was just out side of my blind, but I
could not see through the thick blind to see it. It got quit and about 3:05 the bear started with the
vocalizations and again it was on my left side, right next to the blind. Right at that time the rain
came in, it was a heavy down pour, and I could hear the bear leaving the area, the ground was
soaked and is a wet area to begin with. So I sat in the rain for about 30 minuets before it stopped.
At 5:15 PM, I saw a bear run across a trail about 35 yards past the bait, I was getting pumped that
I already seen 2 bears in a matter of hours. And that was the last of the bears, until, I was sitting
there looking at the 4 trails leading to the bait, and out of no where I see a black figure coming
in, I hit my camera on and started video taping. I have the bear coming to the bait. I watch him
come in and circle the bait area on the back side and then come in. The head on this bear looks
huge. The bear comes in and see’s a bait bucket that Pete just put up, the bear gets up on his two
back legs and rips the bucket down. I look the bear over, and try to gauge how big this bear may
be, now remember I am on the ground eye level and 15 yards away from this bear, he looks like a
beast. Right then I decide to take this bear. I wait for the beat to turn broad side to me and I rase
my 510 GNR with iron sights and take my shot. The bear hunches up and runs into the thick
woods. I listen for him crashing through the woods and look at my compass to get his last
location , and right then I hear a death moan, he did it 4 times, and I had him pin pointed on my
compass. I wait about 5 minuets and get out of the blind. It was 6:00 PM when I took the shot.
I have my 510 GNR in one hand, and the camera in the other. I go to the area where he was shot,
I do not see any blood at all. I look about 5 feet away in the direction the bear ran, I spot a few
drops of blood, I can also see where he ran in the woods, where the brush was broken down and
the ground was disturbed. I follow it slowly and find another few drops of blood. I am about 15
yards away from the area where I shot the bear now, I keep following the disturbed ground and
about 10 yards see my bear in a brush pile of downed trees. I pick up a long stick, and put the
camera down, while using the stick in one hand and my 510 GNR in my other hand, I poke the
bear with the stick. The bear is down for good.
I got hold of Pete with my Radio, and he was on his way to get the bear. At about 6:30 PM Pete,
his wife and Dan came in, and we took some pictures and got the bear out of the woods. At the
time we headed over to where George was hunting, and on the way we got a phone call saying,
George had taken a shot on a bear. We got there to find George on the main road about ½ from
the bait sight. He walked out to get phone reception to call Pete.
We went in to retrieve George’s bear, He had a real up close and personal experience. He had a black bear looking inside the blind and turned away only 3 feet from the blind when he let his S&W 500 Mag go. The bear went down with all 4 feet up in the air, and just as quick , it jumped back up and headed toward the blind, George took a second shot and off the bear went into the woods. The bear was found 22 yards from the blind, and after it was skinned out, we found out both shots connected with the bear.
We also went to where the bow hunter (Marty) was, and he had a story for us, and he passed on a
small boo boo bear about 75 to 100 pounds.
The second night, Pete put Marty the bow hunter on another sight. Right at about 15 minuets
before legal shooting hour was up, a big black bear came into the sight, and Marty stuck his bear
with his Black Widow bow, wooden arrow and a German steel custom broad head.
All bears were recovered with in 25 yards of the shots. 2 days and we all tagged out on some fine
black bears. I have a video of my hunt, that Marty will be posting on his web site when I get him
a copy made. But I do have pictures of the bear if anyone is interested in seeing them.
I have already booked another hunt with Pete at Wild Country Outfitters for next year. I have
another buddy going up with me.
If you are looking for a different hunt other than tree stand, hound or spot and stalk, and you want
to get up close and personal with black bear on there lever, you need to call Pete and book a hunt
with him. He is a top notch woodsman, guide and person. He will work his tail off for you to
have every opportunity at some big bear.
If you would like to see Marty’s hunt on video, it is located on his web site at
http://www.buffsblackwidow.com/2008friends.htm Look for the Maine 2008 video.
And if you are looking for a hunt of a life time, contact Pete Koch at Wild Country Outfitters at
http://www.mainewildcountryoutfitters.com/index.html
