Click on a picture to see it full size!

          Monday found me heading out to run some baits prior to getting the guys out in the afternoon for their hunt.  We headed out to the bait sites after lunch and I got the guys out with high hopes.  No one called me on the cell phone, so it wasn't until I picked up the guys that I learned that Gary had heard a bear run off as he had prepared to exit his stand, Matt K.  had seen a bear a couple of times, Trevor heard a bear pop his jaws and finally Tom had seen 5 bears.  The other fellows did not see or hear any bears near their stands.  We headed back to have some of Nancy's good cooking and swap a few yarns.

         Tuesday found me running baits once again and heading back for some lunch.  After lunch we headed out to the stands for the afternoons hunt.  Today the only hunter to see any bears was Tom.  He saw another shooter bear on his bait, but opted to pass on it.  We headed back to the lodge and ate more of Nancy's good cooking and swap a few stories.

         Wednesday found me running baits once again.  After lunch we headed out to the stands.  After getting the guys in place, I went to run a few more baits, when I heard a shot.  This was followed by a phone call from Frank that he had shot a nice bear on his bait.  On my way to help Frank I found Richard Harris waiting at the end of the road his son was on.  I had him ride along with me.  We found Frank waiting at the edge of the road.  We headed to the bait site where I picked up the blood trail and a few minutes later we were standing next to Frank's nice boar bear.  We got it out to the truck, and picked up the rest of the guys.  No one else had seen any bears.  We headed home, ate and laughed.

         On Thursday morning Pat opted to hunt the morning on his bait site.  I ran some baits, and then received a phone call from Pat informing me he had shot his first bear.  I arrived to find a very excited Pat waiting for me.  His bear had appeared right next to him as he awoke from a brief nap, he shot it.  We took a few pictures and loaded the bear on the truck and headed back to camp for lunch.  That afternoon we headed back out to hunt again.  That evening I got a phone call from a very excited Matt.  He had shot a big bear.  Well in my tired state of mind I thought it was Matt Miller, but it was Matt Kunkel.  So as I picked Matt Kunkel up, he probably couldn't believe how nonchalant we were, as he had just shot a bear and we did not seem to care.  We picked up Gary and learned he had watched a very large bear on his bait that did not present a shot.  By this time we had figured out that Matt Kunkel had a bear we needed to retrieve.  He and I headed in to his bait site to trail the bear.  It wasn't too long and we were standing over the largest bear I have had the opportunity to guide a hunter to.  It was all of 400 pounds dressed weight.  We gathered up some help that was waiting at my truck and got the bear loaded in the back.  No one else had seen any bears, but boy were we excited about Matt's bear.  We got back to camp, ate and heard his story.

          Friday found Matt Miller and Trevor trying a morning hunt as I ran some baits. We met to head back to camp for lunch, they had not seen any bears.  After lunch we headed back to hunt the afternoon.  That evening I got a call from Tom that he had shot a large bear with his bow.  I picked his brother Gary up and the rest of the guys headed back to camp as we headed out to help Tom with his bear.  Well we learned that Tom had seen a sow with 3 cubs, and later a large boar came in that he shot.  After a short tracking job we found another very large boar that dressed at 300 pounds lying on the ground.  It did not take the 3 of us long to realize we could use a hand or two to retrieve this bear.  Matt Kunkel, Matt Miller and Trevor Harris drove back to give us a hand with this bear.  We returned to the lodge late with week 3 pretty much over.  We had 22 bears seen or heard near the baits and two of the largest bears I have guided hunters to taken this week and a total of 4 bears taken. 

          Saturday after most of the guys were heading home I was still skinning Tom's bear and then we packed the hide and meat for their return trip to Michigan.  Tom's bear will grace the wall of his campground office, where he can view it and relive the week he spent in the Maine woods and the 11 bears he had watched up close, and did what many hunters are still trying to do, kill a black bear with archery equipment.  A great week of hunting was had by all.   If you are going to be traveling through Michigan and plan on staying at a camp ground, you can visit with Tom Haner and see his bear at Cross-N Creek campground.  If you stop in tell him Rick sent you.