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     The first week of the 2007 bear season found us meeting eight new bear hunters and guests.  Bill and Gary Casper, a father and son from Pennsylvania and New York, came to hunt bear over bait in Maine.  Another father and sons group made up of Randy Sr., Randy Jr., and Brian Dawson from, Virginia, and New Jersey came for their annual family trip to try their hand at hunting bears.  A husband and wife that Nancy met in the Detroit area last February at a Safari Club International banquet, Ray and Kim McVeigh, arrived for their first archery bear hunt.  Last but not least Oscar Basso from New York, came here after nearly a year of anticipation to hunt black bear for the first time.  This group of newcomers arrived on Sunday to a Maine lobster dinner, orientation and finally weapon proficiency.  Then they had to wait until Monday to actually get a chance to hunt.

      Monday found everyone anxious to hunt.  After a great lunch served up by Nancy, I took the first of the hunters out to their stands.  I then returned to get the rest of the hunters and get them in place at all of the bait sites.  Around 4:30 my cell phone rang and Brian Dawson informed me he had shot a bear.  I headed out to his stand and in short order found his bear, not 25 yards from the bait.  A well placed shot had quickly put the bear down.  We dressed off the bear, loaded it on the truck and went to the tagging station.  Once the bear was tagged and in the walk in cooler, we waited until approximately 6 pm, when Brian and I went for a short drive to check on two hunters without cell phones.  As I passed by Gary's site, I saw him walking up the road.  He had just shot a bear.  After carefully examining the area, it was determined that nerves had gotten the better of Gary, and his shot barely grazed the bear.  He got in the truck and we headed to the lodge to drop him off and pick up the rest of the hunters.  Once everyone was gathered up and back at the lodge we learned that Oscar had seen a bear in the brush that would not step into the open, Randy Sr.  had seen 3 different bears and everyone else's afternoon had been fairly quiet, except for Ray, who had the opportunity to film a fisher on his site.

     Tuesday found us gathered around the dining room table eating a hearty lunch in preparation for day two of the hunt.  We got everyone out to the stands and I headed back to camp to wait for the phone to ring.  Around 4 pm, Randy Sr.  called to say he had shot a bear.  His son, Brian wanted to ride with me as we looked for his dad's bear.  Once again, however, nerves had won out, and Sr.'s shot was a bit off, and the bear ran off into the dense swamp, with a minor wound.  While Brian and I were heading out to look for Sr.'s bear, Randy Jr. had called to say he had shot a monster.  I told him we would be there ASAP.  Sr., Brian and I arrived at Randy Jr.'s stand, where he told us what had happened.  I went to the bait site, and just behind the bait, laid a bear of about 350 lbs.  A very nice way for a first time bear hunter to start out.  We dressed off the bear, and as a group effort carried it out to the truck.  It was now time to gather up the remaining hunters, and head back to camp.  Once home I learned that Ray had seen and filmed a bear, his wife Kim had watched a sow and cub on her site and Gary could hear a bear popping its jaws at him on his site.

      Wednesday found us gathered around the dining room table once again in preparation for a long afternoons bear hunt.  Today Kim watched a bear from her stand, and Gary's bear he had shot at on Monday returned to antagonize him for the afternoon, as it was very alert, and he could not get a shot.  Everyone else's afternoon was quiet.

     Thursday found us eating a great noon meal in preparation for the hunt.  Today we were going to move to some different stands to see how a change of scenery might help.  Today Bill got to see his first bears on bait as a sow and two cubs were there when he got to the bait site.  Gary's bear came back again as well, and again did not allow him to get a shot.  Ray watched a sow and cub on his stand, but Oscar and Kim did not see anything.

     Friday found a change in the weather.  It had rained, looked like it had stopped raining, but caught the hunters who did not bring raingear to the stands with them.  Two hunters had to call the it a day early, as the cold rain had soaked them through.  Right at dark, Bill saw a bear on his site, but without enough light to make a good shot, he passed on taking a questionable shot.  We all headed back to the lodge to have a great steak dinner to finish out the week.  We killed two bears for the week.  We saw at least 20 bears out of the 8 hunters, and 100% of the hunters had at least seen a bear on their bait.  We began the week with eight first time bear hunters, after many hours in stand, they are all experienced and ready for many more bear hunting experiences.