Part 2: Gimmie the bears!

So we made it to King's den. Now the fun starts.

Once King was sedated and out, Jake and Mitch got ready to pull the cubs out. We stood closer to where they were in a semi-circle and watched. Lisa explained what was happening and the fact that this was more than likely, the first time the cubs had ever seen day light.

Mitch taking the first cub out of the den.

Mitch put the first cub against his chest and let go. The cub stuck to the wool jacket with it's claws, like Velcro. Jake handed him the second cub and Lisa stepped in to help. As Jake got King ready to come out of the den, Mitch tagged the cubs in each ear, weighed and measured them and described them for Lisa to write down.


Lisa and Mitch holding the cubs.

Mitch weighing the cub as Jake begins to get King out of the den.

Cub tagged 501: male, 5 1/2lbs, white blaze on chest

Cub tagged 502: female, 5 lbs, small white patches on chest, larger patch on right side.

Once the cubs were tagged, they were passed around. They smelled like dirt and were soft and cuddly like a puppy. They were both trying to snuggle and get warm again but were not opposed to climbing onto our shoulders to look around and be in a higher position.

Finally, King was taken out of the den. Mitch and Lisa weighed her (152lbs) and took hair samples, checked her teeth and her measurements. They also replaced her collar so that she would have fresh batteries for the next year. Jake gathered soft wood branches to help insulate and clean the den a little bit before we had to put the bears back.

Biologists doing what they love.

King looked healthy. She had thick, long hair like my bear did and she had a beautiful white blaze on her chest. I couldn't wait to get my photo taken with her. I had to maneuver my snowshoes so that I wouldn't bump King while I got behind her. I was struck by how powerful she seemed as I held her head and paw. Every time I sat there in awe of her, my thoughts were broken by her inhales and exhales.

King

Even when they talked about the bears acting up when they check the dens, it is clear that all three of them love their job. Lisa was able to name generations and generations of bears throughout the study areas with such enthusiasm and passion. It was hard not to be just as excited.

King

At one point, Lisa brought up a conversation that she had with a friend of hers who asked how she could hunt an animal that she works so closely with. Lisa explained that she has seen bears that have been killed by other bears, have been hit by cars, had horrible cases of mange and were dying of starvation. For her (and me) letting a bear live a full, healthy and complete life and then die a quick, sudden death - and feed a family - is much better than suffering. I couldn't agree more!

Jake mentioned that King was moving her eyes and we all knew that it was time to pack it up and head home. We got our things and started down towards the snowmobiles while Jake, Mitch and Lisa put the bears back in the den and covered the hole up. The trip from the snowmobiles and back to the truck seemed to go twice as fast as it took us to get into the woods.

It was an incredible day out in the woods and we were able to do something that few people do. As a new bear hunter, it meant even more to me. I am lucky to have had the opportunity and be able to spend the day in the Maine woods with some of the best bear biologists in the Nation.

Taking Turkeys to Texas

There are a few less turkeys in Maine to hunt this year. A few months ago, Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife in partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation , captured and released more than 50 birds into East Texas with the hope of rebuilding their population. “Eastern turkeys are where the restocking efforts originally began,” explained Shawn Roberts, Director of Field Operations for the National Wild Turkey Federation, “We tried in the 1920’s but it didn’t work. We tried pen-raised birds and that didn’t work either. The only thing that was successful was to trap birds and relocate them to good habitat.” “We started this current effort in the early ‘80s and we had to begin looking outside the state to see if we could get them moved in. We didn’t want to violate The Lacey Act so we had to come up with a way to compensate the states that were giving up a resource either by trading other wildlife or paying them monetarily,” said Roberts. Texas is on the very edge o

Utilizing technology to make you more aware

Staci and I were roaming around the woods on a piece of property that she knew. It was snowing and we were chasing deer tracks to see if we could find some early sheds. It was a perfect day to be out in the woods and we were relaxed and not really paying attention to where we were going. We knew the border of the property and we knew that if we walked long enough we would hit roads or the bog and find our way back. We got to a point where we thought we knew where we were but we were not sure. Staci got out her compass to take a waypoint to make sure we were going in the right direction to get back to the truck. I took out my phone and turned on OnX. Within seconds we knew where we were, where the property borders were in relation to us and we could watch the dot (that represented us) on the map move as we walked out of the woods and got closer to the truck. In another adventure, my son and I headed out on a shed hunting mission. When we got into the woods, I turned on the tracker

Where are the women?

This week, my interview with Steve at The Maine Outdoorsman went live. Steve said yesterday 200 people hit his site viewing over 500 pages. That is a lot of people reading about little ole me and hunting. Why? When I think of women who are in the general public's eye and hunt, I can think of 2 - Country singer Miranda Lambert and Sarah Palin. Why only two? Why is the female hunter such a fascinating thing? (I should probably note that I do not have cable so any and all female hunters on the hunting stations are lost to me. I'll keep it to the general public because that's what I am familiar with.) People/media were fascinated by the fact that they could get footage of Palin and her gun, shooting (and gutting) animals but I feel like the nostalgia would be lost if they had the same footage of McCain. Lambert and her hubby Blake Shelton tweet photos of their kills, and comment on what/where they are hunting. I only know this because I follow both. That's it.

and a strong cup of coffee

Search This Blog