and a strong cup of coffee

Yearlings run.  That was the caution that Randy Cross told Staci ( MyMainelyGirlAdventures ) and me as we met with the Maine bear crew to prepare to head into the woods.  This particular den that we were going to had a 16 year old sow, who had had four cubs with her last year when they checked her den.  There was the potential for four yearlings plus Mama in the den.  I was a little giddy with the idea of so many bears! It is easy to brag about the bear crew. Aside from their decades of experience working with Maine’s bear population, they are a study in how team should work.  They know their strengths and weaknesses and support one another to ensure that they have a plan and back up plans for every den visit.  Staci and I tried not to nerd out as we watched Randy Cross, Lisa Feener, Jake Feener and Ethan Lamb plan for our decent into the woods. We loaded up the snowmobiles and began to look for an access point into the woods.  Jake took the l...

In Maine, it is easy to brag about our bear biologists.  I did some quick math and with conservative estimates, Maine's bear biologist Randy Cross has spent more than 72,000 hours studying and working with our black bears.  That blows Malcolm Gladwell's   10,000 hour rule   out of the water.  I was lucky enough to tag along with Randy and his bear crew, including Lisa Bates, as they started running their trap lines to check the health of our bears.   I met Randy and two of his team mates, Preacher and Roach, as they headed out on day 3 of the 2016 trapping season. Their goal during the six week season is to collar as many females as possible while also getting the stats (weight, length, canine tooth size etc) of all of the bears caught.  Starting off slow, they continue to add traps until they have about 100 spread across the study area.  We had a list of places that we needed to check. We headed into a system of dirt roads to begin checkin...

When you kill a bear in Maine, you are legally required to submit a tooth to IF&W so that the bear can be aged and logged into the records.  Each tooth is cut, like a tree, and the rings are counted. Biologists can learn about the health of the bear and it's age. Assuming that the tooth gets to where it needs to be. Typically, it takes a year for the data to be published.  The link to the information is usually posted all over social media and eager hunters share how old their bear was.  I couldn't wait to find out how old this guy was. The popular vote was about 8 years old. When the data was posted, I searched.  I looked up my name.  I looked up my guide's name. I looked up the tagging station and the date.  I knew a few numbers in my tag and couldn't even find that. My bear was not listed! I sit on the Black Bear subcommittee for the Big Game Species planning process and see Jen Vashon and Randy Cross almost monthly.  So, I asked Jen abou...

Once again, Maine finds itself facing a battle over our bear hunt.  The Humane Society of America tried to get a motion to outlaw bear baiting through the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee at the State House and it fell flat.  As a result (and as they threatened to do), they are trying to collect enough signatures to take the issue to the voters.  The last time they did this, Mainers won out with 53% of the vote.  We appreciate our biologists, bear hunters and those that make a living off of the hunting industry.  Below is a blog that I wrote for the Bangor Daily News.  I have included the link here so you can read the comments that people left and see how uneducated people are when it comes to creating and maintaining a sustainable population.  Here is my blog.  I would love your thoughts: We are starting to see the first stories of the possible bear referendum coming up in 2014.  Local news stations are starting to cover the...