and a strong cup of coffee

Jesse Phillips had no intention of bear hunting.  He was along for the ride with friend and host of Blood Origins , Robbie Kroger, who was on his annaul bear hunt with Grove Hill Outfitters .  Being convinced that he should go hunt, Jesse grabbed the 45-10 and headed into a treestand.  He wore his cowboy boots, jeans and flannel, "the only thing I didn't do was put on deoterant" Jesse laughed.  Climbing up into the stand a little before 2pm, he held no expectations for seeing his first bear in the wild.  He was doing this just to apease the guys in camp.  At 4:02, a bear appeared. "He was about 40 yards away," explained Jesse, "and he was just walkeding around, sniffing and eating.  He wasn't interested in the bait at all."  Watching the bear, Jesse knew he needed to remain calm. He was in no position to move his gun and take a shot without the bear spooking. The bear walked in and out of the opening with no intention of heading to the bait. Jesse...

In the Northern Maine woods, down a long dirt road surrounded by a beaver bog and thick, dense forests there was a small cabin without electricity, a phone or any sort of cell service.  In that cabin, five outdoors women sat with their guns ready to kill Maine black bears.  The swollen stream flowed past us at bear camp. The rain would start and stop during my time at camp and we would hold out breathe to find out if we would go out and hunt again or if we would be rained out and the bears that we came to hunt will continue to roam the woods and fields. Five of us were at bear camp and while we lead very different lives, our love of the outdoors and desire to hunt black bear have brought us together for these few days.  Some have been bear hunting for years and for others, this is their first time.  There is something about breaking out of your comfort zone that makes for an exciting time at camp. "I'm terrified of them," Sue says when I ask her if she ha...

I got my skull back from Lori and Jim at New Frontier Taxidermy !  They are incredible.  Not only are they tanning my bear hide but they saved my skull.  Saved it! A look into my bear's mouth  One of the things that I did not want to tell people was that when my bear was getting cut up at the butcher's, his skull was cut.  I knew it was bad and the look on my guide's face was a give away for how bad it may be.  But, I had my bear head, hide and an extra bag with the back part of his skull in it that I took up to New Frontier Taxidermy for Lori and Jim.  I lied to people when they asked me about it and hoped against hope that Lori and Jim could but it back together.  I wanted a complete skull and if I could make it into the record books, that would be an added bonus. This past weekend, I got my skull.  It is together but not complete.  Not quite the same angle but close. They had to wrap my skull and the additional piece in ...