Double Header on Bear!

Jamie and Kenny decided to try and take a bear this spring and they both managed to get their game early in the season and at about the same time. We have one bait site that has been hit by several bears and it has been quite a chore just keeping the site baited. The bear track in the previous post was taken at this site and it was of a very large bear. The bear that Kenny took over this bait is not the bear that made this track,but Ken's bear would still be considered a nice spring bear. Jamie had not killed a bear before and just wanted to take a bear,any bear. Jamie got his bear about a quarter mile from the bait site in a clover field about the same time Ken killed his. Although Jamie's bear is a small bear,it was his first and he was happy to get it. The boy's had a small celebration after the hunt and with the help of some friends ,including a couple of college age girls,they managed to nearly eat one of the bears before the skinning was done! These guy's do a great job doing up their meat and all hands agreed that the meat was fantastic. Although Ken and Jamie like taking large animals as well as anyone,they were raised up as meat hunters and they will gladly take a good eating animal when the opportunity arises. A young bear makes for some good eating,being similar in taste to pork ,but with a little gamier taste. Many times it is the handling of the game that makes the difference when it comes time to eat and Ken is an expert at handling game after the kill. I have never had a bad piece of meat that was handled by Ken and I don't expect I ever will. We still have some monster black bear hitting some of our sites,but you have to be patient with these bigger,more mature animals.They are just a little spookier than their younger counterparts,but sooner or later they will make a mistake. The boy's also got some nice brook trout and had some great fishing for white perch that have been running in Salmon River. Jamie and Randy Micheal both got their limit two nights in a row.If you have never had white perch fillets,you don't know what you are missing! They are absolutely delicious! I will post some photos of their fishing success in the next post. Ken and I are continually scouting for big Northwoods bucks and there are lots of them around from what we have been seeing this spring. Some hunters were concerned about the large snow pack we had this year,but Ken and I are happy to report that many of the big bucks in our hunting areas have survived the winter and are in good shape. I had predicted that the larger animals would fare better than the younger ones and this has proven to be true from our observations. So the outlook for all outdoor activities in south-central New Brunswick is very positive and I would encourage anyone looking for a good day or week in the bush or on the water to give me a call or send me an e-mail and Ken and I will get you out there and on the game!

Lot's of Big Bear!

Things are starting to green-up here in central New Brunswick and that means the bears are out in the fields eating grass and sniffing around. There is certainly no shortage of big bears here in our area.The photo in this post is of one of three large boars visiting our baits in three different locations. I saw a nice bear of about 300 lbs. on a moose kill beside the 123 highway between Chipman and Doaktown the other day while travelling back from the Miramichi River. Good friend George P. told me he watched a large boar chase a smaller one off of the flat on the Gaspereau River across from his camp. One of the young lads I had working for me cleaning up after the flood said he walked out the logging road behind his house with his B.B. gun to try and get some squirrels,when out walks Mr. Bear about 50 yards from him! The kid said he turned and ran back to the house and never looked back! Speaking of the flood,this years freshet was the highest since 1973.The damage to property along the Saint John River /Grand Lake watershed will be in the tens of millions of dollars. I had extensive damage in my basement and it had to be completely gutted. We relocated to Carroll's Crossing on the Miramichi River for the last three weeks. We were over there anyway for the spring salmon fishing,but that didn't diminish the fact that it was a very difficult transition. I'm really glad to be back home and not living out of a duffel bag. I did a lot of travelling back and forth through the bush while staying at Carroll's,and I was seeing game every time I was out. Moose were running around everywhere and deer were out grazing on the sides of the roads. Lots of small game, too. The spring salmon season is done and the sea trout are just getting started. By all accounts,this spring salmon season was a poor one in comparison to recent ones. A prolonged run of ice and then high dirty water that stubbornly stayed that way for a couple of weeks made for hard fishing this year.But there should be a good run of sea trout this year as this fishery continues to improve. Although Ken and I have been very busy tending bear baits,we have also been placing salt and mineral blocks at our stand locations for deer. We were really happy to see that most of the big bucks we had scouted last year survived the winter in good shape. We have been seeing some really nice buck sign in all the areas we hunt,so there should be some nice racks running around next fall. I would encourage any readers to contact me if you would like to spend a day or a week in the woods or on the water here in beautiful New Brunswick. You can be guaranteed to take home memories to last a lifetime!

A Cast to the Past

Spring has finally arrived here in New Brunswick and by all accounts,none to soon! Salmon River is open except for Salmon Harbour and the Miramichi River has some open spots and the locals are catching a few salmon from shore,but all the ice hasn't run ,so it isn't safe for boating yet. There are a couple of new regulations for fishing spring salmon,one being barbless only fishing.This is probably a good thing as it will save some of the larger fish from being exhausted and dying after release.The other rule change is a maximum of ten fish hooked and released per day. This is also a change welcomed by the guides and outfitters alike because many sports were coming back to camp after a great day of fishing,catching maybe a dozen fish and talking to their buddy or another guest who has caught and released say tweny fish and feeling disappointed. It was turning into a numbers game instead of a great fishing experience and Atlantic Salmon fishing is definitely not a numbers game. These fish are hard to catch and it was putting unnecessary pressure on the outfitters and the guides were getting very frustrated with the situation.This should help to put things back in their proper perspective and make for a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved.Ken and I have been very busy putting out salt and mineral blocks for the deer that Mike T.and his group from N.Y.State and our other guests will be hunting next fall.We are also getting ready to put out our baits for the spring bear hunt. The photo in this post is a bit unusual,but true to form.It shows my younger brother having a little New Brunswick sushie on the famous Caines River while on one of his many trips fishing for sea-run brook trout.Tim love three things in decending order of importance.Beer,women and fishing. He certainly was an accomplished fisherman.I'm not really too nostalgic,but each year at this time I think of him fishing the lower Newcastle Stream for big trout coming up from Grand Lake and picking many pounds of fiddleheads to sell locally. Tim wasn't really much of a hunter.He didn't have that agressive streak that it takes to be a good hunter.In many ways he reminded me of an old woman in the woods.I guess that woman would be our grand-mother Boyd.She was a kind,gentle soul who could tell you anything about the local plants and animals,as well as local woodcraft.Tim was a lot like that. I miss him. On a lighter note,the numbers of fish and game in our area have never been better in recent memory and Ken and I are looking forward to having many memorable days afield in the coming months. We hope to see you all soon!