Last spring, I was informed by my Uncle that I had won a spring bear hunt through US Outdoorsman Central with Bulldog via phone and he asked me if I wanted to accept the trip. I have always wanted to hunt bear so it didn't take me long to answer!! Dan gave me the contact info and that afternoon I called Bulldog Camps to confirm the trip and make reservations for this spring. They were extremely polite and helpful in setting up the best time for me to go and work around my schedule. It was a long year's wait!!!!!!!!!! I left NY on June 20th and headed to Jackman! My Father and another friend tagged along just to enjoy a little camp life, relaxation and trout fishing. The trip took around 12 hours due to a couple small mix-ups and a few stops to stretch our legs. We arrived at camp and were immediately greeted by The owner, Darren Savage's Daughter Sierra who came right to our vehicles with a 4-wheeler and a trailer, loaded all our belongings and took them to our cabin. We were informed breakfast would be served from 7-9 am. The following morning, I met Darren and his Son Jordan. These are some of the most friendly, hardworking, enjoyable people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Darren goes above and beyond to make sure you have everything you need to be comfortable. He also sits and eats all meals with his Guests and makes it a point to have a conversation with each and every one of his clients on a personal type basis to get to know you and make you feel right at home. The meals were 5-star restaurant quality and the portions were incredible! He had a woman named Linda who is a neighbor working with him to help with meals and together they did an amazing job. Nobody walked away from the table hungry. After the main meal at noon on Monday, Darren met with all the hunters and had a meeting on rules, regulations, and safety. Then we all went up on the hill above camp and shot our rifles to make sure they were on. After that, it was about an hour and 15 min ride to the stand sites on the Passamaquoddy Indian Reservation across gravel roads through some gorgeous country. We saw moose every day on the way in, and the way out each night along with various other wildlife. The trip to the stands was just as exciting as the hunting was, and really made the trip enjoyable. Darren's sense of humor will really keep you on the edge of your seat! The first night I sat overlooking a bait and saw numerous snowshoe rabbits, squirrels and birds, but no bears were seen. One of the other hunters next to me killed a 225 pound bear and hearing him shoot really got my excitement up! This was the first time I had been on a successful bear hunt and really got pumped up when they picked me up and I saw the bear in the back of the truck! Day 2 I was put in a ladder stand made entirely out of pine trees from the area and just being in a homemade natural stand like that in the big woods was truly amazing! The bait had already been hit and Darren sent one of his guys in to re-bait for me. I sat till dark and though I didn't see anything that night, I had a very relaxing watch and enjoyed every minute of it. Day 3 Darren took me to another site on a ledge about 30 foot high overlooking the bait at the bottom of the hill. I really liked this spot and it had that feeling about it that just said "bear"! It was a really nice evening and just before dark, I could hear something every now and then down below me, so I kept watching in anticipation. Just before dark, I heard a loud noise and caught a glimpse of a bear as it ran into the cover. I couldn't understand what had happened as the wind was right in my face and I didn't make a sound or move. I explained what had happened to Darren when he picked me up and he told me more than likely there was two bears there and a larger one had scared off the one I had coming in! Day 4 I returned to the ledge stand again and the weather was a little bit rough at times. It started out really hot and sunny, but within minutes, that changed and I sat through a 2 hour downpour. Shortly after that, the sun came back out but the wind had picked up quite a bit so I had my doubts anything would move until real late. At 8:43 I was watching the bait and suddenly a bear appeared out of nowhere and was sniffing the air and slowly circling the bait. I was amazed to see him and looked him over real good with the scope. He had a beautiful face and gorgeous coat, but sizing him up was nearly impossible as he wouldn't come close enough to the barrel. I decided that this would be my first bear, and though I knew it wasn't a 300 lb'er, I figured it was good enough for me! When he turned broadside and put his closest leg forward, I shot him right where Darren had told us to. He jumped straight up, growled and took off into the brush. I heard 2 crashes and then nothing. Then the excitement kicked in!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe I had just shot a black bear in Maine!!!! I couldn't wait for Darren and the other's to pick me up and be able to see what I got. They came in and followed the bear and it had only made it about ten yards into the brush. Perfect heart shot! It was smaller than I had thought and about 70 pounds, but I had absolutely no regrets and was treated as if I had shot a 200lb bear. For my first, I'm absolutely thrilled!!!. I'm having Frontier Taxidermy in Solon, ME do a full size mount for me and can't wait to get it back! The coat on him was perfect, and he had a really nice brown/gray muzzle. There was a lot of celebration in our camp that night!!! Darren has everything set up for his clients and the next morning, I took the bear into Jackman and registered it, then to the taxidermist who caped the whole bear out in about ten minutes, from there, a butcher picks up the bear, processes it, vacuum packs your meat to your specifications, and freezes it for you. You tell the butcher when you are leaving, and he meets you at the taxidermy shop on the way out with all your meat. VIP treatment all the way!!! We spent the next two days doing a little fishing for the native brook trout in the pond, then we rode around and fished a few creeks and looked for moose. On Friday, one of the clients shot a 345lb bear out of the stand I sat in the first night, and Saturday a 200lb bear was shot by another guy. Incredible thinking this was the last week of the season! We ended up with 4 bears 2 more missed, and several more sightings! Darren, Sierra, Jordan, Linda, Bobby, and Dale.... Thank you from the bottom of my heart for such an amazing trip!!! I will definitely be back and I'm looking at a fall 2011 hunt with Bulldog camps right now! And a special thanks to Dan Leonard, Jim Hanlon and US Outdoorsman Central for making this dream a reality for me!........ ~Dan McCargar Jr |
| Bulldog Camp Bear Hunt Trip Winner Dan McCargar tells us about his adventure! |
