Guiding Bear Hunters With Eagle Mountain

Matt Whitegiver on Left

2011 marked my third hunting season with Eagle Mountain Guide Service. In previous years, I had volunteered my time to learn more about bear hunting, guiding clients and generally how to organize a sporting lodge. This year, however, I was fully on my own guiding clients, tracking wounded bears and ultimately guaranteeing the safety of everyone in my charge. Throughout this endeavor, I consider myself fortunate to have forged a friendship with Eagle Mountain owner/operator and guide Matt Whitegiver, as he was and continues to be an instrumental force in assisting me in becoming a better hunting guide.

Me, Tommy and 221 lb Black Bear

A large part of becoming a master guide is linked to confidence and how one carries themselves around groups of other sportsmen and the skill of maintaining a cool head under pressure and precise understanding what needs to be done in difficult situations. For guides like Matt, these skills have been finely honed through years of experiences in Maine’s woods and on its waters. For others, like myself, I have found that practice makes perfect and that becoming a great guide is ultimately about investing time guiding clients and finding a good mentor, willing to invest their time in teaching you the correct way to do things and who is not afraid to take a chance on you and be patient when you make mistakes. Throughout this learning process, I have gained considerable confidence and ultimately much more about bear hunting then would have ever been possible from any other means.

Here are a few things I learned about BEARS from this Bear Hunting season:

1.    Bears will not tolerate strange smells at a bait site
2.    Bears will tolerate strange smells at a bait site
3.    Bears LOVE strange food smells at the bait site and will run in to investigate
4.    Bears will come back to a bait site where another bear was shot
5.    Bears won’t come back to a bait site where another bear was shot
6.    Bears fear wind and heavy rain
7.    Bears love wind and heavy rain
8.    Bears still moving after shot should be shot again . . . repeat as often as necessary until bear stops moving.
9.    Bear ribs when slow cooked are freaking delicious
10.     Bears are fantastic animals to hunt. Just when you think you have them figured out they surprise you again and again. No matter what you know OR think you know about bears, sometimes when the chips are down, you just need to throw a hail Mary pass and pull a new set of tricks out of your pocket to have any chance at tagging a massive bruin!

Maine's Toughest Test Gets Facelift

IFW, in its infinite wisdom to further complicate the lives of some of the most dedicated and highly skilled sportsmen in the state, have decided to edit the requirements of the Maine guide examination. Last revised in 2002, the test was perhaps ready for a much deserved face lift, however, I argue with IFWs changes. On the top of my list of complaints, is the addition of a second oral examination for any NEW (applying after Sept. 1st) guide candidates wishing to receive all three Recreation, Hunting and Fishing endorsements. Why someone would need to complete a second oral examination, for one additional endorsement, is beyond ridiculous. Maybe I need to dumb myself down with a few more mercury filled Maine fish meals, to better understand this level of stupidity.

The one saving grace in this hullabaloo, is that a candidate need only to take the navigation portion of the oral exam once (for now anyway). When I asked IFW why they make a person take the lost person scenario twice, they responded that it was for "legal" reasons. Hmmm, something doesn't smell right. What good is finding a person, if you can't "navigate" them out of the woods? Who is the mentally challenged group of individuals that set these new requirements? I am certain that the committee was something akin to a Larry, Moe and Curly convention.

In addition to the lost person scenario, the oral will contain 10 five point and 5 ten point questions, as well as photographs of waterfowl, mammals, flyfishing flies, ammo, pfds and fish. In other words, the identification section has been removed from the written and added to the oral part of the exam. The written portion of the test is also changing and will be comprised of 100 questions rather than the old test that boasted well over 200.

What does this ultimately mean for me, currently holding a Maine guide license in recreation and hunting? It means that when I finally decide to obtain my "fishing" endorsement, I will need to once again complete an hour long oral examination, once again completing the lost person scenario. While this is not an extremely complicated endeavor, it is a slap in the face to those of us whom have already completed this requirement and were deemed by IFW as competent outdoor leaders. At the very least, I would have expected IFW to grandfather in any currently registered guides and allow them to complete their endorsements, however, this obviously appears to much to ask of an organization that continues to treat poorly its biggest supporters.

For more check out the DUCKMANS BLOG.