one thing to consider is that, overall, the bears are smaller in maine because there are so many.
I'm not all that worried about getting on a trophy-class bear. This would be my 10 year old boy's first bear so any decent bear would do.
We have some of the biggest bears around in PA so he'll be able to pursue the 800lb+ bruins when he's older. For this hunt, we just want to get him his first.
And, a lot of this hunt will be just a father and son having a good time together.