JoeA

Looking for recommendations on outiftters. I'll be up there in late Aug/early Sept. I've found two outfitters on the i-net: Foggy Mtn Guide Service & another near Lake Machias. good/bad? Outfits to avoid.
-Which would you recommend; 30'06 or .50ML? Bullet weights?
-Have any of you guys had problems transporting meat on a plane recently?
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andy_o

Hey joe, im glad to hear that you want to come up here to maine to hunt bear. The .30-06 is more than enough. Ill check if he has any openings for this season comming up. He has helped bring some really nice bears out of the woods. Anyways good luck with your hunt.

MA Jay

You can call Bill Spencer of Twin River Guide Service, he's in Machias. I've hunted with him a few times and he's a great guy. Not nearly as expensive as some outfits, mainly because he's smaller. The second week of the season he has openings... usually only 2 to 4 people in camp that week and he has over 25 bait sites that get clobbered every year. He runs dogs in the later season as well. He takes several 300+ lbers every year. I know of 4 over 400 in the last 2 years, and his best are close to 600lbs.

The average for his hunters seems to be around 225 lbs though.

car

If you hunt with Foggy Mtn you will have to do all of the work. The only thing that your are getting with them is a baited site. When I was there some hunters were driving 60 miles one way to there bait site using there own transportation! I did take a nice bear with them using a 50ml. There are other outfitters that offer more for the same or less price! Foggy has a big opperation, lots of baited sites, not enough help to take care of everthing!

RCDD

Look into Stonybrook Outfitters in Wilton Maine. I have been on 3 trips with them. One in Maine and 2 for Spring bear at their camp in New Brunswick Canada. Bob Parker is a real good guide and runs a good outfit. I liked him so much I went back 2 times eventhough I didn't harvest an animal, that says alot about his service. Will work very hard for you. Cost is very competitive. Active baits always. None overhunted. Great food and service. I can get you a phone number if you would like. I too have heard nightmare stories about some outfitters (one mentioned in post here). I use a 30-06 220 grain remington factory load. Like my guide told me. You need to make a well placed, big hole on these animals. They are very tough to kill. I'd use a bazooka if I could after some of the things I've seen on bear hunts. Hunts I've been on, we only recoverd 1/2 of bears shot ( bad shots and tough country to track in). Seems that when a bear is shot it will simply run like hell until it drops (that could be a mile or so). I've actually seen sign of a bear packing it's wound with mud, lying down until we came in next morning , and spooked it again. I thought bear over bait would be easy hunting, but it turns out it's some of the toughest hunting I've ever done. I do love the rug I have on the wall in my trophy room and all the great memories though.

vtbuckrulrss

hi joe, just a couple of comments for you. i have afriend who is a guide in the general area that you are looking to hunt. i asked him first of all about foggy mnt., and the comments that i read. while of course he couldn't say for certain that what was said above wasn't true, he did say the guy is a good guy and guide who runs a top-notch operation, and highly doubted it happened. as far as twin river and their bears, he happened to have a print-out, that he gets weekly, or every guide in maine. he couldn't find twin river. he checked the man's name, not there. he did not know why not. have you looked at the maine guide ass. website? this can be a great hlp, too. however, just because the person wasn't listed, doestn't mean much. kevin has his license, is not on on the website, because he chooses to mostly bring friends, and some clients, and i can tell you, he showed me a hell of a time( i missed, then the weather turned hot. i take him for turkey in vt, so we see each other a few times a year.) as far as the weights for twin river, kevin also runs a check station, not far from where this person is supposed to be, and regarding the 600lb+/-, he has lived in the area all his life, and did not remember anthing even close to that being shot in that area within at least the last 20 years. so, be careful, only believe half of what you read, and ask for references. just my thoughts on this. by the way, i hooked up with my friend through this site on swap hunts, check it out. my trips with him only cost me beer money that way.