Maine hunters speak up.....
 

Earlier this year I met an old timer from Maine and the topic of deer hunting and the Benoit's came up. He said he had lived in the same area and that they had a little 'outlaw' in them in the early years. When I asked him what he meant by 'outlaw', he referred to out-of-season kills, trespass kills and night shooting. He went on to say that they had to clean up their act since getting all the notoriety. The guy talked so matter-of-factly that it didn't appear to be sour grapes or envy. I didn't give the conversation a second thought until I read a recent article in D&DH re: Lanny Benoit being the best American deer hunter. Anybody out there know?

RE: Maine hunters speak up.....
 

Hey, as famous as they are, if they are doing or did something illegal in the past, it will probably come back to bite 'em in the back side eventually. If this guys knows something, others do also. In this day and age, if you're in the limelight, you had better not have any skeletons in your closet. Look at Noel Feather. What a shame!

RE: Maine hunters speak up.....
 

Well, I live in MA, but my father lives in Maine and works currently for a retired Maine game warden. This guy was a warden in Maine for about 25 years. He had many contacts with the Benoits over the years. Nothing wrong with the Benoits as far as he was concerned. Never ticketed for anything, never impolite. These guys were watched moreso than the average hunter, as it would have been a nice feather in a wardens cap to burst the Benoit bubble by popping them for something....but it never happened. Until they do get popped, they are clean in my book. I'd like to know where the heck they are "tresspassing"...they're hunting the North Maine Woods!

RE: Maine hunters speak up.....
 

There will always be such claims being made about successful hunters. A lot of it has to do with jealousy I would say. I don't know for certain if there is any truth to it or not, but I will say that the Benoits know their stuff! They are dedicated to the sport, and they put in a lot of time and work hard to get results. DLuke's right, I can't see how they'd be trespassing unless it took place in VT. I won't believe the claims unless there's some proof!

RE: Maine hunters speak up.....
 

Jealousy, no doubt. I've heard similar things about almost every really successful hunter I know.