Great job you and your son!
Thank you!
We hunted with Joseph Tomah Outfitters near Jackman, Maine. For $2500 per hunter (my son was the licensed hunter, I accompanied him for free) we were provided lodging at the Maple Inn three miles north of famed Bishop's Gas Station and Convenience Store. We were provided with a substantial lunch everyday. This lasts for 6 days, though one could pick the 6 days they want to hunt. We chose June 11-16 hoping all the bears would be out of hibernation and hungry. As an added bonus, the boars were on the prowl for a mate. We hunted the 2nd available week so I believe the season opened o/a June 5th and goes until late June sometime.
The guides drove us to our stands and picked us up just after dark and brought us back or we stayed later while downed bears were recovered. We had the mornings and early afternoon everyday to fish, explore, or sleep in.
The Passamaquoddy Tribe owns 30K acres of wilderness and those lands are mostly accessible by truck via gravel roads that wind and twist throughout. Travel from the motel to some stands could be an hour or slightly more. We were in our stand by 5pm and it didn't get dark until about 9pm.
They have 2 man 15 ft ladder stands and medium sized box blinds on the ground. The bait barrels are rarely more than 30yds from the stands. We had action at our stand nearly everyday. The experienced hunter who sat in our stand the week before passed on a smaller 110lb bear, we passed on a 130lb bear we saw the first night, shot the 165lb bear pictured above on the third night and someone shot a 150lb bear from that stand on the fifth night.
Some stands are less than 100yds from the roads and some are much farther. ATVs are often used to get limited mobility hunters to and from their stands.
This year they baited with trail mix, chocolate chip cookie dough, fryer oil, and molasses.
Roger and Joe and their crew of experienced guides treated us like family. Facebook has Joe's contact info. They also offer Fall moose hunts though they may be booked full for some time in the future. We saw 8-10 moose either on Hwy 201 or on the gravel roads around the hunting grounds. They're alot bigger in person than I imagined.
A excellent butcher in town had our bear cut up and frozen in near record time. He previously worked for a taxidermist and left the paws and skull attached to the hide when he skinned the bear. He vacuum packed all the meat and it all stayed frozen when kept in the back of my truck inside decent Walmart coolers.
https://m.facebook.com/people/Tomah-Joseph-Outfitters/100063831339706/We truly enjoyed the balance of time, lodging accommodations, food, and hunting opportunities this outfitter offers. Lord willing and if the creek don't rise, we'll be back next year!
