Anticipation and Frustration

We are currently half way through the third week of bear season and once again no one has got a bear yet. In fact, no one has even seen one yet! Fortunately, we have a wonderful group of guys and the mood is still light. However, it is not always that way, as those who read my last blog now understand.
Every year, as the end of July approaches, guides and hunters prepare for the upcoming baiting season for bear. In Maine, we have thirty days that we can bait before the hunting season begins. At this point, leases and insurances are paid, bait has been purchased, and trucks have been serviced. Now the work begins. The placement of the bait sites have been well thought out and scouted with several of them being established from previous years.
From a guides point of view: I'm always anxious for the arrival of our first guests. Optimism abounds. I'm well rested and ready for the long days to come. My days start at 6:00am and often do not end until midnight. This year a bear was shot Monday night, however we were unable after considerable effort to recover it. Bad shot placement and/or over excitement when the bear came in we could not really tell. It is very hard sometimes and a wounded animal is one of the things that haunt me the most. Mid week came and went, no bears. The baits are working; the bears are there...but time. We like many have bought into the mass publicity of gear and gadgets and purchased over a three year period five game cameras. I have come to the conclusion that game cameras are much like fish finders; they tell you what is there but it doesn't help you get them. If anything they cause great frustration knowing big bears are coming in but not always at optimal time for hunting. By Wednesday, my alias "Blackcloud" begins lurking in the dark recesses of my mind. Big E, Peter and I start pondering what more can we do. Our policy is two bait sites per hunter, so we move them to their second sites with the great hopes that it will bring success. Thursday......my stomach starts as anxiety sets. Thankfully Friday night two hunters were finally successful and two bears are on the game pole. Not the numbers I would have liked nor anticipated, but I feel better and my nerves settle down. "Blackcloud" is held at bay.
Second week begins with a new group and revived faith. By Wednesday, two out of three have seen bear, one being a sow with two cubs and one that the hunter said he passed up because it was a small bear. To make a long story short, and for those who did not read my last blog, check it out to understand how it ended. I'm now getting wore out and ended up at the doctors office Thursday morning; or should "Blackcloud" went to the doctors.....
Week three, now midweek and no one has seen a bear yet. Bait sites are being hit and hit well, cleaning out the barrels.....but where are the bears. Game camera showed a nice bear having come in last Saturday at 6:09pm; perfect time. Other cameras show the phantoms feeding in the night. Not feeling the greatest and with 'Blackcloud" in control my nerves are frazzled and my schedule is taking a tole on mind, body and soul. The hunters we have are really great guys and their spirits are still good which helps.....a little.
From experience of having run the guide service for ten years now; it is not hard to see the disappointment on the faces of our hunters. The anticipation of hoping tonight will be the night and the discouragement when they come in at evenings end with still nothing. From a hunters point of view, or from what I believe they feel, the hunt is creating some frustrations for them as well. From a guides point of view, it seems to "Blackcloud" disastrous. It is very true that our hunters success is our success. Another low bear count also does not help when going to the sportsmens' show and being asked the number one question;"How did you do last year?" A question I hate to answer but honesty is still the best policy in my book and I reply, "not as well as I would have liked." I come to the point of racking my thoughts of what is happening and what more can we do, and what do the hunters think and what will they go back and tell their coworkers and friends. Things like that can bring the demise of a guide service. Sleep evades me and exhaustion begins. My mind works with twists and whirlwinds of what,why and how?
So with anticipation and a good amount of frustration I write this with fingers crossed that tonight will be their night.....or at the very least one happy hunter.

Great Expectations

I have come to the conclusion that TV has given people some unreal expectations. I'm talking about the numerous outdoor/ hunting channels and shows that show success ninety nine percent of the time. There are a few that will also show disappointment, missed shots or unrecoverable game, but for the most part in their thirty minute programs they show a happy hunter full of excitement and joy, shaking hands and holding horns or whatever the game is. However they should also state that to make the thirty minute program, it took maybe thirty hours of taping and lots of editing!! I have been approached at the sportsman shows we exhibit at by a few video crews who would like to come and video a hunt, but up to this point I have turned them down; however not for the reason I have come to conclusion here. They have wanted to bring four to six people, hunters and crew, for up to two weeks to give us a five minute promo at zero cost to them. When you are a small business as we are currently it is simply just not an option.
This morning a party of hunters left, a day early mind you, with the excuse that they have a long drive home. Well they would still have a long drive home no matter what day they left on! It did not take them two days to get here and I don't see it taking two days to get back home either. They are not from areas of recent heavy rains, high waters or floods! They left feeling let down, discouraged, disappointed and I got the feeling a little miffed at us. Two of them saw bears; one saw nothing. The two passed up the bears that they saw and I was pleased that they did as one was a small bear and the other was a sow with two cubs. That's just good hunting ethics. The other made comments that he had in the past at other guide services passed up six hundred pound bears day after day. First off, anyone passing up a six hundred pound bear, even just one makes me truly wonder "why?" As we listened to the complaints each night at the table it was not hard to understand possibly "why' he did not see a bear. "I stood the whole last hour waiting", "I thought a bear was coming in behind me and I kept looking", "I had to put my bug net on at dusk". All of that is the number one "Don't" of bear hunting from a stand: movement. It seems no matter how hard you try to explain the game, they have their own game plan. I often wonder why they bother to come to a guide service if they know more about the game than we do? It is so very true that our hunters success is our success because it is what people will judge you by. This is the hardest part of my job and one of the most frustrating! I blame much of this on TV programs that video the hunter talking to the camera in the tree, moving around, looking around and still bagging the bear or whatever. I was a hunter before I became a guide. As a guide I have sat in numerous treestands over the years; sat out with youth hunters and inexperienced hunters that did not feel comfortable to sit on a stand alone and I have observed bears, shot bears and had successful hunters get their bears. From all of that I have learned  and have tried to teach those lessons so that others may be successful too. Bears are much smarter than many think and all too many think you put out some sweets and a bear comes a running. Not so! Bears are phantoms of the woods. They walk silently and seem to appear out of nowhere. They are extremely cautious when approaching a bait site, many times hesitating just in the background. Of all the bears I have observed, only once did a bear not come in and look directly at the stand and "me". They have awesome hearing and a very sensitive nose. They know when something is amiss and if you are doing things wrong, the likelihood of seeing a bear is slim to not at all. Some may still see a bear, but it is going to be an inexperienced young bear and not the trophy animal one is targeting.
I felt bad when the hunters left this morning; reminding them that the biggest bear ever taken here was the last minute of the last night. However it mattered not what I said as their minds were made up. I know they are not going to be return guests and for one reason or another think that we did not do enough. They will not consider our own frustration of the fact that we have worked for a month before season, paid out big money for leases, insurances, bait, gas and wages along with a long list of other things that it takes to run a guide service. To them, we failed to produce.
We enjoy watching the hunting channel and shows, knowing a little more of what goes on behind the scenes. However, I would like to see at the end of the shows a statement of how many hours of taping went into the effort before the final cuts along with something like "not all hunts are successful". Of course, the trouble is, unsuccessful hunts just don't make the cut leaving viewers with great expectations that hard working guides and outfitters hate, and that is unhappy hunters.