BigGameHoundsmen.com

In almost 50 years of hunting I can not remember a worse day then we had yesterday. On sunday I flew into Conn got picked up by one of my hunting buddies Pete. He use to bear hunt with us up in Maine but due to his age he comes up to do some Bird hunting with us and is the Official Camp cook when the whole crew is up in Nov for deer season.Well my son drives down from Maine ,We spend a few hours with Pete ,He feeds Us dinner ,Then tells us he will be up to camp Friday afternoon As one of our other hunting buddies Paul was bringing up his Grandson to do some Bear Hounding.Paul had given his Grandson a Plott pup for his 16th birthday the grandson Lyle had raised the pup since it was weened.

Well I got most of my business done by wendesday afternoon So my son and I go over to open up the camp and get a few things ready for the next few days .Paul and lyle get there wendesday night get settled in and first light Thursday morning we are out looking for bear .right about 7:15 the hounds Blast off. We stop find the track and Paul decides the chase is on ,lets his strike dog Go and we put down 2 more hounds .they only run 60-75 yards and you can tell something is not right. Paul tells his Grandson to turn the Pup loose " poindexter" what a name. By this time my son has already run up there and Yells back Nice bear Bayed on the ground .The pup about 6 months old goes running past us and into the fracus " Bad Mistake" my son who witnessd it said the bear slapped the pup to the ground and bit its neck probably killing him instantly

When Lyle ,Paul and I Arrived on the scene the bear decided to climb the tree he was up against. First time I ever saw a Bayed bear do this.most always they just run away or stayed bayed and fought.All this time my son is filming this on his cam-corder.well we chain up the 3 hounds gather our wits and decide what to do next.The adults were carrying side arms Lyle had a 12 GA slug Barrell. From our side of the tree there was not a real good clear shot So Paul tells my son to take Lyle to other side of tree to see if there was a better shot oppurtunity. There was and Paul said If it is good take the shot when the bear fell If dead we were going to unchain the 3 hounds to let them pull some hair.

Well Lyle finally takes the shot the bear falls,lands on the ground and does not move .Paul Says the bears is dead and releases his strike dog . I release 1 hound and start to release the 2nd .As soon as the strike hound bites the bear in the ass " ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE " the bear gets up ,spins and slams the hound into the tree breaking its back.Paul can't shoot his Grandson and my Son are in the line of fire. the bear runs toward me I popped him in the chest at abouit 2 ft from me Paul pops him in the neck .The bear hits my leg as I am trying to side step him . Knocking me down ,I got 2 cracked ribs and a broken little finger.My son in all this confusion drops his new cam -corder on a rock lyle steps on it and goes down with a badly twisted ankle.

I about pissed my pants and we are all standing there trying to figure out what had happened paul looks at his strike dog realizes he is too far gone and puts him down.So the total count is a dead bear,a dead pup,a dead strike dog, a kid puking his guts out ,a broken cam -corder and an OLD FART that does not need this right now.

And it is not over yet We gather ourselves up,load the 2 remaining hounds ,unload the quad ,drag the bear down to the trailer reload the quad and the bear. Jump in the truck. Now the truck will not start. Battery Dead Got cables for jump but we are down off 2 dirt roads about 8 miles from no where . So son decides to take the Quad to camp get his pick-up and come back to us . Gets back on the main dirt road ,sees a truck with hounds coming at him ,flags them down tells them his dad is injured not badly, the truck is dead ,we got cables can you give us a jump? The bastards from N.C. said they were too busy. so he gets back to camp gets his truck comes back to us we get it fired up . Go back to Camp park Pauls truck take the battery out then My son takes me to the hospital.Get the Xrays done ribs cracked have to let them heal themselves , Doc resets the small finger puts brace and metal splint on it.

On way back to camp stopped by my house to be the guy digging the foundation had the motor seize up on him could be 10-14 day delay . Not needing this right now trying not to pour concrete while frost in ground.. Decided to take a new dirt road to see where it came out near camp . Who do you suppose we see broke down on the side of the road out of gas? the same Bastards from N.C. My son tells me it is the same guys that refused to to help when he asked them for it knowing that I was injured .they see the gas can in the back and say they will buy the gas and can If I was to be so kind .After you refuse an injured man with a broke down truck?? well it is about 6 miles to the tar road and another 8 miles from there to the gas station .enjoy your walk I told my son to take off ,he did went about a quater mile down the road and parked .Waited for them to come around the bend .they walked up to the truck and asked what was going on I said you still need the gas ? You still want to buy it? Yes we do Ok I said the gas is free but the 5 gallon jug was $150.00 PAYBACKS CAN BE A BITCH YES THEY DID PAY.

went back to camp put a new battery in Pauls truck went down to tag lyles bear and weigh it 315lbs dressed out Who do you suppose oulls in to fill there truck ? you guessed it the same jemucks I went inside told the girl to apply $50 to there gas bill then we left.Never said a word to each other.

Got back to camp the cell phone rings Wife tells me she was stopped at stop sign some kid in pickup on cell phone hits her in the ass end staved up the bumper luckily no one hurt . she got a call when she got home from Carol PETE's wife .Apparently Pete was out feeding his Brittany dogs , when he did not come in after 1/2 hour she went outside ,pete was collapsed on the ground .She called 911 cops and paramedics Did there thing transported him to hospital Doctors worked on him another 20 minutes . He could not be saved and passed away. Dam we will all miss him

Except for losing a baby and my Dads passing I can't think of a worse day that I ever had makes me womder why i get up in the morning to do this stuff.

So how was your day today???

Bob sorry for your bad day. Keep your head up, that was a once in ten lifetimes day. That my friend is a wreck.

Ain't that the truth? Well Bob, it sounds like things can't get much worse if that is any consolation. I finally painted the back of my house today after putting it off for the past month, and so I guess that was a good day cause I didn't fall off the ladder.

ike

C H & IKE : Once in a ten lifetime day Well at my age I certainly do not want to have any more of those days . Gives new meaning to " IF IT WERN't FOR BAD LUCK I'd HAVE NO LUCK AT ALL"

IKE; I suppose I should feel some what lucky that I did not climb a ladder fall and break my neck

On another note what would you have done to the NC bear hunters?

Damn Sorry to hear about your luck. Go huntin again as soon as you can so you will remember what you love about it.

Holy Cow that sucks some days it pays to stay in bed.

bob, that is without a doubt a terrible day, i am speechless, if there is anything i could do to help you out by all means let me know

Sorry to hear all that, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt "tomorrow will be a better day".

Scott

I DONT WRIGHT MUCH AND DONT CARE TO TALK TO MUCH, BUT THAT IS ONE HELL OF A DAY BUT TRY TO REMEMBER THIS! THAT WAS YESTERDAY AND TODAY IS A NEW DAWN WITH LOTS OF HOPE AND PROMISSES TO BE MADE.
LOAD THE DOGS AND KEEP HUNTING BECAUSE FOR THEM YESTERDAY WAS A GOOD DAY THEY CAUGHT A BEAR AND THE ONES THAT DONT GET TO RUN ANY MORE DIED DOING WHAT THEY LOVE THE MOST.
I DONT KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I RATHER REGRET SOMTHING I DID THAN REGRET SOMTHING I DIDNT DO.
YOU GOT TO SPEND TIME WITH PEOPLE YOU LOVE AND MADE A MEMORY ORE TWO, EVEN IF YOU HAD A ROUGH DAY THE GOOD MEMORIES WILL ALWAYS OUT WAY THE BAD ONES.

well as you can guess the past few days have been ,lets say emotionally charged.I had to drive to boston yesterday to pick-up the wife at the airport.drive back to Portland ,Bought a cheap suit As carol has asked myself ,my son and some of our hunting buddies to be pall bearers. getting ready for 8 or 9 of us to drive down to pay our respects tonight.
Geez I hate doing this type of thing just reminds me of how fragile and short our lives are.Just so you guys don't think I am a thief the remaining $100 from the incident from the guys from NC . I got a money order for $100 and sent it to SAM ,Sportsmans Allience of Maine in Petes memory.
Sometimes incidents like this make us reflect back on life . While cameras , and yes pups and hounds can be replaced. What really do we have beside our memories? two things I will ask if you have the oppurtunity take a kid ,a friend, or a newbie on your next adventure. just to introduce them to the outdoors ,wether it is hounding , hunting ,fishing or just taking a hike. The second thing would be if you have a chance wether it be a water,glass of soda, a beer or stronger raise your drink and give a quick thought to Pete. A loving husband , a VET, a true American, a man that thought the world of his hounds/ dogs ,a guy that would put his needs aside for yours ,just truly a CLASS ACT. Rest easy Pete and Thanks for the Memories.

Bob,sorry to hear about your terrible day,Like others on here have said ,it can only get better .Keep your head up.

bob baldwin jr wrote: On another note what would you have done to the NC bear hunters?

At least you gave them the option of buying the gas can rather than just saying that you were too busy! That's a pretty good man if you ask me Bob. A hard man would have left them high and dry, but you did show a little simpathy which was big of you. Don't know what I would have done, but odds are I'd been a hard man.......

ike

man sorry for the bad luck, I thought I had bad a bad elk hunt last week. Had 3 bulls 90 yards and coming in on a string and the wind was blowing hard and I big old dead tree blew over right between me and the elk. So the elk was gone after that and it was on the last day. Just keep your head up and dont let that devil get to you. Sounds like your freind was a hell of a guy. Hope everything is going good

HOLY SMOKES WHAT A DAY.
AT LEAST YOU GOT THAT ONE OUT OF THE WAY
MAYBE NOW A CLEAN ROAD. I HOPE SO ANYWAY.
REGARDING PEOPLE THAT WON'T HELP.
YOUR A BETTER MAN THAT ME GUNGADIN WHEN IT COMES TO JERKS LIKE THAT

What an incredible string of bad luck...shurely there can be no more left in the entire state.

Awesome job on the tarheels!

Here's to Pete