Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Stories! As hunters and outdoors people that seems to be a common thing we all have lots of. Join your amateur guide and host on this channel Ken as he gets tales from guys and gals. Chasing that trophy buck for years to an entertaining morning on the duck pond, comedian ones, to interesting that's what you are going to hear. Also along with some general hunting discussions from time to time but making sure to leave political talks out of it. Don't take this too serious as we sure don't! If you enjoy this at all or find it fun to listen to, we really appreciate if you would subscribe and leave a review. Thanks for. checking us out! We are also on fb as Hunts on outfitting, and instagram. We are on YouTube as Hunts on outfitting podcast.
Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
The Black Bear That Outsmarted Everyone Finally Meets His Match
The Maine woods hold secrets and legends that only time and persistence can uncover. For nearly 15 years, one such legend—a massive one-eyed black bear—roamed the forests along the Narraguagus River, outfoxing even the most experienced hunters in the region.
Maine houndsman Blake Smith brings us an extraordinary tale of pursuit, respect, and ultimate achievement as he recounts his long history with this elusive bear. From first spotting the distinctive animal on his parents' trail camera in 2011 to watching it appear mysteriously at bait sites across a 15-mile range year after year, Blake shares the almost mythical connection that developed between hunter and hunted.
This remarkable bear demonstrated intelligence far beyond ordinary wildlife. He employed clever tactics like swimming downstream to eliminate scent trails, using smaller bears to confuse tracking dogs, and consistently appearing and disappearing at strategic times to avoid hunters. Despite numerous close calls with experienced guides and houndsmen throughout the region, the bear maintained his freedom season after season.
The story culminates with the successful harvest of this 506-pound Boone and Crockett record book bear by a young houndsman named Jaxson Marston, creating a bittersweet ending to a legendary pursuit. Both the bear's impressive size and the circumstances of the hunt made this a truly momentous occasion in Maine's hunting community.
Tragically, Jaxson later lost his life in a commercial fishing accident at just 26 years old. This episode not only celebrates the incredible saga of the one-eyed bear but also serves as a tribute to Jaxson's memory and the hunting tradition he loved. Through stories like these, we're reminded that hunting is about much more than the harvest—it's about connection, respect, and the enduring legacy we leave behind.
Check us out on Facebook and instagram Hunts On Outfitting, and also our YouTube page Hunts On Outfitting Podcast. Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!
this is hunts and outfitting podcast. I'm your host and rookie guide, ken marr. I love everything hunting the outdoors and all things associated with it, from stories to howos. You'll find it here. Welcome to the podcast. Hey, thanks for listening.
Speaker 1:So we have all heard the stories, or maybe even have some of our own. Where there is a history with a certain animal, we are chasing the big buck on camera that has given you the slip for the past four years A giant bull, elk that season after season you see but just can't get into range. Well, what about a nearly 15 year history with a specific animal? Today's guest has that great history and story for us today with a legendary black bear one-eye, Blake Smith gives us a captivating tale of a well-known black bear in his area. That proves just how smart these animals can be. Now, before we get into this story, him and I do talk about hounds and some great names in a houndsman world. First, I realize that not all hunters are into hound hunting, so just bear with us because whether you're a houndsman or not, it's a great story worth the listen. If you know someone, or maybe you yourself would like to be a guest on here, you can reach us on Facebook Hunts on Outfitting or by email, huntsonoutfitting at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:This episode is dedicated to the memory of Jackson Marston, who tragically lost his life on April 25th. Memory of Jackson Marston, who tragically lost his life on April 25th 2025 in a commercial fishing accident well out for scallops. Jackson, who was just 26 from Addison, Maine, was a huge outdoorsman and loved his hounds. I was lucky to be able to meet and spend a day with him last fall to chase some bears, along with some other great guys. This story and podcast episode is not only to give you a great tale, but to share the memory of Jackson and help preserve it with great stories like this that will be remembered for many years to come. Oh, and in the picture on the profile of this podcast, Jackson is on the left. Blake is on the right. Oh, Blake, thanks for taking my call. You've got a hell of a story to tell us with an incredible animal, quite a beast. But before we get going, you know you're from Maine. You own PRL Outfitting. What was your start? Into? Hunting? And then hounds.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, I grew up here in Cherryville, maine and back I don't know what. 16, 18 years ago I started hunting with a guy uh name of bobby harris. He's from north carolina. He comes up maine hound hunting every year doing uh, chasing bears, and I got a like for it, you know. And uh, I went from that until I started following the Strout Boys around coyote hunting and very well-known people in the state of Maine, and at one point, you know, I was sick and tired of being the guinea pig, I wanted to be the boss man, so I struck out on my own to go get some hounds.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, no, that makes sense. You learned the ropes and figured you're ready to go.
Speaker 2:That's right. And I tell you what the first man, dale Cole he's a Cole Cat Hounds he told me. He said listen, buddy, he says you cannot build a pack overnight. And he is true, because I'm 12 years 11, on my 12th year into it now, and first few years I was working with my brother and a few of his dogs and I got my own dogs, but I still, to this day, don't have a good pack. We can get it done, but it's tough.
Speaker 1:I mean, at least you can admit that, cause I'm sure I know, and I'm sure you do know, lots of guys that think they have a great pack and everyone around them knows they definitely don't. So at least you're honest about it and you know that you're working on it that's right.
Speaker 2:We can always improve, you know. You know my dogs do great together, but you know that's what we work on is trying to get, uh, get each dog to do its own little trick to, at the end of the day, get what we're looking for.
Speaker 1:So yeah, but I mean, you've seen your pictures and taken some great cats and bears as well, so you know something's working.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know my knack is getting into. You know, cat hunting that's where I started. I wanted to be a cat hunter and I went from cat hunting to oh crap. You know we can only run cat a few times a year. You know, a few months a year. We got to hunt these dogs, you know they can't sit on the chain. So we started bear hunting, you know, and trying to find a good dog. That did both. You know it's tough, it's very tough. A lot of cat hunters say you should never run a bear with a cat dog. You know I learned that now, and some of my best cat dogs. I don't really run on bear that much, so there's a lot to it.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, well, I mean they say that if your dog can tree a bobcat, it can tree about anything in North America.
Speaker 2:That's what they do say, you know, and it's tough, especially in Maine. You know, it's just, it's the underbrush it's. You know, we've tried dogs from down south that are amazing cat dogs and you bring them up here and they don't even know what day it is, you know. Yeah, well, I've heard that Maine it's the toughest bobcats to hunt. Rumor has it are in Maine. Yeah, and I think, and I don't think I know cat in general. It's a cat, you know they're a smart animal but it's. You know Maine has the bogs, they have the alder swamps, they have the cedar curls, they have the spruce swamps and they don't have these big trees that you know. A cat can just run this open spot and he's got no place to go. He drives up a big tree. You know we don't have that.
Speaker 2:So when I first started, uh, sam natoli, he's a really good, well-known, you know, podcast guy and whatnot and there and cat hunter in the state of maine. He's proven himself over the last 60 years. You know he's, he's my mentor. He's become like a second father to me, um, but he always told me he said, you know, blake, he said you're only going to treat about one out of eight cats, and that's right. You know I got buddies that they treat cats every day. Down south they treat cats every day in British Columbia. They treat cats consistently. You know, and here in Maine we just don't do it. Our dogs catch them on the ground and they bay them up in rock piles. Or you know, our dogs catch them on the ground and they bay them up in rock piles. Or you know, first thick holes in the fir trees or all the swamps, or out on beaver ponds. You know we just don't drive them up the trees. So it's a big difference. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, that's cool that Sam's been your mentor, because I'm a big fan of him, watched his YouTube videos and all that, and, yeah, he's definitely a well-known and respected houndsman, so great mentor.
Speaker 2:Yep, oh yeah, he's a great guy. I bought my first dog. Well, I went and bought three dogs one day and I bought them off our young guy that he hadn't had much time. I bought a dog for 250 bucks off him. And I went to Sam, and you know that same day in Waterville area and I bought a dog named Bella off him and you know he didn't bullshit. He said you know, I want three grand for this dog. This is what it's going to do. And he told me exactly what it's going to do. And you know, since then I've sold dogs and I try to do the same thing. You know, if I'm going to sell a dog, I'm going to tell the guy exactly what I think it is.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of guys out there that bull crap and for a young guy it's just tough to get started. I was four years before I had my first litter. I got hooked up with some of the best guys. You got Paul Laney. Most of my dogs I bred with Paul. We got some good bear dogs. They weren't very good cat dogs, but just a learning curve. I got hooked up with Dale.
Speaker 1:Cole and Heedy Vanderkamp just a learning curve.
Speaker 2:Uh, I got hooked up with uh Dale Cole and he even under camp. I got Cole's national cat hound, a blue dog, you know, a bread ham to that first uh, $250 dog I got. That was no good and she turned out to be one of my best dogs I've ever had and she probably still will be, you know, and throughout my life. But uh, we also got, you know, I hooked up with Danny Luke. I run a lot of plots and he's well-known, carries the Dwayne Smith plot line and we got some pretty aggressive dogs, you know. But like I said, at the end of the day I'm still working on my pack.
Speaker 1:You cannot build it overnight, right, yeah, and Vandekamp, he's up in British Columbia, isn't he?
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah, yeah, great dog British Columbia isn't he?
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah, yeah, great dog he started carrying that Dale Cole line off his sport match that Dale had created over you know 100-year cat dogs and you know they've proven. So it's a proven line, world-renowned. I took the chance and of course during COVID I said to Hedy, you know I want this dog, hedy and a guy named Bruce Haig in British Columbia. They had this litter of pups and I said I want a dog and he sent me pictures. I picked out which one I want and sure as in shit the airlines wouldn't allow you to fly dogs. So by the times I got my dog he was eight months old and I picked him out at eight weeks old. So by the times I got my dog he was eight months old and I picked him out at eight weeks old.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I, luckily I had a guy, um, uh, steve um, the plot guy made it major plot guy. He's lately passed, but Steve Moore, he um, he knew he had some connections and we got this dog shipped on a truck from uh out west British Columbia all the way to Kittery, maine. I went and met him at his truck stop and by far you know, as far as cat dog goes, and Sam Natoli has another one named Ranger.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask that yeah, he's from BC.
Speaker 2:My dog's a brother to his, just through a different litter same mom and dad. But I tell you what you know they're good cat dogs. The only ones I know that are any better than that is the stuff that Tim Berry bred out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because that's what I thought that Sam had watching his YouTube video stuff that Ranger was from up in British Columbia, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:No, you know, it's been a good thing. You know, jackson, obviously that's what we're going to talk about here a little bit, and the stories of the bear and all that stuff. But you know, jackson, he was, he started out just like me, you know, and we started hunting together and um, there wasn't many. As a cat hunter goes, you know, there's always coyotes.
Speaker 2:A lot of guys will team up and go cry on, and when it comes to cat, you, you really don't get a lot of houndsmen that will team up with your cat hunting because there's just not a lot of them. You don't want to show it's like deer hunting. You don't want to show everyone your best spot. But Jackson, he was right there with me and I would show that kid my best spot and I could trust him. If I wasn't hunting that day, I'd send him into a spot where I thought he could find a cat and uh, I respected him for that because he respected me, you know, and if I, if I was going hunting that next day, he'd make damn sure he was going to stay clear of me. So we kind of hit it off pretty good that way and uh, excuse me, it went into our bear hunting, uh, where the story's gonna go here a little bit more, but you know, he's a respectful guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. I was fortunate enough, like I said last fall, with my buddy, Michael Germanis with Good Old Boys Guide Service. He's friends with Jackson. We went down and I got to spend the day with him and see his plots. He had some nice young ones there that were doing quite well and after spending 14 hours with the guy in the main woods running around, you know he gets to know him a little bit and, yeah, he's a great guy. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, great guy. Like I said, he's just like every other houndsman. You know that he's trying to get started. This last year he bred his first pack of dogs. He was very excited, you know. They were running about seven, eight months old right now. He was damn excited for this year to try to get them going and you know that's a big achievement as a houseman is to to to do your first litter, because you really, you know you got to put two and two together. You got to pick a good dog. Or you know, maybe you might have two good dogs but you got to pick a dog that you think can make a litter with your best dog. To try to, you know, get what you want. You know I always heard the expression you know breed, breed what you hunt, hunt what you breed. You know, at the end of the day, it isn't about the killing as a houndsman, it's about, you know, seeing your dogs accomplish your goals by putting in all the hard work that you do throughout the season.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I find that anyone that is a true handsman is. We all have that in common. You know it's all about the dogs, the, the killings, just a bonus here and there If you even want to do that. You know it's. It's all about the hands, yep.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a lot to it, but, uh, you know, something we enjoy and something we take, uh, we take for granted. You know, appreciate being able to do it, because to me there's nothing like a good old. I'm a I, I like my bear hunting, but there's nothing like a good old cat hunt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just, uh, so difficult. I know I've, uh, yeah, had some hard time doing it here in New Brunswick with, uh, with my hounds, but, um, I'm excited to hear the story. Blake, you know, I came across part of the story that you wrote up about the bear hunt with Jackson that we're going to talk about, and I saw this massive beast of a bear and, uh, you know, I'm excited to hear the story right from you about how it, uh, how it all went down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I'm glad we glad we like to share it. Uh, in respect of you know, jackson, and and and do of all the other guides in the area that you know, maybe they'll get on here and listen to this and you know, and it can give back the memories of you know, all their times that they encountered with this bear, and uh it was a bear they're definitely famous're definitely famous.
Speaker 2:I can sit here and list off guys that have had this bear on camera, but that can go on forever, because we've got a lot of guys around here that do stand hunts and this bear was always lurking around for the last 15 or 20 years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's crazy Smart, really smart bear.
Speaker 2:Well, we'll get into it. Like I said, it all started back in 2011. We were at my parents' house having dinner there one night my mom and dad they always show us my mom liked feeding the bears there during the bear season and she happened to have this bear on camera and had one eye and I said, damn, you know, I've seen a lot of bears, but I've never seen a bear with one eye like that. He was a big one. And so a few days passed by and I just recently lost my grandfather to a. He passed away of cancer there and we had this smart idea to play, do a Ouija board one night. And we're sitting there with my brother, his wife and a whole family. There's a whole bunch of us and this part, the story, I really didn't include in. Sorry you read, but, like I said, there's a lot more back stories, so I'm going to tell the whole thing and then for sure.
Speaker 2:So we did a Ouija board out one night. We're sitting there at the house, we do the thing. I'd never done it before. I thought it was all you know, whatever. I didn't really believe in it and fair enough spirit came across the board is what? One of the ladies that was there doing. It said and it spelt out all these things it said Jacob, and it referred to itself as being a spirit of a one-eyed bear, and it was kind of weird to me that my mom, just prior to two days, had had a one-eyed bear on their property, you know, 500 yards up behind their house, and so forth and so on. So this I don't think I'm crazy. A lot of people have heard this story.
Speaker 1:So I like it. It's entertaining.
Speaker 2:It's a. It goes on and on. You know we're playing the thing we're doing, the doing the board there, and you know it. It told my mother. You know we're playing the thing we're doing the doing the board there, and you know it. It told my mother. You know, uh, on the board it spelt out that it was a, uh, it was an indian fellow back a long time ago this is the moral of the story that had been um, killed by the white men and and left on side of the road out there in blackwoods and cherryfield to just die. Left on the side of the road out there in Blackwoods and Cherryfield to just die, and instead it had been reincarnated into a one-eyed bear named Jacob. So my mom you know being kind of eerie of it told my brother the next day. You know this bear wanted to be killed and given a proper burial. I didn't want to be buried and I told my brother. I said, all right, mom, we're going to go find this bear. I said you guys are crazy. So they went out looking and my brother was in Moosehead the first night. We played at Ice Fishing and so when he came back they went out looking for this bear. No joke that next night we went to my mom and dad's. We did the thing sure enough, said that they were so close they could hear them breathing and um, I did an article in the vanguard daily and I I kindly spoke a little bit about this. If you look it up in there, you'll be able to see the story too, as well as the story that I wrote for the boone and crocker book as far as detail goes. So they went out looking and you know they didn't find nothing whatever. My mom was kind of skeptical so she burnt some sage in the house and she's like I got to get out of this. She's like this thing's going to eat me up.
Speaker 2:So fast forward a few years later we never really thought nothing more of it and I started getting into hound hunting and baiting and all that stuff, and friends of mine, jason Strout and Matt Tienen, had put a bait over in Township 16. And sure enough a one-eyed bear showed up. I think it was 450, 500 pounds at that time. And a few stories go by Dan Curtis, another guy you know he had hunters that he had this bear on camera and a couple of his helpers. You know a few neighbors in the area had this bear on camera and he's running a stretch of woods probably 15 miles long up and down the Naragüez River, and so they turned out on him with dogs. I was there many days in. This bear would always show up four o'clock in the morning and sure enough, around 5, 5, 30, just before we got there, a little bear would cover him up. You know, we put the dogs out. Guess what? We treated an 80 pound bear. The bear always got away. So, um, matt, jason kind of matt went into being a game warden. Jason got busy with the family. They kind of gave up their baits. So a couple years later now I took over their baits in the 16. I was a good friend. They gave me some of their baits and I put a bait out. Sure enough, boom, one-eyed bear. He's still there a couple years later.
Speaker 2:And I had a client one day. It was a client of Dan Curtis' Rob Turner is his name, from Carmel, and he said we met in the morning. I'd never met the guy before in my life and he says I've hunted with Dan quite a bit. He says any chance we could kill a one-eyed bear? I said I mean just so happens. Uh, rob, I said I got this bear's been on camera so he hadn't been on the bait share for a couple days. Rob and his wife came down we tried to, you know, turn out on this bear. He showed up. Nothing couldn't get him to always get on a small bear we actually treated and two cubs that morning. And so a few more years passed by. We never got him.
Speaker 2:I'm out in November one year Kind of similar area close to the right on the bank of the Narragugas. I put some deer cameras out. I go back and I found a new spot I was going to try to bow hunt in. I look at my camera it's November, sure enough, one-eyed bear. So I mean the bear was. I feel like he was following me around, yeah, from the shadows. And you know, in this meantime Jackson, he was young, you know, and once in a while he'd tag along with Matt and Jason and me. You know bear hunting. So he got to know this bear too, and it was last fast forward into two years ago.
Speaker 2:I got some land down on 193, just west of the Naragawagas, and I put a bait out and this is probably 12 miles south of where we normally would see the one-eyed bear and I put a bait out up. Three days later I get a picture. Here he is. He's sitting down, paws right in the barrel. I said, man, this bear is really. I gotta get this bear, I gotta, I gotta kill this thing. And he's following me around like a shadow. Yeah and uh, we put out on him. Dogs take him off and they're on him. They jump him 80 yards off. The bait bear gets in, uh, wholesome brook, swims down my. My old man says uh, you know like the bear's coming to the road. I said you know, let's, let's get him right here. What happened? The bear jumps in the brook, swims directly down underneath the bridge, gets away from the dogs.
Speaker 2:My dad's trying to stop cars, you know, on the main road we got all our hounds coming to the road. Bear swims right by, gets away and I said damn. I said I've driven this bear out of the country. He's not going to come back to the bait. So I move a bait, I put it up the road over on that side where he went. About a week later we'd been hunting all morning, got nothing. Nine o'clock in the oh sorry, two o'clock in the afternoon. Look at my camera, my touch cam, the bear, one of our bears on the bait. Take, the dogs had it planned out literally minutes. The bear just walked off. I dumped our dogs, dogs, chase, no, hit right off, go across the river, treed right up, saw they said hey, this is the day, yeah, we have to drive like 13 miles all the way around the edge of the river back down the other other side, get over there. I said this ain't good. This, this thing is. You know, this thing's on our hit list. Now he's pulling all these games. So we never did get him that year.
Speaker 2:Last year Jackson had first year that Jackson really got his own dates and he put pretty much across the river from the last time that I'd encountered this bear and he kind of kept it a secret from me there for a little while and I had lost the baits into the Township 16 there where we'd lost because the landowner had sold to Nature Conservatory. And so he puts a bait out down there on the Salmon Federation land and it was maybe a couple days before the season and he texts me. He says Blake. He says I got this one-eyed bear that's been on my bait every day one eye. He says I can't wait for opening hound season. He says we're going to team up and kill this bear. I said yeah, that sounds good. Well, in the meantime I had some guys from Wisconsin coming to do a little bit of stand hunting. Before we got into hound hunting there I had asked a private landowner that owned some small acreage up there to put a bait on. I'd never had a bait there before and it was, like I said, it was three or four miles north of where Jackson had this bear. So I wasn't interfering with him, I didn't think and sure enough, put the bait out.
Speaker 2:We're up there one day riding around baiting and my buddy goes in and he says Blake, he said that bait's cleaned out. I said shit. I said let's put a camera on it. So we put a camera on it and Jackson at the same time messaged me. He says Blake. Me. He says Blake, this bear has been gone off my bait for three days, I jokingly said. I said, ah, he's following me around like a shadow. I said I bet he's on this bait. I just put out up here. He said oh, probably. He said, knowing your luck, whatever. And next night, you know, I was anxious to go check that camera.
Speaker 2:So I went right back in the next morning, baited it, I filled it right full 55 gallon drum and, sure enough, there he was, one hour again. And I said nice. And so I messaged these Wisconsin guys, the Serpent Firearms I don't know if you've ever heard of them. They're an air gun company. They were coming to do a trial. The air gun a young boy. I said you know, I'm going to put him on this bait, hopefully he kills this bear. And uh, so they sat all week long. Never see the dang thing. And he'd been there for a couple days. So goes by. You know jackson's discouraged, I'm discouraged. So we, you know we gotta get this bear.
Speaker 2:And I just recently taken on a project for the salmon federation putting a you know a bottomless culvert in a time-sensitive spawning brook for the Atlantic salmon, and we only had a couple days to get the job done. So I was when I wake up to go to work I always look at my cameras. It's right in the middle of hound season We'd had a few hounds Stanhurst come, a few clients already tag out on hounds. It was a little bit later in the season there and I said I got to get this job done. So I'm going to work. I look at my phone you know six something in the morning. Sure enough, one eye. He's right on the bait. I said I can't do it, I can't, I can't go today. I got to work.
Speaker 2:So I went to work next morning. Sure enough, same thing, boom, one eye is on the bait. I said I can't take this much longer. I said but I got to get this job done. So we got the job done. That third day I said that son of a gun is going to be on the bait. We're going hunting. So I had my crew, I had a client. We're going hunting and guess what? He never showed up?
Speaker 1:Of course not. I can't believe the history with this bear. It's awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's crazy, it's unbelievable really. When you think about it and you go back and listen to the story and take it all in, I mean, there's nothing but the truth. So we A few days passed by I think it was four or five days, I can't remember the exact date here, but I think it was around the 27th of September. I wasn't going to go to work that morning. I had plans to get kids and whatnot, try to get them to school and sure enough, I was like 612.
Speaker 2:I wake up late in the morning and I look at my phone's going off, bing, bing, bing. I'm getting things from my tacticam on my phone and turn off. There he was. It's like almost daylight, I said. I told my wife. I said you get mad at me, all you want. I said I'm going hunting on this bear. And guess what? It was a day that I didn't have a crew, so I was taking one for the team. Really, you know, you don't really want to go hound hunting without a crew, especially on a bear that size. A lot of things can go wrong yeah so first person I call was jackson.
Speaker 2:I said jackson. I said what are you doing? He says we're all hunting. He says I got sick guys. You know we're trying to.
Speaker 2:I got a young kid here wants to kill a bear. I said yep. I said he said I just put out on a small bear and uh, he said but they're not doing anything. I said we'll pull the dogs. I said and give me 30 minutes, I'll meet you right here. And we did. We met up there and the bear just come off the bait. So we got a plan I got my three best dogs and Jackson's got his three best dogs and we set up.
Speaker 2:Sure enough, 60-80 yards off the bait we dumped the dogs and they jumped the bear and it wasn't 15 minutes. They put them across the road and instantly it's just walking. They're not running, they're walking, howling at this bear. I heard Jackson looks at me. He says Blake, he says you want to shoot this bear. I said Jackson, you know this past and me and this bear and everything that I've learned about this. I want nothing in this world to do with this bear but to see someone else kill it. You know he says good enough. He says I'll kill it. I said sweet deal.
Speaker 2:So yeah, bear starts looping around to a road and, uh, dogs are coming right at us and I said let's get out in front. I said if this bear crosses this road, I said there's going to be one or two things happen. We're not going to get the bear because he's going to hit the narragansett River and swim it and the dogs don't do good in water, you know. I said or two, I said one of our they're going to bait us bear up and our dogs are going to get hurt. I mean, this is a 500 pound bear. Oh, yeah, yeah. So when he I said this bear comes into this road, I said you dump him. And that's exactly what he did. So the rest is history.
Speaker 2:We shot the bear. You know there was eight of us there. We tried to load it on a truck. Couldn't do it, just couldn't lift this bear. That's a holy moly. So we got down, we got it on the truck, we got down to the store, realized it was one eye as soon as he shot. You know the kid was ecstatic. You know he'd been after this bear, everyone else had been after this bear. I mean it was a true legend and him to pull the trigger on. It really was something special to him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it just like I said, I can't believe the history that you have with them. I mean it's awesome you hear people go out and they get like a nice bear, a nice buck, but you know they didn't see it on camera or anything and it's still good. But when you have the history like this with an animal, it just brings so much more meaning to the hunt and the harvest.
Speaker 2:Oh, definitely, you know, and he knew and I knew too, if I was gonna shoot this bear it's gonna cost me. You know, I got butcher fees, I got I'm obviously gonna get this thing mounted and all that. And she pulled the trigger. It's $5,000 at least, you know. And Jackson knew it, he didn't care, he didn't give a shit and uh, that that was what made it fine he's. You know, this thing's going on the wall.
Speaker 2:I said Jackson, what are you going to do with all this bear meat? He said you know what? He said I got a lot of people. He said I'll give it. I'll give it. He says we'll get rid of this thing. So we did.
Speaker 2:We got it all cut up. We got down to the store to weigh it down there and, uh, actually my shop and my scales were broke. I couldn't weigh it. We looked for like two hours trying to get this thing weighed and, sure enough, we threw it on the scales at 506 pounds and um had all we could do to lift it down here at the local store. He had just put some scales up for the youth deer hunt that was coming up and uh, we about ruined his scales trying to weigh this bear and we got it put on and weighed and, like I said, 506 pounds and it was something it was definitely something to be proud of.
Speaker 2:Uh, all of us, you know joint effort, everyone that was on the hunt that day uh, jackson, we ended up getting it, took it to the butcher, got it scone out, took it to the taxidermist, uh, ryan Rhodes, uh, north roads taxidermy, he had this, he has a bear. Uh, and Jackson, jackson was going to get a three quarter mount um, charging three quarter mount done. You know it was pretty, it will be a pretty impressive bear. But so, you know, Boone and Crockett's getting ready to come out the main skull, and antler and Jackson, you know he's a working man and he didn't really have time to do this paperwork stuff. And I can vouch the same for myself. You know, I think I've shot, I think, eight bucks, over 200 pounds, some nice ones, and I don't have a single pass to show for it, because I never want to fill the damn paperwork out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So he's kind of the same way, he's always busy and he went off to Gloucester, scotland, and ended up losing his life down there not shortly, shortly after all this took place, uh, to a tragic accident and um, so this is where the story really, you know, got out to the public, uh, just sharing some of these memories of the man he was and the uh, you know, just trying to keep the happy thoughts with his family during these difficult times. So I, I was asked by a friend of ours, dana Austin, all those wives, he's state police, he, he said, hey, you know, he'd known that Jackson and this bear had made Boone and Crockett. You know, to make Boone and Crockett and anything you shoot, you know that's an achievement in itself, let alone named skull and antler. You know that's a big achievement. But Boone and Crockett, that's another category and it doesn't happen very often. No, no.
Speaker 2:So I'm pretty sure there's only like 60, 65 bear in the whole state of Maine that's ever reached that milestone, and to have one of them, you know it's a pretty big achievement.
Speaker 1:It's impressive, yeah, I mean you think about how many bear have been harvested there every year for all these years, and to be able to be one of those people to have a bear in the Boone and Crockett, I mean, yeah, it's a, yeah, huge accomplishment.
Speaker 2:Yep, definitely so. No, I put together a quick story there. I didn't include a lot of the stuff we're talking about here tonight, just because you know there's a lot of people reading it and I didn't want to keep it kind of short and sweet. But, um, I'd like you reached out to me to share this story. I figured I'd just tell everything you know. I've told the story to a lot of people. A lot of people know the history on it, history you know not how many people can focus on a single bear, for you know 15 years, and I can't wait for the age report, for the state to come out. You know to. So we can, you know, see exactly how old this beast was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, yeah, I know, that's just yeah. Like I said, as soon as I read that, I'm like boy, that's a, that's a good story. And you know, I knew Jackson and then, um, yeah, that's when I thought yeah, I'd reach out to you and and, uh, I'm glad I did, cause, uh, that was yeah, that was good, it was a great story.
Speaker 2:I mean it's you know a lot of people go out west or go on hunting trips and you know they should have deer they've never even seen. You know, and this one is is totally different. You know it's not just me as many other outfitters, homeowners, you know land owners that. You know people just deer hunting that said that thing was on my camera. I know that bear and it was not many. You know it wasn't just the one eye that was distinctive. You know both of his ears on top was completely ripped off. So I mean he had a lot of characteristics that you're not just going to see in every bear. You know he he had the one eye, he had the missing. You know three-quarters of one ear gone, a half of an ear of another ear gone.
Speaker 1:So he was easily marked and you could pick him out like a sore thumb, you know Well, yeah, I mean just the fact that how many hound hunters are around Maine and you know bait hunters and all that, and the fact that a bear of that size could evade everybody for that long it's incredible really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I mean just for you know, thinking real quick, I mean this bear had probably been chased at least a dozen times by not only my hounds but Matt and Jason's and a few of the other guys that are around, and you know he did evade them and a few of the other guys that are around and you know he did evade them. And let alone the multiple pre-stand hunting guides that you know offer stand hunts over bait. I mean there's a lot of them in the area. I mean just in that few square miles, there's hundreds of baits that this bear, you know, was tending and he just he never messed up, never messed up. But his time was coming and he did mess up the morning that we found him.
Speaker 1:It just definitely a new respect for black bears, I guess you know, knowing that they, some of them really are that smart.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's crazy, you know. You know the bear hit the ground. I always go over and I look at the bear, I check them all out and for a bear of that age, knowing how old he was, I mean he was a perfect, healthy bear. Camera hit it. It had no pigment or something in it to reflect the light from the camera, um, but you know, his ears were gone, but his teeth were healthy, his claws were healthy, I mean the bear was fat, I mean. But you know that also shows something good for the area. We got a lot of feed and, you know, keeping these bears healthy and hopefully years to come have plenty of bears to harvest.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, I mean, obviously the area uh is prime to be able to grow an animal that old and that large.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 100%. Like I said, you know he was a legend and the kid who got the chance to harvest this bear. I consider him a legend too. You know he's a good man, well-known in the community, and he lost his wife at 26 years old and left behind his wife, girlfriend sorry, and a little baby girl and another one on the way. So pretty tragic end to the story, which I don't really like to talk about. But I wanted to honor him and his achievements and I'm glad to be able to share it with him and multiple other people.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, thanks to you, blake, this podcast has got a pretty good reach now and, yeah, a lot of people are going to get to hear this story and about Jackson.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I like what you do. I started getting big in the podcast there a few years back when they started really getting out there, and I listened to a lot of the W? Uh, you know podcast and how blood he's another one. I've listened to a lot of how blood stories Um and uh continue. I'm glad you reached out, cause I'd like to listen to some of your stuff as well too, so I was glad to be a part of it. And, uh, if you got anything else or we chat a little bit more, let her rip, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, uh, I want to talk to you a bit after this, but, um, you know, for this story, I mean, I can't thank you enough for coming on and I really appreciate it, and, uh, you can tell a good story. You kept me, kept me on the edge of my seat, it was, uh, it was good and uh yeah my wife.
Speaker 2:My wife always tells me I take after my grandfather. He's a hell of a storyteller. But I try, I try. But you know, a lot of stories aren't true, you hear. But this one right here is from the heart and everything about it's true and I'm glad to share it with you. Know, everyone, you know, just because it it gives another name for what hunting. You know it's more than the killing it is it's more.
Speaker 2:You know there's a lot involved with it and a lot of memories made and you know, I hope a lot of people you know look at it as that and not just you know, hey, we're out there killing bears with dogs and we're doing this and we're doing that. You know this bear, you know he was harvested. He's going to be a trophy for this, this young gentleman, but he also fed many people. You know we created stories, memories that will last forever. You know it's our tradition and we got a fight to keep keep it going.
Speaker 1:So yeah, you know it's, it's a, it's a passion to hopefully keep carrying on for many generations yet no, I thank you for letting me be a part of it sure, anytime thanks.