explain this to me

[Hunter]

some friends of mine were bear hunting the other day and a man and woman stopped to talk to them.(They were looking for a dog from the road) they were from Maine and told them that if they "really wanted to kill bear" give them a call next year and they could come up and kill 6 bears each. He said he owned 6000 acres with a place for them to say. He claimed the bears were eating his orchards up faster than he could replace them. He gave them his name and number. Well I looked up the regulations on bear hunting in Maine and it says your only allowed 1 bear a year. Here in TN some land owners are given extra tags for deer when they have a problem with over population and eating up their corn and what nots. I didn't know if this man was given extra tags because the bear were destroying his orchards. Has anyone from Maine ever heard of anything like this. I would go with them next year if I could legally kill that many bear(would be awesome for training my pups) but that's a long way to drive for only one OR to get into trouble with the rabbit sheriff.

[redneckbearhunter]

that seems a little whired to me. i now people that have lived there and i havent ever heard that before. but he my be right. i wouldnt take a chance myself.

[bearhntwi]

We get crop damage tags here for both bear and deer so he's probably telling the truth,

[Borderpond]

I am a Registered Maine Guide and have hunted there all my life. I have never heard of such a thing.I have heard about nuisance bears being killed but dont know how they could give anyone 6 tags ??

Plus, if you are from out of state and want to run dogs on bears in Maine, you must be a Registered Maine Guide OR employ and hunt with one.No more than 3 non-residents can hunt with a resident Maine guide at one time. A non-resident Registered Maine Guide may hunt bear with dogs by himself or guide Maine residents only.

Sounds to me like someone was maybe just shooting the bull.

[bob baldwin jr]

Hunter: I would be vary leary about that situation!! I have seen many orchards in Maine but none That I would say were 6,000 acres in size
I belive that it is a combination of Maine Dept of Ag AND DNR that issues crop depredation permits to commercial Growers. They use to be issued to farm owner and /or employees designated by owner . It may be worth a call to the owner but I would confirm the process and speak to the dept issuing said permits.before I made any travel plans
As far as nuisances bears go get your permit first fair warning in Maine . A few years ago at our camp outside of Brownville Maine . I arrived early with the groceries mid afternoon . My buddies were set to show up that evening around 8:00PM . I decided to go out patty hunting for a few hours .I came back camp door was busted off hinges " WHAT THE ____" I'm thinking I grab my 44 walk up to the camp door there was a freaking bear chomping on our grocery's .went around to the back door started banging on it to scare him off no luck. Fired a couple shots Nothing.Went back around to front door grabbed a couple of bricks threw them at the bear the bear got pissed started popping his teeth went back to eating .About now I am getting pissed so I threw another brick, bear stuck his head out again so I shot him . Thinking I was doing the right thing I called county sherrif to send warden out to the camp to report incident and show damage caused . About an hour latter they show up .Write up an incident report ,took the 44 and issued a citation for not getting a bear tag.
Next day I go to court bldg ask if I can have judge hear my case ,Luckily it was a slow day he said yes I showed him the pictures I had taken and my copy of the warden report . I told him what happened he agreed " NOT GUILTY" BUT $50 court cost if I wanted my 44 back . Tell me there is not something fishy going on there!!! He tells the clerk to print up a form ,he would sign it and I could get it back at sherriff dept . THE END

PS Make sure you have EVERYTHING before you SHOOT a bear

PPS : Was I hunting ??? or Shooting a Nuisence bear???

[Borderpond]

Bob, how the heck did a judge hear the case without the warden or prosecutor being there ? I know a little about the law and court system and this sounds a little different than anything else I have ever heard about a case in Maine . You would always have the right to question your accuser and if the warden that issued the citation wasnt there it should have been dropped or nol processed as its called.

[bob baldwin jr]

Borderpond: When I went to court That day ,I belive there was 10 or 12 cases on the docket . The prosecutor was there . I explained that I was a non-resident property owner. The prosecutor and the judge agreed that I would be the last case heard. While I was waiting I was to;ld to go to prosecutors office to give my ID information, I latter found out that they wanted to check my information and verify that I was not WANTED by any other state for anything. In all my 64 years except for a speeding ticket I have NEVER been in trouble with the law.
After doing this I was told to go back to court room sit and wait for them to call my name. As I recall there was the judge , the prosecutor, a clerk a sherrif dupty or court balif and 1 attorney who was representing someone for some offense . Every one had cleared out and the judge motioned me to come up.By this time he had a copy of the offense ,found out that I was not WANTED And I proceeded to explain my side of the story.to the judge and prosecutor.
Acknowledgeing that I had called the sherrif dept to have warden come out to scene, Showing pictures of broken door ,mess on floor ,and dead bear . I also had a receipt for a replacement METAL DOOR!!! I also told them that I was NOT seeking any restitution for anything. Just trying to clear my name and NOT have anything come back on me . I am sure this whole process took less than 2 minutes .the judge and prosecutor at least thought I was SINCERE in my statements and agreed " NOT GUILTY"
As far as the court costs go I was more interested in getting my 44 back. In fact when the wardens pulled up the first thing that I told them was the 44 was laying on the hood of my pick-up unloaded and that there was a cased shotgun in back of pick-up. Just trying to appease them and not start any controversy.
Not sure about other states but in Maine for years it was always assumed that the warden service had almost unlimited powers ,not needing search warrants etc; Anybody remember the Hagerty Incident.???in JACKMAN ???? And yes HAND-GUN hunting in Maine is legal . Only possible problem was I had a permit to carry hand-gun in CONN but nothing other than hunting license from Maine . Neither party thought that was an issue . At least I was able to get my 44 back , So I attributed the court cost fee to LESSON LEARNED

[Borderpond]

Bob, that makes so much sense its hard to believe !! Thank God you had a decent judge and prosecutor there. I bet the warden was bullsh** when he heard the prosecutor agreed to the case being heard without him being there. Its nice to hear of something reasonable in court for a change.

I have had alot of dealing with wardens in both Maine and N.H. over the years. 95% of it has been positive.I have had a couple of runins with guys that were just looking to be a pain.

I guided a young guy bear hunting with my dogs.Just he and I. He shot a nice treed bear. We tagged it and dragged it out to the road.As we loaded it in the truck we noticed the tag was gone.We back tracked a long ways and couldnt find it. This was in NH where you have to have a warden tag the bear.First phone I came to I called headquarters to have a warden check in the bear.I told them we had lost the hunters tag.The warden met us. I explained what had happened with the tag and he was all pissed off about it. I said"the hunter is right here, here is his license with the tag detached,the license has the tag number right on it.If we were doing something wrong would I have called ?? He gave the hunter the third degree before he checked in the bear and were on our way. The hunter was so mad at that warden. He was convinced the warden still didnt believe us about losing the tag and I couldnt figure out what could we have gained by not having the tag on the bear !!!

[Borderpond]

Oh I would like to say I am sorry for getting off topic about wardens. It should also be noted that I no where in my off topic post stated that I was a great houndsman,had the best dogs or any of the other stuff that Ike says about himself when he goes off topic !!

[bob baldwin jr]

Borderpond: Yes I guess I was LUCKY. At the time I thought it was the RIGHT thing to do . My mind on that will never change. Had I tried to do something else and got rid of the problem. Probably noone would have been the wiser except for myself and hunting buddies. I do understand that sometimes the wardens have a Thank-less job to do . I am sure this is not the first time that they ever responded to an incident like that nor the last.Most wardens that I have ever talked to have been very friendly and helpfull.We are all human beings some have better days than others. At least the part that I initiated it instead of being caught probably saved my A--
If I had been caught I am sure the outcome would have been a lot different.

[bob baldwin jr]

Borderpond: I just got a call from one of my hunting buddies. I started telling him about what we were discussing on the forum . He asked if I would ask you the following ,Not that we are about to start a life of crime:

1. Do the Maine wardens still not have to get warrants to search your place?

2. Can they still confiscate your Pick-up trucks , guns, personal items,if you are caught doing anything illegal??

3.Is there a set formula fine for game violations?

This year there were 4 guy's in camp 10 days . We lost one guy last year and this is the first deer season I missed in 42 years . One guy bud shot a 6 point dressed out 155lbs my other bud Paul shot a 8 point dressed out 176lbs. Trying to recover from pneumonia, start packing up stuff. Retiring first of the year and then Moving up to Brownville Maine to follow.Hopefully then to start our own pack of hounds .Non-commercial use .

Best of luck in your guiding endeavors
Thanks
SWAMPBUSTER

[Jason Waterhouse]

Anybody remember the Hagerty Incident.???in JACKMAN ????

No what was this incident?

[bob baldwin jr]

Jason : The Hagerty incident happened at least 15 plus years ago.

I hope I have most of my facts straight ,but this is as best as I remember it . In Jackman Maine the was a large family called Hagerty .Some in the family were Lic Me Guides. Apparently one of the guides and his wife were having a Problem with the warden service. The guides wife was also apparently an alcoholic a known fact around town.Also at the time I belive the Warden service had more rights than the State or local police. No search warrants needed ETC;
For what-ever reason 2 wardens in the state Pick-up pulled in to her yard . She came out on the front porch told them to leave as they were trespassing. They refused ,she shot a warning shot in the air .Neither warden or truck were injured .Realizing she was intoxicated they should have waited for the husband to come home and address the situation. She was defineately wrong for firing a warning shot but the wardens should have used better judgement.
Anyhow one of the wardens fires back and kills her. Autopy's and other tests validated the intoxication. Final outcome 1 warden transferred 1 warden quit service . Under the circumstances should they have killed her??? Maybe there was a better way to have handled this??
Kind of reminds me of the Claude Dallas story in reverse!!!!

[spruce mountain]

I agree with Borderpond I have never heard of this and I have lived in maine my whole life.The state only lets people kill problem bears as a last resort.They will relocate them first.Somebodys telling stories.