Maine

Young William and his first Bear 

Place: Grand Lake Stream, Maine
Location: 45.17° N, 67.77° W
Trophy: Black BearOutfitter: Peter Looney

This is our second trip out to Maine to hunt with Peter Looney in his hometown of Grand Lake Stream. The bear season is a short six-week season that starts at the end of August. The first two weeks of the season are hunting over bait sites only. While the middle two weeks of the season are a combination of both bait and hound hunting, and the final two weeks of the season is strictly hound hunting. Although Peter Looney is know for his hound hunting abilities, during our trip we hunted the first week of the season over bait.

Joe's First Bear 

Getting There:

From the New York area this is an easy trip. With only an eight-hour drive it is easily done in a one-day trip. But if flying was necessary there are airports in both Portland and Bangor ME, which are only 2 and a half hours from the hunting grounds.

The Hunt:

Hunting black bears over bait sites is very similar to hunting deer, in which there is a lot of time spent sitting in the tree stand. Peter Looney and his team of guides work very hard and make sure that all of his bait sites are baited freshly everyday. Hunting here you can choose to hut as hard as you want. If you want to get into the stand early and spend all day there they are willing to accommodate any of your requests.

Usually you are picked up from your cabin around 1:30 PM and into the stand by 2:00PM. After the bait is freshly added it is time to sit and wait until dark where you will be picked up and be brought to camp.

600 Lbs. Bear 

If you have never been bear hunting in your life, it is almost impossible to describe that feeling in your chest when you get your first glimpse of an apex predator at such a close distance.

Weather:

Varies. I have been sitting in the stand in a t-shirt sweating with bugs flying everywhere. But I have also been sitting in the rain for hours and have never been so cold in my life. So just come prepared for all types of weather.

Essential Gear:

Therma-cell (Mosquito Repellent)

Rain Gear 

3 bears in one night 

South Africa

Blue Wildebeest 

Place:  Limpopo, South AfricaLocation: 24.00° S, 29.50° E
Trophy: Plains Animals 

Outfitter: Limpopo Outfitters

A journey to the African wilderness is the pinnacle of any hunter’s story. With enough different types of plains game to fill almost any trophy room the only advice I can give is bring enough ammo.

Getting There:

Kudu

This is a long one. With Johannesburg only a short 16-hour flight from Newark, NJ make sure to plan accordingly. Once arriving the guide will pick you up from the airport and take you to his camp on the Limpopo River, which is the border between South Africa and Botswana. After arriving let the hunt begin.

 The Hunt:

Finally in the wild bush of the Limpopo River you have to decide how hard you want to hunt. You can decide to get into a blind and sit watching over a watering hole where you can see of warthogs, impala, kudu, wildebeest, and many others. You can also drive around in the Safari trucks and try to spot and stalk the game on foot. And depending on if you ever need to sleep there is night hunting. The night hunt involves driving around and spotting game with a spotlight.

The African plains game includes: 

Greater kudu                                                              

Red-flanked duiker

Impala 

Yellow-backed duiker

Common hippopotamus

Impala

Roan antelope

Common hartebeest

Sable antelope

Waterbuck

Addra gazelle

Kob

Dorcas gazelle

Red-fronted gazelle

Collared peccary

Banteng

White-lipped peccary

African buffalo

Grey ox

Beira antelope

Blesbuck

Gaur

Klipspringer

Asian buffalo

Giraffe

Sharpe's grysbok

Southern reedbuck

Bohar reedbuck

Oribi

Tsessebe

Bongo

Peter's duiker

Marshbuck

Bay duiker

Black duiker

Nyala

Waterbuck 

Weather:

The African bush is classic desert weather. During the winter it is very hot during the middle of the day while at night getting below freezing. During the summer it is above 100 degrees Fahrenheit all day while only cooling down a little during the night.

 Essential Gear:

Warm cloths for the night hunt

Deep pockets (everything has a price)

Warthog