RICHARDSON TOWNSHIP – Some days, the bear wins.

That was the case Thursday for Wilton bear hunting guides Bob Parker and Frank Walker of Parker’s Stony Brook Outfitters business in Wilton.

The men each took four hounds into the woods from Township E to Richardson Township, south and west of Rangeley. After 10 hours, they returned without having seen a bear.

“Every now and then, you have a typical nonproductive day. Today was one of those days. The dogs got the (scent) runs but couldn’t get a bear going,” Parker said.

Hound hunting for bear ends Friday, Oct. 29, and might end for good if voters Nov. 2 approve Referendum Question 2, which asks, “Do you want to make it a crime to hunt bears with bait, traps or dogs, except to protect property, public safety or for research?”

“If this thing were to pass, it would be a very sad thing for the state of Maine,” Parker said.

“A lot of our clients have rebooked for next year, but God forbid, if something happens, we’ll have to refund their money. I hope that Maine people can see the big picture and vote that way.”

Thursday began in the dark on a below-freezing day at 5 a.m.

“Good luck,” they said to each other before hitting the road: Parker with his wife, Jaye, and Walker of Sidney with his son, Nathan, a Clinton patrolman.

6:30 a.m. – The Parkers stopped in Richardson Township on a dirt road off Route 16 to outfit the hounds with radio-tracking collars.

Using a radio telemetry recovery system, Bob Parker said he can track the dogs and follow the hunt, because each dog wears a collar that emits a different frequency.

7:50 a.m. – Four bait sites later, the dogs are off on the track of an estimated 300-pound bear.

Parker said he has leased from landowners 150 bait sites, all within 90 minutes of Wilton.

Some sites are for clients who hunt over bait; others are only to run hounds from.

Bear scat near Thursday’s fourth bait site revealed the bear had eaten nothing but grass and mountain ash berries.

In the last three weeks, Parker said they haven’t killed a female bear.

“This tells us they have gone in to den. When there are beechnuts out there in the woods, sows will stay out. But we haven’t seen any nuts this year,” he said.

9:08 a.m. – All four dogs have returned to their truck kennel.

“The bear wins,” Bob Parker said.

Several miles later, after finding no bear at other sites, he headed for Madrid to help Walker, who called at 10:52 a.m.

Walker said he started his dogs on bear scents in Township E, but they’d crossed Route 4, entering the woods of Madrid, and, unwittingly, into coyote-trapping territory.

Parker said Walker had headed out on foot after the dogs in unfamiliar territory on the back side of Saddleback Mountain. He’d left a tracking collar and dog in his truck so Parker could locate it using the telemetry device.

Parker didn’t find the truck, but he did pinpoint Walker’s dogs, just before Walker and his son caught up to them.

By 3 p.m., both men and their dogs were heading home.

“One week left …, then 10 months to rest,” said Bob Parker.

Or, depending on voters, perhaps longer.


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