I have a hunt coming up in about a week with Eldon and need directions to Eldon's place. Been trying to reach him by phone, but with the season starting he must be busy with the first group of hunters and baiting. Can't wait to get up there!
There are directions on the website under "contact" but here is the link...
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?address=2053+Portage+Rd&city=Portage+Lake&state=ME&zipcode=04768&latitude=46.759768&longitude=-68.475686&geocode=ADDRESS
By the way, coming up route 95 you need to be sure to get off exit 264, Sherman Mills, then head North on route 11.....about 60 miles from there.
Thanks, I will be driving up with Xroadshunter.
When you get into Portage, Eldon's shop will be the green building on the left with the Custom Taxidermy sign right before the motel. Man I've spent some great times there--wish I could back there this year but just got back from a Wyoming antelope hunt and the wallet won't stand any more hunts for a bit. I love that place up there! You're going to have a great time--none better than Eldon and his crew.
I second David's post- great times and memories up there. Wish you and I were both headed up this year Dave, then you could tell me some tales of your Wyoming trip!
Don, there are tales to be told. :eek: :D
I'd love to hear- maybe a PM? -when you find some time? :)
David hit the nail on the
George,
GOOD LUCK Arrow a GOOD ONE !!!
Hopefully, Looks like there might be a few tippet knives working in Maine :) Good luck...tippit
Thanks for the info everyone.
Tom I missed BQ this, but hope to rectify that soon.
Jeff there will be a couple of your blades with us hope to put them to use. Friday can't get here soon enough.
Wait til you guys see the bear that was taken tonight with a home made longbow...easily into the record books.
Bill are you going to post pics here ? Would really like to see some pics of bear. Ranger 3 and Myself will be heading up to Eldons this Saturday for the 3rd week of the season. It will be great to meet the fellow Trad Gangers from Florida. Bill did you get a chance at a bear?
Thanks Pete
Good luck George. I'm sitting a bait reading this.Keep the bear in the truck eh?
As soon as I get the pics I'll post them. Just some statistical info. We had 16 hunters last week and took 10 bear...2 trad, 3 firearms and the rest with compounds. Another outfitter in the same general area had 40 hunters who took 4 bears....most of these are firearms only. Another nearby outfitter had zero bears for the week. In general the bears still have plenty of natural food and were hitting the baits intermittently. I believe everyone that hunted had an opportunity to take a bear but, like me, declined shooting smaller ones. I also know of several misses ( who said compounds were more accurate?) and I think two unrecovered. As the season continues and natural food declines there will be more activity at the baits. Those of you who are yet to go will have some good hunting stories to tell.
Bill, I hope you keep us posted about the successes of the guys there this week. My buddies Ed McMinn, Gene Thorn, Scott Thomas and his brother Jeff and Grant Patton are all good friends of mine and I wish I could be there with them! :wavey:
Yes Bill please keep us informed,had a great time huntin with Eldon a few years back wait it was more than a few years back guess I need to get back up there again
David and Terry....because I'm part of Eldon's "team" I intend to keep track of the success or lack there of on a weekly basis. I'm dependent on folks getting pics to me and if you know any that are Tradgang members be sure to encourage them to post their stories and pics. To me, hunting black bears with a trad bow is about as "mystical" as bowhunting gets.
Bill, I agree wholeheartedly! Nothing like "north woods magic".
We'll hunt vicariously through your stories and pictures, Bill!
Well, here is THE bear of the week. Karl Green is a lawyer from Florida who hunts with Eldon about every two years. Here are his own words....
This is the bear I took Saturday night. As you know the hunting was slow as the bears weren't moving during the week due to hurricane Irene. I was rather disappointed as it was the last day of the hunt and I had only seen one cub all week. On the last day Eldon reminded me that "You only need 30 seconds for things to change." At the end of the day the sun was going down and I realized I was disappointed with the hunting (not the "hunt," Eldon always puts on a GREAT hunt) for the week. I reflected on how much I enjoyed the time on vacation with my wife and daughter, all the other hunters, the beautiful woods and Portage, Maine. I was disappointed that I hadn't seen more bears, however. I usually hunt with a longbow so I certainly don't expect to kill an animal on every hunt but I had hunted hard and not much action in the woods. As it was almost dark I thought I would climb down. All the shadows were starting to look like bears. I realized there was a big shadow in the edge of the woods that I had not seen before. As I watched the shadow I thought it moved and sat tight. When it finally started moving towards the barrel it looked like 2 bears coming in. It wasn't until it turned broadside to lick the icing on the barrel (Eldon's special touch) that I realized it was a GOOD bear. I was running out of light so as soon as the bear was distracted I drew and shot. I crown dip my arrows white and fletch white so I can see my arrows in low light. I saw the arrow bury into the bear. I knew it was a good hit, high, but as my stand was high I knew I had the far lung. The bear rattled 3 times about 50-60 yds from the stand. One minute after the shot it was over.
A GREAT week turned into a PHENOMENAL week in 30 seconds.
I shot the bear with bow and arrows I made, STOS broadhead.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/Arrowworks/Karlgreenbear.jpg)
Oh, my goodness!! :eek: What a bear!! Congratulations, Karl. I was there last year when hurricane Earl poured 5" of rain on Portage over the week end before my hunt and know what you mean about things slowing down due to that.
Congratulations, looks like an outstanding bear!
HOLY ---- That's a BIG bear! Congratulations on a real trophy.
Glenn
Great Bear. I would love more pictures of the bow!
Great Bear Karl, I am leaving this coming Saturday and if I see a bear like that I'm thinking I would be shaking to bad to shoot it, being I have never even seen a bear in the wild.
That is one gigantic bear. Congrats :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Ranger the hard part is they move like ghosts. Normally SLOW with no noise! It's awesome! I'd rather hunt bears than deer anyday. Just something magical about them. Good luck on your hunt!
Glenn
Congrats on a bear of your lifetime,gonna be hard to top that one.
That is a PHENOMENAL bear!! :clapper:
Congrats Trophy Bear for sure. :thumbsup: :campfire:
Great bear, congrats!
Wow! Great bear!
We actually took two bears like that last week...one traditional and one compound. Eldon has some monsters up there. The one Karl shot was in the 325+ live weight. A few years ago one was trapped in town that tipped the scales at 600#'s +. Hard to wrap my head around a bear that big after seeing the two taken last week. If you ever want a good Fall bowhunt Hunters Point is the place to go. Most of the other outfitters in the area prefer to have firearm hunters and I have spoken to more than a few bow hunters, both compound and trad, that felt like second class at other places. Eldon, himself, shoots and hunts only with a longbow so he is "on our side".
Bill, any news on the first two afternoon hunts this week?
:thumbsup: :clapper:
David: One bear taken yesterday (Tues.)....rained hard on Monday only my friend, Tom, from Switzerland went out in the rain and saw nothing.
Any more news? :campfire:
We are waiting!
There was only one bear taken this week so far. It's 6:27 PM right now so I am assuming that someone up there is having an adrenalin rush as we "speak". The last hour is usually the best time to be on stand so I may get a message in an hour or two. I'm still waiting on a pic frim Black Cloud (his handle on here unless he starts his own thread) from last week.
George and myself hit the road about 4:30 this morning. Should be there by Sunday.
Tradbowr and I will be leaving in the morning about 3 AM will be there Sunday sometime. We are really looking forward to this hunt. This will be our first bear hunt and we have never seen a bear in the wild so it should be a wild time.
Howard
One of my good friends from Switzerland called last night and he killed his first beat....heart shot....35 yard recovery. Will post pics when I get them. He used a DAS Dalla riser, 55# Border limbs, Beman classics....400 with Razorcap head.
Bill, give Tom a big congratulations from me--I remember meeting Tom. :thumbsup:
Here's the pic.
David: Tom is coming down to NH to stay with us tomorrow night. He made one request...fire up the grill and let's cook some backstraps.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/Arrowworks/toms_bear_2011.jpg)
Bill, Please let Tom know that I am really very happy for him, Congrats!
I just got an email from him: Here's the story in his own words.
"That's right. You can't imagine how happy I'm am (or maybe yes, you have probably quite a good idea). I was busy with posting pictures on Facebook yesterday night and this morning.
Actually yesterday was an incredibly beautiful day, warm, sunny, almost no wind. It fully compensated my 3.5 hours under the pouring rain on monday. I went into the stand by 3pm. Towards 6.20pm I started to hear a bear coming in. The place was very open, good light, perfect silence. A beautiful bear (actually a dry sow) came in from the left (about 130-150# live weight), I could see he had a nice hide from a distance. He sniffed around a little bit, then went into the barrel, grabbed a huge piece of donut and backed off. This is when I fired my first arrow and somehow I was too excited to be able to concentrate on spot on this bear. I don't how often I had visualized mentally taking my spot just below the center of the bear, drawing, aiming... But I just saw the bear, totally unable to concentrate and I completely missed my shot. The arrow flew right into the ground beneath the bear. I was angry about myself because I knew I was able to make a perfect shot and missed that completely. When the arrow hit the ground, the bear dropped the donut an ran off. 30 seconds later she was back, grabbed the donut and walked off to eat eat it out of sight. Barely 3 minutes later, here the bear comes back. My arrow was burried into the earth excepted for the fletching. The bear started to sniff the fletching and I thought, now it's probably over. I was wrong, the bear didn't seem to care and came back into the barrel, picked up another piece of donut, backed out of the barrel and here comes the second arrow. This time a could gather myself and aim precisely. I saw the arrow sticking into the bear's left side almost down to the fletching. It was a nice quartering away shot. Jimmy had positioned the barrel just perfectly. The bear took off immediately; only 20 seconds later I could hear a long, but clear and fading death moan. I was almost 95% that everything was ok. After 10 minutes, I packed my stuff, went down to the barrel, grabbed my first arrow and walked out to the road as quietly as possible. 10 minutes later Eldon and Correy (I guy from Texas who shot a bear on tuesday) drove by and we went back to track it. I had good blood but the trail was a bit difficult to follow. I started to get a bit nervous when we found no more blood anymore. But then Eldon turned around and there was my bear. He barely made 30 yards. The arrow was still in the bear sticking out on both sides. Double lung shot, dead center through the heart; a shot which only exists in one's dreams."
Ken....I will do that. I noticed that your pics just arrived. Would you like me to post them for you?
Here is Black Cloud and his wife, Rosita, (she ALWAYS cooks Ken a full dinner with desert while he's out hunting) posing with his bear.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/Arrowworks/KenandRosita.jpg)
We need a story, Ken.
Good stuff, Bill, good stuff!
The first week of bear season at Eldon's was considered slow by many of the hunters. Maybe a natural food source was the issue. I for one only saw one medium size bear (150lbs) in four nights of hunting. However, on the fifth night at 6pm the pictured bear walked into the stand site and after hearing reports from other hunters that some of the larger bears just took a look and moved off, I was ready and released the arrow at my first opportunity. The shot was a complete pass through and after 15 minutes I followed the blood trail for approximately 35 yards to his final resting spot. I placed a red glow stick in a branch over the bear. My wife, Eldon and I returned later that night for pictures. The next day I gave my wife a break from cooking and we had a nice meal at Deans.Can't wait for next year!
Tom and Black Cloud
Congrats on the bears, doesnt get any better than a successfull hunt. :thumbsup: :clapper:
Two thirds of the trip down. Hopefully be there tonight.
Just checked the 10 day forecast. A liittle bumpy in mid week but mostly cool and clear. Should be a good week. Take lots of pics.
Will do
Bill, you must have felt it on Sept. 8th, when you wrote your message by 18.30; my adrenaline level was right at the top at this very moment.
I will remember this day for ever. It might sound kind of weird to you guys, but where I come from (Switzerland), there is no bow hunting and I was already over my forties when I first started to shoot a bow, made my hunting education and went through bow hunting training in France.
During my first hunting trip to PA, I made an unexpected very close encounter with a sow and two cubs on the ground, which almost scared me to death. Very scary experience, but soooo fascinating at the same time that I decided to try it rather with bear than deer.
This bear was my first game ever and you can probably hardly imagine what this means for :-)
So good to have friends over here in the US. Bringing the meat back to Switzerland is almost impossible, but thanks to Bill and Laura's chef talents, I had to privilege to share the deliciously tasty "filets mignons" of bear at their home yesterday night.
It was so good seeing you again in Maine Black Cloud. Transmit my greetings to Rosita.
Tom
PS: Faithful to Thoreau's quote below, I haven't written much about bow hunting in the past, but I guess I'll feel more free do to so now.
Really glad for you Thomas!
Sounds and seems like a great place to be right now hunting:)
Thanks Bill for providing us with nice pics :thumbsup: :archer:
Last week was a "bad" one. Only 3 bears taken. However, as of Friday, when Tom took his bear to the checking station, the only bears checked in all week were from Eldon. To me that is amazing because about every mile on Rte.11 there is an outfitter. Bear activity is minimal everywhere but Eldon is the only outfitter getting anything. I talked with Eldon this morning and he said he had 8 Tradgangers up there this week. Let's wish them well
Arrived home from Eldons place late last night didn't kill a bear but had a great time. My brother scored on a nice bear and we all saw some can't wait to get back up.
Any more updates on how the rest of the bear season is going at Eldon's?
I talked to him today. I think only 8 hunters this week mostly from this site. They have had crazy rain for 2 days so only had 2 good days of hunting. I think he said they had 3 bears so far but the good news is that the good days were more "normal" in terms of bear sightings. Wish I could make it up there for a couple of days next week but just can't get away. it's going to be good for those that make it.
Today is Sunday so last week's hunt is over. They had terrible weather but on the days it was good the hunting was good. Eldon only had 11 hunters and they took 7 bear....four trad, one compound and two firearms. As soon as I get some pics and more info I will post. Everyone had shooting...not everyone connected.
Bill,thanks for the reports .Keep them coming and give us reports on moose hunting too if possible when it starts
Man I wish I could make it back up for the last week. Just isn't possible. Was hard not to get discouraged but I tried to keep positive. Maybe I'll be able to go again next year.
Headed back home... Still. Had a great time. Met some really cool people. Eldon and his crew are top notch. Saw bears, took a shot at one but he spooked me (lol) and the arrow sailed right over it's back. All in all it was a great experience.
Just made it home about 2pm CT. Have to agree with rushluh,met some great people, saw bear I didnt get to drop the string, but thats hunting. All I can say is that Eldon , puts on a great hunt. If the Sun Shines and the Crick dont rise I will be back next year. This was my first bear hunt Iam hooked. :thumbsup:
We are still driving home. Had a great time rain and shine. Good company good hunting and a bunch of new friends. Will be back again next year.
QuoteOriginally posted by xroadshunter:
We are still driving home. Had a great time rain and shine. Good company good hunting and a bunch of new friends. Will be back again next year.
George, are you bring back a bear? Drive safe buddy! :archer2:
Just got back from Eldon's place and had a great time. No bear taken but got some video of a pair of cubs just click on the pic.
(http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm216/ranger500us/th_100_0007.jpg) (http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm216/ranger500us/?action=view¤t=100_0007.mp4)
Didn't bring back a bear Tom, but had a blast. I'll be posting a story in a day or two after I get caught up.
Just wanted to drop a line and hope everyone had a safe journey home.To say we had tough conditions would be an understatement! It was a pleasure meeting everyone and hope to share camps and hunts in the future.special shout out to eldon and the boys for bending over backwards for us.
Third week up at Eldons was tough hunting!But as anyone knows bear or no bear Eldons place is still fun,Eldons jokes and the guides are second to none.I was lucky and shot a bear on the fifth night,the first bear I saw,a dry sow live weight around 175 pounds.Very Happy!Seems the bears seen and taken are bigger then average this year.Met some trad guys and talked about hunting clothes,bows arrows,broadheads,which is always fun.Hope all had safe trips home and maybe see you there again,I believe this was my sixth year and will return again in the future!
By the way steve shot a 200 plus pound dry sow on the fifth day also,I think it was the second bear he saw,perfect shot from his schafer and stos setup,not bad for a 24" draw lenght,HA HA.If you think about going west or north for a back country hunt goto Maine late season and sit in the rain for 6 hours with 15 mile an hour winds, gusts to 25 to 30 mph,great gear check,sitka preformed great well worth the cost to be dry and comfortable!
Hey Chris....story, pics????????
my story is I started the week with my tall tines but after 3 days in the tree an injury in my neck 2 bad vertibres 1 that will touch my spinal cord sometimes and cause serious pain I switched to my back up weapon, my compound and made a perfect shot,wheel bow in the hand but traditional in the brain,the injury has been being treated for awhile it did not happen up there.The blood trail was 20 yards,steve can tell his story but who ever says you cant get good blood from a small 2 blade head should have seen his blood trail,40 yard recovery.Good times.Good luck boys in the last week shoot straight.
Just wondering how the last week of bear season went.
any updates bill
How's the hand coming along Earl?
The last week was a nightmare. Terrible weather and only one bear killed on the last evening. The good news is that Eldon did better in terms of hunter success than any other guide service in the area that I am aware of. The other good news is that this the first week of moose season and he has 100% with bowhunters and moose. So, at the end of the week I will, perhaps, have some story(ies) to share. I know that at least one bowhunter is trad...don't know about the other 2 guys.
Bill-
I'm sure there will be tales to tell and anxiously await the stories. Nothing like a Maine moose hunt!
Sounds like it was a off year all over Maine I think the abundance of natural food and all of the low pressure systems moveing through the northeast was a major influence on the hunting this year? just my opinion
Earl: I think you are spot on.