Maine Grand Slam......almost

    The Maine Grand slam! Deer, Moose, Bear, and Turkey, all shot in the same calender year.  The fall of 2013 proved to be the best hunting season on the books so far for me. In June I was one of the lucky ones to be drawn for a Maine moose permit. I had applied almost every year since I was 10 years old, FINALLY in 2013 I received a permit. The summer went fast as I scouted many new areas. My wife and I hunted mostly around our home, hoping to get a bull on our own property. As the September season closed in, we had a chance encounter with a magnificent bull. After seeing this bull I knew he was the one to hunt for on opening day.
    On opening morning we hunted the area we had seen the bull. We found several of his wallows, but never met up with him. As Monday came to a close we had seen several smaller bulls and cows, but we were holding out for the BIG GUY. Tuesday morning found us sitting in the truck waiting for the rain to stop, for I had chose to hunt with my smoke-pole. The rain never did let up, so we decided to go for a short drive. Then my wife seen a small bull heading out across an over grown field. We got out and followed the young bull. We could tell he had something on his mind as he headed out across the field. By the time we trudged across the rain soaked field, the small bull was no where in sight. My wife suggested we should walk in and check one of the wallows we were close to, so we did. (THANK YOU Roberta!). That is where we found the BIG GUY with his sweetheart. One shot from the smoke-pole and the big bull was down. NICE!! (luckily it only took one shot, my reloading kit was in the pick-up a half mile back)
      The bull weighed 956 lbs. with a 52 inch spread.

    Deer season in 2013 was an aggravating season, to say the least. I had several opportunities, but did not close the deal on a buck until late November. The buck was a nice 8 point,   162 lbs.









   Black bear hunting, Frustrating but Fun. 2013 was a somewhat difficult bear season, due to the readily available natural food sources. Yes, most bears prefer natural food sources to a bucket of doughnuts. I was able to harvest 2 bear in the fall of 2013 by way of hunting and trapping. The bear I shot was 125 lbs, great for eating. Then I trapped one that was 350 lbs. They were both on our property destroying the apple trees we prune and maintain.

350 lbs

   Lastly,In the spring of 2014 (a season to late) I was able to shoot a nice long beard. (thanks to Mr. Huston). I had to travel to southern Maine for the last leg, or thigh, of the grand slam. The season in northern Maine was cancelled due to the severe winter and very late spring(severe even for northern Maine). Chris and I had talked about going after some long beards, but never finalized plans until a week before the season opened. We had seen several nice toms and decided to set up in a field we had seen two toms, two jakes, and one hen. On Monday we were in our blind well before sun rise. We had a lone hen come in and check us out, but then she left. Shortly after that she returned followed by a big tom. The tom came right in to the decoys. Several hours later we returned to the same blind and Chris was able to shoot his very first turkey.

19 lb 6 oz 9 inch beard  1 inch spurs

Chris Huston