SENECAVILLE -- Looking for the gift for the man, or woman (to be politically correct) who seems to have everything? How about a week-long black bear hunting excursion in the wilds of Maine for an idea?
An area man has turned a passion for hunting into a business for himself. Jim Morse of Senecaville, now operates North Country Adventures, which provides bear hunting excursions for its clients.
Morse, is a registered Maine guide who began hunting bear in 1995 and fell in love with the sport. After a few years of hunting, Morse decided to turn his passion into a business for himself.
"I first went up to Maine hunting back in '95. I really went more to see Maine than for the hunting," Morse explained. "While I was there, I got to know Norman Curtis, who owned the hunting lodge were I stayed.
"I just fell in love with it," Morse added. "Norman just took me under his wing, and showed me the ropes."
When Curtis passed away in the spring of 2000, Morse decided it was time to turn his love of bear hunting into a business.
Thus, North County Adventures was born in 2004, providing people with the opportunity to hunt black bear in the Maine countryside.
Morse's hunting excursions are held at his hunting camp located in Deblois, Maine, where the surrounding area produces 90 percent of the blueberries in the United States.
"It's just a real neat area," Morse explained. "There are blueberry fields miles across. They harvest something like seven tons of blueberries per acre. Just a totally cool area, much different from around here."
Bear hunting season starts the Monday before Labor Day, and runs throughout the month of September. Morse can accommodate a total of 32 hunters per season, taking on eight hunters for each of the four week hunting sessions.
"I like to tell people to just go do it," Morse said. It's fun, most hunters have thought about hunting bears, but few take the leap to do it."
Hunters stay at Morse's hunting lodge and are provided with lodging, showers and bait sites and cooking tools, but most provide their own food.
Price tag for six days of hunting with bait and lodging is $1,100 per hunter, groups of four or more receive a $100 discount. Each hunter must also purchase a bear license for $175.
Hunters who get a bear are able to process it right there at the hunting lodge.
While many may think this is just an activity for men, Morse is quick to point out that's not the case.
"We had our first female hunter last year," Morse said. "She got a 200-pound bear for her efforts."
An added bonus to a hunting trip with North County Adventures is the hunting lodge is just 18 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, which makes for plenty of fresh seafood or a walk on the beach a short trip away.
"It's a lot of hard work for me," Morse said. "I probably walk 11 miles a day with baiting the sites to draw the bears in. But it's also alot of fun for me. It's an experience you won't forget, that's for sure."
For more information or to schedule your bear hunting outing, visit the North County Adventures website at www.bearhuntmaine1.4t.com.