LaFreniere said it took six days of monitoring his remote camera photos to confirm a giant bruin was hitting the bait. Then he baited and set a snare. LaFreniere digs a hole to hold a pipe, places bait at the bottom, and positions the pipe near a mature tree to anchor the cable. The snare is also fitted with a \u201ccub stop\u201d \u2014 a special device that prevents smaller bears from accessing the setup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cut way back on the bait at the site. When a bear comes to the half-full barrel, but smells more bait deep in the pipe, it goes for the pipe bait.\u201d<\/p>\n
Late on Sept. 15, a trail camera photo confirmed he\u2019d snared the big bear.<\/p>\n
\u201cI called three buddies and we went in very quietly to the bait site,\u201d LaFreniere explained. \u201cWe didn\u2019t want to spook the bear and walked in very stealthy for about a quarter-mile \u2026 We didn\u2019t use flashlights because [the] moon [was] bright, and we pretty much slipped in.\u201d<\/p>\n
As they approached the site, they switched on bright lights.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bear was laying down at the pipe snare, and when the lights came on it stood up,\u201d LaFreniere said. \u201cI immediately shot it with a 250-grain Hornady bullet from my 35 Whelen rifle. It dropped dead right there.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Trapping bears with cable snares is legal in Maine. Photo courtesy Zack LaFreniere<\/p>\n
LaFreniere said the bear had just about worked its way out of the snare, with the cable loop barely holding the bruin by a claw.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019d gotten there just a little later the bear would have been gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
In loading the bear onto a drag sled they realized the bear, a big sow, was a giant. It was so heavy that LaFreniere decided to field dress it to lighten the load. He also didn\u2019t want the meat to spoil before they could get the animal out of the woods and on ice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was 4 a.m. on Sept. 16 when we [finally] got my bear to a tagging station,\u201d LaFreniere says. \u201cThey didn\u2019t have a certified scale for weighing it. So, we drove to The Village Market in Carmel. It was weighed there and verified by state biologists at 358-pounds. \u201cThe official estimated live weight of the bear is 429.6 pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
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LaFreniere\u2019s black bear was loaded with fat. Photo courtesy Zack LaFreniere<\/p>\n
LaFreniere\u2019s bear is now officially the state\u2019s largest sow taken in Maine<\/a>, both by dressed weight and estimated live weight, he said. Boar black bears are larger and are in a different state records category. The Maine boar bear weight record is 699 pounds.<\/p>\n