Several weeks back, when training his Plott hounds to track black bears, guide Paul Laney got a good look at a bruin that caught his attention.

The bear – which the Grand Lake Stream guide estimated at 500 pounds – was so big he started thinking about the kind of hunter it would take to shoot it.

“I said, ‘It’s going to take something special, and someone who can keep with me to get this bear,'” Laney said, explaining that successfully hunting such a big bear would take plenty of stamina as it eluded the dogs.

After a bit more thought, he realized he knew just the hunter.

“I said, ‘Mike Maglio could do it,'” Laney said.

Maglio, who lives in Gardiner, N.Y., has been coming to Washington County to hunt with Laney for years.

“He’s one of my best clients. He hunts bobcats with me, and comes up every year, the fourth week, bear hunting,” Laney said.

When that fourth week rolled around this year, Laney and Maglio headed into the woods … and found the bear Laney had scouted earlier.

Then the fun started.

The hounds, 21/2-year-old sisters Sadie Sue and Sadie II (a friend initially bought the second dog and unknowingly gave it the same name, before Laney ended up buying the dog from him) did their jobs. So did 11/2-year-old Cash.

All three dogs are bobcat specialists, but Laney decided to give them a try on bears. As it turns out, they’re also fine bear hounds.

Laney estimated he and Maglio eventually walked briskly through the woods for 21/2 miles.

On the surface, that doesn’t sound like much of a workout. But this wasn’t your typical stroll through the forest.

“We walked for two hours straight, and it was all bog and mud, or it was that thick stuff that you can’t even crawl through,” Laney said.

At times the pair waded, chest-deep, through a river. Then the dogs jumped the bear … which re-crossed the river … which meant the hunters had to wade back across as well.

Eventually, their efforts paid off, and Maglio shot the bruin.

That’s when Laney realized he had miscalculated the size of the bear.

“It took three of us 45 minutes to drag him about 20 yards. It was going an inch at a time. It was like dragging a moose, which you really can’t do,” Laney said.

“Looking at it, I didn’t realize how big it was, until we tried to move it,” he said. “I had dragged out a handful of bears over 400 pounds.”

And this one was clearly much heavier.

Hauling the bear out of the woods in one piece was impossible, so they got to work field-dressing, skinning, and quartering it instead.

Then they weighed each part individually to get an estimate of the bear’s size.

After conferring with state wildlife biologist Randy Cross, who heads the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife’s bear study crew, Laney said he and Cross figured the bear weighed a whopping 605 pounds, live weight.

“The hide alone weighed 140,” Laney said.

Cross said last week that the recognized state-record bear – a 680-pounder – was shot in 1995, though the DIF&W doesn’t actually keep such records.

“The Maine Sportsman does it,” Cross said. “We’ve kept out of it. It can be very controversial.”

Laney said when he stretched the hide out, it was 61/2 feet long and just as wide.

The guide has seen bigger hides, but the amount of fat on this bear set it apart.

“It had nine inches of fat on its back and five inches of fat on its ribs,” he said. “That’s where all the weight comes from.”

Maglio, of course, was excited after the hunt. And he already plans to redecorate his home.

“He’s ecstatic,” Laney said. “He’s getting the bear full-mounted. His wife was after him to buy some furniture, but now he says he doesn’t have to, because the bear will fill that room.”

Bonney’s trout book released

Generations of Mainers have spent countless hours flinging flies, lures and worms into streams in ponds, hoping that a pan-sized brook trout can be fooled into striking.

In recent years, the state has recognized the importance of the species by naming brook trout the state’s heritage fish.

And while the state has many qualified fisheries biologists, when it comes to brook trout it’s not a stretch to say that one such biologist has written the book on the species.

Or, at the very least, he’s written another book about brook trout that’s sure to be a hit.

Forrest Bonney has added his perspective on brookies in a new book, “Squaretails, Biology and Management of Maine’s Brook Trout.”

And rest assured, Forrest Bonney knows of what he writes: He began working for the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife in 1973, and began surveying the state’s remote lakes and ponds in the mid-70s.

According to a DIF&W news release, Bonney has served as the department’s brook trout specialist since 1989, and recently received the Award of Merit from the American Fisheries Society.

“I hope that this book will provide an enjoyable overview of Maine brook trout,” Bonney said in the news release. “My goal was to provide research information on what we know about brook trout in a readable format. I am especially pleased that the book includes artwork by Mark McCullough, Ethan Nedeau and Joseph Tomelleri, as well as photography by Bill Curtsinger.”

According to the DIF&W, the 165-page book is a culmination of years of research, and relies both on Bonney’s work and that of others – some who work for the DIF&W and some who don’t.

The result is a six-chapter edition that focuses on brook trout fishing, trout biology, habitat and ecology, threats and raising and stocking the fish.

In addition, sidebar summary boxes are provided in each chapter in an effort to illuminate other related topics including public access and temperature effects.

The DIF&W says Bonney’s work also delves into the rich history of Maine’s signature fish and includes pictures of a young Percival Baxter with an 8-pound trout, and photos from the Rangeley Lakes in the 1800s.

As far as I’m concerned, the book sounds like a great birthday or holiday gift for the avid angler in your life.

And at just $10, it’s a relative bargain.

For more information on Bonney’s book, or to buy a copy, go to the DIF&W’s on-line store at www.mefishwildlife.com, stop by the DIF&W office at 284 State Street in Augusta or call 287-8000.

Bird season begins Monday

If your neighbor’s bird dog seems to be walking around with a bit more spring in his step lately, it’s probably because the canine companion is getting his game face on.

Come Monday, avid upland bird hunters will head into their favorite hotspots on the opening day of the hunting season on both ruffed grouse and woodcock.

Of course, many Mainers choose to do their own bird-dogging, so to speak, riding or walking along woods roads, waiting to see a plump partridge sitting on a nearby bank.

Either way, many will be out there on Monday.

And according to official and anecdotal reports, they may be in for a good season. Brad Allen, a biologist who serves as the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife’s bird group leader, told me a few weeks back that he expected a solid grouse season.

And reports from northern and Down East Maine seem to indicate that after a couple of down years, grouse will be a bit easier to find.

Good luck to all you bird hunters. Be safe and have fun.

And for goodness sake, shoot straight, or your canine companion will likely treat you to that “I can’t believe you missed that shot” grimace they’ve been perfecting all summer.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.