The New England Chapter of HHO held a bear hunt from September 30, 2022 – October 2, 2022, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. One staff member supported this event, and one active-duty service member was selected for this hunt.

During the extended weekend trip, the hard-working Plott hounds were able to get on the scent trail/strike multiple bears, with 2 bears being harvested. The first bear harvested was a grueling 10-mile track through the mountain terrain (beaver impoundments, blowdowns, moss covered rocks, etc.) for the pack of hounds. The harvested bear (186lb Boar) never “treed” and was “bayed up” on the ground by the hounds and was shot at very close distance by active-duty service member Rand Larson tagging his first bear. Petty Officer First Class Larson is a Gunners Mate in the United States Navy and is currently stationed in Bath, Maine aboard the Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) – (DDG-120) USS Carl M. Levin, which is a US Navy Arleigh Burke Class Flight IIA Guided Missile Destroyer being built by Bath Iron Works.

After the 1^st bear was in the books time was left and the HHO Field Staff Member Chris Marcoux got a shot at harvesting his 1^st bear. The team headed out Sat. AM for round 2 it was a slow day; no bear was taken. Day 3 – Last Day, the hounds were able to strike early and quick, a bear was treed, located and harvested by 0800. Unfortunately, that’s where all the work began, the bear was dispatched 50 plus feet up in a large oak tree and a tree climber was called to the location to retrieve the bear from its lofty perch.

Thank you goes out to Bruce Rogers for his support of this event and the New England Chapter for donating this hound hunt. Bruce’s Plott hounds are amazing! And thank you to the private landowners that allowed us to access their properties, Jonathan Cyr for the tow out, Zachary Osgood, and Bear Paw – the tree climbing bear retrieval expert.