Hi my two sons and I went hunting black bear with Lil Joe Troyer in New Mexico last week. We had a great time and each of my sons (I went as an observer) got good black bears. Since we did a 2x1 hunt and it was a 5 day hunt each son really only had a 2 1/2 day hunt. Our guide, Ty was absolutely awesome as was Joe. To say hunting bears with dogs is exciting would be an understatement. My oldest son is a former Army Ranger, my youngest son is in pretty good shape as well, but even though the dogs do most of the work, getting to a bear on Capitan Mountain can be daunting. It's rough country. The guides made sure we kept to a pace that was reasonable for us, yet still were intent on us getting our bears.

Hunting with Joe was like a hunting trip with an extended family. Joe's wife Shelly and Ty's significant other (wife?) Nikki were in camp with us as well as Ty's son Quentin, as well as Ty's Dad and their friend Dwayne. My sons and I loved the atmosphere and friendliness, yet when the morning started, hunting was deadly serious.

Here's a photo of my son Eric's bear taking on the fourth day.



A link to Joe Troyer's web page is here ...

http://www.liljoesbiggamehunts.com/

Sounds like you had a great hunt.

I find hunting bears with hounds a great time.

My son and I are on schedule to go out with my buddies mid September here in Wis. we both have tags.

I have been on many bear hound hunts they are a blast for sure.

Glad you all had a good hunt. Hunting with dogs is a really exciting way to hunt.
Congrats!

+1 on hunting bear with hounds. I hunted black bear with hounds this past spring with Doug McMann (www.skinnercreekhunts.com) and had the time of my life. Super exciting and physically demanding.

Congrats on a great hunt and thanks for sharing your experience.

Chuck,

Congratulations to your sons sounds like you guys has an amazing time, I came back from the Troyer camp this past week and it was an amazing time, we had some great races and ended up killing a beautiful sun-bleached chocolate and had a chase for a monster on the last day that was just remarkable.

Congrats on a great trip!

Chuck,

It was great meet you and your sons in the camp that week. You guys were enjoyable company.

As far as the hunt itself goes I'll echo Chuck. Joe Troyer and his family and staff were first class in their treatment of us. We felt we were friends and family rather than just clients to satisfy.

I'd recommend them to anyone that wishes to hunt bears or cats with dogs.

Thanks tanks, you were a pleasure to hunt with and it was great to meet you. Best of luck in your upcoming hunts!

Congratulations well done .