Lee is a Master Maine Guide from Cornville, Me. He built a set of sporting camps on his property and runs his guides business, Schanz’s Guide Service right on the same property he lives with his wife Kelly and their 4 children. Recently, he purchased a piece of property on Pleasant Ridge in Maine and rehabilitated the old cabin that came with the property into a beautiful place to take his clients for a remote fly fishing excursion or hunt for moose right from camp during the fall Maine moose hunt.

Lee killed his first Big Woods Buck at the age of 13 and he has been hooked ever since. He has killed or guided to a kill lots of bucks over 200 lbs. using all of the methods that are written about in today’s books, DVD’s and magazines. He has also developed some of his own techniques and been able to test their effectiveness over the years.  He is excited to share his experience and skills with the Big Woods Bucks community. He is committed to taking you into the woods with him so you can experience firsthand through the eyes and ears of a video camera, exactly what it is like to go one on one with a Big Woods Buck. Lee finds it rewarding to share the knowledge and expertise he has been fortunate enough to compile and has groomed his son Stephen into a registered Maine Guide as well. Lee is quoted as saying, “I am proud to say my son has grown into a man and is serving our country in the United States Marine Corps to help protect the freedoms all Americans enjoy.” Lee is also proud to be a member of the Big Woods Bucks Pro-staff and is excited to be a part of the movement dedicated to helping people hone their woodsman skills to master the “Art of Hunting.”

  Mike is a veteran Maine guide, outdoor writer and addicted whitetail hunter. Born and raised in southern Maine, he started deer hunting at 12 years old, when his Dad would send him hunting with his uncles. He quickly became crazy about hunting deer and was known to skip school whenever it snowed during November. Things were different then. Hunting was part of life. Mike talks of bringing deer liver to the high school Assistant Principal. The gesture usually got him an excused absence. If he didn't have any venison for the educator, he got detention. During this time, he got his hands on Larry Benoits first book about tracking big bucks and this opened a whole new way to hunt deer. Fifty years later, he still can't say no to a big woods buck track.
         Mike starting working at Cedar Ridge Outfitters in 1995, when Hal Blood was looking for a bear guide. This ignited a friendship and rejuvenated his passion for deer hunting. For 20 years he guided for Hal and Deb Blood at Cedar Ridge. He and Hal have spent countless hours roaming the northwestern mountains of Maine, guiding/teaching clients the art of tracking deer. The best job he ever had, according to Mike.
            Mike lives in Jackman, Maine with his Fiance' Marie and their dogs (Kipper and Kaylee), where he still guides hunters and fishermen. The “real” oldman here at Big Woods Bucks, Mike has a daughter and two sons, three granddaughters and a great granddaughter due any minute at the time of this writing !! Mike loves to talk hunting to anyone that will listen to him and will boast how his youngest son has become an accomplished big woods tracker and has hung several bucks. Sometimes Mike's lessons are direct and a bit raw, but tracking big bucks over snowy mountains is not for the squeamish. Welcome to the world of Big Woods Bucks.......
 

I’m Beau Babbitt and am originally from Jackman, Maine. I grew up around hunting and from an early age my father started taking me into the woods as far back as I can remember. My older brother Rocky, guided for Hal at Cedar Ridge Outfitters would take me out trapping for Marten in the woods behind our house. I moved to California in 1995 and graduated from High School there in 2003. After High School I enlisted in the US Army as a Cavalry Scout and later deployed to Iraq in 2005 and 2006 with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. I was Honorably Discharged in 2007 and decided to move back to California to attend community college. Having had a rough time adapting to the civilian world and dealing with what I later recognize was PTSD, I decided to enlist back into the military in 2009. Fortunately, before I could go back into the Army I had a job opportunity back in Jackman where I could be with my family who had since moved back there. I took the job and decided to start a new chapter in my life with the support of my family. Although hunting was introduced to me at a young age, I didn’t have much of a chance to hunt in California. That first November in 2009 after I moved back to Jackman my older brother picked me up in the early hours one morning and took me out deer hunting. He is an accomplished hunter with lots of knowledge and numerous Big Woods Bucks under his belt. We were fortunate enough to have fresh tracking snow that morning and by noon we had tracked and killed my first Big Woods Buck that ended up weighing in at 196 lbs. From that day on I have been hooked, I had finally found something that I can say I am truly passionate about. After that I read Hals Hunting Big Woods Bucks Vol.1, Big Bucks the Benoit Way, and watched videos from Hal and the Benoit’s on YouTube. I spent numerous hours in the woods during and outside of hunting season to scout new areas. I practiced still hunting, and followed any tracks whether it be doe or buck just to see where they would take me and to study their habits. Since then I have had good success hunting Big Woods Bucks and continue to learn something from each deer I follow. Hunting Whitetails and more specifically tracking them in the Big Woods takes concentration, discipline, and knowledge you can only get from doing it. I look forward to sharing all my successes and failures with you in hopes you can take something away to better hone your skills as a hunter.  For my Veteran brothers out there, hunting took my mind away from every negative thought and distraction in my life and channeled it in a positive way. I recommend to any of you, old or young to take up hunting. Get out in nature as it is truly therapeutic and cleansing for the mind and soul. 

  Matt Breton started following his dad to deer camp in northern VT at age 6 and he has been hunting ever since.  In 2007, after spending five years in the U.S. Army, Matt returned home to Vermont and started making hunting adventures out of state, getting more serious about tracking his bucks down in the big woods of Maine.  With his professional career as a physical therapist and strength and conditioning coach as a background, Matt believes that life is an adventure you should train for.
  Matt continues to hunt across the big woods of northern New England and into the backcountry of the Rocky Mountain west, chasing whitetails, mule deer and elk.  Enjoying the physical and mental challenges of this type of hunting, he has come to realize that your body is the most important piece of equipment you own.  His goal is to make training for hunting season accessible to everyone.  

 

Mark is a hunter who specializes in whitetail still-hunting and tracking, and in 2006 spent a week hunting and tracking Maine whitetails with Hal. That week spawned a friendship and respect that has grown since. Mark is also an expert on a popular topic among hunters; the tracking rifle. Mark grew up in the Southern Zone of New York State, where he cut his teeth tracking as a young boy. Eventually he made his way North to the Adirondacks, and eventually Maine where he learned the BWB System directly from Hal. Every year since, Mark has continued his passion of tracking in the big woods and looks forward to many more years of hunting the vast areas of the Northeast and beyond.

Mark Scheeren is also the Co-founder and Chairman of Baldwin Research Institute, Inc., and the Freedom Model Retreats in Upstate New York. In these capacities, Mark authored and developed the first residential non-12 step program for alcohol and drug addiction in the world; the Freedom Model for Addictions. As an avid and successful hunter, whitetail tracker and outdoorsman for more than thirty five years, Mark made it a goal to integrate the powerful personal values he learned in the hunting lifestyle with his passion for helping people with substance use issues. His retreat guests learn to regain their dignity, self reliance, productivity and happiness through the lessons presented in the The Freedom Model System. BWB is proud to have Mark as a Team Member. We felt his unique perspective on how the outdoors can positively change the lives of those who are struggling with addictions was a perfect fit with the Big Woods Bucks model of educating the public on the many benefits of the hunting lifestyle. As you will see, Mark’s unique talents in the human behavior sciences, research, and his passion for tracking the elusive big woods whitetail bring something very special, unique and powerful to the Big Woods Bucks organization. Mark is married to his wife Danielle, and has three children: Austin, Gabrielle, and Joe – all budding trackers and lovers of the outdoors. Mark’s favorite places to hunt are the Central Adirondacks and the Southern Adirondacks of New York State, the big woods of Northern Maine and the river valleys of Southwest Montana.  

  Jim's passion for the outdoors began at the age of three years old when he accompanied his grandfather on long, extended trips deep into the woods. His grandfather was a timber cruiser for a paper company and in the old days his job was to tell the company what to cut, where to cut and when to cut it (no GPS in those days). And there was no leaving Jim behind when "Granddaddy" headed for the hills! Jim shot his first whitetail buck when he was twelve and thus began an incurable desire to lean anything and everything about the woods and the wildlife that inhabited them. He has personally taken a half dozen bucks that dressed over 200 pounds in Maine and several others in Canada and the northern states. As a Registered Maine Guide, he has also guided many hunters to large bucks over the course of the past fifteen years. Jim is also a Licensed Wyoming Big Game Guide and has led hundreds of clients on successful hunts for antelope, mule deer, whitetail deer and elk in The Cowboy State. He and his wife , Gail, now spend eight months per year in the mountains of Northwestern Wyoming at their home perched 6,600 feet in the mountains where the only neighbors are elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep and grizzly bears. He has also been fortunate enough to hunt extensively throughout North America and has taken many whitetails, mule deer, elk, moose, mountain sheep, caribou, mountain goat, black bear and grizzly bear and is truly blessed to have been so privileged.
   Jim spends over three hundred days per year in the mountains and forests and as a result, has been able to communicate a great deal of outdoor knowledge and skills. His philosophy is: It;s not that I am better or smarter than the average guy, I just have the advantage of spending far more time "out there" than the average guy and that is indeed a blessing and affords ,e the opportunity to share with others. "Experience is knowledge, knowledge is confidence and confidence leads to competence". I Jim's view the best part of being a Big Woods Bucks team member is the opportunity to share with others and perhaps help them in some way to be better woodsmen and enjoy the outdoors to a greater extent.
   When not in Wyoming, Jim and his wife spend the balance of the year in The Boothbay Region of Coastal Maine.

 

  I grew up in Spruce Head, ME where I still live with my wife. I’m 27 years old and have been lobstering since I was 5 and had my own boat at the age of 10. I’m still a lobsterman and I also started a new Business called The Rope Company (www.theropeco.com) ,4 years ago and hope to make this my full time occupation. We sell home décor’ products and accessories that are made out of rope. The rope our products are made out of we make ourselves from my dad’s rope mill in Tenants Harbor, ME. I was a full-time athlete playing soccer, baseball, and basketball in high school so sports pretty much ruled my life year round expect when I made time for hunting season.  I graduated from the University of Maine Orono with a bachelor’s degree in Construction Management in the engineering department along with 3 minors: business, entrepreneurship, and surveying. I figured out construction wasn’t really for me. My passion is deer hunting and tracking but I also love partridge hunting, hiking, fly fishing, tuna fishing, any kind of fishing, and snowmobiling.
   My Father took me to the Big Woods for the first time when I was five years old. My dad took me up with him to get the camper after hunting season on year. We saw some moose, deer and he shot a couple partridge on that trip and I’ve been hooked ever since. The next few Octobers he would take me up bird hunting with him, where I would ride or tag along and try to help him spot deer sign and partridge. At age 10 I took my first gun, an old cut down stock .410 and went partridge hunting with my dad that October. The passion of being up north in the Big Woods and hunting grew for me. Then when I was 11 he brought me up to be a part of the deer hunting crew for the season. Thanksgiving Day that year a monster walked by me in the stand that my dad still says is the biggest deer he has ever seen in the woods and he spent most of every hunting season in the Big Woods for the last 35 years. My gun froze on me and I didn’t get the ol’ big boy but I was forever hooked up hunting these beautiful majestic creatures.
   I was brought up to be a sitter and that’s basically all I did until I was about 20 years old.  I always heard about people tracking and saw all the green Vermont plate tracks stopped at the side of the road and getting on tracks, but my dad had a lot of success sitting so that’s what I did. I was very interested in tracking and tried it, without having a clue as to what I was doing, so it didn’t get very far. Then one of my hunting friends in college told be about this guy Hal Blood from Maine who’s a tracker. When he told me about Hal and showed me his first video I looked him up and bought everything he had on the website. I had spent so much time in the woods and talking with guys that had spent a lot of time in the big woods, but when I cracked into these books it blew me away. I was super excited because I felt like had this amazing secret tool that has given all the secrets to hunting the big woods, especially tracking.
   I set out to track all I could the next season after I read these books and track I did. That was 7 years ago and I’ve tracked all I can ever since then. I’ve had a lot of success not in the sense of killing big bucks but in what I’ve learned and the experiences that I’ve had. I’ve missed multiple big bucks, seen a couple more, let numerous spike horns 2 small 6 or 8 pointers go to grow bigger. I have learned so much following my passion of tracking. I have never had a bad day being in the woods up North no matter what the outcome. I know my knowledge of deer hunting the big woods in extensive and I have the confidence of a seasoned old hunter. I have been in and around the big woods for 23 years and am looking forward to sharing my experiences as a Big Woods Bucks team member.

 

    Joe Kruse has had a passion for deer hunting ever since he shot his first buck in the swamps of Florida at the age of 15. Since that time more than 30 years ago, he has spent every fall pursuing big game. After living in Maine until the age of 8, Joe and his family moved back to South Florida in 1979. Growing up in the Ft. Lauderdale area doesn’t really lend itself to the outdoor lifestyle but Joe made the best of it hunting deer, hogs, turkeys, gators, and ducks.  He would return to Maine and spend the summers and holidays at his family’s camp near Jackman, but it wasn’t until the Fall of 1997 that he made his first deer hunting trip to the big woods and discovered tracking bucks on the snow. He was hooked on chasing big woods bucks from then on.
    Joe’s years in Florida were spent as a general contractor and partner in his family’s construction business and hotel, the Pelican Beach Resort. In 2006, after the sale of the business, he and his wife Liz made the decision to move to Maine and raise their kids, Leah and Taylor, in the outdoor lifestyle. In the summer of 2009, with a desire to combine their love of the hospitality business and passion for the outdoors, they bought and rebuilt what is now Lake Parlin Lodge (lakeparlinlodge.com). The Lodge is a popular destination for snowmobilers in the winter, families and weddings in the summer, and hunting in the fall. Joe is a Maine Guide and float plane pilot that combines the two showcasing all that the area has to offer.

  

  I was born and raised in Northern Maine.  Whether it be fishing with my father, hunting with my grandfather or just camping with the family, I've always enjoyed the opportunity to be outdoors.  Guiding moose and bear hunters for over 15 years has been most rewarding although deer hunting will always be my favorite.  Tracking if we have snow or still hunting if we don't, I can't wait for November every year.   - Joel