mainely photos moose & photo tours

I fondly remember working at the Great Northern Paper Company as a summer intern from New Albany, IN. The community was alive with good people, and I enjoyed walking around the downtown, eating at the one or two restaurants, attending the Wed. evening concerts at the park and shopping in the neat old store of Miles Mahan. Bob Laverty was my first and best boss ever, and Angelo Tsika, a good mentor. Those summers were magical for me, and I know others will enjoy the town, too.

Our guide was a local who has a profound love for the area. The roads are mainly private and unmarked so it's hard to navigate with out a guide unless you know what your doing. Anyone can go up the Golden road for free but there are lots of turn offs and the locals know where the moose hangout. By the way July is a terrible month to see Moose.

It was one of those rainy days when my fam took this tour....word of advice for folks who don't take nature tours: don't get cute, Clawrd don't wear heels cuz' you'll never know where you'll land....Vicki was our guide and she didn't disappoint! I got rained on, one of my daughters shoe got sucked in the mud, my hair was soaked....during this type of year, the moose are getting ready to chill for the season, my goal was to get just one moose photo, and I was ready to go....Well, Vicki was hell bent on finding Moose and practically forgot (I reckon') she was driving a passenger van.....backn that thing up on a dime and making turns like it was a compact car.....it was a fun experience, extremely knowledgeable and I seem more mooses....this is a tour you don't want to miss!

Great tour, very informative, we were given loads of information about the moose, we only saw one Moose but a lovely bull, definitely worth a trip. We also stayed in the companies house, lovely house real bargain, if you are looking for somewhere for you and your family to stay in Milliknocket

Our family of four took the tour with Dale. He was very good at explaining all about moose and their habitat. We saw 6 moose. Some were close enough to get good pictures.

The other posters here who gave negative reviews have no idea what it takes to find a moose and the skills as a tour guide knowing what to look for in the sticks as you have to know how old the foot prints are new or old a lot of factors come into play the temperture as the moose get stressed when it's to hot and when it floods they stay deeper into the forest so there are less moose to be seen not the fault of the tour operator. The tour I went on we where lucky to have Vicky the moose lady and found a moose with in 30 min going down the golden road one bull that was about 5 years old clear in the open as we walked with the moose for about an hour. The next day no one saw a moose and a local photographer Marc has been trying all seasons just comes to show you some is luck as you have to be in the right place at the right time. If you don't see a moose is not the fault of the tour guide just a matter of being lucky that's why they recommend going out more than once. Also people who think they can do this on their own with a rental car will tear up the car on these dirt roads and will have no idea where to look as you have to have knowledge of these roads as you can get lost. The best time to see a moose there is none as June you see them feeding in the pounds but they have small racks, in the fall the bulls have a full rack but takes a lot of skill to find them you just have to have a local guide like vicky. The tours was worth the money in contrast what the other posters have said with their experience.

I had never seen a moose until our Moose Safari with Mainely Moose Photo Tours in Millinocket, ME. This was a great addition to our vacation! Their website says to bring bug spray and that is right (for the summer anyway). They also say to bring a sandwich to put in the cooler so you can eat along the way. The tour is at 4 pm and last several hours. We ended up eating ours after the tour but there is a Subway sandwich place in town on the way to the Safari if you are from out of town and need a place to find something (right across the street from the McDonald's). Vicky was our guide and she loves the area, knows interesting tidbits to share with you, and really enjoys the moose. She knew where to look and how to look, so we were successful on our tour. Vicky made it very enjoyable and we went away very pleased that we had chosen to do this as part of our vacation.

My wife & two boys (ages 8 & 6) decided to take the Mainly Photos moose tour on July 7, 2010 during the North East heat wave w/ temperatures @ 98+ degrees, which, as Vicki informed us that it may be difficult to spot moose on such a hot & humid day since the moose will most likely stay where they are to feed. Even when the other moose tour company gave up at around 7:30 pm, Vicki would not give up the search (we were especially appreciative to be in the Mainly Photos air conditioned van as the humidity did not let up). My two boys were ecstatic when close to the last hour Vicki spotted a bull moose along the telephone poles brush line. What a beautiful moose & watching the bull moose was well worth the wait. (in the Mainly Photos air conditioned van). Vicki is extremely knowledgeable and also helped us spot other wild life along the way. A truly amazing adventure we will never forget!

I wanted to go to Maine and photograph a large bull moose, and with the help of Mainely Photos, that's exactly what I did! I was told in advance that it can be tough to spot moose in the fall, big bulls, even tougher. I needed an experienced local guide who knew what I needed from a photography standpoint, and they offer all day trips in the Fall, which was a must for me. Our guide, Vickie, was very knowledgable and educated us on moose and their behavior. With her in the lead, we spotted seven moose the first day, and I got my big bull! We located the bull again on day two with a large cow, and I got even better shots. We also located a yearling bull and were lucky enough to have it get really close to us. I was on my own for day three, and I got lots of great panoramas of the mountains in fall color and great shots of a ruffed grouse. If you want a great photography based trip to Maine for moose, get in touch with my friend Dale, and I'm sure you'll enjoy your trip to Millinocket.

It rained most of the day but our guide Vicki helped us see 7 Moose. One a big Bull Moose. She also gave us plenty of information on the Moose that the next day I went out alone and saw 10 more Moose. I got to spend 2 hours alone with a Bull and Cow. You can tell that our guide really cares about the Moose.

I would like to respond to Mr. Reiseberator's comments concerning his experience with us.First of all Mr. Reiseberator claims he could have used his own vehicle to drive down logging roads to see moose on his own. He could have done that if he knew where to go to find the moose. He didn't know where to go and could have spent many valuable vacation hours searching on his own and not found any. On this particular year we did ride on roads that he could have driven on with a rental car, but that was because we chose not to travel those"back roads" because of extremely high rainfall this year making those dirt roads slippery and unsafe. In our mind it would be worse to take guests on "back roads" and get the van stuck in mud and creating an unsafe condition for our guests.Secondly I am sorry that Mr. Reiseberator did not enjoy listening to "the moose lady". get almost all positive feedback concerning Vicki. She is very knowledgable about moose and most people enjoy hearing, learning about the moose and say that she is a lot of fun to be with. I guess personality conflicts will always exist no matter who is on the tour, or who is leading the group. Sorry you were disappointed but I'm glad you let us know because we are always striving to please everyone. I am sorry I didn't respond to this review earlier but I didn't know that I could respond until recently. I'm not very computer savoy.Thank You,Dale Stevens, Owner

We took our tour on July 10, 2009 and it was the hottest day of the year, so far, for them. On our trip up we didn't see any moose but on the way back we saw 7 as it was getting cooler. Our time was limited in the area and we thought the tour was a great way to see the area that we didn't know much about. We stopped at several scenic spots and at one of them we ate the food that we brought with us. Our guide was Vickie and she seemed pleasant and very knowledgeable about everything concerned with the tour.We also spent the night in the house next door to the tour's starting point. It was offered to us by the owner of the tour at a very reasonable price.Could you do the tour on your own? Yes, if you did enough research and felt comfortable driving in a mountainous area. It would also take some luck to hit the correct spots at the correct times to find the moose that we saw on your own.The only other suggestions that I would have for anyone taking the tour are the following:If you wear shorts, take something to put on over them in case you need to walk into the brush.Wear shoes that you wouldn't care to get muddy.Bring bug spray.Stop at one of the local grocery stores for a sandwich and drinks from the deli. They will provide a cooler on the van.

I would like to respond to Suzieg's review.Suzanne I am truly sorry you did not enjoy your trip with us because that is what we strive for everyday. You mention that the web site was full of hype and recommended people don't believe what is said there. I would just like to respond to that by saying your trip was not normal. We normally do see moose (before dusk) but as you mentioned the moose are wild animals and can never be predicted, but normally we should have seen a few moose before dark. We do have more success earlier in the season (June and earlier in July) and our web site also explains that. The reasons are to detailed to get into here but that is the way it is every year. You described it as a "mad dash" to find moose so a refund would not be given. I question whether or not it became a "mad dash" because of the refund or was she really trying as hard as she could to find moose or two before dark. Again we try very, very hard to show people what they come to see and I know from personal experience it is just as disappointing for us also when we are not able to find moose in daylight as expected. We feel like a failure and that doesn't make us feel or look good either.In response to the "money back guarantee" if you go to the web site it is spelled out very clearly there that you must "ask" for the refund it will not be automatically be credited to your credit card.I am glad that you got to see some moose even though it was with another company.I am also sorry it has taken me so long to respond to this review, I didn't know I could respond to reviews so please excuse my tardiness.Dale Stevens, owner

Dan was our driver/tour guide, and since the wooded areas were a little "buggy" he would get out and run to the lake/marsh to see if any moose were there, and then return to the van to tell us if we should get out. We saw 11 moose, 6 of them were cows with babies! I got lots of photos. One bull moose was less than 20 feet from us, and he was so busy chewing the vegetation that he didn't mind our talking or taking photos. We even got some "beauty shots" of the Crib Works class 5 rapids, and a spectacular sunset. Highly recommended. Bring lots of deep woods bug repellant.(See www.mainelyphotos.com)

Anyone who loves wildlife, particularly moose, needs to take the Mainely Photos moose tour in Millinocket, owned by Dale Stevens. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I wanted to see moose, so I signed up for this tour since they guarantee moose sightings. It did not disappoint. We saw 11 moose, plus 2 foxes, a deer, a mink, and 4 snowshoe hares. Our guide, Vicki, was great fun! She is a renowned moose photographer, and told us everything we ever wanted to know about moose. She took us all around the area near Baxter State Park and up logging roads. She is familiar with the area and moose behavior, so she knew the best places to look for moose. The tour was only $45 and lasted all evening until sundown. I would love to return and take this tour again! If you want to see moose, take this tour!