SeacoastNH.com Presents
Historic Portsmouth #247

Times change. Bear hunting is still common in NH. But displaying an entire family killed – mother, father and baby bears -- on your fence in Portsmouth’s South End may no longer be politically correct. (Continued below)

The NH Fish & Game estimates there are 4,800 black bears in the state with 614 "harvested" in 2007. More than 10,000 registered hunters search the state for bear each year with an annual success rate of 5%. Clearly, these Portsmouth guys beat the odds. This post-WWII photo was part of an extensive album gathered during the 1982 Puddle Dock Reunion. Copies of the album are still available in the Strawbery Banke Gift Shop. According to the caption in the booklet, this picture shows sportsmen (left to right) Babe and Joe Marconi and Alex Babula. (With thanks to the Pecunies family)