Now that the smoke from hunting season has cleared, here's a fact I didn't know:

More bear than moose are taken each year in Maine.

For starters, there are about 28,000 deer shot each year, which I think I knew.

But there were 2,873 bear "harvested," compared to 2,226 moose.

(An aside: The statistics come from the Maine Sportsman monthly newspaper, and they are from 2005. If you question the sourcing, remember that Your Scribe is a humble blogger, not a biologist on retainer from National Geographic).

What surprises me is I never see bears in any form.

I don't seem them near my camp, nor do I witness them being paraded through a given town bleeding all over the bed of a mud-spattered pickup truck.

Only one bear was registered at my local farm store, though there were many deer and moose brought in.

In fact, it reminds me of that old statewide TV show, "So you think you know Maine."

I think I know a little about the state but not that bear are more plentiful than moose. Or at least that more bear are taken each year.

Maybe it's because the moose is part of the state's unofficial marketing campaign.

If you go to a tourist gift store, there are so many moose-themed gifts that you'd think they were as plentiful as racoons or skunks.

(Aside #2: I have never seen road kill in the form of bear, though I have seen dead moose and many a crumpled deer and of course thousands of coons and skunks over the years).

It's true that I don't venture very far into the woods.

My camp is in Franklin County, in central Maine.

Maybe if I spent my time north of Millinocket or west of Greenville, I would be more familiar with the bear.

Of course, the black bear got plenty of ink several years ago during the referendum on making it tougher to hunt them.

Then I did learn more about bears, and the bizarre ways that rancid meet and rotten doughnuts are used to draw them to hunters' stands where powerful guns await them.

Until now the only black bears I was aware of were in Orono, playing for the university's athletic teams.

But I stand educated: there are bears in them thar hills.

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