Derry man takes down Maine monster

By CAROL ROBIDOUX
Union Leader Correspondent
DERRY — Dave Rizkallah couldn’t get comfortable in the tree stand.
It wasn’t the weather, or the amount of time he’d been up there — his back just ached a little, and he needed to move around.
Adrenaline has a way of preparing you for whatever might happen next. Rizkallah didn’t know what it was going to be, but he was ready. 

David Rizkallah and the 600+pound black he killed with a bow and arrow in Maine/AP

“Excitement overpowers your fear,” said Rizkallah who, according to Maine wildlife officials, likely bagged the second- largest bear in state history during a bow hunt on the Sept. 7 excursion. 
“I’m waiting for official word on that. They say it might even be the biggest — nobody trusts the math formulas used to calculate weight, but that’s what I heard from them yesterday,” said Rizkallah, an unemployed electrician. 
It was his first bear hunt, and he knew enough to know that invisible is the way to be when you’re alone in a tree, bow in hand, waiting for a hungry black bear to find you. 
“All of a sudden I see this bear coming toward me, so big his front legs are bowed in by his weight. I see this monster head coming toward me, and right then everything and anything goes through your mind — is he going to walk away? Is he going to climb the tree? I tried to stay focused,” said Rizkallah. 
The bear sniffed around for food, but the bait barrel filled a day earlier by the hunting guides at the Danforth, Maine, wilderness retreat was empty. 
That’s when Rizkallah knew his vow of silence had to be broken. The 600-pound bear was lumbering away. 
“So I grunted at him, just to get him to look at me, and that’s when he turned around. We were eye to eye when I let go of my bow. He was like a bull in a china shop, knocking over trees and bashing into things. At that point, I didn’t know if I’d hit him or scared him ...,” said Rizkallah, 31. 
Unsure of what to do next, Rizkallah climbed out of the tree and went to a clearing. He had been instructed to wait until 5 p.m., when his guide, Jeff Leach, would return. Rizkallah walked in circles, the rush of the encounter coursing through his veins. 
Finally his guide returned and Rizkallah told him that he thought he’d “hit a monster.” By 8 p.m., the owner of Wilderness Escape Outfitters Randy Flannery had joined the group of eight hunters that had also been rounded up, and they located Rizkallah’s bear. It took them eight hours to drag the bear from the woods. 
“I got him right in the jugu-lar, behind his ear. He went about 180 yards before he laid down in a swampy area and died,” said Rizkallah. 
After field dressing, the bear was weighed on three different scales, registering 490, 497 and 497.5. Rizkallah said the formula for estimating the weight of the entrails — heart, liver, guts — is between 22 and 25 percent of an animals gross weight. 
“Right now we’re waiting for the skull to get cleaned and measured. I paid extra to have some beetles do the cleaning,” Rizkallah said. 
Currently, the largest bow kill on record in Maine is 612 pounds. 
His plans for the bear is a full-body mount, with the animal down on all fours and looking over its shoulder, just like he did before Rizkallah shot him. 
“I don’t reject those who hunt with rifles, but I prefer the challenge of a bow. It’s something about respect for the animal; something about being within 12 yards of such an amazing animal,” Rizkallah said. “I knew from the size of this one he’d been around a long time, and wasn’t afraid of much.” 
Rizkallah had signed up for the trip in March, before he became an unemployed union electrician. While he’s anxious to get back to work, he’d like nothing more than to find a way to hunt for a living. He figures if he can work a few more years, he’ll have enough money to move his family to Tennessee, buy a log cabin and become a taxidermist. 
“I’d like to go up to Alaska and get a grizzly. I want to go elk hunting, too. For me, the ultimate kill would be a mountain lion,” Rizkallah said. “It’s not a matter of having no fear — maybe more like no common sense. But ever since I was about 15 or 16, I’ve loved the idea of hunting as a food source — it’s a renewable source. If God wanted us to eat leaves, he wouldn’t have made the animals.”

It's Unanimous: New Administrator is John Anderson

By CAROL ROBIDOUX

Union Leader Correspondent

DERRY – After a unanimous string of "yes" votes, punctuated with words like “enthusiastically,” and “absolutely,” the Council last night named John Anderson new town administrator, effective October 25.

The vote capped off what has been a streamlined process that included input from residents, town employees and every council member. Anderson, who has served for the past decade as Town Manager of Boothbay, Maine, has said he's ready to get started – and looking forward to being part of the community.

So much so, that word on the street is that he has already been house hunting in town, and has made an offer on a place that should be ready to settle by the time he starts his new job.

“That's what we've heard,” said Councilor Neil Wetherbee earlier this week.

Another side effect of Anderson getting the job could be that Councilor Kevin Coyle will renew his commitment to the town and finish his term. Several months ago Coyle confirmed that he had purchased a home in Londonderry and had placed his home on the market.

However, a few weeks ago, Coyle further confirmed that he had found someone to rent the Londonderry house, and that he'd be staying put  in Derry. That confirmation came the same day Anderson told the Union Leader that he hoped Coyle would stick around, should he get the job.

“I guess John Anderson will get his wish,” Coyle said.

In other business, a proposal made by the Nutfield Senior Center asking  the town to set aside money for construction of a senior center to be built adjacent to the Boys and Girls Club was tabled, after senior center organizer John Moody contacted Council Chair Brad Benson prior to the meeting, asking to postpone the request.

Benson proposed that a workshop be scheduled in October so that discrepencies over the amount being requested of the town by the Nutfield Senior Center be settled, and particulars of the proposal be aired publicly.

“I've had several different communications with different numbers of people who want to understand the function and purpose of the proposed senior center, and how it will fund itself. I'd like to see senior staff involved, the downtown group involved, council involved – and anyone else who we think needs to be involved. We need to go from square A to square Z,” Benson said.

Town Administrator Gary Stenhouse said he would get that information posted on the town's Web site as soon as a date was set, likely sometime between the two scheduled October council meetings.

Also discussed was changing the date of the regularly scheduled Nov. 2 council meeting to Nov. 3, because it coincides with Election Day. Benson noted that moving the meeting to the following day is procedurally correct. The council agreed to the change.