For the uninitiated, 62-year-old Hal Blood of Jackman, Maine, is a straight-talking Marine Corps ­veteran, former lobsterman, and deer-dogging savant who essentially picked up where Benoit left off.

BARRE — Hal Blood's method of killing big whitetail bucks is time-tested — and anything but easy. Blood, a Maine guide and outfitter, tracks big, 200-pound-plus bucks in the northern fringes of Maine.

The author with a big-bodied, big woods buck. Hal Blood. Turning east again, I continued along with my original plan, finally cutting another track about a quarter mile farther. Though the hoofprints ...