Our team
Robert Franklin
Robert is co-owner of Big Mountain Outfitters. Robert has hunted and fished since he can remember. He is married, and has 2 children. Robert is an avid deer, moose, and upland bird hunter. He typically spends more than 1 month a year living in a wall tent in the North Maine Woods pursuing his interests. Robert has also been guiding hunters for many years, and has many successes putting his clients on big bulls.
Professionally Robert is a Captain Firefighter/Paramedic and has been for 11 years. He also owns a property maintenance company, which keeps him busy during the winter, spring and summer months.
Jerod Kronholm
Jerod is co-owner of Big Mountain Outfitters. Jerod has been married for 20 years and has two children. Jerod has hunted and fished since an early age. After having many successes of his own with hunting, fishing, and trapping he decided to pursue guiding many years ago. He has a strong passion for helping others pursue their dreams in the outdoors. Guiding moose hunts is his favorite, since most hunters wait a lifetime for this tag and have only six days to fill it. Each hunt is special in its own way. He has guided many first time applicants, and many who have waited for more than 20-30 years to draw this tag. Professionally, when not guiding Jerod has been a firefighter/paramedic for 13 years.
Brett Patten
Brett has been guiding for almost 15 years. He enjoys all aspects of the outdoors including hunting, fishing and trapping. Seeing someone experience each part of a hunt is what he loves so much about guiding. Brett has been fortunate to guide people who have hunted all over the world, and still give the excitement enough to make them shake when a big bull is called in! Being a part of a backcountry tent camp puts you in the moose’s home. Brett has been an excellent addition and fits the team perfectly!
Jim Butler
Jim or (uncle Jim) as he is called a lot in moose camp by those who know him has been an outdoor enthusiast his entire life. He is the jack of all trades when it comes to getting things done and can always be counted on. Jim always goes above and beyond expectations doing things, such as scouting months in advance of his hunts, taking his family on camping trips in the moose woods in order to increase his familiarization with his hunting area. He has vast experiences as a veteran of our armed services, prior law enforcement officer, construction industry, hunting and fishing guide, management in solar arrays and many other things. Jim is an invaluable part of our team.
Liam Hackett
Liam grew up in Southeast, Vermont. While he didn't grow up in a big hunting family, his step moms family got him into hunting and the outdoors at a young age. From then on, he had many mentors that helped get him into the woods. He grew up hunting mostly deer, but it wasn't until his first turkey hunt that he realized his love for interacting with wildlife. When he arrived in Maine and met Robert Franklin, they bonded over their love for hunting and being outdoors. That meeting is what eventually led to Liams first moose hunting experience. After being exposed to the North Maine Woods, he fell in love, especially to moose hunting. Interacting with these large animals is like no other experience.
While Liam love to hunt and guide, he also enjoy many other aspects of helping people, which is what led to him choosing a career as a firefighter/paramedic for the past 6 years. Liam has a wife, and young daughter and they live in the moosehead region, in the heart of the outdoors.
Connor Bruffee
Connor has been in the outdoors hunting, fishing, and sporting all over New England since he can remember. He has also experienced several hunts across other areas of North America.
Connor experienced his first moose hunt not as a guide, but as a paying client in 2020 with Big Mountain Outfitters. After that moose hunt, he discovered it was his favorite game species to pursue. From there, he completed the process of becoming a Maine hunting guide and went through a couple of seasons of training and mentorship with Big Mountain Outfitters. He has since guided several successful moose hunts on his own.
He says his favorite part about moose hunting is putting in all of the hard work and watching it be 100% worth it in the end. Also he enjoys seeing how fast a really challenging day can turn into one of the best and most memorable days of someones lifetime.
Outside of guiding Connor is an electrician, and spends as much time as possible with his fiance, dog, and on the water chasing striped bass.