After more than a week of extensive searching over rough terrain, 6 inches of snow and thick forest at Bear Brook State Park, search teams have found no trace of a Hooksett man who went missing at the popular hunting grounds on Sunday, Dec. 2.

Avid hunter Russell Bussiere, 70, failed to show up for a meeting with his son and fellow hunter, Michael Bussiere of Pembroke, at around noon that day, prompting the family to call in authorities.

Michael Bussiere said the family is being realistic about the odds against the missing man, but is certain they will find him at some point.

“We’ll find him. We know we’re not going to find him alive, but we’ll find him,” said Michael Bussiere.

He said the family is holding up well under the circumstances, and is grateful for the tremendous search effort headed up by New Hampshire Fish and Game and Allenstown Police that included the Army National Guard, the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, and the help of fire and police from Hooksett and Pembroke.

About 200 volunteers donated their time and expertise for the search effort, including members of Mount Washington Ski Patrol, Henniker fire and rescue and fellow local hunters concerned about one of their own.

The expansive search covered more than 10 square miles, the majority of Bear Brook State Park, and also some “high probability” areas outside the grid search area over a five-day period.

Teams of 10 to 12 lined up, a searcher on each end of the line having a GPS to map the line’s area covered. That information was transmitted back to a GPS mapping system at the command post to ensure all of the ground in the search area was covered.

No traces of Bussiere, such as clothing, makeshift shelters or disturbances in the snow were found during the searches.

Michael Bussiere said his father had been hunting more than 60 years, and that his experience with Bear Brook should have worked to his advantage.

“Russell knows that area better than his house,” he said.

He added that his father is very punctual and reliable, virtues that helped raise a red flag when Bussiere failed to meet his son after hunting that day.

Michael Bussiere also said his father struggles with operating the GPS device he had with him, which may have contributed to his disappearance, but said he does not have any idea what may have happened to his father.

“I’ve used up all my theories,” he said.

Pared-down search efforts continued as of Monday, Dec. 10, according to Allenstown Police Chief Shaun Mulholland.

Michael Bussiere said he would continue searching the area throughout the winter with small parties of volunteers, and hopes that spring melting will reveal evidence of his father’s whereabouts.

Russell Bussiere, a dedicated Red Sox fan who was ecstatic to finally see his team win the World Series in 2004, was in the granite curbing business for decades and opened his own business about 20 years ago, Michael Bussiere said.

“Russell was an extremely hard-working man,” he said. “His word was gold.”