Chasing Bear in da U.P. 2008

[Jeff]

Not near the excitement out here ronight. Nothing but quiet so far. We have abput 20 minutes of shooting light yet though.

[pappy]

Thanks for the feed plot info Jeff and Marcel but I should of given yous a bit more info,,, We do have an 8 acer field here that we have quite a few volunteer white spruce , fir, cedar and white pine coming in nicely and don't want to turn it over into an open field,, but I was thinking I'd like to have a few smaller feed plots mixed in here and there for wildlife reasons ..   I'm thinking a couple three places or so where I can use an old horse drawn harrow pulled with my ATV in circles then plant something in one then something else in an other one... I'm guessing brassica (which I've heard of before) in one crop circle  ;D then clover in an other and so on...  We get plenty of Moose passing through but seldom see any Deer ... Turnips sound good too ??



A fellow up in these parts used to bait / feed da bears around a shack he had out on his 100 acre or so wood lot,, spring , summer, and fall ... He had some sort of a deal with the grocery store in town where they'd keep him pails of out dated food,, he'd get steaks, chops, sweets etc... We'd go up once in awhile just before dark and Ricky would have Black bears coming from all directions... The shack had dry wall screws screwed from the inside in pointing out to keep the Bruins from tearing down the walls... We could stand in the doorway and watch them,,, not the smartest thing to do but the bears would be just a couple feet away from us     Anyway Ricky would have some of the meat hanging up on trees so the bears would have to stand up to get it... Man o man he had one big bruiser called Reggie ( he had names for all of them, I'd say 12 or so at a time) When he stood up he could reach 10 to 12 feet high... One of the bears favorite treats where Rollo's.. When it was time to leave Ricky would walk us back to our trucks and shoe them away... Sometimes we'd be closer to em then I'd like,, felt good getting back into the truck!!



Hope I'm not high jacking your thread Jeff,, just thought ya wouldn't mind a little bear story while hanging out in the blind  



Also hopein' da biggin' shows up fur ya !!!  8)  8)

[SwampDonkey]

Clover + Oats and Corn draw the bear around here. Last year thinning next to a 50 acre corn field that was surrounded by woods we saw bear every morning in September that we were cutting brush. Uncle sees a couple big bear in the clover field on the farm he is working at picking taters. There was corn and oats behind my brother's place and a big bear was in there all summer, he took a bunch of pics. Just as we have tons of moose, we have all kinds of bear too. Found 4 dens this summer in hardwood we were thinning out. You can't miss them when you cover every square inch with a brush saw blade. ;D

[Paul_H]

I was finding packages of cookies and potato chips around the yard recently and was helping myself and enjoying them with no regard to where they might have been coming from.Looking back I should have been suspicious but I was hungry and it was convinient.
Then,just last week,I saw some more over by the shed and I lumbered over to have a feed and that's when I heard a quiet cough.I immediately became suspicious and my ears pearked up and I sniffed the air and caught the scent of this predator watching me from the safety and comfort of it's human blind and realised I had been baited.Luckily for me I had a warning because I have no doubt if I would have contiued toward the shed,I'd have been dinner  :P

[beenthere]

Hey, is that dude in a nut tree? Good thing you have a good nose to sniff him out.

Pics of the bait would be great.... ;D ;D ;D

Good story... : :

[SwampDonkey]

I think he needs help getting down.  ;D

[Paul_H]

I can't bear to lie to you guys so I'll level with you ;)

I was putting in fenceposts for an electric fence to keep the bears out of the fruit trees in the front yard and this guy was standing on the nieghbour's shed eating the dried cherries hanging on the tree.I came around the corner and he was standing on his hind legs right on the peak of the roof and was pulling down branches and filling his face.Lots of snuffing and grunting :
When I got the camera,he was back on all fours and when I got close he started huffing at me causing a rock to be lobbed in his direction.He baled off the roof on the other side and left for a little while.
Later when Carla was washing the upstairs windows,she saw him back up eating away in the tree again and she had a great view because the shed is only 60-70 feet from our house.
He was eating away and leaning out for a branch and she said he slid right off the roof and landed on his feet and he was scrambling just like any person would do if they were going off a roof :D :D

Lucy and I watched him later and he would lean way down the roof but kept his feet hooked on the peak so he wouldn't go headlong.

So far the electric fence has kept them out of the trees in the front and out of the garden.They were digging up the carrots last year till they were all gone.

[Dave Shepard]

We get them in the corn fields this time of year. They strip back the ears and eat all of the kernels off the cob, rolling around on their backs, I presume. They leave huge rolled areas full of stripped ears. Much more efficient than those DanG coons, they only eat three kernels, on every ear of sweet corn in the field.  :


Dave

[beenthere]

Paul_H
A bear like that must be pretty rough on a roof with tab shingles, rather than steel. And I'm surprised the ridge cap holds up to a bear that size keeping a firm grip on it. Maybe it doesn't.. : :

[ely]

nice thread, i am intrigeued about bears, would love to hunt them but we are just now getting them around here. maybe a season will follow in a few years. good luck to your sis jeff.

[Jeff]

 

[SwampDonkey]

As a kid, I never liked to see bears caged up in zoos. And there was no need to, we have all kinds of them. They were meant to run wild. 

[isawlogs]

Great pic Jeff , when is the bear season over ... ???

[Jeff]

 

[sprucebunny]

I think that bear knows about the camera ..... First you get the tongue sticking out, then the "Who, me ? " Look, and then the big ol' bear butt wagging off into the woods  :D :D :D :D

[Raider Bill]

Jeff,

How big are these guys appromx?

[Jeff]

The sow bears we are seeing we guesstimate around 325-350  there are some juveniles that are somewhere around 150-180 (earlier pic of one in the food plot.)  The cubs look to be around 75 lbs. 

Sprucebunny, that's about exactly the story I was thinking. :

I've found a plentiful food for them that they seem to L O V E!  We've been Mixing  our aspen sawdust with french fry grease Jeremy got for us from the bar. We have 25 gallons of oil. We mix it to the consistency of oatmeal and just dump it in a hole and they eat it all up.  Last night they ripped the stump out of the ground I had dumped it on.

Were hoping instead of finding bear crappola on the trails, we start finding sheets of OSB or fireplace logs. ;D

[Raider Bill]

I've seen bear tracks in tenn and caves but no critters yet.

[beenthere]

..........

Were hoping instead of finding bear crappola on the trails, we start finding sheets of OSB. ;D

Maybe it will be a good firestarter....like lighter wood.   ;D ;D ;D

Might be a good market, if'n ya don't have to do much truth-in-labeling on the package. 

[Kevin_H.]

I can just see someone walking down the trail and tripping on a piece of wicker furniture  :D

Bearwood Products Inc.

Now that my friends is value adding...

[Ron Scott]

Nice bear pictures Jeff. Now you know that they are there. Makes it interesting.

I have the Moultrie DGS-M40 game camera as a couple of my hunting buddies and clients have. It seems to do a good job and has 150 day battery life.
Cabela's and Gander Mountain have them on sale for $199.00, but I got mine for $150.00 by shopping around on the internet.

[Jeff]

 

[Jeff]

 

[thecfarm]

Is that a wild rabbit? Reason I'm asking as it's white so soon.Nice pictures you are sharing with us. Thank You

[Jeff]

Nope, its a domesticated rabbit. Just thought I'd throw that one in there. ;D He lives in my Sister's yard.

We took this photo out of my blind window. I'll have to see if I can I.D. him when I get home.