Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

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brancher147
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby brancher147 » Mon Jan 22, 2018 9:11 am

I have found quite a few bear beds in mountains of WV that get repeated use. Always close to or right in a food source, usually acorns or hickory nuts, or on ridges above corn fields. I know in the summer they will bed repeatedly right in the middle of cornfields. Most beds have been in pretty open woods, but I know bears like the thick stuff too, I probably just am not in the thick stuff much so I don't find them there. I find they bed very similar to deer/mature bucks, and have found bear beds with deer beds on points before. A very well used bear bed here usually has a huge pile of scat ( I have seen piles that look like a bear has been piling scat there for months), will definitely have bear hair in it, will definitely have a well worn trail with fresh bear tracks, and sometimes has a tree marked nearby. I am sure they bed based on wind just like deer.


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ghoasthunter
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Tue Jan 23, 2018 6:27 am

brancher147 wrote:I have found quite a few bear beds in mountains of WV that get repeated use. Always close to or right in a food source, usually acorns or hickory nuts, or on ridges above corn fields. I know in the summer they will bed repeatedly right in the middle of cornfields. Most beds have been in pretty open woods, but I know bears like the thick stuff too, I probably just am not in the thick stuff much so I don't find them there. I find they bed very similar to deer/mature bucks, and have found bear beds with deer beds on points before. A very well used bear bed here usually has a huge pile of scat ( I have seen piles that look like a bear has been piling scat there for months), will definitely have bear hair in it, will definitely have a well worn trail with fresh bear tracks, and sometimes has a tree marked nearby. I am sure they bed based on wind just like deer.

yes bears bed exactly like a buck and even travel the same trails as bucks I have killed my share of bucks on bear trails in swamps and in hill country and mountains. I often have bears and bucks bedding a hundred yards apart in swamps. a lot of times the male bears bed in small islands under trees in marshes a lot of he time they make nests like a bird. in NJ I have helped tag female bears in winter in these nests they actually give birth to there cubs above ground in swamps and lay over her young all winter long. in hill country I find bears den on south western sides more often and bed above ground same as deer. one thing to take note of in swamps with a lot of bears is the bucks tend to not go into interior beds as much as edge bedding. also you will see more daytime movement with deer because of bears bumping out of their beds forcing them to relocate. some times the bears are just passing threw and after they do the deer normally just go right back to their beds its the "bear bump and dump".
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby Bearpawon » Tue Jan 23, 2018 9:50 am

Was pondering my question about if you're looking for bear beds and walking into them wouldn't it just spook the Bears, and I think that's where pre season scouting comes in. You try find them way beforehand during non hunting season and come back a few months later already knowing it's there and ready to hunt it.

Also, if Bears are drifters by nature and arent gonna stick around that bed for long anyways, maybe another drifter bear will be on his way in to the area looking for that same kind of spot which he may just find. For a newbie like me, for now it's probably good enough to start with scouting beds in the preseason and Trying to come up with game plans for the said beds to use during hunting days.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Tue Jan 23, 2018 12:21 pm

Bearpawon wrote:Was pondering my question about if you're looking for bear beds and walking into them wouldn't it just spook the Bears, and I think that's where pre season scouting comes in. You try find them way beforehand during non hunting season and come back a few months later already knowing it's there and ready to hunt it.

Also, if Bears are drifters by nature and arent gonna stick around that bed for long anyways, maybe another drifter bear will be on his way in to the area looking for that same kind of spot which he may just find. For a newbie like me, for now it's probably good enough to start with scouting beds in the preseason and Trying to come up with game plans for the said beds to use during hunting days.

buy us big bears in the 600 to 700 pound range in ages up around 10 to 15 years old don't go very far except during the rut but they have a core area just like a buck on the other hand young males tend to travel and bears tagged are shot over 20 miles away I see sows use the same area year after year. we also have one of the highest bear densities in the country so that will factor in on home ranges. its not uncommon to see a sow with four cubs and the next year have another litter of cubs its crazy seeing herds of bears coming threw the woods like deer.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby Bearpawon » Tue Jan 23, 2018 3:44 pm

ghoasthunter wrote: buy us big bears in the 600 to 700 pound range in ages up around 10 to 15 years old don't go very far except during the rut but they have a core area just like a buck on the other hand young males tend to travel and bears tagged are shot over 20 miles away I see sows use the same area year after year. we also have one of the highest bear densities in the country so that will factor in on home ranges. its not uncommon to see a sow with four cubs and the next year have another litter of cubs its crazy seeing herds of bears coming threw the woods like deer.


Sounds like those older, larger bears just lock down those good spots then which forces the younger smaller bears to keep on searching (drifting) for their own spot. do you think those big bears are eating a lot of wild foods that occur naturally in their range or are they mainly living off baits and other man made foods?
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby OldMtnMan » Wed Jan 24, 2018 3:31 am

If you sit on a bear bed in my area you'll have a sore but and no bear.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby Mike Foss » Wed Jan 24, 2018 10:02 am

Bearpawon wrote:
ghoasthunter wrote: buy us big bears in the 600 to 700 pound range in ages up around 10 to 15 years old don't go very far except during the rut but they have a core area just like a buck on the other hand young males tend to travel and bears tagged are shot over 20 miles away I see sows use the same area year after year. we also have one of the highest bear densities in the country so that will factor in on home ranges. its not uncommon to see a sow with four cubs and the next year have another litter of cubs its crazy seeing herds of bears coming threw the woods like deer.


Sounds like those older, larger bears just lock down those good spots then which forces the younger smaller bears to keep on searching (drifting) for their own spot. do you think those big bears are eating a lot of wild foods that occur naturally in their range or are they mainly living off baits and other man made foods?


They don't rely on baits placed by humans... they are consistently foraging for natural food sources before, during and after a hunting season. Bait stations are just a dissert.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Wed Jan 24, 2018 1:59 pm

Bearpawon wrote:
ghoasthunter wrote: buy us big bears in the 600 to 700 pound range in ages up around 10 to 15 years old don't go very far except during the rut but they have a core area just like a buck on the other hand young males tend to travel and bears tagged are shot over 20 miles away I see sows use the same area year after year. we also have one of the highest bear densities in the country so that will factor in on home ranges. its not uncommon to see a sow with four cubs and the next year have another litter of cubs its crazy seeing herds of bears coming threw the woods like deer.


Sounds like those older, larger bears just lock down those good spots then which forces the younger smaller bears to keep on searching (drifting) for their own spot. do you think those big bears are eating a lot of wild foods that occur naturally in their range or are they mainly living off baits and other man made foods?
I think the big bears are more natural I know the state does not catch big ones in bait traps only buy snares I think your best bet on a mature bear out of rut is beast tactics.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby Bearpawon » Thu Jan 25, 2018 2:19 pm

Thanks for the replys guys!


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