Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

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swampyak
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby swampyak » Sun Feb 19, 2017 1:57 am

Thanks for the help


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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby Bearman13 » Tue Mar 14, 2017 3:34 am

Almost all the bear beds we find here are in some sort of old grown up logged off area with water nearby. In most cases the new growth is between 5-10 years old. It's thick cover and dark.

I've had to crawl on my hands and knees more times then I care too tracking bears. I've spent hours tracking bears and just wandering the network of trails leading to the bait sites.

If you have established baits like I do, (some are 20 years old or more) you wouldn't believe how far and where these trails will take you.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby dan » Tue Mar 14, 2017 4:03 am

Jim Wallner wrote:Almost all the bear beds we find here are in some sort of old grown up logged off area with water nearby. In most cases the new growth is between 5-10 years old. It's thick cover and dark.

I've had to crawl on my hands and knees more times then I care too tracking bears. I've spent hours tracking bears and just wandering the network of trails leading to the bait sites.

If you have established baits like I do, (some are 20 years old or more) you wouldn't believe how far and where these trails will take you.

Got into some stuff just like that last year tracking a wounded one...
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby Bearman13 » Tue Mar 14, 2017 7:36 am

The best cover seems to be head high and impenetrable. The bear is completely hidden because the top cover is so thick. I've never been in a jungle but, that's what I envision a jungle being like.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby dan » Tue Mar 14, 2017 7:55 am

Jim Wallner wrote:The best cover seems to be head high and impenetrable. The bear is completely hidden because the top cover is so thick. I've never been in a jungle but, that's what I envision a jungle being like.

Add a little water and there in heaven.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby Horizontal Hunter » Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:00 am

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions Dan and Jim. I appreciate it.

Bob
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby <DK> » Thu Apr 13, 2017 2:58 am

I have a few newb questions if anyone is willing :? ... that link had multiple examples and great info
Why do you bait black bears? Is it a necessity? (Just curious)
Can black bear beds be seasonal like deer?
How far does a male bear roam compared to a rutting buck scale of distance? Will he keep traveling until he finds a female?
They can live above ground like a buck does or below ground/den like - Are they utilizing the wind the same way as a deer?
That top pic on the link that was shared was showing a small hole at the base of the tree for an entrance to a den. Was that a old bed? Just curious about the size of the opening... did the redwood needles fall and fill in the entrance a little or are they capable of that?

Thanks
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby dan » Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:27 am

Darkknight54 wrote:I have a few newb questions if anyone is willing :? ... that link had multiple examples and great info
Why do you bait black bears? Is it a necessity?

They leave very little sign behind, and are eating machines... Baiting is not a "must" but it is the second most successful way to kill them. Hounds is the easiest way. Its not as simple as it sounds... Killing small ones is easy, but big ones are real smart. There stomach can get the best of them, but I have seen them disappear on a dime when a little thing changes around the bait like adding a camera, putting up a treestand, changing bait or scent, etc. Its also key to setting up where a smart old boar feels comfortable coming in in daylight.




Can black bear beds be seasonal like deer?
Certainly... But there beds are mostly based on food. I hunted a bear called snaggletooth once with Mike Foss, and I remember him telling me of that bears individual cycle. He would disappear out of the area on a certain date and not be seen again till a certain date the next year... That's where an outfitter has a huge advantage over a guy like me... He is baiting the same spots every year and can compare year to year photo's on certain bears, and habits in certain spots. Especially in Wisconsin where outfitters can bait from april thru the season. A liitle harder in Minnesota where you get such a short baiting season. But Im sure Jim Wallner picks up on some great Observations too....



How far does a male bear roam compared to a rutting buck scale of distance? Will he keep traveling until he finds a female?

Good question... Maybe Jim or Mike has an answer. All I know is that in Wisconsin all my baits suddenly start getting big boars that were not there before during mating season. How far they travel I don't know... But I have read studies about them going 10 miles or more for food. I would assume the same for females.

They can live above ground like a buck does or below ground/den like - Are they utilizing the wind the same way as a deer?

I believe they bed like a deer based on the wind... I see them bedding using the same types of features as deer do. However, I don't think its as set in stone as it is with deer.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby Bearman13 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:55 am

I'm sure the boars travel far and wide to find mates up here. Since Wisconsin is baiting during the rut I would assume the same boars hit the same bait sites and routes every spring.

Where I'm at I think bears roam quite a bit just for the sake of roaming. My areas landscape and food makeup doesn't really change much. We see the same bears on bait sites every year. I'm sure they know it's that time of year again, per say. But, I really think they move very far here. They don't need too. We don't have acorns or ag fields. In the spring the hit the green shoots, kill a moose calf or two, a deer fawn and catch a few beaver. Bears are about 90 percent vegetarian. Remember that when you bait. Outside of good berry years here the bears diet won't change much. Popple leaves and shoots, berrys, green grass, insects, grubs etc.

Just my rambling thoughts.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby <DK> » Thu Apr 13, 2017 6:40 am

Thats a lot of great info, I appreciate you guys taking the time. Really havent decided if I want to go out and try... it is definitely fascinating though. Actually were starting to get more sightings around my area and I believe one has been on a private property I have permission to hunt during the summer.
As far as baiting goes its done and legal bc otherwise you dont really see them they are so smart? So your chances are less than that of a mature buck tolerating change?
Also are you guys able to map bear beds?
This is the first pic from that website - I just want to be clear on what im looking at here - Is this an old den where the redwood needles piled up in front of the entrance? Would this from a younger bear? Obviously actual dens can be scarce in places so the bigger they get the more likely to find above ground bedding?
Image

Thanks again fellas
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby dan » Thu Apr 13, 2017 6:54 am

I think they are above ground most of the time... Below ground is mostly hibernation. It would be hard to map bear bedding areas... I basically bait in areas where beds have the security and features where they would or could bed close to the bait. I think they move around to much to hunt them based off bedding. cURIOUS IF jIM SEES SPOTS WHERE BEARS BED CONSISTANT, YOU SEE IT IN Wisconsin, BUT IT IS ALMOST ALWAYS BECAUSE OF SOMEONES BAIT.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby <DK> » Thu Apr 13, 2017 7:30 am

Thanks for the replies i will have to go back out this year and see if I do have one around, maybe it can teach me a few things. Last summer I found its droppings and this year I found this den. I only got this close to it bc i wasnt sure what to do really and I was a little ways from anyone, though I didnt find any type of sign whatsoever at the entrance, again I think its around sometime in the summer for the black berries. Coyotes or mt lion would make more sense in my state i guess...
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Thanks again for the help
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby headgear » Thu Apr 13, 2017 8:02 am

I've jumped a lot of bears and found plenty of bear beds on the edge of large swamps in tall grass, a lot of time I found large 12+ foot circles of matted down grass.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby Bearman13 » Fri Apr 14, 2017 6:04 am

Only two times have I seen consistent beds. Because of bait and drought, low water.
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Re: Black Bear Beds -VS- Buck Beds

Unread postby <DK> » Fri Apr 14, 2017 6:18 am

Jim Wallner wrote:Only two times have I seen consistent beds. Because of bait and drought, low water.

Ok so a say a bear that isn't being hunted or baited could just roam randomly year to year across the state? As in there is no "home range"?
Great info Jim! Thanks for the info


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