Black Bears

[Wingman]

Click the link, son.

[tunica]

would be interested in learning more about the bear myself..... what are its main staple.... do they eat little black babies.... i mean black berries.
what do they eat? would they do anything to regulate wild pigs ?

I know by studing the black bears in the white river refuge they sure eat alot of grubs. ain't nothing like walking up on a bear or finding your self face to face with a cub wondering Now where is momma. Let Me tell ya it do clean out the colon.

[sportsman450]

I've seen two black bears in my life. One was a very brief glimpse while squirrel hunting near Valley Park in the early 70s, and another dead in the back of a game warden's truck on Pipeline Rd in the Delta National Forest, again in the early 70s. The warden said the bear had been killed by a moron (poacher) near Vicksburg/Valley Park. I hope that piece of shiite is still in jail!

[iron grip]

tennduckdog,
Do they now have a hunting season on bears in PA? I know they hunt them up that way just can't remember what states have seasons on black bears. And I think I'm correct in saying there are no seasons in the lower 48 for Grizzlys only in Alaska (and in Canada). I for one don't think bear hunting would be my cup 'o tea, but I wonder if this state could ever make a huntable population of bears. Other than man (redneck factor) bears don't have any predators besides maybe a brave bobat with a taste for bear cub Or do they?

[jkm1272]

After talking with Brad Young yesterday, he said black bears eat 90% berries and other vegetation, and the 10% meat they do eat is usually grubs.

I saw a bear while hunting near Onward last year, and would love to see another. We have had a few pass through our woods the last several years. We have had a few others see them while hunting with us.

[BeastMaster]

not sure if you were being a smart ass or not but
Newsletter Vol. 23 No. 1 Winter/Spring 2005


that looks like a publication doc to me.... not a museum date etc.... wanted some clarification on it and i'm not your son !!

[Wingman]

I've never been to a seminar in a magazine...

Webfoot mentioned that the roadkilled bear was at the Museum, and then I posted that there would be a seminar on April 5 and included a link to the museum. In my mind it made sense, but I am weird anyway.

Black Bear Seminar at the Natural Science Museum
Tuesday, April 5 at 12 noon. I don't know exactly which room it will be in..you will have to research that yourself.

[tennduckdog]

[quote="iron grip"]tennduckdog,
Do they now have a hunting season on bears in PA? I know they hunt them up that way just can't remember what states have seasons on black bears. And I think I'm correct in saying there are no seasons in the lower 48 for Grizzlys only in Alaska (and in Canada). I for one don't think bear hunting would be my cup 'o tea, but I wonder if this state could ever make a huntable population of bears. Other than man (redneck factor) bears don't have any predators besides maybe a brave bobat with a taste for bear cub Or do they?[/quote]

Yep, they have a short season for them. It's either 2 or 3 days long. The season itself is usually pretty successful and the average bear is very big compared to what you would see up in canada or other areas that allow baiting for them. You will hear of a lot in the 400 plus pound range, quite a few in the 5-600 pound range, and every now and then someone will get one that pushes the 800 pound mark, thats a HUGE black bear! PA doesn't allow hunting them with dogs or over bait so the way that most guys hunt them is to either sit on a stand and hope one walks by or to participate on a drive. The drives can be successful, but it sure wasn't my cup of tea either, too many guys in 1 area with guns. I went twice when I lived up there. The first time I took place in a drive through some thickets and spent too much time looking down other guys barrels to make it enjoyable. The second time I went up to my buddies deer camp and we just walked around looking for sign, neither time did we see a bear but in such a short season luck is going to play a huge part in the success. I had only seen 2 bears in the few years that I lived there, once when I was driving home from a weekend of trout fishing in the mountains and the other was driving back from a week up in canada fishing and didn't even see a bear, we got to the PA line and a bear ran across the highway in front of us in the middle of the afternoon! I think that I heard the success rate was like 3 percent or something. Something else that you might find interesting is that PA actually reintroduced elk in their northcentral counties around the Allegheny National Forest, this is prime bear habitat and accounts for most of the bear harvest. You have a pretty good chance of seeing elk up there and now there is limited hunting the last few years. The elk that they are getting are record book size animals, if I remember correctly a few of them scored over 400 B&C.

[tupe]

I have seen two up along 465 around eagle lake. One, several years ago when I was guiding for Tara, another two years later, a cub that had been hit by a car on eagle lake road, sad. The cub is also mounted and in the wildlife museum. I had a friend who was the one to report a big bear found dead in DNF.

Funny story really, how he found it. He and friend were sittin on a log before dark waiting for sun up next to a duck hole. They could smell something kind of "off" well, bout sun up they turned around and started screaming, that poor big ole dead bear was about ten feet behind them slumped over a long looking kinda like it was in a crouch. They ran like hell and then realized the bear must be dead, went back, checked it out and called it in to the wardens.

Tupe

[FnW man]

My question is......why are we honoring a man that's ties bears to trees to be shot by another person? If you did this today they would throw you UNDER the jail.

[jkm1272]

What's the difference in these shooting matches, where they throw a live pigeon in the air, and then shoot it before it gets out of a circle. Why are they not thrown in jail for that.

Collier tied up one bear, and Roosevelt declined to kill it. Hell I am amazed that he would even try to tie up a bear. You should read the book Holt Collier. It is a very good read. Some of the things he did were unbelievable.

[h2o_dog]

My question is......why are we honoring a man that's ties bears to trees to be shot by another person? If you did this today they would throw you UNDER the jail.

I'm assuming you made this comment in jest....if not, you must be an April Fool. Read the book.

[BAY KINGFISHER]

I remember hearing of two bears killed down here in Hancock county on I-10, maybe back 12, 13 yrs ago, I havent heard of any sightings down here lately, but Im sure there is probably still a few around Stennis Space center and the Honey Island Swamp.