Bears in Mo

[dipper]

Like anything comes down to $$$. These dnrs love the diversity that means more licenses, seasons, and revenue. Between the recent spike of bears and reintroduction of wolves, the wi dnr is making millions more in revenue, with nothing more than the cost of a couple biologists.
It's a different animal out west, ranchers are everything, and they don't take kindly to any predator. I know it was a big court thing, but weren't they fighting to shoot wolves on the spot in Montana since they were delisted? That was the fish and games management plan. Hilarious, not gonna see that east of Nebraska or Kansas...

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I agree with everything that Phil said. I live in S.E. Pa., but have a camp in Northern Pa. mtns. Until you've had a lot of bears around your area, you have no idea how big of a pain they can be. When we planted corn 2 yrs. ago at camp ( 2 1/2 acres or so ), it was destroyed! It looked like you drove a dozer thru the field. Hardly any left for deer in winter. ( let stand ) They've torn screen doors, torn the doors off our corn crib, the shed, destroyed a number of apple & hawthorn trees, scattered wood piles ( I guess searching for ants, grubs, mice? ). A bear tore the lid off a neighbor's big chest freezer they kept on the cabin porch to store food in during hunting season - but it was EMPTY! They play with things like that and destroy them in the process. Many of our wood pile tarps have been shredded. Bears have climbed into truck beds - scratched the paint. List goes on.

If you have bears in the area and you have stuff around - stored or planted - that they see as food - look out !!! Or if it's anything that's interesting to them, they'll play with it - like a bull in a china shop. The pic on the previous page by West Branch of a bear in the top of a big apple tree - the suggestion to grow bigger apple trees that can handle a bear is fine. But the trick is - GROWING IT UP THRU THE SMALLER STAGES so the tree's big enough to take the weight of a bear !!! They don't wait until it'll support them.

If you live in bear country with a fairly dense population and you want to plant anything for deer - you're gonna have a battle with the bears. Our 2 biggest enemies are bears and mice / voles. Keeping deer off apple, crab, or pear trees is easy. If your bear population is on the rise.............. just wait.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

I know we are kind of drifting away from Jordan's original post, sorry Jordan! :D I do find this bear thing interesting. So how is a bear that routinely wanders among people not automatically "deemed a danger to humans"? Actually maybe this is just another example of a state's game commission run amuck. (I do have a customer who is a retired PA Game Commission employee that comes here to hunt deer that states thats why he hunts here for deer!) Here in Nebraska if a mounain lion is found within city limits it is euthanized on the spot.

No apology needed! I posted simply as a conversation starter. I wanted to hear what people had to say that deal with bears regularly. The more I read SSS sounds like ones best bet. Except my luck the one time I break the law there would be a radio collar on the damn thing

 

[phil@thesidehill]

No apology needed! I posted simply as a conversation starter. I wanted to hear what people had to say that deal with bears regularly. The more I read SSS sounds like ones best bet. Except my luck the one time I break the law there would be a radio collar on the damn thing

A friend of mine's FIL is a retired WCO....he's old school....back when they were still called game wardens....his advise for really troublesome bears was "shoot 'em in the guts...they'll run a long ways and die somewhere's else." Not that i condone that kind of action...nor do i think it really works that way. just kinda made me chuckle.

 

[dogghr]

Like most things, there is a learning curve to accepting something new. Bears have been an issue here for a long time, and while they do work over an apple tree or love that corn field, in essence they can be a very interesting opportunistic omnivore. If your land is managed to provide good habitat for deer, then it follows that other animals will find it enticing also. Bear seldom do affect deer movement. I've got pics of deer in fields watching bear pass by. I've got pic of deer passing within 10 yds of a huge bedded boar. Will they work a camera over sometimes, or tear into a treestand, or break some limbs on an apple tree? You bet. I've had upwards of 7 resident bear on my property of 100 ac and never less than 4. I give them the respect they deserve as do they for me to an extent. Watching a bear pluck berries from a vine gingerly with its lips, yet also have the power to destroy a 2 ft diameter stump is amazing. And to see something that is 100-600 # pass by you in dry leaves quiter than any deer can, should impress anyone. And to top it , able to run like a freight train at 40 mph. They can have a home range up to 40 sq miles and will typically show themselves at the same spot about every three days for those that want to hunt them. Study the kill area on bear as it varies a little from that of deer. Many that kill their first bear , say they will never do so again , usually for two reasons. One, PIA to get out of woods, and oddly, second, they have too much human action characteristics.

Safety. Never run. Only back away facing bear. Shout and wave arms. Trust me, sometimes they just laugh at that and dare you to bring it on. If they don't want to move, don't push the issue. A bluff charge with popping jaws from a yearling bore can make your butt pucker. Study them, admire them, and accept them as part of the Leupold landscape we seek to achieve.