I have never harmed a bear, legally or illegally. I am just calling them out for what they are, dicks!
You obviously are very passionate for bears, and I can respect that, but you have to realize, very few people share your passion! Especially anyone that has anything to do with habitat.
I have changed up what I plant, where I put my garbage, I burn off my grill after use, I don’t have bird feeders, I don’t feed deer, I have all of my apple trees caged, I remove all the apples from the trees after deer season, I have bought electric fence, but I didn’t install it yet. I have tried gimmicks the DNR recommended to scare them off, I have reduced their hanging out on my property significantly, but I still get the ones that climb on the cages, snap of limbs, or main leaders in May, when my trees would be lucky to even have blooms on them, and they aren’t wrecking my trees for food, they are climbing them to be a dick and break them off.
My liberal, tree hugging DNR up until recently, gave out very few bear permits, and didn’t admit to an over population of them, but in the last couple years, they have given out many times the permits as they have in the past, it has helped, or me changing things up has helped, or both. But right now I have a moma and 3 cubs being regulars, and I don’t want them trouble makers to hang out here, so you are welcome to come and get them.
I again can understand your frustration, I get it, and I give you credit for doing the steps you have without resorting to other means
one of the reasons I am Guessing your having spring time issue is your fruit tree's ( I am only guessing you may have more than apples tree's)
BUT I also am guessing where your apple tree's are is in a FIRST green up area, be it grasses, or clover about the tree's or in the area of the tree's
and this is what draws bears in , in the spring time, its the first green food available to them
so, again, and NO bash, I get things, the things you have done to BETTER your land and make for better habitat, is also what is drawing bears in!
its a double edged sword, on one had you want better habitat, and I will also again guessing , some better food for game animals you prefer to hunt or see
but your also getting bears you really don't want, I get it
but again, bears are just being bears
they may damage your tree's, its due to bears being curious animals, the cages them selves may be attracting them to the tree, as they will fed on the first greens of the new yr, see the cages and be curious as to WHY there, whats in them, and just due to there size they can damage them, its not really about being a DICK , ( get your view on them though too, but its not a fair one if we can be honest!, they are just being what a mother nature made them )) , they can also just be bored after a winter's sleep or so on!,(more of what give's them your view I am sure)
BUT<
its sadly the just nature of the business and nature at work in itself, better habitat will DRAW In ALL sorts of wildlife that can benefit from your hard work!
your local NCNR, game warden or??
I gather they view things as they feel a bear is being a bear, for one, second, I gather they don;t hand out permits easily, due to they have a VALUE for the bear and don;t want they just shot for being a bear!
I will however fully 100% agree that many many, game dept's are VERY slow to adjust to populations, be them too high or too low, it always seems like they wait way too long to notice what is happening, so, I feel for you on this aspect!
for a agency that is supposed to protect wildlife, many seen to be clueless as to what real numbers are in any area, and its not till they get to damaging levels, that they start to make any adjustments!, seems a lot of room for improvement on there side, so again, I can agree on this and maybe they should give out more tags/permits in your area?? I cannot say yes or no, as I do not know where your at or what the real population of bears is in your area! to say either way!
on a PLUS for you MAYBE? if your concern is a female with this yrs cubs, well, next yr she will run them cubs off and out of the area(99% of the time any how)
so that will just leave her, and a yr off till she has cubs again!, or maybe gets hunted and harvested or other wise removed from your area
IF she however comes back the following yr, MAYBE try getting a warden to put up a trap and relocate her, just make sure they take her a 100+ miles or so away, or odds are HIGH she will come back
I am not just passionate about bears, I spent a huge part of my life working with them, working with state game dept and in other ways, from raising some orphaned cubs to doing , re hap on injured one's and so on, I know a lot of things about bears! and have a LOT of time spent about them
90% of all the bears I have helped trap to be relocated, if NOT taken over 95 miles, came back in about 30-40 days or many times less!, past the 100 mile mark and much much less came back!
problem is, few wardens want to drive that far, and many have rules on how far they can only move things, many have to work with in there region only , or need special permission to move one to a different region! but a GOOD warden working with a land owner , will some times make the effort, and why I have always suggested its worth taking the time to be friend your local warden, as they say, its better to be friends than be strangers when in need, or IMO it is!
other wise, E fence will be your friend here I think, just keep in mind not ALL E fences are of the same power, , some are pretty mild and some have some serious KICK to them LOL
and if I could, I'd gladly take your bears off your hands if it was possible!
the place I live holds a LOT of them as is, ( I average between 17-21 different ones a yr in my back yard) and all the surrounding hunting clubs would be fine having more chances at one!
