bears are still out; hunters are done

[forestgnome]

Big-game hunting is now over for the season (at least in NH).

Some bears are still rumaging around for food. With the afternoon off, I took a little bushwack today near the Passaconaway Bridge and found some rather large, fresh bear tracks. He/she stopped at the bottom of many oaks and pawed around in the snow for acorns. It was on a south-facing slope with lots of bare ground patches.

 

[Chip]

We saw tracks, of the the young bear/female size, in the fresh snow
on the AT in Salisbury CT last Sunday. There's plenty of nuts around yet.
And by nuts, I mean nuts, not hunters...

 

[hermit]

Black powder season is open until 12-20 in some sections of N.Y.S..

 

[Don L]

I was on the Monadnock/Sunapee Greenway near Lovewell Mt yesterday and saw what I thought were fairly fresh bear tracks. Maybe the critter knew hikers would be passing by and considered doing some yogiing.
Happy Hiking

 

[NewHampshire]

Im no bear expert, but......

I saw a show that said during periods of warmth bears can sometimes come out of hibernation for short periods, even in the dead of winter. So its possible to see bears year round. Not that this has any real bearing on the discussion on hand, but I thought its an interesting fact Id throw out there.

Brian

 

[mudhook51]

I saw fresh tracks on Cornell, Wittenberg, and Slide early this week. One got my bird feeder Wed. night. They should be hibernating by now in the Cats.

 

[Barry Sr]

Muzzle Loader Season is open in MA as well until 12/30

Some state forests allow hunting, don't pack up the orange yet.

 

[snowshoe]

Bears are not true Hibernaters. The mothers with cubs will tend to stay in dens all winters long but males and females with no cubs can be see year round. If they do den up it is for short periods and their dens may be a brush pile or falen tree. I have ran into bears when over a foot of snow was on the ground and temps in single digits.

 

[mudhook51]

Saw where two deer were dragged out on KHP today. No bear sign today. I did run into fresh bear tracks yesterday while XC skiing. Hunting in NY is over Tue.

 

[mommabear]

Im no bear expert, but......

I saw a show that said during periods of warmth bears can sometimes come out of hibernation for short periods, even in the dead of winter. So its possible to see bears year round. Not that this has any real bearing on the discussion on hand, but I thought its an interesting fact Id throw out there.

Brian

I've heard the same thing - black bears don't go into true hibernation and often get up for short periods of time throughout the winter.