Active bear den found on my property - old man saw it today.

[burmjohn]

My Old man said there is a bear den on the property, actually not to far from the house.  Its on the mountain / hill where there are a lot of rocks.  There were two cubs playing outside of it, he didn't have a camera.  Problem is I'm going to crap my pants come bow season walking to my stand, being that the stand is about 75 yards away from there in the pitch dark no less... Anyone have any dealings with bears / dens??

[5.9cummins]

Trail cam.

Watch it and you should be able to tell if they are still in the area.

[Lawdwaz]

I don't have a clue BUT.......I didn't think they used dens much at all after the winter??

Trail cam (no brainer!)

[erussell]

I usually see at least 3-4 bears everytime I go out to the land I hunt in Kirkwood. They are a real pain in the butt because they have a knack to showing up and scaring the crap out of the deer evertime. I think they are drawn to the area because of all the Oaks on the property. Last yr watched several young ones rummage for hours under the oaks crunching away on Acorns. If I get one close this yr Im going to shoot it. Use to be like, a bear awesome !!! Now its like awe crap here comes another stupid bear. So my solution is shoot bear, make sausage, no more bear problem.   

[burmjohn]

LOL sounds like a plan to me! I'd just a big wuss with bears, always have been, always will. 

[ANTLERS]

Im sure its not out of the question that bears would still use a den in the off season to escape bad weather,Especially a sow with cubs.

[erussell]

LOL sounds like a plan to me! I'd just a big wuss with bears, always have been, always will.

Ive had a few run ins with the bears up there to. Had a bear follow me around during bow season one time which was no fun.

[burmjohn]

LOL sounds like a plan to me! I'd just a big wuss with bears, always have been, always will.

Ive had a few run ins with the bears up there to. Had a bear follow me around during bow season one time which was no fun.

What happened?

[YoungBucksTasteBetter]

I think your level of worry depends on the bear's behavior.  If it runs off when it realizes you are there..all is well.  If it hangs around or tries to get a better look at you that could be an issue, as it might have had encounters with other humans that have acclimated it to human presence or worse yet has set expectations that you might have food, etc.  If you see behavior that worries you give a call the local DEC office and see what they say.  Also, be careful if you have the little one out with you - there's something about a full diaper that attracts bears (do a google on the attack that happened in Sullivan a few years back - I'm not trying to be morbid but it's stuff I think a new father wants to be aware of).

[G-Man]

Most of the bear i have had around run when they smell or hear you.  Dont think its an active den probably in the cracks among the rocks trying to stay cool.

[ny hunter]

I would try riding a quad around maybe maybe the noise would scare them off.

[Lawdwaz]

I would try riding a quad around maybe maybe the noise would scare them off.

Or dropping off more bait?  ;D

[ny hunter]

This might be a stupid question,Can we shoot a bear during archery season?

[WNYBuckHunter]

Here are the bear seasons for each region from last year. They should be similar this year, except for western NY, which I thought is going to change the bear opening day to coincide with deer opening day.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/28605.html#Black

[growalot]

Yes if your area is open to bear hunting ...they just opened our area 2yrs ago...been bow hunting them at camp few several years now...never got one close enough...except when I went to get clothes from truck at 4 a.m. and the bear I went to hunt was standing /leaning on the other side of  the truck 

I've found that they are rather active pre-dawn ...so carry a light and stop frequently to listen...they make a distinctly different sound moving through the woods than deer...kinda like a very lrg raccoon...until they grunt

[YoungBucksTasteBetter]

Since this was a bear with cubs - note the restriction in the Southern zone as well:

"In the Southern Zone, you may not shoot a cub or a bear that should be known to be a cub, shoot any bear from a group of bears, or shoot or take a bear from it's den"

[burmjohn]

I think your level of worry depends on the bear's behavior.  If it runs off when it realizes you are there..all is well.  If it hangs around or tries to get a better look at you that could be an issue, as it might have had encounters with other humans that have acclimated it to human presence or worse yet has set expectations that you might have food, etc.  If you see behavior that worries you give a call the local DEC office and see what they say.  Also, be careful if you have the little one out with you - there's something about a full diaper that attracts bears (do a google on the attack that happened in Sullivan a few years back - I'm not trying to be morbid but it's stuff I think a new father wants to be aware of).

Thanks for the info.  Trust me this kid isn't going in the woods for a long time...

[burmjohn]

Since this was a bear with cubs - note the restriction in the Southern zone as well:

"In the Southern Zone, you may not shoot a cub or a bear that should be known to be a cub, shoot any bear from a group of bears, or shoot or take a bear from it's den"

I'm pretty sure Papa bear is around too...

[sits in trees]

it's about 50 bucks but keep a can of bear pepper spray on hand if you don't want to kill one. if one climbs your tree or sticks his head in your blind it will work and you wont be up on murder charges... i keep a can when turkey hunting because there are some big suckers running around the woods that time of year.

[sits in trees]

Yes if your area is open to bear hunting ...they just opened our area 2yrs ago...been bow hunting them at camp few several years now...never got one close enough...except when I went to get clothes from truck at 4 a.m. and the bear I went to hunt was standing /leaning on the other side of  the truck 

I've found that they are rather active pre-dawn ...so carry a light and stop frequently to listen...they make a distinctly different sound moving through the woods than deer...kinda like a very lrg raccoon...until they grunt

until they grunt??? yer being followed by hogs dear ;D

[First-light]

John, I think bears are unpredictable. Every year we have a sow and cubs in the area. One year the sow let me within 30 yards of her cub, she was content on eating corn. Be prepared, I have pepper spray and a nice big knife. I have a lot of pines on my property and while walking on trails you can't see around the bend. My fear is I surprise the bears and get a bad reaction. They do make some odd noises, makes your hair stand up on the back of your neck, especially when it's dark. Word of caution for those of you that will shoot a bear. If you have one coming in give it some time. Sometimes you think your shooting at a single male bear but actually it's a sow with cubs. My bears cubs were 5 minutes behind their mother. Bears are cool but can get to be a pain especially if you have fruit trees around the property, they will break branches off the tree and leave the trunk bear! lol

[erussell]

LOL sounds like a plan to me! I'd just a big wuss with bears, always have been, always will.

Ive had a few run ins with the bears up there to. Had a bear follow me around during bow season one time which was no fun.

What happened?

Well I walked up on him and had the wind in my favor and it ran off. So I changed directions and hunted in the opposit direction. Well after 30 yrds of stalking I heard a noise behind me on the logging road and there it was about 50 yrds off looking  at me. So i kept an eye over my shoulder and walked a little faster hoping the movement would scare it away. Well it just made him more curious and he ran toward me down the trail so I drew back and yelled at it. Well it stopped and just stared at me. So I let down and walked even fater back to me car with this little turd escorting me out to the last 100 yrds.  Was sitting next to a tree about 3 yrs ago and had a very big bear walk right up to me ( 15 paces). I just pointed my front stuffer at his head and asked him what he wanted and he turned inside out the opposite direction. Another time I was getting ready to shoot a doe with the bow and before she got into range she took off like a shot leaving me there scratching my head. Well I hear this ruckus coming from the area and here comes a big old sow with three cubs in tow. I immediately stood up and backed up down a logging trail around a corner with her watching me the whole way. When she got out of sight I beat feet to the car. Another time I was picking chantrele mushrooms and had one come running up the hill to within 20 yrds of me to get a look at what was going on. I must have looked like a white streak running through the woods. To this day I have no recollection of the 500 yrds I ran to the road and no idea how I made it through all the thickstuff without killing myself. I must have looked like a wildman running through the woods.

[burmjohn]

Sheez!

[ny hunter]

OH MAN I just found tracks and they got me going.Never ran into a bear in the woods.

[RobC]

I've heard that feeding them and if they have cubs show them you mean no harm by trying to pet them in the presence of the mother is always a good idea. kidding a side in the southern tier where i'm from we get the occasional bear siting but they never seem to stay in the area more then a week. They seem to be very nomatic.