Bears mate on live camera
 

Whiskers and Dark Nose, two of the black bears I've been researching via 24/7 camera on the 3000 acre preserve in AR, bred twice on May 30, and have been seen on live feed, infra-red audio, tilt, focus and zoom capable cameras ever since, including this morning, at locations as far apart as 2 miles on 3 different cameras.

This is the second year of the research, and some very interesting bear behavior is resulting. I'm in constant contact with Dr. Lynn Rogers of the Bear Center here in MN (with Hope the abandoned cub, who is is doing welll on her own), and the researchers in AR.

The information gathered during our two concurrent research projects, is ground breaking, and will help hunters understand black bears better, which could make them better hunters. I know I've learned a lot already.

For instance, bears are daytime feeders from now until fall, when they become nighttime feeders, but not because of high temperature. We have seen bears consistently feeding between 10 AM and 3 PM, in temperatures as high as 95 degrees.

It appears bears become nocturnal - due to hunting pressure, whether it is on them or upland birds or deer.

Deer have been seen feeding within 20 minutes of a bear leaving a feeding site, suggesting they do not fear fairly new bear scent. How does this relate to human scent? I've had deer (including 130+ 8 pts) on camera within 2 hours of setting them up, walking in in my street clothes.

Stay tuned for more on our bear, turkey and whitetail research projects, which are in their 2nd, 11th and 5th years respectively. I believe my deer research projefct is the longest running deer study known.

If you have questions ask here - or feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] .

God bless and good hunting,

T.R.