Well this was a little touchy
12-27-2017, 03:37 PM
#1
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,745
Well this was a little touchy
I just came back from Texas visiting over Christmas and my hunting buddy was telling me what happened to him the first day of PA's late ML season. We had a fairly heavy dusting of snow and he was out in one of our favorite thickets when he spotted a nice bear. He decided to go check out the tracks and found that the front paws were 6"-7" wide - a pretty good size. Just for fun he decided to follow them a bit and after a bit my buddy realized that the bear made a complete circle and was actually following him! Upon realizing this my buddy thought that he would be better off heading to another section of the woods rather than seeing what the outcome of this encounter would be.
12-27-2017, 08:33 PM
#7
Fork Horn
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: North Idaho
Posts: 422
Me being me, i would have been curious and kept going on him, your buddy had a gun to defend himself with if need be. I have had Cougars Track me, and Back Track me in the Snow several times, They actually do that quite often, when you think about how easily a cougar can sneak up on a deer and kill it, and most of the time there is no sign of struggle? Makes your thinker start thinking when you find where 1 has tracked you.
12-28-2017, 07:34 AM
#9
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Southeast Michigan
Posts: 195
Always carry your 9mm, 40, 10mm or 45acp with you and your single-shot muzzleloader.
I always thought bears go into hibernation by PA's late ML season and even Michigan's December ML hunt dates. Unless someone were to enter their den, then the deep-sleep lethargy with cold weather bears should continue until late March at-least.
But then-again, I'm not an expert on bears in northern climates.
I always thought bears go into hibernation by PA's late ML season and even Michigan's December ML hunt dates. Unless someone were to enter their den, then the deep-sleep lethargy with cold weather bears should continue until late March at-least.
But then-again, I'm not an expert on bears in northern climates.
Last edited by GoexBlackhorn; 12-28-2017 at 07:43 AM.
12-28-2017, 06:12 PM
#10
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,745
Pregnant sows will den up but as far as I know the boars will keep moving until the real bad weather sets in or food becomes scarce or hard to come by. They will even get up and move around in the middle of winter if a warm spell comes through.
I've come across a couple bear in "sleep mode" in nothing more than a depression in the ground (like from an uprooted tree) or a tree top in a clear cut.
I've come across a couple bear in "sleep mode" in nothing more than a depression in the ground (like from an uprooted tree) or a tree top in a clear cut.