I was talking to my uncle over the weekend down in PA. He claims a friend of his has trail cams up on the mountain andhas gathered seven pictures of black bear with fawns IN THEIR MOUTH over the last year. He claims that a lack of ground feed for the bears has caused them to follow the does and snatch the fawns right after birth. Has anyone ever heard of this before? I have to admit, I have not seen the pictures, but my uncle claims he has (and he is a someone I hold in high regard). He claims this is a major factor in the poor deer population in parts of PA as the bear population is quite high right now. Just curious about your thoughts.

Find a way to get the pictures, id be really interested in seeing them!

Yes, I am trying to get a look at them. I have never heard of a black bear eating deer before. That is why I posted for opinions.

Its absolutely true!!

I wouldn't have posted it if I thought is was untrue. My uncle is a great woodsman and hunter, but I have never heard of this before, so it caught me off guard when he mentioned it.

During the fawn mortality study conducted by the PGC a few years back, they found bears to be FAR more of a threat to fawns than coyotes. If you go to the PGC page I'm sure you can look around and find the study.

I've talked to guys that live in Northern Minnesota where our black bear population is and they've seen it 1st hand where a bear will take a fawn almost right away after the doe has the fawn. Its more common then one thinks I'm thinking.

Bears are heavy predators on fawns as well as turkey eggs and hatchlings.

Last spring my mom saw a fawn in the yard, moments later a bear moved through, she was outside and heard the scuffle and fawn distress. Law of tooth and claw.

I've personally called in bears with predator calls, so it doesn't surprise me. IIRC, I believeit was actually a fawn bleat call I had one come into when yote hunting in Vermont 10+ years ago. They are very opportunistic feeders.

That reminded me of last year, 06 I did the same thing for Kurt when a bear crossed a field angling away from us. I had him standing at the base of our tree looking up at us.