Bear almost stole my deer
 

I shot a doe Monday at 6:15 pm. After looking at my arrow and the blood I determined it was a good hit. I walked back to my vehicle and put in my bow and grabbed my flashlight and called the wife and told her I would be home a bit later. Following the blood trail which was easy for 100 yds, I lost it. I called my friend who came up to help. We picke the trail back up and track it for about another 75 - 100 yds before we found her - about 1 1/2 hours after the hit. There was a 3" hole in front of her hip and she was dragged about 15 feet. The hair and a bit of meat taken out of her hindquarters. We could hear the bear circling us in the dark. Needless to say, it was the fastest dressing/dragging job I ever did. On the way out my friend made a comment that if it starts pulling back, to drop the rope and run. I found out yesterday that if you have a License to carry firearms permit you are now allowed to carry a sidearm during PA archery season. I will be carrying my Styer M40 from now on. I also found out that in the early archery/muzzleloader season you can carry both a bow and a muzzleloader.

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

wow, your brave i would have gotten the heck out of there and let the bear eat it.

where in PA are you?

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

I'm in the Mt Carmel area in Northumberland Co.

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

Are you sure it was a bear? Usually a hole ahead of the hind quarters indicates a coyote. Coyotes go in the body cavity after the liver lungs and heart first. Bears tend to start right on the hind quarters from behind.


Did you see what was circling you in the dark and could there have been more than one?

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

that hole was from COYOTE..

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

You may be right about the coyote, but it must have been a big one or a pack of them to drag the deer. I don't think a 20-30 lb. coyote is going to drag an undressed 100+ lb. deer. I also feel if it was more than one 'yote, there would have been more damage. They would have eaten at it right where it lay. Moving the carcass definitely says BEAR to me.

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

20 to 30 lb yote, thats a damn small one

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

if it was dragged away,its a bear, if tore apart and left,coyote..
coyote will take a deer back to den if it has little ones but usually its a fawn..

i did not know it was dragged away,if deer was adult deer,i never saw coyote drag one but i did a fawn..

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

Pa ha had documented coyotes over 50 lbs and, yes, one or two of em could move a 100 lb deer. Not saying it was or wasnt but it's plausible. Imagine a 50 lbcoyote or two tearinginto the hide. They would likely bite in and back up just like a dog playing tug with a toy. 15 feet doesnt really seem that far if that were the casenow does it?

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

I believe there are 50 lb. coyotes in PA. I also believe there are 800+ lb. bear and 200+ lb. deer. They are the ends of the extreme. We have killed more than one coyote at our camp, and none of them came close to 50 lb. They are long-legged rangy animals with lots of fur, and appearances are deceiving as to their actual weight.

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

the biggest we got was 47 pds..
a coyote could drag deer a little ways to hide it but not a long ways..
bear will drag one..

like said, i read a piece about a hunter that is part of the bass pro teeam..
he found a den with over 30 fawns in it that coyotes took there,he was from lock haven,pa..

of course,this was back when pgc denied that coyotes were killing deer...

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

I agree that 50 lb coyotes are the rare exception. As is having anything get on a deer that quickly after the kill. Not trying to make a case for whatever itmay have been that found your deer. I was merely pointing out a possibility other than a bear.

Maybe it was one of Sprouls cougars;)

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

A COUGAR!!! Good one...... never even gave that a thought.......

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

Guys - I'm almost positive it was a bear. This was a nice sized doe and was dragged about 15 feet. And the hole in fornt of the hind qtr was where he grabbed her. Also the fur and hind qtrs had bites out just under the tail.
Too - two weeks before while carrying in my stand to hang it I had to chase a big bear off the same trail I was on by shaking my tree stand at him. He wouldn't move just by hollering to him. I estimate he was about 30" wide and about 3' high at the shoulder. Probably in the neighborhood of 300 lbs. I know he was a good bit bigger than the 250 pounder I got 2 years ago.

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

Who knows but its a cool story. Too bad you didnt walk in on what ever it was and see it.

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

i wish i was there, i would TACKLE that bugger..

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

i thought same thing BUT no one would believe it could be..

in all my years ,50 hunting with lots of bear, lots of deer left over night and recovered next day,not 1 time did we ever have deer tore up by animal or did i ever hear of that happening..

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo,if i was going to guess,it could be a COYOTE ,yet you saw bear..

what do we have most of now, COYOTES and few COUGARS thrown in..

yes, i did see COUGAR and it was reported to our great PGC and i was told i saw a cougar BUT they dont believe they exist..

after that, i never trusted the PGC ever again...

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

You know, I think some of you guys may be right - it might have been a cougar :D:D:D.
I've been hunting for about 45 years and this is the second time that something got at my deer. About 10 years ago I shot a 4 pt in the evening and waited until the next morning to follow it up. Both hind qtrs. had softball sized chunks taken out of them. I don't know what that was. But I do know that a coyote will clear the area in human presence. This critter was circling us in the dark. We could hear him moving through the brush.

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

......Well, Bronko, since the cougar possibility went over so well, can we not consider that the great Sasquatch may also be mentioned?? I mean---come on.....after all...............???

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

Took a little walk today. I was in a hurry to get out of there on monday and I left my field dressing gloves and paper towels there. I walked down the old blood trail and picked up all my tissue paper markers and got to the spot where I dressed her out and there was absolutely nothing there. No sign that I dressed out a deer there, except for my field dressing gloves. Hard to believe that even the intestines, stomach, etc were eaten, I would have expected the heart and liver to be gone.

RE: Bear almost stole my deer
 

Yeah, I've had that experience too. Bears will eat ANYTHING, but coyotes will put a cleanin' on also, along with foxes, 'possums, coons,etc. Could have been a combined effort, but I'm still betting on the bear.