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Dirty
01-10-2005, 09:23 PM
I was just wondering if anyone knows how territorial black bears are? Do they hang around in the same area or do they travel all over the place? Last year I was with my grandpa on our way to Prince George on a moose trip and we saw a gigantic black bear. We were a lil ways past Quesnel when he said he saw a moose in a field. As we gradually got closer we realized that it was a black bear. He said it was the biggest black bear he has ever seen and he has hunted for 40 years. The thing was huge, it walked like the bear from the jungle book, and slowly sauntered towards the bush. Do you think it would hang around the same area?

Thunderstix
01-10-2005, 09:26 PM
They are definitely territorial. If Bone-collector wasn't around I would probably say more but I might get some wrong :lol: . He will fill in the rest.

buckee
01-10-2005, 10:19 PM
Yes, they are territorial, but it depends on the time of year you saw it too.

They do tend to wander from their territory when the salmon are running.

moosehunter
01-10-2005, 11:11 PM
The one I shot in my carport last year was sure planning on sticking around.

Steeleco
01-10-2005, 11:13 PM
Like Thundersticks said already Rob will be the best source for bear info, but from what I've seen if you look in the same spot often enough you'll likely meet him again. I've been seeing sign of a bear in the merrit area for three years in the same spot, even had him do an end run on me once. I know he's the same bear he's got 6 toes on his right front foot.

Gateholio
01-11-2005, 12:05 AM
Bears are without a doubt territorial. Unless somethign happens that makes them leave thier area, they stay in the same area, although thier zone can be quite large.

Grizzlies seem to have larger areas than blacks. They put alot of miles on, and thier range can include several drainages.

I have been watchign the same black bear that lives about 500 metres form my house for years. He's always around somewhere.

There is a bear researcher in Whistler that has about 10 years of documentation of a dozen or so bears in the Whistler Valley. They are always in a similar place.

If you see a bear in one field, chances are he's going to show up there again.:)

Seabass
01-11-2005, 12:37 AM
The bear I shot this year in sept was one I had seen ealier in the spring time(may ish) that I had come close to getting a shot off.
It was spring time when I was glassing from up high and spotted the sucker a mile away. I got down to where I could see him rubbing himself against some trees standing up pushing them over acting very much like a bear. I got my gun on a rest (stump) but as I peered down my scope he dissapered into the heavy timber.
Now I guess I gotta tell the story again!:-)
Months later it was Sept. I was on my way to shoot some pop cans when I passed through the same area I had seen the brute that had alluded me. I pondered if he was around and decided to go for a walk. I walked into the timber doubtful if he was around. Then I noticed a great big crap I almost steped in. "Yup, he's here!!" I said to myself. I quickly levered a round into the chamber of my 45/70 guide gun. I entered into the dark timber beyond the treeline and was astonished at what I saw. "This was his bloody living room" I thought to myself, tracks, trails, fresh sign, ripped up stumps everywhere. (It was if he was waiting for me from the last point I had seen him earlier months before.) I made my way through the tall ferns that severley limited my vision. I was making a horrible nosies stepping on branchs I cound't see, cringing everytime I did so. Then I heard noise. I heard the same noise I was making echoing in the dark timber somewhere around me. (I asked myself at this time why I just hadn't gone out with that girl for coffee that I was supoosed to do this morning. Or why I hadn't taken up tennis or something other than carnivor hunting.) So now I could hear him and he could hear me among tall vegitaion up to my chest. But cound not see each other!!...swell. Then on the only ridge in this little valley he appeared. Not 50 yrds away. He looked in my direction and I in his. I shouldered my gun and touched off. A 350 Hornady rn @ 2000fps did the trick. Right behind the shoulder through a couple of ribs and Bobs your uncle. A Bear tag filled. He's in my freezer and on my wall, a nice 6footer.
I really meant for this to be a short post but.... Yeah I guess they are territorial

Thunderstix
01-11-2005, 09:47 AM
Very good short and to the point post Seabass:-D It was actually a good story.

sawmill
01-11-2005, 10:12 AM
The C.O`s livetrapped a huge old boar grizz up in Hazelton a few years ago at the dump and took him up past Meziadin Lake,about 160 miles away and he was back in town 10 days later.

boxhitch
01-11-2005, 12:15 PM
The way I read it, bears have a 'home territory' but not to the point of exclusion of other bears. They tend to mark out an area with scent and sign posts and will fight other bears. This may drive off the lesser bears to look for another 'territory' or just send them around the nearest bush to a safe distance. This goes for blacks and grizz, though grizz do have a larger home. If you take time to watch, most small bears are very skittish, aware of their surroundings, not wanting to get beat up. When you see the brute that wanders about as though he 'doesn't-give-a-shit, I'm the toughest', chances are he is the best trophy in that area

oldtimer
01-12-2005, 08:02 PM
Dirty .. I live in Quesnel and drive the Prince George road a few times. I may have actually seen the same bear that you speak of. The one I saw was about 1/2 way to Hixon from Quesnel and looked like a monster, made those new SUV's look small. so if he didn't get nailed before denning up I would guess he will be around next year. Mike

Dirty
01-12-2005, 09:15 PM
Thats the one, I'd almost guarantee it. Too bad you can't shoot of the road:mad:

leftcoast
01-12-2005, 09:31 PM
Every time you think ya know something about bears, a new twist pops up.

These two hogs were shot in the same cave in California. Both were about 600 pounds. With in 30 pounds of each other:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/lcoast/marty/2caveboars.jpg

I saw 3 different, rather large boars on the same 1/4 mile stretch of road 3 times this past spring.

On Monday i followed tracks of a bear in the snow in the road for just under 6 miles.

=keith=

Sikanni Stalker
01-12-2005, 10:22 PM
Heya Buckee,

You can run but ya can't hide eh!

I love to hunt blacks, in fact gimme a couple blacks and I wouldn't be to sad if i missed my moose one year.

That being said, I understand they have a range of about a 20 mile square they call home. Born and die in that block. Sows tend to be a little more dependable, and run in consistant circles. The boars seem to wander alittle more. Although mother nature has no rules it is a pretty good guide line. It works for me!

HTH
Tim

DUKE
01-14-2005, 09:40 AM
The C.O`s livetrapped a huge old boar grizz up in Hazelton a few years ago at the dump and took him up past Meziadin Lake,about 160 miles away and he was back in town 10 days later.
Hey Sawmill!!! is there still a DFO fish ladder at Nass/mez river?? gravel pit and small airstrip there also??? many yrs ago i worked there with DFO . Theres a blackie(bear) up there that owes me a salmon. duke

bone-collector
01-14-2005, 09:50 AM
hmm good question ...I wouldnt call black bears teritorial, I would cal them oportunistic, good food supplies will keep them around a certain area but they will wonder , and can easily be scared off from an area , if you notice black bears will join in communities almost in spring and fall with seeing several in 1 small area at once feeding and not just salmon, grizz dont tend to tolerate any other bear in there sight most of the year making them true teritorial animals ,

also habituation becomes a factor to black bears , repeting there rutine yearly until it is disrupted nuff to scare them off or away from it , which would seem like teritorial acts but I honestly dont think it is .

Ridge-Runner
01-14-2005, 11:16 PM
Bear home ranges vary in different habitats, during different seasons and for age class and sex. Several of the most obvious factors determining home range are reproductive potential and availability of food. If there is an abundance of food in a small area, home ranges will most likely be smaller during that season. During times when important food sources are limited (early spring green-up, salmon runs, berry patches etc) home range overlap occurs because these food sources are important for survival and bears tolerate each other. A good example of this is the McNeil Falls in Alaska where many grizzlies will converge and feed on salmon. This is not to say that there is not a hierarchy and the larger dominant males will probably have the best fishing holes and the subadult males and females will have to work around the preoccupied dominant ones. Home range can also vary from year to year and an example of this would be a berry crop failure where an increase in home range and an increase in residential bear complaints would be expected. Although there is definite overlap during these times and it’s easier to think of it in terms of time and space. Established bears have a definate home range and they will mark their territories in different ways (rub trees, urination, foot rub paths, etc). Females and females with cubs usually have the smallest home ranges and the adult males are largest. There is no definate home range size for bears, there are too may intrinsic and extrinsic factors that come into play. Subadult males tend to get bounced around until there is a vacancy or they find an area for themselves. Dispersing subadult males tend to travel great distances. Females on the other hand tend to disperse very little and most end up taking over a piece of their maternal mothers home range (this has been demonstrated through mitochondrial DNA sampling of bear populations). During the breeding season these subadult males partake little in copulation with females and larger resident males will definitely not tolerate lesser males around estrus females and will push them off with great effort. The name of the game is to spread “your” genes successfully around, although some infanticide has been documented in studied populations, but that’s a whole other topic.

Bears have adapted well to their environment, especially with their ability to enter a state of torpor (bears are not true hibernators). Torpor is a state of inactivity into which some homoiotherms enter in the order to conserve energy, and there is usually a reduction in both temperature and general body metabolism. Female bears reproductive system is quite different than most large animals and bears have what is called “delayed implantation”. Conception occurs in spring and parturition does not occur until late February, which would be a long gestation period. Bears have evolved a very specialized reproductive strategy, basically the egg is fertilized and develops into a zygote (fusion of the nuclei of male and female gamete nuclei at fertilization). This zygote floats around in the horn of the uterus and does not develop or implant to the wall of the uterus till late fall. The advantage to this strategy is if the female is in poor body condition, this zygote will be reabsorbed and there is no cost to the female for failed reproduction. Hence, this is why it’s important to have good habitat and to maintain it.

Your question about the likelihood of encounting the bear you observed in the fall may depend more on seasonal factors and if he was an adult male with an established home range or a dispersing subadult?


Good Luck, RR

bone-collector
01-15-2005, 08:30 AM
in 11 years of guiding and 23 years I now of hunting bears I can honestly look back at what has been said and sum it all up in a short sentance as no they are not true territorial animals , but rather wondering scavengers and oportunists.

IMHO and my .02 after taking or guiding to take 15 bears a year give or take a year I know the big ones dont get big by being stupid and standing around long .

I based saying I dont beleive there territorial on the facts that we have now shot a few good boars and they had other boars with them , my buddy brians bear I have in my gallery was walking down a forest service road with another boar just as big as him , and I have seen it while guiding as well , and a 6 and a half foot 500lb bear is not still hanging with a sibling I wouldnt think.