Spring bear in Cariboo help?

[srupp]

Hmm mm I personally would not go west to hunt..yes due to possible negative interactions with and by local indigenous individuals. .however there are numerous locations with healthy bear populations.
I have not ever heard of wolves digging bears out of their dens.
However I would not question local knowledge..
There are extensive areas of high density bear activity..far more bears than I would consider reasonable removable by winter wolves in one winter..last spring I am aware of 10 black bears harvested near Horsefly...3 of them in our group..and we let maNY live..other hunters separate from ours harvested numerous bears and saw many others..area was 25 kilometers in length.
Again I repeat I have not heard of wolves digging out black bears during Denning season..ever..BUT do not argue or dispite local knowledge..
Srupp

[tigrr]

I went from seeing 30 black bears to seeing 5 black bears when a pack of 6 wolves moved into the area. The evidence was at the mouth of some dens. Mostly just fur.
I still spend 40 days traversing the same areas. The bears are just not there. Earlier this winter I watched 6 wolves run across the lake again. The local farmer says there are more than 6. Very hard to trap due to vast travelling patterns. Hard to shoot at 1500 yards away too. A trapper said the wolves can smell the bears in the den.

[REMINGTON JIM]

I went from seeing 30 black bears to seeing 5 black bears when a pack of 6 wolves moved into the area. The evidence was at the mouth of some dens. Mostly just fur.
I still spend 40 days traversing the same areas. The bears are just not there. Earlier this winter I watched 6 wolves run across the lake again. The local farmer says there are more than 6. Very hard to trap due to vast travelling patterns. Hard to shoot at 1500 yards away too. A trapper said the wolves can smell the bears in the den.

Very Interesting - Thks for Sharing that Bud - RJ

[robert05]

Native problems end once you get to Tatla then ok west of their. Problems come from the Alexis cr area and south the boys don’t play well with others.
I spend most of the year at Nimpo and never had a problem in 25 years.

[srupp]

Hmm know folks '@Tatla. .still lots of problems there also..maybe slightly different maybe slightly less dangerous ? But still problematic. .being local known liked ? Gives you an advantage ..
Cheers
Srupp

[Stu]

I just want to say Thank You everyone for the overwhelming support and willingness to help. I have received many pointers and I think I'm much closer to have a plan for my trip.

There is one more thing I'm curious about. What is the situation around Babine lake? Is that a good area to consider?

[srupp]

Hmm I admit I was sceptical of Tigrrs. Revelation that wolves had been digging out denied black bears and eating them.
However there appears it has been recorded in Alaska..Wisconsin..Ontario..bear hide was found in wolf scat..biologist? Said it's a learned skill set and not common and is more successfully on younger bears..

Thank you Tigrr..never would have thunk it..was a real education..
As Steven would say...HMMM MM MMM.
Srupp

[Jagermeister]

Hmm I admit I was sceptical of Tigrrs. Revelation that wolves had been digging out denied black bears and eating them.
However there appears it has been recorded in Alaska..Wisconsin..Ontario..bear hide was found in wolf scat..biologist? Said it's a learned skill set and not common and is more successfully on younger bears..

Thank you Tigrr..never would have thunk it..was a real education..
As Steven would say...HMMM MM MMM.
Srupp

That doesn't mean the wolves dug them out Bear hair in wolf scat means that wolves were feeding on bear. Another black bear could have dug them out male black bears have no tolerance for cubs sired by a different male. Or the wolves took down a bear just before hibernation.

"He speculates much of the predation takes place in the winter when wolves pull bears out of their dens and eat them. He cites a fellow guide who found evidence of wolf predation at three bear dens late last winter.And he’s not alone. Tom Ainsworth, a long-time bear outfitter in the Duck Mountains of western Manitoba, says it’s common in his area as well. He says wolves will kill bears whenever they have the right opportunity. One of his guides is a veteran wolf trapper who claims to have come across many cases where wolves have caught bears in their dens, drug them out and killed them. Wolves also will target cubs all year whenever they are far enough from a climbable tree."
spec-u-late; form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence.

I doubt the theory that wolves dig out hibernating bears and will remain a skeptic until someone can report that they actually witnessed wolves digging a bear out of it's den.

[andrew5]

Found this on the Yellowstone US Parks website, where they cited it happening a few times in Canada. I'm not sure where I first heard of wolves doing this from time to time. I imagine it's pretty rare but it happens. I also imagine that it can be a learned hunting strategy for specific packs rather than widespread hunting tactic across the species. really interesting behavior.

Tried to do a screenshot bt the file is too large apparently. here is the quote and site link:

"Wolves sometimes kill bears, but likely only young, old, or otherwise weakened bears. Paquet and Carbyn (1986) reported three cases of wolves digging up and killing cubs of hibernating black bears in Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, Canada but thought it was not a common occurrence as over 2000 wolf scats in the area did not contain any evidence of bear remains. Bears will also occasionally kill wolves as reported in Ontario, Canada. In both instances, black bears were responsible for the deaths of individual wolves. A black bear killed a female wolf protecting her pups at a den site. In general, most reported interactions are stand-offs with serious confrontations taking place in defense of food or young."

source: https://www.us-parks.com/yellowstone...nd-wolves.html

Hmm mm I personally would not go west to hunt..yes due to possible negative interactions with and by local indigenous individuals. .however there are numerous locations with healthy bear populations.
I have not ever heard of wolves digging bears out of their dens.
However I would not question local knowledge..
There are extensive areas of high density bear activity..far more bears than I would consider reasonable removable by winter wolves in one winter..last spring I am aware of 10 black bears harvested near Horsefly...3 of them in our group..and we let maNY live..other hunters separate from ours harvested numerous bears and saw many others..area was 25 kilometers in length.
Again I repeat I have not heard of wolves digging out black bears during Denning season..ever..BUT do not argue or dispite local knowledge..
Srupp

[Philblock]

All depends on our snow. We just got another couple inches in Prince George and it’s still been cold. The weeks you picked can be hit or miss depending on green graSs showing. If you pm me I can give you area that holds a lot of bears. In my opinion we should be able to increase our bag limit to 3 per season from the increase in sows with 3/4 Cubs.