hparrott
05-24-2019, 08:08 PM
Over the last few years, I've had a few of the same bears (along with cougars) meander by cameras in the Fraser Valley. Each year they get a little bigger and each year I figure I'm a little bit closer to making it happen. I call the area 'Predator Ridge,' because unfortunately all I see now in this spot are predators. Last June, one of the regulars who is a bit of a pig for the region, ripped down 4 of my cameras, destroying 1. He seems to hate the cameras and I get a lot of close-ups despite making an effort to minimize my scent. After he tore down my cameras I invested in metal boxes and python locks for this year. I have had the nylon straps ripped and chewed, but between the metal boxes and cable locks the cameras have survived, and I have managed to get enough photos to drive me nuts because they are beautiful bears. I will have to try to post a few pics at some point. When I hiked in early this morning to check my cameras he had clawed down the tree adjacent to one of the cameras. I hope this means he is sticking around. He has clawed a few trees in the area. The bears meander by my cameras somewhat frequently, but very irregularly. Sometimes they disappear for several days and other times they walk by several times a day. The spot is steep mountainous terrain and thick with vegetation, and the visibility in the forest is only getting worse. Today I cleared a path with a machete because the ferns were nearly 3.5' high and starting to falsely trigger my camera. I have stumbled into the smallest of the 3 bears I have on my cameras twice now, but once I didn't even know he was there until he bolted and the second time despite being at close range, I did not have a shot to the vitals that I was comfortable with. I've sat for hours and hours within sight of the ridge they travel with no luck, and the vegetation is so thick in some spots it is hard to find scat to see where they travel to. I did find scat early on in the season but now it is too hard to find amongst the greenery. I've tried using a rabbit distress call too. They just appear and disappear into the thick of it all and are truly timber bears in an area I would never envision big bears to be. These bears have been on the top of my hit list since April 1st, but after realizing how hard it may be to connect with one of them, I made the decision I wasn't going to put all my eggs in one basket and went to the interior earlier this month and got a boar. I was going to give up on them and go back to the interior but after this much effort I want to stick with it. I'm not sure what else to try though. Other than scat, and broken trees and claw marks, what other signs should I look for that might give away a regularity to their path of travel? I've never seen a single track because they are usually stepping on vegetation or moss that has already been trampled. Is it worth hiking in a tree stand and hoping one comes by without smelling me, or is that a waste of time since they may or may not pass through. I'm hoping for some tips on their behaviours that might help to increase my chances of connecting with one of these timber bears