Bears in slash piles

[cuervosail]

I never thought about this being a "thing" but it makes sense. It's making me think twice when I walk by an unburned slash pile.

https://www.vancouverislandfreedaily.com/news/b-c-trapper-raising-alarm-about-bears-being-burned-in-logging-slash-piles/

[KodiakHntr]

I’ve lit thousands of piles on fire over the years, but can only think of twice where bears came out of them. Lots of bunnies and a few weasels though.

[Livewire322]

My wife and I have a story of a ‘disappearing bear’ that we spotted and hunted many years ago.
It was a huge bear that we spotted in the middle of a cut block that was easily 500m square - i.e., it had a long way to go in any direction before it hit trees. I started to stalk in on the bear, which had started to feed towards a large landing that we were below, but soon after lost sight of the bear. I walked up to the landing and looked all over for the bear, but it was nowhere to be seen. The only spot for it to have gone was into a large burn pile at the edge of the landing.

[MRP]

I’ve hauled these piles from grinders to pellet plants for a couple of years, waking up bears was common.
As for bears in clear cuts, I’ve found small island of trees or brush in the middle is mums favourite safe spot for the kids to have an afternoon nap.