Black Bear Den ?

[leadpillproductions]

When bears hybernate which side of the mnt do they tent to den up.Or do they care ,allways wondered it might help find early risers.

[Mr. Dean]

Good Q!!!

I really can't say but would like to put my theory out there, just to see if it's correct - I'm gonna say; the side that snows over last... Because it'll be the side that clears off 1st, in the spring.

[srupp]

hmmm that is a good question:mrgreen:...and in my experience it does differ between Grizzlies denning locations and black bear denning locations..

In my experience in the Cariboo mts..ie Quesnel lake....Cunningham Pass rd, Horsefly...mostly East of Williams Lake black bear more depend on elevation rather than on specific compass sides of the mtn...seen em on 3 sides of the same mountain..for black bear.....and on the Horsefly lake side of Horsefly mtn and on the opposite side....

The one den was used 4 years in a row..now I do not know if it was the same bear..but did have black bear denning in it for those consecutive 4 years...( Maeford Lake area )

Some imature..ie less experinced bears pick a poor den location that has water that leaks in..pushes the bear out really early..act stoopid..drunk like..really lethargic..those bears seemed to den low down on South facing aspect...

steven

[hunter1947]

For blacks on Vancouver Island the dens I have found over years are in a terrain and facing the east side and the elevation plays a big part where they den..

[srupp]

Common sense would dictate that it’s on the sunny side.
It’s warmer & most of the food needed before hibernation is found on the sunny side!

hmmm maybe if your talking about spring places to eat...fall eating involves very little grasses.. and way more berries etc..

Grizzlies den on one particular compass heading...:mrgreen: ...

warm and good food do not dictate black bear denning locations...good places to eat..maybe...

cheers
Steven

[bowhunterbruce]

from everything i know about blackies is that there are a number of varying factors that dictate where bears pick thier dens.from coastal to the interior conditions vary alot,one constant i have read about says that they do prefer to be on small flat benchs that are surrounded by usually first or second growth timber that is on a main slope of between 20 and 40 degree slopes.
the vast majority of bears will den up under or inside large diameter trees.with some of them useing stumps,logs,slash piles as well.
while a coastal blackie has to pick a site that will not fill up with water an interior one needs to be warmer for longer.males tend to hole up last and come out first,females need protection from predators to enable the young to develope.in both cases sites tend to be relitivly close to thier imidiate food needs come spring.
after doing a quick google search i came across this thiesis done on the island. http://www.artemiswildlife.com/pubs/H%20Davis%20thesis.pdf . a very good read if you have the time and will explain pretty well everything about blackies and ther denning habits in british columbia.gotta love google when ya need info.
hope this helps ya
bhb

[ufishifish2]

Can't tell you which aspect they seem to prefer. I have come across some dens, sometimes not yet vacant from the blackies. They always seem to be denned up on flat benches or plateaus.

[srupp]

pretty good read but ONLY applies to the selected area, as the author repetadly states...one of the big factors being the diverse amounts of snow accumulation and dissapearance....diifferent factors from say central Bc Chilcotin Cariboo..

steven

[TUG]

I would agree with srupp hunting in 3-36 in the spring we hunt a area where we see bears early then different bears as the snow melts in the same area this area is not the only spot greened up first it makes me think they come out of hibernation at different times and elevations one other thing we have seen a moma grizz with cubs and black bears feeding in the same place not that far apart


tug

[Big Lew]

I would think it depends on the area. My Brothers and I have found black bear dens at low and high elevations along the south, east, and west sides of ravines and slopes on the south side of Blue Mountain between Alouette and Stave lake. One den was a dugout under a dense windfall (warm and dry) at about 500 ft. elevation above the Fraser River in Whonnock. Another was in a large hollow stump base on the east side of Whonnock Creek at about 300 ft. elevation. I think these two dens were used frequently throughout the spring to fall as well, as they were very close to feeding areas (clover fields and salmon streams)

[elkdom]

quite common in areas where there is piles of logging slash to find hibernating black bears in the large piles of poplar debris, as about mid winter is when most piles are set fire or the bulldozer goes in to tighten up a pile, out will crawl a bear, usually quite sluggish and lethargic,bears also like dens dug-out under large spruce and fir trees as the roots provide a large network of support to keep soil from collapsing,
grizzlies most prefer to make use of the same den over and over, year after year, locally I know of 2 grizz that return to the same den for several years, their long fall trek takes them in a direct route every fall, same time, same basic route, quite interesting ,

in the spring, sure as can be, they start pretty much the same spring rituals,show up in the same locals, eating soft plants and digging roots to get their digestive system functioning normal,

and one more note! much like HBC'rs,,,, most bears suck their THUMB while sleeping!:wink:

[~T-BONE~]

I've seen dens almost everywhere but would have to say it would depend on the area they inhabit. it would make sese to den near their food source in the latefall / winter. but when they rise in the spring they will usually drop in elevation to hte fresh greens. So if you know an area with good bear activity in fall i would check the lower elevation as it greens up glassin slashes slides etc,, probably wouldn't hurt to walk the perimeter of these spots to look for sign..

[TyTy]

From what I have seen on the coast... They will den in any suitable spot. I have seen dens in large cedar trees, cypress trees @ 800m elevation, under overturned cedar stumps from first pass logging in Douglas fir monocultures. Large cedar veteran trees in douglas fir monocultures. under windfalls. The Oyster/Iron River is LOADED with bear dens! usually in large cedars.

I have not found any consistencey of den locations. I think the bears exploit the natural cavities to their advantage. Logging has definately had an impact on bears dens on the coast.

haven't found any dens in slash piles yet, and i see lots of slash piles up close.

[leadpillproductions]

up here i heard they den up on the south slopes but i cant seem find proof anywhere .

[Ruger4]

found a bear den opening facing east , found a cougar lair opening facing east , coyote with pups opening facing north. Good question though , I'm thinking whichever stump , rock face /pile , is easiest to convert into a winter condo would be the choice. :mrgreen:

[BromBones]

Had a funny case of a black bear den up at the mine last winter. They needed to strip off some overburden, and it was blasted in the fall. Sometimes a blast will heave up pretty good and leave some nice cracks/caverns, and one young black bear found that blasted muck and crawled into one of the cracks and set up a den roughly 8 feet under the surface.

It would have worked out fine for the bear, had they not moved a shovel over there in the winter to start digging that overburden. I think it was in March when the shovel operator on graveyards took a scoop only to find a bear laying in the dipper :-D I guess he lowered and tripped it and the bear came tumbling out among 50 tons of dirt and rock wondering wtf just happened to his bed. That poor bruin wandered around the pit for a couple days before he buggered off into the firs up higher and probably found himself a safer place to nap.

[Pioneerman]

I have logged all over and before we start logging we are told where the bear dens have been found. I never took note of where they were located other thah dry and not water logged spots. But I bet a lot of it has to do with were the best den is not just east or west. I have seen them high up and in valleys and they all looked like they would be good places. so could it be possible that they tend to sometimes pick a good spot (dry and warm) regardless of compass directions ?

[GOLDEN TOP SNIPER]

North side is the best .. where the snow is deeper. for grizzles.. and most blacks

[Pioneerman]

Had a funny case of a black bear den up at the mine last winter. They needed to strip off some overburden, and it was blasted in the fall. Sometimes a blast will heave up pretty good and leave some nice cracks/caverns, and one young black bear found that blasted muck and crawled into one of the cracks and set up a den roughly 8 feet under the surface.

It would have worked out fine for the bear, had they not moved a shovel over there in the winter to start digging that overburden. I think it was in March when the shovel operator on graveyards took a scoop only to find a bear laying in the dipper :-D I guess he lowered and tripped it and the bear came tumbling out among 50 tons of dirt and rock wondering wtf just happened to his bed. That poor bruin wandered around the pit for a couple days before he buggered off into the firs up higher and probably found himself a safer place to nap.


That's funny, about 15 years ago I was falling trees with a Dangle head Proccessor and the slope was very steep, and I had to swing the trees up behind me after falling to process them. There was a big old maple tree branches broke off one side and leaning on a pretty good angle. So I started falling trees in that direction actually using the maple to guide big firs around to swing them up the hill behind me. I had dumped about 4 trees and just when the next one nailed the side of the maple, a black bear came out of the crotch of the maple about 25 feet up in the air. I guess he was sleeping inside and the trees crashing against his bedroom woke him up. He was pretty dopey, but got out of there in a hurry.

[bear buster]

I would have to say north facing slopes. We do alot of shed hunting in the valleys of the Peace and Kikatinaw Rivers. Last couple years we have seen bears on the north side slopes, not far from the south slopes. We follow trails from the areas that green up quick, south facing and wind blown slopes, into the bush or over ridges to the still snow covered north slopes. We have seen more bears and bear den sites in the bushy north slopes. This spring we found 3 family groups of bears a 2 single bears on one big ridge, all of which were on the north side. I talked to a few people about this and the general reply was, they stay on the north slopes incase of an early spring or late spring snowfall there dens are still packed by a layer of snow for insulation, and to avoid early spring run off from turning there dens into mudpits, by the time the north dens are wet the south slopes are holding lots of food and dry. Makes sense to me. Seen these guys this spring after we stopped for a lunch about 15 feet away from there tree, at the base of tree was a den, there was at least 12-15 inches of snow still there, but the south side was green ad dry.
http://s988.photobucket.com/albums/af9/carsonbeaulieu/cubs/

[leadpillproductions]

I would have to say north facing slopes. We do alot of shed hunting in the valleys of the Peace and Kikatinaw Rivers. Last couple years we have seen bears on the north side slopes, not far from the south slopes. We follow trails from the areas that green up quick, south facing and wind blown slopes, into the bush or over ridges to the still snow covered north slopes. We have seen more bears and bear den sites in the bushy north slopes. This spring we found 3 family groups of bears a 2 single bears on one big ridge, all of which were on the north side. I talked to a few people about this and the general reply was, they stay on the north slopes incase of an early spring or late spring snowfall there dens are still packed by a layer of snow for insulation, and to avoid early spring run off from turning there dens into mudpits, by the time the north dens are wet the south slopes are holding lots of food and dry. Makes sense to me. Seen these guys this spring after we stopped for a lunch about 15 feet away from there tree, at the base of tree was a den, there was at least 12-15 inches of snow still there, but the south side was green ad dry.
http://s988.photobucket.com/albums/af9/carsonbeaulieu/cubs/
makes sence to me thanks

[luckynuts]

[quote=elkdom;823146]quite common in areas where there is piles of logging slash to find hibernating black bears in the large piles of poplar debris, as about mid winter is when most piles are set fire or the bulldozer goes in to tighten up a pile, out will crawl a bear, usually quite sluggish and lethargic,bears also like dens dug-out under large spruce and fir trees as the roots provide a large network of support to keep soil from collapsing,
grizzlies most prefer to make use of the same den over and over, year after year, locally I know of 2 grizz that return to the same den for several years, their long fall trek takes them in a direct route every fall, same time, same basic route, quite interesting ,

I totally agree with ya. I have been pattering a large grizz for the last few years now uses the same den. Though he's in a clump of spruce on a little knoll in the middle of the muskeg. Hopefully We will cross paths again when I have the tag:wink: As for blacks haven't seen one in late winter but have seen their tracks cut across the road after they have burnt a few of the log piles up in the slashes.