Bear migration?

[ctrout]

I didn't take a bear this spring due to unreasonably heavy competition so I am working a bait site in a different location this fall.  While I was hiking my barrel in, I found tons of scat on the trail but it was all older.  It consisted mainly of berries and was dry enough to crumble pretty easily under foot.  It is obvious that there has been a lot of activity in this area this season but none of it very recently.  My question is this, will bears relocate themselves over moderate distances (>5 miles) when their seasonal food sources start to run dry?  My barrel was in for 5 days when I checked it this weekend and there has been no activity at all.  By the amount of sign I found on the way in, I would have expected it to be empty.

[ihookem]

 Bears go a long ways for food. Acorns and corn  for sure. They know where the food is and they think nothing of walking 20 miles in a night or two. In northern Minnesota they have been known to go south where there are corn fields.

[deltecs]

I don't know much about bear migration in the lower 48, but do know the bear migrate from one area to another frequently.  As I type this post, I'm watching about a 4 year old black bear walk in front of my house on the beach during ebb tide.  My 2 1/2 year old yellow lab pup is going nuts keeping a close eye on the bear out the picture window.  She looks fat and coat is glossy with no apparent rubs.  Might be a good eating bear as the wild salmon run this year was very weak and fish was not a mainstream diet for them.  The berries are out and I see some wide trails through them with the berry nibs cut off.  Besides, I need a new rug for the floor. 

[S.E.Ak]

Deltecs where in Alaska do you live. I lived just outside of Haines for six years and loved it. Turned 60 awhile back and I'm thinking Sitka might just be a nice place to live awhile.Ike has soured me on the Galveston area.

[deltecs]

Deltecs where in Alaska do you live. I lived just outside of Haines for six years and loved it. Turned 60 awhile back and I'm thinking Sitka might just be a nice place to live awhile.Ike has soured me on the Galveston area.

I live in Prince William Sound in a very remote area about 40 miles SW of where the Exxon Valdez hit Bligh Reef.  The place is Falls Bay on the western shores at the northern end of Knight Island Passage.  I spent a lot of time in Haines in the late 90's doing construction management for telecommunications and power lines from 10 mile to the Canadian Customs.  I like Sitka, but with the greenies and yuppies, it is extremely expensive now due to the influx of them.  I've been around Alaska doing construction projects for most of my life and have said many times that if I did not reside where I currently do, I would move to Haines in a second.  IM me if you have any further questions or if I can assist you.

[S.E.Ak]

I remember the expansion of power and phone going up the highway. We hoped it would head out towards MudBay but it didn't happen while I was there. Yes the greenies are everywhere but you got to beat them at their own game or you lose for sure. I lived out Mud Bay road at 6 3/4 mile just past the cannery. Folks don't realize in the lower 48 that six mile from town can have no elec,phone etc.

[deltecs]

I was the project manager on that job.  We did do a little pre engineering field work out Mud Bay for the telco side of the project, but they were in the process on sales negotiations with AP&T and did not amount to much.  How's the bear hunting there been?

[S.E.Ak]

Well I left in 95 but talking to old friends now and then bear hunting is still real good. I worked at the Alaska Sports Shop and my boss was Dave Olerud who built the American Bald Eagle center in Haines.Hope you got to see it while you were there.

[tracker370]

I live in the in Del Rio, Texas... a very hot, brushy badlands type area. Not exactly bear region where I am, but one walked into town this year past summer. I was working out on a ranch and found 3 inch pad bear tracks in the caliche dust on the road. Many attribute the recent movement of bears here to the droughts this summer in Mexico. Bear are common in the Sierra Del Carmen Mountains 80-100 miles to the south/southwest of here. I believe they move as necessary to thrive. They are nomadic by nature.

[Mack in N.C.]

bear in the n.c. mountains(west) will migrate down to the foothills in years of bad mast crops...i quess the mast crops in a bad year are worse the higher you go......the bears in eastenr nc dont move around as much as our mountain bears as they have more forage in the swamps and corn fields and on the coast it is alot warmer than our mountains.....our bears on the coast dont really hibenate but our bears in the mountains do............that said there is dispersal of bears(and all animals i guess) so here in the populated piedmont(middle section) there are bears here and there and alot of time male bears show up in the nc big cities when they are looking for a new home...........mack