Black Bear Tracks?

[KayakDan]

[QUOTE=bikehikeskifish;254070I will say that I saw way more wild turkeys around the yard than in years past, which according to the link above indicates a leaner year of food in the forest.

Tim[/QUOTE]

In a rather ironic twist,we were attempting to cook a turkey last Saturday and our stove expired. I tried fixing it,but from a $ standpoint,it was dead. Turkey is all dressed up and no place to go. I walked over to the kitchen window,in a moment of exasperation,and as I looked out,two wild turkeys were staring back at me 6 feet away. I think I heard them snickering!

[1HappyHiker]

In a rather ironic twist,we were attempting to cook a turkey last Saturday and our stove expired. I tried fixing it,but from a $ standpoint,it was dead. Turkey is all dressed up and no place to go. I walked over to the kitchen window,in a moment of exasperation,and as I looked out,two wild turkeys were staring back at me 6 feet away. I think I heard them snickering!

Thanks for sharing your turkey episode of last Saturday. And trust me, I’m not trying to “top” your story, but I could not resist posting the photo below taken from our kitchen window on Thanksgiving Day a few years ago in 2004. It was so hilarious to see turkeys “sitting” at our picnic table waiting to be served their Thanksgiving meal.
(Hmmm! Maybe that’s why they call them turkeys?!!)

[NewHampshire]

Black bears do occasionally get up and wander around during the winter, but according to something that I read, they are not really looking for food.

In general, bears are not a problem in winter, but rodents, raccoons, etc will happily partake of your food.

Doug

And also a thing to note, ESPECIALLY if you do camping in Brown Bear country, is if you use the same tent year round be careful about cooking in it or spilling food in it since the smell could leave you in deep trouble even if it is 6 months later should you happen to be camping in brownie territory.

Brian

[sardog1]

OK, it’s not my intent to prolong this thread with yet another question, but I have another question!

Although I don’t do winter camping, I’m just curious. Does this mean that for those who do winter camp, they need to continue to take preventative measures to protect their food supplies well into late Autumn/early Winter?

Ayup.

And not just in the Whites or the Boundary Waters occasionally -- Bettles, AK is 180 miles north of Fairbanks and well past the Arctic Circle.

[forestgnome]

As mentioned already by Gaiagirl, they are not true hibernators, and although this has been a cold November, it's not too cold for them to go foraging on a nice day to keep/increase body fat. ICBW, but I think the mast crop is good this year. I'm seeing tons of beechnuts in the higher-elevation hardwoods.

I tracked a mama and two cubs up on Mt. Chocorua, aound 2,500' to 3,000' on Sunday. You could tell that one cub stayed right on mama's tail and the other wandered about 20' to the side the whole time. It was cute because you could imagine two different personalities. I was hoping to find the den but the tracks led into really dangerous steep ledges so I gave up.

BTW, it's good to get a close-up of a print, but also try to get a shot of the track pattern to aid in identification.

happy trails