2021 California Bear

amassi said:
Went up to check cameras and cache some water
Cameras- 1 vandalized(appears to have been smashed with a rock) and 2 stolen. Guess I'm done with trail cams in California-- These were nowhere near roads or trails but are in obvious game transition areas--
Did find a really pretty cinnamon phase bear but he's small like 75-100#. He was acting like top dawg though scent marking every brush on an entire slope.
Coincidentally a spring that was bone dry 4 weeks ago had a small seep this week- maybe new groundwater from snow melt?? The other dry springs remained dry

Interesting- this "trailhead" isn't marked or have a big parking lot and parking is done along an established pull out on a fs road. The other trucks there parked slightly inside of me(forest side) had parking tickets on them, mine had nothing and the other trucks got there after I did. Anybody know if this is a fire danger protocol or what?

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I have ran lots of cams all over. Some right on a trail, road, etc. I have never had a cam stolen by another person… I have however have lost cams, had cams eaten, have cams destroyed by bears. Most guys wondering around the woods couldn’t find a red barn in a field- I am going to suggest your cams were damaged- removed by bears.
 
JNDEER said:
I have ran lots of cams all over. Some right on a trail, road, etc. I have never had a cam stolen by another person… I have however have lost cams, had cams eaten, have cams destroyed by bears. Most guys wondering around the woods couldn’t find a red barn in a field- I am going to suggest your cams were damaged- removed by bears.
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Sure I did consider a bear cut the locks to the boxes with bolt cutters then took the camera and the security box and cable with them. All while not leaving any tracks, hair or scratch marks then proceeded to get all my other cameras in the area. Since bears can't get ran with dogs anymore they've become bold and sophisticated
The one that was smashed had granite scratches on the box
They had been up 13 days, 6 since we last checked them. The cameras I've lost to bears have been super obvious a bear destroyed it

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Was planning on checking cameras we've had out since the first week of June, but the forest service just kept the area closed through September 1st due to the Beckwourth Complex. Guess it's time for plan C...
 
TheGDog said:
Hey man, after I've put in all my effort on this D14 tag, maybe in the after-era we can plan on meeting up back out there at your spot and maybe we can try some hand-calling perhaps? I'll do the calling and you can setup higher where your FOV oversees me.
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I am up for that, but we can trade off.
 
David Gough said:
Was planning on checking cameras we've had out since the first week of June, but the forest service just kept the area closed through September 1st due to the Beckwourth Complex. Guess it's time for plan C...
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Based on your posts I’m thinking your plan C may be a bit better than a lot of people’s plan A.

Good luck. Hate to see all that pre season work go to waste but that’s part of it
 
FishTacos said:
Based on your posts I’m thinking your plan C may be a bit better than a lot of people’s plan A.

Good luck. Hate to see all that pre season work go to waste but that’s part of it
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Just have to get lucky once :D

We will get back in there eventually. Hopefully end of archery. Might be some bears hanging around with the lack of human activity off the roads. I'm curious what's on the SD cards. Will post here.
 
Checked the camera I have out that isn't in a closed area by the USFS. Saw some good bucks on camera, but no bears. There was sign a little bear had been around the area recently.

Scouted a few areas within an hour's drive and struck out finding sign (and water). Found some geese for the California early goose season.

Then we proceeded to shoot our bows. I was on a roll at 60 yards...then the moment we all dread happened. I shot my bow without knocking an arrow!

Got lucky and will only need new strings and mods. No limbs cracked. Didn't get seriously hurt. I'll question why in the hell I did that for the rest of the season. Hoping to have the bow back in action in a few weeks and hunt for a handful of days before early September. Unfortunately, I have a deadline at work September 15th, so my bear hunting will be limited this season.

Someone please cheer me up with a picture of a good boar from the weekend.
 
Made it out in the bear woods down in Southern California, was shocked to see how there were no acorns on any of the oaks, even the ones close to a water source. Set a couple cameras, we’ll see what shows up.
 
David Gough said:
Checked the camera I have out that isn't in a closed area by the USFS. Saw some good bucks on camera, but no bears. There was sign a little bear had been around the area recently.

Scouted a few areas within an hour's drive and struck out finding sign (and water). Found some geese for the California early goose season.

Then we proceeded to shoot our bows. I was on a roll at 60 yards...then the moment we all dread happened. I shot my bow without knocking an arrow!

Got lucky and will only need new strings and mods. No limbs cracked. Didn't get seriously hurt. I'll question why in the hell I did that for the rest of the season. Hoping to have the bow back in action in a few weeks and hunt for a handful of days before early September. Unfortunately, I have a deadline at work September 15th, so my bear hunting will be limited this season.

Someone please cheer me up with a picture of a good boar from the weekend.
Click to expand...
I have had nightmares of this happening over the past week or two that have literally woken me up from a sound sleep. Hope you’re able to get it figured out soon… the season is upon us!
 
I realized I forgot to buy my extra D3-5 tag tonight and decided to buy my first bear tag to go along with it. I saw a lot of sign last year (more bear sign than deer sign) so hopefully I’ll be successful.

FNG questions I have around validation and skull presentation:
- “you have the right to retain any and all bear parts of the bear you take, except the skull which becomes the property of CDFW”.
Does this mean they keep the skull at validation, or that they just reserve the right to keep it but you can take it home after they pull the premolar? Do they need/expect the skull to still have brain/eyes/tongue/etc? (I assume this is yes because of how quickly they want you to get it validated)

- “any person taking any bear must retain in their possession the skin and portion of the head bearing the ears during the open season thereon, and for 15 days thereafter”

Does this mean the skull must be caped before presenting the skull to CDFW? And if I wanted to do something with the hide I basically just have to keep it in the freezer until 15 days after the season closes then can get it tanned?

-What is the best way to field dress a bear to stay compliant with the regs but also keeping the meat and hide in good shape?

Thanks
 
Hunt_Jefferson said:
I realized I forgot to buy my extra D3-5 tag tonight and decided to buy my first bear tag to go along with it. I saw a lot of sign last year (more bear sign than deer sign) so hopefully I’ll be successful.

FNG questions I have around validation and skull presentation:
- “you have the right to retain any and all bear parts of the bear you take, except the skull which becomes the property of CDFW”.
Does this mean they keep the skull at validation, or that they just reserve the right to keep it but you can take it home after they pull the premolar? Do they need/expect the skull to still have brain/eyes/tongue/etc? (I assume this is yes because of how quickly they want you to get it validated)

- “any person taking any bear must retain in their possession the skin and portion of the head bearing the ears during the open season thereon, and for 15 days thereafter”

Does this mean the skull must be caped before presenting the skull to CDFW? And if I wanted to do something with the hide I basically just have to keep it in the freezer until 15 days after the season closes then can get it tanned?

-What is the best way to field dress a bear to stay compliant with the regs but also keeping the meat and hide in good shape?

Thanks
Click to expand...
I’ve never had or heard of them keeping a skull. They just want to pull the tooth for data. The skull doesn’t have to be caped but it can be. Be sure to put a stick in the mouth to keep it open if you do kill a bear and do it quickly. This will help give them space to get the tooth out.

Once your bear is validated you can take it to a taxidermist if you want any work done.

Skin your bear, quarter it or debone it and haul it out. You don’t have to keep evidence of sex on a bear either.
 
Cahunter805 said:
I’ve never had or heard of them keeping a skull. They just want to pull the tooth for data. The skull doesn’t have to be caped but it can be. Be sure to put a stick in the mouth to keep it open if you do kill a bear and do it quickly. This will help give them space to get the tooth out.

Once your bear is validated you can take it to a taxidermist if you want any work done.

Skin your bear, quarter it or debone it and haul it out. You don’t have to keep evidence of sex on a bear either.
Click to expand...
What he said. They just want the premolar. Takes a solid three minutes.

The penis bone makes a nice drink stirrer.
 
StinkyPete said:
I have had nightmares of this happening over the past week or two that have literally woken me up from a sound sleep. Hope you’re able to get it figured out soon… the season is upon us!
Click to expand...
It's at an archery shop right now. Hopefully the strings and mods come in quick and the staff doesn't find anything else wrong with it.
 
Cahunter805 said:
I’ve never had or heard of them keeping a skull. They just want to pull the tooth for data. The skull doesn’t have to be caped but it can be. Be sure to put a stick in the mouth to keep it open if you do kill a bear and do it quickly. This will help give them space to get the tooth out.

Once your bear is validated you can take it to a taxidermist if you want any work done.

Skin your bear, quarter it or debone it and haul it out. You don’t have to keep evidence of sex on a bear either.
Click to expand...
Thanks, watching youtube bear field dressing videos now but the state specific stuff was harder to find.
 
file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/fe/14/AE8DC0A1-BDD4-4E42-94C0-BC6168262F80/fseprd939268.pdf
 
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