Deer recovery in bear country

[jj554]

I had an encounter with a black bear in some central PA big woods. As I was packing up my gear after deboning a deer a large black bear walked up on me at about 30-40 yards and trotted away after seeing me. I started processing the deer around 1:30 and the bear appeared at 4pm, which was an hour before sunset. I was in the bottom of two long ridges and the winds were swirling a bit but the predominant wind was not blowing to where the bear came from. I'm curious about deer recovery in bear country. I know grizzlies will defend a carcass but will a black bear do the same? If you have to back out and leave a deer overnight due to an uncertain shot placement or poor blood trail, is there risk in tracking the animal and approaching the carcass? I'm also trying to determine whether I was set up near the bears bedding area and I caught him heading out for the night or if he got wind of the carcass and came looking. Would a human scent at the carcass deter a black bear?

 

[Soj51hopeful]

Most black bears will leave once they know you are there. He was probably going to the deer carcass. I don’t worry too much about running off a black bear, but I’m always prepared for the 1% that don’t run away from you.

 

[Dave_S]

I only worry about black bears when I see cubs but no momma. I also tend to carry a pistol during archery when I'm somewhere I would expect to see bears. I suppose this isn't answering the question, but I have never been concerned tracking deer after dark or the next day. I'm never trying to be quiet in that case either. And I agree that black bears will typically move along pretty quick once they know you are there, at least in my experience.

 

[Macintosh]

specifically for black bears, I'd worry a LOT more about suburban bears that have become habituated to being around people, than I would about any "big woods" bears. Black bears by and large are big fraidy-cats, and will bolt as soon as they understand you are a person. When I was a teenager we'd chase them around a local campground, throw rocks at them, etc, and they'd always take off--they were terrified of people, even when they were in the process of raiding a dumpster or a picnic table, so I dont think they would typically do any different if they came upon you butchering a deer in the field. More recently when I run into bears hunting they do the same thing--one whiff and they bolt. That said, I have had a couple encounters with black bears near people. I live in a semi-rural area, the kind of place where rifle hunting is fine in one area, but just down the road feels a bit claustrophobic around houses, but archery hunting is great there. A bear gets into someone's trash in the general area pretty much every single night, there are no shortage of bears...it's likely pretty similar to lots of areas in rural PA. In areas around houses where I know the bears are habituated to being around people and looking for human-food (trash, compost, backyard chicken coops, etc) I've had bears try to stand their ground and intimidate me. They backed off as soon as it was apparent I wasnt going to be scared away, I had one in my yard that tried to scare me off my compost bin, had one chase my dog (sow with cubs) that only backed off when I came after it shouting, and had one whoof at me and bluff charge me while I was checking a trail camera this past spring. In all cases it was a fine situation, but it's still a big wild animal with claws sharper than mine, so I could see a particularly habituated bear pushing it more than these did. In short, I wouldnt worry about it much away from people, I might actually worry more in an area with heavier human population.

 

[jj554]

specifically for black bears, I'd worry a LOT more about suburban bears that have become habituated to being around people, than I would about any "big woods" bears. Black bears by and large are big fraidy-cats, and will bolt as soon as they understand you are a person. When I was a teenager we'd chase them around a local campground, throw rocks at them, etc, and they'd always take off--they were terrified of people, even when they were in the process of raiding a dumpster or a picnic table, so I dont think they would typically do any different if they came upon you butchering a deer in the field. More recently when I run into bears hunting they do the same thing--one whiff and they bolt. That said, I have had a couple encounters with black bears near people. I live in a semi-rural area, the kind of place where rifle hunting is fine in one area, but just down the road feels a bit claustrophobic around houses, but archery hunting is great there. A bear gets into someone's trash in the general area pretty much every single night, there are no shortage of bears...it's likely pretty similar to lots of areas in rural PA. In areas around houses where I know the bears are habituated to being around people and looking for human-food (trash, compost, backyard chicken coops, etc) I've had bears try to stand their ground and intimidate me. They backed off as soon as it was apparent I wasnt going to be scared away, I had one in my yard that tried to scare me off my compost bin, had one chase my dog (sow with cubs) that only backed off when I came after it shouting, and had one whoof at me and bluff charge me while I was checking a trail camera this past spring. In all cases it was a fine situation, but it's still a big wild animal with claws sharper than mine, so I could see a particularly habituated bear pushing it more than these did. In short, I wouldnt worry about it much away from people, I might actually worry more in an area with heavier human population.

The idea of the habituated bears being more unpredictable seems to be a consensus and makes sense. I talked to a guy dropping off his bear at the butcher and he had a similar view but his reason was that the bears are fearful because they are hunted hard. He was further up north in "the mountains" where a lot of the PA bears are harvested. Where I was hunting, I was about 2.5 miles back with little human sign and until recently, there hasn't been any bear sightings in the area. There is a campground in the same mountain range that is a long-time destination for elementary school students and youth groups that has hosted multiple generations of my family and there was never any mention of possible bear encounters, storing trash properly, ect. I thought I might have stumbled on a mature bear that has managed to avoid human pressure. It does make me think about how I scout though because I tend to get into some thick terrain looking for bedding areas.

After listening to the Jeremy Evens' grizzly attack story, I spent some time looking through the recorded fatal bear attacks in North America and was surprised by the number of fatal black bear attacks. This is probably in part due to the fact that they live in much larger part of the continent so there are more encounters overall but it looks like most attacks are predatory in nature and occur in somewhat remote areas of Canada, as opposed to the grizzly attacks that tend to be defensive (protecting cubs or food) or surprise encounters.

I never thought about hunting bears so close to home but I will probably get a tag next year in case of another chance encounter. I'm not sure how I would get a mature bear of the woods though, lol.

 

[jj554]

I only worry about black bears when I see cubs but no momma. I also tend to carry a pistol during archery when I'm somewhere I would expect to see bears. I suppose this isn't answering the question, but I have never been concerned tracking deer after dark or the next day. I'm never trying to be quiet in that case either. And I agree that black bears will typically move along pretty quick once they know you are there, at least in my experience.

My concern was about making them know you are there if you are downwind and/or moving through thick terrain. I tend to stumble upon deer when scouting even when I'm not deliberately trying to sneak up on them....and when I am trying to be stealthy during the season this almost never happens, lol.