Is this bear trying to make my barn its den?

[Wildhorse]

Hello everyone I live in eastern washington north of spokane. I have a large apple orchard on my property and am attached to thousands of acres of state land so I'm used to all sorts of animals coming to the apple orchard the last few years we have had a sow and her Cubs that visit the orchard regularly and have had no problems with them getting into anything ever. This year in August my dogs treed a fairly large bore down by the apple orchard in the middle of the day called them off him and he went down the tree and gone like a bat out of hell figured I probably wouldnt see him again well this last week I've had my trash down by the road knocked around and clawed up then our small barn where my wife has always kept her horse supplements and we store loose hay in it for winter all her stuff was thrown about the other night the dogs must have gotten on him again because they were all dead tired and the pup had three holes in her hind that looked like someone smacked her by the spacing of the holes she seems to be doin good but I decided to keep all three dogs in last night went down to investigate things and the empty grain trashcan was thrown around the hay barn and theres a wet line across the entire open entry and around the floor looks as if someone turned a water bottle over and drew a line. Is this bear trying to make my hay barn its den or is it just marking things never had a bear issue but I may go get a tag if this keeps up.

 

[Steve300xcw]

To be honest, I would go grab a tag and take care of your problem before it becomes a bigger problem

Sounds like a badass piece of land

 

[Wildhorse]

That's kinda what my thinking has been the last couple days now just to find him during shooting hours

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Too early for den making so is likely 100% driven with his discovery of a low-effort but plentiful food source.

Also, this is likely a young boar (think punk teenager) rather than a mature boar. Normally it would take a multiple of your three dogs to be able to tree a mature boar (eventually).

100% agree with others: grab a tag and kill the bear. He's learning too many negative behaviors and will likely only get worse and more aggressive with time.

 

[Wildhorse]

Well there were three dogs the smallest a 95lb great pyrinese the largest 125lbs of of caucasian shepherd. I'm not a monster of a man but I'm 6'1 165 and looking at that bear in the tree when he came down he was all of my height and looked double me. Either way I am planning to get a tag tomorrow and deal with him before the wife gets back with the baby next week.

 

[Wildhorse]

Put the stalk on him the other day and dropped him right before the sun went down 338 win mag built by Bill St.Peire through the spine and the neck dropped him in his tracks hes at the taxidermist now he measured 6ft 10 inches and well over 300lbs have to wait a month or so for the bugs to clean his skull but taxidermist says he thinks it will make Boone and Crockett I should have taken some better pictures but was home alone and trying to just get him processed down so I could get him in the fridges and it was 130 am by the time I got him home and processed down. This was my first bear. The tarp hes laying on for reference is a 6x7 tarp

 

[Chattahoochee Reaper]

Wild horse, I work with bears as a part of my job. We trap and relocate nuisance bears and provide technical assistance to homeowners regarding bears.

Nearly 100% of bear/homeowner conflict is food motivated. A very insignificant percentage is bears denning beneath porches and houses but 99% of the time the bear is after the food.

I live in NE GA in the middle of bear country, and deal with these conflicts constantly. I often put the solution in the hands of the homeowners and tell them "Hey, it's bear season. You know what to do." But the homeowners seldom ever want to take it into their own hands like you did. The folks that are minded like us know how to handle those conflicts but it's surprising how many folks would rather risk it and take a financial hit with property damage rather than resolving the issue themselves.

I just wanted to give you a pat on the back and an attaboy. Thanks for the update and congrats on a fine bear!

 

[Wildhorse]

T

Wild horse, I work with bears as a part of my job. We trap and relocate nuisance bears and provide technical assistance to homeowners regarding bears.

Nearly 100% of bear/homeowner conflict is food motivated. A very insignificant percentage is bears denning beneath porches and houses but 99% of the time the bear is after the food.

I live in NE GA in the middle of bear country, and deal with these conflicts constantly. I often put the solution in the hands of the homeowners and tell them "Hey, it's bear season. You know what to do." But the homeowners seldom ever want to take it into their own hands like you did. The folks that are minded like us know how to handle those conflicts but it's surprising how many folks would rather risk it and take a financial hit with property damage rather than resolving the issue themselves.

I just wanted to give you a pat on the back and an attaboy. Thanks for the update and congrats on a fine bear!

Thank you chattahoochee reaper the biggest deal to me was the safety of my wife and my new baby girl. The wife loves to pick apples out of the orchard and waters the horses and cows regularly we also have our packages delivered to the barn he was messing around in after spraying everything down with cayenne pepper, the dogs going after him and him just swatting the dogs and paying no mind it was time to deal with him while the wife and baby were gone. I'm grateful to have the piece of mind to know I dont have to worry about my wife checking for packages in the evening or in the apple orchard and I'm grateful for the meat he has added to our freezer once his rug comes back I'll be grateful for his hide on the bed and I'm sure my baby girl and however many more siblings we get blessed with will be grateful for all the fun stories we will have.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Ya didnt waste much time lol

 

[KHNC]

He wont be back around the barn again. lol

 

[Wildhorse]

Ya didnt waste much time lol

Yeah the wife and baby were gone and I only had about 4 days before they got back so wanted him dealt with prior to.

 

[Wildhorse]

He wont be back around the barn again. lol

Nope and to date there hasn't been anything in the barn or messing with the trash.

 

[Southernfried]

lol Nice job, and I wouldnt tell the wife till ya bring the bear rug home lol Honey ya remember that trip you and the little one went on, well lookie here what I got ya lol.

 

[Wildhorse]

lol Nice job, and I wouldnt tell the wife till ya bring the bear rug home lol Honey ya remember that trip you and the little one went on, well lookie here what I got ya lol.

Oh yeah that didnt work shes been helping get him all cut and packaged up the last few days and I waited till they were home to share the heart amd liver my baby willow is 5 months and she has two teeth on the bottom her first piece of meat was a chunk of bear heart to chew on and she absolutely loved it. Way more than the carrots mom was having her try lol that baby is going to grow up to be a carnivore like dad lol

 

[Hnthrdr]

Put the stalk on him the other day and dropped him right before the sun went down 338 win mag built by Bill St.Peire through the spine and the neck dropped him in his tracks hes at the taxidermist now he measured 6ft 10 inches and well over 300lbs have to wait a month or so for the bugs to clean his skull but taxidermist says he thinks it will make Boone and Crockett I should have taken some better pictures but was home alone and trying to just get him processed down so I could get him in the fridges and it was 130 am by the time I got him home and processed down. This was my first bear. The tarp hes laying on for reference is a 6x7 tarp

Congrats on a nice bear! Solved a problem and now have some good meat and a nice rug! Visited friends in Spokane area last summer! The country side around the city is beautiful sounds like a great setup!

 

[Dos Perros]

Yeah the wife and baby were gone and I only had about 4 days before they got back so wanted him dealt with prior to.

If my wife catches wind that anything significant can be done in less than a month I'm in trouble!

Congrats on the bear!

 

[Wildhorse]

If my wife catches wind that anything significant can be done in less than a month I'm in trouble!

Congrats on the bear!

Yeah mine has been pretty understanding about it figuring it has put me another week behind on the building of her chicken coop 8x4 hen house raised over 8x4 of storage with an fully enclosed and roofed 8x20 run area so they have a place to get out and scratch and such during winter.

 

[Bubblehide]

Great job! However you may want to think about securing the attractant (the food) to be better bear proof, if possible, as in the future you may be looking at the same issue with a different bear.

 

[Wildhorse]

Great job! However you may want to think about securing the attractant (the food) to be better bear proof, if possible, as in the future you may be looking at the same issue with a different bear.

Unfortunately the primary attractant is a 22 tree apple orchard that is over 100 years old and about 100 yards from the barn which is a hand hewn dovetail barn built around the same time. Unfortunately previous owners have actually cut out a portion of the wall for some awful reason I'm in the process of framing it in and milling boards for a door to put there just takes time and other projects have been more pressing. Besides a jug of vegetable oil and an empty trash can the barn was empty normally I fill it with hay I scythe from my field but having shoulder surgery in may has stopped that.

 

[amassi]

Shoot him and ask his ghost what he was planning


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