As most know, I run my trail
cameras year round because I love to get pictures of any critter that walks the
woods. This time of year, year after
year, my cameras are run down with pictures of hungry black bears that have
emerged from a long hibernation and are in search of two things: food, and a
mate. Black bear mating season occurs
mid-June and can last until early August.
During this time, bears are in search of a breeding partner, but also
trying to fill themselves back out after losing large amounts of fats over the
winter. Boars will breed with several
different sows through the summer, except those that already have this year’s
cubs with her. Bear sightings during the
day are more common, as their judgment is clouded, much like strutting toms or rutting bucks,
and the fear of people is somewhat forgotten as they try to breed. A few summers ago, I was walking my beagle at
high noon and encountered a male chasing a female through an open hay
field. The female crossed the county
road, but as several cars stopped to check him out, the male was caught on the
other side of the road. He pawed at the
ground, growled, huffed and puffed, upset that the cars were deterring him from
crossing the road to pursue his female.
I’ve already had several different
bears of various sizes and ages this spring on my cameras that span a three
county area. Unfortunately, it takes
years to draw a kill tag in my area, and after filling my 2012 archery bear tag,
I find myself waiting until 2016 for my next chance to hunt. The night I harvested my male, he came in
with a smaller sow pictured below. I’m
glad that I was able to see the difference and harvested a mature male versus a
sow that will potentially produce offspring for future hunting generations.
Regardless, I love seeing the
different bears that walk through, and it’s great to practice aging and sizing
black bears, which can be difficult with the long, heavy fur and lack of a
“monster rack” to judge. Bears are
categorized as trophies by the size of their skull; something difficult to
gauge as you stand shaking in a treestand.
Neck size and ear length are the two things I look at when aging a bear. Flipping through trail camera pictures, I can
see that I have several yearling cubs coming in, evident by their huge ears and
lanky legs. It is also good practice to
learn the difference between males and females, as taking a sow with cubs is
considered unlawful. Often times,
especially in the later part of fall, cubs won’t be right at the heels of the
sow, so you could potentially put your tag on a mother bear when the cubs were
a ways behind. Much like a dairy cow, boars
will have broad shoulders and thick neck, and a straight back with a hump
around the shoulder area, whereas sows will typically have a swayback, a large
hindquarter area, and a smaller face/head with a flatter forehead.
It’s a common misconception that
having a large amount of bear in your hunting woods will deter bucks from
staying in your area. It is true that if
given the opportunity, bears will pray on young fawns. If a hunter is targeting bears specifically by
keeping an active bait site in the area, then yes, the deer population will tend
to avoid said feeding ground. I keep
mineral sites in my woods that are not targeting any one species. I have an equal amount of furbearers, black
bear, small game and deer, including some decent bucks that frequent the area
throughout the rut, even though, like clockwork, bears are passing through to
check out the mineral site.
Cubs are often the worst offenders and will hang around mineral sites, I think, because they are bored and lonely. This young cub, for instance, stayed at this site for 4+ hours one night. Judging by his age, I think he was recently kicked off from his sow as she was ready to breed, so he appears to be bored and in search of a playmate. 
