anyone been out scouting

[x1957x]

went out scouting last weekend. Not a lot of sucess althoungh I did find a couple new spots with potential. whats the natuaral food out look in the Grand Rapids area?

[jay83196]

I was always fun, but never feel 100% on spots I pick.

[bogwalker]

went out scouting last weekend. Not a lot of sucess althoungh I did find a couple new spots with potential. whats the natuaral food out look in the Grand Rapids area?

Bumper crop of blueberries this year. Raspberries have been ripening not not as plentiful.

[cherokee]

Out yesterday and picked up a great looking new site. It is close to a river that run through a bog. Found a clump of birch that had claw marks on it and also found some bear beds. Tons of berries and a lot of deer flies. They sure are vicious.

[bogwalker]

Out yesterday and picked up a great looking new site. It is close to a river that run through a bog. Found a clump of birch that had claw marks on it and also found some bear beds. Tons of berries and a lot of deer flies. They sure are vicious.

Hey, I'll watch that site for you when you can't hunt! Bog

[cherokee]

There you go Bog, I'll keep you in mind

The spot has that creepy bear feel, I mean good bear feel to it. The claw marks were about 7-8 feet up so I would think that was a pretty good size bear. I liked the spot the second I came upon it. The claw marks just confirmed it. Something about the ferns, willows, grass and even oak trees that make it seem like a good spot.

About a mile from that spot we came upon some bear beds with some scat inbetween two of them. A ton of raspberries were within a hundred yards of this spot. This bear was using a grassy 10 year old clear cut that was nicely shaded and cool. Just stumbled upon this spot trying to get to a swamp.

[bogwalker]

By golly, You might have some Cherokee blood after all. Did you see bite marks on the tree above the scratch marks? Was there hair on the trees? Do you remember how wide the scratch marks were? One last question, How big and what was in the scat?

[bogwalker]

Cherokee, Actually I did have one more question. Were you able to smell bear in that area?

[cherokee]

Bogwalker, didn't notice any bite marks on the tree. It did appear that the claw marks were spread out a bit and I would guess spread out across 6 inches or so. I didn't find any hair at the tree that was scratched but I did a small amount in one of the beds.

Beds and scat - There were seeds and what appeared to be some sort of fiber (almost looked like clover stems) in the scat as I kicked the pile. Do bear eat clover? The pile was about the size of a medium pancake and appeared fairly loose. It was not extremely fresh but was hard to tell given the heavy rain. Didn't examine it too closely. I didn't smell bear in either area but it just got done raining pretty hard and there was a earthy smell in the woods. I did feel the bed to see if it was warm but was cold to the touch.

[bogwalker]

Sometimes I get carried away with details, big part of my research. Thanks. Hope you connect with a good one.

[cherokee]

No problem and thanks. It is fun and I appreciate you sharing your knowledge of bears.

[bogwalker]

Did you find a spot for a stand or blind?

[cherokee]

Yes, I picked out two trees for different wind directions but I'm thinking hoping the bear will be coming from the swampy river bottom. There is a real nice tree and deadfall forming a natural back stop. Once the 14th gets here I'll build a nice bait station and add some additional logs in a "V" shape.

I have a double bull blind but think I will use my climber and position it 12 yards from the site.

[Boar]

Found some [PoorWordUsage] coming outa the riverbottm this weekend about the size of a dinner plate, didnt appear to be too old, within a a few days i'd figure, also examined an old fencline that is over grown with willow brush, this fence line is alot lower than the ground aroundit with some nice tunnels running in it with a mossy bottom looks like some good pads in it but is hard to tell with moss. Getting close, boar

[Boar]

Huh po-op is poor word usage, funny word usage mabey, weired.

[x1957x]

Went out scouting and found a couple new spots. Maybe have to pull up stakes though starting to see alot of 4 wheeler tracks lately in the area that I have been looking at.Time to move on. any one else been checking. I have found a tremendous amount of berries where i am looking. Is this a problem every one is seeing?

[bogwalker]

Lots of blueberries.

[x1957x]

You know what bogwalker. that is what I seen alot of. Alot of blackberries and tons of rasberries. maybe they will be all done by sept 1. maybe this is a good thing. HUH.

[x1957x]

Boar, I have a friend in north Manitoba and I go up there and hunt every couple years, last time I was there he put me on a new bait by town and I would guess it had about 50 piles of SCAT? around the bait. It was about 2inches in diameter and about enough on every pile to fill a ice cream pail. I seed 14 bears the 1st nite,9 bears the 2nd nite and 11 bears the 3rd. Did not see the one that I thought might be the culprit of these big piles of dung?, shot my bear the end of the third nite. It was around the 400ish area and almost 7foot. BIg bears do make some big piles. It did smell alot like bear there also. This is the first time I ever noticed that.

[bogwalker]

You know what bogwalker. that is what I seen alot of. Alot of blackberries and tons of rasberries. maybe they will be all done by sept 1. maybe this is a good thing. HUH.

Good thing for bears. Bad for hunters. Too much natural food or too many bait sites make it tough to see bears. If natural food carries until archery and small game open, it will mean a poor bear harvest.

[Boar]

Cool 57, I've been trying to get up to Ontario with superbee for a couple years now, but.... we know how that gose. Boar

[cherokee]

The rasberries seem to be near the end but the black berries appear to be coming on strong. Choke cherries are plentiful as well. Could be tough. The oaks didn't appear to have a lot of acorns on them though.

[x1957x]

didnt see alot of acorns either. But did see alot of blackberries and other- ones that are starting to come on strong. This is in the 51 area around Mcgregor and grand rapids area. Where are you guys looking at?

[x1957x]

Boar, I can give you a good guide I personally know from (check this out) the Grand Rapids area of Manitoba.

[Boar]

Thanks 57 but as of now I have to many financial pans in the fire, but I really appriciate the offer an will file that in the possibles section of my to do list. Thanks boar