Deer, Bears and Corn

[O.T.C.]

Hi guys, have very little experience with bears but here in zone 1 every cornfield getting combined, a bear or 2 or 3 is coming out and hardly a deer. Everyone assumed all the deer are hiding in those which isn't the case at all. We all surrounded each field on all sides and it's just bear central. 240 acres, 1 bear and 1 deer. 80 acres 2 bears no deer. Field 3 was 110 acres, 1 bear with 2 cubs and a doe and fawn. There's 1 field left now at 55 acres and there's a 100% chance there's bears in it, as some ran right into it after combining across the road, does that affect the deer staying in it or using it ? Or are deer numbers just that low. My stand is right on the edge of this field and I've only seen a spike buck come out of it and 1 fork heading into it so far this season. Does and fawns are still hitting the bumper crop of acorns there's millions of them left yet and green short pastured/baled grass, they don't even look toward the cornfield although later in the night maybe they're slipping in it idk. So it's a bears vs. deer ? Then again we have wolves and lots of coyotes also and forgot many coyotes flushed out of these fields however I only saw 2 of those. Pheasants were thick. Any standing corn, bears/deer experiences out there or is it just no affect ? 

[O.T.C.]

PS. The guys harvesting said we've kicked out literally hundreds of black bears from standing corn over the years among other creatures. That kinda surprised me a bit. I'd guess also the wolves are out of the section I'm hunting in now, they'll return eventually. I tend to lean on low very low deer numbers as I see nothing like usual going to work each day and hunters aren't reporting much of anything even with all that corn around. The does and fawns I should say there's 3. 2 doe 1 fawn same 3 all Summer/Fall on tcams etc. Thought more would move in as I'm the only lonely hunter on 320 acres of this farm and there's nothing, shot 1 deer here in 18 years big part of why I spend my time mostly in OTC. If this 55 acres of corn was standing where I hunt in OTC it would be loaded with goats. Rental farmer close by lost 13 calves this year so far so maybe the wolves are a little thicker then a guy knows. Back to the ? Does a stinky old 400 pound black bear or 3 cause deer to steer clear ever, within 55 acres of corn ? The bears have been giants for the most part. The answer will be sit stand while harvesting but farmer said maybe by Christmas, has no room for more corn. 

[Boar]

My bear vs deer opinion, ive got more hours in bear stand than i do deer, they occupy the same woods, so they will occupy the same corfeild being the a food source. deer can easily escape a bear, and basically just tolerate them, Ive had bear and deer pics on the cam with in the same hour and the main time frame when bear really predoritize deer is when the fawns drop. other wise they just dont have a chance. most bear usually have denn'd by know but if its mild and thers a food source, even the sows and cubs will stay out. in a normal year sows and cubs denn as early as late sept early oct. Mature boars stay till the food is gone in most cases.

[O.T.C.]

10 4 Boar you were exactly the guy I was hoping would respond, appreciate it. The black bears in this area are extremely thick this year, I've asked everyone I can around here and they've never seen so many and never gotten so many trailcam pictures, no wonder Jared Allen former Viking hunts 2 miles away from my house. It is extremely low deer numbers actually there was no fawn crop this year in this area, most were killed nearly immediately after birth. I've seen 1 fawn since June 1st anywhere around these few sections, we're maxed out by predators, you'd think they'd move on, the wolves switched to a cattle diet. Bears to the corn. Bobcats idk, coyotes are so thick even with them being hunted hard most winters and springs. Thanks again Boar for confirming what I was thinking and you permit area 51 people look for me next Summer on this page if I don't get drawn we want a bear hunter to come hunt these bruisers, some are in that 400 pound on the hoof range and they're damaging our fences and scaring the dairy cows on occasion. You can axe this topic actually it was a ? more then anything, good luck hunting everyone !

[smurfy]

I hunt in bear permit area 26. hunted some private land at times and the owner/farmer had oats. the bear loved his oats field too! 

[O.T.C.]

Liking oats you bet lol. Talked to many more around here and many said they can not have bird feeders out until they hibernate basically, been so many more around then what's the usual. They've been here forever it's just the past couple years we're finally seeing them on the hoof, went 15 years and never saw a one. OK, hang on, ok farmer standing here does tons of combining for area farmers reporting not seeing so many bears combining but is seeing the damage in the fields from them, he's only seen 6 so far but has several fields to get done this weekend. He also is reporting very few deer sighting. So it's just low goat numbers, daing coming off the mild winter and it did no good at all, daing.

[smurfy]

OTC, what area are you in? bear have been scarce in our area......and not many hunters. we feed the birds diring the winter, quit for a while in the spring then start mid summer. usally don't have bear issue workin it that way!

[icehole10]

I saw a bear just last Tuesday evening, on my way up to the cabin standing in a cut corn field, just north of shell lake, my buddy darn near hit, what I assumed was the same bear about an hour later.

[O.T.C.]

Permit area 51 I think it is, there's more bear in the corn I think then deer, I walked the edge in the rain yesterday figuring my scent was being washed away as fast as I was leaving it and that 55 acres is really getting destroyed, I've never seen anything like it plus I got 2 more bear pics on Friday Night November 13th. Scat all over and large swaths of corn gone or down and many bear beds in the crp edge nearest the river, perfect storm for bears. Seeing 0 for deer, my tcams aren't showing but a few deer, same 2 does and fawn on routine but the past 2 times they've come out they don't go near the corn, they want greens.

PS. Talking bear zone

[O.T.C.]

Not really wanting to bring this back to the top but I can't make sense of what I saw last night. Watching my stand/area from the house last night, watched a doe and fawn walk out, windy and cold, they walked 1/4 mile through short pasture grass and never even looked toward the standing cornfield that is ripe with bears, they decided they would rather walk across jump a fence and feed in combined corn that has tons of round bales in it, cross the gravel and eat 40 feet off the road out in the blustery wind vs. not crossing a fence, and using the standing corn and wooded edge for wind protection by the river bottom cover they came out of ?  Why'd they do that ? My secretary told me her husband combining corn ran right into a bear half hibernated right in the standing corn, still agree they don't bother deer but I'm starting to wonder a little, but my gut tells me there's twolves around now again.

[leechlake]

OTC-  could have been wolves or coyotes or some scent that the doe just didn't like or since she couldn't smell or hear great with that wind preferred to be able to use her eyeballs out in the open rather than a predator being able to come out of the cover/standing corn.   She probably used the best sense she had in that wind which was her eyes. 

Edited November 20, 2015 by leechlake

[O.T.C.]

Leech when you respond or Boar or frosty I can't scroll down fast enough. That was my thinking some too, out in the open using her eyes etc because smell and sound were not happening after all that rain etc plus the winds of the past 4 days. I was quite excited to finally have standing corn to hunt, first time in 20 years here in zone 1 it's been corn even and it's been an absolute bust. My neighbor has 440 acres, 1 hunter and he's reporting seeing very few, I'm on 120 and great habitat with a river flowing etc that comes within 100 yards or less of the corn, the other 80 in the section has 2 stands and they report seeing a doe and fawn and a spike buck after 12 days of hunting, thick crp,oaks,poplars, red willows and tall grass etc tons of bedding ground and not a single deer has come to the standing corn from his 440, he has no crops planted, just some beef cattle on 80 of it. He sits 3/4 mile away from me.  I was trying to not believe it was predator related but theirs only that 1 fawn and to where are the does, most everything is plowed up now and the corn is vacant, but here's to hoping colder temps maybe bring them in idk. I was gonna ask Boar on here about the bears as there could be an unknown number of them in there, 2 for sure in that 55 acres, one is at or over 400 pounds on the hoof. Now have they left the corn to hibernate so to speak or will they hunker down right in it like my secretaries husband ramming into one the other day with the combine ? I'd simply assume either or. Main question is what temperatures put them into sleep mode, I'd assume what we have going on right now. I think I'm timberwolf'ed out maybe, snow would've been nice to see tracks this season.

[O.T.C.]

Will have a weekend report on Monday, time to go put on a few more layers then last weekend, got 2.5 days to hopefully see something worthwhile, 8 points or more dressed 170 or more is kinda where I'm at in the life of deer hunting. PS. Thankfully I haven't seen a stud 7 pointer yet but if so he's going down if I can zero in lol, I'd rather not contribute to the DNR muzzy coffers lol.

[Boar]

bears are not true hibernists, cant tremember term right now, but they dont hibernate, hibernist, correct me if im wrong lower their heart rate, ill find therm in what bear are. like i mentioned berfore, its really not a temp thing in my opinion but the combination of temp and food source. as long as theres a food source mature boars will stay ot and mature sows with 2nd year cubs. i also feel that, right now for deer their on the greens, corn has pretty much no nutritional value. its a filler, green shoots in a wheat feild have more nutrion, but bear a glutons. i have numorus pictures of bear in january when its been25 degrees out. snow on the ground and all. theyll get up and move if the urges gets them. they dont always find a den either, but something as simple as a big downed tree to lie againts. some even have been reported to just push up a pile of leaves and lie in the open.uniqure animals forsure

  

[leechlake]

its called "winter lethargy" or "winter sleep" instead or hibernate.   I'm in day two of learning bear knowledge so I had to look it up.  

[Boar]

nope, thats kinda the definition of the term. but yur on the right track, I gota look thru my notes.

[smurfy]

nope, thats kinda the definition of the term. but yur on the right track, I gota look thru my notes.

them the note book I sent you????????

[Boar]

no the one u sent me was See spot run! You needed a tutor

[smurfy]

no the one u sent me was See spot run! You needed a tutor

Grrrrrrr!!

[O.T.C.]

Certainly am aware bears don't hibernate like I call antlers horns lol. Deer are goats, pheasants are chickens, etc. lol. Well watched the guy combine it with my muzzy, 0 deer came out and the bears were not in it anymore, my trailcam last 3 weeks on the best routes into this field had 1 doe and that same ol 1 fawn. Drive a 1/2 mile away and 4 deer were digging up standard grass to eat. They are avoiding this field and I believe not hearing coyotes for some time now that timberwolves were or are in our section more then we know and just at the wrong time of year. Man hearing the deer harvest is up I have to wonder where as I've talked to as many as possible and combined we'd be about 1 for 30 so idk lol, seems way worse then last season in the areas I go, must have been much better in other areas this year. Our local paper had 0 deer pics, first time ever of course usually it's 2-3 pages of deer, my hometown paper had 6 deer for the zone 1 season so tight lipped idk lol, harvest is up and everything I'm seeing and hearing is down big time lol, who knows.

[smurfy]

hey.......... I was wondering does O.T.C. stand for over the counter?????????????

[O.T.C.]

On the counter and you can read into that anyway you wish lol. My cornfield struggle is in Ottertail County where I grew up if you had even 20 acres of standing corn it was and is holding deer, we used to drive out a 20 acre patch sometimes 3-4 times a season as that's the whole season in the 4B days and always pushed deer out, sometimes 10-12 with 15 being on the upper end and the next day again we'd push more out 3-6 and again maybe push 4 the last day, everybody did, scented to the high heavens didn't matter. The field at my place is the only planted crop of any kind in the section, that has a named river running right through it, 3 hunters in the section actually 2 this year, me and a guy nearly a mile away in the far corner and I went to OTC for most of those 9 days, come back check camera and a doe and a fawn after a 3 week soak like wicked tuna ???? In OTC this field would be nearly picked clean by now. That extra week in zone 1 means very little if anything, makes you 1 more week tired and cold is about it, happy some can cash in that last week. For reference last year, I saw deer on every sit with the most being 10, they were not shot so where'd they all go and what happened to the fawns ? The field last year was grass/pasture grass baled and saw same ones but 34 total deer in the 6-7 days I hunted, now it's corn and saw 5 in the 10-11 days I hunted, seems bizarre and it's way off the road etc with nearly no pressure, idk. Zone 1 for ya lol idk.

[O.T.C.]

Think I figured out a little maybe. The acorn crop # 1 was massive in our area and just this week the deer are finally showing up in our yard late to scratch them up which means they've finally cleaned up the woods pretty good now, most years this is happening during the rifle season or sooner if it's a lean crop. With 5,000 oaks in our section lets just say tons of oaks and mature ones, I'm convinced they'd rather have acorns and greens vs. corn but a little of everything and as mild as it was, what few deer are around were staying in the woods eating acorns and green grass, they're feeling no pressure to get to a food source earlier, section has too much food in it which didn't help seeing deer movement, they basically could eat acorns from their beds this year. Same around the area, there's other oak woods etc. and deer likely just stayed in the safe spot and had no real reason to risk venturing around to find a food source as warm as this fall was.

[O.T.C.]

The corn is finally gone. I watched it go down. 2 rabbits, a smattering of pheasants and a doe and a fawn came out of it. I had a great spot so I wouldn't miss anything exiting. Been a weird mild fall and the deer still aren't using that cornfield much. They still are scratching up acorns and digging up green grass as our grass never turned brown much. Very few tracks in the cornfield. I think temps and snow depth played into it for this year as well as deer numbers being lower then expected. Saw a lot of deer the last day of rifle season the year before so assumed if even most of those are back with fawns but that didn't quite play out that way.