Bkeepr
Senior Member
There is a stretch of the AT where bear-proof containers are mandatory for backpacking food. Has anyone tried hunting that area?
Welcome Guest!
Hound doggers this weekend!
- Thread starter Christian hughey
- Start date
gobbleinwoods
Keeper of the Magic Word
Cubs must have already been taken, therefore sow with no cubs now. That how it works
I wasn’t there nor have I seen any of the bears, but someone told me the majority were like 115-120 pound sows. That would be mostly adolescent sows and they don’t get bred often at that age and weight. Some of them could have been but it sounds like a bunch of adolescents were killed and that makes sense in an overpopulated area. Ask how many tickets have been issued for killing lactating females as it is against the law. No need for a witch hunt!
GAbullHunter
Senior Member
So thats how it works then. I'll be sure to check for milk before I shoot a sow with no cubs no matter the age.
splatek
UAEC
OK, this thread is making me think of this:
humdandy
Banned
Please check logic at the door when discussing rules/Regs/DNR decisions. You will find it much easier to understand. Thanks.
If those sows had first year cubs.......they are as good as dead. And yes........I'd be willing to bet the majority of them had cubs.
Gator89
Senior Member
How do they get milk from almonds?
humdandy
Banned
Udders.......hope this helps.
Attachments
ddd-shooter
Senior Member
Man, ya'll seriously doing some keyboard game-warden-ing in here.
Go kill a bear. Its supposed to cool off this weekend.
Go kill a bear. Its supposed to cool off this weekend.
strothershwacker
Senior Member
Adolescent bears huh. All of em. Hehehehe.
strothershwacker
Senior Member
120lb bear can't have cubs. Hehehehe.
Joe Brandon
Senior Member
Now back to your regularly scheduled hunting season already in progress.
Christian hughey
Senior Member
Aight Ima let one fly! Good luck.
goshenmountainman
Senior Member
Female black bears usually are not mature till 3-5 years, they don't breed until they are mature, so I would say 100-175lb. bears are not over three years old and haven't been bred. If a female bear is over 3-5 years of age and weighs in at less than 200 lbs. she will not breed, she has to be in ultimate shape for her age before she will go into heat. Ha! I knew some of this reading about bears would come in handy one day!
strothershwacker
Senior Member
Ive seen a bear I thought was a cub come out of the brush only to see 3 puppy sized cubs come out right behind her. She'd barely made 100#. I didn't read about it. I saw it.
GAbullHunter
Senior Member
All in the fun. While we awaited turn out. Let's get em in the books to.
Exactly what I was getting at. Not that it doesn’t happen, but it’s far from normal for an adolescent sow to be bred. Another thing most don’t understand is that mature bear get that way for a reason just like any animal. When the pressure starts being applied, big mature bear leave fewer tracks and know how to avoid that pressure. The fact that they are still bringing in bear at a high rate on this small of an area leads me to believe a great number are adolescent bears this late into the hunt. Not to mention the difference in transient and resident bear. Our population is so out of whack it stands to reason a bunch are transients that wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve still not seen anyone hunting a large portion of Chestatee that should have been combed over which makes me think it either didn’t have many hunting it or had no shows.
So thats how it works then. I'll be sure to check for milk before I shoot a sow with no cubs no matter the age.
You do realize cubs spend 2 years on average with there mother. When they are finally ran off, if, she runs them off when she becomes receptive again. Those females are normally 3 before they become sexually active if not older. Can they be bred younger, absolutely. But, it is not the norm. As to your remark, I don’t kill treed sows. Ever. Nor would I knock out a 125 pounder. Don’t care if you do or don’t. You keep shooting sows and I’m sure you’ll eventually have a problem. It’s not something I have to worry about.
The numbers make me wonder why so many young females and almost zero males. Were the 2 males killed, big old mature bear? Some really interesting data is being compiled from this hunt which is what the biologists wanted. Sounds like it will be a great step in the right direction for further management of a more healthy and stable bear population which will result in a more balanced ecosystem for all wildlife. Isn’t that what we all want?
Last edited:
goshenmountainman
Senior Member
If she was that small the cubs didn't make it, sounds like she was an old sow, that was on the downhill of life. The book I was talking about says they are not sexually mature until at least three years old. Most bear around here that are less than 3 years old are in that 100-150lb. range. There could be a strange case that one matured earlier, you know how nature is, blind sides you when you least expect it. I have saw lots of things in the woods that puzzled me, I was just trying to share what I had read, sorry, I wasn't trying to dispute what you were saying, just sharing a book fact I had learned.
Goshenmountainman, does that book give a predation percentage of adult males on cub crop? I know they kill them when given the opportunity. I don’t think Georgia has enough research on our bears to have that information pertaining to our population specifically but I can’t remember the research data. I always felt it took large mature boars to do that to a female unless a small boar just happened across the right opportunity. It would make sense to me that with overpopulation and smaller average size boars we would have less boar/cub predation. Further adding to radical population swings. It’s like ponds with overpopulated small bass. The population is unhealthy and can’t support proper growth to full potential. Reduce the numbers and they can grow larger but you will not have the numbers. Somewhere in the middle lies the appropriate balance. I’m in hopes that given time, this management tool will help restore that balance which will be much better for the mountain in the long run!
