We're Going On A Bear Hunt

Discussion in 'Photos & Video' started by Shirley Martin, Sep 16, 2020.

  1. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
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    There is a wildlife preserve for bears near our place down east. The only thing you are allowed to shoot them with is a camera. People can drive through and look for bears. Going bear hunting is a popular activity. Some times you might see them, sometimes not. There are tens of thousands of acres of corn bordering the preserve. The bears eat some of the corn. They cross a path between the preserve and the corn fields.

    We went bear hunting last weekend while we were down there. We saw five bears, , two alone and a mama bear with two cubs. I got some pictures but since they only come out at the edge of dark, the pictures are not very good. Maybe @Bill Boggs can offer me some advice on how to take better pictures. :)

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    This is the mama bear and two cubs. ^^^^ One is beside her so you can't see it clearly.

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    We also saw a gorgeous sunset.

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  2. Bill Boggs

    Bill Boggs Supreme Member
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    I don't know that I can, I'm not very knowledgable on anything but when light deminishes, the shutter speed on the camera wants to open up larger to allow more light
    to enter and if the camera is on automatic it will automatally do so. When it does we tend to get camera shake or photos that are not real clear.
    The cure for this is a tripod or to brace the camera on something to steady it. Camera shake ruins many photos.

    Likewise if not on automatic and we're using a small shutter opening like f-11 or f-8 when it begins to get dark or we lose suffecient light
    for any reason, that small opening will need to stay open longer.
    You need a tripod or a flash and when using a flash the need to get closer to what you are shooting is imperative. Sometime in a vehicle, gedtting a good shot is just difficult to do.
     
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  3. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Here's a game camera pic of a bear right by my house:

    Bear.jpg

    I think they are hard to get good pics of because their fur is so black, and it does not lay flat against their bodies as other animals' fur does. That means that their outline is not very well defined.

    When you see them in person, it reminds you of exactly where you are in the food chain. They don't have collars, and they aren't on leashes. They freely walk among us. It's humbling, in an "I don't want to go outside after dark" kinda way.

    At least black bears will try to get their cubs away from perceived danger rather than attacking it.
     
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  4. Bill Boggs

    Bill Boggs Supreme Member
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    Bear hunting @Shirley Martin
    BCD751B7-5644-47A4-BC5B-F31A0531F6AD_1_201_a.jpeg

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    Wasn't much help. As an aside note I didn't know you had black bears in North Carolina. I
    thought they were all in the Rocky Mountains and abpout decimated by now. It appears
    some of us never get too old to learn something.
     
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  5. Bill Boggs

    Bill Boggs Supreme Member
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    Bears in Australia? Looks like you've got a little of everything.
    Scare those rascals off.,@John Brunner. They scare me. I might
    want to go outside and lood for a Brown Snake.
    ACB7D94B-5983-47D7-BEDA-D42AD2455EA5_1_201_a.jpeg
     
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  6. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    No, buddy. I'm in Virginia. We have bear to some degree in 91 of our 95 counties...even at the beach! (The Great Dismal Swamp is near our coast and crosses into Shirley's state.)

    And they don't all scare off...at least the ones on my property don't. I was standing on my deck as one walked right past me and shot a contemptuous look over his shoulder as he slowly ambled across my yard and into the woods.

    The critters and their descendants are the permanent residents here.
    I'm just one missed tax payment away from being evicted.
     
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  7. Bill Boggs

    Bill Boggs Supreme Member
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    So sorry for my mistake about your home base. But I really didn't know bears still roamed the eastern seaboard. I thought it too populated.
    I do realize bears don't scare off too readily, they're not afraid of much. I do think if I lived where bears were prevelent, I 'd keep a few fire
    crackers around,maybe something like a big giant, that might give them incentive to move on. Depending of course on the rules and
    regulations and laws involved in the area where I lived.
     
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  8. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    No problem on not recalling where I live. I often have to go through folk's posts to remind myself (as I did for Shirley before making my comment.) My memory on some things sucks, and the details of forum members is one of them.

    It is fascinating to know that of all the highly populated areas in Virginia, only 4 counties don't see bear. I'm in a rural (but not too isolated) county. I was shocked that they "wandered" this far from the mountains. But they have permanent residence here and throughout the state. They don't go into a hard hibernation this far east in our relatively mild climate, and live in brush & shrubs & tree falls (not in caves.) My immediate area has plenty of bear habitat.

    We have no real enforced regs. There is the occasional sound of gunfire around me, even at 2AM, as the locals are defending their chickens & livestock from fox & possums. New Year's Eve is "interesting." We tolerate each other pretty well here (outside of the "Your shutters are the wrong color!" gated community up the road.) But we're spaced far enough apart that we don't bother each other.

    The bear only come around me every couple of years (as far as I know), but they definitely reside in my woods. When I got that game cam pic, I also caught a couple of cubs there all by themselves...twice! So they live real close. I woke up one morning and noticed a smudge on my sliding glass patio door at eye level (my deck is elevated 5 feet.) Thinking I forgot to clean it, I took a closer look. It was the distinct image of a paw print on one door and a nose streak on the other. That's when I started keeping my rifle out, not to harm the thing but to protect myself in case it fell through into my house. There are ways to deter them (I could have shot my shotgun off to scare the one that gave me the finger), but I've not had a real need to disrupt their lives. Brown bears would be a different matter entirely.

    Again, seeing them around my house is a rare occurrence, and only started several years ago when a seafood shop opened near me and I started cooking fish a lot. I had been here 6 years at that point with lots of game cameras set up 7x24x365 and never got a picture (or any sign) of a single bear, even with a whole bunch of tasty bird feeders set up all year round. The strong scent of those fish and shrimp wrappers in my garbage must have attracted them. I now keep my garbage in my garage instead of by that kitchen door you see in the pic. Thank goodness they have not tried to gain entry there. There are likely easier pickings around.
     
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  9. Bill Boggs

    Bill Boggs Supreme Member
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    Interesting comments, John. Thanks.

    My cousin lived in New Mexico and one evening she was preparing to set her dinner on their dining table, a black
    bear entered her kitchen. She had the door open but the screen locked. The bear came right in through the screen door, started looking for the food.
    She called to her husband to get the fly swatter and shoo the bear our of the kitchen before it ruined their supper. He rolld up his newspaper and started in
    the kitchen but when he saw the bear he turned and ran out the back door. My cousin grabbed a broom and shooed it out of the house. I guess she
    made so much noise banging the broom around and yelling that the bear left peacefully.
     
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  10. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
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    There have always been black bears in our mountains and near the cost. I live about midway the state and we never had them here until the last few years. My sister was working in her garden a few years ago and one came out of the woods. She yelled at it and it ran back into the woods. I have always been told that the only time a black bear is dangerous is when her cubs are near. They say if one comes near to shout, yell, and make as much noise as you can. The woods abut right up to my garden. I sometimes hear something moving in there but I have never seen a bear there. It may be another kind of animal; a fox, a dog, who knows what. Maybe even a panther! :eek::D
     
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  11. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    @Bill Boggs

    You don't know if we're brave or if we're stupid sometimes, huh? Perhaps I shouldn't have just stood on my deck watching that bear. I shoulda reached for the fly swatter. THEN he would have run!!!
     
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  12. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Actually, it's brown bears who will attack to protect their young. Black bears will try to get their cubs away from the danger...according to what I have read. But I'm not taking any chances.

    Populations have increased here in the mid-Atlantic due to wildlife management efforts. I just grabbed this from a 2014 article:
    Crazy, huh? There are people out my way who are angry that they can't call "somebody" to have bear relocated every time they see one.
     
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  13. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
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    I can't say for sure but I think they will remove one in the cities here. More for the bear's safety than the people's safety. I believe I have read about the wildlife people sedating a bear and moving it to a safer location.
     
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  14. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    When I first saw bear on my property I did some reading. The authorities removed one that wandered into the City of Virginia Beach some years ago. I imagine they would do the same thing if one wandered into Charlottesville or some of the larger towns where folks were not acclimated to such sites (or where the critter might be at risk.)

    We started having church services a few weeks ago, and an adolescent bear bounded across the property as we stood outside at 9:30 in the morning.
     
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  15. Ed Wilson

    Ed Wilson Veteran Member
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    Lots of black bears in this part of PA, some over 500 pounds bagged during hunting season. One will wander into town once in a while and the Game Commision will sedate and relocate them. Last year a bear in town ate some kind of decorative berry bush that was poisonous to bears and was found dead.
     
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