Critter visitor at my range

[contender]

Well, I had a visitor to my range yesterday morning. He decided to investigate my trash cans. Black & furry.

All I found was his tracks and the overturned cans.

Here's a picture of the tracks.

 

[gramps]

I bet it was a black bear! Lol

 

[RoninPA]

Looks to be a nice size, time to put a trail cam up at the range.

 

[Fox Mike]

Isn't lounging in the shed is it? Do bears s--- in the woods all the time?

 

[Johnnu2]

IT WAS ME............sorry about the mess.

J.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

Yep I have the same issue......we find the prints on the upper, lower and especially the side decks. My trash cans are locked up in a trash can bin thingy.....they bite it and leave teeth marks/holes and drag it a bit but can't get into it....so far. Aside from messing with the smoker/grill, stealing some tongs and knocking some stuff over they've been pretty polite this year....very unusual. Wonder what they are planning.....

 

[stonebuster]

Well, we just had one drop by 40 mts ago. Smarter than the average bear. I had small bird feeders suspended 8ft off ground over tree limbs with 80# saltwater fishing line & 8 ounce sinker on tail end. Squirrel proof. First feeder he reached by standing on hind legs but couldn't reach the other. He figured out he could pull the line with his paws, grab the line in his mouth while getting another grip on line. But feeder got stuck. If you look carefully, you can see the line.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

My only defense for bird feeders and suet cages is to bring them in every night.

 

[contender]

If that bear only knew what I do for a living,, he wouldn't be so brazen.

Today,, I had one of my shooters come down to help build stages for Saturdays match,, and as he went downrange,, he saw deer tracks. I chuckled & said; "Go about another 10 ft & check out those tracks!" He got surprised & took a picture of them too!

It's not a big surprise for me to see the tracks etc. And I do have cameras out,, but they are placed to watch important stuff.

 

[epags]

Makes the fact that we have a rabbit at our range insignificant.

 

[akbluz]

That one looks pretty tasty to me. I'd blast it for sure if it was at the cabin. In Game Management area 13 (and other areas) the black bear season is open year round and I believe the limit is 4 per year. Can't shoot a sow with cubs.

 

[mr.deerstalker]

thats not a paw print, here's a real one. almost 10in across....

 

[Justice B. Swift]

Looks like the tracks my neighbor made... were there knuckle drags too? Lol

 

[Hankus]

Well, we just had one drop by 40 mts ago. Smarter than the average bear. I had small bird feeders suspended 8ft off ground over tree limbs with 80# saltwater fishing line & 8 ounce sinker on tail end. Squirrel proof. First feeder he reached by standing on hind legs but couldn't reach the other. He figured out he could pull the line with his paws, grab the line in his mouth while getting another grip on line. But feeder got stuck. If you look carefully, you can see the line.View attachment 73871View attachment 73867

That’s one well-fed bear!

 

[contender]

I got a good chuckle at finding the tracks here. I see bears on my cameras enough to where I feel it's common. But knowing I have a match coming up tomorrow, and seeing all the tracks in the freshly watered dirt,, knowing that they will still be there tomorrow,, I'll get to see other folks react.
I see bears a lot more often than many because of our over population of them in certain areas. And of course,, now they are scrounging all over for food after the winter.

Nice big bear there Scott. That griz would freak out many of the locals if we had them roaming in Trasheville like we have the blacks.

And I know the tracks pictured are not from a really big bear. Just a common size around here. But they do visit my gun range,, and my joke is that one of these days I'll just use one as a target.

 

[Joey]

I got a good chuckle at finding the tracks here. I see bears on my cameras enough to where I feel it's common. But knowing I have a match coming up tomorrow, and seeing all the tracks in the freshly watered dirt,, knowing that they will still be there tomorrow,, I'll get to see other folks react.
I see bears a lot more often than many because of our over population of them in certain areas. And of course,, now they are scrounging all over for food after the winter.

Nice big bear there Scott. That griz would freak out many of the locals if we had them roaming in Trasheville like we have the blacks.

And I know the tracks pictured are not from a really big bear. Just a common size around here. But they do visit my gun range,, and my joke is that one of these days I'll just use one as a target.

Think of the possibilities....gun case, moccasins, coat, pants, a stoll for Miss Penny.................

 

[Armybrat]

Critter doing some beneficial cleanup in my suburban neighborhood….
(A million dollar house was built on that vacant lot since I took the photo)

 

[stonebuster]

That's one well-fed bear!

He's actually pretty small. We had a monster black bear coming here often for ten years but we haven't seen him since March and I think DEP killed him. He totally destroyed our neighbor's chicken coop & all the chickens last year, tore the door off their shed later on. The state is deciding now on a annual bear hunt to control the numbers. Twenty yrs ago we never saw one but now we see them 10-12 times between March and October in the yard.

 

[Joey]

That's gov'ment for you, too much or too little. Never just right....