Question about scat

[follow maggie]

So I'm new to bear hunting this year & was out today practicing what I read in Saylean's new book. A question I have is trying to age scat, to tell about how old it is. I came across this pile about the size of my boot. The color is a pretty bright red, only a little darker than the berries on the plants. It was really dry, but still firm. I was thinking it's probably a couple days to maybe a week old. Is that a reasonable guestimation?

[Machias]

Depending on weather conditions, but that looks quite old to me, maybe a couple of weeks old.  Just a guess though.

[KFhunter]

hard to tell from the picture, it's been so hot and dry too.  A better way to age might be to see what's in it.  If it's mostly grass then it was probably from this spring.  If it's full of seeds then by knowing when those berry's come ripe will help. Small little thimble berry seeds most likely early summer

If it's apples then it's going to be pretty fresh as the bears are moving into orchards and hitting the wild apple and fruit trees now.   

[bearpaw]

It looks really old, most likely that bear is eating something different by now. You are on the right thought pattern but keep looking around for fresher scat and/or padded out trails. 

[follow maggie]

Thanks, guys