Bear travel?

[luvtohnt]

I have located a big beautiful cinnamon black bear I want to go after this fall. I know where his den is, and I saw him twice this weekend while turkey hunting. My question is will a bear stay close to it's winter den all summer, or do they move to different areas? I have seen tracks in this area almost every year but this is the first time actually seeing him. I am so pumped now I can't wait for August. Thanks for your responses in advance.

Brandon

[Abolt338]

Bears follow the resources.  If he has food, water, and shelter near by, and he's not disturbed by too much traffic, then there's no reason why he would leave.

Take away one of those factors and you never know.

RW

[KillBilly]

I have located a big beautiful cinnamon black bear I want to go after this fall. I know where his den is, and I saw him twice this weekend while turkey hunting. My question is will a bear stay close to it's winter den all summer, or do they move to different areas? I have seen tracks in this area almost every year but this is the first time actually seeing him. I am so pumped now I can't wait for August. Thanks for your responses in advance.

Brandon

If it is a Boar, you can bet it will be doing some traveling looking for breeding sows. Sows with cubs would be more likely to stay closer to places they know and can raise the cubs more comfortably. Needles to say, they will all be looking for feed in the spring and do some moving around also. Since you didn't mention any cubs, I will assume it is a boar and also assume that you may not see it again this year. Another thought is that territory and pecking order will have an effect on it's staying or leaving. Having said all of that, do your best to keep an eye on it and hope for the best.

[luvtohnt]

I assume it is a boar or unbred sow, no cubs and I got a good look at it's underside while it was sitting in the road staring at me, and couldn't see any sign of cubs feeding. He is also very large so I would guess he is the dominate boar around there although, I have never seen any other bears in there, so I guess I will have to spend alot of time keeping tabs on him so I can get him AUG 1st. Thanks again for all the comments

Brandon

[Kain]

What is the home range of an American black bear?
The home range of an American black bear can vary greatly depending on the location, the season, food availability, the density of individuals, and the sex and age of the individual in question. The home range of a male is normally larger than that of a female, and each male's home range will usually overlap the home ranges of several females. Generally, the poorer the habitat, the larger the home range must be in order to supply the bear with enough food, water, and shelter. While in some extreme instances a male American black bear could have a home range of over 100 square miles, a more typical size would be:

                                                                                                             [bgcolor=#FF1300]My estimate for where I hunt[/bgcolor]
                                               Male              8 - 60 square miles                    [bgcolor=#FF1300] 5-8 miles[/bgcolor]
                                               Female         1 - 15 square miles                       [bgcolor=#FF1300]1-3  miles[/bgcolor]

http://www.americanbear.org/Habitat%20-%20Home%20Range.htm

I looked up a couple other sites and they all had pretty much the same info.  My guess is on the west side the range is quite a bit smaller.  Lots of food down here where I live.  I see tons of fresh sign in the fall so there must be lots of bear sharing the same area or one bear that never leaves.  Probably a combo of lots of bears and very small ranges.

[Ray]

Interesting statistics which I always wondered about. That's a potentially huge area. I think that Killbilly seems to sum it up about right.

[SHANE(WA)]

They have collared bears up in NE WA , they had a few bears that ranged a long ways into canada, bears that made it to NW MT and came back.