Big Bear Poop

[Rob]

Did a little Bear hunting in Oct. (Picked up a smallish bear).

Found piles and piles of massive poop.  Two interesting things:

Photo 1 is a bit of poop next to my rifle to show scale against my 50MM objective! 

Photo 2 was some kind of bear nest (we called it poop hinge).  It looked like a large bear (sow probably) had pulled in a bunch of grass into a large pile (6/7 feet across?) and then sat in the middle making a kind of grass doughnut.  This was odd in and of itself, but what was even stranger was that there were no fewer than 28 piles of massive bear poop equally distributed in a circle around the grass nest - like markers on a clock.  Only one pile of cub poop in the bunch, the rest was from a very large adult bear.

I found one more similar spot in this area.  It was a hollowed out area in a bush, and all around the spot where it would have been laying down were more of those massive piles of bear poop - probably 10+ piles


Anyway, I know this crowd appreciates good poop photos so thought I would share!

[jrebel]

Wow....this is s a first for me!!  Never seen anything like this in the woods.  Anywhere to put a cam to see what is making that mess next year?? 

[Rob]

Probably could, but it is a complicated place to get to and quite a drive.  I have thought about it for sure!

here is the one in the bushes.

[Mtnwalker]

This belongs in the samsquanch thread!

[Gringo31]

I'm impressed. 

[Duckslayer89]

Did it have something burried under the grass maybe

[jrebel]

Did it have something burried under the grass maybe

I was thinking, maybe the opening to its den?? 

[bearpaw]

Looks like bear bedding areas, the bear probably had a good long term food source and was just bedding up in those spots during daytime and eating at the food source during the night. The food source could be someone's bait or perhaps some apple trees. What was in the poo might tell you what he was eating and provide clues where to watch for him at dawn or dusk?

[hunter399]

I have seen bear poop like that before.
I believe it was a 50 acre patch of elderberry.
I did run into the bear,I was doing tree work,and was not hunting at the time.
I agree with everyone, definitely a food source near by.
Most likely bear is not far away,be alert in areas like that.

[Rob]

I kicked the grass around a bit and nothing under it.

I agree they were bedding here - the food source is without a doubt Russian olives.

[boneaddict]

I’ve seen it a couple times.  It’s definitely an eye opened and impressive.   One was a grizz at high altitude in the cascade, feeding mostly on willow roots and picas and maybe white pine.   The amount of poop in a small area was staggering, and it had a bed with grass as well.

[callturner]

Looked like a hippie nest.

[LDennis24]

That sounds like the tell tale signs of Hillary Clinton having a picnic...

[MeepDog]

At first glance it looks like a kill site where it caught something of a reasonable size and sat around and ate it, then rooted up the grass to eat all the last little bits.

[Okanagan]

I've seen something similar, with even more poop in a smaller area, on Vancouver Island.  We saw a large black bear within 60 yards of the "bed". 

It was a flat spot 4 or 5 feet across on a hillside, under old growth firs and up against the base of one.  It was clearly a bed where the bear had lain for at least a week or two.  He had pooped just off the edge of the flat spot so many times that it practically made a ring around it, plus more poop a step or few away.  It did not seem to be a kill site, or not a recent one anyway, but rather a spot where he liked to spend much of his time.  It was a good hidden overlook less than 100 steep and deadfall covered yards above a main logging road.

[okie john]

Threads like this are the reason I keep coming here.


Okie John

[Bearhunter308]

Bears will sometimes return to the same spot to poop if they feel comfortable there- kind of like their bathroom area. I’ve found an area under a big cedar tree with many piles of poop (although not 28, that’s impressive!) If I remember, some were older and some newer. I’ve also found same pile with multiple stages of aged poop (old on the bottom of pile, new on top, like the animal was returning to the EXACT spot to do its business.
If memory serves right, Douglas Boze talks about this in his book “No Bait, Just Bears”. He’s another Washington hunter, but not sure if he’s a member of this site.

Glad to see I’m not the only one taking pictures of bear poop in the woods

[paguy]

It is a spot where the bear has decided to kinda hibernate. Not all the bears around here den up in a hole and sleep the whole winter away. I have seen this in alot of places on the peninsula. They sleep for awhile and get up on occasion and wander around then go back to there spot and sleep for awhile.

[LDennis24]

Oh cmon guys, it was definitely Hillary, one pile for each trip Bill made to Epstein Island. 

[dilleytech]

That’s an interesting bear nest. Definitely is one just interesting. Most of the bear nests I have found are in the dirt. They look like someone pushed a state dish into the earth. And they are usually under some thick brush. Finding a bed like that in the open would be a real treat for killing the bear. My guess is the one small pile you describe was not a bear but a coyote marking the spot. My dog does the same thing.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Thanks for posting.  Haven't seen this subject come up on here. The bed part that is. Poop on the other hand.................. That's alot of poop and big poop.

[dilleytech]

Thanks for posting.  Haven't seen this subject come up on here. The bed part that is. Poop on the other hand.................. That's alot of poop and big poop.

That is a lot. Must have been a really good food source and it was there for awhile. Most piles around a bed I have ever found was maybe 8-10.

[buckcanyonlodge]

I have found bear bedding areas. Mostly heavy fir thickets or Hawthorne thickets. Lots of poo all around the actual bedding spots....up here depending on the time of year the poo is mostly wild plum pits...Like.......I heard this bear before I saw this...Ha    Not really but I'm sure there was some noise with this one.

[callturner]

Ha, looks like it was taking Metformin

[Bearhunter308]

That’s a doozy😱 Get that bear some Imodium!

[Humptulips]

Time for a funny bear poop story.
Probably happened sometime in the 90s. I was trapping on Joe Cr a couple miles as the crow flies inland from Pacific Beach. There was a clearcut that as was common at the time had a fire trail around it. Just in off the road on said fire trail there was a hollow log facing the trail and it looked like a good place for a bobcat set. The trail, cat blade width was bordered by a thick growth of brush as is common along the coast so one side of trail had the hollow log with some bait in it and a trap set in front of the log. The other side was a wall of brush.
I had seen signs of a bear being out even though it was December. The winter huckleberries were loaded that year, and the bear was taking full advantage of the bounty of bright blue berries.
Came to look at the trap and I had a good laugh. The trap was sprung and opposite it on the wall of brush it looked like a bucket of blue paint had been fired out of a cannon. I could just see that bear sauntering up to get the bait and the surprise when it sprung the trap. Literally scared the **** out of it.

[buckcanyonlodge]

I bet he was shi***n and getting.......I shot at a coyote in the snow and went over to where it was when I shot. I missed but there was coyote crap spewed for 25 yards as it took off like a greyhound.

[Barehunter]

looks like what bears would do when baited.eat water sleep repeat. that bear has great food source.

[TeacherMan]

I have found bear bedding areas. Mostly heavy fir thickets or Hawthorne thickets. Lots of poo all around the actual bedding spots....up here depending on the time of year the poo is mostly wild plum pits...Like.......I heard this bear before I saw this...Ha    Not really but I'm sure there was some noise with this one.

That’s funny 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Machias]

Last time I found a spot like that I sat down and started predator calling with one of Rainshadow's calls.  Killed a nice chocolate colored bear literally 6 minutes later.

[theunseenvw]

Did you by chance find a healthy food source or recent kill near by? Seems if they find a place near a good food and water supply, they post up and make a floor hammock and poop all over in it.

[Rob]

Definitely a food source where it was camped.

[jneilson]

There are huge piles at my place. We have lots of elderberries.