Collared Bear - Updated - 7-6-09

[billythekidrock]

My brother and I went deer/bear scouting today and he spotted this collared bear at 2 pm out in a cut eating black berries. Not very big, maybe a little over 150 lbs.


 


He spotted it from the truck at about 300 yards so we stopped and took a few pics and watched him for a couple minutes before trying to get closer.

We drove partway and then walked with the wind in our face, but we never found him again. I think he heard/saw the rig and took off.

[actionshooter]

I wonder if his owner is looking for him   
Did you check the collar for a phone number?

[billythekidrock]

lol

Ya know, we tried. I tried to convince my brother to walk all the way around but he wanted to drive. 

[actionshooter]

lol

Ya know, we tried. I tried to convince my brother to walk all the way around but he wanted to drive. 

A few years ago he would have tried................

[billythekidrock]

lol

Ya know, we tried. I tried to convince my brother to walk all the way around but he wanted to drive. 

A few years ago he would have tried................

Yea, or a few weeks from now with a bow in his hand....then he would have listened.

[Kain]

Neat find.  Do you think you could get any info from WDFW about it?  They might only have one in that area.  There is nothing in the regs about it but is it OK to shoot a collared bear?

[billythekidrock]

I thought about contacting F&W about it, but I doubt they would tell me anything. Yes, it is legal to shoot an animal with a collar.

[Kain]

Your probably right but you would think they would welcome reporting collared animals and reward you with at least a little history on the animal.  Could be a nuisance bear the was relocated or might be from miles away.  Be neat to find out the story.

[billythekidrock]

Since it is on public land and I know they have had a fairly aggressive collaring program, I doubt he was a problem bear.

It probably has more to do with timber damage and the Black Bear Project.

[winston2789]

Very cool find Billy  I don't think theres a whole lot with collars on them!

[G.R.K]

Don't forget about the Tribes, they are doing alot of that these days.

[GWA Hunter]

Looks like the bear that was hopping fences over in ballard or shoreline a month ago

[h2ofowlr]

How close to you have to be, before you pick up that collar frequency on your scanner?   

[bearmanric]

cool billy have only seen collared elk and bighorn's. wife and Daughter's get home tonight at 12:30 am. now i can get out scouting.   Rick

[stringflinger4elk]

The only animal that I have ever seen with a collar on it was a cougar a guy we camp next to during archery elk shot last year he was able to callin the ear tag wich was WDFW tag and the collar number and they told him the preliminary stuff like the approximate age which was 11-12 years old (he got it last year) but they where going to forward him the history of that animal later after they processed all the info from the collar.  I think they have different types that data log stuff as well as the plain jane  type that are there for triangulation purposes. I've seen those types after they've fallen off or been removed since they design them to grow with the animal to a point when they wear out and fall off. the collar on that cat was rediculous as far as being bullet proof.
I'd post a photo on here but I am still new to this as far as getting pictures on here for posts. but if anyone could give the quick and dirty of it then I will give it a try later.
cool photo what time of day was it you saw this guy?




Ok I figuerd out how you guys do it finally but there it is my first pic post
I was trying to make it bigger without messing it up feel free to school me I have never posted pics like this before so it has been a challenge but now i get it sort of.

[Pathfinder101]

I see collared elk all the time.  Never seen a collared bear...  Cool pics!

[saylean]

Never seen a collared bear either. Cool man!

[beardown]

cool pic, a buddy and I were hunting in Grays Harbor and he shot a collared 2-pt blacktail about 5 years ago.  Game warden stopped us on the way home and took the collar.  We wanted to keep it for a trophy, but he said it was property of wdfw.  It had no markings on it.

[stringflinger4elk]

look back I got that cougar picture up I am no longer a picture posting retard.   damn that was easy ... after I figured it out anyway 

[tlbradford]

It looks lke they need to get a bigger collar on that guy.  Very cool photo.

[billythekidrock]

It is the first collared bear I have seen as well.

Today I called F&W to see if they could give me any info if I told them where it was. The receptionist is some guy who is not all there, but eventually he forwarded me to D. Mortorrello (sp?) and I got his machine. I left a message but didn't hear back.

[bow4elk]

I've got four different collared bears on my cams in the past year.  I'd love to know what you hear back.  We might want to compare notes about this bear off-line.

[h2ofowlr]

They typically colar the bears that have been relocated.  It may have been a bear trapped in a residential area and taken up to the woods.  If it returns to the area they put it down.

[billythekidrock]

They typically colar the bears that have been relocated.  It may have been a bear trapped in a residential area and taken up to the woods.  If it returns to the area they put it down.

The way I understand it, they typically ear tag nuisance bears.

This bear and the ones bow4elk has pics of are way too close to residential areas to have been nuisance bears and released.

Like I said before....

Since it is on public land and I know they have had a fairly aggressive collaring program, I doubt he was a problem bear. It probably has more to do with timber damage and the Black Bear Project.

[bow4elk]

Agree.  I have photos of one with a large white blaze, not 150 yards from a house.  Look close and you can see his antenna.

[Pathfinder101]

AHHH !!!  Alien Bear!!

[Machias]

Men in Black!!  Cool photo!

[JackOfAllTrades]

AHHH !!!  Alien Bear!!

Illegal Alien? Quick, call DHS! Terrorist! Terrorist! Migrant worker picking berries! Has he got a green card?  

-Steve

[billythekidrock]

So Donny M. from F&W never returned my call but I was able to get a hold of the guy who does the collaring. He was pretty busy so we didn't talk long but when I told him where I saw the collared bear, he knew exactly which one it was since it is the only collared bear in this area. This bear is a 122lb yearling sow that was recently captured about a mile away.

Even though I knew the answer, I asked if these were nuisance bears or part of an active study. Of course it was not a nuisance bear. He said that there is not a lot of info he can share right now since they need 3-4 years worth of data to make any conclusive findings.

He did say that they were surprised to find that the CF bears home ranges were much smaller then the bears in the Cascade range.

He also told me that they have 10 or 11 collared bears in the CF.

[uncoolperson]

pack of bandaids and a 6pack of beer to the guy that put a leash on that.

Way cool sighting.

[h2ofowlr]

Good info.  Years back I helped out when they trapped a bear, we put a colar on it at that time and relocated it.  Might have just been the crew at the Region 5 office doing a study as well.

[billythekidrock]

I got a call today from the bear bio in charge of the CF study. He was very nice and he spent quite a bit of time on the phone with me. Some of the things he mentioned.

He told me that they caught that bear on June 10th a “mile or two” from where we saw it and that it was about 135 lbs. (the other bio said 122lbs).

He confirmed that there are about 11 bears in the CF with collars and that they captured 6 bears in a 20-day period this June. They have collared 25-30 bears in the last few years. The largest was 365 lbs a couple years ago and it just lost its collar earlier this year.

Hunting is affecting the age class and the majority are young bears. He wants to cut back on hunting and to “get back to what it was”.

The average home range is 28 sq kilometers for sows and 45-50 kilometers for boars. The bears do not seem to cross the highways on three sides, yet they seem to filter in from the NW. This apparently goes along with a study done south of the CF in that the bears down there did not cross to the North.

The only thing I didn’t understand or really agree with was that he figured there were only 40 bears in the CF. I asked if he meant carrying capacity for 40 or an actual count of 40 and he said “40 bears”.  I guess I am pretty lucky to see a couple a year up there if there are only 40. Who knows? With the average home range being what it is, maybe I am seeing sign from single bears when I thought it might be multiple?

When asked about timber damage he said that they are learning that the feeding programs may not be the way to go. Feeding the bears keeps them healthy, healthy bears have more young, more bears damage more trees. They think that more hunting opportunities may be a better solution.

When asked if there was anything that hunters could do to help out he stated, “Get the word out” that they are doing a study. He also said to let everyone know that it is legal to shoot a collared bear or tagged bears and that he “doesn’t lose sleep” about people shooting them. He knows that is part of the deal. He also said that they do lose their tags or collars and that hunters should check inside the upper lip for tattoos. They used to only tattoo above the right canine, but now it can be on either side of the upper lip.

[saylean]

good info billy....thanks for passing it along.

[Kain]

Very cool.  Glad you looked into it and thanks for sharing.

[Jackjr]

Thats some cool info. Thanks for sharing

[winston2789]

interesting stuff! thanks billy. pretty sure there are a lot more then 40 bears though

[bow4elk]

Great info.  Like I said, I have four different bears on camera and a sow with three cubs (last year).  IF there are only 40 bears, then I've got 8 on my four trailcams.  I've spoken with this same guy (last year).  I didn't know they were collaring more this summer.  They did 10 last summer and I was hoping to help out with that effort.  I didn't have time.

[billythekidrock]

Great info.  Like I said, I have four different bears on camera and a sow with three cubs (last year).  IF there are only 40 bears, then I've got 8 on my four trailcams.  I've spoken with this same guy (last year).  I didn't know they were collaring more this summer.  They did 10 last summer and I was hoping to help out with that effort.  I didn't have time.

That is kinda what I told him. I mentioned "a couple guys with pics" (you and another site member) along with the couple I got on tcam. That is about a dozen on camera or   25% of the total population.

[Michelle_Nelson]

What was his response to that?