I'm not sure about rutting activities, but I've had a few bears pass through my property recently after several months of not seeing any.
A few weeks ago one destroyed mine and my neighbor's garbage cans that were put out by the road the night before garbage pickup (which comes around 6am). I tried to be a good citizen and reported it to WDFW. I figured they would want to know if there are bears causing problems. Well I got a long email back from them with instructions about how to live with bears and to lock up my garbage better. They also ended with a notice that baiting bears is illegal, whether intentional or not. And implied that by not securing my garbage better I could be prosecuted for baiting bears. I was pretty shocked. I didn't know it could be a crime to put my garbage can by the road for pickup. Needless to say I don't think I will be reporting any problem animals to them....ever again.
Today on my way to work I noticed a neighbors garbage can got ransacked by the bear last night....about 1/2 mile down the road from my house.
