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I'm seeking confirmation of what I was told about scat identification.
There are four types of scat where I'm hunting I'm concerned with.
1) I'm sure is dog.
2) I'm sure is deer, small piles of black pellets like large rabbit turds.
3) Coyote, formed like dog but filled with fur and small bones.
4) What I had thought was bear, but then convinced myself it's deer (because there is so much of it) and now again believe it's bear.
It's the bear I'm confused about. It's berries, purple in color and filled with seeds and undigested berries. We've had a bumper crop of wild berries this year, and this stuff is everywhere. In years past I assumed it was bear, but because there is so much of it and I couldn't believe there were that many bears in this area, I convinced myself it was deer. Maybe they eat the berries to, and the consistency of their poop changes from pellets to log.
This theory took a hit about 4 weeks ago when I found I giant pile of the berries poop, and the logs where 2 or 3 inches in diameter. I was like there is no way that came out of a deer. But because I have found no bear tracks or fresh tree scratches this year I convinced myself there is a large deer out there. I hunted yesterday, and now there are lots of huge piles of berry poop.
When I got back to the truck the old man who owns a small plot of the forest for his own pleasure was out there. He has been helpful in the past, and he came out of his camp and we BSed. He told me there is a LARGE bear in there, and he has been trying to get him. He told me deer don't eat the berries, only the leaves of the berry plants. All of those berry piles are bear. If true there are a number of bears in there, and one of them is a "big feller" as the old man put it.
Can anyone confirm this. If the old guy is right, and he should know because he's been hunting that area for much of his life, I am doubly motivated to keep at it on that mountain. There are bears in there and one them is a "big feller!"
There are four types of scat where I'm hunting I'm concerned with.
1) I'm sure is dog.
2) I'm sure is deer, small piles of black pellets like large rabbit turds.
3) Coyote, formed like dog but filled with fur and small bones.
4) What I had thought was bear, but then convinced myself it's deer (because there is so much of it) and now again believe it's bear.
It's the bear I'm confused about. It's berries, purple in color and filled with seeds and undigested berries. We've had a bumper crop of wild berries this year, and this stuff is everywhere. In years past I assumed it was bear, but because there is so much of it and I couldn't believe there were that many bears in this area, I convinced myself it was deer. Maybe they eat the berries to, and the consistency of their poop changes from pellets to log.
This theory took a hit about 4 weeks ago when I found I giant pile of the berries poop, and the logs where 2 or 3 inches in diameter. I was like there is no way that came out of a deer. But because I have found no bear tracks or fresh tree scratches this year I convinced myself there is a large deer out there. I hunted yesterday, and now there are lots of huge piles of berry poop.
When I got back to the truck the old man who owns a small plot of the forest for his own pleasure was out there. He has been helpful in the past, and he came out of his camp and we BSed. He told me there is a LARGE bear in there, and he has been trying to get him. He told me deer don't eat the berries, only the leaves of the berry plants. All of those berry piles are bear. If true there are a number of bears in there, and one of them is a "big feller" as the old man put it.
Can anyone confirm this. If the old guy is right, and he should know because he's been hunting that area for much of his life, I am doubly motivated to keep at it on that mountain. There are bears in there and one them is a "big feller!"