Sierra Nevada Black Bears - lots of 'em

[sierrahunter]

Just retrieved pictures from my trail cam in the Sierras. The camera had over 800 photos from the past couple of months. Most were of black bears. I especially like the photos from June 10. You'll notice by the time stamps that a big boar is walking within a minute's distance of a sow. A couple of hours later, another boar walks by. It's definitely mating season!

 

[dihardhunter]

Any black, black bears around? Those are pretty. Thanks for sharing.

 

[MT_elk]

Nice pics!

 

[sierrahunter]

Any black, black bears around? Those are pretty. Thanks for sharing.

That's an interesting question. In this part of the Sierra, I've never seen a black, black bear. In other parts, they do exist.

 

[hank4elk]

What area of the Sierras? I miss seeing real bears.
I've seen blue black with white chest blaze to those cinamin brown in the Sierras.
Saw several bleached blond ones in SLO county too,daddy must have sent them west to go to Poly....lol

These NM bears are such skinny dinks compaired to any I ever saw in CA, I've never bothered getting a tag.
Watched the local Warden and outfitters go thru the whole measuring proccess here several times and have to keep from laughing when I hear "Trophy Potential",they look like cub skulls to me...lol. Or a bear brought in and it barely covers part of the tail gate....

 

[sierrahunter]

This area is north of Tahoe.

I didn't realize NM had smaller black bears. I will say this much....after pulling a modest sized black bear out of the woods last year, I'm not anxious to shoot a big bear. It is a painful, lengthy, greasy process to get a bear out of the woods by yourself (as you might know). Last year, I could hear bears around me in the darkness as I skinned and quartered my bear through the night, which made it a bit more hair-raising than usual. I was absolutely exhausted when finished, and not sure what I would do if I took a really big boar.

Interestingly, I put a trail cam up at the bear gut pile last year and found all the local bears munching on their former buddy. Yum.

 

[hank4elk]

It's home of Smokey Bear but I have a feeling little smokey was a full grown NM bear,lol.
I really don't know how big, they might be,maybe 300lb for a big boar.

It is amazing how many there can be in certain areas of the Sierras ,and not just talking Park or town bears.
And personally speaking, black bears are way more dangerous and unpredictable than thought. I never turned my back on one.
I've encountered very sneaky aggresive black bears. Never know what they might do. At least with a Grizz,you know for sure.lol

 

[scottieoutwest]

Biggest bear I've ever seen was in the Sierras. Just west of Reno to be exact. Living in NY/PA for majority of my life it was a bit of a surprise to see such a big bear in the mountains.

 

[Paul j m]

Nice pics, great colours

 

[jquigley]

Hoping to stumble across one of these in a month or so.

 

[mtmander]

I like the colors on those bears

 

[big28hunter]

Great pics! I'd love to take a color phase bear. Not many here in PA. Thanks for sharing.