Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Bear vs Shagbark

I got these game camera photos of a little black bear...



He walked by the camera not 2 hours after I had put it up. I think he is the same bear that decided to shred this shagbark hickory as well. Why, I have no clue...

Very cool photos CJ, you might want to size them down a little though.

Less than two hours after the camera went up? Dang.

Oh and what kind of game camera do you have?

I keep forgetting that slower internet speeds can make bigger pics an issue. Sorry!

Yeah, I was surprised at how fast the bear came by. I rarely get day time photos of them. I think he is young and dumb still. He needs a hunting season or two under his belt...

It's Moultrie brand. Similar to the kind Greg Grimes sells. I believe the I-40. They are a hair over $200. I have 3 and they are great. Batteries last forever, good picture quality and never had much issue with them other than when the bear chews on them.

Good pics! I've got an I-40 and the display took a dump on it. 3-4 weeks turn around time, so it's out in the woods now. Hopefully it'll remember the settings from last year. I just put new batteries in it, turned it on and set it out. I'll look at it tomorrow & see if it took any pics.

Nice pics of the teddy bear CJ, their population is growing rapidly up here. Last month I was walking up from the pond and a small bear was strolling down the driveway at 12:30 in the afternoon.
How long does your game camera work on it's battery?, mine would only last about 5 days on the c-cell batteries so I hooked it up to a lawn tractor battery.

Yes, the bear population is booming in PA and VA it seems. The last 5-10 years has seen them come from rare to obnoxious! I can get about 2 months and 8000 photos on 6 D cells in good conditions. In really cold conditions or lots of night time photos, about 6 weeks and 6000 photos. That is one of my biggest likes about this model camera.

Yea, my camera is 5 years old and it was cheap, I see so many deer, bear, and turkey live I haven't used it in 2 years.
I'm still waiting to see a moose, but they've been spotted less than a mile away.

A moose would be interesting! We've got a few wild pigs now since some escaped from a canned hunt high fence hunting operation a few miles away and starting breeding in the wild. There are some elk in PA but they are a ways north of us.

I enjoy running the game cameras. It is very entertaining... Made several mock scrapes, I hope I get some good photos, videos over them when I check my cameras over the next couple weeks.

The video's are really neat, my only complaint is that the time of day isn't stamped on the video's in my trail cams.

I've made a lot of excuses to drive 140 miles (round trip) to see what was on the cameras.

CJ thanks for sharing great pics.

scott since you can't see screen just remmber when you turn on the 140 to hit the button twice to get it to camera mode not program mode. supposed to do that automatically my does not. 800 pics so far this fall same abtteries in the I40.

Greg:

Thanks. I'll check the camers in a little bit and see if it took any pictures. It's about 1/4 mile from the house.

Why is the bear population on the increase? Less hunting pressure, climate related, food related?

Mine is the same way, it doesn't mark it directly on the video but when I open it with my Microsoft picture viewer, in the lower area where the picture opens, all the details are show to include when the video was taken.



Not really sure Cecil... I don't think it has much to do with hunting pressure. In the last 5 years, they've broken the yearly harvest record 2 or 3 times. They also allowed the taking of bears in the second weekend of rifle season for deer in many areas of the state which was huge. 15 years ago, we rarely if ever saw bear sign on our property. Now they have just become obnoxious, as they tear into everything and break stuff. Hunting PA bear is a challenge though.

Same here, the bear take has increased but not enough to decrease the population. I talked to an encon officer recently and he mentioned that the berry crop this year has been poor and expects more problems with nuisiance bears.
Personally I think its global warming.

Correction you mean climate change due to man made effects resulting in weather extremes both warmer and colder. Look at all those new record highs and lows and droughts and massive rainfall events.

I was tempted, but didn't want to ruffle the moderators.

P.S. Make sure you have plenty of fuel for this winter.

Yeah I know what you mean.

No worries here, we have geothermal. We don't burn fossil fuels at this house.

I think fossils are way to cool to burn. Didn't know they'd burn anyway.
I burn wood .. after I kill the tree.

Well, after checking the trail cam, I do have pictures, but of the trail. I have it set to take pictures down a trail, if looking at a clock, the camera is at 6:00 and the trail runs from 1:00 to 7:00. I had it set in burst mode, where it would take 3 pics from one triggering event. In all 3 picture bursts, the 3rd pic is completely white. The camera did go to taking pictures when turned on, so that's good. I'll make a decision in a few days on whether to send it in asap or wait 'till after season. I never had a whiteout problem with it before, although I know it was a problem with this model.

Great pix Travis...way cool. Looks like I'm going to need to buy a few game cameras now!

Question - would birds as small as quail or pheasants trigger the camera? I wanted to set up some milo and corn spots and see what happens. Am I even on the right track?

I've had squirrels and Blue Jays trigger my I-40 set approx. 20 ft away.

I have had all sorts of animals set the camera off. Lilke esshup, things as small as squirrels and bluejays have set them off. Even smaller juncos have. I have been trying for a couple years to get the VERY FEW wild pheasants we have around our hunting camp on camera to no avail. Some other smaller but interesting critters I have gotten...

Bobcats:


Gray foxes:


Coyotes:


World's Largest Housecat(Tan, watch yourself):


I love looking at game camera photos, so if you do get a camera TJ, please post the photos you get.

TJ, I get lots of squirrel and crow pics.

I really like the picture of the Bobcats, you don't see them very often. Up here I see their tracks in the winter but haven't seen them live.