Bear Activity Continues To Pickup !

 

One of the new areas I set up trail cameras (TC’s)  last month has had quite a bit of bear activity. Two TC’s were set in a wetland with visible sign of skunk cabbage leaves being foraged on and fresh bear scat. The swamp has mountain laurel on the east side with a game trail skirting the edge of the swamp. The first TC was set hoping to catch bears moving along the swamps edge foraging on skunk cabbage. The second TC was set on a small old scent tree with a visible bear bite mark on it. Both TC sets have been active ! There are three bears in the area,  sow with one yearling, a younger bear with blue ear tag and a larger bear assumed to be a boar. The TCs were set April 20^th. On April 21^st, a yearling climbed the tree ( cover pic)  in front of the TC. Also , a second bear climbed the same tree  on April 22^nd. On May 2^nd, a large boar wandered through showing no interest in the tree that the bears had climbed. I’m not sure why the bears did that. It will be interesting to see if the tree has been climbed a third time with the next SD card check.

           

All my TC’s have been busy in North Central MA capturing black bears on the move. Of the twenty locations I have set up, nineteen  or 95%  have had bear activity, The one site that had no activity was a “ role of the dice” when setting it up. . There was nothing in the area to draw bears. The landscape was ascetically pleasing, and I was hoping to get a bear or two passing through. I pulled those TC’s , they’ll be better used elsewhere.

As of this morning my trail cameras have videoed 25 different bears.

Jim

Bear Activity Very Good !

 

Meet Scar, he ( assumed at this point) has a curved scar on his butt. His first crossing of this beaver dam was on April 16^th and is the only bear to trigger a trail camera in the area so far this year. Last Thursday after checking SD cards I bushwhacked around the swamp and found a bear scent marking tree with a small fresh bite mark on it. I didn’t think much about it until later in the day. With all the TC bear sets that I have made this year , this is the first area with fresh bear sign. On Friday morning I hiked back in with a TC to set up on the bite tree, was I surprised, to see the size of the bite mark now . 

Bite mark on Thursday

 The bear had visited the tree since my visit yesterday morning. 

Bite mark on Friday

It’s likely Scar who scent marked the tree on both days given its proximity to the beaver dam.

It will be interesting to see how many bears visit this site.

Jim

 

This scent marking post (snag) was found during the winter of 2025 while tracking a fisher. I was surprised to see  this snag was a communal scent post with a variety of different mammals leaving there scent, mice , longtail weasel, raccoons, foxes, and fishers. I often wondered why a coyote , bear or bobcat didn’t visited the scent post. Several weeks back, I pulled the trail camera and when reviewing the SD card was surprised to see what animals showed up.

Bear seems to be interested in the scent post.

The male fisher only visited the scent post a few times in 2026, and no female fishers visited the site at all. Likely the deep soft snow kept fishers travelling through the treetops, I will put another TC back out at this location later this year.

Male fisher checks scent post without leaving scent

The bobcat ( cover pic) was the first ever to visit this site (snag) leaving a quick spritz of urine. The bear didn’t leave any scent but appeared inquisitive.

I now have twenty “ TC Bear Locations” with eight of them ( 20%) having at least one bear passing by a trail camera this year. As of April 25^th, eleven individual bears have been videoed. The goal for the year is thirty-five bears. We are off to a good start.

Jim

 

Soon To Be On There Own

 

The cover picture with the family of three bears will be disbanding soon. With the upcoming mating season, the sow will send these  yearling cubs off on their own  soon, as she will be an eligible candidate during this  Springs mating cycle. Massachusetts prime  bear mating season typically starts mid-May to mid-June.

The two yearlings were born in January 2025. The first time these bears passed one of my trail cameras was in early June of 2025. The sow is small and has shown that she has the protective instinct to raise and keep both bear cubs safe for a year and a half in an area with many bears.

I always enjoy finding the first fresh bear sign of the year. This morning while making TC sets, I noticed a large bear scat pile, then a second. They were full of green matter suggesting that the bear had found a skunk cabbage patch. The bear also tore into a snag and rotten logs. A scent marking tree close by had fresh bite marks on it. I set a trail camera to watch the activity around the tree.

Jim

Bears On The Move - Off To Good Start

 

I was able to visit most of my TC sets last week to make final adjustments, and glad that I did. Most locations needed cleanup from the recent high winds with two sets having blown over trees in front of the cameras. I also moved two TC’s after reviewing full SD cards with nothing but squirrels on them .

Six  different bears have triggered TC’s so far this year with two of them coming from one of the new locations ( pic above). No sow with this year’s cubs  have passed any of my trial cameras.

I was glad to see skunk cabbage starting to sprout. Find a remote skunk cabbage patch and you’ll likely find signs of bears foraging.

No shortage of ticks this year. Treating clothes with Permethrin helps, but you still need to be mindful. I still wear long johns , pulling my socks over the bottoms and tucking in my shirt. I also wear gaiters treated with Permethrin.

Well , it’s great to be out each morning checking trail cameras and I am looking forward to seeing what adventures 2026 holds.

Jim

The Bear Counter Has Started !

 

                                                   The pic is bear number two for 2026

It is always nice to see the first bears of the year on my trail cameras. I still have not checked all my TC locations yet ,but there have been three different bears videoed so far. The first bear to trigger a TC was a distant sow with two yearlings. This was the same sow and yearlings that were the last bears to trigger a TC in November of 2025. This morning’s SD card check gave up bear number #3 . It looked like the resident bear of that area.

                                                       (above) New set at remote swamp

                                              (Above) Bear scent marking tree with bear bite

I was able to get to another deep woods TC set last week. I have been reviewing this swamp using Google Earth for months and contemplating whether it would be worth the time and effort to bushwhack into that area. I was not disappointed ! There was an abandoned beaver pond approximately two acres in size. The only remnants of beavers were a few submerged  beaver chewed branches. The pond is  secluded and remote. Hiking the swamps perimeter showed highbush blueberries along with  red oak trees. It looks like this will attract bears in July with the blueberries and fall with acorns. I also found a scent marking tree with a bear bite mark and set up a TC.

Jim

Busy Log Bridge

 

 My final trail camera location tally for 2026 is eighteen, and so far, no bears! I haven’t been able to check all the sets, so there’s still a chance to get a first 2026 bear TC trigger in March. Looking back through my records, at least one bear had triggered a TC in March since 2022.

What I did get last week was the busiest log bridge wildlife activity yet in a week, with everything from a mouse to a moose and many things in between (mouse, moose, red and gray squirrel, raccoon, mink, coyote, beaver, weasel, wood duck, and red shouldered hawk eating a frog).

I’ve received reports of bears on the move in my trail camera area and have seen more on Facebook. The milder temperatures early next week are sure to get what I call the “ Deep Woods Bears “ moving.

Jim