View Full Version : Black bears in Maryland?
Programbo
11-26-2007, 22:32
I was hiking up on the AT in Maryland over the weekend and stopped in the Pine Knob Shelter just north of I-70 and as I was reading the log book I saw an entry from someone who says they woke up at 3:00AM to find a black bear digging thru their pack.....Does this sound possible or likely for this particular shelter/location? :confused:
Lone Wolf
11-26-2007, 22:39
uh yeah. western maryland has tons of bear
dessertrat
11-26-2007, 22:45
Could happen. Seems a bit bold for a Maryland bear, but this time of year, it is getting cold and they are hungry, looking to bulk up for the winter. My new motto is "be bear aware, but not bearanoid."
It's very easy to mistake a hiker for a bear or even a Sasquatch. They all smell the same and have the same amount of hair.
Programbo
11-27-2007, 20:13
uh yeah. western maryland has tons of bear
I know western Maryland has bears (Garrett and Allegany Counties for instance are home to most of the states estimated 250-450 black bears) but this shelter is in the foothills right outside Frederick Maryland which is basically a well populated area..I wasn`t aware bears had made their way that far east as they were almost extinct in the state awhile back....I checked with the Maryland DNR and appearently there have been a big increase in bear sightings in this area :eek:
Plus they had the whole summer to train them.
My sis lives in MD and said they had reinstated bear hunting in MD because the population was up... she also had a bumper sticker on her car... "Fight for your right to arm bears." (she works for the SPCA)
My sis lives in MD and said they had reinstated bear hunting in MD because the population was up... she also had a bumper sticker on her car... "Fight for your right to arm bears." (she works for the SPCA)
Brushy Sage
11-27-2007, 21:22
I lived in the Catoctin Mountains just north of Frederick from 1987 to 2000. There were occasional bear sightings then, including one that ran across the road in front of me.
What's the price of bear gall bladder on the chinese market these days?
Jim Adams
11-27-2007, 22:12
I stayed in that shelter in 2002 after a long day and night at the Dog Patch...good sized copperhead stayed on top of the back wall rafter.
geek
take-a-knee
11-27-2007, 23:22
MD doesn't allow a hunting season for bears I believe, hence you have bold bears unafraid of humans.
Lone Wolf
11-27-2007, 23:23
MD doesn't allow a hunting season for bears I believe, hence you have bold bears unafraid of humans.
MD had one this year
take-a-knee
11-27-2007, 23:28
MD had one this year
I stand corrected, I believe the bambiists had the bear season hung up in court for a few years. Maybe it was New Jersey.
Flush2wice
11-27-2007, 23:29
MD had one this year
I think they have had one since 2004.
MD doesn't allow a hunting season for bears I believe, hence you have bold bears unafraid of humans.
Oh yea they do!
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/huntersguide/BearHunt_BearRegs.asp
take-a-knee
11-28-2007, 00:28
Oh yea they do!
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/huntersguide/BearHunt_BearRegs.asp
Well that is a good thing because if you have a healthy population of bears with a hunting season that means...well, you'll have a healthy population of bears. I guess that seems counterintuitive to some but it really isn't.
I saw 2 bears on the train from DC to MD so mabye one of them is the one seen on the trail.
I stayed in that shelter in 2002 after a long day and night at the Dog Patch...good sized copperhead stayed on top of the back wall rafter.
geek
Any rodent issues?
NICKTHEGREEK
11-28-2007, 10:53
I saw 2 bears on the train from DC to MD so mabye one of them is the one seen on the trail.
They often ride the train into town to visit friends and relatives at National Zoo. The hard part is coming up with the tickets, thus all the looting at shelters.;)
Actually they have been seen in Montgomery County looting trash cans this year.
Jim Adams
11-28-2007, 11:03
Any rodent issues?
Actually there were mice outside of the shelter but I never saw one inside and didn't have a problem with my food.:cool:
geek
Pedaling Fool
11-28-2007, 11:19
My sis lives in MD and said they had reinstated bear hunting in MD because the population was up... she also had a bumper sticker on her car... "Fight for your right to arm bears." (she works for the SPCA)
Does bear taste like chicken?
They often ride the train into town to visit friends and relatives at National Zoo. The hard part is coming up with the tickets, thus all the looting at shelters.;)
Actually they have been seen in Montgomery County looting trash cans this year.
Once again, the trashcan looters just may have been hikers. You can't be sure unless you produce a body.
Jim Adams
11-28-2007, 12:17
Bear is very greasy, strong wild taste but good fat content.
geek
Bear is very greasy, strong wild taste but good fat content.
geek
They used to use bear grease to lubricate wagon axles.
Jim Adams
11-28-2007, 14:21
Mountainmen, prospectors and frontiersmen would always try to shoot or trap at least 1 bear for winter. They would eat moose, elk and deer but these animals were so low in fat that you could literally eat them everyday until you starved. They needed the fat from the bears.
geek
Mountainmen, prospectors and frontiersmen would always try to shoot or trap at least 1 bear for winter. They would eat moose, elk and deer but these animals were so low in fat that you could literally eat them everyday until you starved. They needed the fat from the bears.
geek
I think the Donner party found a solution for that problem....:eek:
Bear is very greasy, strong wild taste but good fat content.
geek
I had bear meat on a scout trip at Worthington State Forest campground near DWG. One of the dads brought it back from a hunting trip to Maine. It was the tenderloin, he marinated it and grilled it. I was a little concerned, because I've often seen bold bears in that area, and I was afraid they might be irritated by us enjoying the flesh of some distant relative from the Maine woods. But, I have to say, this was tasty stuff, and we still comment on how delicious it was. (Of course it WAS the tenderloin!) We even had a vegetarian scout who tried it and loved it. The kid isn't a REAL vegetarian, though. He doesn't like veggies either! He just doesn't like meat and eats only bread and cheese -- and bear, apparently.