I have read that lack of available food is what drives bears to den up, not temperature. Assuming this is correct, I am wondering what effect the predicted snowstorm on Wednesday night is going to have. The weather report I heard this AM was calling for 6" plus of snow for Sussex County. This can not be good for the upcoming hunt.
Will bears be denned?
njdeerhunter54
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I have read that lack of available food is what drives bears to den up, not temperature. Assuming this is correct, I am wondering what effect the predicted snowstorm on Wednesday night is going to have. The weather report I heard this AM was calling for 6" plus of snow for Sussex County. This can not be good for the upcoming hunt.
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No it is not the best case scenario. Keep the baits fresh with FOOD not just scent. The good thing is today will warm the ground and the snow should not stick around. As far as denning I don't believe the one bump in weather is gonna push them underground. One of the pluses to the populated state is Garbage cans and dumpsters are within reach of every bear in the state
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It's all going to depend on how quickly it melts after it falls. There's no way to know, but I can promise you that not all bears will be denned even in the toughest of early winters by 6 Day. Weather conditions on the opener tend to be the driving force behind the overall 6 days' final numbers. Opening day is and always will be the key day to starting out the week with a lot of bears killed. The last 2 opening days in north Jersey were horrific for hunting with dense fog and rain (?) if I recall correctly. I recall not being able to see much more than 30 yards much of those two opening days for much of those two days. That's Sussex County.
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i believe it has more to do with food and specific time of year and not the weather. a little snow does not matter. weve had plenty of snow and cold weather prior to opening days some years and thier were plenty of bears out. the years weve had warmer temps prior to opening days, i observed the exact same bear movement/ habits. low mass crop and time of year is going to den the bears. never forget we are hunting bears in december!!!
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let me send a text to Yogie the bear and ask him
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Pregnant sows will be going in this week or next. The rest will stay out as long as food is available.
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Winter storm watch posted for 4-8" wed 8am to Thursday 8am
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Where did you read this.
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I suggest reading Susan's book. She's a noted authority on the subject of black bears.
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Glad I'm not the only one. I know they aren't getting killed because they show up the again. I've got a sow and twin cubs left. Slim pickings pretty early this year.
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Got a pic of a 200-250 pound bear last week, but just at the corn block, not baiting specifically for bear. Saw a few big ones earlier in Sept. and Oct.
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I had 350 pics this past week over my bait, the previous week I had over 500 pics. Not as many daytime pics either. I hope the forecast is wrong.
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Trudhiem, I do not recall all the places that I have read about "lack of food" being the biggest factor in when a bear decides to den up, but On the DF&W website under "bear biology" they say lack of food and severe weather.
As a general rule the bigger older bears will be the last to den. That being said the dates bears go into hibernation usually don't vary by more than a few days year to year no matter what the weather or food situation is. Meaning if bear A goes in on Dec 11 chances are bear A will go in roughly the same time for years to come.
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