Guess who woke up......

[caribou]

Its been dripping now for two days, and old tiimers here say its when Bears wake up, from the drips....so far, It seems correct.........Now the long Winters nap is over , at least for the first few. Cold will drive them back in, but this guy was streaching his legs

Came over the South ridge this morning about 6 am , towing my nephew home after a 2 am call, with his moms ride, and I was full power towing up the ridge and cresting it for the easy ride down. I crested at full power and brought the front down in landing , and nearly crashed into this guy. I actually hit the breaks and veared not to do so. Just over edge of the rocks and "Good Morning!"

He ran ito the clump of rocks, and I got out my camera as he came full circle and passed us by about 20 feet from where we stopped, and he didnt look back

His rear print is bigger than my sz11 Baffins.

I wanted to catch him right then and there, but then when we rode down the ridge a ways, and watched him cross the steep creek below and slowed so we had a second look, Nice indeed, and walking to a good spot to remove a load....but..... we decided he was too big to deal with, as well, I had no sled, no spare gas or fresh help, so we laghed a good one, said "See ya later!!!" to our friend and carried on home. Im gonna sleep early tonight ~~LOL!!~~.

 

[allaroundhunter]

This was at 2 AM??

I must say, Caribou, my sleep schedule would be so messed up if it was daylight for a full 24 hours haha....

I know I have said it before, but thank you again for the insight you give us to life up there, it is intriguing to say the least!


Does polar bear taste better after hibernation or after they have some time to get some food through them? Or does it make a difference?

And I have to ask....how cold is it up there right about now?

 

[caribou]

No, I was called at 2 AM and told Dave was sitting on the Selawik/Noorvik trail eating candy and wanting a ride home. I thought he was broken down and I would get gas from his tank
I rode his moms snowgo and picked him up, but he was out of gas, or I would have brought him some to drive hisself home with, insted I towed him anyway, and being 'iffy" on the gas, and dawn was apon us, I wanted to ride in a more direct rout than the trail, so I rode over the mountain insted of around it

The Video was taken before 7 Im thinking, because we rolled in about 7;45am., maybe an hour later.
The sun gos down , now, about 11 Pm, and rises around 6. in three weeks, well have light 24 hours, and in early May, the sun above the Horizon untill mid July, with the stars comming out again in the first week of August.

Its a Brown Bear, and they taste WAY better after a long Winters Nap.

Polar Bears dont hibernate unless they are haveing cubs. We do have denning female Polar Bears around, but we cannot Hunt them.

Right now its 25 above daytime, 10 at night. Our roofs are steamy and the snow has fallen from the trees, roofs and willows, and is compacting, crusting and getting very smooth...........Tee shirt weather compared to -61 last month.

 

[627PCFan]

-61? So much for still hunting

 

[SimplyChad]

I saw neg 39 this winter and things shut down. At neg 61 is there anything that will keep you warm?

 

[allaroundhunter]

At neg 61 is there anything that will keep you warm?

Setting your clothing on fire

But that is a question that I had, and I look forward to hearing from Caribou.

 

[SimplyChad]

allaround I too am from SE tx and I really dont know if I could survive that.

 

[allaroundhunter]

allaround I too am from SE tx and I really dont know if I could survive that.

I know for a fact that I couldn't haha....heck, when our temps get down to the upper 20's I start thinking that I'm going to die

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

LOL, you Texans, Floridians, Lower Alabama, and Other folks in the deeper southern regions wouldn't know cold! Hell, when it gets above 70* I start getting uncomfortable! Bring on the cold!!! You can always put on more clothes. Gets too hot, well you can only take off so much (legally )

 

[allaroundhunter]

Gets too hot, well you can only take off so much (legally)

You have apparently never been to a nude beach in S. Texas

To be fair I haven't either, and I have no wishes to go to one, just pointing out that we do what is necessary to survive the heat

 

[Art Eatman]

FFIL, when it gets to around 110F in Terlingua and a tourist asks if it's always this hot, the common answer is, "Well, it's warming up, nicely. We don't have to worry about frostbite, now. Summer'll be here before long." I'd agree that 118F is indeed a wee tad on the warm side.

The coldest I've seen down here is +2F. But I have seen a fair number of 60-degree changes during a day. 40 is very common.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

40??? Shoooooottttttt Thats T-Shirt and Shorts weather right der! Well OK mayyyybe long pants

 

[MCgunner]

That bear in the headlights story sorta reminds me of this....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdApyFlf6DU

Not a bear, but it's kinda funny.

BTW, mostly 80 degree days all winter here in Corpus this winter. We had a few cool snaps, but no freezes. Was great weather for the college kids during spring break, but I don't go down there to the island when the kids are there, don't wanna be embarrassed....

 

[SimplyChad]

The point of spring break is to be embassassed . Ya I think I saw freezing maybe 15 times in my life before I joined the army. Then I came here.

 

[allaroundhunter]

40??? Shoooooottttttt Thats T-Shirt and Shorts weather right der! Well OK mayyyybe long pants

No, we have 40 degree temperature changes in a single day. Meaning it can go from 80 to 40 degrees quicker than you thought possible.....Texas weather can be very unpredictable...

 

[Art Eatman]

Just before Christmas of 1983, a norther blew in. 75 in the afternoon. Then the world went to garbage: 11, the next morning.

I've seen sunrise temps during deer season, maybe high 20s. By 2PM? Around 80, even 85. Think layers. Lots of layers.

But I gotta say that if I want hard water, I have this big box in the kitchen which has all I want.

Overall, though, your body gets acclimated to a temperature range. No big deal. Fun to talk about. Down-south desertrats just have a different deal than folks up in the snow country.

Looks like playing tag with Big Bears can be fun--when it all works out okay.

 

[RevGeo]

Yep, the bears are wakin' up. Here in Idaho (where we are no strangers to cold weather) spring bear season is 2 weeks away. Time to sight-in the old 30-40AI and start getting that bait I've been saving all winter ready to go.
I've got an open invitation from a houndman friend to chase bears with him and his dogs, but I think I'm getting a little old for that. We shall see...

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Awwwww Rev, your NEVER to old to chase hound songs! Now granted you may have to carry you a small oxygen tank to suck on a little but hell, it's STILL fun!

 

[RevGeo]

I hear ya, FF. Talked to my hound hunting buddy yesterday and he said he has a 21 year old grandson who will chase the dogs while we sit in the truck until the dogs tree a bear. The grandson will call on the radio (no cell service in these mountains) and we can mosey on over to the spot. Sounds like a plan to me. I can leave the O2 tank at home, I reckon.

 

[paintballdude902]

have u ever gotten a polar bear?

 

[caribou]

No Polar Bear personally, Im not a Federally qualifyed Subsitance user thats a member of a Native alaskan Tribe that Tradionally Hunts Polar Bear that resides on the coast.
Not just "any Native" can fly up and shoot a Polar Bear, you must live on the coast, salvage the meat for eating and hide for sealing. Same for all Marine Mammles, Bowhead Whales to Ring Seals, thay are only allowed to be hunted for food.That eliminates 99% of those who would hunt them, and now its very limited as between Russia and America, there can only be 58 human killed Polar Bear now, as they are fast dissapearing with the ice. Bwteen AK and Russia there is open ocean, and the ice recceds so far north as to be over DEEP ocean that marine Mammles that the Polar Bear hunts and eats do not have the ability to dive and feed. Its looking like the islands of the Northern Canadian acheplagio will be where the Bear survives when the ice is gone.

I live up Kobuk River Delta, and female Polar Bears come to us, when denning on the mountain behind town, but we cannot hunt them.

In days gone by, my fatherinlaw, would hunt Polar Bears on the Beaufort Sea, on the shifting icepack, in the Polar Darkness with 3 trained dogs tpo distract the Bear while he used his .25-35 Winchester '94 and shot them in the temple. His best year was 31 Bears.As well, he would drive his dogs in a 20 mile or so circle dragging a flayed dead Seal to his camp, and the Bears came to him.

My in laws hunt Bears, and my oldest son, who lives on the coast in the southern Kotzebue Sound, but recent years he hasnt see one at all.

The Kotzebue Sound was once the "Polar Bear Capitol of the world, now they are all but gone in the last 15 years.