Bear Trapping Pics

[MonteMiles]

Sorry for the quality. Some are from point and shoot cameras and some are actually trail cams. All taken in Arkansas in the White River Wildlife Refuge

[a_bow_nut]

Now that's a adventurous looking way of life.

Cool looking bobcat too.

[killerbee]

story ABSOLUTLY NEEDED!

thats some pretty wild stuff!

[BIG R]

Pretty cool and wild

[MonteMiles]

Ok here goes the brief story. I worked a summer for the U. of Tennesse in connection with the Arkansas Game and Fish Dept. We were getting a population estimate for the White River Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. In about 5 months we caught 50+ bears. Most were caught using a snare trap, however a couple were caught using the culvert trap. We would basically hang bait (beaver, fish, etc) from a tall limb of a tree about 8-10 ft off the ground in 2 different locations about 20 feet apart. In between the 2 baits we would build a wall of trees and limbs. And bears are just like humans.....they are lazy. So rather than going around the 50-60 ft wall of trees they would go through the small gap between the wall. In that gap there were stepping sticks, so we could basically guide the bear into our trap since we only want to catch the bear by the front legs. We would dig a hole about 10 inches deep and 8 inches wide. Along side the hole there was a spring and a snare attached to it. So the bear smells the bait....comes into the set and gets pissed because the bait is just out of reach. So he smells the other chunk of bait and heads that way. Steps right over the 2 trigger sticks and right into the hole. Spring is set and magic.....bear is caught. We check the traps 1 a day. Once we catch one we do the work-up. We start by putting them to sleep with the jabstick (in the pics). We would then draw blood, find a weight and length, hair sample, ear tag, lip tattoo and radio collar. After about a 30 min work up we give the reversal drug and watch the bear walk off.

On occassion it didnt work so good. There was one bear in particular that was a pain in my arss! He was the bear in the pic with my hand. After we finally caught him he was one of the biggest bears ever caught in the state. Cant remember the exact weight but it was over 500lbs. But he smart, he would ignore the wall traps. We then used vegetable oil/dog food mix in a barrel. In front of the barrel was the same small hole and snare. Behind and to all the sides was heavy brush. Instead of doing like most bears and entering from the front he would swat all the brush away and drag the barrel like 20 ft and then eat the bait. This happened time and time again. He was always patterning us....creepy. We would check the traps mid-morning. On 2 different occassions I was setting the trap (which usually took 20 mins or so) and about half way through I would stand up and look around and he would be right there stairing at me. One time he wasnt more than 10 yds from me in some thick brush. Mind you I was prolly 3 to 4 hrs from the nearest hospital. And we were in a wildlife refuge ( no guns allowed, I carried a pocket knife!) We would park our ATV approx 200 yds from the trap site. The one time he would cut me off everytime I would head to my quad. I tried yelling at him but that didnt work at all. He never really charged he would just cut me off everytime. He would work his way in between me and the quad. Never getting closer then 10 yds. I just circling the quad waiting for my chance. This went on for about 10 to 15 mins. Finally I got to a spot about 20 yds from my quad where I could sprint to it. He was about 30 to 40 yds away at that time. I ran and made it and he never moved a muscle, just starred at me. Needless to say I got the burn out of there. We finally caught that guy by putting a fake trap in front of the barrel and putting the real trap in the thick brush to the rear of the trap. Some bears would freak out once you approach to jab them (some of the pics, including the one where it was about 10 inches from getting my coworker) and other bears including the big one would just sit there.

It was experience I will never forget thats for sure. It was a blast!

[a_bow_nut]

Does the bear in the first picture have mange?

[MonteMiles]

No. Just very very old and rubbed out do to it being the middle of summer.