# tray mountain



## hunter209 (Oct 16, 2013)

Done a load of research but they are all either outdated or not the answer.  Hows the bear population in tray mountain this year. Has anyone spotted any?


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## David Parker (Oct 16, 2013)

UnicoiDawg would know.  He's up that way.  Only bear I eer saw around Helen / Lake Burton area was on Tray....Tre....Trey...wtvr


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## Dana Young (Oct 16, 2013)

plenty of bears on tray


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## hunter209 (Oct 16, 2013)

Thanks for the fast replies. Sounds like we will have a good time out there. How does bear move on a cloudy/rainy day vs a sunny day? Would they still be active or do they find shelter?


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## 270tikka (Oct 16, 2013)

What about sitting in a stand vs stalking on tray mountain? This is gonna be my first time out to tray mountain with hunter209 any inputs would be greatly appreciated.


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## tree cutter 08 (Oct 16, 2013)

Gona neednto find some acorns or you'll be wasting your time. Check way up high.


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## KPreston (Oct 17, 2013)

The acorn crop on Tray Mtn is poor. You need to look for fox grapes. That's where I am finding them.  --KP--


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## hunter209 (Oct 17, 2013)

KPreston said:


> The acorn crop on Tray Mtn is poor. You need to look for fox grapes. That's where I am finding them.  --KP--



Thanks kp. What elevation would they grow on or do they just grow in some places. I've never heard of them. I just googled it and they look like ordinary grapes. Are these it


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## KPreston (Oct 17, 2013)

I have found them between 1500 and 2000 feet. The bears have been tearing them up because the accorns are so few.---KP---


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## goshenmountainman (Oct 17, 2013)

Not very many acorns on Tray this season, there are some red oaks but spotty. Best would be go as high as you can or look for the possum/fox grapes.


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## The mtn man (Oct 17, 2013)

Check the black gum stands. There seems to be some here, the way the crow flies I'm only about 7-8 miles away.x2 on the grapes, both varieties.Don't bother looking for grapes in the thick laurels.


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## Unicoidawg (Oct 17, 2013)

Not many acorns up in the mountains...... Like has been said go high and you can find some. There have been quite a few bears seen/shot down low around the "flatlands". We have acorns on some of the places I hunt, but the elevation is in the 1500-1800 range. The lowest parts of Tray is a good bit higher than that and the highest is the highest point in the county. Also if you have never been up there you better get you some Wheaties and a good pair of hiking boots. Hint..hint.. leave the rubber boots at home.


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## hunter209 (Oct 19, 2013)

Went today at 3100 ft, saw alot of acorns and saw nothing but squirrels. Did see bear scat and signs but seem to be a day old. Couldnt find a way to get in the lower elevation so we gave up. Oh and them mountains are way steep.


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## Unicoidawg (Oct 19, 2013)

If you found acorns you need to take a stand back in there and set up on them.


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## Killer Kyle (Oct 19, 2013)

hunter209 said:


> Went today at 3100 ft, saw alot of acorns and saw nothing but squirrels. Did see bear scat and signs but seem to be a day old. Couldnt find a way to get in the lower elevation so we gave up. Oh and them mountains are way steep.



Hey man, like Unicoidawg said, if you found bear droppings a day old, I would hunt them.  I set a trail cam on a red oak a few weeks ago.  It was dropping a ton of acorns on a game trail, and I watched squirrels cut down a lot of acorns in the tree as well.  I checked the trail cam three days later.  Virtually all the acorns were gone, and I had photos of a sow and a cub cleaning out the acorns and they even messed with my camera (I got photos of the cub screwing with the cam).  If you have a lot of acorns, and 1 day old scat, I'd hunt it.  Go in for an all day sit.  They were eating the acorns at that tree and playing with my cam at 1:15 in the afternoon.


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## hunter209 (Oct 20, 2013)

Thats good to hear, too bad cause we couldnt stay for another day. all the scat seem to be leading up the mountain (older scats down low and newer scat going towards the top). Saw hog signs but it was old and crusty. I may go back during small game and catch some squirrels. While im at it, might do a better scouting too since we did went in blind.


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