# BEAR SIGN EXAMPLES



## n2BlackBearz (Aug 28, 2022)

Thought I’d share a bit of Bruin sign, some subtle, some not so much, from north GA for those perhaps new to the sport; makes the ole Ticker race. The season is upon us!


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## Timberjack86 (Aug 28, 2022)

Great post and pics! Thanks for sharing!


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## n2BlackBearz (Aug 28, 2022)

n2BlackBearz said:


> Thought I’d share a bit of Bruin sign, some subtle, some not so much, from north GA for those perhaps new to the sport; makes the ole Ticker race. The season is upon us!


Lots of memories.


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## 35 Whelen (Aug 29, 2022)

Looked like an Alaskan Silver Tip Grizzly Bear standing next to that tree in the second to last picture.


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## n2BlackBearz (Aug 29, 2022)

Silver back, silver top! Natural como for the snow.?





35 Whelen said:


> Looked like an Alaskan Silver Tip Grizzly Bear standing next to that tree in the second to last picture.


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## Joe Brandon (Aug 29, 2022)

Man I like that 45/70!


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## Hillbilly stalker (Aug 29, 2022)

I like that binocular trick.  Im gonna have to do that, tired of them cups dropping down.


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## n2BlackBearz (Aug 29, 2022)

Joe Brandon said:


> Man I like that 45/70!


Thanks! She IS a purty piece!


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## n2BlackBearz (Aug 29, 2022)

Timberjack86 said:


> Great post and pics! Thanks for sharing!


Thanks! There are many more.


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## n2BlackBearz (Aug 29, 2022)

Hillbilly stalker said:


> I like that binocular trick.  Im gonna have to do that, tired of them cups dropping down.


Yessir! Works quite well.  Good eye!


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## 1eyefishing (Aug 30, 2022)

Spent yesterday evening on the hill looking around. The bear droppings and pigs on that we're so abundant last year are not at that spot. Yet.

I love finding these old grades that allow me to get back off the road without too much bushwacking straight-up-and-down the hills... I still managed to inadvertently come home without my hat. Not the 1st time...



Headed to the AT shortly to put on some miles with my pack and check out the tops of some ridges that I usually hunt from the bottom up...


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## chrislibby88 (Aug 30, 2022)

Those yellow jacket digs are fun, and informative, when the yellow jackets are still buzzing around angry.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Sep 1, 2022)

I've killed 2 bears that still had yellow jackets crawling in their fur I had to kill while skinning.


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## WoodlandScout82 (Sep 1, 2022)

This is a tree that gets hit every year. This is at the end of a ridge that's covered in white oaks.


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## Jimmack (Sep 2, 2022)

1eyefishing said:


> Spent yesterday evening on the hill looking around. The bear droppings and pigs on that we're so abundant last year are not at that spot. Yet.
> 
> I love finding these old grades that allow me to get back off the road without too much bushwacking straight-up-and-down the hills... I still managed to inadvertently come home without my hat. Not the 1st time...
> 
> ...



This will be my first year hunting the mountains near the AT. Probably going to get my butt kicked but oh well.


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## n2BlackBearz (Sep 3, 2022)

Let’s throw a few more out there for the newbies. (NOTE: The big guy standing, gnawing at the tree was taken by some else’s camera. I’m just showing how the ‘seeping tree wound’ occurs.)


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## GAoutdoor (Sep 4, 2022)

What's the blue line in the second pic indicating?


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## trad bow (Sep 4, 2022)

Looks to be a trail


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## KentuckyHeadhunter (Sep 4, 2022)

GAoutdoor said:


> What's the blue line in the second pic indicating?


2nd
I was thinking creek aka water source down below the game trail.


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## n2BlackBearz (Sep 5, 2022)

GAoutdoor said:


> What's the blue line in the second pic indicating?


The blue line simply indicates the general steepness/angle of of the mountain while on the Bear’s well worn path (dotted red). I was walking just below a ridge.  All subtle references I wanted to point out to aide first-timers.  The horizontal trail leading from thicket to thicket; Steep & thick has its resident travelers.  Thanks for the inquiry!


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## chrislibby88 (Sep 5, 2022)

Here’s some other ones. First picture is a rubbed tree, almost like pigs do, but it had bear hair in the bark. Second is one of many bent over trashed saplings along a trail. Not sure what they mean, but there were a bunch along this particular ridge. Lots of white oak feeding sign too.

Next two photos are shredded huckleberry bushes in a different location.


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## Swampdogg (Sep 6, 2022)

chrislibby88 said:


> Here’s some other ones. First picture is a rubbed tree, almost like pigs do, but it had bear hair in the bark. Second is one of many bent over trashed saplings along a trail. Not sure what they mean, but there were a bunch along this particular ridge. Lots of white oak feeding sign too.
> 
> Next two photos are shredded huckleberry bushes in a different location.



Those bent over limbs are rut sign marking territory. They like to mow them things down


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## Thetrooper (Sep 18, 2022)

Claw marks from climbing up oaks


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## chrislibby88 (Sep 19, 2022)

More sign. Some subtle stuff, some not so subtle stuff too. Note the hickories for comparison. The left one was chewed on by a bear, the right by a squirrel. Note the tooth scrape on the hull of the left hickory. I didn’t grab pictures of empty hulls, but the squirrel chewed hulls with have little chisel marks, and the bear chewed hulls will look like someone smashed them with a hammer. 

There’s some hair rubbed off on a tree that hugs a trail, you can often find hair on the underside of logs or dead trees that have fallen across trails as long as they are the right height that a bear can duck under. There’s also some muscadine bear scat, and I found an old bear den!

Flipped rocks are some subtle sign that rookies may overlook. If you get into a spot with a lot of bears there will be a lot of flipped rocks, grub and yellow jacket digs, ripped up rotten logs, and pocketed out bear trails. On years like this where acorns aren’t abundant you may have to resort to the subtle sign to pin down where bears have been active.


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## the Lackster (Sep 19, 2022)

Found a happening spot this past Saturday. Walked up one big drainage ditch that almost every rock in there had been flipped. Lost count of yellow jacket digs but i believe it was around 10. Great day burning some boot leather. Also for reference that hollowed out log I could have stood up inside.


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## mallardsx2 (Sep 19, 2022)




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## Johnnyzero90 (Sep 20, 2022)

the Lackster said:


> Found a happening spot this past Saturday. Walked up one big drainage ditch that almost every rock in there had been flipped. Lost count of yellow jacket digs but i believe it was around 10. Great day burning some boot leather. Also for reference that hollowed out log I could have stood up inside. View attachment 1177601View attachment 1177602View attachment 1177603View attachment 1177604


Looks like a spot I hunt on Cohutta. That big hollow tree looks familiar cant be many of them around right lol


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## KentuckyHeadhunter (Sep 21, 2022)

This was on top of a huge fallen tree.  Nearby was a giant log of a poop shaped liked a can.


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## the Lackster (Sep 21, 2022)

Johnnyzero90 said:


> Looks like a spot I hunt on Cohutta. That big hollow tree looks familiar cant be many of them around right lol


If you got one on cohutta then there are atleast 2 out there


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## GAbullHunter (Sep 21, 2022)

Look close if you can see there is a cub print in the sows print.


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## Ridge runner 82 (Sep 23, 2022)

Really good example of a bear slide


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## ldavid008 (Sep 25, 2022)

No pics of overturned rocks? It's the most common sign I find.


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## Timberjack86 (Sep 25, 2022)




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## Timberjack86 (Sep 25, 2022)




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## Timberjack86 (Sep 25, 2022)

I was late to the party, lots of feeding sign from the last couple of weeks.


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## chrislibby88 (Sep 25, 2022)

ldavid008 said:


> No pics of overturned rocks? It's the most common sign I find.


I posted one. I don’t really rank the rocks as important at all. Same with logs and yellow jacket digs. Those are one time snacks of opportunity while the bear is in the area. They either hit them in passing, or a better food source brought them to the area, like acorns, and they grabbed an extra snack while they were inhaling acorns. They are nice to see with other sign, but what I want to find white oaks with fresh and old climbing sign, fresh and old scat, beat down trails and underbrush, and then the rocks, logs, etc. are there to further inform me that bears are spending a lot of time in the area.


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## Professor (Sep 25, 2022)

chrislibby88 said:


> I posted one. I don’t really rank the rocks as important at all. Same with logs and yellow jacket digs. Those are one time snacks of opportunity while the bear is in the area. They either hit them in passing, or a better food source brought them to the area, like acorns, and they grabbed an extra snack while they were inhaling acorns. They are nice to see with other sign, but what I want to find white oaks with fresh and old climbing sign, fresh and old scat, beat down trails and underbrush, and then the rocks, logs, etc. are there to further inform me that bears are spending a lot of time in the area.


Unless the yellow jackets are still buzzing.


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## 1eyefishing (Sep 25, 2022)

I'm thinking a lot of the smaller yellowjacket digs maybe made by skunks?


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## chrislibby88 (Sep 28, 2022)

1eyefishing said:


> I'm thinking a lot of the smaller yellowjacket digs maybe made by skunks?


Could be. Or smaller bears?


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