What causes a bear to tree

[duke7581]

Why does a bear decide to tree in you guys opinions is it just certain bears or is it the pressure or grit from the dogs? Thanks

[bob baldwin jr]

I suppose I could say "One of LIFE's Mysteries " Why do some prefer to BAY UP

[little bit]

ILL BET IT JUST THE DAY. GOOD DAY BAD DAY JUST LIKE OUR DOGS AND US.

[BigGameHunter]

I think both. I know of a bear here that hears the dogs strike and up she goes.....that is no joke(hope nobody whacks her cause she's a good pup trainer). I also know of two bears around here that are simply NOT going to tree. I have had both of them stopped to where I can walk up get to my dogs pull them out and get out of there (that gets a little western). I had one of those two go into a hole this summer and that is as caught as I have ever had him. I've also had vet bills from both, and a dead dog from one.
I think there is everything in between. Bears that if you give them enough pressure, they tree; bears that you give them a little pressure, they tree; and bears that if you run them long enough even if you don't have the pressure, they tree.....

Depends on the bear. Anybody who says ANY bear can be TREED with enough pressure hasn't been bear hunting long enough. JMO of course.

As a side note...you sure do know what questions to ask to envoke some lengthy and heated discussion. Watch and see...

[Nolte]

Most bears tree from the dogs finally tiring them out. If the dogs can push a track and catch up to the bear it usually goes up.

Some other ones will tree if you catch up to them a put some pressure on them. This is a smaller percentage than the ones that will just run.

Others won't tree not matter what you do. All you can do with them is bay them up and then turn the lights out. If it's training season just pull the dogs off if they won't go up after a little while. You can keep the dogs on them, but it's just going to get more expensive the longer you keep after them.

I should add though that I've just got a bunch of long-eared numbskulls that bark like idiots and crap in the kennel. I'm sure a bunch of others have super dogs that catch and tree them all.

[mondomuttruner]

"Depends on the bear. Anybody who says ANY bear can be TREED with enough pressure hasn't been bear hunting long enough. JMO of course."


+2

I'm with the majority, every bear is different.

[duke7581]

sorry if im encouraging a heated subject im new and weve had two bears that wouldnt tree we had good pressure with a few bay ups but lots of running and excercise which i know is what we want in training but being new to hunting bears with dogs i cant wait to see one in a tree.

[kordog]

alot of the big bear in maine are big because they didnt tree and wait for huntersthey walked the dogs into the most inaccessible part of the woods .dogs that bite a bear certainly change some bears minds,but in the end it is really up to the bear.alot of the running bear as we call them lean little bears simply start running the minute they hear a hound ,and never look back.takes hounds in tip top shape to catch them.

[Borderpond]

Sounds like we are mostly all in agreement on this question.Answer being no rhyme or reason ! I have seen bears with a 2 minute lead on the dogs ( which is a long time when you are waiting for the dogs to catch up) all of a sudden climb a tree and wait for the dogs to get there. Then I have seen bears almost killed by dogs on the ground, rather than climb ,even when dogs pulled back they wouldnt climb ?? I do agree, some tree because of being tired, some from gritty dogs, but who can really tell. We have all turned fresh dogs in to a catch and right away the bears climb . Yup, all we had to do was add some fresh meat. Then again, turned same dogs into a walking bear and the bear becomes a track star.
When you guys figure out for sure why bears tree,please let me know. Then we can go on to 'why some dogs smell tracks others cant ?" !! LOL

[bob baldwin jr]

I will have to agree with Kordog .Though it has been our experience that the runners that usually are in the 100 - 125 lb class that don't tree tend to run swamp to swamp ,might range out 3-4 miles make a 180 * turn and come right back with-in a 100 yards of where the hounds jumped it to begin with . A system a lot of the Pro Outfitters put there clients in .

We really do have some NASTY stuff up here : Slash in Clearcuts , Short piney stuff I call Jack-pines ,Some areas have THICK ALDER patches literally almost imposible to walk through.

To me the absolute worst is when a Bigger bear will stop in a cedar Bog and stand his ground . I honestly think that many that have been chased realize that they have an advantage over the hounds by staying in 18 inches of water and fighting the hounds . I hate when that happens ,You got to get through some how all the while your feet are sinking into the muck .I have actually had to hang on to a tree when both my legs went into the mucK past my knees . Took my son and buddy literally 10 minutes to get me out of it About made me quit this addiction we call Hound Hunting for Bears .

[Catch]

What causes a bear to climb??

Four big white fangs going like a weed eater makes a bear climb! Dogs can have all the bark in the world, but the loss of hair is what makes a bear turn bark into saw dust!!

[Houndhead]

What if you took a weedeater into where the dogs had a bear bayed and let him have it? Would that make him climb?

[Catch]

Well that does happen, and dogs get hurt or killed! As like any other game, there are winners and losers!

[kordog]

i been thinking which can be dangerous .really if it comes right down to pure grit how does the bear get up the tree to begin with if dogs are so tight and putting teeth to them a pack that gritty should be pulling them down all the time making less trees and more bear on the ground.you guys put that in your pipe and smoke it ,and see what we all can come up with on that scenario.ive seen this done on the very first bear i killed .the bear kept trying to climb ,and the dogs would rip it down 260 pounds dressed.ive seen the same dogs being dragged along by a bigger bear that had no intentions of going up his weight was 352 undressed his tactic was to stick his ass under a blowdown and fight my dog layed in the pen for three weeks when he decided to grab the bear by the neck. i heard of eugene walker losing 6 dogs to a bad bear in one day im gonna guess that bear didnt tree going by the body count this is only hearsay from john banks ,but i believe him.im sure alot of you have seen similar situations .this leads me right back to the original ? what causes a bear to tree ? beats me.

[coastrangecathunting]

my dad has always put more into the turn in than anything when it comes to treeing bear. if u get your whole pack together boiling down the hill sounding like a convoy of log trucks coming at the bear than the bear is more likely to tree without a bay up. every bear is different and if that particular bear has been coon dogged and learned that dogs are like miquitos he is more likely to just walk and bay . so i like my dad believe the initial turn in is a big factor but not always the reason.

jc