Looks like we've been over compensating all these years

http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/1/1/3263-killer-quest-dvd.html


A buddy sent me this link...interesting as we did this pilot three years ago and moved on. Now they've released it for sale

Hard nosed. Haha. What did you do to impress them with those attributes.

FT Since Brian writes he has to keep a lot of pictures & info to himself.....otherwise most on here would realize how tough he really is!!.....I think they used the term "hard nosed" as a way of describing his toughness........He is one tough hombre, and has more experience in the woods than any two of us combined.

Well said Yukon. Been following Brian for a long time on here. Back when trappeman just got started in the 90's. Your right about that he is as knowledgable as they come in this business and I am sure many more. Was just curious to pull out another fun story from him. ;0)

Well I know for a fact he has been encouraged to write a book.......I hope he slows down enough to get it done cause I would sure buy it!

Thanks guys, your comments means something to me. Even if I did have to pay you.

I will tell the story behind this shoot someday but I'm saving it until I'm out of the business. I've already ruffled some feathers. But here's a few shots from the shoot




The cameramen loved the bugs



But the cineflex operator was ok while in the air. He can film a close up on a wolf at half a mile away. The cineflex operator did all the car chase scenes for latest James Bond movies. He only worked when a wolf pack was active so he was going stir crazy and flagging down passing aboriginal fishermen trying to buy cigarettes, he had quit years ago.





We used a lot of different boats

This is the time of year we start to see bears. I have both black and grizzly. I'd like to settle a question I have and maybe you guys can help.

Have you seen the base of conifer trees where bears have bit back the bark at the base of the tree and peeled it upwards? The white cambium layer of the bark is always scratched in a downwards clawing pattern. I believe the bears do it to access sap in the spring but is this grizzly behaviour, black bear, or both?

I don't remember seeing this behaviour in the NWT where there are black bears only but I may have just missed it. Anyone got an opinion ( dumb question) ?

I know black bears do it a lot. Grizzlies might, but I havent seen evidence of it at the higher elevation they frequent in the spring....

I read a book many years ago about a guy in Washington state that was hired by timber companies to kill black bears (by the hundreds) because they killed trees by peeling the bark to get at the cambrium layer, alledgedly to eat it. I have seen countless trees that have been clawed year after year, but can't think of ever seeing the trees de-barked in the manner you describe. (We, too, have both varieties of bears).

Are you talking about the guy that used the 25-35 for shooting black bears back in the 30s and 40s? Fred Seals was his name I think? Died in the late 80s after an article was published about him in Outdoor life I believe.

You are talking about Ralph Flowers. I met him not too long before he passed, great guy. Wrote several books. lived on the peninsula out of Aberdeen. Snared, used hounds, and still hunted them. The blackies were very ravenous in the spring when they came out of hibernation and went after the nice young trees. I believe he said as many as 40-60 a day were girdled by single adult bears. The thought was that the mass clear cutting changed the habitat enough that when the regrowth reached a certain age that the bears easiest and most common food source was the cambium layer in the conifers.

But to address the question all I can add is that black bear for certain do it, Grizz I'm not certain.... Honestly I can't see why they wouldn't as well but who knows...

These trees are not young ones, but rather mature spruce usually. For sure it could be the cambium layer the bear is after as the claw marks run vertical down the trunk, perhaps in a stripping motion. I have a mix of both bears year round so I can't discriminate based on spring bear usage. If it is a black bear exclusive food it would be one of the few foods that both bear species don't exploit when found in the same area.

What about rub trees? Since I started using trail cams several years back I've come to the conclusion these rub trees are super good spots to intercept all types of animals. I've also started watching for them with more open eyes and keep on discovering more of them. I find that bears, lynx, wolverines, frequently use their own rub trees. But these trees are visited by almost anything passing by, moose, marten, fisher, canids, etc. I'd like to do a documentary on them. They are kind of like the animal kingdom email.

Bear rubs have always interested me. On one trip with a biologist he put a camera up near one, and we did get pictures of lots of critters. I have wondered for years why biologists dont use them as hair traps instead of the manmade ones that shy bears will aviod......Last spring I lost count of the bear trees in one 20km stretch.

I noticed that when I walked my trapline a couple years ago. There were bear rub trees every 5 to 600 yards. Thought I should have seen a bear. Learned not to let your lure touch your marten poles. The bears will carry them off. Found a couple 30 to 50 yards from original location and would have been near impossible to find in the winter. Would be interesting to have a camera on a rub tree.

Is this just an occasional tree? a group of trees close together? any pattern to what you're finding? typically when they target a tree for the cambium it will be between a 10-20 yr old tree from what Ive seen and been told. Also they will go after them in groups usually, strip the bark on trees in a clump. but they will also peel some here some there when they aren't targeting them as a primary food source in spring.

This picture has both, a rub tree and a tree peeled at the base, which is pretty rare around here to find both so close together. The peeled tree is not as peeled as most of them are, but still had the tooth marks in the sap wood.

While bush wacking I found a government camera set up on a griz rub tree. You can see the hair on the tree in the foreground.




I followed griz tracks in the snow to this tree. Multi generational bear use has shaped the tree.

That is cool. Dang a guy learns new things on here everyday.

Where I trap there are dozens upon dozens of rub trees. Some have prints packed into the forest floor that are a up to several inches deep. I used to think that must have taken a long time but I believe it just takes a lot of bears now. I was just in there a few weeks ago on foot and saw the same deep prints going around downed trees that have been down less than two years. The rub trees on main trails are as close at 30-40 yds but most are closer to 100 yds apart roughly. This winter we had a heavy wet snow then freezing rain and a lot of the rub trees snapped off at the bite marks.

This is one that is on an island at a log jam. Interesting as it is in the middle of the river. They must be using the log jam to cross during the high water months. I am 6' 2" and was standing on the snow reaching as high as I could for the first pic. and I don't have small hands either. This tree is different as it is bigger than almost every rub tree I have seen in that drainage. I have seen a few other big rub trees. Also it does not have the bite marks that are also on most all rubs around here.

Another interesting thing I have noticed with brown bears is they will improve their trail by snapping off brush and trees that impede progress. With enough bears the trails are down right comfortable for walking.