Hadn't saw a sign of a bear for 3 months,now that the field corn is ripe out back--they are comin outta the woodwork.got in the back of my older sons truck last night and destroyed a tote with dry dog food in it.was figuring out the tracks in the heavy dew on the grass when i realized my group of 6 bachelor bucks was standing 75 yds away watchin them.to say i'm blessed would be an understatement.bring on the silly seasons and send away this afternoon heat.

Potter county is still called God's country isn't it?

sure is easy sometimes to see why my family parked their carcasses here in the 1880's.and never forget i have no problem sharing.the musky fishin has been about as god as i've ever saw it the last 3 weeks.i have to believe the river 100 yds from the back door has one of the highest densities of musky of anywhere in the country.my home on leave carp fisherman son caught 2 musky yesterday it's so good.he had a good guide though.

Yes I spent some years hunting deer,bear and turkeys mostly during the 1980's . It was always good to get away from the rat race

Bear population over here has had steady growth. Sweet corn farmers near towns not bothered by bears but hammered by raccoons. Make habitat, they show up.

Low coon prices are very bad for them.

The wifey thinks muskies are a magical mystical trophy, I think they smell bad and eat too many walleyes.
Stocked trout are good,,, for bait lol.

I lost a lot of sweet corn to coons this year. I had it planted at 2 week intervals, 3 batches. Coons wait until the corn is read to pick, then hit it hard. They go to the center of the field and work their way to edges. Next year, I’ll plant it all at the same time so it ripens all at once. I’ll still have damages, but there’s a limit to how much they can get when it all ripens at once.

I’m selling it by the bushel to home canners and freezers. Just gonna need to get all the orders filled in the same week.

I’m not farming on my own land ( county property), so there’s issues with me trapping and killing them.

a few years back I had a patch of sweet corn. about the time it got ready, I got a few ears for dinner.

the next day it was half laid flat and the big furry guy left me a gift. we had a few more dinners with corn before it came back and cleaned me out.

In this part of PA the geese ,groundhogs ,rabbits and coons cause more crop damage than the deer . And the bear are very few in number as of now

deer tore down half my patch just about the time it started to make. Im gonna thin em out this year.

Water rotted the carrots and taters here just mush and the sweet corn is not much better!

The corn is not necessarily ripe, it is when the sugar levels get high or the ears start turning yellow. The coons, bears etc. can smell that sugar and know exactly when to come to the patch. Bears may only come when they can smell the sugar. Coons walk through the patches many times waiting for it to be ready. When the sugar turns to starch the corn is still eaten but it is not as big of an attractant or lure if you will when the sugar levels are at their peak levels. These no GMO sweet corn varieties that are sugar enhanced etc. really draw the coons due to the increased sugar levels. I have had farmers plant their sweet corn patches well within the middle of a fairly large field and still they get raided.

Bryce

Your corn information is quite interesting, Bryce. I know that this is an old thread.