Deer vs. Bear

bigbrother · #1 09-28-2009, 04:47 PM

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm not that old. Granted I am at the age where I can say "20 years ago" such and such happened. Well, this is one of those rants. Born and raised in PA and grew up hunting, shooting, and fishing from the end of my memory. When I was 12, and just started hunting, PA had deer....lots of deer. Nobody complained about it, in fact most people loved it. Nobody shot any real big bucks but hey we ate well. Back then if someone saw a bear, it nearly made the front page. You went to school or work and told EVERYONE...it was like seeing a meteor or tornado...it just didn't happen.

Flash forward to now. I've got bears....lots of bears. In fact I can't put my garbage out on my 8'x10' front porch unless I want to clean it up in the morning. In fact, the other day while I'm mowing the yard on my riding mower, and my 2 boys who are 4 and 2 are playing in the front yard, I notice bears...in the yard, about 25 yards from the boys. I yell at the bears (a momma and 2 little cubs) trying to get them to leave but they don't care. So, I sit on the porch with my boys and watch the bears from about 30 yards as they pick through a garbage bag. Finally after about 15 minutes, they decide to leave. ODD? Not really at my house. This is not the first time something like this has happened. In fact every summer I do battle with the bears over my garbage. One summer we accumulated a total of 13 different bears in the yard (not all at once) including a boar that was ear tagged and weighed at least 350#. He didn't mind being yelled at or having his picture taken either. This summer, our count is 6. One young boar, One little momma with the 2 wee little ones and another sow with a single cub. She has a wonderful white V on her chest. And luckily she's a little more shy than the other.

Things are wonderful here in PA...and that big buck...well, a guy just came into the office this morning and started telling EVERYONE about the one he saw.

Pre-64 · #2 09-28-2009, 11:02 PM

Bigbrother, Remember when you only heard about Coyote's in Field and Stream? Or Doe season was only 3 days long and you got 1 tag, County specific, and it was only good if you didn't get a buck. I grew up in Warren Co. and remember the days of 20 to 40 deer in a heard blowing past you on the first day of Buck. As you say, Seeing a Bear made the evening news. Things have certianly changed in the Keystone state in the last 20 to 30 years.

bigbrother · #3 09-29-2009, 08:09 AM

I remember not too long ago, maybe 10 years when turkeys where everywhere. It wasn't a matter of if you were gonna get one but when. Then the fishers arrived. Now turkeys around here are just like they were 25 years ago. We still have them but it seems that all the effort put into to restoring them has been undermined. Ah well we have fishers to look at and coyotes to shoot. Maybe we'll get some of the yellowstone wolves out here. That would be nice....

fabsroman · #4 09-29-2009, 05:12 PM

Your deer must have come down here, because we have plenty. We are the leading state for Lyme disease and I might be going through that disease right now. The docs aren't sure yet. We've also got the turkeys and the bears. About 5 years ago they opened up bear season after a couple court hearings to try and prevent it. A coyote has been killed about 12 miles from my place, and I live right across from a mall with Target, Kohls, Wal-Mart, etc. in it.

I can tell you one thing, I don't want to see bears or coyotes out of my front door, and I surely don't want to see a wolf anywhere near where I live. Maybe when my kids are in their teens, but not at 2 1/2 years and 4 months old right now. While I am walking my 105 pound Labrador I worry enough about the foxes I have seen out there.

bigbrother · #5 09-30-2009, 08:38 AM

Fabs, I hope that if it Lyme disease you get it taken care of quickly. A friend of mine from Nebraska got it and luckily they had it taken care of in about 6 months. He said it was like having the worst Arthritis ever. So take care and good luck with it.

As far as the wildlife, I really like living where we do. The bears are problematic at times but yet they definitely take the mundane and turn it into fun sometimes. I just wish that the whole political war upon the PA deer herd hadn't taken place the way it did. For those of us actually in the woods living it, it really is a shame. And for the most part the PA Game Commission is in denial. They still think we have lots of deer. Compared to the Bahamas we do, so I guess it's all in your point of view. Either way, true sportsman make the most of it and the ways we hunt and what we hunt definitely have changed. None of us shoot any does locally because the local herd is really thin. So if we want to shoot one, we hunt where the herd isn't, like my uncle's farm or private ground where not so many are shot. Apart from the long range hunting on the national forest. This year I'm hunting in Ohio as well. Maybe I'll have to become a duck hunter!

Adam Helmer · #6 10-01-2009, 11:32 AM

bigbrother,

What county are you in? I am here in Tioga County on a 60-acre farm five miles out of town. I have three resident bears; a boar, a sow and a cub named "Teddy." We peacefully co-exist.

I began hunting deer in 1958 and agree with your view of current PA deer hunting. I do not shoot does, but several locals get every tag they can and try to fill them all and then gripe about "No deer hereabouts."

Adam

MtnMike2 · #7 10-01-2009, 04:06 PM

Get better soon, Fabsroman. People need you to help keep the deer population in check. Also, the ducks might become too comfortable if they don't have folks like you shooting at 'em. Hope you're better soon.

Mike

fabsroman · #8 10-01-2009, 04:40 PM

I've been dealing with swollen ankles and joint pain since the last day of August. The joint pain started in my ankles, moved to my knees, then my hips, and now it is in my shoulders, neck, elbows, wrists, and fingers. About 10 days ago I started getting fevers at night, along with some terrible sweats that were so bad they soaked my shirt, my pillow, and the sheets. Two nights ago I didn't have them, but I had them last night. I've gone to 4 doctors, had blood drawn 4 times, and all the results came back negative for everything, including 2 lyme tests. The result of a third lyme test will not be available until next week, but my infectious disease doctor finally decided that we should start with an antibiotic for lyme and he gave me a prescription yesterday for it and I started taking it last night. I also slept about 16+ hours yesterday and fee rather decent today, but am about to take a nap right now. I have another doctor appointment tomorrow and then another one on October 12th if whatever this is doesn't start to subside.

The thing that sucks about this medication I am on is that I cannot be out in the sun because it causes me to burn easily. I'm just hoping that I will be well enough to be in the woods come gun season so I can repay the deer if this turns out to be lyme.

Jack · #9 10-01-2009, 05:59 PM

I hope they find the cause and fix it soon, Fabs.

fabsroman · #10 10-04-2009, 12:55 AM

Thanks for the well wishes guys.

Jack,

No cause has been found yet, and the more I think about this the more I think I might have been suffering from it in mid June. I got sick in mid June for about 2 weeks. I went to a clinic and they told me it was a virus and it had to work its way through my system. I started riding my bike again in July and after a month of riding/training, my power numbers/speed was still terrible. People were able to ride away from me that never could before. I should have known something was wrong then. It is when my joints started swelling in late August, and hurting in early September, that I knew something was definitely wrong.

Anyway, after 5 visits to the doctors and giving 5 blood samples in the past month, with every test coming back negative, and waiting on the most recent blood sample results which includes the 3rd Lyme test which should be available Thursday or Friday of this upcoming week, my infectious disease specialist decided to prescribe to me some antibiotics for Lyme. I started taking them on Thursday night and I am actually starting to feel better. I can stay awake longer. The swelling in my ankles and feet has gone down, but the swelling in my knees remains. The overall amount of pain has decreased significantly too. After being told by two doctors that antibiotics for Lyme do not have a downside if they are taken and I don't have Lyme, I want to strangle my Primary Care Physician that told me she never prescribes antibiotics for Lyme unless the test comes back positive. She told me that the Lyme test always comes back positive if I have had the symptoms for 2 weeks or longer and I have the disease. Well, that isn't what the other 2 doctors told me and it isn't what I have read online. Needless to say, if it clears up with this antibiotic, my PCP is going to get a nasty letter asking for a copy of my file and a refund of my copay. The difference in my health over the past two days has been incredible. In fact, the only time I have been happier this year is when my son was born in May.

BigBrother, sorry I hijacked this thread, but this illness had me scared and depressed. It was so bad that I could hardly walk and could hardly pick up my kids. Now, I'm pissed at my PCP and trying to catch up on my work.

bigbrother · #11 10-05-2009, 10:43 AM

Fabs, no worries about the hijacking, lol.

I'm glad to hear you're doing better. From what you were describing it's pretty much the same thing that my friend in Nebraska went through. With all of the "knowns" about Lyme, it seems that it takes way too long for Doctors to figure out that's what it is. I just think that in some areas, the physicians don't want to think it's there.

Hopefully, by the time the ducks start flying, you'll be able to avenge your illness! Good Luck

buckhunter · #12 10-05-2009, 12:26 PM

Fabs,
Glad to hear your on the mend. Gotta watch the Lyme it can cause a lot of nasty stuff if unattended. Hang in there old buddy.

We have a ton a ticks in my neck of the woods and we really have to watch what were are doing. Don't mind it at all if my wife want to check me for ticks.

bigbrother · #13 10-29-2009, 04:46 PM

Just to keep everyone up to speed on the Bear situation...she's still around. LOL! Sunday night she decided to camp out on the porch as we had the trash inside and there was nothing for her to eat. She made herself comfortable and just sat on the porch for about 15 minutes like she was surveying her domain.