trickblue said:
We know longer have bears around as they were killed off in the early 1900's...
We do have some mountain lions and wild boars... I am always a little wary when trapsing to my stand in the morning...
We have coyotes out the wazoo... I hear them howling every night...
Some day I am going to hunt in that region up your way...
It's amazing the wild life that is returning here. Back in the late 1800's and early 1900's when oil and lumber both dominated the region, many species were either killed off or retreated back to the Adirondacks or into the more desolute regions of central Pennsylvania.
The bear in the grocery store was somewhat of a shocker... it even showed up on the nightly news via the store security camera. The bear crossed the Allegany river and strolled into town. Eventually it climbed a tree, stayed there for a while, climbed down and recrossed the river. The DEC (Department of Environment Conservation) was smart enough to tell the cops just to leave it alone and it would eventually find it's way home.
Every so often a deer will crash through a window or plate glass door into someone's house or porch. Must be it sees its reflection and thinks it's another deer.
The amount of roadkill is staggering this time of year. Deer everywhere. And of course the elk are just south of us a little, moving up this way. I think they just started allowing the hunting of them due to the numbers that continually grow. And elk are big... real big.
Just let me know when you're up this way and we'll fix you up. Lots of hunters end up here from all parts of the country. Get a lot of folks from the larger cities here... some end up getting lost or keel over from heart attacks or the idiots shoot each accidently.