Sunday 23rd of August was a very successful scouting day. Scouting is important up here as the terrain is very tough. It's extreme in it's own way (but more about that in a separate article). One thing is the terrain is very flat with dense forest and wetlands, swamps, rivers and creeks. So knowing where the higher ground and hilltops are is important for setting up semi permanent camp sites.
How most of the lower areas look. May 4th 2015
So basically high ground is important here. However, scouting will provide important information of all sorts. I have begun exploring the forest 1 km North of the Homestead as i have spent most of my time in the South part of the forest which begins only 300 meters from the Homestead.
So on my second scout looking for two ridge lines, i found this older logging trail. The rain have swept it clean. Generally i just go through the forest on compass. There are no established walking trails here. Only old and new logging trails. So this was a welcome find indeed. What i learned was that the bears also found this trail useful, which is of course good info as i will set up at least one camp site in this general area.
On the trail i found signs of dog, human foot prints and bear prints. The human foot prints was from some people collecting mushrooms. I spotted them later in my binoculars.
The bear tracks differed in size so there have been more than one. The tracks was also quite new. New enough to for me to think "Where's the bear?". Judging from the tracks it was not huge bears but bears does not have to be huge to be dangerous. Recently a very good friend of mine sent me a link about a bear attack in Siberia. The bear was not big at all but it messed up a woman good and buried her to eat her later. She however survived. Link to article
Some pics of the bear prints below.
YES... Siberia, like Alaska hold back no punches. Good to see your reality is expanding to the dangers in our two twin areas.. Be careful my Brother..
ReplyDeleteBergmann
"Twin reas" is a good expression. I just need rocks and mountains. Than you for the comment. They are appreciated!
DeleteYou're absolutely right about bear. Young bear may be more dangerous than a mature animal. The young bear older 2 years we called 'pestun'. He barely leaved his family. His mother shout out him, he is hungry and young and stupid... then very dangerous. Be careful Lars.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the info Andy :) I have heard the locals use the term "Pestun" but at first i did not realize it was a young bear. I thought it was a type of bear LOL A guy i showed the photos actually said i most likely was Pestun. Good to hear from you and your opinion as always my friend.
DeleteA nice scout of the area, Lars. The last picture of the hind foot of the bear reveals a good sized animal. Thanks for sharing your recon of the area to the North of the homestead. Stay alert, stay alive! Gordy
ReplyDeleteThank you Gordy :) It's a very nice area with lot's of dry ground. I appreciate you reading the article.
DeleteGreat article Lars, and like you, we have a very huge black bear population that has now depleted the moose population and is out of control after the spring bear hunts were stopped many years ago, since then the bears now are no longer afraid of humans as they were in the past when they were being hunted. I fear bears over wolves any day, again records show more bear attacks then wolves. A bear will think nothing of grabbing you out of a tent when hungry. This year is a good year for berries of all kinds so the bears do have a good source of food before they hibernate.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Your situation up there sounds not too good to say the least. I fear moose and bear :) We have plenty of wolves here but they have lot's of food. I saw no moose trsacks at all in that area. I normally see lot's of moose tracks. Thank you for the comment buddy :)
DeleteJust last night one got hit on the highway just about 1km from me, I am still in the City Limits and bears have been making visits to local dumpsters and garbage cans.
DeleteThe one hit last night was a couple hundred pounds, with all the corn fields and wheat fields ready and being cut, the bears are eating well now.
Moose are ok, just during the rut season do they pose a concern, I archery hunt and have been very close to one many times and try to even avoid blinking.
Nice article. These huge forests are just amazing (i live in Germany and we don't have big forests)...
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to cross these swamp-forests in summer? Or only in winter when the ground is frozen?
Thank you (again) :)
DeleteYes there forests here are big. I like that for sure. Well Schwartzwald is not that small, even compared to Russian forests it's not that big either :)
Yes some swamps are possible to cross during summer and some not. Some areas are swamped because of the beavers making dams. Then the water runs to new areas. Normally those areas are normally not too hard to cross. The real swamps are almost impossible to cross. They are just a big mess of fallen trees and bushes.
Very impeccable Article though
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind which region of blast do you live in? Siberia is pretty big. I have only seen videos about life in Oymyakon (coldest place, in Sakha Republic I think) and descriptions about city and village life in and around Bratsk near Irkutsk.
ReplyDeleteShinjinee (trying to sign in on Google but failing)
Oblast, or region?
Delete