"Black Bear Hunting Info. . .
. . . Travel Patterns"
 Black bears lead
solitary lives, except for breeding pairs, family groups comprised of
adult females and their offspring, and occasional aggregations at
concentrated food sources.
Females use areas of 6-9 square miles in Maine.
They are sedentary and remain within or near the range of their
mother for the duration of their lives.
Male black bears disperse long
distances (often up to 100 miles) as subadults (1-4 years of age)
prior to settling into adult ranges that may exceed 100 square
miles.
Bears
often make trips up to 40 miles outside of their ranges to feed on
berries or nuts (or occasionally to an orchard or field of oats or
corn) in late summer or fall.
When feeding on a concentrated food
source, bears may use areas as small as several acres; when
searching for dispersed food or mates, they can cover several miles
in a day.
Bears are active in late fall as long as food is
plentiful. In years of abundant beechnut crops, they will feed until
snow makes travel difficult, and normally enter dens in late
November. If late fall food is scarce, bears usually enter dens by
mid-October.
by Craig McLaughlin, Ph.D.
Wildlife Biologist
Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Continue: Black Bear in Maine | 