# Anyone ever heard of or seen Black Bear near Sam Houston National Forest



## wycwby (May 19, 2012)

I got invited to Hunt near New Waverly bordering National Forest a couple weeks back. I was bow hunting and shot a doe right before dark. I knew that I had made a good shot and that she couldn't have ran too far. I got out of the stand, only to realize I didn't have my flashlight. But I had my trusty smart phone that had a flashlight and I was able to find good blood right away. Getting frustrated with light I crawled back up in the tripod to wait for my dad and buddy to pick me up in the Kubota. After about 10 minutes they rolled up and I explained to them that I did shoot a doe and that I found some blood where she was standing. Using my cellphone flashlight I showed everyone the blood that I had found, Realizing that we were gonna need better flashlights we decided to run to my buddys house and grab some better lights. After about a 10 minute round trip we were back on the blood trail. Connecting the dots of blood I soon froze in my tracks. I was hit with the smell of a gut shot deer, I shined the light up the trail and there was my doe laying there. As we looked over the deers body we were quick to notice that there was a huge hole in her side and that the does intestines and stomach was dragged out of her body. It also was evident that the deer had been drug several yards from where she had died. We were all puzzled as to what could have jumped on this deer so soon after I had shot her and did so much damage in the short amount of time it took us to find her.We loaded her up and drove back to my buddies barn to skin and quarter her. After we got her hung up we noticed that all the vital organs had been eaten by ???? The hole in the side of the deer was big enough to put a soccer ball in it and the ribs were eaten all the way to the backstrap. We all discussed the possibilities, a coyote, a big boar, maybe a cat. We decided to put the carcass back down at the area where we found the deer and put a game camera on it. Once the gut bucket was placed we realized that the batteries in the game camera were dead. The next day we went to take a look and see if anything had eaten the carcass, when we got to the site we could not find anything, no hair, no bones, nothing. In fact we had to search for the bucket which was drug off into a thicket and was clean as a whistle. My buddy strated talking to his neighbors about the incident and what could have eaten the deer. That is when his neighbor closest to the kill site said he had captured 2 pictures on his game camera of a BEAR. I don't know if this neighbor is full of **** but I'm trying to get the pictures for proof. I was wondering if anyone has heard of the presence of Bear in the Sam Houston National Forest?????When and If I get pictures I will update.


----------



## kinja (May 21, 2004)

Coyotes.


----------



## Em1_crew (May 13, 2016)

surprised you had a broadhead on the arrow hahaha. i have some buddies that hunt the forest a lot they have never heard or seen any bear.


----------



## Aggieross05 (Nov 1, 2011)

classic case of a black panther...no doubt


----------



## Castaway2 (Aug 8, 2013)

We have had hogs do exactly as you described.. rip open stomach and eat insides and tenderloins, they have also gotten to the back strap and were working the hind quarters. the deer was on the ground for 20 minutes while pops waited for us to help him load her, of course he was about 300 yrds away waiting on us at the main road. when we drove up we saw them running away. they took that deer in no time. now if we need help loading we stay with the kill.


----------



## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

I have lived in Walker Co for over 45 years. I have hunted this area very hard all of those years. Never once seen nor heard of any one that has seen a bear here. As stated, either coyotes or maybe hogs.


----------



## terra002 (Jan 4, 2013)

http://www.northtexasactivelife.com/bears-back-texas/

It could have been a bear. They are in South Louisiana and some have been seen in more northern parts of east texas near i20.


----------



## AvianQuest (Feb 7, 2006)

Black bears can be found in all the states that border Texas as well as Mexico and we do have a small, but growing, population here.

TPWD is warning hunters not to mistake a black bear for a black feral hog. Eventually we will have a season on bear, but not now.

It could have been a bear or a mountain lion, but most likely the much more numerous coyotes or feral hogs.


----------



## Redhunter84 (Aug 25, 2016)

We were just this year, told by the wildlife bioligist not to be surprised if we see a bear on our property.


----------



## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

Among all of my friends in the area, we look at thousands of game cam pics over 10s of thousands of prime acres of land. And not one bear pic. I am going with there are none in the area.


----------



## THA (Jan 5, 2016)

It is natural habitat for bear but they have been gone since the 1950's. Now they are returning. We have tracked some in Rusk and Gregg counties for the past 5 or 6 years and watched them. I would not doubt that they are in that area now. Louisiana has many and they do migrate over the area. The ones we have in Gregg County are from Arkansas but if you have them they are most likely from Louisiana. Several individuals have been tracked from Florida and located in Southwest Louisiana.

The description you give about the damage to the deer is most likely hogs or a big cat, not bear. Black bears are primarily plants and insects. They will at times be carnivorous but rarely and then scavengers for decaying meat.


----------



## JKib (Sep 13, 2016)

I have to admit, after reading this story I was a little more "alert" the next moring walking in to the blind. lol


----------



## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

My guess would be coyotes.

Even if there is black bear in that area, would they really do that?


----------



## saltwatersensations (Aug 30, 2004)

A few years ago there were signs put on our lease entrance showing a black bear warning NOT to shoot etc. We also bordered national forest. This was in sour lake.


----------



## snapperlicious (Aug 11, 2009)

*Say what*



Aggieross05 said:


> classic case of a black panther...no doubt


Dude your so racist! 
Interested to see some pics of this so called bear.


----------



## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

Aggieross05 said:


> classic case of a black panther...no doubt


More Klan up there than Black Panthers, so, that is doubtful.


----------



## Charles Helm (Oct 22, 2004)

terra002 said:


> http://www.northtexasactivelife.com/bears-back-texas/
> 
> It could have been a bear. They are in South Louisiana and some have been seen in more northern parts of east texas near i20.


My lease straddles two of the counties mentioned in that article. Nothing like that on my cams but one or two pigs that look big enough to be a bear...


----------



## daddyeaux (Nov 18, 2007)

Man.....you got a serious huge hog problem.


----------



## Huntandfishaggie (Nov 8, 2016)

Those are some big pigs 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Nr1052 (Jul 30, 2016)

Chupacabra. Duh. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## cgerace19 (Jul 17, 2008)

Hunted N. La where there are TONS of bear. Known many incidents where bear would eat a deer immediately after shot.


----------



## jetbuilt (May 4, 2010)

Believe it or not, myself and 2 other coworkers watched a bear walk right through the pipe yard at Tenaris Conroe (it was Maverick tube when I worked there) during a cold November night many years ago...I've never climbed a pipe rack so fast in my life.


----------



## marshrunner757 (Apr 7, 2015)

Rougarou. Migrated from Louisiana. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk


----------



## 2Ws (Jun 28, 2016)

marshrunner757 said:


> Rougarou. Migrated from Louisiana.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk


No doubt about it!


----------

