Drought having effect on natural bear foods in Minnesota

Grand Rapids, Minn. — Minnesota’s bear-baiting season began Aug. 11, and the bear-hunting season kicks off Sept. 1, so the Minnesota DNR finished up bear food reports this past week to inform what hunters can expect heading into the 2023 season.

Andy Tri, Minnesota DNR bear project leader, said bear food availability in the wild correlates with hunter success. This year, Tri predicts it might be more difficult for hunters because of ample berry and acorn availability.

“This year is mostly a story about the drought and kind of how resilient the forest is,” Tri said. “Generally speaking, we’re in good shape this year.”

Tri added that this year’s bear wild food supply is similar, if not better, than last year’s supply. His observations mean there could be more difficulty for hunters because there are more opportunities to find food than just bait sites.

Mother Nature will be a factor in determining the food supply by Sept. 1 when the hunting season begins, according to Tri. If the weather heats up and dries out the berries in the forest, hunters could see more activity at bait sites because availability dropped considerably during August.

If the weather has moderate temperatures and rain to water the forest and berries, Tri said he believes sources for food will be plentiful.

Tri said rain earlier in August came at the right time for some areas to boost berry production. Chokecherries, raspberries, and blueberries are average to above average in most places in northern Minnesota. The areas that didn’t receive rain are experiencing more drought-like conditions.

“We had a good production of raspberries, really good chokecherry production, and some of the best juneberries that I’ve seen here, in the Grand Rapids area, in my lifetime,” Tri said.

He added that acorns and hazelnuts are average to above average this year, while dogwood berries are similar to last year’s production. The main issue regarding acorns is making sure they don’t drop off the trees too early. Otherwise, hunter success could dwindle fast.

Rob Baden, Detroit Lakes wildlife area supervisor for the DNR, said the 2023 food supply for bears is looking like 2022, and the 2022 year was average for the northwest side of the state.

The Detroit Lakes area saw a poor year for wild foods in 2021, so Baden was happy to see the forests bounce back in 2022 and 2023 regarding food production for bears. Baden said he’s noticed smaller berries in the forest this year, which could be from the drought conditions and not enough rain for growth.

“Our summer rains have been really spotty this year. Some areas have gotten decent rains, then five miles away it hardly rained at all and there are drought conditions,” Baden said. “Rain events have been isolated storms dropping an inch here and there – not the nice, widespread soaking events. And those areas with decent rain have much better berry and acorn crops than the dry areas.”

Jessica Holmes, DNR Tower wildlife area supervisor, said she’s seen average to above-average production of bear food. In the northeast part of the state, raspberries and cherry trees are some of the top producers with strong results.

The blueberries were hit by the drought, so Holmes said there’s some around but it’s scarce. The juneberries had a good season for growth. Holmes added that the northeast side of the state depends on berry production because there’s not many oaks around for acorns and nuts.

“I probably do see a decrease in (hunter) success for bear hunters just by observational data on where we are with the bear foods,” Holmes said. “Because of our back-to-back bad food years and we do know that impacts the population and just trying to remain conservative and remain stable or even increase a little bit some of our local populations.”

Tri said bears need about 20,000 calories a day prior to hibernation. An ounce of acorn is equal to 110 calories compared to one ounce of a blueberry at 10 calories.

Once acorns start to fall off the trees, bears target them because of that calorie count. Typically, the acorns fall in September when hunting begins, but with drought and drier conditions, some oaks might lose acorns earlier than expected.

Weather is one of the biggest components to determining what food supply will look like for bear-hunting season.

“It’s probably going to be a little harder this year than on average, but if you find a spot where there’s low bear foods or you can find areas where bears are frequenting, you still have a good shot at taking one,” Tri said.

Holmes and Baden provided some advice for their areas in northern Minnesota for bear hunting starting in September. Baden said their area has seen more bears than before, so there can be quality hunts.

With more tags out in that area, he suspects there will be more competition on public lands, so he suggests talking to private landowners to see if there’s availability. Baden said he hopes to see more male bears harvested than females because they want to see the population numbers stable.

Holmes suggested that people should look at BearWise on the Minnesota DNR website to find more information about bears.

Tri requested that hunters refrain from shooting bears that have a collar or big ear tags. The DNR appreciates when hunters pass on those animals.

The collars are for ongoing research and monitoring specific bears. Right now, the agency is working on a reproduction study. There are only 35 in the state, and most are in the Chippewa National Forest north of Grand Rapids, or in the Pillsbury State Forest on the west side of Brainerd There are a few near Camp Ripley, as well. Killing one of those bears is not illegal, however.