Weekend in the Forest with Bears
- herverannu
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Spring has started beautifully and warmer temperatures have arrived. Nature is getting greener and wildlife has also become more active. In connection to this, it was a good time to organize a photo trip. We set dates with two other photographers, Mick and Priidu, and one Thursday we set off. Priidu started from Lääne County, Mick started from Harju County and I from Viljandi County. We all headed to Lääne-Viru County, where we met up and the photo trip could begin. The main focus was to photograph the bears, but of course we were also ready to capture everything else that nature had to offer.
I also had the SIGMA 60-600mm F/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Sony E-mount from Fotoluks. A lens that I used to take photos with for several years and now it was time to meet the old friend again :).
Since we all arrived at the meeting point quite late in the evening, we only had a few hours to discover the locations and find signs of bear activity. One of us had already seen a bear on the forest road, so we immediately got some information that some activity was already taking place. I don't consider myself a bear expert and I'm far from it, but the plan was as follows. Find bear tracks and scats, based on which to make decisions where to stay more still in the following mornings and evenings. In the hope that the animals would be most active in these locations and perhaps we can photograph them.
While driving around by car during the first evening, we didn't find many signs of activity, but we did find one Ural Owl flying around in the open area. We also took a few photos. I personally haven't seen Ural Owls so much, and in this sense, seeing them is always a great joy. In the evening, at dusk, we arrived at the campsite and set up our tents. We discussed the photo stories for a while, with the sounds of nature in the background. We also heard the Tengmalm's owl calling, which was an awesome experience. Soon it was time to go to sleep, because the alarm was set at 4:00 in the morning.
I like to take my time in the morning, which is why I was the earliest to wake up. I calmly made coffee and prepared breakfast. All this was accompanied by the birdsong orchestra, which is especially powerful in early spring. After the morning routine was done and the other men had also waken up, we set off at 5am.
We didn't see anything for the first few hours and started driving back to the campsite. A few kilometers before the campsite, we suddenly saw a bear with two cubs walking in the middle of the road. We were about 800m away from them and through the lens we saw how the bears were moving into the forest. We parked the car and went on foot to make less noise. We decided to try to walk in a circle towards the bears along the forest edge. We saw a lot of tracks and bear snarls, but unfortunately no bears themselves. At least we got information that there was activity in this area and that evening we had a reason to return to this location.
We had about an hour to rest at the campsite and since we didn't feel tired, we decided to explore some more areas. In fact, we started to realise that there were still relatively few signs of bear activity overall. We discussed that a bigger party would probably start in 2-3 weeks. Including the bears' mating season.
Later, we took a short nap in the tent so that we would be fresher in the evening and our focus would be better. About 2.5 hours before sunset, we decided to go to the location. The same place where we had seen the bear with its two cubs in the morning. We had been waiting in one place for about an hour and quietly started to think that maybe we should move around a bit. Priidu had already done that and gone to look at other forest roads. I also went out of the forest road and looked through the lens at Priidu from the main road. Priidu had a suspiciously fast pace and was moving towards us. I also saw that he was also writing something on his phone. I quickly looked at my phone and Priidu had written in our Facebook conversation "The bear is moving from the forest towards you". After about 10 minutes, the bear came out of the forest. About 300 meters away from us. The first camera shutter clicks were made and then the next and the next. When you see a bear for the first time on a photo trip, the adrenaline always hits you. The bear moved behind the hill and when he had been there unnoticed for about 5 minutes, we decided at that moment that we would move a little closer. Priidu finally got back to Mick and me and filmed a few great shots from a distance, where Mick and I were photographing the bear.
Finally, we saw another bear and we couldn't really tell if they were the same bears we had seen in the morning. They were both eating and moving around behind the hill. The distance from the bears seemed to be good enough, because the bears didn't feel disturbed by us. In the meantime, one of the bears stood up on its back legs to observe and see more closely what was happening. It seemed safe and continued minding her own business.
Finally, when it was already too dark to photograph and film, we decided to quietly back down and leave the bears alone. At that moment, the checkmark was registered and the bears were captured on both photo and video.
Nothing much happened in the following days. Mick and Priidu decided to drive home. I stayed one more night. I drove through some new places in the evening. The result was photos of Ural Owl and two Roe Deer. I also saw some cool landscape shots that were worth capturing. At this time, when the light falls on birches from the right angle, for example, it can feel like autumn. On the last morning, I didn't see any wildlife. I packed camp up and my drive home began.
In the end we got our photos and videos. Along with the photos, there are always experiences and stories to tell later. For me, this was the first camping trip of the spring and it is always a nice experience. Also, those camp site stories with friends about both photography and life overall. It is just nice to spend time in the middle of nature during Spring. I'm already looking forward to the next trip. Then there will be new adventures, experiences and photos. Enjoy Spring!
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