hey John! Have you been after any coyotes? Last fall I was grouse hunting out of Heber just after the Elder berries were ripe and we were stepping on bear crap almost every 10 feet. In the thick brush the dog kicked something up and ran it for a while, but the brush was so thick I never saw what it was. Made LOTS of noise going down.
I didn't know what it was so I was yelling at him (thought it might have been elk, had seen one earlier) but he didn't come back for a while. I didn't use the collar just in case it was a bear, didn't want to start shocking him off bears.
