Judging a bear, What do you look for?

[EELK]

Yesterday my buddy missed a cranker cinnamon bear at 350 yards, we got caught in the middle of a block with the worst wind possible, However before he missed it I found him arguing with me about the size of the bear. I told him the road the bear is on is 10-12 feet wide and when he turns broadside he stretches over half of it. I looked at how low he was to the ground and just his general swagger as well as his ears. I knew it was a big bear and I finally talked my buddy into shooting even though it was two clean misses we went over and checked and his tracks and they were about a 6 inch pad confirming that this was a big boy. Ramble aside how do YOU judge a big black bear I would like to give him some solid tips so that next time we don't need to discuss it, maybe a better pair of binos first lol:-D OH and to anyone wondering about bears being out in the PG area they are out, my count is at 20 as of yesterday so get out there!

[BCBRAD]

Saw 3 bears this morning, one was one on the 1000m range. It was ~800 yards out, so with 2 moa hash marks on my scope means the interval between marks is approx. 2" at 100yds so at 800 yards it would be 16" so for 4 hash marks would approximate 64" when it was full broad side. Or if it has a small head and short legs its usually a good sized bear.

[BearSupreme]

I find the ones with shorter legs are usually sows, so I dont go by that any more. I check for small ears far apart and a short fat looking neck. You can usually tell by the way it walks too, if its got a swagger he's usually a biggin

[steel_ram]

Big ones look more like bears than dogs. Not a lot of air between the chest and ground. We call in the black VW syndrome. Square snout. Small ears far apart with a heart shaped crease down the middle of he head. Big old wormy bears tend to be stiff and swagger.

[Fred1]

I cant judge bears worth a shit... what I have learned is, the longer you watch a bear, the better feel you will get for the size. The closer the better. You will know if he's a shooter or not. If hes BIG you seem to know it right away!

[wiggy]

See bears all the time. Spot em off my deck in the spring. Last year was the first time I saw a white one. Pretty cool
When their big you know it. They just look big. If you have judge weather or not you think their big enough for your standard then they're probably not fully grown. As for the vw bug yeah I've seen a couple that look just like that. Huge

[ryry4]

If it looks like a 55 gallon drum with legs, you're got a shooter. All of the above statements are good tools on judging bears, small looking ears far apart, swagger when walking, etc.