Bears, Apparent Size vs. Actual Size

[Hugh Mann]

Am I the only one that has difficulty accurately gauging the size of black bears from any sort of distance?

Just yesterday I tagged a bear on a hillside, I thought it was a decent size, but it turned out to be much smaller in reality. Still a legal bear with a decent bit of meat to it. It's also been that I've seen bears thinking they were on the small side that turned out to be much larger once I got closer, or they started moving.

[monasheemountainman]

Yup you’re the only one :)

[Wild one]

Ground shrinkage with bears happens to lots of hunters. I have watched someone swear they shot a giant then run up and pick up the bear like a dog lol

It takes time and seeing lots of bears both live and dead to get good at judging bears.

[Foxton Gundogs]

An excellent case for baiting lots of chances to see lots of bears and be able to learn to judge them experience is the best teacher when it comes to bears

[Iron Glove]

I don't bear hunt but this reminds me of a number of years ago when the neighbour's kid shows up late at night with a bear in the back of the truck.
Naturely I go out to congratulate him and see if he needed a helping hand.
I look at the bear and say "Christ Mitch, your dog is bigger than that."
He looks knda sheepish and says "It looked bigger thru the scope." :oops:
He and I still laugh about that.

[Coyote]

Check the distance between the ears. Old rule of thumb is if it would take four ears to fill the space between the ears, it's a big one.

[Rob Chipman]

Like Monasheemountainman said - you're the only one. I've never done it, and definitely not with the last one I got. Nope. Never.... :-)

I've made it a rule now that I'm not going to shoot one smaller than the last one, and I'm 50/50 regretting it because I'm in bad need of bear grease !

[two-feet]

Like Monasheemountainman said - you're the only one. I've never done it, and definitely not with the last one I got. Nope. Never.... :-)

I've made it a rule now that I'm not going to shoot one smaller than the last one, and I'm 50/50 regretting it because I'm in bad need of bear grease !

bear grease is a valuable commodity! It is great for frying fish, French toast, bannock...

[Hugh Mann]

Half the reason I hunt bears is for the fat! So many uses, plus delicious meat. Got a bag to render down tonight. Mmmm.

[Hugh Mann]

Check the distance between the ears. Old rule of thumb is if it would take four ears to fill the space between the ears, it's a big one.

I went back and looked at past pictures of bears I, or people I know have tagged and that actually is a pretty good rule to follow.

[HarryToolips]

I find their smaller once you walk up to them compared to what you see in the scope..

[Quiet Hunter]

Check the distance between the ears. Old rule of thumb is if it would take four ears to fill the space between the ears, it's a big one.

I like that. that sounds right to me. we are talking bear ears right? lol

[Wild one]

Yes the head helps but the body gives them away most in my opinion. Look at the front half of the bear the legs/shoulders become more muscular

[bc7mm]

When you first starting hunting bears definitely ground shrinkage is an issue. You need to look at a lot of bears to be able to judge them properly.

Size of the ears in relation to the head, crease down the centre of the noggin. Front shoulder mass, and the way they move also gives them away.

[Frank grimes]

I’ve also found that really big bears look big. No second look needed. And they tend to act and walk like they are big, almost with a swagger.

[ACB]

I’ve also found that really big bears look big. No second look needed. And they tend to act and walk like they are big, almost with a swagger.
I agree, when you see a big bear, you know it right away. A rule of thumb is if a bear looks like it's big because it has long legs and looks tall, it's not big but small, it looks like it's long legged because the body is small. If it looks big because it's ears are so big, it's small because the ears stand out because the head is small. On a big bear the ears look small and appear to be hanging on the side of it's head and a big male bear will have a crease down the middle of it's head and their snouts are quite wide. Like I said when you see a big, one you know it right away.

[warnniklz]

I've stopped many people, including myself from shooting "monster" bears. Standing bears are easy and deceiving at the same time. The bear may seem taller than you when it's standing. If the bear is standing and it's 6 feet tall to the top of the head, it's not a 6 foot bear.you want 6 feet nose to tail, not ears to heels.

Another thing to do, if you're road hunting (as more bear hunters do), use reference points along the road to judge. If the rod you're on is only 8 feet wide and the bear only is half the length... do the math. Even this spring I did a rough guess of the width of the grassy patch along the side of the road. Spread my arms out and guessed it to be 5 feet wide. The bear along the grassy patch wasn't even as long the grassy patch, it got to walk.

[twoSevenO]

bears are definitely the hardest animal in BC to field judge .... many accomplished hunters will attest to this as well.
Like anything else ... experience is key.

[Firstblood]

Ear to head ratio is the key for me. Where I live I see bears on a daily basis, sitting in one spot I could see 4 today (all non huntable) and some thick, chunky, shoulder humpy black bears have shown to be not that big until you get close, but they ears are the tell. A big bear will have tiny ears on the sides of their head, a medium bear will have "normal" sized ears on top of their head, a small bear will have mickey mouse ears up top. And 75% of the time, they arent big bears.