black bear question

[buckwild76]

I am going to try for a bear in the up coming spring season and i am a little uneducated in some aspects. for instance i am unsure how to tell a bore from a sow? and i am not sure how to properly skin out for a rug? any help would be greatly appreciated, i am trying to do my homework now so i am prepared when the time comes. Thanks and happy new year to everyone!

[325 wsm]

Judging bears is the hardest thing to do. Big old boars are easiest to pick out during the rut when they are beside a sow. Skinning....straight line from under chin to point of tail..center of front pad across belly to center of other front pad.....back point of rear pad to top of anus to back point of other rear pad cutting along center of thicker longer hair (almost a natural part line). Skin close to hide removing as much fat as possible. Use knife to seperate last vertibrate from skull. Take to taxidermist watch ask questions and learn.....good luck

[308 win]

sometimes its hard to tell i would agree , expecialy when rushed. a bore has a much biger head for his size . if it has small head or ears look big dont shoot.! you will no a good bore when you see one. the ears are small. with a big neck. field juging bears comes with experience. its not that hard tho. kinda hard to show the skinning method here but a simple google will show you lots of sites to view.

[Will]

Very hard to tell a Boar from a sow, some will argue impossible.........look for cubs:wink:

Some great old threads on here about bear hunting in BC, seek and ye shall find.

[killman]

Boar is the one on top! :mrgreen:

All kidding aside, like Will said most importantly make sure there is no cubs.:-D

[srupp]

Tip..try ending your main incision from the underside starting even with the back corners of the mouth (in line with ) and STOP 4 finger WIDTHS in FRONT of the vent..poop chute opening..gives a btter form to the finished rug...

If ya find a decent black bear..male, over 6 feet in length non rubbed with a big head...leave the paws and head in and let the taxidermist do the first one while you WATCH...may be some videos on the computer??google it??

break down the front shoulder when shooting...and keep shooting till he stops moving Rupps words of wisdom..."ITS EASIER TO FIX AN EXTRA ONE INCH HOLE IN HIS HIDE THAN A ONE INCH HOLE IN YOUR HIDE.."

Vancouver ISland seems to hold bigger bears on average...

spring is best bet
look for water and skunk cabbage=bb
last hour of the day for blacks first hour of the day for Grizzzly bears..

cheers
Srupp

[Steeleco]

All good advice, BUT you should have and know your taxidermist BEFORE your trip IMO. Go talk to them and ask them the what? and how? questions. I'm sure they'll be glad to show you.

Mine did!!!

Good luck.

[buckwild76]

thanks for all the replies fellas, the one thing i was aware of was the presence of cubs, and like some of you have mentioned experience is the best learning tool.

[The Dawg]

Give this a look....

http://outdoorsdirectory.com/magazine/blbcare.htm

[tomahawk]

Big boars have a look like they are the "Schwartsnegger" of bears. Big thick muscled arms, belly close to the ground and wide through the shoulders and they swagger when they walk.

[Will]

Big thick muscled arms, belly close to the ground and wide through the shoulders and they swagger when they walk.
Why bring Gatehouse into this..........

[Dually Guy]

Short nose short round ears but look carefully in the bush

[bullmagnum]

wait for them to pee if youre really that concerned

[tomahawk]

Why bring Gatehouse into this..........

Will, you know he likes the recognition!

[hunter1947]

All good advice, BUT you should have and know your taxidermist BEFORE your trip IMO. Go talk to them and ask them the what? and how? questions. I'm sure they'll be glad to show you.

Mine did!!!

Good luck.


Thats good advice Steeleco I was going to say the same thing ,the taxidermy will tell you all on how to skin the bear.

As other posters have said look for a long time in a slash where you can see all around to make sure there are no cubs with the mom ,in an area where you can't see the surroundings is the place to keep away from ,the cubs might be just over the hill ,try to keep to big open slashes where you can see a big opening.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Big boars have a look like they are the "Schwartsnegger" of bears. Big thick muscled arms, belly close to the ground and wide through the shoulders and they swagger when they walk.

Right.
Look like this guy when they walk.
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h281/StoneSheep/?action=view&current=Cap0011.flv

Best advice is to get out and watch a bunch of bears. Don't be in a rush to drop the hammer. Take your time and enjoy.

SSS

[buckwild76]

thanks again for all the help, i have much more of an idea than i did before. cheers!

[moosinaround]

Right.
Look like this guy when they walk.
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h281/StoneSheep/?action=view&current=Cap0011.flv

Best advice is to get out and watch a bunch of bears. Don't be in a rush to drop the hammer. Take your time and enjoy.

SSS
If you see one like in SSS's video, freakin drop it!! That is a PIG!! I passed on a couple like that in the last two years and I am kicking myself for it!! Rolly poly, and Pumpkin head, I should have shot em both!! Moosin

[Kootenai]

Shot and skinned 6 blacks. Best advice, as mentioned, is to talk to the taxidermist you are going to take the hide to. He will tell you how he wants to work with it. Skinning a bear is a lot of work and if you have the taxidermist skin the head, not hard, but the paws take a long time which will increase the cost of the hide. If you can get the hide to the taxidermist quickly then leave most fat on the hide (take off the gobs). If you scrape to much off you will hit the hair follicle and the hair will fall out later. Just salt the flesh side with rock salt really well and roll it up. I have found size will not determine the sex. Swagger, belly size, are all found in both sexes. Only 100% way to know it is a boar is to see his penis hanging down, which is also hard to do. Peeing is a bit harder, but most of the time a boar will stretch out to pee and a sow will hump her back to pee. I have also seen both sexes pee while walking with no indication of sex. For size, they all look big when standing or walking with their hair all fluffed, then you shoot one and it is not as big as you figured. Look at the head and ears. As the bear grows the skull gets bigger and the ears move to the side of the head. Imagine a triangle over the bears face. The base is from ear to ear. The other two lines join at the nose. If the base is longer than the line to the nose then you have a shooter you will be proud of. Here is the last point that no one has commented on. Once you have skinned the bear and taken off the head and paws it is going to look exactly like a skinned human. When you roll the carcass it will flop with arms and legs (like a human) going different ways, it will not lay like a dead deer with legs sticking straight out from the body. I don't hunt bears any more as I prefer seeing them (blacks and grizz) saunter through my front yard sniffing and snuffling for food. Nothing against trophy hunters, I was one once, but as the years gain on my body I see life more interesting and I now hunt only for food. I obviously live in prime bear country.

[325 wsm]

Some big old bears may not be rolly polly anymore as their teeth are so bad they can not get enough nutrients. If you see a bear whose rear hip bones are prominent through the hide you are probably looking at a very old bear whose skull size will impress you even if his mass does'nt.

[yzchamp]

One advise i can give is to look closely while you skinning at the meat as you peel the hide off... you may see some nasty looking white hair like worms wigling around.......they say that if you cook to well done they are harmless... my self wont try it... nasty

[Will]

One advise i can give is to look closely while you skinning at the meat as you peel the hide off... you may see some nasty looking white hair like worms wigling around.......they say that if you cook to well done they are harmless... my self wont try it... nasty
Yummy......only ever had one old Boar that was absolutely infested with the White wigglies when we peeled off the skin...the fat looked alive ! :shock:

It sure wasn't appetising and I will admit the meat from that one went right in the bin. It was deemed unfit for consumption. http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/images/smilies/new/puke.gif

Had a helluva nice 6-1/2 foot hide on him though :wink:

[ve7iuq]

A quote--"Boar is the one on top! :mrgreen:"

I would hate to count on it, after a long ago experience with moose!
Bright September morning in the bush, looking ito sun. Two moose, and no glass for better observation. Couldn't tell, cows, young bull(s). Two of us. One moose climbs the other, dead on. I think I said, "really hate to do this to you," before, BANG.
What in hell are we going to do with that dead cow?

[buckwild76]

what the hell are the white wigglies??

[Kootenai]

what the hell are the white wigglies??

thread worms