Grizzly ID

[SavageShooter]

Well I got my Grizz authorization in the mail today, 4-18A. Also I got a letter extolling the virtues of only harvesting a male, great info. I have been doing some research on this on my own but they also included a link to a great video on the Alaska Fish and Game website.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=multimedia.main (http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=multimedia.main)
Wow, this is going to be harder than I thought. I understand that in the Yukon and Alaska that the coat color helps in sex ID. Is this the same in the interior? After viewing about a hundred bears it seemed to get harder not easier.
Any tips from the seasoned interior grizzly hunters either for determining sex or any tips on 4-18A?
Thank you in advance.
SS

[srupp]

hmmm have not looked at said video..however the interior bear do have quite a bit of variety when it comes to coat color..and that would never be the deciding factor..the true silver tips are my personal favorite...

head shape and size..and that famous muscle mass crease of older bears does play a large factor as does shoulder muscle mass ...check from BOTH front and side..males do have large frontal shoulders as wide as the head..

gait(walk) is much more ponderous in the adult bears and even more so in the old males..deliberate swagger..:tongue: pidgeon toed..

the ears are very small and wide set on the older bears while the females have a more delicate narrow profile..longer nose..

The males have longer necks in comparison to the females females hardly have any necks..

hides are a poor choice of sex selection in mountainous bears..coastal bear the ,males have darker coats more slick ..HOWEVER all younger bears on the coat will or can have big fluffy coats..

Mountain bears are trophies when a male with even long unrubbed coat , and 7' or longer (SQUARED) however it shouldnt be too hard in most mountain LEHS to get a 8' squared boar....when the coat looks multi colored it may mean that the lighter brown is actually the underhair ..meaning the bear has rubbed the guard hairs away..a rubbed bear..however The only grizzly I kept was a badly rubbed old vetern.. that was aged by tooth sample as being I believe the second oldest Grizzly harvested in BC ( Canada ) I think it was 26 or so..years old..well rubbed old silvertip with pure white 6" claws..

nervous bears looking constantly around usually are younger bears..hence smaller...

IMO a 6' interior bear is not old enough to be considered a trophy and one should eat the tag rather than harvest that bear..IMO..

the bigger boars usually get prime feeding areas the BEST..andother bears tend to clear the way...

boars usually have some noticable scaring by the time they are mature..they tend to be the scrappers, fighters..

females pee out the back males straight downin front of the hind legs..

and the #1 way to tell its a male grizzly..

tiny red bear scare whistles in their POOP..:tongue:

cheers

Steven

pm me for any specific questions..

ps I have harvested far more grizzlies in that first hour after dawn than any other time of day mountain bears( black bears is the opposite far more last minute evening bears )

mountain bears are found where the food is in the spring...steeper SOUTH facing slides that green up first..