Is This a Big Bear?

[325]

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc215/goatcamp/securedownload.jpg

[cloverphil]

probably big enough to harvest, hard to tell from here
he sure is nice and black

[Blainer]

yep
big knoggin,thick neck,fat belly=shooter
just not real long,maybe 6'
but pictures are deceiving.

[Tikka270wsm]

I'd say above average but not big. Definately healthy and kinda looks like a big sow to me as the eyes seem pretty close together. Not an easy pic to get an accurate judgement on.

[steel_ram]

Possibly. The top of it's head has "that crease". The ears appear small. It's only one pic. I'd like to see it up on all fours first, see how it moves, see how the body fills out. No guarantee, it could be a older sow that has big bear features in a small package.

[springpin]

Nice sized noggin, nice shiny coat. I'd shoot.

[TheProvider]

A good size and healthy coat. I wouldn't shoot it till I saw it on all fours to get a better judgement on size and whether or not its a sow

[REMINGTON JIM]

Very decent bear ! Bang - flop ! Yahoo !

[gerrygoat]

I would guess this is a sow because of the pointy nose but I would still shoot it is looks to be a nice sized bear.

[835]

I'd say above average but not big. Definately healthy and kinda looks like a big sow to me as the eyes seem pretty close together..

Thats what i was going to say, it looked sow'ish. and average in size.

[Calamity]

I wouldn't call him a big bear but I'd say he's sure a nice, healthy mature one.

Everytime time somebody says "big bear" I always remember the scene from the John Candy movie The Great Outdoors where he's leaning against the door of the cabin saying, "Big bear! BIG bear! BIG! BIG!" Hee hee hee

[rocksteady]

Depends on what he is big enough FOR..

B.C. book or B&C? I doubt it....
Big enough to make a big batch of pepparoni?....absolutely...
Big enough for your 12 year old to take as his/her first big game animal after passing the CORE? YOU BETCHA!!!
Big enough to make a beautiful rug for in front of your fireplace? As long as your wife/girlfirend is not a 7'3" amazon, probably.
Big enough to make you stain your ginch, when you meet him on the trail in the dark with no gun? FOR SURE....


To me, that is an average, respactable bear with a very nice hide that would be suitable to harvest...

[325]

I have other photos of the bear, but not uploaded to photobucket, so maybe I'll do that tonight to get other perspectives. Interesting answers.......

[Tyee]

No would not shot that one for a rug. Over 30 years of Hunting Have only taken 1 big bear on the Hook 407 lbs thats dressed. I saw one this year in the snow in Renfrew that was pushing 7ft I will look for that one this coming Spring and try and take him in Dec. :)

[Mr. Dean]

Gut instinct tells me its a healthy, heavy'ish', decent,,,, but not a 'big' bear.
Good specimen but I would like to see it's forearms before saying; WOW!!




http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc215/goatcamp/securedownload.jpg

[325]

Here's another pic.
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc215/goatcamp/005.jpg

[Calamity]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/CattleAnnie/9a1609f5c3b429fcfb7aa9e367b14be8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/CattleAnnie/article-1075830-0004BBA500000258-632_468x340.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/CattleAnnie/Big-Black-Bear.jpg


To me the above are what I would consider to be pretty good-sized blacks. Maybe somebody that's more of a bear hunting expert would say differently. ;)

[CabinFever]

I'd have no problem giving that bear a 7mm pill. It seems to have a pretty decent sized mellon on it. Makes me yearn for the spring!

[coach]

That second picture makes it look quite big, 325. Ears look small and round and to the side of the head in both pics. Front shoulder looks heavy in second pic and belly hangs low.

[325]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/CattleAnnie/9a1609f5c3b429fcfb7aa9e367b14be8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/CattleAnnie/article-1075830-0004BBA500000258-632_468x340.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/CattleAnnie/Big-Black-Bear.jpg


To me the above are what I would consider to be pretty good-sized blacks. Maybe somebody that's more of a bear hunting expert would say differently. ;)

Those are huge bears for sure. Were they photographed in the fall?? They look pretty fat for spring bears. I took the photo above in mid-May.

[buck nash]

I would guess this is a sow because of the pointy nose but I would still shoot it is looks to be a nice sized bear.

I agree, it does have kinda feminin features in its face. I think a nice well-fed healthy sow. Above average in condition and average or slightly above in size. I'd shoot her still though but I'd definately be having a real good look around for cubs fisrt.

[hunter1947]

Hard to tell when it is sitting down my toughts are that this bear is around 6 foot,2inches nice bear to take..

[Tikka270wsm]

Here's another pic.
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc215/goatcamp/005.jpg

Now in this pic, the bear looks like a decent boar. Notice length and shape of the neck even though the body is really thick. Usually a sows neck will be shorter and fatten up with the rest of the body making it look even shorter.
This is what makes bears so difficult to judge. They seem to change shape the more you look at them. Best way to tell a boar from a sow is by body language but if I was to make a final decision based on this pic, I would have to say a boar on the younger end of mature that is very healthy maybe around 6 foot. The first pic definately looked like a sow as the bear wasn't stretched out like in this pic. Was this pic taken in the Spring or the Fall? If it's a spring bear, he's a chunky one that obviously found a good food supply before winter hit.

[hunter1947]

This is a good picture of the bear i am guessing he is around the mid 6 foot range..

[835]

Thats definatly a better pic to judge by. The gut is almost touching the ground and the front shoulders look big as well.
It has to be a Spring Bear, look at the Salmon berry bush in the back ground.

I'd shoot it,,,,, or id look at it for a long time and say yes no yes no long enough for it to walk away. Then id get razzed by the partner. :)

[Tikka270wsm]

It has to be a Spring Bear, look at the Salmon berry bush in the back ground.

I'd shoot it,,,,, or id look at it for a long time and say yes no yes no long enough for it to walk away. Then id get razzed by the partner. :)

I guess I could have answered my own question. I thought the grass looked a little short too. Oh, and you know you'd let that one walk. Even if you had 500 feet of rope and a partner that offered to do all the work.LOL

[REMINGTON JIM]

Very decent bear ! Bang - flop ! Yahoo !

I think later spring- a BOAR ! Bang- Flop ! Yahoo for sure !

[Mr. Dean]

I'd knock it over now and expect something above average when I got up to it.

IMO if its a springer, he either ruled the local food source before going to bed or had a good salmon stream...

[coach]

Here's a pic of an average sized sow for comparison:

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg633/coach1000/IMG_0233.jpg

Great thread, btw. It's a great opportunity for people to learn about judging bears. Thanks, 325.

[325]

I think field judging bears is more difficult than any other big game animal. This picture was taken May 15 last year at about 60 yards. I watched this bear feed for about 10 minutes before it had enough of me a wandered off. He was a real blubber-butt and the largest bear I have seen in the Kootenays in the five years I've been here. I have seen truly massive black bears in Northern Alberta, that were significantly bigger than this guy, but I find Kootenay black bears to be quite small aon average, so I was pretty impressed with this bear.

If I would have had my bow with me, I certianly would have tried to take him.

[835]

Well you ceratinly got some nice pictures of it!

[Mr. Dean]

I think field judging bears is more difficult than any other big game animal.

100%, whole-heartedly in agreement with that statement.

[coach]

100%, whole-heartedly in agreement with that statement.

X3. A great reason to post these kind of pics. Also good to post photos of bears that are small. It's important that all hunters learn to take their time before pulling the trigger.

[835]

Also remember that feild judging is half the fun. If i had a dollar for every bear i let walk id be rich. You gotta make it perfect, to fit in that memory as a great thing. I am really going to try to take more pictures this year, maybe run a thread as it happens.

[coach]

Awesome, 835. That's kind of what I did with my season recap. I passed on several last year Only one that I regret - but couldn't decide until the last second when it walked out of sight. Wish I had got that one on camera.

[rcar]

Very nice looking bear but my first thought was a sow.....but hard to tell from the pic.

[Mr. Dean]

X3. A great reason to post these kind of pics. Also good to post photos of bears that are small. It's important that all hunters learn to take their time before pulling the trigger.

Here's a small bear:

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSC_0008-1.jpg


And a shot of it and an even smaller bear that showed up after 20 full minutes of viewing the 1st one:

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSC_0014-1.jpg


And finaly, a solo of that cub:

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/DSC_0009-1.jpg


In this situation, I think Momma Bear would have likely been dead by many a hunter that happened along her. Hell, I had her in my 45-70's sights after 10 minutes of watching her, contemplating, should I???

And while I was still sitting on that fence, I heard rustling in the bushes; Low and behold, the lil'buggar pops out from nowhere after another 10 mins past.

I should also note that I found the same bear earlier in the dayand passed on it then, hoping foe sumthin bigger; it had no cub then too.... But as time passed on, I was feeling hungry. :lol:


Patience IS a virture.

[835]

Mr Dean,
You just photographed my greatest fear. And that is why i pass so many bears. I do love the hunt though.

[Mr. Dean]

Mr Dean,
You just photographed my greatest fear. And that is why i pass so many bears. I do love the hunt though.


I hear ya and have been fortunate that I can sleep easy, without a guilty consience.... There's been a couple close kills in my time.


And here's my tip for sizing bears, but it takes REAL patience:
Look for tracks - If you measure the widest portion of the front pad, then add an imaginary inch,,, you should now have an idea of what you're looking at.


1/16th inches under 5" pad width:

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1010161_edited-2.JPG


Plus a watermelloned noggin:

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1010156_edited-2.JPG


Equaled a 6'2", nose to base of tail, heavy plumper of an Island Blackie example. :mrgreen:

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1010158_edited-2.JPG


I hunted, stalked and viewed this bear for three entire days.

[Calamity]

Now that is a very nice bear, Mr. Dean.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

[835]

52 Sleeps!....................

[Mr. Dean]

52 Sleeps!....................

Yup!!!!!!
It has to be my favorite hunting season.

[Mr. Dean]

I passed on this guy one year, for another that didn't pan out. Went home empty handed. :cry:

http://api.photoshop.com/home_93c183238c264b21aebf84403f631f01/adobe-px-assets/d94e77f74a1746e8a030fb093bf9b5b0


Late into my hunt the following year, I couldn't catch up to the one I wanted from the year previously, and figured I'd try for him (the above), as I located him again when I 1st showed up.... Sadly, a Guide beat me to it. :cry: :cry:

Epic Disappointment.
Skunked 2 years in a row.


ETA:

About 3 seconds after taking that pic, he bluff-charged the Wife and I. [Pucker Moment]

[Mr. Dean]

Now that is a very nice bear, Mr. Dean.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Thanks Calamity, it's been fun reminicising.
Hopefully people can take something away from some of my experiences and/or misfortunes. :wink:

[The Hermit]

Cool thread! 825 gotta love bowhunting for bears eh... one of the best!

[.330 Dakota]

I think later spring- a BOAR ! Bang- Flop ! Yahoo for sure !

Hey only 1 bang flop per customer

[walks with deer]

personally

I Have shot some big Boars however found them not very edible

I chase young males with the bow you need to watch them longer to insure there not a sow but they are way better to put in the freezer.

[91Jason91]

hard to tell in a picture, but it does look like a dec size

[vortex hunter]

Well I love eating / Hunting Bear I am Drooling over these bear pics Thanks guys I really enjoy hunting Bear ...... Nice bear MR.Dean

[Mr. Dean]

personally

I Have shot some big Boars however found them not very edible

I chase young males with the bow you need to watch them longer to insure there not a sow but they are way better to put in the freezer.


I took this guy in May and he would've been up for a good month. Backstraps tasted like a FINE beef steak.
Kicked myself in the ass [to this very day] for cranking the rest of him up into sausages.

I did hace a shitload of fine sausage though... :lol:

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1010158_edited-2.JPG

[Mr. Dean]

Well I love eating / Hunting Bear I am Drooling over these bear pics Thanks guys I really enjoy hunting Bear ...... Nice bear MR.Dean


Cheers.........