manboy

i have never bear hunted, i will be going in a few days. i would like to knowhow do u tell if a bear is 100-200-300lbs.? i think they all would look big! this is a spot and stalk in the big horn mtns: huntnmuleys and i are going on. it should be a blast! any bear info would be great, thanks

Pace Maker

Hey Manboy,
I just today got home from an Alaskan Black Bear hunt. The best way to size up a black bear I've found is to look at the ears. The ears should look wide apart and small. If the ears look big, it's a small bear. Spyro A, a member on this forum, told me how to size up the bears, and it works. I tried to attach a picture of the bear I was lucky enough to harvest but for some reason I can't get the picture to go thru. Also, where I was hunting, what made it easy to tell if it was a big bear or not was the size of the stomach. The bear I harvested's stomach was almost touching the ground. The black bears where I was hunting are the biggest in the world, so that made it a little easier to judge size also. Prince of Wales Island Alaska, I've already re-booked for next year! Good luck on your hunt, shoot a big one! You can check out the bear pics on my site
http://groups.msn.com/skunkaroo1
John

car

If the bear looks bigger than brad it's big shoot. Just kidding, bears are hard to judge with all the hair that they have. One good rule is, if you have to say to yourself is it big enough to shoot. It is a small one. When you see a big one you will know. Have a good time wish that I was going with you and Brad. If he finds out good news about his trip before you guys leave you will have to tie him to a tree to hold him down to the ground. car

pookibear

my first was small but the second was bigger some say if you can get him to stand up for hanging bait you can judge or like it was already mentioned ears this is only my third saeson hunting them still have alot to learn[&:]

max the dog

All bears tend to grow right before shooting them and then suddely shrink right before the scale and tape measure comes out. Kind of like fish.
But seriously, small ears are a good sign of a big one. But trust me when I say there is a world of difference between a 100 pound small bear and a 300 pound boar. Think of how much different a 100 pound kid is comapred to a 300 pound pro wrestler. You'll get the idea.

ShatoDavis

Here's a method that seems to work quite well. If you can get a frontal view of his face. Draw in your mind a triangle with the points being at the ears to the muzzle and a line between the ears. The closer the length of the line between the ears is to the distance from ears to muzzle the larger the bear. With a bear is approx. the same distance between ears as ears to muzzle its a world class trophy. Notice pace makers bear, its an excellent example.
It is nearly as wide between the ears as from ears to muzzle. At 20" it certainly ranks as a world class trophy in my eyes.

Pace I hope you don't mind me using your pic for an example.

BareBack Jack

I got that e-mail this morrnig from Pace,and all I can say is HOLY SHNIKIEY"S that bear is huge.
Con gate's Pace.

If their ears look like they are on the side of their head and small then is a good bear.

BBJ

skeeter 7MM

shatodavis gave you an awesome/effective/fast way for field judging blackie's. The ears and muzzle are major indicators, seeing it is often all you may see with a bear in great length depending on the area you hunt or style, this would also be my first suggestion. Basically if his face looks like a german sheppard he is a youngin'(although this is also a good indicator for sows, along with long hair, slender frame and no pigeon toed stance). If you can see his body then the drooped belly or all body no legs look or the rear end looks like its 2 large sacks of jelly all indicate a good sized boar.

If your hunting over bait like we do here in Sask, than the bait barrels also give you a visual. If you can image the bear fitting inside the 45 gallon drum don't even think about dropping the hammer or pulling the string. If this is not the case then you know you have a average to above average sized bear for our area which would be 6 1/2 feet 300-350lbs range.

Pacemaker thats a fine blackie you got yourself. Are you planning to rug or full mount him? Congrats and thanks for the pictures shatodavis/pacemaker. I am really missing not going for spring bears this year but hopefully this fall will provide an opportunity.

Western MA Hunter

I always look for the "pumpkin head". Usually the big boys have a crease down the top of their head. Like stated above, their ears will look small and they have a wide snout. There is really is no mistaking the big boars. You'll know when you see one.

http://tinypic.com/4tvvwl
This boar dressed at 325lb and had a 19 & 3/16" skull.

http://tinypic.com/aba12
This boar dressed at 313lb and had a 18 & 11/16" skull.

Good luck.
Hope you kill a freak!

bearklr

The two I always use are of course the ears as well as the belly. The reason the ears are so popular is that they are the same size from the time they're cubs until they die. Therefore the bigger the head the smaller the ears look. Also alot of boars will have a belly that will almost touch the ground and "waddle" when they walk. I took mine 6 years ago and he weighed 415 and measured 20 11/16. The good thing about that one was I got him at my own camp right here in Pa. Good luck on your hunt.

p.s. If you really want to be sure he's a shooter then there's really only 1 way to do that. What you do is sneak up behing him real slow so he doesn't see you coming. Once within 2 feet of the bear just haul off and kick him as hard as you can right in the a$$. When he turns around and stands on his hind legs you'll know EXACTLY how big he is and then decide wether or not he's the one you want to harvest.