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Offline dk17hmr

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How do you tell?
« on: September 10, 2006, 10:29:17 AM »
I got drawn for a bear permit this year and my hunt starts the 25th of September and goes until the 30th of October, I plan on using my compound bow along with my 1911 45acp, just in case with some hard cast 260gr loaded hot.  I havent hunted bear before and I want to know how to tell if its good bear, I will be traveling to get to the area about 350 miles from home.  We dont see bear around here not high in numbers so I dont have much to go by except pics I have seen on the net.

How do ya'll tell? I will be hunting over bait so my shot is going to be less then 20 yards and I have buddies that are going up early to bait for me and stuff.  I only get to hunt weekends because I am still in college, and I dont want to blow it and shoot a little one.

DK
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Doug
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Offline TreyAzagthoth

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Re: How do you tell?
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2006, 04:15:25 PM »
Lets see, the bigger ones waddle a bit when walking, their ears are further apart more on the side of the head instead of the top, they should have more of a round head as well, and if i remember right their front shoulders are close to the same height as the back ones where as the young ones have short front shoulders. a big one will look stocky of course where as a young one is pretty lanky, i dont know about baiting but normally a big bear will eat and such where the food is more plentiful where as the younger/smaller ones will stay up higher up on the mountains, also i found this when searching for the info on the shoulders
Adult black bears make a variety of sounds. However, the most commonly heard sounds are woofing and jaw-popping. The young ones whimper or bawl. hope some of this helps you and good luck.
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I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?"
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Offline Rev Buck

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Re: How do you tell?
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2006, 05:06:29 PM »
Yes the ears are a good thing to look at.  Also the belly/body looks bigger which makes the legs look proportionately shorter.  The young ones, as said above, look more long-legged and lanky.  The best thing to remember is, take your time, catch your breath before shooting him.  They all look big when you first see them   :o  Rev
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Offline dk17hmr

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Re: How do you tell?
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2006, 05:18:05 PM »
I had heard about the legs being proportionatelt shorter but I was sure if I was getting jerked around.  I didnt mention I am going after Black Bear.  Last year one of the guys we hunt with shot a 648 pounder, but I hear the norm is about 175-225 pounds.  So basically just look at how they are filled out eh, I have also heard that you look at the distance from the ground to thier belly to judge body size.
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Doug
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Sticks and stones may break my bones but hollow points expand on impact.

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Offline NYHunter

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Re: How do you tell?
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2006, 07:38:24 PM »
Check the laws regarding carrying a pistol during the bow season. I understand why you want to carry it,  but it is a forearm, and may not be legal to carry when hunting with the bow. Just check it out to be on the safe side. Here in New york it is a NO,NO!

Average black bear weight is 150 -175 lbs. here in the Northeast, but they can go 300+. You won't have any trouble identifying a cub or yearling. It starts getting hard when the bear is 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 yrs old.
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Offline Moose-Hunter

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Re: How do you tell?
« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2006, 09:20:50 PM »
An old timer once said that if you stumbled upon a bear and it was big, you would know it!
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Offline dk17hmr

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Re: How do you tell?
« Reply #6 on: September 11, 2006, 07:11:27 AM »
This is an open weapon season, either bullets or arrows.  Here in MI we only have 1 bow only season and its not the area I sent in for.
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Doug
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Sticks and stones may break my bones but hollow points expand on impact.

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Offline bscman

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Re: How do you tell?
« Reply #7 on: September 13, 2006, 03:09:43 PM »
The best way for me to tell is the looking mostly at the head. The further apart the ears are, and the further to the sides (rather than top) of the head, the bigger the bear.

Another way to remember, is if the head looks big--its usually a small bear. Most people focus so much on the size of the head, they end up shooting smaller bears because THE HEAD LOOKED BIG. In reality, the bigger bears will have smaller *looking* heads because they're bodies are so massive.

Lanky legs and no "wobble" as they walk is another good indicator.
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Offline bearfat

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Re: How do you tell?
« Reply #8 on: September 13, 2006, 04:20:38 PM »
I'd agree on head size.

But I have been very surprised once I got up to them dead on the ground. Shot a small one (so I thought) the last ten minutes of the hunt one year only to find a 300 pounder laying dead. The guy that had been in the stand all week taking pictures of the dang thing said it was small too and that's why he didn't shoot it. When we looked at the pictures it was the same 300 pound bear I had shot. Haaaa!

Look at the avitar on left. How big is he? It was a 200 pounder. I have some photo's that have him looking smaller, some bigger. When he did come in I did look at the head and was fairly confident he was not a big boy nor was it anything I'd be ashamed of. I had all I could handle after the shot believe me.


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