Is this a peculiar bear hunting regulation?

[AvidIndoorsman]

LOL! Yes, I’m confident that you are intimately familiar with this measurement.

 

[ChrisC]

Got back from the quick two day trip for bear in western MA. Only three state forests allow camping throughout the year so the choice was limited. Not too many people apparently winter camp in MA, and the 16 degree lows may have kept a few of the remaining ones away. I did a lot of exploring and only saw one other truck in the entire area. The Cimarron w/ stove was nice to get out of the wind.


We had a little snowfall, maybe a couple inches at the higher elevations, but enough to harden overnight and make every step sound like you were walking on bags of potato chips. This made the early morning hunts tough since I wanted to cover some ground getting to know the place. Once the snow softened a bit it was much quieter to walk.

The first day I spooked some turkeys roosting and a couple on the ground. Found some deer, bobcat, and coyote tracks but that was about it. Wind was swirling, which may have played in not getting close to anything.

The next day I continued finding new areas. Not having much experience with bears my guess was this track was a back paw print of a bear?

Fortunately the success of the trip wasn't defined by whether or not I shot something (is this just what people who don't notch their tag say?), as the learning experience and time outdoors was great. Here are a couple other pictures of the area.


Back to stand hunting for deer

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Nice work! Love the fact that you were tent camping in MA.

Yep bear track.

 

[bushman13]

The one bear I've seen out hiking in 39, was an absolute hog. Big male with giant head, perfect coat, and huge. I'm guessing he enjoyed a few trash dinners in his time.

Meh it's not that bad, all bears were way easier than any of my elk.

You can one trip your average boned out bear. Two trips if it's a really big one, I think you should be expecting to pack out 100lbs of meat and hide, 130lbs on the high end 60lb on the low end.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

The one bear I've seen out hiking in 39, was an absolute hog. Big male with giant head, perfect coat, and huge. I'm guessing he enjoyed a few trash dinners in his time.

This is the largest CO bear I've ever seen a picture of... it was poached at the aspen dump. I don't think even this bear would yield 200lbs of meat.

 

[bushman13]

That is a bigg'n. Over 500lbs?

This is the largest CO bear I've ever seen a picture of... it was poached at the aspen dump. I don't think even this bear would yield 200lbs of meat.
View attachment 119453

View attachment 119454

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

~400lbs according to CPAW so pack out weight (meat +hide) in the 170-200lbs range.

Makes you really second guess those estimated weights on the spring bear threads right

Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is a nationally recognized leader in conservation, outdoor recreation and wildlife management. The agency manages 42 state parks, all of Colorado's wildlife, more than 300 state wildlife areas and a host of recreational programs. CPW issues hunting and fishing...

cpw.state.co.us

 

[bushman13]

There have a been a few +600lbs in Georgia in the last ten years, but that CO bear looks to have a bigger head.

~400lbs according to CPAW so pack out weight (meat +hide) in the 170-200lbs range.

Makes you really second guess those estimated weights on the spring bear threads right

Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is a nationally recognized leader in conservation, outdoor recreation and wildlife management. The agency manages 42 state parks, all of Colorado's wildlife, more than 300 state wildlife areas and a host of recreational programs. CPW issues hunting and fishing...

cpw.state.co.us

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

@ChrisC
I filed a FOIA request with MA, they returned me an excel table from which I generated this pivot table.

This is the aggregate bear data from 1972-2018, assuming you keep after it for bears the next couple of seasons this is what you should expect.

 

[ChrisC]

@ChrisC
I filed a FOIA request with MA, they returned me an excel table from which I generated this pivot table.

This is the aggregate bear data from 1972-2018, assuming you keep after it for bears the next couple of seasons this is what you should expect.

View attachment 119633

Wow, thank you for doing that! I don't know much (read: anything) about the accessing information via FOIA but I really appreciate you going through the trouble. They are smaller than I expected.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Wow, thank you for doing that! I don't know much (read: anything) about the accessing information via FOIA but I really appreciate you going through the trouble. They are smaller than I expected.

Don't be surprised or feel guilty if you first bear doesn't look all that much bigger than someones lab... bears aren't that big.