Looking for Tips on "Field Judging Black Bear"

[LandDiver]

As someone who will be going out on my first bear hunt, what are some pointers you guys would give to make sure you are going after a good mature bear, or even just a good size bear to start a stalk on? What is a good weight for a bear? Not interested in a trophy bear to be 100% honest. Just looking forward to the experience as a whole.

When a bear is spotted, how long do you guys watch a bear to make sure there are no cubs around if it's a female?

What are some things that tell you right away it's a boar?

Any other good tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[choc dogs]

I usually just glass a bunch of black stumps, and hope they are bears, they never are. Sometimes I take my rifle for a nice spring walk, sometimes it's a bow (don't tell my wife, she doesn't like the idea of me bowhunting for bears). I've never seen one I needed to kill where it was, so I've never killed one, sorry that's not muh help. Hope you have a good hunt.

 

[Sask hunter]

It's hard. A big mature boar has a squared off nose like he walked into a wall. A big bears head will be as deep as his neck. It's like it's all one structure. I also like to look for a crease in the head. Ears on top of head means a young bear. Sows and young bears will have pointy noses. You need to look for a few of these signs to confirm it's a good one. Big board almost have a "swagger" when they walk

Weight of bears depends on the area. Bears in the states seem to weigh more then bears here in Canada. 400# bear here is a trophy could be a booner.

 

[Frequently Banned Troll]

https://www.boone-crockett.org/bgRecords/records_FieldJudging_bear.asp

 

[Gerald Martin]

Assuming you are hunting Idaho and hunting in the spring, I'll offer a few thoughts. Spring bears are not going to weigh as much as fall bears obviously and bears in Idaho and Montana are not generally going to be as heavy as people think. An honest 200-250lb spring black bear is about as good a bear as you can expect to kill. The bigest spring bear that I've personally seen killed, weighed 360 with the guts in and it squared over 7'. If you see a bear like that, all the questions you had about judging bears will be answered. It's the little boo, boo, bears that are difficult for most novice bear hunters to judge.

I'd say bears in the 100-150lb range are the average killed each year.

 

[LandDiver]

I usually just glass a bunch of black stumps, and hope they are bears, they never are. Sometimes I take my rifle for a nice spring walk, sometimes it's a bow (don't tell my wife, she doesn't like the idea of me bowhunting for bears). I've never seen one I needed to kill where it was, so I've never killed one, sorry that's not muh help. Hope you have a good hunt.

Ha ha! When I was up at the big rock I was doing the same exact thing lol! Waiting for it to move but it never did.

It's hard. A big mature boar has a squared off nose like he walked into a wall. A big bears head will be as deep as his neck. It's like it's all one structure. I also like to look for a crease in the head. Ears on top of head means a young bear. Sows and young bears will have pointy noses. You need to look for a few of these signs to confirm it's a good one. Big board almost have a "swagger" when they walk

Weight of bears depends on the area. Bears in the states seem to weigh more then bears here in Canada. 400# bear here is a trophy could be a booner.

Thank you. I've seen that "swagger" in bear hunt videos. Appreciate it.

https://www.boone-crockett.org/bgRecords/records_FieldJudging_bear.asp

I will check this out. Thanks.

Assuming you are hunting Idaho and hunting in the spring, I'll offer a few thoughts. Spring bears are not going to weigh as much as fall bears obviously and bears in Idaho and Montana are not generally going to be as heavy as people think. An honest 200-250lb spring black bear is about as good a bear as you can expect to kill. The bigest spring bear that I've personally seen killed, weighed 360 with the guts in and it squared over 7'. If you see a bear like that, all the questions you had about judging bears will be answered. It's the little boo, boo, bears that are difficult for most novice bear hunters to judge.

I'd say bears in the 100-150lb range are the average killed each year.

Yes I will be hunting Idaho, particularly unit 39 since it's where I've spent all of last November. I seen a skinned Alaskan black bear the other day in a neighbors house who PCS'd from Alaska. It gave me a pretty good idea of what a black bear look like, even though I think what he got was much bigger then what I might see here in Idaho. Appreciate the help, especially with the weight expectations. Sometime to much YouTube videos put a different view of a bear in my head.

Thank you.

 

[Sask hunter]

One thing to consider tho is of the near is nervous he will be sneaking and not "swaggering". Few years ago I shot a 20 1/16" that was sneaking into the bait not swaggering

 

[teamhoyt]

If you have moa or mil windage marks in your scope you can measure them... Sort of

 

[LandDiver]

If you have moa or mil windage marks in your scope you can measure them... Sort of

I don't own a rifle yet ha ha. Just me and my bow for the time being.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I don't own a rifle yet ha ha. Just me and my bow for the time being.

If you get up close you can measure them. ..

 

[Schaaf]

If you get up close you can measure them. ..

May I suggest a camo tape measure?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Realtree..._8903vry57826_pcrid_73529852758671_pkw__pmt__