MT Bear ID Test ????

[Colberjs]

Took my Montana Bear ID test tonight just in case I ever get go. I got all of them right but one. I said it was not a blonde-phased black bear. It looks like a grizzly to me due to the shape of the nose, the slight hump (I guess it could be neck fat) and the claws look too long to be a black bear.

The good news is, I would've erred safely by not killing a grizzly I thought was a black bear.

The bad news is, I would've erred and would've missed out on a beautiful, apparently mature legal black bear.

The photo and question in question:

Remember, hair color can be a misleading characteristic to identify bears. Is this a blonde-phased black bear?

 

[Bambistew]

Good call either way. You'd have suffered some serious remorse when you walked up to that little girl. Black bear all the way.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Y

ou'd have suffered some serious remorse when you walked up to that little girl. Black bear all the way

I don't know if I'd be remorseful or not to shoot a little blonde sow that pretty Bambistew. On a side note, why is it you hardly ever see a big blonde bear. Do those 100 lb.blonde bears get darker and turn cinnamon as they get older?


The short nose and round rump are also tell-tale indications of a black bear.

 

[thecrittergitter]

Good call either way. You'd have suffered some serious remorse when you walked up to that little girl. Black bear all the way.

I will second that............definitely a black bear and definitely not a shooter

 

[Bambistew]

Y

On a side note, why is it you hardly ever see a big blonde bear. Do those 100 lb.blonde bears get darker and turn cinnamon as they get older?

The first bear I shot in MT was a blond sow similar to this one. She was 13 years old.

I haven't seen many blond bears, but it seems like all that I've seen are young and/or females. Can't say that I've seen a blond boar, dead or alive.

 

[ida homer]

Beware we got a couple bad asses above . I saw a toad of a blond bear this last spring. In 3 weeks I'd love to run into it again.