MT black bear

[Big Fin]

Amazing bear. Congratulations.

This kind of information is fascinating to me. For that bear to be in the Top 20 of Montana, all-time, and only be seven years old is not something I would have expected if not for the cementum tooth aging at Matson's Lab. I always equate large skulls on bears and lions with ancient animals. Obviously that's not always the case.

If you are interested in having your animal aged, I can assure you it will add a lot more to the story of your hunt. In addition to aging animals for the majority of state/federal agencies, Matson's has a services where they will age animals for hunters.

Check them out at this link - https://matsonslab.com/age-your-game/

 

[Frequently Banned Troll]

Lasts year’s 11 year old boar next to this year’s 7 year old.

 

[Forkyfinder]

Lasts year’s 11 year old boar next to this year’s 7 year old.
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Incredibly jealous.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Lasts year’s 11 year old boar next to this year’s 7 year old.
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Looks like a grizz comparatively. Congrats.

 

[El Jason]

That difference is simply amazing.

 

[Rack Daniels]

That’s nutty to really compare.

Grats on a the bear man. that is truly a spectacle to behold, displayed side by side.

Do you get a little wallet sized “scorecard” to keep with it or just the 8 1/2”X11” piece of paper?

 

[rjthehunter]

Wild. I wonder if he's so much bigger because he ate well, or if he was genetically just a larger bear.

I know there's claims that deer size depends on their diet when growing. A small buck won't always be small if he eats well in the spring/summer.

 

[antlerradar]

Wild. I wonder if he's so much bigger because he ate well, or if he was genetically just a larger bear.

I know there's claims that deer size depends on their diet when growing. A small buck won't always be small if he eats well in the spring/summer.

I would bet that it is a combination of both.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

Lasts year’s 11 year old boar next to this year’s 7 year old.
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This is great. Thanks for sharing! Even after seeing hundreds of examples of large/high scoring animals that I would consider relatively young for the given species my mind still would put these ages for these two bears reversed. I don't think dissimilar to the College/NFL/NBA athletes that are 2-4X my size and half my age. I do not have the genetics they do. The Felix world record archery bull being only 6 and 420" was definitely a surprise and one I often think of when these scenarios come up.

 

[It’s Bucky]

This is great. Thanks for sharing! Even after seeing hundreds of examples of large/high scoring animals that I would consider relatively young for the given species my mind still would put these ages for these two bears reversed. I don't think dissimilar to the College/NFL/NBA athletes that are 2-4X my size and half my age. I do not have the genetics they do. The Felix world record archery bull being only 6 and 420" was definitely a surprise and one I often think of when these scenarios come up.

447”

 

[MTTW]

Lasts year’s 11 year old boar next to this year’s 7 year old.
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That bear is unreal. I killed a 15 yo boar a few years ago that was much more like the smaller one than the big one.

I also caught a 13 yo Bobcat years ago that you couldn't tell the skull from other adult Tom's without looking at the teeth.

While age is important to have a big critter, it is far from the most important factor in my experience.

 

[NorthTurkey825]

It was 5 days into the season and my first day out. The older I get, the slower my start to spring bear hunting has been getting. I chose to hunt a place that I haven’t seen many bears, but was a little easier to get around in. By noon, I’d put about 3 miles on my boots, hoping to find maybe an antler but not really expecting to cross paths with a bear. I didn’t find anything - but it was a nice hike and my feet were a little sore. In the afternoon I did a couple more short hikes, mostly looking to find an arrowhead or artifact. As luck would have it, I did find a couple broken old stone tools.

The original plan for the evening was to follow a friend’s hot tip to the top of a big ridge in a roadless area that would offer some excellent glassing. It was late in the day and sounded like making it to that lookout would be a little more than I wanted to take on. I chose to stay closer to the truck (and cooler) for an evening sit. I’d never seen a bear within 10 miles of this place, but had seen tracks nearby a few years ago. Regardless, my plan of a nice day in the hills to get a little exercise was lining right up with what I expected and hoped for.

I sat glassing on a small hill, about 40 yards from my truck. After about 20 minutes I started to get a little cold. I walked back to my truck to get my jacket and also figured grabbing my orange vest and rifle might also be a good idea. Grabbing the rifle was mostly just wishful thinking. Imagine my surprise when I saw the large black bear ambling through the opening just across from where I’d been sitting.

Did it look big? Not especially. I could tell when it walked from left to right that it did not have the typical sow (pear) shaped body. Its head did not look especially big, but it was lanky and level with the ground, its body moved slow and deliberate when it walked. I really had nothing to compare it to, and just figured it was an adult boar, probably 6’ or better, which would be plenty big enough for me to try for.

I didn’t know if he was going to stick around or not. He looked preoccupied, but for a minute he froze, looking right in my direction. I ranged him at 245m, got prone and tried to get comfortable. I’d recently been bragging about how I could shoot a flea off a coyote’s ass at a half mile with this rifle - so this was going to be too easy. 6 shots later, I had a big dead bear at my feet.J

I didn’t really know what to think, as he was rolled into a ball close to the bottom of a narrow draw. He looked really big, and from the size of the rear paw I could see, I knew it was certainly not a boo-boo. Still, unsure of what I had - I confirmed the male parts when I tried to push him over to better evaluate him. I took a few pictures, and being that it was getting dark there were not many good ones. The longer I worked on the bear, the more I realized how huge and rare he was.

Aside from my poor marksmanship, this bear and hunt checked a lot of boxes for me, several of which I’m going to keep to myself for a while. There are some things missing here that are a tragedy of telling the tale, but sometimes less is more on the WWW. He’s a true Montana 7 foot plus bear with ease and will likely qualify for a B&C certificate. I can’t really say what he weighed but I’d estimate 350-450 lbs. live. The hide is 81” nose to tail with a 93” wingspan, skull 20-5/8. I got 119# frozen bear meat and saved all his bones- wicked cool big scapulas and femurs. Lots of things to be thankful for this spring already and it’s still April.

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Great pictures

 

[Frequently Banned Troll]

This pic is better than the dark one.. it’s not your typical Gallatin bear. Appears he’ll be tied for #18 all time in MT.

 

[El Jason]

That head…

 

[antlerradar]

This pic is better than the dark one.. it’s not your typical Gallatin bear. Appears he’ll be tied for #18 all time in MT.
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You spelled Gallatin wrong on the score sheet.

 

[MTTW]

I thought there was an awful lot of grass in that picture when it was first posted.

 

[R*and*Y]

I looked all over last Spring for a bear of that color. I kept running into black colored bears, so I would let them walk waiting on an off colored one.
Again, nice bear.