I recently saw some bear sign while scouting for archery season,
Is there any way to get a rough idea of the size of a bear from its track size.
I saw only the front left paw print with all claws showing at the edge of a small mud puddle. The pad was about 3.5 to 4 in across. Is this a good bear?
I know for Griz. they say measure the width of the front pad and add an inch to get the feet length of the bear. If your bear is a Griz it would be 4.5 to 5 feet long. Not sure if it works the same for black bears. Anyone?
Add 1" to the front paw width and that is roughly what the bear will square.
4" pad 5' square bear. From what I have seen the width (across the front legs) is usually a few inches more than the length (tip of nose to tail).
Another method is the size of the scat.
A small bears will 1 1/2 to 2" in circumference a large bears will be 3 or 4" in circumference.
I used to think that the size of the track had to do with size, but this year there was a bear getting to my buddies grandfathers the shed and garden etc. He had a 4.5" track and he turned out to be a two year old, and have talking to a couple bear guides a better judge are the size or the distance between the back pad and the toe pads on the front feet
BEAR
