Hard to determine. In VA. it's illegal to shoot a sow with cubs. Period. However, dog hunting is allowed. A sow will put her cubs up a tree or in a den and then draw the dogs off. We stand hunt, so sometimes a bear is shot before it's treed. How do you know if a bear has cubs or not? I have never shot a bear out of a tree and don't plan to. The law state's 100# live weight or 75# field dressed. I don't know about wintering over, but a bear just isn't that important to me. I would like to think I would opt to let her(it) go. Just for the cubs sake. Just my $.02.

Good Luck. Capt Brad.