A bear that size would put a world if hurt on you actually if you were to grab it. They are strong at that age. A fellow not far from my place raises hogs. He went out to feed them and found a small bear trying its best to get the feed barrel open. So he yelled at it and was way to close to it. That thing took a swipe at him and tore a pants leg off his blue jeans (so he claims.. I personally think he was BSing us).

The rule of thumb is, if the bear is the size of the a large sack of potatoes (remember when potatoes came in 50 pound sacks), body wise, they are usually large enough to shoot. A lot of hunters haul in 100 pound bears around here. I suspect they are shooting the first thing that comes to them.

Actually a great thing to bring bigger bear into an area is a little bear. The bigger ones sometimes kill the smaller ones. Also if the little one finds a food source, the bigger ones will chase him out and claim the food for itself.

Bear meat is really good if you cook it right. I have eaten a lot of it, and its as good as any beef roast. Also what they eat makes a difference. The garbage dump bears are not that good I heard.