Color phase bears
 

So I'm out stalking timber and I come up on what looks like a whitetail feeding through the trees. One look through the nocks and I knew it was a bear. Now I know bears come in color phases but I've never seen one this blonde before. I didn't shoot it because I couldn't make the determination between black bear and griz. How often do you really run across color phase balck bears? First one I've ever seen and I'm 23 and been hunting most of my life.

RE: Color phase bears
 

Color phase bears are actually quite common in Alberta and Eastern B.C. but blonde bears are the least common color.(other than the white kermode bear found on some islands in BC.0

RE: Color phase bears
 

I hunt an area that is loaded with them about 50% of what I see in there.. here is a nice reddish chocolate..

RE: Color phase bears
 

I've seen a blonde black bear. He as so blonde I thought he was albino. I'm still not sure. I've also seen some very red cinnamon ones. They are semicommon.

RE: Color phase bears
 

Color phases seem to bea regional genetic thing. I know where I used to turkey hunt in Colorado, there were lots of blond bears. I also hear the Montrose area has a lot of blond bears as well.

Here in Alaska they have a phase called the glacial bear, they are a roan colored bear and look almost blue. This is also a regional color phase, found in the southeast.

RE: Color phase bears
 

I have seen alot of color phase bears and they arent that commom here in northen BC

RE: Color phase bears
 

I live on top of a moutain here which is a free roaming range for cattle and occassionally I get an odd cow that comes in on my salt block. I saw this red cow cutting across the property so I grabbed my bull whip to head it off, as it came through this little thicket at 20 yrs, when I went to cut it off I realized it was a huge cinnamon black bear. Face to face. Its good to be ugly as it ran off.
All black bears are not black.

Bobby

RE: Color phase bears
 

I've seen them in several different colors, this one I took this summer on the side of the road in western colorado.

RE: Color phase bears
 

Ive seen one also.