Bear size
 

I just got off the phone with my mom and was she excited. A couple of days ago she found a bear track by one of her bird feeder and she measured it at 8 inches long. but didn' t think much of it she figured he must hav just been passing through. As I sit here typing this the bear is out side in the yard tearing up her bird feeders again. I was wondering if anyone here could give me a guestamation of how much this bear might weigh by the size of his foot. Thanks. Oh yea he is a black bear.

RE: Bear size
 

Front or rear paw? If its' a front, WOOOO! Don' t leave the cat out!

RE: Bear size
 

I don' t know about a front paw but if thats a rear paw you' ve got a 250-300 lbs bear on your hands!

RE: Bear size
 

well a black bears paws measure 4 1/2" by 4" with the toes arced in relation to the pad and are clearly separated

and grizzlies paws measure 5 1/2" by 5 1/4" and the toes are aranged in a nearly straight line and are bunched

and an alaskan brown bear measures 7" by 8" , they can get up to 13' tall and weigh as much as 1,600 lbs. ,
check the toe configuration , it doesn' t by the paw size sound like a black bear , could there have been more than one ????

RE: Bear size
 

It' s a black bear. the others are not indiginous to my area of the world. I hope that he is still around come the season. I am going to take leave from the Navy and head home to Pa for Bear and Deer season this year. Does anyone have a bullet recomondation for 308 win for Bear. I currently have 165gr bthp serrias loaded up but I am thinking that I might want to step up to something that will penetrate a tad bit better. Any help will greatly be apprieciated. When my mom gets the pics developed and if my scanner will work right i will post some pics.

RE: Bear size
 

165 gr. from your .308 will crue him of further bird feeder raids.Best of luck to you on your upcoming hunt.

RE: Bear size
 

whelen - where did you get those measurement guidelines? They seem a little off to me. I know for a fact I have seen 8" and longer bear tracks before, and around here the only bear are blacks.

RE: Bear size
 

split-hoof ,
i got those measurements from " outdoor life' s , survive " , " the ultimate guide to wilderness skills " . it was shipped with the regular issue as quote " a supplement to outdoor life " end quote . the measurements are on page 40 , under the heading " tracks and territory " , " know what to look for when you' re in bear country " . the article was written by a guy named ( RICHARD P. SMITH )

that' s where i got them from my friend :D:D:D , it was very informative with articles covering several different subjects , " lost " , " exposed " , " attacked " , " injured " . with four stories on each of the above subjects told after each subject was discussed :D:D:D

RE: Bear size
 

I just finished reloading. I am working up a load for my 308 and 3006 for this hunt. I am using a Nosler Particion 165 havent decideden on the powder yet what ever shoots best outa my rifle Is this too much bullet?

RE: Bear size
 

That' s interesting whelen, the width seems close but I have seen wider and much longer bear tracks. I assume that must be an average figure. With the majority of bears being younger ones, I guess that brings down the average a bit. If I were to go strictly by that though, then I would think there were grizzlies roaming the woods!

RE: Bear size
 

For a close gussetamation on a black bears weight,Measure cross wise of the front pad print,,a 4 1/2 inch pad is usually a good size animal 300+ pounds.If you get a 5 inch+ pad your looking at a animal up in the 4-500 pound range.
It definnatly sounds like a nice size animal you have raiding the bird feeder.
Can you bait bear in your area ,if so I would get a bait station started sounds like he would hit it easy enough.
The average black bear harvested is 187 pounds,Anything in the 300+ range is a trophy animal.
I wish you luck in your persuite of your bear.

RE: Bear size
 

The length of the rear paw is not a great indicator of size.As a rough guide take the width of the front paw ,add one and this will be the approximate length in feet of the bear.Of course this is only approximate because bears feet vary in size in relation to their body size like humans.I have seen many bear tracks both black and grizzly and the numbers provided by the outdoor life article seem inaccurate and basically meaningless to me as both black bears and grizzlies vary so much in size.Many black bears are in fact larger than many grizzlies.

RE: Bear size
 

i' ve never seen any really big bears in my neck of the woods , about 4 to 5 hundred is the biggest that i' ve heard of around here. but as i said , i' ve never seen them :)

did anybody else read that article in outdoor life , as i thought that it would be accurate beings it' s a hunting/fishing magazine , that' s why i posted it. i' m sorry if anybody is upset about it :)