Color Phase or Cinnamon Black Bear
 

Personally I would take the largest bear I see but which do you think is a bigger trophy cinnamon color phase or a black bear?
I would think it would just be the largest bear I've got quite a few color phase couple of black on my trail cameras.

Since I have never had the opportunity to take a bear either would be a cherished moment. On the other hand if I was a seasoned bear hunter I would probably be after a color phase that I haven't harvested.

Thanks kellyguinn,
I've hunted black bear once before and almost pulled the trigger but she had Cubs so if I got one this year it would be my first. That's interesting you say color phase I had several of those on my camera but only one big one I think I'm just going to take the biggest one I see but I do hope it's cinnamon or a color phase myself.
image of the maybe 3 year old color phase bear here....
I do have a large color phase bear on cam in pics above, both have the blond on their necks.

I have only taken one black bear in my life. We have not seen any color phase bears in my area but would love a chance at one. The ones in your pics look almost like grizzlies. If you go on youtube and look up WildNorth's videos of this years bear hunts you can see some really nice color phase bears. They seem to have a lot of them.

Well good luck to ya and keep posting up those pics. We have the bear here in the SE part of the state but with no baiting on public land it is almost impossible to compete. I am just starting to venture out of state for a hunt here and there so hopefully I'll get a crack in a few years. Heading to SD for a Merriams hunt in April and can't wait!! Gonna give the Black Hills a shot

I think it all comes down to your goal and that is and will always be a personal thing

an example of this and maybe extreme is
a few yrs back while bear hunting, I had a mother bear and two cubs SMALL cubs too, the one cub was a very pretty cinnamon color phase black bearcinnamon color phase
I personally will NOT shoot a cub or a mother with cubs
they proceeded to walk past me and down into another hunter about a 100 yards from me???
and he SHOT the cinnamon color phase cub, I actually seen him pull the trigger , he was that close to me?(I was there first and he was still hunting up the MT side towards me, )

the mother bear ran back up past me with her cub up a tree near the hunter

I walked down to the hunter to let him know a cub was up a tree near him and maybe he should speed the process of removing the cub from the area
he was jumping up and down all happy like he won the lottery
he asked me WHY I didn;t shoot it, and as politely as I could I say I wouldn;t shoot a cub , and that my dog was larger that it was (bear later on was checked into bear check station and weight in at 38 lbs?? so it was truly tiny IMO )
he proceeded to tell me it was atrophy to him and he knew exactly where he was having it mounted and placed in his house!
I said, best of luck to him and he carried it away with his buddy who was also screaming and hollering about how it was a trophy!

SO< to that guy, the color phase was what made it a trophy and not the size at all
his call, was legally taken, so, ? was what it was for him

I have been lucky I have always been able to find bears in season, and normally passed on a several a season, MY goal was a 600+ lb one and nothing smaller, and I never did get one, a few that I think were darn close, but not sure, I let em walk
as again, we ALL have our own standards as to what WE feel is a trophy
as long as its a LEGALLY taken bear, it is a trophy of sorts, is it your BEST trophy>
or what is the BEST trophy to YOU
is again, YOUR call

another way to maybe look at things, is, what is more rare in your area?
maybe if huge bears are more rare, then hold out for one of then, is color phase is rare in your area, hold out for one of them?
hunting should ALWAYS be a personal thing IMO I have never hunted trying to win a prize or trophy, but have put personal conditions on when I will kill something or not?

For me it would be the cinnamon. I have already taken a black and a chocolate. Would love to have a cinnamon and a blonde.

I would shoot a 150 lb color phase if he was standing right next to a 500 lb blackie! We have no such thing as color phase in my area that I've ever heard of. For years, the cool thing here was to find one with the white "v" on it's chest, but it seems the majority of them have at least a patch of white anymore. I remember Tom Nelson on Bowhunter TV taking the last one he needed for a color phase "slam". Thought that would be kinda neat, sort of like a bearded hen grand slam of turkey. For me, anything different is cool.

Thanks I'll check it out, until now I've only seen black and cinnamon in this area

Thanks for taking the time to respond guys and I would have to agree trophies are different to each hunter. At this point I think I will simply take the largest bear I see I used to hunt when it was lega to bait in Colorado but unfortunately for us hunters the voters made it a lot harder for us to get a bear especially if we don't want to hike a lot of miles which I don't. I originally had some cameras on a mountain where I have seen tracks for years and almost got a shot at a nice sow but in Colorado it is illegal to shoot a mother with cubs or the cubs, I wouldn't kill a cub anyway those cubs are now grown they separated last year. I had no success at all catching any bears on that mountain on my cams so I moved all my cameras to a different mountain and some to a different area entirely and those cameras started getting hit hard which really surprised me because bears are so territorial you wouldn't think that many bears would hit my cameras but there is a house nearby and a creek at the base of the mountain so I'm thinking that those two are the reasons why I'm getting different bears but they're not hitting it consistently so I think I will still be lucky to get a bear this year. so as far as really large bears I'm only seeing one cinnamon possibly color phase with blond on her neck and one large black bear the rest look like younger bears and of course when hunting season comes in October for me there probably won't be any bears on my cameras.

. This guy is not color phase but only shedding correct?

this bear in these 2 pic's to me looks for sure like a color phased bear, and NOT all black for sure even when they shed, they are still black , so this is not a traditional colored BLACK bear


bears are never very consistent in there movements unless there is a super steady supply of food they are feeding on, bears typically move from one food source to another and travel far and wide in there never ending search for food
spotting and stalking is a more normal way to hunt out west(or from what most folks I know do out there where baiting and hounds are illegal)
and as such, the key to finding bears in season is finding food sources that are there at THAT time of yr, NOT now, as food sources will change between now and then, so finding bears NOW in one area, might mean ZERO there come a few weeks when they come into season
plan ahead, and think about what food is there during your seasons hunt, and that should be where you want to be spending your time hunting!

Bear Rub and Bulls
 

I was lucky enough to place a camera facing a tree that I have now seen two bears rub on and from my limited experience I'm thinking that this is a very good location where multiple Bears may use to rub, does anyone have any experience with bear rubs? Having a lot less Bears on my cameras and just to bull elk. One small bear that checked the tree out the Bears are rubbing on smelled it and ran like hell