Ok, the hard one... How to field judge bears??? I heard something about making a triangle between the ears to the nose... If it is a long skinny triangle (short between the ears and longer to the nose) it is small, a evenly sided trangle is a keeper... What do you guys do???

if the head looks like a basketball with small ears... he has a skull that will score well.

Some guys rate bears by weight, others by squared hides and other by skull scoring...

Don't get me wrong, truly big bears have it all... The black bears that I hunt in SE Alaska have 20"+ skulls, weigh up to 800lbs and square out huge. These are big bruising bears w/ boone & crockett skulls.

I have also shot a couple of bears off the San Carlos Res, in Arizona, that had boone and crockett skulls. The heaviest weighed in at ~425 lbs.

It is just what constitues a shooter to you... skull size? rug size? weight?

For me it is skull size since I just tan the hides because I don't have the room for nor want to spend the money on getting a bunch of rugs done. However, I do mount all the skulls on a nice wooden plaque w/ the details on a brass name plate. Underneath the skull, I have an 8"x10" photo of the kill right below it.

Anyway, when it comes to predators, the two most commonly used measurement methods for "trophy status" is weight and skull size. In fact, it is rare to even see skull size mention with mt. lions. You almost always see "156lb tom" or the like.

SA

PS. If you plan on saving the skull, which I highly recommend doing because it is a neat piece, I'd have it done via dermastid beetles and not bleeching or boiling like most taxidermists do it. Caost is the same.

Well I am hoping for a bruiser, but I will take what I can get i guess... To me, just a good, avg, big bear would do just fine... I don't need a world record but at the same time, I don't want a little one either... So how would I know if it is just a good one, but not too small??? As of now, I plan to get a rug if it is big cause it's my first bear and if it is not that big, I will get it tanned and keep the skull...

Large bears generally have these traits...

1) Low slung bellies

2) rear legs look small compared to the overall size of the bear.

3) short stubby ears

4) waddles or rolls back hips

5) if you are bait hunting, you outfitter should have a measurement device next to the bait (usually a log or by barrell height). If he looks as big as the 55 gal baot barrell, shoot him especially if it is a multi-bear hunt and it is your first tag.

Here is what a big bear looks like... notice the round head, stubby ear and small in proportion snout...


Here is what a small bear looks like... notice the large ears and the longer snout...


Then again, if you are asking these questions about field judging, I am assuming that you haven't shot many if any bears. Remember it is about the experience and the hunt, you should be proud of any mature bear.

SA

Yes, this will be my first... And yes, believe me, any bear will do me just fine...

you say you want a big bear....have you figured out where youre hunting in canada?.....i run an outfitting business in manitoba...should be some big bear comin outta my camp this spring....hunting never before hunted territory this spring...let me know if ya want info...

yea, i would like some info, prices, dates etc... this summer i think i am going to Sturgion Falls, Ontario...

I have to agree, I always look at the ears first. Their ears are the same size from birth so the smaller the ears look the larger the head is. The low slung belly is also a good one if you have a clear broadside view of the bear. I tend to stay away from the long snout method because I have seen some monster "dog" bears that weigh well over 500 but still have long noses. I have also seen some pretty small "hog" bears with really short noses but only going 200.

XArmy55,

What type of bear hunt are you looking for, Spot & Stalk or Baiting?

I have hunted spring bears all through the Canadian Provinces of BC & Alberta. I have also hunted Saskatchewan & Manitoba a couple of times.

For big bears over bait, I prefer NE Alberta and NW Saskatchewan.

For big bears using Spot & Stalk, I prefer British Columbia (spot & stalk only in this provence) and like the Coastal Areas.

Shoot me I private message, we should talk further about what you want out of the hunt & your budget... I have hunted with a ton of Candian Outfitters and have done hundreds of hours of research on this very subject.

SA