Going to call you 400 lb bear shooters LIERS !!!!

[AZ402]

FEW,

Our reservations here in AZ grow monster bears, usually much bigger than our public land bears. With little hunting pressure the Rez bears get to be much older than the average public land bear.

 

[FEW]

Makes sense to me... I have seen some monsters on the San Carlos and White Mountain Indian res but have no way to judge their size other than they were way bigger than me. I have heard they do hibernate less so they eat more all around, they probably lose less weight in the winter due to short hibernation, then start eating earlier again in the spring, being hunted less on the res would really allow them to get big. Well that puts and end to my confusion. I just hope I dont shoot a 75lb dink in Canada in June when there are 600 lbers a few hours from home....

 

[Calif. Hunter]

There are actually some pretty big ones right in the foothills outside of the suburbs of Los Angeles. They get fat eating the fruit and (late summer-early fall) avocados from the backyards. My brother tagged some in his research work there that went well over 400 pounds.

 

[Horn Seeker]

I've looked in Boone and Crockett a hundred times and NEVER ONCE saw where it specified the method of kill? WHere do you see this??

Well, I'm not lying about the big ones being easier up here. We had two bears that I remember distinctly, probably both 400 pounders. They would not tree and somehow would not let us get in for a shot on the ground. They would break away even when we came in from down wind and super quiet.

The longest and most grueling races in general are these little 130-150 pounders that can actually run all day long.

Anyhow, good luck on your future hunts, you certainly kill some dandies.

Yes DS, "Dandys"

 

[MtnHtr]

HS,
If you have access to the B&C "Award" books you will understand my earlier post. The B&C "All Time" books have little detail on how the animals were taken. I own 6 B&C Award books(18th-23rd), all have stories by the hunters who harvested the top three animals in each awards period. The 24th B&C Awards book has been out this year, waiting on Santa to deliver that one. These books are well worth the price, become a B&C associate and you can purchase them at a discount. Hope this clarifies where I'm drawing my info from. MtnHtr

 

[Horn Seeker]

OK Mthntr, I got it now. I have access to several of the awards books, but have never read any of the bear stories in them.

I was looking at that big fugger you posted up there. What did his head measure? Really gnarly looking head on him.

Whens your season down there, open now?

Anyhow, to finish my thoughts on the hound/big bear issue. When we found sign of a big bear that we couldnt get the dogs on we would hammer that area ruthlessly till we could, then when we got on him we'd feel him out a little. We never just shootem the first time we see'em, gotta give the dogs a chance to work him first, but if he looks like he's going to be a real tough one then there'd be 2 of us heading in to get him. Like I said before, i can only remember 2 big ones getting away. I couldn't possibly remember how many of the little shits ran us ragged

 

[MtnHtr]

HS,
He went 21", listed in the latest all time book. Season opened in Sept, will run until late Dec or when 1700 bears are taken(quota). The quota is always reached before the season ends, usually in Nov.
I saw a pic of a 500lb+ bear taken near where I bagged my big one. The story was they ran him over 16hrs, turned out several packs of hounds on him. Every time someone moved in for a shot, the big bear would move out. Finally an ole boy killed him with his 357Mag, unloaded the whole cylinder into him.
They never had the bear scored either. MtnHtr

 

[Horn Seeker]

Yeah, I've been on a couple races like that. Dont use a 357 though.

Good that that big one made book, he deserved it for sure.

 

[FLIPPER]

North Carolina's Best Bear Hunting

North Carolina grows black bears as big or bigger than anywhere else on the planet, and 2001 produced a record harvest.


It took a "mule train" of six hunters to drag the bear from the woods. The hunters tied a stick inside the bear's mouth, and three hunters held onto each end of the stick to pull the bear. They made it to the edge of a cut-down where an ATV was brought in to help. Still, it took four hunters plus the power of an ATV to drag the bear to the road. It took the hunters 90 minutes to drag the bear 200 yards, and that was longer than the time of the actual hunt.

When the bear was measured, the tape stretched 81 inches from his nose to his tail. At A.T. Byrum Farm Supplies in Ahoskie, the bear was weighed on certified scales at 742 pounds and was, at the time it was killed, the second-heaviest black bear ever taken in North Carolina. The heaviest weighed 880 pounds. A slightly smaller bear - it weighed 730 pounds - had been taken earlier, according to Mark Jones, NCWRC bear biologist.Skinning the bear revealed between 250 and 300 pounds of fat.

Robert Waters and Vann Jones of Vanceboro wounded a 720-pound black bear. The men were forced to follow a long trail into dense cover. At the end of that trail, the wounded bear charged Jones at close range, but Jones took the bear down with a 12-gauge shotgun slug. However, last December Jones exceeded his quota of once-in-a-lifetime bears by one more with a black bear that weighed 750 pounds from the same vicinity in Beaufort County. Jones still-hunts bears by using a tree stand and waiting along trails that lead from agricultural fields of wheat, soybeans or corn found throughout the upper Coastal Plain.

 

[Horn Seeker]

HOGS! I here PA has some like that too? I'll settle for my burly 250+ers with about 40 pounds of fat. WE did get a bear (I was about 10) that was near 500, he had 11" of fat down his back. SOmething to see. I wasn't even there for the kill, but they brought him home to my folks to hang and skin. No scale unfortunately.

 

[Moosie]

A blast from the past

 

[Gunner46]

Your right. Most hunters waaayyy over estimate their kills.

Hey, I just shot a bear!! It's gotta be a BIG one!!

Jokin' aside, There are some real bruisers out there. The 'Golden Triangle' of AZ, Utah, & NV produdes a disproportionate amount of B&C bears. Mine went 522# on a AZ F&G scale(in the spring)!!!! 7'3" squared, with a 56" girth. Three of us couldn't get up into the truck bed. Had to use the trucks winch, up over a tall pine branch, and back the truck back under it.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-01-2004 17:58: Message edited by: Gunner46 ]</font>

 

[supersider34]

Here is a pic of my bear from 2003. Let me know what you all think the weight is on this one.
He was 6'2" from nose to tail and had a 18 1/8" skull.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-03-2004 10:24: Message edited by: supersider34 ]</font>

 

[Iron Buck]

Supersider,

Nice bear! I love the color. I am terrible at guessing weights.......we actually have to have ours put on scales here in PA or we'd never know what they actually weigh. (see my posts and pictures towards the end of the post "400 pounders are for sissies")

Anyway, based of the size you gave, 6'-2" I am GUESSING that this fellow ran about 300 pounds? Close? He just looks a lot leaner than the 6'7" one that I got this past season and mine weighed in at 402 Pounds on scales.

At any rate, that really is an awesome looking bear. Congrats!

 

[Elkhunter]

Nice looking bear 34.

 

[supersider34]

The bear was a spring bear. So posted it since some guys on here say they can guess the weight on them. LOL Just to stir the pot a little.LMAO

 

[rufous]

I have come up with a formula for estimating live weight. I have shot 3 bears and checked the girth on the last two. I weighed the 4 legs on all 3 of the bears. I also checked the girth and weighed the 4 legs of my brothers biggest bear. If you do not get a chance to measure the girth just take the weight of the 4 legs (without the hide or paws but with all the meat and major bones) and multiply that by 3.3 and you will be close to the live weight. The 4 legs of my first bear weighed 104#. So its live weight was about 340#. The bear I shot in Idaho last May weighed 235# according to the girth chart and its legs weighed 68#. My biggest bear according to the girth chart weighed 375-400# and its 4 legs weighed 120#. My brother's biggest bears 4 legs weighed 107# and its girth was 48" which would put it at 350#. Rufous.

 

[Big Sky]

I can tell you this much he isn't 400 lbs. Not even close. So did you actually weigh the bear?

 

[Horn Seeker]

Is that 6'2" with the hide on Sider?

Thats a nice bear for this western country for sure. No frame of reference in the pic.....250?